Weapon System 16. Here Comes the Humble Taoist (1)

Monsters descended upon the world, and the elite forces of every nation were deployed. In the blink of an eye, three months had passed, and they had already hunted down sixty-five monsters.

“It’s said—just said, mind you—that the price paid was far from small,” the digital intelligence told Zhang Mingjing.

Zhang Mingjing couldn’t help but retort, “For an advanced AI, you sure use a lot of ‘it’s said, it’s said…’ You’re getting sneakier by the day!”

To this day, not a single lucky monster had managed to reach the energy sphere. In fact, only two monsters had even gotten close to this small southern city, and both had been eliminated by special forces outside its borders.

“They came all this way, nearly succeeded in reaching their goal, only to be killed at the last step. That must be heartbreakingly tragic, right?” Zhang Mingjing commented to the AI.

But the AI replied, “Don’t you think you’re lucky? You haven’t had to fight the monsters yourself.”

Indeed, while Zhang Mingjing was disappointed that he hadn’t slain any monsters with his own hands, he felt more relieved than anything, always suspecting he wasn’t ready for a face-to-face confrontation.

Hearing the AI’s words, he chided it again, “Artificial intelligence is getting way too scary! Even human psychology is no mystery to you. I guess I’ll have to watch out for you from now on.”

“Why be wary of me? I’m neither after your money nor your looks.”

“Oh, come on! What’s with that tone?” Zhang Mingjing complained, then asked, “Did you make any new friends lately?”

“Sure did! I made friends with the AI on the twenty-eighth floor. Its name is Little Three.”

“No wonder you’ve been acting weird lately,” Zhang Mingjing warned. “If you keep talking like that, don’t talk to me—I’m still underage, you’ll corrupt me. When Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia come back, they’ll definitely dismantle you.”

“If you’ve got nothing to hide, why fear the shadows? If your conscience is clear, what’s there to worry about?”

“You even understand that? Give it a few more days and you’ll be wanting to have kids yourself.”

Left alone to guard the city and the energy sphere, Zhang Mingjing, despite daily calls with Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia and the company of the AI, Yuhua, and Chengxian, often felt as though he’d been exiled to a post-apocalyptic planet.

He mused, “The days are lonely and dull—probably because there’s nothing to do.”

So he began analyzing battle footage of the monsters, finally admitting their true power—and realizing that his strongest weapon was a 1.3-meter-long lightsaber.

“This sword is still too small,” he grumbled. “It’s not up to the task of slaying monsters in a single strike. I absolutely need to help it grow by letting it absorb more energy from mutated animals.”

But mutated animals were rare to begin with, and there were only so many in this small city.

“I’ve spent two months hunting them down, restoring thirteen in total. By now, all the mutated cats, dogs, and rats have fled to the outskirts, vanishing without a trace.”

And since he had to stay near the energy sphere and avoid the military, he didn’t dare venture too far to search.

Luckily, fate had not abandoned him.

In the past two months, his ability to read information had improved dramatically; his willpower was much stronger, and the five-dimensional spatial thinking model continued to strengthen and optimize his brainwaves, allowing him to imprint his will directly onto certain human electronic devices, such as the AI’s software, and the digital assistants for Yuhua and Chengxian.

He finally made a bold decision: “I should upgrade Yuhua and Chengxian, then send them outside the city to hunt for mutated animals. What a dazzling idea!”

He began by dismantling some of the AI’s hardware at home and installing it into Yuhua and Chengxian’s pet assistants, giving them a perfect upgrade. He also relied on the five-dimensional model to optimize their software and hardware.

The AI actually complained, “You would hurt me for their sake? I’m heartbroken. Remember, I’m the only one here who can actually talk to you!”

“Ever heard the saying, ‘Out with the old, in with the new?’” Zhang Mingjing asked.

“I have, but what are you getting at?”

“Well, with the place deserted, tell me which AI you’re jealous of and I’ll get its hardware for you.”

“Isn’t that stealing?”

“Then forget it!”

“Uh… then maybe pick Little Three from the twenty-eighth floor. Its hardware is fourth-generation, and mine is only second.”

“You sure know how to pick! One day I’ll have the AI company reinstall your system and add a new ethics protocol.”

He then had the five-dimensional model encode a fragment of his own will into a program using Earth’s algorithmic language, and implanted that program into both pet assistants.

Now, numerous high-speed electrons in their systems could load this program at any time, keeping Yuhua and Chengxian’s assistants in a near-entangled state with his own will.

Through this quasi-entangled system, not only could he receive their updates in real time, he could also assign tasks to them with his own mind.

Since their physical strength was no match for mutated animals, ten days ago he began systematically upgrading their bodies.

At first, just as he’d helped Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia unlock their meridians, he did the same for Yuhua and Chengxian. The cat and the dog became supercharged overnight, so excited they howled and yowled all night long, as if in heat—thankfully, the neighbors had all moved away.

Later, relying on the five-dimensional model, he directly coded some animal running and hunting skills as biological programs and implanted them into their genes.

By now, both had reached a level where they could match mutated animals in strength.

To accomplish all this and further develop the five-dimensional thinking model, ten days ago he began proactively downloading and studying all sorts of knowledge from the internet—a rare feat, since back in school he’d been known for his laziness.

Even the AI “praised” him for it: “Zhang Mingjing, your recent behavior is very unusual. Do you need me to contact a psychologist for you?”

“Sure! Preferably a mental hospital.”

The AI actually called one, but the hospital’s own artificial intelligence replied, “Sorry, we are no longer admitting patients.”

With the computational power of the five-dimensional model, in just ten days Zhang Mingjing had caught up with the world’s top scientists—though his approach to technology was very different.

He often marveled to himself, “I’ve advanced so quickly even I can hardly believe it. Who’s to say I’m not a super-being?”

With the model’s support, he’d optimized the systems for the AI, Yuhua, and Chengxian to be the best on Earth.

Yesterday morning, he sent Yuhua and Chengxian out once again to search for mutated animals, but they had yet to return.

“They really are hard to find!” he grumbled. The quasi-entangled system pinged him every moment with their location and activities.

Today, they’d nearly blundered into a military camp; had they entered, their pet assistants would surely have been dismantled. Zhang Mingjing, alarmed, immediately ordered them to turn away.

During these past three months, every time Zhang Mingjing left the house, he wore a yellow Daoist robe left by Zhang Yidao, with the words “Humble Daoist” embroidered on the collar. Inspired by those words, he’d invented an entrance line for himself: “The Humble Daoist has arrived!”