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

Chapter 147: Chapter 146 Zerg vs. Ironblood Warrior (Part 1)

The reward for the “Homecoming” quest was a major boon for Fang Zheng.

Most importantly, as long as Fang Zheng completed the mission, this plane would become a Free World like Dark Soul and When the Cicadas Cry. Once the plane was a Free World, it meant that Fang Zheng could enter and exit this world at will without waiting for cooldowns.

Moreover, upon completing this mission, Fang Zheng’s “Heart of the Swarm” Skill would no longer be exclusive to the Soulstone, but would be fixed to his person. This would save Fang Zheng the trouble of having to switch to Kerrigan each time he controlled the Zerg. Although Kerrigan’s Soulstone was quite useful, there were many instances where Fang Zheng needed the abilities of other Soulstones in battle. If he was limited to only using Kerrigan while controlling the Swarm, then his strategic options would also be restricted.

Once he had solidified the “Heart of the Swarm” Skill, Fang Zheng could switch Soulstones while manipulating the Swarm – at least he wouldn’t be so passive.

Like in the Edge of Tomorrow World, after summoning Mirune and the others, the first order was to command the drones to establish a base. Whenever in doubt with the Zerg, claim a mine. First, secure the resources, then mass-produce soldiers and push them all with a basic A-move.

However, dealing with Ironblood Warriors wasn’t as simple as dealing with the wire creatures in the Edge of Tomorrow. Although Ironblood Warriors weren’t strong, they were a low-tier version of the Divine Race with both air and ground troops. Facing such enemies required careful consideration. First, conduct exploration to understand the enemy’s layout, then decide whether to rush with Dragoon-Dog squads or go F2A.

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After some reconnaissance, Fang Zheng had figured out the general situation on the planet. freēNovelFire.com

As depicted in the movies, the planet was a hunting ground or rather, a playground for the Ironblood Warriors. As such, the planet’s defenses weren’t particularly stringent. According to the Swarm’s reconnaissance, the Ironblood Warriors had only built a main building to rest and dock their ships and a few defensive facilities. Other than that, there was nothing else. However, given the Ironblood’s tradition of a military society, whether these warning facilities were constructed or not didn’t really matter much.

Furthermore, according to the Swarm’s report, the Ironblood Warriors on this planet didn’t only have Big Nose and their group’s playground; in fact, during the reconnaissance, the Swarm continuously discovered hundreds of humans. They were captured by the Ironblood Warriors from Earth and then thrown onto this planet. The distribution of these humans was also interesting; some were thrown into gobi deserts, others even to frigid snowy lands, and some were left on islands.

Besides humans, the Ironblood had also captured various Alien Life forms, many of which possessed very strange and clever abilities… um, for the Swarm, this was simply the best hunting ground.

It seemed that the Ironblood Warriors honed their skills by fighting these creatures in different environments… of course, for humans, this was a tragedy.

Compared to those thrown into deserts or left in neighboring areas, the treatment of Big Nose and the other protagonists was quite good. At least they were in tropical regions, with no worry about freezing or dying of thirst…

Fang Zheng also figured out the behavior pattern of these Ironblood Warriors.

They would first arrive at the planet on their mother ship, then descend to the meetup point in their small ships. The Ironblood Warriors would choose their desired “play” areas and then break into teams of three, with hunting dogs heading to the “playgrounds” to start their hunt. Whether the Ironblood Warriors had Points or any rankings, Fang Zheng wasn’t sure, but to him, they seemed indifferent to these things. They were simply sharpening their skills and fighting with humans abducted here to gain reaction and experience to various attacks in different environments and situations.

Fortunately, based on Fang Zheng’s observations, the areas controlled by the Ironblood Warriors were divided. If a three-person team had already entered an area to hunt, other teams would not choose that area. Only after the three-person team either failed and died or succeeded and left would others enter the area to begin hunting.

If Fang Zheng’s memory was correct, then those responsible for hunting in this area were the Gryphon trio from the movie. Oh, wait, he had already killed one of them, so now there were only two left.

But… none of this mattered to him.

In the Edge of Tomorrow World, Fang Zheng chose covert actions because the mission restricted his faction and he didn’t want to scare the humans. But in this world, there were no faction restrictions. So Fang Zheng didn’t hesitate and went all out.

