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

Chapter 727: Chapter 726: If magic can’t handle it, turn to technology!

”What the hell is that thing?”

Back at the Heavenly Dao Palace, Fang Zheng was completely puzzled. The tentacle monster wasn’t particularly formidable—in combat, Fang Zheng had sensed as much himself, essentially finding it to be something even the Cursed Children could easily handle. But its sheer numbers were overwhelming, not to mention its bizarre rate of regeneration... No, it wasn’t regeneration, but Fang Zheng couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. After all, he could be certain that whether it was the Angel of Death or the Primordial Soul Fire, both had definitely reaped the creature’s soul, and something without a soul couldn’t possibly regenerate...

”Master.”

While Fang Zheng was deep in thought, Nymph raised her hand and spoke.

”Um... excuse the interruption...”

”What’s wrong? Nymph, have you found something?”

”Yes.”

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s reply, Nymph nodded and then activated her personal device.

”During your battle, I conducted an investigation into that creature and discovered it’s not the kind of singular life form we imagined but a collective entity made up of a group of organisms...”

”Wait, a group? How did I not notice that?”

Fang Zheng understood what Nymph meant; schools of fish often did the same thing in the sea, clustering together by the thousands, appearing to be one large fish from a distance. This sort of thing wasn’t unprecedented. But Fang Zheng was certain that the tentacles he was dealing with all seemed to originate from one entity.

”Because... these organisms are very small.”

”How small?”

”3 nanometers...”

”..........”

Alright, that was certainly something Fang Zheng couldn’t have noticed.

”So, you mean that I wasn’t fighting a monster, but rather a horde of nanoscale beings forming a collective beast?”

Now, Fang Zheng finally understood why neither his Angel of Death’s storm nor the Primordial Soul Fire was effective, and why the firewood, tiny as a chocolate drop, also made sense. But if you think about it, the creature that sprawled across three football fields wasn’t just in the hundreds of millions, it was in the trillions!

”Doesn’t this thing have some sort of core?”

According to the rules of movies and game logic, these kinds of things typically have a core, and destroying it should completely solve the problem, right?

”This... According to my investigation, it seems to be a very primitive single-celled organism that lacks what we’d call a core. They appear to resonate with the magic power fluctuations of Spirit Crystals and act on instinct...”

As expected, there’s a gap between games, movies, novels, and reality.

”...So what do we do? Should I go get a giant vacuum cleaner to suck them all up?”

Fang Zheng was thoroughly at a loss; that feeling of a tempting delicacy being just out of reach was incredibly frustrating. He couldn’t think of any good solution—Soulstone’s only useful feature was Malthael, and that hadn’t been very effective against this monstrosity. A collective formed of countless nanoscale organisms... indeed, this was a problem.

As for using a large vacuum cleaner, Fang Zheng was just spouting nonsense. Although the tentacles had low defense, they were fast and had high attack power. Even Tanji, with her Plasma Shield, was instantly defeated. Where would he even find a container capable of holding them all?

You’d think I could travel to Journey to the West, grab a Purple Gold Gourd, and far outrank this situation. This creature seems so voiceless it couldn’t even respond to me... damn it, they apparently don’t even have vocal organs to respond with.

After much discussion with Nymph, Fang Zheng managed to understand the general characteristics of the creature: Firstly, it was a very primitive single-celled aquatic organism (according to Nymph), and Fang Zheng had no objections to this. After all, there was no shortage of Spirit Crystal Mines, and as far as he knew, even though the mines in the Northlands had been tapped, neither Bishop Carl nor the Golden Dragon Girl had mentioned any strange creatures there. Deep-sea mining in the Main World was a first, and while it was unclear if this was a special case or a common occurrence, it seemed likely these beings were exclusive to the seabed regions rich in Spirit Crystal Veins.

Of course, for safety’s sake, Fang Zheng used a Prophecy Spell for detection, to ensure it wasn’t some sealed Demon God or some other ancient oddity. But the prophecy reassured him—it wasn’t some historical issue, nor was it a leak from a seal, much less a sealed Demon God. It was just a simple biological hazard...

Logically, for biological problems, one should consult the Zerg. But after summoning Mirune to explain the situation, the Insect Matriarch shook her head vehemently, asserting that although the Zerg could transform and assimilate other species, dealing with nanoscale organisms was an entirely different level of difficulty, one that was not easily surmounted by the Zerg, or arguably an outright impossibility.

