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

Chapter 161: Chapter 160 The Unexpected Joy of the Heart of the Swarm

“Finally back.”

Fang Zheng stretched a long lazy stretch as he returned to the snow-covered cabin in the forest. Nymph, too, yawned beside him, emanating a vibe of someone who had finally come home for the holidays after a long journey.

“This place does feel more comfortable, Master.”

“Yes, I think so too.”

Fang Zheng had nothing against the Zerg, but those damned obsessive-compulsives who couldn’t live without their fungal carpets nearly covered the entire planet with it. To be honest, it might be interesting to look at once or twice, but gazing at the same scene day in, day out, that would be torture. Now, Char Planet, under the “diligent cultivation” of the Zerg, had completely lost its blue skies and white clouds and was bathed in a sea of crimson. Aside from a few trees and rivers that were spared, everywhere else was covered with fungal carpets and Zerg constructions…

Truth be told, Fang Zheng felt like he was living out a scene from “Song of Saya”; staying in such a place for too long could drive someone insane. Indeed, even though his body had been modified, his sense of aesthetics was still that of a regular human and didn’t stoop to the level of the Zerg.

...

Nymph clearly felt the same way. For the little one, she preferred cute animals and blue skies and clouds, and she wasn’t fond of the Zerg’s mass ecological disaster-style expansion.

But anyway, that was the problem for that world.

“In any case, let’s rest for now.”

As he spoke, Fang Zheng stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers. Very quickly, the air in front of him began to warp, and then an Invisible Servant appeared, promptly starting to diligently clean the chairs and bedding—although they had been away from this world for a couple of weeks, perhaps due to the heavy snow sealing off the mountains, the place wasn’t too dirty, and a simple cleaning would suffice.

As for Nymph, she went off to the side to continue playing with the cute kitten while Fang Zheng flopped down in a chair and opened his Dimensional Codex to start inspecting the booty from his latest mission.

First, the different scenes.

After Fang Zheng opened the Dimensional Codex, the thick tome automatically flipped open, and immediately, a bright red planet emerged as a hologram, rotating similar to a 3D projection. This was Char Planet from the “Ironblood Warrior” universe, which, after becoming a Free World, had left the category of “instance” and appeared in this special form in front of Fang Zheng.

This meant that Fang Zheng could enter and leave this world at will, much like the “Mind-Skill-Body” free instances. However, just like the free instances, no matter how long Fang Zheng stayed in the Ironblood World now, the time when he returned to this world would not exceed five minutes.

But that was not without its advantages.

At the very least, Fang Zheng could now wander around the Earth of the Ironblood World and even buy some simple convenience food for use when in the wilderness. Of course, Fang Zheng hadn’t forgotten to remind the Zerg to steer clear of the Solar System. After all, given the development pace of humans in that world, they wouldn’t be able to leave the Solar System in fifty years. After that… it would depend on their luck, or whether the Zerg would leave them a way out.

Fang Zheng was actually quite curious to see what humans of that world would feel like if, after a desperate struggle to leave the Solar System, they found out they had been corralled by the Zerg.

But that was probably a matter for much later.

After completing the “Homeland” mission, Fang Zheng received two rewards.

One was the promised fixation of the “Heart of the Swarm,” and the other was an inherent skill called “Dimensional Passage.”

“Dimensional Passage” was a special summoning ability, and could even be said to be tailored for use with “Free World.” Fang Zheng needed only to cast “Dimensional Passage,” and then he could summon his servants from the Free World. The advantage of this skill was that it did not occupy positions for Soulstones or Summoning Stones, but the downside was… there was a limit.

That’s right, Fang Zheng’s current rank of “Dimensional Passage” was E, with a limit of a hundred points. He didn’t know how this number was derived, but after some trial, he had an understanding. For instance, creatures like Aliens and Jumping Bugs generally cost one point per summon, while Hydralisks and Roaches were ten points, Flying Dragons, as well as Lurkers, were thirty points, Thunder Beasts were fifty points, and Leviathans… couldn’t be summoned at all.

In other words, aided by “Dimensional Passage,” Fang Zheng could now summon at most a hundred Jumping Bugs or Aliens, or ten Hydralisk and Roach, or three Flying Dragons, two Thunder Beasts… All in all, it didn’t seem very useful at the moment.

After all, the Main World was not like the Ironblood World. There were plenty of beings here who could tear Thunder Beasts apart with their bare hands, and if the Swarm didn’t number in the hundreds of thousands, they might as well not even dream of dominating the Main World.

