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

Radiance like fragments of fireworks fell with the wind, then reassembled to form Riko’s shape.

”No matter how you look at it, your ability is just too incredible; it’s really fascinating.”

Frenda crossed her arms, looking at Riko in front of her.

”If it were in Academy City, you’d undoubtedly become an LV4 Great Ability Holder, maybe even LV5 would be a piece of cake for you.”

”I don’t have much interest in Academy City.”

However, in response to Frenda’s admiration, Riko shook her head.

”Isn’t it good to happily be a Phantom Thief outside? If it were Academy City, I wouldn’t be able to do what I want to do as freely.”

”That’s true... Alright, let’s go, Mr. Fang Zheng said to leave the rest to him.”

”Okay.”

Upon hearing this, Riko’s expression became solemn.

”Reiji is still here, we should hurry and leave; you know her absolute sniping radius is two kilometers, now Mr. Fang Zheng is holding her back, otherwise we’d be in trouble!”

”That’s a freak too.”

Hearing Riko’s words, Frenda took a sharp breath, then hurriedly jumped down, and the two quickly drove away from the scene.

Shortly after they left, another car hurriedly drove up and braked to a stop.

”Here, Arya?”

”They should have been here just a moment ago....”

Arya jumped out of the car, glanced around, and upon seeing the tire tracks on the ground, stomped her foot angrily.

”Let’s keep chasing, we can’t let Lupin IV get away! She must be nearby!”

While speaking, Arya pulled open the car door again.

Meanwhile, time stopped.

Fang Zheng slowly descended from the air, arriving in front of Arya.

”Previously in Academy City, it was too troublesome, so I didn’t want to act, but now it’s different.”

While speaking, Fang Zheng extended his hand towards Arya.

”Well then, let’s begin.”

As Fang Zheng spoke, an eye-catching flame burst forth from his hand. Simultaneously, a bright red radiance appeared on Arya’s body. The radiance seemed to possess life, continuously strengthening and expanding. Then, under Fang Zheng’s influence, the bright red radiance condensed into a small dot, emerging from Arya’s body, slowly flying towards Fang Zheng.

Is that... a bullet?

Fang Zheng squinted his eyes, looking at the unique, crimson bullet. He could feel the Goddess’s Divine Power on it, but Fang Zheng could also sense that as the bullet was extracted, the surrounding time seemed to start becoming unstable.

Just like pulling out the support from a stack of blocks, now, the entire stack was on the verge of collapsing.

What’s happening?

Fang Zheng’s fingers slightly moved, touched the bullet, and he immediately felt the fragments of time contained within.

So that’s it...

While murmuring, Fang Zheng nodded, finally understanding what was going on.

This bullet, strictly speaking, is not actually here.

In fact, it’s just part of a closed time loop.

And now, this loop has not yet completed.

If Fang Zheng were to just take this bullet away, then the loop would completely collapse, bringing unimaginable consequences to the entire world.

What a bother.

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng frowned. If it were an ordinary world, he wouldn’t care as the world would automatically repair itself. But here it’s different; this is just a shattered small world. It’s already quite unstable, and below it is the Sea of Chaos. The closed time loop itself is a kind of order, once this order is broken, who knows what might happen.

If that’s the case, then the only solution is for this bullet to ”genuinely” shoot into Arya’s body. After this closed time loop ends, he would retrieve it.

But before that, let me see what information I can obtain from it.

Although investigating the Goddess’s Divine Power through ”Ratziel” is difficult, since I’m facing it directly, it’s not as challenging.

While pondering, Fang Zheng closed his eyes.

Soon, scenes began to appear before his eyes.

Gigantic submarines, countless flying missiles, a man wearing a gentleman’s hat, holding a cane...

”I am Sherlock Holmes, your great-grandfather, Arya.”

”This is Colored Metal, in Japan it’s called Scarlet Colored Metal. It possesses magical powers that can turn others into superpower users...”

”Governments around the world are monitoring this, including Academy City and the Vatican...”

”This is my Scarlet Research... In fact, aside from Scarlet Colored Metal, there are other colored metals in the world...”

”Protect Arya well, Kintsu. You don’t know what will happen next... The Vatican is secretly planning something big. Although I don’t know what it is, I can be sure it will create an unimaginable crisis for the world. Iyu is just a pawn among them... From now on, Iyu belongs to Arya... Protect her, protect Scarlet Bullet, don’t let those with evil intentions take it away...”

