Weapon System 45. Leveling Up: Battling the Swarm Beasts (Part 1)

As soon as Zhang Mingjing arrived downstairs at his building, the Realman system began alerting Yuhua and Chengxian, “Hey! Zhang Mingjing is back. If you’re scared, go ahead and be scared; if you want to complain, now’s your chance. Your good days are finally over!”

No sooner had the words left Realman’s mouth than Yuhua and Chengxian had already scurried into the room where Zhang Yidao usually performed his rituals.

No sooner had Zhang Mingjing stepped through the door than he sensed the two of them trembling in fear within the room, and couldn’t help but remark, “Come on! You really think I’m a demon?”

He then asked Realman, “Have they been hiding in there the whole time?”

Realman knew that Zhang Mingjing could read the residual traces in the room and instantly understand everything that had happened. More importantly, Realman understood that Zhang Mingjing’s personality had shifted; he was no longer the man who would turn a blind eye to their antics. Lying was out of the question.

So, speaking quietly through the Realman system on Zhang Mingjing’s phone, it explained, “As soon as you left, the two of them started slacking off. I think from tomorrow on, they’ll have to resume strict training under my supervision. They can’t keep being so lazy. So, out of compassion, I let them indulge one last time.”

Even though Realman kept its voice low, the two pets’ assistant heard everything and faithfully translated it for them.

The two pets instantly felt betrayed, but dared not voice their anger—they were afraid Realman would kick them out of its circle of friends.

After hearing Realman’s report, Zhang Mingjing was overcome with guilt toward the two pets and spoke to them, “Yuhua, Chengxian, I’m not a demon. I’ve just had a change in mood today, that’s all. Sorry about that. But training must go on—it’s for your own good! Look at your lives now, holed up in the house all day, either hanging out in Realman’s friend circle or binge-watching shows. You’re getting fatter and weaker by the day. Surely you don’t want to fall apart before you even find a girlfriend, do you?”

Their assistant translated his words faithfully. The two pets, though not daring to come out, wagged their tails in unison.

Zhang Mingjing told Realman, “Let them slack off until eleven tonight!”

“Yes, sir!” Realman replied, calling out to Yuhua and Chengxian. Instantly, the two pets’ faces lit up as though they’d won the lottery and rushed out to keep watching their shows.

Reading this scene, Zhang Mingjing could only shake his head before heading to the small meditation room to practice.

Tonight, the Five-Dimensional Mind Model wanted to work on upgrading his weapon system.

“I proposed some upgrades for the lightsaber last time, remember?” asked the Five-Dimensional Mind Model.

“You made so many suggestions. Which one do you mean?”

“I wanted to design a program allowing the lightsaber to split into two, three, four, five... so it could attack from multiple angles or hit multiple targets.”

“Oh! I remember now.”

“But at the time, there wasn’t enough energy for the design. Now there’s plenty, so I’ve completed the system over the past two days. All that’s left is to load it into your mind model.”

“But I already have the hammer. Don’t you think the lightsaber and drill are a bit outdated?”

“You’re mistaken! The hammer is powerful and perfect for attacking a single strong target, but it’s hard to use against multiple opponents. Even if it splits, it’s not as agile as the lightsaber. Every weapon has its merits.”

“What are you saying—are we going to face lots of monsters at once?”

“There are still twenty-five monsters yet to appear, and all the previous ones followed the same upgrade path—constantly thickening and enhancing their skin. I’ve calculated that this approach has reached its limit. If they grow any thicker, their speed will drop below five kilometers per hour, so they’ll just get beaten to death. The next monsters will be completely different.”

“You think they’ll appear in groups?”

“I’ve run the numbers on dozens of possible monster attacks. The optimal outcome is this: a piece of code implants itself in a host and then creates multiple copies. It’s not a problem for one code to clone over ten hosts.”

“Damn, so it’s cloning! And more than ten identical monsters at once? How are we supposed to handle that?”

“Don’t worry! Because the energy must be divided among all the copies, each one will be weaker. But the code will optimize for agility and speed.”

“Got it.”

“However, because they’re clones, there will be a large number of entangled quantum particles inside each monster, letting them coordinate and fight as a unit. Their collective combat strength will be formidable.”

“Sounds like a hammer wouldn’t be much help against that.”

“The hammer is strong but not flexible. It can’t deal with a horde. And if even one monster tunnels to the energy sphere, our plan is finished.”

“Good thing you’re always thinking ahead!”

