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

Chapter 737: Chapter 736: A Group of Lost Fools

At the beginning, Fang Zheng didn’t pay much attention to a group of outsiders. After all, he thought there was nothing nearby except Chaos Monsters, but the reports from the Zerg piqued his interest.

They referred to these invaders as ”suspected symbiote-like creatures.”

Fang Zheng didn’t know what the Zerg were referring to by symbiote, and out of curiosity, he immediately switched his perspective, concentrating his will on one of the Hydralisks, and soon he saw a group of people walking on the fungal carpet...

Well, strictly speaking, they weren’t people.

If Fang Zheng were to describe them, they were a group of lizards with a touch of gloss.

They had lizard-like heads, but their limbs were similar to those of humans, with tails hanging behind and even scales could be seen on their skin. On their heads, they wore something similar to a windproof hat, and a thick cloth covered their mouths, hanging over the bridge of their noses... Fang Zheng took a while to realize why the Zerg called these creatures ”suspected symbiotes”—their appearance, excluding their heads, rather resembled the Zerg’s assimilated Cursed Children.

So... it turns out those Cursed Children are seen as symbiotes by the Zerg...

Thinking about this, Fang Zheng felt a bit lost for words. He had paid attention to those Zerg-transformed Cursed Children, as their situation was somewhat harsher than the regular Cursed Children. However, according to them, they seemed to be doing quite well, and sometimes Fang Zheng even spotted those Cursed Children scratching the Jumping Bugs’ bellies or bathing the Hydralisks... But he hadn’t expected the Zerg to see them that way.

It turned out to be just like the relationship between sharks and pilot fish... Well, as long as they liked it themselves.

Thinking about this, Fang Zheng also found it somewhat odd. Logically speaking, the Zerg were considered the lowest in the hierarchy of the Heavenly Dao Palace, given that Fang Zheng cherished the Cursed Children like precious darlings. The Zerg were basically thrown out as cannon fodder in every battle, yet conversely, in the Zerg’s value system, the position of those Cursed Children was even lower—an incapable warfare race with no functional use was considered utterly meaningless and valueless. Thus, they ”allowed” those Cursed Children to perform some ”tasks” for them; otherwise, those ”meaningless” Cursed Children were just seen as ”pathetic” by the Zerg.

Indeed, different value systems made them totally incompatible.

Putting aside the value differences within his own kind, Fang Zheng quickly began to scrutinize these creatures.

They weren’t hysterical like the previous Chaos Monsters, which was another reason the Zerg didn’t attack them immediately. Fang Zheng had already issued commands, so the Zerg knew their enemies were those monsters carrying the aura of chaos, and thus, when facing these suddenly appeared creatures, they opted to observe rather than shredding them into pieces right away.

”Where did they come from?”

Fang Zheng noticed that the emergence location of these Lizard Men was odd—they didn’t appear from the edge of the Zerg’s territory but inside it. But it was impossible for the Zerg to be so foolish as to wait until the intruders had penetrated so deeply before reporting, thus making the appearance of these Lizard Men very strange.

However, quickly a Jumping Bug pointed out the place where these Lizard Men appeared—it was a burrow; it seemed these Lizard Men had burrowed up from below.

Did that mean there were Order Races active beneath this continent?

Fang Zheng wasn’t particularly puzzled by this; he could still remember the giant bathhouse beneath the Northlands dominated by the Goddess along with those clinging creatures. Even though the Northlands had been eroded by the Chaos for hundreds of years, the creatures beneath continued their lives unchanged, untouched by the chaos. Thus, seeing a group of underground Lizard Men appearing in a region that seemed to have been entirely swallowed by Chaos wasn’t that strange.

However, this group of Lizard Men was clearly shocked by the scene before them. Fang Zheng couldn’t discern their expressions, but from their wide-open eyes, occasionally waving hands and their intense body language, it was apparent that these Lizard Men noticed the annihilation of the Demon Creatures and the retreat of the toxic mist in the region, which seemed to astonish them greatly. At this moment, they seemed to be planning to do something about it... well, that was also what Fang Zheng himself intended to do.

