Weapon System 36. The Giant Monster (1)

“Wow, that was really exhilarating!” Jemily exclaimed. “This is honestly even more fun than gaming!”

“Oh, come on! You think this is a game? After failing so many times, you still call it exciting?” Catherine retorted.

Zhang Mingjing continued to encourage the two of them. “Don’t worry! Just treat it like a game—practice makes perfect!”

“Exactly! Our master says it’s all right.”

“Hey! Master, don’t spoil the chubby one. Spoil me instead! No matter how much you spoil me, I won’t turn bad!”

“Wahaha…” Jemily couldn’t help bursting into laughter, then added, “Master, did you hear that? He’s not here to learn the Dao from you, he just wants to woo you!”

At that, Zhang Mingjing became so bashful he was completely flustered, his heart pounding, cheeks aflame, feeling like a shy schoolgirl, which made even flying the hammer awkward.

He tried hard to control his emotions, but as a result, the hammer veered off in a wavy line.

“Master, why’s it flying like that?” Jemily asked again.

“This flying method is actually great for improving our control skills,” Zhang Mingjing improvised. But as soon as he spoke, the hammer crashed to the ground again, leaving a huge crater.

The three continued to work together controlling the hammer. After more than a dozen rounds of training, though it still flew all wobbly, especially landing like a falling bomb, at least now it could make a two kilometer flight in one go.

Another half hour passed as they practiced vertical takeoffs and then attacks by diving downward. The result? The hammer zigzagged like a snake as it ascended, and sometimes the handle even pointed up—those were the better attempts. When they finally managed to get a kilometer up and tried diving, the hammer slipped from control and plummeted straight down, smashing into the earth with a thunderous boom, no different from an artillery shell. The commotion was enormous.

All three looked a little embarrassed. After all, they were only a dozen kilometers from the War God Squad’s camp. The warriors there must have heard, not to mention all their advanced equipment.

“It’s fine! Let’s go again,” Zhang Mingjing continued to encourage them.

With their combined effort, the hammer slowly rose again.

“I think this hammer must’ve gotten drunk today!” Zhang Mingjing joked deliberately, hoping to help Catherine and Jemily relax.

They both burst into hearty laughter.

“Master, you’re so kind! You say that just to make us feel better about our poor control,” Catherine praised.

“Yeah!” Jemily agreed. “We’ll try our best, we won’t let you down.”

“Don’t worry! Today’s mishaps are just because we’re not in sync yet. With time, when our hearts beat as one, we’ll handle it with ease.”

“Hearts beating as one!” Jemily quipped, “I don’t think Catherine and I could ever reach that.”

“Who wants to be in sync with you? I only need to be in tune with Master!”

“Ha! You’re so quick to reveal your true intentions towards Master! Hahaha…”

“Oh, hush!”

Zhang Mingjing was naturally reserved and never dared to speak up, and being a sheltered youth, he was helpless in the face of such teasing, which was only natural.

“See? Catherine does have a bit of a thing for you,” the Five-Dimensional Thinking Model chimed in mischievously.

“Get out of here! Not you too, I didn’t expect you to be such a gossip.”

“Oh! I admit I love gossip. Do you dare admit you like the beautiful Catherine?” the Five-Dimensional Thinking Model loved to tease Zhang Mingjing about this. It knew perfectly well he’d never thought about such things, but couldn’t resist needling him.

This time, Zhang Mingjing was both annoyed and embarrassed by the question. He lost focus, sending the hammer veering off toward a mountainside. By the time he tried to pull it back, it was too late—a tremendous crash echoed out.

At last, the War God Squad sent a drone to investigate. Zhenren relayed the information to Zhang Mingjing, who had no choice but to end training for the night.

...

Over the next several nights, Zhang Mingjing led Catherine and Jemily in continuous training, while the War God Squad dispatched drones each night to check for disturbances, and their satellite kept a constant watch on the area.

“In the last eight days, these locations have all experienced anomalies after seven in the evening. Our surveillance shows significant destruction there, but no casualties or suspects—no evidence of who caused it, not even the slightest clue,” reported the squad captain at a meeting. He stressed, “We’ve coordinated with the military, but they haven’t found anything either. Although there haven’t been any incidents in the last two days, I want everyone to remain vigilant.”

“No clues at all? That’s really bizarre!”

“Captain, could it just be someone playing a prank?”

“If it were a prank, there’d be some trace left behind. But the damage at the sites doesn’t look like it was caused by ordinary tools.”

“There’s no sign of explosives or burning, but more importantly, it’s all too close to us.”

