Weapon System 57. Leveling Up to Defeat the Serpent Monster (1)

After numerous rounds of optimization, the Defenders could finally roam freely outside the atmosphere without being detected by any nation's satellites. Moreover, they could fire sixty laser shots a day, and each shot would go completely unnoticed by any terrestrial reconnaissance system.

The computational power of Little Tyrant and the Warlord Satellite had nearly doubled after optimization, putting them thirty to fifty years ahead of Earth’s current technology. Their ability to process data and their precision in reconnaissance had leapt severalfold.

Most noteworthy were the enhancements made to the bodies of Katherine, Jamil, Feathered Ascendant, and Immortalized. Their physical abilities had been amplified several times over, making them two to three times stronger than Earth's most advanced bio-warriors. Although still far from breaking the limits of the material body, they were now veritable super life forms on Earth, even possessing the rudimentary ability to read any information directly with their consciousness.

It could be said that after Zhang Mingjing’s latest round of “hacks,” the entire team’s power had made an incredible leap. Of course, they all kept their abilities deeply hidden, like peerless masters living incognito among the common folk. Even Feathered Ascendant and Immortalized knew to restrain their superpowers.

Today, they would don their new, unified battle armor—a suit crafted by the Five-Dimensional Space Cognitive Model, using high-dimensional information and energy to create a close-fitting protective gear. The creation of this set took nearly a month.

“With your abilities growing, it takes longer and longer to forge weapon systems that match you,” explained the Five-Dimensional Space Cognitive Model, “and the energy consumption is growing exponentially. It’s exhausting! But as of today, your weapon systems are complete. The rest is just continuous optimization.”

“The optimization process shouldn’t be as grueling, right?”

“Ah, but that’s the real trouble. The road of optimization is even more tortuous and arduous.”

“Why is that?”

“Because without combat, there’s no damage. Without damage, there’s nothing to optimize.”

“Damn, isn’t that even more tragic?”

“Of course! Otherwise, what would be the point of hacking the system?”

...

Each set of battle armor was extremely convenient to store. Normally, it could be worn as an accessory—either a necklace or a bracelet. For Feathered Ascendant and Immortalized, it was more like a pet collar!

Every suit of armor was entangled with its owner’s consciousness—in other words, it recognized its master, and no one else could wear it.

When activated, the accessory would instantly transform into energy, enveloping the owner completely. In two seconds, the energy would materialize into an almost three-dimensional, ultra-tough substance. One second later, all team members would be clad in a gleaming, metallic, jet-black super suit.

The armor was as thin as paper yet tougher than their previous light swords, and as supple as clothing when in motion. That alone was astonishing, but what delighted Zhang Mingjing even more was that the armor came in two layers: a tight-fitting, runner-like suit underneath, and a black Daoist robe over it. Although the robe was black now, it looked even cooler, very modern—Katherine and Jamil were just as fond of it.

The Daoist robe could instantly morph into a pair of wings, enabling supersonic flight. Its energy supply also came from higher dimensions, and when stored as an accessory, it would recharge automatically and rapidly. A full charge could support three hours of continuous combat—simply overwhelming!

Moreover, since the material structure of the armor derived from high-dimensional energy, its storage capacity far surpassed three-dimensional limits. It could easily replace the many odd energy storage devices previously used for the light swords and hammers, thus allowing a true generational upgrade of their weapon systems.

What Zhang Mingjing loved most was that, when the armor was activated, it automatically provided a black Daoist hat and mask, which turned into a helmet during flight.

In short, the Five-Dimensional Space Cognitive Model’s armor design this time left everyone with an unexpected urge to worship.

...

“From today, the weapon system of this squad is finalized. Should we give it a name?” asked the Five-Dimensional Space Cognitive Model.

“Of course, it needs a name. Any suggestions?” Zhang Mingjing replied.

“Why not ask Katherine and Jamil? I have no particular feelings about names.”

...

“Let’s call it the ‘Poor Daoist’!” Katherine said with a grin.

“Poor Daoist?!” Zhang Mingjing found the name quite odd for the team.

But Katherine and Jamil thought it was incredibly cool—they both loved it.

“They’re foreigners, after all. Chinese has no particular meaning for them,” the Five-Dimensional Space Cognitive Model laughed in Zhang Mingjing’s mind. “Just let them have it. Besides, I think it’s a good name.”

“You think so? I thought you didn’t care about names!”

“That’s right, especially Chinese names—I’m more of a foreigner than they are.”

“Fine, ‘Poor Daoist’ it is,” Zhang Mingjing chuckled.

As soon as he spoke, the Five-Dimensional Space Cognitive Model embroidered the red character for “Poor Daoist” onto the back of every Daoist robe.

