Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!
Chapter 736 - 735

Chapter 736: 735

The architectural layout of the Zerg structures is different from others: in the center of the fungal carpet stands a Hatchery, beside which crawls a group of larvae ready to hatch at any time.

And the worker bees collecting resources rush to deliver four cubic units of resources back each time, handing them over to the Hatchery for processing. If one is willing to spend a bit more, a group of Jumping Bugs can be hatched for guard duty. With even more resources collected, one could produce Hydralisks and Roaches or the like.

However, for Fang Zheng, rather than mass-producing troops, he was more focused on the anomalies happening before his eyes.

"This is really interesting..."

Standing on the fungal carpet, Fang Zheng closed his eyes and felt the aura around him. He could sense that as the fungal carpet spread, the chaotic aura of the surroundings began to calm, and the air that was once filled with deadly toxins was gradually being purified. Even the regions originally filled with Chaotic Power were starting to be weakened significantly by the Zerg’s fungal carpet.

Fang Zheng had seen this situation before. In the Northlands, he used Star Spirit Crystal Towers to resist the influence of Chaotic Power and gradually expand the Order Domain. It seemed that the Zerg’s fungal carpet had a similar effect, but unlike the Crystal Tower, which took immediate effect, the Zerg’s fungal carpet appeared to have a process of transformation and conversion.

However, whether it’s the Crystal Tower or the fungal carpet, their existence proved one thing—that on this planet, all forces based on order, good or evil, regardless of race, can resist the erosion and attacks of Chaos. Especially for races with strict order structures like the Star Spirits and the Zerg, this is even more prominent. Perhaps it is also for this reason that their effect against Chaos is more striking.

This filled Fang Zheng with even greater confidence. Clearly, since the fungal carpet could suppress Chaos, everything he was doing was justified, well-founded, and orderly... Who the hell dares to cause trouble is against me, against the Goddess of Order, see if I won’t smash their dog heads!

Of course, troubles were not entirely absent.

"Squeak, squeak!!"

Through the shared vision of the fungal carpet, Fang Zheng clearly saw a group of creatures screeching as they leaped from the branches and rushed towards his territory. They looked like monkeys but had a snake for a tail. Furthermore, these "monkeys" were covered in constantly writhing, poison-oozing tumors all over their bodies. Their gaunt limbs, which looked like just skin and bones, made them even more nauseating to look at.

Fang Zheng wasn’t surprised by this. After all, Demon Creatures in the Chaos Lands had undergone mutations more or less. During his time at the frontlines, he even learned some techniques from the old Commander about identifying these Demon Creatures by their appearances to determine the level of the Chaos Lands he was in—according to the Sanctuary’s classifications, the Chaos Lands were divided into three levels.

The Northern Fortress was located in a Level One area, where Demon Beasts looked not much different from ordinary wild beasts, only affected by Chaotic Magic, and possessed some special abilities such as breathing fire. The Demon Wolves that Fang Zheng first encountered belonged to this category of creatures.

However, the Demon Beasts in the Second Rank areas would become even more... unsightly. They’d exhibit forms mixed from multiple animals, but at least one could still recognize them. Put simply, the Second Rank Demon Beasts looked somewhat deformed—like having two heads or three arms.

But Level Three... that is, the Demon Beasts in the areas with the most severe Chaos corruption, they were practically unrecognizable, or rather, one could only guess what they were from their shapes. Sometimes, aside from maintaining a part of their original form and shape, the rest of them had become a complete mess.

Looking at the current situation of these Demon Beasts, they were clearly the most severe case, indicating that Fang Zheng was currently in a Rank III area. Of course, this was not without its advantages for Fang Zheng; typically, humans could not venture deep into such places, so Fang Zheng just needed to handle what he needed to take care of.

"Kill them."

Watching the group of Demon Creatures before him, Fang Zheng snapped his fingers. Soon, as the monkey-like Demon Beasts charged into the Zerg territory, a group of Jumping Bugs suddenly burst from underground. They spread their wings and leaped into the air, pinning the Demon Beasts to the ground like starving wolves pouncing on their prey.

"Squeak, yah—! Squeak, yah!!"

Faced with the sudden attack from the Jumping Bugs, the Demon Beasts were caught off guard. They frantically waved their sharp claws, attempting to tear apart the exoskeleton of the Jumping Bugs. Fang Zheng could also see a dark green gas, very similar to the mist of the area, continuously sprayed from the tumors on the bodies of these Demon Beasts. Their tails, transformed from snakes, coiled tightly around the Jumping Bugs and bit down hard.