Although Fang Zheng had not yet had time to build too many bases on this land, the soldiers he amassed in the Edge of Tomorrow World were not in vain. Before leaving the Edge of Tomorrow World, he had stuffed all his Zerg troops into the Leviathan and sent them into space. Now, through the Dimensional Codex’s opened Teleportation Gate, these Zerg troops returned!

Fang Zheng didn’t immediately go looking for trouble with the Ironblood. For him, completely occupying the planet was of utmost importance. Mine and mass-produce soldiers, then attack en masse—then he wouldn’t be afraid of anyone!

Of course, that was easier said than done… But in reality, Fang Zheng had no clue how to go about it.

In the Edge of Tomorrow World, Fang Zheng chose to control the Swarm himself because he knew the enemy would reset. Moreover, the battles in the Edge of Tomorrow World were within Fang Zheng’s grasp. But in the Ironblood Warrior’s world, he knew nothing about interstellar warfare. After all, in the world before his Rebirth, humanity hadn’t even colonized the moon yet, let alone experienced grand interstellar conflicts.

So, Fang Zheng simply played the part of a hands-off shopkeeper and entrusted everything to Mirune, as he planned to watch closely how the Zerg conduct warfare in the cosmos.

And under Mirune’s command, a storm was about to be unleashed across the entire planet.

One by one, the worker bees quietly dispersed, taking Lords to every corner of the planet in search of resources. They silently spread in all directions across the planet, and tunneling worms began to burrow underground, creating a network of tunnels to connect the bases. With the acquired resources, the Insect Hives began to spread wildly, not hiding their desire to consume everything, much like a virus starting to devour the entire planet.

And all this… finally caught the attention of the Ironblood Warriors.

Night fell.

A small mechanical falcon spread its wings and flew swiftly towards the depths of the jungle. It was on the hunt for prey, like a hound raised by hunters, searching for traces and then… reporting back.

In the scan of infrared vision, the rainforest was immersed in darkness. But just as the mechanical falcon was about to head home, suddenly, a large patch of bright red appeared before its eyes!

What was that?

The mechanical falcon wasn’t startled. It quickly changed direction and headed deeper into the jungle once more, but before it could get a clear view of the red, suddenly, accompanied by a shriek, countless spikes shot out from below, completely destroying it!

“Bang!!”

With a soft sound, the mechanical falcon exploded instantly, turning into a heap of scrap metal.

“……..”

At the same time, in a distant camp, an Ironblood Warrior wearing a falcon mask stood up and looked solemnly into the distance. Just moments ago, he had sent his mechanical falcon to search for missing comrades, but unexpectedly, it stumbled upon something else and got destroyed before it could identify what it was.

Recalling the last infrared vision transmitted by the mechanical falcon, that Ironblood Warrior was also puzzled. All the “prey” on this planet had been caught by them from various planets, and they had some understanding of these creatures. But… what exactly was that red?

Thinking this, the Ironblood Warrior whistled, and soon, following the sound of his whistle, the “hounds” that had been lying around the Ironblood Warrior all stood up. These “hounds” looked like peeled wild dogs, only their bodies were covered with sharp bone spikes, appearing extremely ferocious. Following the command of the Ironblood Warrior, these hounds also immediately dashed into the jungle, heading towards the direction of the mechanical falcon’s crash.

However, not long after the hounds left, suddenly, the Ironblood Warrior heard the howling of the hounds from afar, but only for a moment, and then there was no response from them again!

“……..”

Sensing something was wrong, the Ironblood Warrior looked around warily. He whistled again, but this time, he received no response from the hounds.

“Swoosh!!”

Realizing that the situation was dire, the Ironblood wearing the falcon mask immediately waved his hands, and sharp blades sprang out from between his arms, while the shoulder cannons on his body started to rotate left and right. The Ironblood Warrior turned around, quickly switching through various scanning modes, vigilantly watching the jungle around him. At the same time, another Ironblood Warrior wearing an elephant mask also got ready for combat, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

It was unclear whether it was the wind or something else, but at this moment, the bushes in the dark night also made rustling noises, as if something was moving through them.

And just as the Ironblood Warrior switched back to infrared scanning mode, dozens of bright red life signatures suddenly leaped out of the undergrowth, lunging at them!