It’s a good thing the Ironblood World was a scientific one, very scientific indeed, without the situation seen in the Main World. Otherwise… who knows what it would have become.

On the other hand, the “Heart of the Swarm” turned out to be an unexpected boon for Fang Zheng.

When the “Heart of the Swarm” was on Kerrigan’s Soulstone, Fang Zheng didn’t feel that the skill was particularly powerful. At best, it allowed him to command the Swarm and communicate with them.

But when the Dimensional Codex solidified this skill onto Fang Zheng, he finally felt the power of the “Heart of the Swarm”.

Or rather, it was at the moment Fang Zheng obtained the inherent skill “Heart of the Swarm” that he truly understood why Kerrigan kept repeating, “I am the Swarm”.

Because I am the Swarm.

Even now, it’s the same—a very subtle feeling. Fang Zheng could sense that, deep within his soul, there were countless Zergs as if they were his subjects, his subordinates, and his actors. Yet, they were different too. It felt as if when Fang Zheng looked somewhere, the Zerg would shift their gaze and pay attention along with him. To use an inappropriate analogy, it was as if Fang Zheng were a conductor, waving a baton towards a place, and then thousands of Zerg would look there along with him.

It was a magical feeling, because in this process, the Zerg weren’t puppets as Fang Zheng thought; on the contrary, they had their own thoughts, which whispered behind him like a crowd murmuring. For example, if Fang Zheng looked at a rabbit, the Zergs would stare at it too, and all kinds of thought exchanges would arise. Like how the rabbit seemed tasty, or the rabbit looked weak, and how hunting it could be more efficient…

Of course, this didn’t affect Fang Zheng’s own judgment. In fact, he would only hear the Zerg’s thought exchange when he was willing to listen. It was as if one had to concentrate extremely hard to hear the usually inaudible faint sounds, so it wouldn’t impact his daily life.

But that wasn’t important. What was important was… Fang Zheng’s spirit was now tightly connected to the Swarm.

One is all, and all are one.

Of course, this ability didn’t seem to have any special effects, but Fang Zheng was very clear that this might solve a problem he had been worried about for a long time.

That is, the Enchantment School’s mental manipulation!

After learning magic, Fang Zheng also figured out the casting principles of the Enchantment School and the School of Illusions. The power of the Enchantment School worked on the mental level of a person, interfering through magic. While it’s said that those with a strong mind can resist these spells, the premise of having a strong mind is vague in itself, and no one is certain they can withstand a psychic attack.

Since everyone’s spirit is independent, apart from a memory kill or being suddenly encouraged by a previously dead being, they basically have no way to rely on themselves to break free from mental influence.

But Fang Zheng is different.

Now, if an enchanter planned to mess with him, they would have to influence not just Fang Zheng’s own spirit but also the spirits of the millions of Zerg connected to him! And this is only for now, as the number of Zerg linked to the Heart of the Swarm would continue to expand… Perhaps billions would be an understatement in the future.

Even if the enchanter succeeded, the sheer number alone might be enough to exhaust the enchanter to death.

In a way, might this also be considered an alternative buff for immunity against mental manipulation?

But what should he do next?

At this thought, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but glance at Nymph, who was playing with a kitten.

It wasn’t easy for him to sever ties with the Sanctuary, but it wasn’t practical to keep hiding in this godforsaken place. He still needed strength, money, and territory. Becoming a bandit or a mountain thief was the least promising; claiming a mountain as king would only attract more trouble.

Importantly, to avoid the Sanctuary’s search, Fang Zheng has a lot of Soulstones he couldn’t use.

No need to mention Kerrigan; that definitely wasn’t an option. Malthael was also out of the question. The Sanctuary was frantically searching for him, and likely they had studied Malthael’s descent exhaustively. Since he had no plans to open a new expansion pack or to create a living hell by massacring towns, he naturally couldn’t use Malthael.

By the same logic, Arthas would have to be sealed away.

As for magic… Fang Zheng could certainly participate in adventures as a mage or join a mercenary group and play a pig to eat a tiger, but after some thought, he decided against it. Fina had warned him that the spells released by a mage have their own unique aura, and if someone traced that back to him, the trouble would be immense.

Alright, if his trump cards couldn’t be used, and the time for a Cash Summon hadn’t arrived, then what remained was…

Looking at the Soulstone in his hand, Fang Zheng thought for a moment, then came up with a good idea.

It seems there’s only one thing to do.