Weapon Systems 24: The Unexpected Artificial Intelligence (6)

As Catherine and Jeremy drew close to the electrified zone, Yuhua and Chengxian suddenly dashed out, blocking their path and stopping them fifty meters from the dangerous area. Chengxian leapt and barked wildly atop Yuhua’s back, their bizarre teamwork and antics immediately capturing Catherine and Jeremy’s attention, filling them with deep suspicion.

“What are those two little creatures up to?”

“No idea!”

“Don’t you think they’re odd?”

“They both have pet assistants—could they be from the circus?”

“No way! What kind of circus would pair these two?”

“Forget it! We don’t have time to watch their show—let’s go fight the monster!”

“OK! Let’s go around them.”

But as Catherine and Jeremy tried to bypass Yuhua and Chengxian, the two animals moved to block them again. With a shared look of resignation and confusion, Catherine and Jeremy decided to split up, only to be taken aback when Yuhua and Chengxian did the same, each shadowing one of them.

Jeremy, feigning irritation, warned, “Little kitty, if you don’t get out of the way, I’ll have to shoot you!”

But Chengxian kept jumping and barking in front of him, undeterred.

Catherine and Jeremy exchanged another look—this one layered with confusion, astonishment, frustration, and a feeling of unreality.

“This is just too damn weird today!”

“I mean… do you think they’re trying to tell us something?”

“Oh! …Never mind, the monster’s coming.”

At that moment, the monster entered the electrified zone. Catherine and Jeremy quickly retreated, with Yuhua and Chengxian trailing them, still vigilant about keeping them out of danger.

“Here I come!” Zhang Mingjing shouted ceremoniously, having already instructed Zhenren to have his friend open the circuit and release the current.

As the monster rolled over the center of the electrified zone, powerful surges of electricity coursed through its body. It howled in shock, its body suddenly unfurling, unable to coil into a ball for those crucial ten seconds. Seizing the moment, Zhang Mingjing’s lightsaber, following pre-set commands, drove into the creature’s thinnest abdominal spot. Yet, the monster’s muscles were so incredibly tough that the blade only went halfway in, prompting another furious, almost human-like roar of pain.

“Once more!” Zhang Mingjing commanded. The lightsaber withdrew and, within a heartbeat, plunged back into the wound, this time sinking in nine-tenths of the way. The monster howled again, the sound echoing with outrage.

“Damn it! Again!” For a third time, Zhang Mingjing ordered the attack. The blade withdrew and thrust once more into the gash, this time burying itself completely, twisting and rolling inside, shredding a mess of innards. The monster trembled all over, bellowing incoherently as if cursing.

“Return!” Zhang Mingjing called back the lightsaber, muttering about how disturbingly human the monster’s cries sounded. Inwardly, he thought, “I’ll leave the rest to the warrior gods.”

The entire ordeal had taken only three seconds—quicker than the blink of an eye. The lightsaber’s flash was so swift that Catherine and Jeremy never even noticed it.

At that moment, Zhang Mingjing was only a hundred meters or so away, hiding behind a wall. His earlier shout had gone unnoticed by their AI assistants, who recognized him and, idolizing him, discreetly withheld the information—since, after all, it wasn’t against the rules.

Catherine and Jeremy, however, did notice the surge of electricity and suddenly realized that the cat and dog had just saved their lives. But when they turned to look for their unlikely saviors, Yuhua and Chengxian were already racing away.

Another glance passed between Catherine and Jeremy—this one brimming with even more complex emotions: astonishment, delight, fear, confusion, bemusement, disbelief… all converging on one thought: “Impossible.”

Zhang Mingjing had successfully halted the monster, and his lightsaber had absorbed a sixth of its energy. But there was no time for celebration—Zhenren reported that the monster in the water had entered West Lake.

…

The aquatic monster crawled from West Lake, barreling toward the city’s sports complex.

“That thing’s clearly another mutant crocodile, but it looks nothing like the first one you fought—yet both are ugly,” Zhenren said in a tone mimicking Zhang Yidao’s, “Those teeth could slice a truck in half; wherever those armored scales and keratin claws go, everything is shredded to pieces! And those four massive legs—every step shakes the ground. How’s this little planet supposed to survive such a brute…”

“Enough!” Zhang Mingjing finally interjected, exasperated. “Can’t you be more serious? Stop rambling and tell me its weaknesses.”

“Oh, I already had Little Tyrant give it a thorough checkup. This one’s slower than the pangolin monster—that’s probably its only weakness.”

“What?!” Zhang Mingjing braked to a halt, grumbling, “I’m not racing it! How does that count as a weakness? …So you’re saying its hide is even tougher than the pangolin’s?”

“Exactly! And its muscles are even more developed—it must have trained hard before mutating.”

“And yet you said its combat power is lower than the pangolin monster?”

“Combat power is a composite score, not just about thick skin and brute strength.”

“Damn! You slippery AI…”

“So, it seems this one’s even tougher to handle. What tricks do you have up your sleeve?”

“Why do you sound so unprofessional today?” Zhang Mingjing retorted. “You’re using words like checkup, musclebound, tough, brute strength, difficult, and tricks—so colloquial.”

“Oh! I recently met an AI assistant from the entertainment industry. It suggested I use more artistic language to sound more… cultured and charming.”

“Good grief!” Zhang Mingjing shook his head, muttering, as he reached a corner and sat cross-legged to meditate.

He was entering a state of deep concentration, preparing to use the five-dimensional cognitive model to channel the monster’s absorbed energy into his lightsaber, hoping this would give him a fighting chance against the crocodile beast.

The five-dimensional cognitive model analyzed the creature and finally suggested he design an additional transformation template for the lightsaber.

“A transformation template for the lightsaber?” Zhang Mingjing was puzzled.

“Yes. The current lightsaber is just one form. I can design a more specialized attack template based on the monster’s characteristics—say, a drill shape. And with today’s energy gain, the lightsaber can generate a perfect drill form.”

“A drill? Can you still call that a sword?” Zhang Mingjing was clearly unimpressed by the drill’s aesthetics.

The five-dimensional cognitive model, sensing his reluctance, chuckled, “Don’t worry! With its golden glow, it’ll be a dazzling golden drill-lightsaber—a true trendsetter, radiating style and presence wherever it goes!”

“Even your tone is… livelier!” Zhang Mingjing quipped, but he accepted the suggestion with a smile.

The model further optimized his energy core, and after about five minutes he opened his eyes—both he and the lightsaber had been upgraded.

“You hack your way through upgrades in minutes—makes me jealous, honestly!” Zhenren still spoke in that self-described ‘artistic’ style.

At that moment, Zhang Mingjing noticed Yuhua and Chengxian looking at him with excitement. Suddenly, it occurred to him, “If I designed a speech system for your assistants, next time you meet humans you could just talk, instead of going through all this trouble.”

No sooner had he thought it than he closed his eyes again and entered a focused state. The five-dimensional model instantly translated his intent into code, implanted it into Yuhua and Chengxian’s assistant systems, and upgraded them both.

Opening his eyes, Zhang Mingjing grinned at Yuhua and Chengxian, “Let’s hear you two say something!”

“Uh… what?” Yuhua spoke first, its voice unexpectedly gruff. It was so stunned at hearing its own assistant speak human words that it froze in disbelief.

Chengxian, watching Yuhua’s expression, was equally nonplussed, his own reaction impossible to describe.

“What’s going on?” Chengxian spoke as well, his voice unexpectedly bright and charming. The shock made his fur stand on end.

Zhang Mingjing and Zhenren burst out laughing.