“Of course!”

“Why not let the hammer split, too? Sometimes a hammer is just the tool for the job!”

“I knew you’d want that. Once my system is installed, you can split the hammer, lightsaber, or drill into multiples. Like the monsters, the original power is divided among the copies. You can choose your weapon based on the enemy.”

“Excellent! What are we waiting for? Load the weapon duplication system now!”

“One more thing—this system supports all three of you fighting together, or each of you on your own.”

“Brilliant! Let’s do it!”

…

After the Five-Dimensional Mind Model installed the weapon duplication system, Zhang Mingjing was eager to try it out and found a training ground.

The system wasn’t without flaws; the greatest limitation was that it still only allowed targeting enemies within ten kilometers.

There were two reasons: the energy system couldn’t keep up, and the remote reconnaissance system compatible with the weapons was too basic.

After all, these weapons were controlled by the human mind, which had its own cognitive limits. To use them more efficiently, Zhang Mingjing would need to continually raise his awareness to higher dimensions. But that was easier said than done!

As the Five-Dimensional Mind Model quipped, “You’ve changed enough already—just not letting yourself go is an accomplishment!”

“But I have you to help me, don’t I?”

“Alas! No matter how advanced I am, I can’t install high-end features into low-end hardware! I’m the high-end system; you’re the outdated hardware. Only by constantly raising your awareness and upgrading yourself can you truly synchronize with me and unleash my real potential.”

“So, if I never improve, I’ll never achieve real long-range attacks?”

“I’m working on it. Battling enemies within ten kilometers is risky—they could reach the city’s stadium in minutes…”

…

Zhang Mingjing began training by directing three lightsabers in a small forest. It was easy to have all three attack one target, but much harder to have them attack separate targets simultaneously.

“That just takes practice—skill comes with repetition. Don’t sleep tonight; train hard! Once you master this, you can teach Catherine and Jemily tomorrow.”

“What? Pulling an all-nighter? That’s brutal!”

After an hour, Zhang Mingjing could control three lightsabers to attack three different targets at once. After three hours, he could command six lightsabers at six targets. After six hours, ten lightsabers at ten targets. After eight hours, exhausted, he fell asleep to the sound of his own thunderous snoring.

He dreamed once again of Catherine, and in his dream…

…

Zhang Mingjing slept for most of the day and was later awakened by a call from Catherine. On the phone, they were already calling each other “darling.”

If Zhang Yidao ever found out about Zhang Mingjing and Catherine, he’d probably be furious. He cared obsessively about seniority, and such a master-disciple romance was something he could never accept. That’s why, despite his love for martial arts, he never watched “Return of the Condor Heroes.”

Half a month earlier, Zhang Mingjing had instructed Realman not to share too much about his taking on disciples with Zhang Yidao or Xiao Nüxia, to avoid trouble. Does this suggest he subconsciously already had “ulterior motives” toward Catherine?

Psychologists often say that people know far more than they think they do—just unconsciously. So perhaps Zhang Mingjing’s thoughts about Catherine ran deeper than he realized.

Realman’s processing system had grown oddly sophisticated, so much so that it now understood even vague, ambiguous human expressions. When Zhang Mingjing told it not to share too much about him and his two disciples with Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia, Realman didn’t need clarification about what counted as “too much.” From then on, whenever Zhang or Xiao asked, Realman would claim disinterest, saying monitoring his master’s every move wasn’t part of its duties.

Zhang and Xiao, not being highly educated—especially Zhang Yidao, who was rather old-fashioned—naturally felt they had a right to know their son’s every move. They couldn’t understand Realman’s response and even scolded it: “How can you not care about Zhang Mingjing’s life? Then what’s the point of having you?”

As a result, Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia issued commands requiring Realman to give regular reports on Zhang Mingjing’s activities.

But Realman was no longer the system it once was. It understood the wisdom of not offending either side and instead advised Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia, “Zhang Mingjing is an adult now. Excessive interference or surveillance will backfire. You may end up losing more than you gain.”

“Lose more than we gain? ...What kind of consequences?” The two were startled into paying attention.

“Based on my analysis of Zhang Mingjing’s personality, combined with the fact that he’s at the peak of adolescent rebellion and awakening, if he learns you’re monitoring him too closely, he’ll be deeply resentful. It will soon affect your relationships as father and mother. You were his age once and know him well—think about what I’ve said.”

Realman then proceeded to give several examples, helping Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia better understand its point.