Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 1796 - 1794: Got It (I’m Just a Useless Cat After Failing Evolution)

Mugino Shizuri’s abilities were successfully obtained by Fang Zheng, and then Fang Zheng immediately asked Lulana to attempt to create a small batch of Hydralisks and Flying Dragons to make adjustments and observe the situation.

This is quite normal, after all, Fang Zheng assigned the Alien the tasks of covert assassination and infiltration. Have you ever seen an Assassin lugging an RPG to the target location to work?

By comparison, Hydralisks and Flying Dragons are obviously more suitable for this ability.

However... the news from Lulana wasn’t very good.

"Only at LV3 level..."

Listening to the information sent back by Lulana through the Swarm Network, Fang Zheng frowned. He had considered such a situation before, similar to the mass-production Railgun plan, which could only clone up to LV3 rank at best. Initially, Fang Zheng thought it was due to Academy City’s cloning technology being subpar, but now... even the Swarm is like this, then it’s not just a technical issue anymore.

Of course, the Swarm’s replication of the "Atomic Collapse" ability can stabilize at LV3, which already surpasses Academy City.

Could it be related to the soul?

Fang Zheng stroked his chin, feeling uncertain. He believed in the Swarm’s technology, and the Swarm had already thoroughly analyzed both the Alien and Mugino Shizuri’s corpse, so problems shouldn’t arise. If the Swarm’s replication was entirely according to Mugino Shizuri and still resulted in this level, then the issue might lie with the soul—something beyond the Swarm’s capability to resolve.

However, Fang Zheng isn’t completely without options. Previously, Mokuyama Haruo’s "Fantasy Manipulator" was a good example, and this theory can also be used within the Swarm Network. By transferring part of the Swarm’s computational ability to those modified Hydralisks and Flying Dragons with Atomic Collapse ability, they can reach LV5-level damage and attack capability.

For Fang Zheng, this is more than sufficient.

In fact, in Fang Zheng’s eyes, Mokuyama Haruo’s Fantasy Manipulator theory seems tailor-made for the Swarm; the Swarm is inherently networked, and their physical qualities far exceed those of humans. Just like the adjusted insects this time, if it were humans wanting to elevate from LV3 to LV5, even with enough computational power, human bodies wouldn’t support such computational strength, resulting in outright explosions.

However, it’s different for the Swarm, though long-term high-load use will drain health, short-term usage doesn’t bring about any issues.

Besides, even in long-term use,... deaths are just deaths, right?

For the Swarm, losses are inevitable.

"Don’t release the Swarm yet, let me see where to set up a subbase here..."

Compared to a fleet, establishing a subbase for the Swarm is much more challenging. The Familiar of Zero’s world isn’t under consideration, and Academy City certainly won’t work; if it really doesn’t, Fang Zheng might have to set the Swarm’s subbase in Emilia and her group’s world, where there are many Goblin nests and perhaps just let the Swarm annihilate the Goblins and seize some areas as a home base.

But... this isn’t without danger, should Lina Inverse discover...

Yeah, that would be a hassle.

Anyway, the Little Misaka issue is resolved; Fang Zheng initially thought Arestar deliberately concealed it to play with him, but after seeing Little Misaka’s past through a backward glance, Fang Zheng realized Little Misaka was inherently a secret, yet hadn’t finished adjustments. Due to the plan being halted, a researcher bribed by some unknown organization injected a virus into Little Misaka’s brain, causing all Misaka Sisters to indiscriminately attack once activated.

And Little Misaka awoke during the virus injection process, then escaped.

As a result, even Arestar commanded the Dark Side to find and bring her back... So, if Emilia and Priestess of the Goddess hadn’t taken Little Misaka back to the lab, then the Dark Side would capture Little Misaka and eventually send her back to the lab.

For some, it’s quite ironic.

"Boom!!"

A sharp explosion sounded, causing Fang Zheng to temporarily interrupt the contact with the Insect Queen, reluctantly raising his head to look at the two people fighting before him. Fang Zheng was not in Academy City but rather on a submarine.

This is Iyu’s headquarters.

In front of Fang Zheng were Arya and a young man; according to Riko’s intelligence, this man was Toyama Kintsu, Arya’s partner, but at the moment, they were at each other’s throats, engaged in intense combat.

Perhaps others might still be confused, but Fang Zheng has seen everything from the beginning, naturally knowing the situation. Upon learning that the mysterious leader of Iyu was his most esteemed Sherlock Holmes, Arya immediately defected, while Kintsu asserted that as a Martial Investigator, no matter who the opponent is, if they commit a crime, they must be apprehended, resulting in disagreement and fighting.

As for Fang Zheng, the whole way he followed behind to watch and simultaneously discuss Swarm modifications with Lulana.

But now, both parties were getting more fervent in their fight, akin to the climax of a movie battle, forcing Fang Zheng to temporarily turn off his phone and watch the spectacle intently.

