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

When Fang Zheng saw Fina again, it was in a church at the Twilight Frontier.

”Long time no see, Mr. Fang Zheng.”

”Yes, it’s been a while for you too.”

Looking at the girl in front of him, Fang Zheng raised his hand and greeted her, while carefully examining her. The current Fina wasn’t much different from the one in his memory, even wearing the same cleric robe he remembered. The only difference, if any, was the furry cloak draped over her, making her look somewhat the part.

”I heard from the Golden Dragon that you’ve resumed the role of Pope... but it doesn’t seem like much has changed?”

Fang Zheng carefully looked Fina up and down, initially expecting her to be adorned in some particularly lavish attire, dressed to impress...

”After all, this is the Twilight Frontier, and it’s most convenient to dress for action.”

Fina spun around playfully, then looked back at Fang Zheng.

”I really appreciate you coming all this way. I was originally supposed to invite Mr. Fang Zheng to the Holy City of the Holy Church for a banquet...”

”Let’s skip that; I feel like that place and I are incompatible.”

Before Fina could finish, Fang Zheng hurriedly raised his hand to interrupt. Since his rebirth into this world, any banquet the Holy Church held for him ended poorly. Although he wasn’t sure if it was just a coincidence, Fang Zheng was unwilling to try again.

So, when he learned from the Golden Dragon Girl that Fina intended to invite him to the Holy City, he came straight over.

”Given that, how about a simple meal here? The stewed potatoes and meat here have been quite good lately.”

”That works.”

As long as there’s no banquet, it should be fine.

As the Pope, Fina naturally had special privileges. Soon, she and Fang Zheng had a ’private room’ in the church, and attendants brought in meals ordered from the nearby tavern, along with a bottle of wine...

”Three dishes and one soup, you sure are modest.”

”?”

”Nothing.”

Seeing Fina’s puzzled expression, Fang Zheng waved his hand, then took a bite of the steak in front of him before looking at Fina.

”Do you know about Mephisto’s situation?”

”Of course, I’ve received the report.”

Fina nodded, glancing at the Golden Dragon Girl, whose head was nearly buried in her bowl at another table nearby.

”What do you think, Mr. Fang Zheng?”

”In my opinion, it’s actually a good plan.”

”...Is it?”

”Of course.”

Fang Zheng swallowed the steak in his mouth and twirled the fork in his hand.

”We can’t kill all the people of the Kingdom of Flame, but keeping them is trouble. So, banishing those fools to another planet is a reasonable choice. Plus, if Hell has a suitable ’experimental field’, aren’t we safer here?”

”But...”

At this, Fina furrowed her brow slightly.

”Doing so means pushing all the citizens of the Kingdom of Flame against us...”

”They were already against us.”

Fang Zheng snorted coldly, interrupting Fina.

”From the moment they tried to undermine us, they became our enemies. And now, these guys are like mangy dogs with broken spines. Talking peace with them is meaningless now, so why not end it cleanly, once and for all?”

”But I think the civilians are innocent.”

Fina sighed softly, put down her utensils, and looked at Fang Zheng.

”Don’t you think so, Mr. Fang Zheng?”

”I don’t.”

Fang Zheng answered without hesitation.

”They made a choice and must bear the consequences. I remember when those idiots from the Kingdom of Flame said something like... oh, they wanted freedom... is that right?”

”But they were just deceived...”

”Then they’re just unlucky.”

Fang Zheng shrugged. Damn it, he still remembered that stab from the Demon Lord colluding with the Kingdom of Flame, MMP. Luckily, he survived. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened to the Heavenly Dao Palace and those little girls? Fang Zheng couldn’t even bear to think about it. Not to mention, during the battle at the Twilight Frontier, those fools even attempted a backstab?

When it comes to enemies, Fang Zheng has always had a low tolerance, and there’s another reason why he thinks Mephisto’s proposal is good.

”Lady Fina, let me tell you a story.”

”A story?”

”That’s right.”

Fang Zheng picked up a piece of bread and grinned at Fina.

”A long long time ago, in a certain world, the planet was overcrowded, and the prisons were even more congested. In this situation, people came up with an idea: they built a prison on the moon and sent all the prisoners from Earth to the Lunar Prison.”

”And then?”

Fina looked at him curiously, obviously finding the story quite interesting.