And not to mention dealing with primitive single-celled organisms.

However, Nymph had thought of a solution.

”Master, I have a suggestion.”

”What suggestion?”

”If we can capture that kind of creature, I might be able to analyze it. Since the basic structure and genes of unicellular organisms are the same, if given enough conditions, I could create a virus weapon specifically designed to destroy their genetic chains. As long as you deploy this virus weapon in the target area, we should be able to exterminate these strange creatures at the fastest speed.”

Watching Nymph, with her innocent and naïve expression, say such things, Fang Zheng felt goosebumps rise all over his body... Creating a genetic virus to exterminate an entire species? Little Angel, how come I never noticed how ruthless you were before?

”That... I’ll have to think about it.”

Strangely enough, if Fang Zheng were to set those creatures ablaze, he wouldn’t feel there was anything wrong. But using a genetic virus to exterminate a species made him feel enormous pressure.

Indeed, it seems scientists inherently carry dangerous elements within them, even Artificial Angels...

However, as the saying goes, two heads are better than one. Unable to come up with a good idea on their own, Fang Zheng and Nymph simply gathered everyone together to brainstorm.

Sure enough, there’s strength in numbers. After Fang Zheng explained the situation about the hidden underwater colony, Tilia was the first to raise her hand to speak.

”Elder Brother, why not just let Black Katie use the Power of Existence to burn all those things to a crisp?”

This girl was always looking for an opportunity to put Black Katie on the spot. With such a large area, there was no telling how long Black Katie’s Flame of Existence could last.

”It’s useless, that approach only provides a temporary solution.”

Fang Zheng shook his head, rejecting Tilia’s suggestion. Black Katie’s Flame of Existence and Fang Zheng’s Primordial Soul Fire were similar—if they latch onto something, they can burn it to nothing. But the problem was that it wasn’t a single monster they were dealing with, but a swarm. If you burn it in one spot, it could just escape and find an opportunity to come back even stronger. Considering the vast network of caves and crevices under the sea, burning them out completely wouldn’t be easy.

Kurumi also didn’t have a good solution. She could manipulate time, but against a swarm of nano-sized creatures, she was quite helpless. Illya’s Phantasmal Summoning might find a Servant capable of dealing with those creatures, but her summoning was random, and nobody knew what they might get... It’s not suited for this kind of situation where one has to rely on luck.

”Me, me, me, I have a great idea!”

And just then, Little Hei jumped up excitedly, raising her hand. Then she pointed at Yoshino, who was sitting beside her.

”Big brother, didn’t you say those creatures seemed to survive only in water? Why not just have Sister Yoshino freeze the entire area?”

”That... hmm? That actually is a good idea!”

Hearing Little Hei’s suggestion, Fang Zheng nodded. If extermination was impractical, maybe freezing and then separating the Spirit Crystal Mine from the area could indeed be a viable option. But considering the location and volume, it was clearly not an easy task... Perhaps he should transform into the Star Forging Dragon King? But that seemed a bit excessive...

”Yoshino, can you do it?”

”This...”

Faced with Fang Zheng’s inquiry, Yoshino also furrowed her brow, pondering for a moment before she shook her head sorrowfully.

”I don’t know... Mr. Fang Zheng, I have never tried to freeze such a large area before...”

Indeed, although Yoshino’s Ice Construct could freeze everything, the area in question was far too vast—three soccer fields in size, from the sea surface down to the seafloor, at roughly 5500 meters deep. Considering the volume... Fang Zheng felt overwhelmed.

No wonder Yoshino was feeling dizzy. Even with the powerful strength of an Elf, it still required the consumption of Spiritual Power. Whether Yoshino’s Spiritual Power could support her in freezing such a vast area of the sea was indeed a question.

”If only we could isolate the Spirit Crystal Mine alone, it would be much simpler...”

Looking at the map before him, Fang Zheng rubbed his forehead, murmuring to himself. If they could use a large-scale spatial separation to isolate that area from the surrounding waters, allowing Yoshino to freeze just that region wouldn’t require too much Magic Power. The problem was that Fang Zheng didn’t possess many Space System magic spells, and even the few similar spells from the Protection Class didn’t cover such a large area...

”Master,”

Just as Fang Zheng was considering what to do next, suddenly, the normally quiet Musashi spoke up.

”I might be able to solve this problem.”