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

Chapter 901: Chapter 900: The Trouble Lies Not in Scarcity, But in Inequality

After solving his own problem, Fang Zheng left Lisbeth’s workshop. Of course, before leaving, Fang Zheng did not forget to remind Lisbeth to keep it confidential for the time being. Lisbeth nodded in agreement like a pecking chicken, as she wasn’t foolish and knew what it meant, so she naturally didn’t dare to stir up trouble.

However, Lisbeth didn’t know that the reason Fang Zheng didn’t create better firearms wasn’t because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t want to.

Can’t Fang Zheng create an M16? Can’t he make a grenade launcher? Can’t he make a Gatling?

Hilarious, of course he can make them.

But why would Fang Zheng do it?

Weapons with long range and fierce firepower might seem formidable, but Fang Zheng knows that such things are basically useless for ordinary players.

The reason is simple: they are facing digitalized bosses, not real creatures.

If they were facing real creatures or monsters, gathering people for a firing squad might work. But when facing monsters that rely on HP, this advantage is almost zero. Even if you gather a hundred people to shoot at the boss with AKs, the boss would just need one piercing attack, add a charge to rush in front of you all, and then a clean sweep, likely killing half of the people outright.

If you’re holding a gun with both hands, how do you block an attack? With your head?

Not only that, but what worries Fang Zheng more is that the appearance of such weapons would give players a strange sense of confidence and could lead to many dangers—gun proliferation is already a serious issue in real society, and it would be even worse in the game world.

After much thought, Fang Zheng chose the hunter firearm he saw in Anan Town as his manufacturing target—this firearm itself doesn’t have much power and has a very short range, making it worthless on its own. However, combined with melee weapons, it can just help powerful players reduce risks. This reduces the potential problems caused by gun proliferation to the greatest extent and also reduces its allure.

After all, the requirements for using this weapon are very high, making it useless for average players.

As for whether others would imitate him because of his hint, Fang Zheng isn’t worried at all. Despite how he seemed to draw out the component blueprints with a few strokes, Fang Zheng’s precision in drawing parts is industrial-grade, with millimeter accuracy. Just this skill alone, Fang Zheng believes few players have it, not to mention the difficulty of drawing 3D models, not just flat diagrams.

To take a step back, even if someone does manage to create an M16, Fang Zheng wouldn’t be afraid. As mentioned earlier, in this game world reliant on HP instead of physical damage judgment, the power of firearms is mostly just for show. Fang Zheng can completely charge forward taking a bullet barrage, and once he reaches in front of them, they wouldn’t even have the chance to retaliate.

When Fang Zheng returned to the guild residence, the others sent to investigate under his orders had already returned. Even Gabriel was reluctantly handing in her ten investigation reports. Fang Zheng wasted no time and immediately began reading them one by one.

Perhaps due to the fact that most members of Fang Zheng’s guild are girls, everyone has their own hobbies and clubs they participate in. Of course, there are also otakus—just look at Gabriel, who is sprawled out on the table like an Erha.

After reviewing the list, Fang Zheng made a decision.

”Alright then, pass it down, starting from tomorrow, we will have 120 minutes free every afternoon for them to do what they want... just like conducting club activities, they can freely form teams according to their own ideas and do some interesting activities.”

In the World of Shana, Fang Zheng had once worked as a teacher in a Japanese high school, so he had some understanding of the lifestyle habits of Japanese students.

”Is this necessary?”

As expected, the first to challenge Fang Zheng’s decision was Asuna.

”We’re already short on manpower, shouldn’t they focus more on combat and production work...?”

”A balance between work and rest is also important, and...”

At this point, Fang Zheng paused for a moment.

”If we can restore some everyday activities from the real world, it might help people relax a bit. The production group doesn’t need to participate in front-line combat, as long as they remember to level up. The combat group needs to put in a bit more effort, but there’s no need to push too hard. Currently, the front-line raid group is just us, and we don’t need too much resource accumulation. It’s enough to ensure the healthy growth of the entire guild, pushing too hard might have the opposite effect.”

”......”

This time, Asuna didn’t say anything more, just silently stepping aside. Seeing no one else had objections, Fang Zheng waved his hand grandly.

”Let’s go, next up, we’ll tackle the second layer’s dungeon instance!”

The second layer’s map isn’t much different from the first layer, except that unlike the forest terrain of the first layer, the second layer mainly consists of plains and wilderness with flat terrain. The advantage is that monsters basically can’t hide and ambush, but the disadvantage is that once surrounded, it’s hard to escape using the terrain.

