Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!-Chapter 1466 - 1465: 100 Uses for Shields (A Must-Read for Demon Clan Macho Men on Street Corners)
Walking down the street, two little girls followed closely behind Fang Zheng, silently, as anxious and frightened as two kittens abandoned by their mother cat.
"Hmm... Anyway, we should get you some new clothes first."
Seeing the two girls in tattered clothes, Fang Zheng frowned. It was hardly clothing by any definition; more like rags, really...
"Does it hurt?"
Watching the two girls walk barefoot on the ground, Fang Zheng couldn’t help but ask. Hearing his question, the little raccoon and the little white tiger were startled and quickly shook their heads.
"No, it doesn’t hurt!"
Even though they insisted with determined expressions, just looking at their scratched feet told a different story.
This reminded Fang Zheng of those cursed children, who also preferred to suffer silently rather than let others see them as burdens.
They are just kids, after all.
Thinking of this, Fang Zheng approached them and picked them up in his arms, one on each side.
"Ah!"
"Eh?"
Startled by this sudden action, the two girls jumped, but Fang Zheng didn’t say much—just glanced at them.
"Hold on tight, don’t fall off."
Then he carried them forward like this.
It was certainly an eye-catching sight for a man to walk down the street carrying two subhuman children, and many people cast curious and disdainful glances at Fang Zheng. However, he didn’t care about their opinions; after all, he’d seen this kind of reaction many times when he first traveled to the Black World.
Soon, Fang Zheng, holding the two little girls, arrived at an adventure gear shop, opened the door, and walked in.
"Welcome... Oh, isn’t it the young Hero?"
The bald boss behind the counter greeted him, and upon recognizing Fang Zheng, he was momentarily surprised, but didn’t show any of the cold or disdainful looks others outside had. Instead, he laughed heartily.
"I never expected the young Hero would come to my shop... What can I do for you?"
"Get these two kids a set of light, action-friendly clothes, price is not an issue."
"No problem, leave it to me."
The bald boss didn’t seem to harbor any prejudice against Fang Zheng’s subhuman kids either; he just nodded and turned around, quickly retrieving two sets of clothes from behind the counter.
"How about these? They might be a bit big for the young girls, but adventure clothing comes with some protective capabilities and is convenient to move in."
"That works."
Fang Zheng glanced at the clothes the bald boss handed out, nodded, and then signaled the two little girls to each take a set into the fitting room. Though a bit confused, the little ones picked up the clothes and went into the fitting room.
"Boss, I happen to have something I’d like to ask."
Watching them enter the fitting room, Fang Zheng finally turned his attention to the bald boss before him. This boss, unlike others, was very forthright. He reminded Fang Zheng of Agil, whom he had met in the game SAO...
But come to think of it, are all weapons merchants bald with beards?
Is this some kind of curse?
In any case, he would never choose this line of work in the future.
"Oh, young Hero, what would you like to ask?"
"It seems the subhumans’ status in this country is very low; is it the same throughout the world?"
"What? You don’t know, young man?"
Hearing Fang Zheng’s inquiry, the bald boss was visibly surprised.
"This country worships the Three Heroes Sect, so they aren’t very tolerant of subhumans."
"Three Heroes Sect?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Zheng immediately thought of those cultist-looking people he’d seen when he was summoned.
"That’s right, subhumans were once slaves to humans, but according to legend, the previous Hero of the Shield aided subhumans in rebelling against humans and helped them form their own nation. Of course, you know, this kind of thing comes with its share of wars. It gradually turned into what we have now..."
"I see..."
Hearing this, Fang Zheng nodded. Although the boss’s explanation was vague, he understood the gist: revolutions require blood and sacrifice, not just marches and slogans. The previous Hero of the Shield helped form a nation for subhumans, which means conflict, wars, and slaughter against humans.
And with slaughter, hatred naturally grows and spreads.
For humans, mere slaves dared to rebel and even killed them; it was beyond forgiveness.
For subhumans, they wanted to escape the plight of slavery, so naturally, they had to fight back and kill those who once oppressed them as slaves.
Both sides believed they were right, that they were just, and that the other was evil.
As for the Three Heroes Sect, it goes without saying. Four Sacred Heroes, yet the human faction’s religion worships three heroes, combined with those idiots’ attitudes towards him, it’s clear they see the Hero of the Shield as a traitor or plague.
