Weapon Systems 19: Unexpected Artificial Intelligence (Part 1)

The captain was right—this time, the monster that appeared could indeed be handled by six War God Warriors. However, what the captain hadn’t anticipated was that in this small city, there was a lake, also called West Lake, whose waters flowed into the river outside the city, and that river eventually reached the sea.

Two days ago, a monster had already slipped in from the sea, up the river, sneaking into the city, its presence still undiscovered. In the end, it would surely emerge from that lake and head straight for the city’s sports stadium.

Zhang Mingjing’s five-dimensional spatial cognitive model was no joke, either. Yesterday, he optimized the Zhenren system and had it gather every scrap of information about the War God Squad and the city.

To his surprise, Zhenren, that little rascal, had managed to connect with the AI in every building, hopping from one to another, until it finally contacted the AI managing the War God Squad’s vehicles—and struck up quite a pleasant conversation.

Could the secrecy protocols in the War God system withstand the Zhenren system, now optimized by the five-dimensional model? Of course not. This morning, the AI managing the War God convoy promptly relayed Jamie and Katherine’s movements to a messenger AI: “Please inform Zhenren, the two have entered the city searching for a suspicious species, human in appearance.”

The message flashed through the network of AIs in less than a second, reaching Zhenren, who immediately reported to Zhang Mingjing.

In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that every AI in the city now counted Zhenren as a friend. So, whether it was Jamie, Katherine, or the monster, the moment they entered the city, their every move would be reported to Zhenren, who would then relay it all to Zhang Mingjing, saving him both worry and effort.

Fortunately, Zhenren was loyal to Zhang Mingjing; otherwise, the consequences could be dire—they might well end up ruling and monopolizing the entire city.

Now that Zhang Mingjing knew Jamie and Katherine’s intentions, he kept his doors shut.

He went to his room, crossed his legs, and swiftly entered a meditative state.

The five-dimensional spatial model danced with excitement. Zhang Mingjing expressed his wish: he wanted to design a system to conceal himself from the War God satellites’ surveillance.

Unfortunately, the five-dimensional model could only offer two solutions at present:

Option One: Use the energy from the lightsaber to generate a wave-absorbing shield, absorbing both the satellite’s detection waves and any emissions from his own body, rendering him invisible to radar.

But this option had a drawback: activating the shield consumed significant energy. If he used the lightsaber simultaneously, it would shrink to just sixty centimeters—less than half its full length—reducing its power considerably. Only if he could store more energy in the future could he use both the shield and the full-sized lightsaber at once.

Option Two: Directly absorb the satellite’s detection waves and his own emissions through his skin, but this would require re-coding the molecular structure of his epidermis—meaning he might end up growing crocodile skin.

“That’s too much of a sacrifice! No way. Rejected,” Zhang Mingjing muttered.

In the end, he chose the first option. But during combat, if necessary, he’d drop the shield.

“So what if I’m exposed? At worst, I’ll just stay home. I don’t believe they can find my house,” Zhang Mingjing scoffed.

Zhang Mingjing emerged from meditation, the five-dimensional model having already helped him design the first solution.

By now, outside the city, the War God Warriors had been fighting a monster for nearly half an hour.

Jamie and Katherine had been searching the city for an hour, still with no trace of Zhang Mingjing.

Zhang Mingjing was just finishing his meditation and heading to the kitchen for a glass of water when Zhenren spoke up, “Zhang Mingjing, the AI managing West Lake reports it has detected a monster.”

“What!” Zhang Mingjing was startled, immediately grabbing his Daoist robe to head out; Yuhua and Chengxian were raring to go as well.

Zhenren continued, “Those two War God Warriors are speeding toward the monster, and two more are flying in from the outskirts to assist.”

“They’re quick on the uptake!” Zhang Mingjing remarked, calmly donning his robe before taking Yuhua and Chengxian with him.

“Keep me updated if anything changes,” he told the Zhenren system on his phone.

“No problem!”

