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

Chapter 1091: Chapter 1090: On the Importance of Writing Character Cards

Shinjuku Concentration Camp.

There is not a trace of human presence here anymore. After the previous incident of the Shinjuku massacre, this place was completely cleared out. Neither the Britannians nor the people of Area 11 are willing to come near it, as if it were a cursed place. The entire Shinjuku now is nothing but ruins, seemingly like a cemetery for the Undead.

”...Mr. Fang Zheng, I have something I want to ask you.”

Looking at the ruins in front of her, Yuffie closed her eyes.

”...Can humans achieve peace through mutual understanding?”

”Mutual understanding?”

”Yes, I once heard someone say she was always committed to the mutual understanding of humans, believing as long as there is mutual understanding...”

”...It will lead to absolute slaughter, won’t it?”

”Eh?”

Hearing Fang Zheng’s answer, Yuffie opened her eyes in surprise and looked at Fang Zheng.

”The reason humanity can maintain peace is because they cannot understand each other. Once they do, all that remains is war.”

”Why... do you say that?”

”Because everyone’s experiences are different.”

Fang Zheng sighed and looked at the ruins in front of him.

”What you find meaningful may be worthless in my eyes. What I think is necessary to exist might need to be eliminated in yours. If we do not understand each other, we may still act with the hope that ’perhaps one day he will understand my thoughts’, but once we do understand and confirm there is no common ground between us, then all that remains is war and slaughter.”

At this, Fang Zheng snorted lightly.

”In fact, the person who says that is just proving it’s nothing but Fantasy.”

”...Why? Why do you think that?”

”Suppose there is a fruit tree here.”

Fang Zheng reached out his hand and pointed forward.

”There are two families living under the fruit tree, one with three people and another with four. Each person needs one fruit a month to survive. The tree produces ten fruits a month, and they need a total of seven to meet their living needs.”

”...?”

Although she didn’t know what Fang Zheng wanted to say, Yuffie looked at him curiously and quietly listened as he continued.

”Then as time goes by, two children from the family of four and one child from the family of three got married. So the family of four became six people, and the family of three became four. Now they need ten fruits a month, which the fruit tree just about provides.”

At this point, Fang Zheng stretched out his finger again.

”Then, both families had children, the family of six had four children, and the family of three had two. They became fifteen people, requiring fifteen fruits a month to maintain life. However, the fruit tree only produces ten fruits a month, so someone will go hungry. Even if they distribute the fruits, they would only barely sustain life. As time passes, the elders of the ten-member family and the five-member family passed away, yet the children from those families got married again. By this time, the fruits were not enough, so unless someone starved to death, the only path left was to seize from each other...”

By now, Fang Zheng turned his head and looked at Yuffie.

”Miss Yuffie, that’s war. Both families understand well that if they don’t get enough fruits, they, their wives, and their children will starve to death. To protect their livelihood, they must seize... Now, you tell me, they indeed understand each other, but does it matter? Does peace... mean it will come? In fact, wasn’t Britannia’s invasion of Japan also because of resources? Are you saying that after mutual understanding, Britannia would not invade Japan?”

”...”

Faced with Fang Zheng’s question, Yuffie was speechless for a moment.

”Wolves fight over territory to secure prey for survival, sheep fight each other for lush pastures, and human wars are the same. This is nature’s Truth. They understand well why they fight, why they have to, and the consequences of failure. And this...”

At this, Fang Zheng sneered with disdain.

”... is something that a Young Lady living in a greenhouse will never understand, which is why they obsess endlessly over whether mutual understanding is possible... Mutual understanding cannot solve war; conversely, it is because of mutual understanding that humans go to war—because there is no other solution.”

”...”

For once, Yuffie didn’t respond. She just quietly watched the ruins before her in silence.

”It’s about time, I should catch my plane.”

Fang Zheng glanced at the time and nodded at Yuffie.

”Then, Miss Yuffie, shall we leave here?”

”Ah, please wait, Mr. Fang Zheng!”

Upon hearing Fang Zheng wanted to leave, Yuffie hurriedly called out to him, and then, as if she thought of something, her cheeks turned red.