"So, is there a country for subhumans on this continent now?"
"Yes, but how should I put it... sigh, I don’t like to say this, but that country isn’t very friendly to humans either. You must already know, in this country, it’s legal to sell subhuman slaves, and in the subhuman country, selling human slaves is legal too."
At this point, the bald boss spread his hands and shrugged, as if to say, "What can you do?"
"... I see."
Hearing the bald boss’s words, Fang Zheng paused in silence, then nodded. From the subhumans’ perspective, they were not wrong either; both sides were retaliating against each other. In the human supremacist nation Megmarlo, using subhumans as slaves is seen as a "tradition" that doesn’t require change.
And the subhumans were evidently paying back humans for their past enslavement by enslaving humans in return...
Thankfully, the Black World doesn’t have such problems.
With this thought, Fang Zheng breathed a sigh of relief. In the Black World, humanity could only struggle to survive in enclaves due to the Intestinal Creatures rampaging. The external survival crisis far outweighed any internal ones, and the Cursed Children hadn’t banded together for revenge against humanity.
But who knows what the future holds.
The bald boss’s words indicated that the previous Hero of the Shield had good intentions when he aided subhumans against human enslavement.
But perhaps even he couldn’t foresee how things would end up.
Clearly, placing the Cursed Children in the Heavenly Dao Palace was the best choice.
Fang Zheng had considered creating a sanctuary for the Cursed Children in the Black World, but the bald boss’s words served as a reminder: wherever there are powers, there will be conflicts. Perhaps now, under the threat of Intestinal Creatures, humans don’t pay much attention to it.
However, once the Intestinal Creatures are fully exterminated, humanity in that world will inevitably seek to reclaim control over the entire Earth, and then, conflict with the Cursed Children will be inevitable.
Indeed, the Cursed Children were good kids, but even good kids wouldn’t just take a beating without striking back or ignore it when their companions were killed without seeking revenge.
Did the previous Hero of the Shield not anticipate this outcome? Or did he foresee it but was powerless to change it? Or did the subhuman nation forget its original intentions over time?
These are all troubling issues.
Fang Zheng had initially thought about whether to help the subhumans if they were like the Cursed Children in this world. But since the subhumans already have their nation, he changed his mind. The previous Hero of the Shield did what he could, and things have ended up like this, there’s nothing more to be done.
So it’s best to focus on his own matters.
"Rustle."
While Fang Zheng was deep in thought, the fitting room curtain opened, and the two girls, now changed into their new clothes, emerged.
The little raccoon was dressed in dark red adventure gear, while the little white tiger wore pure white adventure clothes. Though a bit big, at least they now had shoes, a significant improvement from their rags.
"By the way, what are your names?"
Only now did Fang Zheng realize he didn’t know the names of the two little girls. Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s inquiry, the little raccoon and the little white tiger exchanged a glance, then the little raccoon timidly spoke.
"My name is Raphtalia."
"My name is Liphana."
The little white tiger quickly followed suit.
"Raphtalia and Liphana, is it? So... hmm... What do you plan to do next?"
Fang Zheng thought for a moment before asking. The two little girls were clearly surprised by Fang Zheng’s question.
"Master... Master... What do you mean?"
"You are slaves... Hmm, you were captured here as slaves, right? So, you should have your own home and family. Where are they? If possible, I will send you back home..."
"Wu..."
But before Fang Zheng’s words had fully landed, Raphtalia suddenly burst into tears, while Liphana lowered her head without saying a word.
"Uh... What’s going on?"
Seeing this, Fang Zheng scratched his head, originally thinking according to classic scenarios, this moment should be filled with tears of joy, but judging by their expressions, it didn’t seem to be the case...
"It’s like this, Master."
At this moment, Liphana spoke.
"Raphtalia and my parents... during the first wave outbreak..."
"........."
Now that I think about it, that clueless king did mention a lot of people died during the first wave outbreak, but Fang Zheng had just treated it as background information.
Turns out, it wasn’t just background information.
"Does it matter, buddy?"
The bald boss also spoke up this time.
"Why not take them with you? Two subhuman kids would struggle to survive here, plus, you need to fight against the waves, having a few helpers isn’t a bad idea."
"Isn’t it said that subhumans aren’t good at fighting or heavy physical labor?"