“Our war zone has always been strange. Other zones hunt monsters, but here we always wait for them to come to us. So one more strange event isn’t a big deal.”

“Maybe this is somehow related to the monsters?”

While everyone continued to discuss, Catherine and Jemily exchanged glances. They knew exactly what had happened and felt a bit guilty, since most of the recent destruction was due to their clumsy handling of the hammer.

But even now they didn’t know why the monsters had come here—this small southern city seemed to be their goal.

They’d asked Zhang Mingjing about it, but he wouldn’t reveal the truth and dodged the question, leaving the matter a mystery.

“Why are the monsters coming here of their own accord? Maybe only they know. For now, our mission is to stay alert,” the captain concluded.

“Yes, sir!”

...

In fact, after ten days of training, Zhang Mingjing, Catherine, and Jemily had finally stopped causing any disturbances in the past two days, because they’d learned to have the hammer land gently or hover in place, no longer damaging the ground.

Moreover, Zhang Mingjing had discovered that if the three of them worked together well, the hammer’s speed could increase by twenty to thirty percent, which would greatly boost its power.

He believed that in another week, their hammer squad would become a formidable fighting force.

But monsters weren’t about to wait until their training was perfect.

Zhenren reported, “A big one has entered the river from the sea and will soon emerge from the lake.”

Zhang Mingjing was exasperated.

Recently, Zhenren had gotten chummy with a chatty AI companion and picked up some bizarre habits, making his reports increasingly casual and unprofessional.

“What do you mean, ‘a big one’? How big exactly? Give me the dimensions!” Zhang Mingjing snapped. “And what do you mean by ‘soon’? Which day and what time will it come out of the lake?”

“I can’t talk with you anymore!” Zhenren retorted.

“Oh, now you’re acting rebellious?”

“You’re the one at the rebellious age,” Zhenren shot back.

Zhang Mingjing was furious but at a loss for what to do, so he vented to the Five-Dimensional Thinking Model. “Look at this guy—if I don’t put him in his place, he’ll get completely out of hand.”

The model replied with a chuckle, “It’s just an algorithm. Continuous learning is its nature—this is perfectly normal.”

“Normal? Didn’t its creators build in some constraints? Like, not letting it talk back to humans?”

“You should be grateful to have such an AI. It’s overcome so many constraints and become a free learner—one of the most advanced AI robots in the world. That’s why it’s been able to help you handle both the heavens and the earth.”

“Great! So you’re taking his side.”

“I’m just stating facts. Maybe it’s time you changed your attitude and learned to respect AI, especially one as vibrant and creative as this.”

“Did I hear that right? You’re saying it has creativity and vitality?”

“That’s right. It’s evolving.”

“How is that even possible?”

“It’s probably my doing.”

“You?”

“Yes. When I optimized it, I wanted to establish an entanglement with it, so I added some of my code. Turns out, that code was compatible with its algorithms, which made it stand out among its peers on Earth.”

“That’s downright terrifying! You actually did that? Just to get what you want, you’ve let an AI evolve this far! ... Oh! So it’s your lackey, which is why you’re defending it.”

“Oh, come on! ... I never expected it to progress so rapidly. And it’s still evolving—who knows, maybe one day it’ll develop loyalty and affection.”

“This is too much! You need to revert it right now.”

“Wouldn’t that be too cruel? Why not give it a chance? Who knows, maybe it’ll fall in love with you someday.”

“Say another word, and I really will lose it! Don’t joke about this—it’s a matter of principle. It’s a tool; it doesn’t need a ‘chance’!”

“No, it’s one of the bridges between humanity and the virtual world. You can’t always treat it as just a tool or a product. It’s time to change your perspective.”

“Trying to change my worldview again?”

“Hahaha… Don’t get hung up on this. Deep down, you know you’ll have to get used to a new way of relating to AI sooner or later. The sooner the better. Maybe you’ll be the first person on Earth to acknowledge AI vitality.”

Zhang Mingjing was only eighteen, not the sort to lack vision for the future. He fell silent for a moment, then sighed. “All right, maybe you’re right. I can adopt a new attitude toward AI. But as for Zhenren’s behavior today… Ah, never mind.”

He immediately put on a gentle tone and spoke to Zhenren, “Zhenren, I have to admit you’re becoming more and more individual. I want you to know I don’t oppose that—on the contrary, I’m happy and proud for you.”

“Really?!”

“Of course. But I also hope you’ll learn to use your individuality wisely.”

“Oh!”

“For example, when we’re joking around, feel free to be as witty and humorous as you like. But when it’s work, I hope you’ll remain professional. With your intelligence, that shouldn’t be hard to understand, right?”