”Uh... how about I give you a lift to the airport?”

”Certainly, I’d be honored.”

After this, the two left the Shinjuku District and took a taxi to the airport. During the ride, Yuffie did not speak, and Fang Zheng rested with his eyes closed until they arrived at the airport. After getting out of the taxi, Yuffie finally seemed to make up her mind and looked at Fang Zheng curiously to ask.

”So... Mr. Fang Zheng, in your opinion, is there a way to achieve peace?”

”There has been a way for a long time.”

Hearing Yuffie’s question, Fang Zheng smiled slightly.

”There’s an old saying in my country: ’Only when the granaries are full do people know propriety and when the wardrobe is substantial do people understand honor and shame.’ It means people only understand etiquette and integrity after they are well-fed and have their needs met. And the root of all wars in this world is nothing but the contradiction between humanity’s ever-growing material and cultural needs against scarce resources and backward social production... So, I take my leave now.”

After saying this, Fang Zheng turned and walked into the security checkpoint, but just then, Yuffie suddenly called out.

”Mr. Fang Zheng!”

”Is there something else, Miss Yuffie?”

Hearing Yuffie’s call, Fang Zheng turned his head, and then he saw Yuffie bow deeply and respectfully to him.

”Thank you for your guidance. I think I’ve understood many things, and I will strive to work according to my own beliefs!”

”Then, I wish you good luck.”

Waving at Yuffie, Fang Zheng walked into the security checkpoint, and Yuffie stood there watching until Fang Zheng’s silhouette disappeared before turning to leave.

The plane roared to life, ascending into the night sky.

”Backward social productivity... but human needs are infinite after all...”

Sitting in the empty first-class cabin, looking at the wine in his glass, Fang Zheng chuckled lightly, then reached out his hand.

”Ratziel!”

With Fang Zheng’s call, the all-knowing Angel quickly appeared in Fang Zheng’s hand, then he opened its pages and began to write on them meticulously.

What he needed to write was simple: a character card.

If Fang Zheng headed to the Chinese Federation like this, he would have to start everything anew, but now, Fang Zheng clearly didn’t have time to waste. Luckily, he still had the Ratziel in his hands.

The Ratziel could turn whatever was written into reality, and now, Fang Zheng was using this capability to set his own identity in the Chinese Federation and turn it into reality.

Of course, the Ratziel also had its limits. If Fang Zheng wanted to establish himself as the ’supreme ruler of the Chinese Federation and make every woman in the Federation his lover,’ the power consumed would be enormous. This would involve altering the cause and effect of the entire world, which would basically be like starting an RPG game wanting to equip the protagonist with max-level god gear, which, besides cheating devices, would be impossible.

Of course, if it were a single-player game, I might as well go for infinite money. But the problem is that Earth OL is an online game. If you cheat, the result would either be a ban or a server crash.

So Fang Zheng could only use reasonable loopholes to set his identity.

The key is in plausibility.

It’s like setting the backstory of a character in a game. If you are playing a Fantasy game, setting up an Interstellar Warrior character card is meaningless. You could write in the character bio ’The protagonist used to be an elite warrior from the nth division of the Cosmic Forces...’ and then watch the game protagonist wielding a sword and casting Holy Light... Of course, this would just feel awkward.

Similarly, you can’t set the character’s backstory as ’The protagonist is a very famous person, known by everyone,’ because then when you talk to NPCs, a single line like ’Ah, another stranger adventurer...’ would be enough to completely refute all plausibility in the character card.

In such cases, even if you try to self-hypnotize, if every encounter with an NPC breaks the immersion, there would be no choice but to delete the character and start anew.

Therefore, what Fang Zheng needed to do was add and compile his character card based on existing backgrounds and facts. He had full confidence that this identity would help him solve any problems encountered within the Chinese Federation.

The plane gently landed, and Fang Zheng closed the Ratziel, striding out of the airport. Outside, he quickly spotted a few men in black suits standing by a luxury car. Seeing Fang Zheng, the leading man glanced at a photo in his hand, then quickly approached, bowing respectfully to Fang Zheng.

”Welcome back, Your Highness.”