”After sending away the prisoners, there was peace. Those in the Lunar Prison were soon forgotten. However, contrary to what everyone thought, those sent to the Lunar Prison did not die as expected. Instead, they worked hard, using their strengths to quickly build a very powerful nation.”

Fang Zheng, while refilling his cup with wine, continued.

”Then the people from the Lunar Prison used their powerful technology to turn around and conquer the original planet. Eventually, the people of that planet had no choice but to sign a treaty with those from the Lunar Prison and submit.”

At this point, Fang Zheng spread his hands.

”So, what do you think? Isn’t it interesting?”

However, Fina appeared more serious than Fang Zheng.

”But, according to your way of saying, Mr. Fang Zheng, shouldn’t we actually be stopping the people from the Kingdom of Flame from leaving?”

”Of course not.”

Fang Zheng shook his head.

”Every civilization needs opponents, because only opponents and enemies can make it progress rapidly. Keeping the Kingdom of Flame here would be utterly pointless, except to annoy us. But if we send them to another planet, it would be different. By then, Lady Fina, you could tell everyone across the continent that the people of the Kingdom of Flame made a pact with the devil, heading into the vast cosmos. One day, they will return to this world for revenge. In this way, to avoid being powerless to resist in the future, your nation and civilization will also strive to advance.”

”This.........”

”Without the stimulus from the Kingdom of Flame, do you think the Kingdom of the Holy Church could develop the current kind of Floating Warship?”

”...Indeed.”

”The devil obviously wouldn’t be kind. If they take the people of the Kingdom of Flame to a new planet, they will naturally greatly promote hatred towards you, just like Dark Elves and Elves. They will also desire to one day enhance their technological level and return to this continent to slaughter again.”

Fang Zheng, having finished his meal, picked up the wine glass again.

”As the embodiment of the Goddess of Order, you should understand that order doesn’t distinguish between good and evil. What we need is the power to combat Chaos. If the civilization of this land loses strength in comfort, then don’t even mention Chaos; it might not even be able to handle the enemies from the Lunar Prison.”

This time, Fina didn’t speak, because she understood Fang Zheng’s point. In simple terms, Fang Zheng wanted to create an enemy for the Kingdom of the Holy Church, and only under the threat of this enemy would the Kingdom of the Holy Church be motivated to continue moving forward. Although somewhat harsh, it is... admittedly a good way.

In fact, after the recovery of the Twilight Frontier, Fina also noticed a common laziness within the Kingdom of the Holy Church. Most people thought that they should seize the opportunity of recovered lands for construction and production instead of pouring resources into the military. Fina also felt this wasn’t right. As Fang Zheng said, without the Heavenly Dao Palace, the power of the Kingdom of the Holy Church and the Kingdom of Flame is just about evenly matched.

Let alone dealing with Chaos.

Fina also knew that there was a widespread sentiment within the Kingdom of the Holy Church that the tall ones would hold up the sky when it falls, and even if they couldn’t defeat themselves, there was still the Heavenly Dao Palace!

But the problem is, Fina was acutely aware that this was not the time to relax.

This period of development was earned by Fang Zheng for her and the others. If they didn’t seize the opportunity to develop now and instead enjoyed life, they might really be left behind by the Heavenly Dao Palace.

Now it seems the solution to this situation has been found.

”There’s also a very important matter, Mr. Fang Zheng.”

”Oh? What’s the matter?”

”It’s like this, recently, we have almost recovered the entire Twilight Frontier.”

”Almost, meaning there are parts not yet recovered.”

Fang Zheng wasn’t stupid; of course, he caught the implication in Fina’s words.

”That’s right, in fact, I originally intended to recover the core zone within the Twilight Frontier, but it was impossible to penetrate. The core zone is surrounded by deep mists, and most of the search teams I sent disappeared without a trace. Though a few survived by luck, they were all...”

Here, Fina sighed.

”They turned into a state of madness, impossible to communicate with... More than that, these people’s appearances have become terrifyingly eroded by Chaos... Although I wanted to go there myself...”

”You should stay back; another incident would be unbearable for anyone.”

No need to ask, Fang Zheng knew Fina must have been persuaded by others.

”Leave this matter to me... hmm, hopefully, it’s not too troublesome.”

At this, Fang Zheng glanced at the system purposely.

Hmm, no mission popped up, so it should be... not a big problem?