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

Chapter 196: Chapter 195: Encounter with an Urban Grandfather

The endless stars stretched across everything.

In just the blink of an eye, this area had been completely isolated from the world, the sky vanished, replaced by a glittering galaxy and stars that emitted a mysterious radiance. The sun’s brightness shone directly downward, forming sharp contrasts of white and black, the heavy shadows distinctive on the ground.

Looking around, the entire city seemed like the frozen ruins on the surface of some planet, filled with an unusually bizarre sensation.

“This is….”

Even the old man in the suit was drawn to this strange change and stared in surprise. At the same time, a voice emerged before him.

“I didn’t expect to see a Follower of the Crimson Realm so soon, are you here hunting as well?”

...

“Hmm?”

Hearing this sudden voice, the old man quickly turned his head, only to see Fang Zheng in front of him, holding a plastic bag and raising his left hand toward him.

“To be honest, I am quite surprised myself. I didn’t expect to encounter a Follower of the Crimson Realm here….”

“A human?”

The old man’s face clearly showed his astonishment as he looked at Fang Zheng.

“I never thought a human could act within the Sealing….”

However, the old man soon raised his hands.

“Please don’t attack, young man, I mean no harm.”

“So I didn’t send you back home to get married right away; tell me, who are you? What brings you to Goki City?”

“Please allow me to introduce myself.”

Answering Fang Zheng’s query, the old man gave a slight smile, then he took off his top hat and bowed to Fang Zheng.

“My name is ‘Corpse Collector’ Lamy; as you said, I am a Follower of the Crimson Realm.”

“I’m Fang Zheng, as you can see, a human.”

Since the other did not immediately show hostility, Fang Zheng of course wouldn’t just strike him.

“To be honest, I still can’t believe that a human can really act within the Sealing…. Wait, this Sealing must be your doing, right? No wonder, I was wondering why the fluctuations felt different from those of the Fire Mist Warrior and the Followers of the Crimson Realm. So it’s like that. It turns out this world really does have humans who can do such things…. And, you must have a Fire Mist Warrior with you, seems I can feel their presence.”

“Oh?”

Hearing the old man’s reflection, Fang Zheng raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t say much and continued to quietly look at the old man.

“That’s right, sir, I hope you can understand and convey to that Fire Mist Warrior as well that I am harmless…. Although I know this may be hard to believe, I truly have no ill intentions toward this city.”

“Harmless?”

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng became even more interested.

“Go on, tell me more. From what I’ve seen, Followers of the Crimson Realm are often madmen willing to do anything for themselves, although I’m not sure if that’s a common issue among all Followers. But least for now, I feel Followers of the Crimson Realm aren’t exactly the type you’d easily get along with. Maybe you can change my mind?”

“It’s great that you understand.”

Hearing Fang Zheng’s remarks, the old man named Lamy visibly relaxed and smiled a relieved smile.

“Indeed, as you’ve mentioned, most Followers of the Crimson Realm pose a threat to humans, but what I can assure you is that I don’t eat people.”

“Don’t eat people?”

Fang Zheng curiously looked over the Bone Collector before him.

“Then how do you sustain your existence? Logic dictates that if Followers of the Crimson Realm do not consume the Power of Existence, they cannot exist in this world.”

“Just like this.”

Lamy opened his hands and displayed the previously mentioned Power of Existence in front of Fang Zheng.

“I don’t consume people. In fact, I only absorb the power from torches that are very weak and about to be extinguished. Even my body is such that, unlike ordinary Angel Envoys, I merely exist borrowing the body of a torch, hardly consuming any Power of Existence…”

“I see, no wonder you’re called ‘Corpse Collector,’ specializing in picking up dead bodies after others.”

It was at this moment that Fang Zheng finally understood. To be honest, if the old man hadn’t personally absorbed the Power of Existence from that torch just now, he wouldn’t have realized that this old man was a Follower of the Crimson Realm. However, Fang Zheng quickly developed a new question.

“Why do you do this?”

“Because I need a tremendous amount of Power of Existence.”

“………???”

“That’s how it is.”

Noticing Fang Zheng’s confusion, the old man smiled and explained.

“Long ago, a human friend made a gift for me, but before I could accept it, it was destroyed, beyond repair. What I wish now is to see what gift he had prepared for me. To do this, I need to write a Free Style, to bring what had vanished back into this world. This requires a tremendous amount of Power of Existence, but…”

“If you absorb directly, you will attract the Fire Mist Warrior’s barrage, right? I understand,” said Fang Zheng, nodding his head as he grasped the old man’s intention. By analogy, it was as if the old man had spotted a treasure he wanted to buy. But to buy it required an astronomical sum of money, whilst he had none. To achieve his goal, he could either risk robbing a bank or simply beg on the streets or pick up loose change others dropped. The former was high gain, but risky; the latter was almost risk-free…of course, it required an immeasurable amount of time.

“Exactly. Although I do not know what happened here before, you may have also realized that for me, Goki City, with so many torches, is like a treasure mountain. Here I can collect a large amount of residual Power of Existence from torches without affecting the world or harming others… Oh, and if possible, I want to ask who the Contractor is for the Fire Mist Warrior in this city?”

“Catastrophic Fire.”

“Oh? It’s him?”

Upon receiving Fang Zheng’s answer, the old man’s face lit up with unmistakable joy.

“I didn’t expect he would be here; so the Fire Mist Warrior is ‘the Fiery-Eyed Assassin’? That is wonderful! It’s under his protection after all…”

Assassin, my foot, that girl probably couldn’t even kill a chicken.

“You know them?”

Seeing the old man’s reaction, Fang Zheng was intensely curious. He initially thought the relationship between the Fire Mist Warriors and the Followers of the Crimson Realm was like that of cats and mice, but it seemed not entirely so.

“I guess you could say we’re acquainted. Now I can rest easy. I hope you can convey this message, letting them know I’ll be staying in this city temporarily…”

“That won’t be a problem at all.”

Since this Follower of the Crimson Realm named Lamy spoke so confidently, Fang Zheng didn’t mind temporarily letting him be. After all, he said he knew Aralastel, and Fang Zheng could just go back and ask Shana to find out if it was true.

But before that…

“Sir, do you understand Free Method well?”

Looking at the old man, Fang Zheng curiously asked. Hearing his question, the old man just smiled.

“Hehe, I have a little understanding of Free Method.”

“Oh!”

Upon this response, Fang Zheng’s eyes lit up.

“Then, I wonder if you have some time to talk about it with me? We could sit at the café over there… of course, my treat.”

With such an iconic line said, Fang Zheng was certain that the person before him was indeed the legendary urban grandpa!