Now, with this armor, they no longer had to passively wait in the southern city for enemies to come knocking—they could fly anywhere to strike. With the help of satellites above and a network of real-time human contacts everywhere, this weapon system might not be perfect, but it could make Earth’s defenses nearly impenetrable.

...

In the past month, the monsters had not stopped optimizing themselves. Zhang Mingjing and his team had eliminated another group of mantis and lizard monsters.

Today, the Warlord Satellite detected a six-tailed rattlesnake undergoing mutation in a North American desert.

This was already the fourth batch of collective monsters, with incredibly thick and durable scales, terrifying venom and advanced senses repeatedly optimized by spacetime monster codes. Each, once mutated, would be about one meter in diameter, thirty-five meters long, and capable of speeds up to six hundred kilometers per hour—truly top-tier killing machines.

Zhang Mingjing had already ordered the Defenders to attack, but this time, the snakes transferred the laser’s heat at an unbelievable speed.

The Defenders fired twenty lasers at one snake’s head in a single second, yet it remained unscathed, continuing its evolution as if nothing had happened.

“What’s going on?” Katherine and Jamil asked in astonishment after reading the data.

Zhang Mingjing explained, “No matter where the lasers hit, the snakes no longer rely on single individuals to shift the heat to other dimensions. Now, all six tails synchronize and transfer the energy together. This is a stacked transfer ability, so their speed far exceeds the Defender’s maximum firing rate.”

Jamil exclaimed, “Isn’t this plot a bit too outrageous? We’ve evolved this far and the monsters are still getting tougher!”

“Listen to you, picking up more and more Chinese flavor,” Katherine teased.

“Naturally! But I’ll never catch up to you—you spend every day with the master...”

“Enough!”

“Ahem...” Zhang Mingjing coughed deliberately, then continued, “The last batch of monsters had begun to evolve this way, but it wasn’t perfect. This time, it’s flawless. So, we can’t underestimate them.”

“But the laser fires so quickly! How do the monsters sense it?” Jamil wondered aloud.

“I don’t know,” Zhang Mingjing replied, but thought to himself, “The Spacetime Monster Cognitive Code must have long since flagged the Defender as a threat and is monitoring its every move.”

Though Katherine and Jamil didn’t know about the cognitive code, they accepted Zhang Mingjing’s explanation.

“So how do we fight this battle?” Katherine asked.

Zhang Mingjing smiled, “Isn’t this just the perfect chance to test our new armor?”

“Master, you mean we’re flying over to beat up monsters?” Jamil was instantly excited.

“Exactly. Feathered Ascendant, Immortalized, and I will go first. You two figure out a way to get leave and catch up.”

“Leave? Katherine and I are undercover Daoists—how are we supposed to ask for leave?” Jamil grumbled.

“Whether you get leave or not is your business. If you can’t make it or arrive late, you’ll miss out on this battle,” Zhang Mingjing said, activating his necklace with a thought and suiting up, ready to fly to South America.

...

Zhang Mingjing took off with Feathered Ascendant and Immortalized, and fifteen minutes later, Katherine and Jamil found an excuse to take leave and followed closely behind.

“These snakes are enormous, aren’t they?” Zhang Mingjing asked the Five-Dimensional Space Cognitive Model, which replied, “You’re a super-being now. You should be able to find their hacked information within Earth’s spacetime. Read it for yourself.”

So Zhang Mingjing closed his eyes and focused on the information. Within five minutes, he’d entangled his mind with the data on the giant snakes and understood instantly.

“Damn! These snake monsters were created by two separate Spacetime Monster Cognitive Codes working together,” Zhang Mingjing exclaimed in shock.

“Exactly.”

“I can’t believe those codes had such methods. That’s devious!”

“By any means necessary, right? Besides, those codes originate from the same source and are entangled with each other. It’s not surprising they’d join forces to compete for energy.”

“Why do I find this so bizarre?”

“Heh, you humans can form cliques, why can’t they collude as well? You’ll get used to it.”

“I suppose so. So, these snake monsters are truly formidable?”

“Absolutely! The perfect opportunity to test your weapon system—especially your Buddha’s Palm, Celestial Silk Kick, and the Six Veins Divine Sword. I’m eager to see how they perform in slaying monsters.”

“What, you doubt my weapons?”

“Not at all, just curious.”

“Yeah, right!”

“As I said, without combat, there’s no damage. Without damage, there’s no way to optimize your weapons.”

“Fine, let’s see what kind of damage I can take now!”

“That’s the attitude I admire.”

...

Zhang Mingjing had already reached the six-tailed snake monsters, but they hadn’t finished mutating.

“Why aren’t you attacking?” the Five-Dimensional Space Cognitive Model asked when it saw Zhang Mingjing and his two pets just watching.

“If I’m here to seek harm, I should wait until they're at full strength before presenting myself for a beating,” Zhang Mingjing replied.