”If you’re not an Awakener, it’s hard to protect Scarlet Bullet, which is why as an Awakener, I have always been able to protect it. But that’s just it, the conditions for awakening Scarlet Bullet are very strict. You must at least be with Scarlet Bullet for three years, without leaving for a moment. Therefore, I came up with a solution.”

”...I will open the lens of history here, shooting Scarlet Bullet into Arya’s body from three years ago, so Arya will become the inheritor of Scarlet Bullet... This is a gift from me, her great-grandfather, from the future three years ahead...”

”Sherlock Holmes-------!!!”

So that’s what it is?

Opening his eyes, Fang Zheng looked once more at Arya beside him and the man in the driver’s seat. From the future he saw, these two would soon confront an organization named Iyu, whose leader happens to be Arya’s grandfather, Sherlock Holmes. After that, Sherlock Holmes will use Arya’s power to open a small space-time gate and inject the Scarlet Bullet he holds into Arya’s body from three years ago...

Speaking of which, calling it Scarlet Colored Metal sounds so bad, like a child’s toy. Thirty-one two matter sounds much better.

Since it’s in the near future, I might as well wait a little longer. When the time comes, when Sherlock Holmes shoots the Scarlet Bullet into Arya’s body from three years ago, completes this loop, then I’ll step in to seize it.

But... what’s the conspiracy Vatican is brewing?

From the bits of Sherlock Holmes’ words in Fang Zheng’s future timeline segment, it seems to be a disaster that will affect the entire world?

Maybe after going back, I should let Riko investigate this aspect fully.

As for today, let’s call it a day.

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng took a step back and disappeared into the air.

Then, time started moving again.

”Let’s go, we must catch Lupin IV!”

Shouting, Arya jumped into the car, and soon the car vanished once more into the darkness.

For the police, this was utterly humiliating, and as for Riko and them...

”You guys should lie low for a while.”

Putting down the newspaper in his hand, Fang Zheng spoke to Riko and Frenda beside him. Hearing Fang Zheng’s words, both smiled sheepishly and didn’t say much.

Right now, news is rampant across the internet and media, yet one conclusion can be drawn.

That is, the Japan Metropolitan Police Department and the Government of Japan are about to explode with anger.

It’s one thing to steal, but you actually bomb a museum, and it’s another to bomb a museum, but you actually live-streamed it online!

You’ve brought shame to us worldwide!!

Currently, the headline of media worldwide is almost all about last night’s theft. Even major TV stations in various countries re-broadcast the news and video in their morning news. For the Government of Japan, this is a monumental disgrace. They’ve even held a press conference, claiming they’ll spare no effort to capture Lupin IV, even saying they want to invite R-class Martial Investigators for assistance... showing that the Government of Japan has completely flipped out.

Meanwhile, online, that vase stolen by Lupin IV, worth four hundred million yen, was returned intact via courier to its original location, causing quite a stir. The public is now divided into two groups: one thinks Lupin IV is a thief and should be caught immediately. The other believes Lupin IV is a chivalrous thief; after all, she risked retrieving these artifacts not to sell, but to return them intact, showcasing her chivalrous actions.

Indeed, some have even called online for museums worldwide to return the cultural relics they looted to their rightful countries. In response, national museums have quickly declared that it’s not they don’t want to return the artifacts, but that the economies of the countries in question are too weak, unable to build modern museums or provide adequate facilities and technology to protect the artifacts. Returning them might lead to damage from improper storage, a loss for the entire world and so on...

In short, they still don’t want to return them.

Of course, some national museums, already overwhelmed, seized the opportunity to reduce their burden by returning some items under the guise of demonstrating friendship between countries, thus gaining some diplomatic and political benefits, along with public praise...

But in any case, this issue has escalated significantly.

”Ahahaha, I’ll be careful...”

”By the way, Riko.”

After giving the two a quick nod, Fang Zheng quickly spoke.

”Do you know about the organization Iyu?”

”Iyu...”

Upon hearing this, Riko’s expression changed slightly.

”Vlad... is a member of that organization.”

”Oh? What a coincidence?”

Fang Zheng was somewhat surprised, who would have thought it would be such a coincidence, but...

”I want to investigate information about Iyu, can you help me?”

”...”

Riko hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

”No problem, please leave it to me, Mr. Fang Zheng.”