Then at the next moment, Fang Zheng saw the two in a standoff, followed by Toyama Kintsu tossing away his weapon, yes... it’s the usual Hollywood trope, appealing through emotion rather than brute force. Subsequently, Arya seemed moved by Toyama Kintsu, eventually dropping her weapon as well, and the two reconciled like in the movies, proceeding to confront the last perpetrator—Sherlock Holmes.

Subsequently, as per the Hollywood film formula, the male lead Kintsu attempted to control Sherlock Holmes with a flashbang but was counterattacked, and Arya lost her vision due to the flashbang, leading to a one-on-one duel between the male lead and Sherlock Holmes...

As for Fang Zheng... the main purpose was to listen to the intel revealed by Sherlock Holmes.

After all, as the BOSS, some lines are definitely needed during the final battle.

Don’t be like the Order Clan who keeps things excessively secretive, leaving no clues at all!

Fortunately, Sherlock Holmes did not disappoint Fang Zheng’s expectations, speaking out the vital information Fang Zheng needed during his confrontation with Toyama Kinjii.

Firstly, the organization Iyu is primarily focused on collecting those ability users. However, unlike Academy City which "develops" abilities, the ability users chosen by Iyu are almost all Raw Gem — no, perhaps that’s not quite right. According to Sherlock Holmes, the reason ability users within Iyu possess abilities is due to the influence of the "Scarlet Alloy."

He is the one most deeply affected by the Scarlet Alloy among everyone, enabling him to command the group of ability users within Iyu.

According to Sherlock Holmes, various governments and Academy City have attempted to seize the Scarlet Alloy he possesses, and it’s for this reason that he was murdered sixty years ago. As for the identity of the killer, Sherlock Holmes didn’t mention it, but Fang Zheng could guess it was likely orchestrated behind the scenes by that guy Arestar.

Nevertheless, Fang Zheng’s greatest gain was learning from Sherlock Holmes that there are a total of three pieces of "Colored Metal" in the world: one with him, another is Riko’s cross, and the last one preserved by a mysterious tribe in East Asia.

After saying this, Sherlock Holmes used his scarlet resonance with Arya to summon a round mirror, then fired a Scarlet Bullet at Arya from three years ago through the mirror.

When the Scarlet Bullet passed through the Space-Time Mirror and entered Arya’s body three years ago, the closed time loop finally reached its final end.

"It’s finally time for me to act."

Watching the Space-Time Mirror disappear, Toyama Kinjii fell to his knees, and Fang Zheng yawned, then stepped forward.

At this moment, time ceased to flow.

"Alright, come out."

Fang Zheng made a gesture, and in the next moment, the red radiance was released once more from Arya’s frozen body, and the scarlet bullet emerged again, obediently coming to Fang Zheng’s hand. This time, the timeline was extremely stable, with no anomalies.

Fang Zheng took out his personal terminal and scanned the bullet, quickly confirming that it was indeed the second fragment left by the Goddess of Order, and accepted it unhesitatingly — it wouldn’t do Arya any good to have it, and besides, it was originally Fang Zheng’s.

With this thought, Fang Zheng refrained from saying more, grabbed the bullet, and in the next instant, his figure flashed and silently disappeared into the air.

Meanwhile, time began to flow again.

"Ah———!"

Arya suddenly fell softly to the ground, and witnessing this, Toyama Kinjii was also shocked and went to Arya’s side.

"Arya, what’s wrong?"

"I, I don’t know, Kintsu, I suddenly have no strength......"

Faced with Toyama Kinjii’s inquiry, Arya seemed somewhat bewildered and lost, not knowing why, she felt as if something very important inside her body was lost......

While Arya and Toyama Kinjii were puzzled, Fang Zheng had already left the submarine.

"Alright, Riko’s colored metal, Arya’s colored metal, now only the last one is left...... Hmm, this shouldn’t be hard to find either."

Looking at the Scarlet Bullet in his hand, Fang Zheng squinted his eyes, and soon, flames burned and emerged from his fingertips, quickly consuming the Scarlet Bullet entirely.

"Next..."

Fang Zheng muttered to himself while stretching out his hand, soon, "Ratziel" appeared in his hand once again.

The information leaked by Sherlock Holmes was not much, but all were very useful. Especially since Sherlock Holmes particularly mentioned to have Toyama Kinjii and Arya be wary of Vatican’s "Right Seat of the Divine," as they seem to be planning to take action against the entire world...... This gave Fang Zheng a direction.

So let me see what this Right Seat of the Divine intends to do.

Muttering to himself, Fang Zheng opened Ratziel, glanced at it, then chuckled and closed it.

"The ideas of the ignorant are always similar, indeed, it doesn’t deceive me."

Saying this, Fang Zheng shook his head. Through the investigation of "Ratziel," he already understood that the "Right Flame" within Vatican’s Roman Orthodoxy’s Right Seat of the Divine wanted to correct the inequalities in the world, bring peace to the world, and happiness to all, by attempting to start the Third World War......

Indeed, the thoughts of the illiterate are pretty much the same routine, wouldn’t you agree, Emiya Kiritsugu?

If that’s the case......

"Since it’s on my way, I might as well just go and wipe them out."

As the words fell, in the next instant, Fang Zheng disappeared without a trace once again.