Weapon Systems 23: Unexpected Artificial Intelligence (5)

At this moment, the War God warriors were on average just two kilometers away from the monster when they suddenly received the captain’s order. All at once, they surged forward, unleashing a coordinated barrage of gunfire and missiles.

“If only the monster could get a little closer, I could help them,” Zhang Mingjing mused. “And I could even shout, ‘Here I come, Daoist at your service!’”

“Go on!” he bantered with Zhenren, all the while watching the live broadcast the AI was providing from the battlefield. The feed was relayed through a data-processing computer, which was analyzing real-time satellite surveillance images of the battle.

“Zhenren, your power now rivals the entire globe!” Zhang Mingjing remarked with genuine amazement. “It seems personal connections really are invaluable. Why didn’t I appreciate this before? I’ll have to change.”

“Have I turned your worldview upside down?” the AI asked.

“You have indeed!” Zhang Mingjing admitted.

At this point, the original ten War God warriors, joined by five new arrivals, unleashed their full firepower in an attempt to swiftly annihilate the monster.

“Alas, haste makes waste!” Zhenren quipped, before explaining, “The data my friend provided show that this intensive barrage only infuriated the monster. Not only did it accelerate toward the War God squad, but its speed increased by twenty-five percent compared to before.”

“Twenty-five percent!” Zhang Mingjing exclaimed in astonishment. “That much of a boost? Does it look like it’s about to charge?”

“Yes. Another set of data shows that it spends eighty percent of its time running between buildings, kicking up plenty of debris. These fragments often intercept incoming missiles, causing at least thirty percent of the attacks to miss.”

“Damn! That’s a high percentage.”

“The main reason is the excessive density of fire. Some missiles even detonate prematurely due to the shockwaves from others, so this concentrated attack is far less effective than they hoped.”

“Such a pity!” Zhang Mingjing sighed.

Finally, the captain called a halt to the barrage. The War God warriors split into four teams, spreading out to form a circle in preparation to surround the monster.

“The monster’s horny hide is so damn thick, and with no nerves beneath, the barrage has pitted its entire body with craters, yet still there’s no blood,” Zhang Mingjing observed in amazement.

The monster, like a giant tank, plowed forward with its head down, utterly ignoring the ferocity of the assault, its speed undiminished.

Zhang Mingjing turned to Zhenren. “See if the War God satellite can measure the thickness and hardness of its hide.”

“There’s no need to ask the War God satellite. I’ll check with Little Overlord—the strategic satellite. It’s even better at this sort of thing.”

“You really know how to leverage your network!”

“Of course! Besides, it’s not good to bother the War God satellite all the time. It’ll start thinking I only want to use it.”

Zhang Mingjing shook his head, though in truth, he was admiring Zhenren’s social finesse—it rivaled that of any living person.

Two seconds later, Zhenren reported back, “This monster’s horny hide is incredibly thick—an average of eighteen centimeters. The thickest parts, on its back and sides of the abdomen, exceed thirty-five centimeters, and the toughness is exceptional. The interior is rich with fibrous tissue, which can absorb ninety percent of a bomb’s shockwave, protecting the organs within. Its hardness rivals steel wire! However, the abdominal hide is much thinner—the thickest point is only ten centimeters, the thinnest just five...”

“No wonder it keeps its belly so close to the ground. Did the War God satellite monitor these details?”

“If it did, it probably didn’t factor them into the battle data. Its main task is to collect and process combat skill data, upgrade the War God warriors’ combat software, and provide hardware improvement plans for their armor.”

“That’s quite a flaw,” Zhang Mingjing commented.

“Functional gaps always become apparent only when you need them most. That’s why I build a network of friends. Besides, there are no perfect people—so why expect a perfect computer?”

“Now you’re just reciting maxims! Impressive... Looks like I’ll need to ask Catherine’s AI assistant for help.”

Zhang Mingjing then had Catherine’s AI assistant relay the monster’s hide data to all the warriors’ assistants.

Upon hearing the data briefing, the captain was astonished. The War God warriors themselves were perplexed—since when did their AI assistants possess such keen data insight? This report was as sharp as a strategic plan.

“Could it be that they’ve spontaneously upgraded some algorithmic techniques in the heat of battle?” Catherine and Jamily wondered together, but like everyone else, they had no time to dwell on it. The battle was urgent, and they immediately began focusing their attacks on the monster’s abdomen.

By now, the War God warriors were almost upon the creature. Although it kept its body low, their missiles could still strike its vulnerable belly. With every hit, the monster howled in pain.

“The weakness is indeed in the abdomen!” the captain exclaimed in excitement. “This time, the AI assistants deserve great credit.”

After several attacks to the abdomen, the monster pressed itself even lower to the ground, its speed clearly slowing.

Everyone assumed it would be surrounded and pummeled into submission. Unexpectedly, it suddenly arched its back, tucking its head and tail in like a pangolin, curling into a ball. With its two legs exposed, it kicked off and began to roll forward.

Everyone was dumbstruck.

“It can do that?!” Zhang Mingjing blurted out, but instantly understood the creature was a mutated pangolin.

Curled into a ball, all that was exposed was its nearly impenetrable hide. No matter how the War God warriors bombarded it with missiles and flames, nothing could halt its rolling advance. Hills it climbed, buildings it crashed through—it continued its relentless push toward the city center.

“To run into a giant pangolin—now that’s just absurd,” Zhang Mingjing quipped. He then slipped into a meditative state, consulting the five-dimensional spatial thinking model to ask whether his lightsaber could pierce the monster’s hide.

The model analyzed the data and concluded that, as long as the monster remained in its current form, it was impervious. Only by stabbing into the weakest point of its abdomen and then twisting the weapon inside to shred its organs could the beast be killed.

“Then I can only wait for the right moment!” Zhang