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

Chapter 418: Chapter 417: System, Your Knock-Off Product Has Emerged

”This is just too exaggerated...”

As Vampire and Takao watched the scene unfold before them, they were dumbstruck. Of course, they knew that their firepower had greatly increased after upgrading, and although not enough to challenge a battleship of a higher class, being invincible among their peers was no issue. Therefore, by that logic, Rodney taking down Hiei wasn’t all that strange.

But the problem was... this was way too exaggerated!

Battleships were among the strongest entities within the Sea Mist, and Takao couldn’t fathom how she could possibly destroy one. Even if it were two battleships clashing, a fierce battle would be required. But in Rodney’s case, just a few broadsides were enough to destroy a group of light cruisers and four heavy cruisers, and then two more shots sent Hiei flying... What kind of monstrous attack power was that!?

Anyway, Takao had never seen anything comparable to a supergravity cannon’s simultaneous firing. Thinking about it made Takao shudder, and she silently decided to keep her distance from that big-chested freak in the future.

She was not ready to die yet!

”This haul isn’t too bad.”

At this moment, Fang Zheng was leisurely collecting the cores from the sunken ships below with Iona. They had dived partly to avoid an attack and partly to block the escape route of Hiei and the others. That dumb battleship thought they had forced Fang Zheng into the water, but in reality, Fang Zheng was afraid the Mind Models would sense Rodney’s attack and also decide to dive... After all, this wasn’t outer space; Rodney’s bombardment did have some effect underwater.

So Fang Zheng used the pretext of escaping to block the enemy’s retreat, ready to let these guys taste what a real submarine’s torpedoes were like should they decide to come down.

However, these guys turned out to be even more fragile than Fang Zheng had expected, directly blasted into fragments by Rodney, so Fang Zheng went from a deep-sea assassin to a scavenger, activating a tractor beam to collect the cores of the sunken light cruisers, heavy cruisers, and battleships.

”Nymph, do we have enough to put together another battleship this time?”

Fang Zheng had indeed realized the advantages of a battleship; Rodney’s attack power was literally out of this world. Although cosmic warships had some edge over the Sea Mist’s warships, they always left Fang Zheng unsatisfied. It seemed like the technological levels between both weren’t much different, but logically, cosmic warships should be stronger than those limited to sailing on the seas... Well, this time Fang Zheng finally saw the technological domination he desired.

If he could get another battleship, he could literally ride the Flying Dragon right into battle!

Unfortunately, this time Nymph didn’t provide the answer Fang Zheng was hoping for.

”Sorry, master, the cores this time... seem to be a bit problematic... I don’t even know what these cores are.”

”What?”

Upon hearing Nymph’s answer, Fang Zheng was also taken aback.

”You don’t know?”

”Yes... Its circuit structure was damaged in the core by Rodney’s attack, and I had to use other core structures to repair it... using algorithms from Synapsus... so...”

At this, Nymph helplessly shook her head, but Fang Zheng understood her meaning. Previously, all the cores were local ones, and what Nymph did was merely data integration and modification. But this time was different, the core framework was damaged, and Little Angel used Synapsus’s algorithm as a core. It was like Martians using their quantum CPU on an Earth computer, and the outcome would only be known once it was turned on.

”Alright then... wait just a moment...”

Hearing Nymph’s answer, Fang Zheng didn’t have much to add. He reached out and opened the store, then spent 200 Furniture Coins to exchange for a random warship draw card and handed it to Nymph. Nymph then took the furniture card and fiddled with it for a bit. Soon, another blue block appeared in Little Angel’s hands, displaying the build time.

”Two hours and thirty minutes... alright, it’s definitely not a battleship then.”

Seeing the numbers before him, Fang Zheng sighed in resignation. It seemed that gains truly come with losses; having too powerful a firearm like Rodney’s wasn’t entirely beneficial. He had thought he could get another battleship for a direct push, but it looked like he wasn’t blessed with European luck.

With this thought, Fang Zheng shook his head, then opened the system before him.

[Activity Stage Task ”My Journey is the Stars and the Sea” Stage 3 Completed]

[User Awarded 1500 Furniture Coins]

[Activity Stage Task: My Journey is the Stars and the Sea Stage 4 Initiated]

[Players can enter Sea Chart 4 for strategy, Target: Attention: Your actions have attracted the attention of the dominator of this sea area, the adversary is preparing to leave the target area, please immediately defeat the Core Fleet led by the Super Battleship Musashi and gain control of the ”Naval Code” (Upon task completion, the user receives 3000 Furniture Coins and the system unlocks new construction options, task fails if Musashi leaves the Fourth Sea Area or time expires, declaring the end of the event) Countdown: 4 hours]

”Hmm?”

Upon reading the last line, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but pause.

Naval Code? What in the world is that? Could it be a relative of the system?

However, thankfully, asking when in doubt has always been one of Fang Zheng’s strengths.

”Takao, what is the Naval Code?”

”The Naval Code?”

Hearing Fang Zheng’s question, Takao also seemed hesitant.

”Actually, I’m not very clear either.”

”Huh?”

Fang Zheng was also baffled by this response.

”I remember reading that the Warship of Sea Mist attacks humans because of a command from the Naval Code or something.”

”That was merely the first order we received after our creation.”

Takao gave a precise answer.

”After we came into existence and gained consciousness, our first directive was ’to expel humans from the ocean,’ and we all know this order came from the Naval Code... But as to what the Naval Code really is... asking me that, I couldn’t explain all of a sudden.”

”So, that works?”

Faced with Takao’s answer, Fang Zheng rolled his eyes, and Nymph nodded in agreement.

”Yes, Master, when I was undergoing core modifications, I indeed found the top priority directive to be exactly what Takao mentioned, but this directive was not transmitted through a network, it was directly engraved in her data core, so for now, I can’t locate where this directive came from... Of course, I have already deleted these commands.”

”I see...”

Hearing this, Fang Zheng pondered. From Takao’s words, that so-called Naval Code must be the key to creating the Sea Mist, although he still had no idea what exactly it was... Well, judging from the task, is this ”Naval Code” in Sea Chart 4?

Speaking of which, it also contains the word ’Code’... Could it be a knockoff version of the system?

But now, none of that matters. What is important is... they only have four hours! They must reach the Fourth Sea Area within this time frame and then defeat the Core Fleet led by Musashi!