If subhumans were as strong as the Cursed Child in combat, it would be different, but when Fang Zheng first bought them, the boss with sunglasses had told him that subhumans weren’t good at fighting or heavy physical labor.
"We, we can do anything."
Perhaps mistaking Fang Zheng’s words as planning to abandon them, Liphana immediately became agitated.
"Please, let us follow you, we are willing to do anything..."
"Alright... You can follow me for now."
Fang Zheng decided not to say anything more and waved his hand.
"Let’s go, I’ll first take you to eat, and then... we’ll leave the city."
After that, Fang Zheng took the two youngsters to a nearby restaurant for a meal, then left the King’s City heading toward the nearby wilderness.
And the reason for coming here was naturally... to see what use this broken shield had.
To be honest, Fang Zheng didn’t like this shield at all. First, this shield looked silly and small, appearing very foolish. Moreover, what annoyed Fang Zheng even more was, perhaps due to the world’s inherent "setting," since equipping the shield, he can’t use any other weapons, be it Frostmourne, Restia, or Ester, unable to wield them when summoned.
Luckily, Fang Zheng could at least still use his own spells and Primordial Fire...
Being just him, anyone else with no muscle power would probably suffer greatly.
Unable to equip weapons in hand, only able to use magic and Primordial Fire, of course, for choices, there’s also Royal Wealth available.
Just without a greatsword as a mage, it feels somewhat off...
Hmm? Something feels off?
Oh well, maybe it’s nothing.
So Fang Zheng felt he had to test it at the very least, to see what qualifications this shield had to make him give up Frostmourne, Restia, and Ester... At a minimum, it should be a Divine Artifact above these, otherwise, what’s the point?
"Even too hard to use as a pillow."
If useless, just burn it up in a fire.
Yet during the experimenting process, Fang Zheng was amazed to discover the shield’s characteristic.
This shield can absorb everything and transform it into special skills and abilities.
For instance, if Fang Zheng puts a herb into the shield’s center green gemstone, he’ll gain the "gathering" ability, if more is put, even gain the ability to "alchemize" medicines. Demon beasts alike, any killed will grant varied powers based on particular traits.
That’s somewhat interesting, but just somewhat... Hmm? Wait a second?
Thinking of this, Fang Zheng suddenly lit up.
Since this shield’s able to absorb everything and transform into traits and abilities, then... how about this?
With that thought, Fang Zheng promptly reached out, searched the inventory, and took out a Soulstone.
Though still a Soulstone, now this Soulstone has completely lost its radiance, shattered into pieces. This Soulstone is none else but the Star Forging Dragon King’s Soulstone. Once Fang Zheng used up all the chances, this Soulstone broke, now becoming a useless rubble.
Fang Zheng had also wanted to summon a Soulstone of the same rank as Star Forging Dragon King afterward, yet whether luck ran out or some other reason, not to mention Star Forging Dragon King, even Fantasy Grade Soulstones haven’t been summoned again.
As for this fragment, it was unexpected. Fang Zheng when designing this system, hadn’t considered what happens to the Soulstone itself after usage ends. After all, originally the system only set up a basic framework, detailed issues like this were to be left for task force committees to deal with across groups.
Ultimately Fang Zheng hadn’t anticipated this Soulstone would indeed leave fragments in the inventory after usage, delightedly had attempted restoration.
But in the end, Fang Zheng remembered...
Oh, haven’t established this setting yet.
So now this thing’s just kept for memento.
"Master, what is this?"
Seeing Fang Zheng take out a bunch of Soulstone fragments, Raphtalia and Liphana also eagerly drew closer, though initially still somewhat fearful of Fang Zheng, perhaps due to Fang Zheng’s exceedingly kind attitude, the two children now weren’t as scared.
"Doing an experiment, just wait and see."
Saying that, Fang Zheng picked a smaller piece, placed it on the shield’s center green gemstone. Then the next moment, the green gemstone released a light, quickly absorbed the fragment, and right afterward...
"Di."
With a soft beep, Fang Zheng soon saw a new branch option pop up on the shield’s skill tree in front of him.
Indeed useful!
Gazing at the branch ahead, Fang Zheng nodded.
Then let me see, what skill is this...
"Dong!"
[Rank insufficient, unable to activate]
"Ha?"
Seeing this, Fang Zheng immediately felt bad all over.
Still needs an upgrade?!