This set of attacks would be hard for even a normal Paladin to withstand, but to Jumping Bugs whose bodies could withstand bullets and whose carapaces had been upgraded to Rank III by Fang Zheng, it was practically insignificant. Thus, the Jumping Bugs paid no mind to the Demon Beasts’ attacks, which were like a tickle to them, pinned down the beasts, opened their mouths wide, and went "om nom nom"... and then there was no after.

After the Jumping Bugs dispersed, only dismembered carcasses remained on the fungal carpet. These remains were soon completely enveloped, devoured, and digested by the wriggling fungal carpet, transforming into Zerg tumors—Zerg do not waste anything useful, not even a corpse.

But for Fang Zheng, he could feel much more.

As the fungal carpet enveloped the corpses of the Demon Beasts, Fang Zheng could feel a chaotic force within the corpses struggling to seep into the fungal carpet. But before it even managed to get up and shout, "I’ll be a great man again in thirty years," it was slapped down by the fungal carpet and instantly disappeared without a trace like an ethereal melody.

It seemed that everything was going smoothly.

After confirming that the Zerg would not be eroded by Chaos and could even devour it, Fang Zheng finally relaxed and opened the personal terminal on his hand.

Soon, the map of the entire Western Continent appeared on it.

With the help of satellites crafted by Nymph, Fang Zheng could now monitor the entire Western Continent directly through satellite imagery, though it wasn’t omnipotent. Currently, the satellites from Heavenly Dao Palace could only identify the territory of the Kingdom of Flame and the area where Fang Zheng was located. Other regions perhaps due to the erosion of Chaos, looked on the satellite map like the peculiar ’fog of war’ one sees in RTS games.

Well... Fang Zheng mused that it was becoming more and more like playing a real-time strategy game.

Using the personal terminal and the satellites, Fang Zheng swiftly controlled the rapid expansion of his Swarm—after determining that the fungal carpet could resist and even devour the power of Chaos, he changed his strategy, making the expansion of the fungal carpet the most important priority. The Insect Matriarchs roamed far and wide spreading their tumorous fungal carpets, while Jumping Bugs and Hydralisks hid along the edges of the fungal growth, ready to strike at any enemies that might attack the Zerg territory.

In fact, there were quite a few enemies.

Just as at the Northern Fortress, those Demon Creatures eroded by Chaos were extremely sensitive to the invasion of Order. Particularly after Fang Zheng consecutively established three expansions, the Chaos Monsters seemed as if they had been poked in their nest (although in truth, that seemed to be the case), madly attacking the Swarm.

It was an absolute nightmare.

Countless diverse Demon Creatures roared out from the forests, hell-bent on destroying the Swarm. Fang Zheng saw mutated cheetahs, venomous snakes, and crocodiles as large as yachts, all grotesquely transformed and decaying from Chaos’s erosion. He even saw a herd of elephants—with sharp barbs like tusks growing on their trunks and swollen, rotting tumors all over their bodies. Their legs had completely melted into a snail-like form, and they charged at a speed utterly impossible for a snail, their tumorous massive bodies crashing forward.

If they were up against humans, even the elite Holy Knights of the Northern Fortress would’ve likely suffered heavy casualties. But to Fang Zheng’s Swarm, the attack of these Chaos monsters was practically useless.

So when these Chaos monsters charged out of the forests, ready to give the invaders an unforgettable lesson, what they faced was an overwhelming tide of the Swarm.

The wave of Jumping Bugs and Hydralisks completely engulfed these ferocious creatures, who didn’t even manage to create a splash before being entirely devoured.

The battle was even easier than when Fang Zheng was at the Northern Fortress, as back then, he had employed the elite tactics of the Divine Race. However, here, the advantages of the Swarm and the Chaos Monsters were much the same—a relentless, fearless horde strategy.

And when the strengths of both sides were identical, what remained was determining who was stronger.

Obviously, the uncoordinated Chaos Monsters could not possibly be a match for the Swarm.

After realizing that these Chaos Monsters were as fragile as Goblins, Fang Zheng immediately changed plans. His original intention was to adopt the strategy used in the Northlands, which was to settle in, build steadily, and fortify a pathway to the enemy’s doorstep.

But after discovering that the Zerg could overpower these Chaos Monsters without breaking a sweat, Fang Zheng quickly adjusted his combat plan, ordering the Swarm to roam the forests and annihilate any living Chaos Monsters they encountered. If they found isolated or small groups, he let Jumping Bugs and Hydralisks swarm and rip them to shreds. If they encountered larger creatures, he sent Self-Destructing Bugs to go for a splendid and glorious self-detonation. And if they had to deal with flyers... Did you think Flying Dragons were just for show?

Just as Fang Zheng was preparing to rally his forces and pondering whether he should make an "unexpected contact" with the Kingdom of Flame, the Swarm suddenly brought him news.

A strange race had appeared within the territory of the Zerg.