Weapon System 25. Exposed

Zhang Mingjing completed the upgrades for himself, his lightsaber, the Ascension, and the Immortal Pet Assistant in just ten minutes. By then, the crocodile monster had already neared the city stadium, and half the members of the God of War Squad had broken off to confront it, including Catherine and Jermy.

At that moment, the Realman spoke again, “Little Tyrant says this thing’s skin and keratin layer is over thirty-five centimeters thick everywhere.”

“No wonder it moves so slowly!... What’s its weakest point?”

“The throat, but even there, the keratin is thirty-one centimeters thick!”

“The throat! Thirty-one centimeters! Damn! Even a drill... even a drill-sword couldn’t kill it!”

“The keratin near the heart is nearly fifty centimeters thick.”

“Looks like it’s nearly impossible to kill it in one blow! We’ll have to cripple it first, then finish it off slowly. As cruel as that is, it’s the only viable option.”

The five-dimensional cognitive model was still calculating whether the drill-lightsaber could kill the crocodile monster in a single strike.

“What if we try to go in through its mouth when it opens?” Zhang Mingjing asked the model.

“Its teeth and throat barbs are a problem.”

Suddenly, the Realman interjected, “Go in through the anus!”

Zhang Mingjing was dumbfounded.

“The keratin is too thick there!” the cognitive model retorted.

“Then we’ll have to try drilling repeatedly in the same spot with the drill-sword,” Zhang Mingjing said.

“That’s probably the only way,” the model agreed.

“All right, let’s go...”

In fact, at that moment, the model was contemplating another weapon, but forging it would require several times more energy.

“What weapon?” Zhang Mingjing sensed the thought.

“A hammer.”

“Wow! Could a single hammer blow knock out the monster?”

“Not one, but maybe three.”

“Fine! Then hurry and gather the energy, and create a transformation template for the hammer.” Zhang Mingjing was quite excited, speeding up his motorcycle, feeling as if he were truly leveling up in a game.

But the greatest challenge in forging the hammer was storage—no matter how much energy he gathered, his body simply couldn’t contain it all. So the cognitive model began a bold new design.

About five minutes later, Zhang Mingjing arrived at the stadium. He leaped off his bike and dashed inside, having sensed that the God of War fighters were in danger.

Only seven of them were present—a number far too small to take on the crocodile monster, especially at such close range, where they’d lost their firepower advantage.

Just then, the monster lashed its tail, sending one warrior flying. In a single thought, Zhang Mingjing deployed his lightsaber, catching the fighter in the nick of time and setting him down safely.

Moments later, the monster charged another fighter, who barely had time to react. Once more, Zhang Mingjing saved him with the lightsaber.

Zhang Mingjing reflected, “If I want to kill the crocodile monster, I’ll need help from the God of War fighters.”

He sent a command to Catherine’s AI assistant.

“Are you asking Catherine out?” the Realman teased. “Shouldn’t you consult Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia first?”

“Oh, enough with the jokes, there’s no time.”

“Haha...”

Zhang Mingjing said to Catherine’s AI assistant, “Hey, can you send a message to all the assistants here?”

“What message?”

“Display the data: the keratin layer at the monster’s throat is thinnest.”

“Oh, that’s it? No problem.”

At that moment, Catherine and the other fighters were concentrating their attacks on the monster’s eyes and mouth, believing them to be its weak spots. But after a long barrage with no effect, their confusion only grew.

Just then, their assistants simultaneously broadcast a message: “Scans indicate the keratin layer at the monster’s throat is thinnest.”

The fighters were surprised, but there was no time to ponder. They immediately concentrated their fire on the monster’s throat.

Missiles, railguns, and lasers all targeted that spot—not all hit, but the assault did inflict some damage.

After a continuous barrage, the keratin layer at the monster’s throat began to soften and a wound over ten centimeters deep was opened.

At this point, the fighters’ ammunition was running low.

“What an incredible organic bulletproof hide!” Zhang Mingjing muttered as he activated the drill-shaped lightsaber.

The lightsaber darted to the monster’s throat, drilling ceaselessly. The monster swiped at it with a paw, but at Zhang Mingjing’s mental command, “Blade, dodge!” the lightsaber evaded.

As soon as the monster’s paw struck the ground, the blade returned to drilling, dodging each attack in turn. The monster grew more and more panicked, thrashing about, forcing the nearby fighters to retreat.

Since the lightsaber moved at incredible speed and could absorb radar and other detection waves, none of the fighters noticed its presence.

After five or six rounds of drilling, the monster failed to swat the blade and a hole was finally bored into its throat.

“Time for the final blow...” Zhang Mingjing sent the drill-lightsaber plunging into the wound, burrowing inside and instantly absorbing one-sixth of the monster’s energy, while mangling its windpipe and esophagus.

The monster crashed to the ground, wailing in agony and rolling about.

The God of War fighters looked on in astonishment, thinking their own attacks had succeeded.

Zhang Mingjing now felt his meridians and dantian swelling with energy, uncomfortably so. Suddenly, he remembered the hammer and had an idea.

He sent a thought to the cognitive model, “Optimize my dantian and meridians now. I can keep absorbing the monster’s energy while it’s still alive.”

“That’s a good idea, but it’s impossible,” the model replied.

“Why not?”

“Your dantian and meridians have already been engorged twice today and optimized once. Any more and they’ll rupture, killing you.”

“No way! That’s a bit extreme!”

At that moment, Zhang Mingjing noticed two figures thirty meters ahead watching him—it was Jermy and Catherine, both running toward him.

The Ascension’s AI assistant fretted, “What do we do?”

The Immortal assistant squeaked, while the fur on the Immortal pet stood on end—not from fear of Catherine and Jermy, but from being startled by the assistant’s voice.

They had been so absorbed in the battle, they’d forgotten their assistants now had the ability to speak and express their thoughts in human language.

“There’s nothing for it! The talisman can block satellites, but not human eyes. They’re almost here—no point running! It’s my own fault for not scanning the area.” As soon as Zhang Mingjing finished his thought, Jermy and Catherine arrived at his side.

“Hey there, you two, let’s finish off the monster first! I’ll contact you both later through your AI assistants,” Zhang Mingjing offered.

“Who are you?” Catherine asked.

“Just call me the Daoist.”

“Oh! You’re the ‘The Daoist is here~!’ Daoist, aren’t you?” Jermy exclaimed.

“That’s right!”

Catherine and Jermy exchanged glances, then nodded to Zhang Mingjing.

“All right, Daoist. We hope to chat later tonight,” Catherine said.

With that, they dashed off toward the monster, firing missiles at its wound as they ran.

The monster began to dig furiously, and in just five minutes had disappeared underground, leaving the fighters helpless.

It suddenly dawned on Zhang Mingjing, “Even though the energy sphere is a thousand meters away, at this digging speed, it could reach it within a day! Why didn’t I bury it deeper in the first place?”

He crossed his legs and entered the boundary state, as the five-dimensional cognitive model prepared to use the energy he’d just absorbed to strengthen his lightsaber.

Two minutes later, he opened his eyes. “Sword, come!”

The drill-lightsaber materialized, now twice as strong as before.

“Sword, go!”

The blade flashed into the hole the monster had dug, entered through its wound, and churned its way to the heart. A scream echoed from the tunnel—an agonized, almost comical cry.

Having finished off the crocodile monster, Zhang Mingjing immediately headed home. Seven minutes later, the pangolin monster was also finally slain by the God of War fighters.

...

That night, Zhang Mingjing communicated flawlessly with Catherine and Jermy through their AI assistants, and together they established a secret three-person alliance.