”I need an avatar... you’ll do, come here!”

Fang Zheng didn’t plan to appear as a human, as he had mentioned before. But he also didn’t plan to appear as a Time Dragon, so he simply grabbed a nearby Hydralisk and immediately controlled it. Then, he guided the Hydralisk swiftly underground, arriving next to these Lizard Men.

And soon, he heard the loud arguments among the group of Lizard Men.

”We must investigate what has exactly happened here!”

The leader, a more robust Lizard Man, waved the iron spear in his hand, his already bulging eyes looking like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

”Aren’t you all curious about this?”

”Of course, we are curious, Honid, but this is too weird,” another Lizard Man shook his head.

”Do you remember the last time we came out? There was toxic mist everywhere, rotten and stinking swamps, and terrifying monsters lurking in the mist. But now, all that is gone, and... ”

While speaking, it fearfully looked at the fungal carpet under its feet.

”... don’t you find this thing bizarre?”

.........

Well, most things from the Zerg have this style.

”I suggest we go back and report this matter to the Elder Group first,” said one.

Another Lizard Man, obviously frightened, took two steps back.

”This has already exceeded our job scope! We should report this to the Elder Group!”

”Do you really think those old guys would believe what we say?”

The one they called Honid snorted.

”Remember our status, we are Collectors; to others, we are just expendable. And now, we’ve only just left the Dungeon and you want to go back and tell them that the toxic fog outside has dissipated and the Chaos Monster has disappeared? Do you think they will treat us as lunatics and criminals to execute or believe our words and come out to check the situation themselves?”

”.........”

This time, the other Lizard Men stayed silent, clearly they too held little trust in the so-called ”Elder Group.” After a moment, the previous Lizard Man broke the silence.

”So, what should we do?”

”Find some evidence,” Honid seemed to have already planned ahead.

”Those old guys won’t believe us just because we say so. We have to find evidence that we aren’t just trying to avoid punishment, not because we’re afraid of death, and not because we are messing with them out of boredom. We need to bring something back, find something that will shut them up and make them concede that our claims are valid.”

”Do these....things not work?”

While speaking, the nervous Lizard Man poked the thick Fungal Carpet on the ground with the weapon in his hand. Honid, however, shook his head, dismissing his compatriot’s suggestion.

”No, they could easily say that these are mosses or fungi that we dug out from some burrow. We need something more convincing...”

Speaking up to this point, Honid seemed to have thought of something.

”This has to be caused by something. If we can find that thing and then capture it, the Elders will surely believe us!”

”............”

Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng, hidden underground, rolled his eyes. He couldn’t see the expressions of the other Lizard Men, but from them stepping back unanimously, it was apparent that compared to the one called Honid, the others had more sensible brains—thinking carefully, the entity that could easily eliminate a Chaos Monster, could you really capture it? Isn’t that delusional?

It was time for him to make a move.

Unable to glean more clues from these Lizard Men, Fang Zheng also didn’t waste words. With a flip, he emerged from beneath the Fungal Carpet, standing tall. Raising the double blades in his hands, he emitted a sharp screech at the Lizard Men before him.

”Monster, a monster!”

Seeing a Hydralisk suddenly appear, the other Lizard Men immediately screamed and backed away, clutching their weapons tightly, staring intently at the Hydralisk. Only Honid’s eyes widened with excitement as he observed the sudden appearance of the monster. Then, he raised his weapon.

”That’s it, capture it and bring it back!!”

”............”

Observing the foolish Lizard Man before him, Fang Zheng was silent for a moment before he decisively gave an order.

”Capture them.”

The next instant, Jumping Bugs emerged from all around underground, quickly surrounding these Lizard Men.