He put on his robe, his Daoist hat, and a mask, then activated the wave-absorbing shield.

“This shield needs a better name,” he grumbled, thinking aloud. “Since I call myself ‘the humble Daoist,’ I’ll rename the shield ‘Invisibility Talisman’!”

“Let’s go!” He hopped on his motorcycle. Yuhua sat behind him, her front legs wrapped around his neck; Chengxian lay in front. The Invisibility Talisman rendered all three invisible.

“I’m not in any hurry to join the fight anyway,” he laughed, driving at a leisurely twenty kilometers an hour.

It took him about fifteen minutes to reach the sports complex.

By then, Jamie, Katherine, and two other War God Warriors had been fighting the monster for seven minutes.

Though the War God Warriors were valiant and quick, it was obvious they were no match for the monster. To kill the beast, all six warriors would likely be needed.

The monster looked like the ultimate crocodile—six massive legs, each touching the ground, standing six meters tall, with bulging muscles and armor-thick skin. It had two long tails and was thirty-three meters in length.

The War God Warriors’ various weapons could only shave off bits of its hide; only the small electromagnetic cannons could open minor wounds and draw a little blood, but it was like pricking it with a needle.

“Four War God Warriors’ firepower is clearly insufficient,” Zhang Mingjing observed from a nearby hiding spot, watching the battle for a minute. The five-dimensional model calculated for him that with a lightsaber of just sixty centimeters, he lacked the hardness and speed to kill the monster. Even if he dropped the Invisibility Talisman and extended the lightsaber to one and a half meters, it still wouldn’t be enough—unless he drove the blade into the wounds created by the electromagnetic cannon. If he did, there was a seventy percent chance of success—the lightsaber could absorb a sixth of the monster’s energy and, striking its vital point, finish it off.

“Such an excellent energy source, and I can only absorb a sixth of it—what a pity!” Zhang Mingjing grumbled. Still, he knew that absorbing any more would oversaturate his meridians and dantian—like overcharging a battery.

Yuhua and Chengxian were seeing a monster for the first time; Yuhua was restless, and Chengxian was trembling with fear.

Zhang Mingjing noted that the monster’s thick chest had a small opening from the electromagnetic cannon, but it was still 1.4 meters from the heart. The lightsaber, now one and a half meters, was only 1.3 meters long after subtracting the hilt—too short to reach the heart.

So, he entered instant meditation, willing the lightsaber’s design to change. The five-dimensional model immediately modified the saber, removing the hilt; now, if the flying speed was sufficient, the whole blade could penetrate the monster’s chest and pierce its heart.

“The new lightsaber is double-edged—pretty cool! I like it,” Zhang Mingjing was delighted.

A second before he dropped the Invisibility Talisman, he’d already imbued the lightsaber with a command: to enter the monster’s heart through the small wound.

But just then, two of the War God Warriors were sent flying, seriously injured and out of the fight. Katherine was knocked to the ground by a swipe of the monster’s tail, about to be crushed under its foot.

“I’m coming to the rescue!” Zhang Mingjing shouted.

In an instant, all the Invisibility Talisman’s energy surged into the lightsaber. But this time, the saber didn’t strike the monster; instead, it lifted Katherine into the air, flew her thirty meters away, and set her down just as the monster’s foot missed her.

“Go, sword!” Zhang Mingjing then commanded the lightsaber to attack the monster as previously willed. With one precise thrust, it struck true.

“Return!” He recalled the lightsaber instantly; the whole process took barely a second. The saber returned to his body, and he immediately felt saturated with energy, instantly reactivating the Invisibility Talisman.

From the moment he dropped the Invisibility Talisman to reactivating it, only five seconds passed—three of them spent saving Katherine. But those exposed five seconds were all captured by the War God satellite.

“You played the hero!” Zhenren suddenly commented.

“Enough, just give me the updates.”

“Time to slip away! The War God Warriors outside the city have finished off their monster and are on their way here—they’ll arrive in seven minutes.”