And most of the creatures living on the second layer are strength-type monsters. Of course, they aren’t difficult to deal with for Fang Zheng and his party, but for Fang Zheng, bringing everyone here to hunt isn’t just about leveling up.

”—————!!”

The Minotaur with its upper body bare charged towards Fang Zheng wielding a large club, but facing the charging Minotaur, Fang Zheng’s mouth curved slightly upwards before he suddenly raised his bizarrely-shaped giant machete and swung forward.

”Ka!!”

The gigantic machete instantly extended and split with Fang Zheng’s swing, transforming into a massive whip blade that struck the Minotaur. Then, Fang Zheng swung again with a reverse motion, directly repelling the towering and massive Minotaur, which could easily play as a power forward in basketball.

However, at this moment, two other Minotaurs approached from left and right, surrounding him. Just as they launched their attack, Fang Zheng quickly withdrew his sword and retreated, somersaulting to dodge the Minotaurs’ assault. Then, his Greatsword swung out again with a horizontal slash.

The Whip Blade transformed into a giant python, mercilessly striking the bodies of the two Minotaurs, smashing them into fragments.

Fang Zheng stood up, slammed his Greatsword onto the ground, transforming it back from a Whip Blade to a One-Handed Greatsword. Then he suddenly leaped up, launching a powerful strike at the third Minotaur he had previously repelled...

”Bang!”

Amidst flying fragments, the last creature was utterly crushed.

”So awesome......”

The girls stared at Fang Zheng in awe, their eyes wide open. In fact, when Fang Zheng first showcased his shapeshifting Greatsword in front of them, everyone was taken aback. And now, having seen it in action, they were even more impressed by the power of this shapeshifting weapon.

”Mr. Fang Zheng, where did you buy this weapon?”

At this moment, Black Cat couldn’t help stepping forward to ask. As a deep-dive fantasist, Black Cat had to admit that this bloody, violent, and cool One-Handed Greatsword seemed incredibly wicked!

...... Though it had many messy adjectives, let’s pretend not to see that.

As for why Black Cat was sure this sword was bought and not dropped from monsters... well, having been with Fang Zheng for so long, everyone knew about his bad luck aura.

No need to make unnecessary efforts.

”I made it myself.”

Fang Zheng glared at Black Cat helplessly. Even if he couldn’t get a Two-Handed Sword, was it necessary to be so sure he bought it? Didn’t he want any face?

”Eh? Mr. Fang Zheng, aren’t you a Forging Master?”

”I learned a hidden skill — Cartography.”

Facing his companions, Fang Zheng naturally wouldn’t hide such trivial matters.

”This skill allows me to create exclusive weapon blueprints. However, my Cartography Attribute Level is very low, and the materials used are quite ordinary, so they don’t have special traits like your weapons. I can only get a sense from this aspect.”

”But it looks very cool!”

At this moment, Yuki also walked over excitedly, curiously examining the Greatsword in Fang Zheng’s hand.

”Although it seems... a bit too fierce.”

”If you want, I can also customize shapeshifting weapons for you.”

Fang Zheng wasn’t bothered by this; on the contrary, he was enticingly inviting, like an enigmatic uncle enticing little girls with lollipops to see goldfish.

”What do you think? Doesn’t it look cool? Doesn’t it feel even more agile when using it? Not only can it balance the speed of a One-Handed weapon, but it can also increase attack range and damage after transformation. If you don’t want to use ordinary materials, you can search for rare materials to craft weapons, right? Black Cat, do you want a scythe? I can help!”

”Re-really?”

As expected, the already enthusiastic Black Cat’s eyes sparkled upon hearing about such an imaginative weapon.

”I want it! Mr. Fang Zheng, please give me the blueprint! I want to name it myself... hmm, let’s call it the Scythe of Severed Destiny!”

”Then... Brother Fang Zheng, can I have one too? My current One-Handed Sword isn’t that great-looking...”

”Me too, Mr. Fang Zheng!”

With Black Cat setting the precedent, the other girls naturally gathered around unreservedly. In fact, they had long eyed Fang Zheng’s shapeshifting giant blade. Initially, they thought Fang Zheng bought it from someone else, but upon finding out it was crafted by him, they couldn’t contain their excitement.

”No problem, consider it done.”

Seeing the throng of delighted girls, Fang Zheng also patted his chest. This was his plan, after all—since he couldn’t get any weapons himself, everyone should use custom-made ones instead! As for the dropped equipment, they would sell it for money!

It’s not a question of scarcity but of fairness; surely he couldn’t be the only one unable to acquire weapons!