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

Chapter 493: Chapter 492: The Best Defense is a Good Offense

Fang Zheng had played a game called ”Command & Conquer” before, in which one of the factions had a machine gun turret building that could attack both air and ground targets. Fang Zheng’s favorite thing to do was to quickly advance technology at the start of the game, and once he had access to machine gun turrets, he would only build those. After all, machine gun turrets didn’t cost much; it was just that their range was limited, but Fang Zheng was very patient. He could spend an entire morning deploying machine gun turrets across the entire map, all the way to the enemy’s base entrance.

And then...there was no ”after that.”

And now, Fang Zheng planned to do the same, believing multiple turrets were the mainstream of the future. If you haven’t won, then certainly, you don’t have enough turrets. As long as there are enough turrets, no problem is a problem. So as long as there are enough turrets, any problem can be effortlessly solved.

Thus, Fang Zheng’s suggestion was to let Iona and her team advance first, bomb any demon beasts from the air, then the paladins together with the Cursed Child would sweep the ground, followed by Tanji catching up to start building Crystal Towers. Then, they would fortify the outer rings of the Photon Cannons...

Fang Zheng estimated that, given the power of Photon Cannons, unless they encountered a Lord-Class demon beast, they could nearly instantaneously eliminate them...

Of course, manufacturing Photon Cannons also required resources. Considering that Knight Commander Wells had devoted many years of hard service at the Northern Fortress, Fang Zheng didn’t feel right asking for too much so he simply cut the original demand by half from a hundredfold to fiftyfold.

After all, Fang Zheng was no devil.

Knight Commander Wells agreed without hesitation. Spirit Crystals were military supplies, not easily accessible to the general public, but the Northern Fortress was itself a military institution and naturally stored a large quantity of Spirit Crystals. These Spirit Crystals at the Northern Fortress were used just for repairing magic equipment and charging Magitech Cannons, nothing critically important.

So Knight Commander Wells had no second thoughts about Fang Zheng’s request, especially after witnessing the power of the Photon Cannons. He didn’t mind handing over almost all of the fortress’s reserve of Spirit Crystals to Fang Zheng, keeping only a small portion for emergencies. Not only this, but he also promised Fang Zheng that if the results were good, he would apply for more Spirit Crystal resources from the rear. Naturally, Fang Zheng gladly accepted.

Since these Spirit Crystals were also used for Magitech Cannons, Fang Zheng’s Photon Cannons which were more powerful and fully automated without needing manual operation prompted Knight Commander Wells to resolutely abandon the fortress’s old Magitech Cannons and decisively ”find a new love.”

Of course, since this was a serious matter, Knight Commander Wells couldn’t make the decision on his own, so he also reported it to the Sanctuary. The response from the Sanctuary was quick—almost the next day after Knight Commander Wells sent the message, Bishop Carl hurriedly arrived through the Teleportation Array.

”I never expected, Your Excellency Fang Zheng, that you would make such a suggestion. It’s very important for the Sanctuary to reclaim lost territories.”

Upon arriving at the fortress, Bishop Carl didn’t mince words but started showering Fang Zheng with praise. In fact, Bishop Carl was quite excited. He had staked his reputation on this joint mission with the Heavenly Dao Palace. If anything went wrong on Fang Zheng’s end, the days of this old vampire bishop might not be so easy.

Originally, Bishop Carl had only hoped to solve the demon beast problem in the Northlands and considered that mission accomplished. However, he hadn’t expected that Fang Zheng would bring such a pleasant surprise—if they could really take back the entire Northlands, that would be a significant victory worth publicizing for the Kingdom of the Holy Church! This could not only strengthen the Kingdom’s standing and influence among the populace but also expand the territory of order!

As for the ownership of this territory, Bishop Carl wasn’t particularly concerned. If Fang Zheng wanted to take it, even better. This way, they could be neighbors with the Heavenly Dao Palace, and it would certainly be easier to foster good relations as neighbors, right?

After all, the Kingdom of the Holy Church was not merely a nation. For them, the biggest enemy was not other enemies coveting their territories but the creatures from the Chaos. As for the matter of territory, whether they took it themselves, Fang Zheng acquired it, or some other force did, the bottom line was just to keep it from falling into the hands of Chaos, even giving it to devils would be agreeable.

Though devils were part of the evil faction, they too were protectors of order. Of course, it would still be necessary to fortify the borders.

No one bothered with formal ceremonies; whether it was Fang Zheng, Wells, or Carl, all were practical types. They had no interest in the usual banter and merely held a meeting to clarify each other’s responsibilities. Fang Zheng was responsible for coordinating between the fleet and the ground forces of the Cursed Child, while Wells would command the fort’s army in exploration and defense upfront—after all, he knew the local terrain better than anyone.

Bishop Carl filled in for Wells at the Northern Fortress, overseeing the logistical aspects. Securing a piece of land wasn’t as simple as in a game where you slap down a crystal and a base and wait for mining operations to start. However, in this regard, the Kingdom of the Holy Church was professional, so Fang Zheng just left it to them to handle.

If problems arose, they could always reassess their needs.

Ideally, such an operation should be fully organized before being launched, but...those Chaos monsters clearly wouldn’t wait to act on Fang Zheng’s timetable.

”Boom———!!”

Beams of light descended from the sky, turning the ground before them into a sea of fire, where numerous Chaos Monsters screamed in the high temperatures and turned to charred remains. A flock of Demon Ravens in the sky hadn’t even had a chance to spread their wings before they were reaped by the Unicorn’s carrier-based aircraft, falling without even a whole corpse left.

”Aow———!!”

In the midst of the sea of fire, suddenly, a creature the size of a rhinoceros, engulfed in flames, charged out. Although its fur seemed charred black, it appeared not to have suffered severe damage. Blinded by rage, the Chaos Monster quickly charged toward the squad in front of it after bursting out of the flames.

”Everyone be alert, this is an Intermediate Beast!”

Watching the Chaos Monster, the leading Paladin hurriedly shouted, and soon other Paladins also came forward with weapons and shields. At the same time, behind them, a Cleric raised their staff and a Mage prepared for battle. However, before they could act, two girls in black uniforms suddenly lifted their strange weapons and pulled the trigger at the monster before them.

”Dada da———”

With the gunshots, hundreds of plasma bullets burst out, whistling as they hit the monster’s body, shattering its massive head instantly. The creature’s body then shuddered violently before it fell to the ground, rolled over, and moved no more.

”Uh...”

Watching this scene, the soldiers of the Northern Fortress were dumbstruck, momentarily speechless, not knowing what to say. Along the way, they had realized that the girls were wielding some type of weapon akin to a Magic Crossbow, but this ”Crossbow’s” power was vastly superior to ordinary magic, importantly, it was also incredibly fast. They had to admit, faced with such an attack, they probably couldn’t have avoided it either, only able to take it head-on with shields.

”Thank you for your help.”

After a moment, the Paladin squad leader nodded at the two girls and solemnly thanked them. Hearing his thanks, the two girls slightly smiled, saying little in response.

Overall, the Cursed Children and the soldiers of the Sanctuary seemed to get along fairly well. However, perhaps because they had suffered so much in the Pitch Black World, most of the Cursed Children, apart from a few with lively personalities, maintained a distant if not indifferent attitude towards these Paladins.

The Paladins didn’t mind this, although it wasn’t explicitly stated, they were not like Paladin converts like Fang Zheng, each having studied the scriptures thoroughly. Looking at those massive metal warships overhead, akin to mountains, and then at these girls with Light Wings capable of flying around, evidently, the opposition was nearly divine emissaries, if not quite.

Because of this, the Paladins’ attitude towards the girls was somewhat restrained. The mutual distance between both parties indeed gave them some relief. After all, these Paladins were devout believers. Although they wouldn’t harbor ill intentions towards these children, offending them inadvertently could lead to significant guilt.

”So far, everything is still going smoothly...”

Sitting in the command room, watching the battlefield below through the monitor, Fang Zheng was satisfied and nodded. Although it was the first time both parties were collaborating, they seemed to be in sync. Although there were as many Demon Beasts as ants, all clustering blackly, they could not withstand a barrage from the Sea Mist Fleet. The leftovers were promptly mowed down by the Cursed Children with guns. The Paladins, prepared for combat, ended up serving little purpose, only able to shout praises from the sidelines.

”Captain.”

At that moment, Iona, who was sitting beside Fang Zheng at a table, lifted her head, a blue light flashing in her eyes.

”A large life form has been detected.”

”Oh?”

Upon hearing Iona’s report, Fang Zheng’s spirits lifted.

As expected, it had come.