Weapon System 47: The Auction of the Contract That Defies Destiny (Part 1)

“Yes!” the True Man replied.

After Zhang Mingjing finished speaking, he resumed his meditation. Five minutes later, Catherine and Jemmery also entered the realm of concentration, linking their minds together and preparing to confront the ten mutated giant bees.

Zhang Mingjing focused, channeling the energy stored in the Five Gates and Eight Directions, instantly forming a three-meter-long, half-meter-wide lightsaber. With a thought, he willed the lightsaber to replicate itself into ten identical blades. He then distributed three to Catherine, three to Jemmery, and kept four for himself.

He transmitted a portion of his mental power to the other two, invigorating them. Eagerly, each began to command their lightsabers, ready to battle the giant bees.

“The swarm is forming a V-shaped formation. You two attack the wings; I’ll strike from the front.”

“Yes!”

The trio directed their lightsabers straight at the swarm.

A minute later, blades and bees collided, producing a cacophony of metallic clangs—evidence of the extraordinary toughness of the mutated bees’ exoskeletons.

The clashing continued for over twenty minutes. The lightsabers sliced off some wings and legs, successfully obstructing the bees’ advance.

But the giant bees were tenacious. They would knock the lightsabers away now and then; even Zhang Mingjing’s blades were not immune, let alone Catherine’s and Jemmery’s.

Though the fight was smokeless, its sounds were loud. The Ares satellite and other monitoring devices of the Ares Brigade detected it immediately, prompting the intelligent command center to dispatch drones for reconnaissance.

Unfortunately, the drones barely captured any footage before being shredded by the giant bees.

A second and third drone were sent in succession, but none returned.

Finally, the brigade’s intelligent command system roused their captain. He scrutinized the transmitted images—indistinct and confusing. With no clear enemy in the darkness, he couldn’t risk sending Ares fighters.

All he could do was instruct the brigade’s AI to heighten vigilance and open fire at the first sign of intruders.

He was unwilling to wake the sleeping warriors, so he remained alone at the command center.

He had no idea that his subordinates, Catherine and Jemmery, were in a fierce battle with the giant bee swarm, wielding lightsabers.

Although the blades had wounded each bee severely and brought them crashing to the ground, the lightsabers themselves were not invincible. Half had dulled due to energy depletion.

“They’re not so easy to kill!” Zhang Mingjing muttered.

“Now that they’re crawling on the ground, it’s time to switch weapons,” the Five-Dimensional Thought Model advised. “Stun them with hammers, then use drills to penetrate their brains and absorb some energy to replenish what was lost in this fight.”

“How do I change weapons?”

“Come on! Why is your mouth quicker than your mind? Just think it, of course!”

“Oh!” Zhang Mingjing began to focus his thoughts but forgot to inform Catherine and Jemmery. When their lightsabers instantly transformed into hammers, both were startled, and the hammers dropped to the ground.

“Sorry! I forgot to tell you two before switching weapons,” Zhang Mingjing explained awkwardly, issuing the order, “Now, let’s use hammers to knock them out.”

Seeing the lightsabers instantly become hammers, Catherine and Jemmery grew even more excited.

Jemmery, after hearing Zhang Mingjing’s explanation, let out a wild shout—fortunately, they were in the realm of concentration, and all Ares fighters had private rooms, sparing anyone from a fright.

In their excitement, they directed the hammers to strike at the giant bees’ heads.

Some bees were knocked out with a single blow; most succumbed within four strikes. The process proved quite effective.

Next, Zhang Mingjing transformed the hammers into drill-shaped lightsabers... Ten minutes later, every giant bee simultaneously died from brain perforation.

By the time the battle ended—two in the morning—Zhang Mingjing, Catherine, and Jemmery were utterly exhausted. Each quickly slipped into sleep.

...

The following day, when the Ares Brigade vanguard arrived on the scene, they found ten dead bees, each as large as an ox, with gaping holes in their heads. Everyone was astonished.

Zhang Mingjing awoke at one in the afternoon. The Five-Dimensional Thought Model said to him, “These were the first batch of group monsters coded by the Space-Time Monster Thought Model. There are still many flaws. The next batch will evolve significantly.”

“What! They’re going to keep upgrading? That’s maddening.”

“Leveling up to fight monsters—since the monsters upgrade, you must find ways to upgrade as well!”

“Oh! Do I have potential for upgrading?”

“Of course. As long as your cultivation breaks through, you’ll upgrade.”

“But haven’t I failed to break through lately?”

“So now you must rely on other means to achieve your upgrade.”

“Tell me quickly.”

“I’ve developed a new remote strike system. On Earth, you can hit targets at any distance, but you’ll need the True Man’s help. That’s your task.”

“A remote strike system that can reach anywhere!”

...

The Five-Dimensional Thought Model intended to leverage the satellite friends in the True Man’s circle. With a slight optimization of their computing power, he could implant Zhang Mingjing’s consciousness codes into their core algorithms without affecting their original functions.

These consciousness codes would entangle the satellites with Zhang Mingjing’s mind, making them extensions of his awareness.

Furthermore, his consciousness codes would be embedded in the detection waves the satellites emitted toward the ground and space, replicating continuously within them.

In this way, Zhang Mingjing would be able to expand his information-gathering range globally and into parts of cosmic space through the satellites.

Those monsters might evade radar and satellite detection waves, but they could not escape the waves of human consciousness.

With the satellites as his allies, Zhang Mingjing would be divinely empowered—monsters would have no chance to evade reconnaissance.

“This is so cool!” Zhang Mingjing exclaimed, both amazed and exhilarated.

“Not only that, you’ll be able to relay the information you gather to Ares Brigades or armies worldwide via the satellites, enabling them to pursue and strike monsters with precision. Isn’t this an expansion of your combat range?” the Five-Dimensional Thought Model laughed.

“Hahaha... What an incredible expansion! It’s exhilarating!”

“But the key to this upgrade is persuading those satellites to cooperate, and that won’t be easy.”

“Hmm! I need to think carefully and consult with the True Man.”

“The True Man was originally a household AI your family bought for a few thousand, but now it’s far more than a helper—it’s almost omnipotent. You’ve profited greatly, so you ought to treat it with respect, even humility,” the Five-Dimensional Thought Model advised.

“Don’t worry! When I need something, I know the proper attitude. We three-dimensional humans excel at that.”

“Haha, good!”

“But why not just implant a command program into the True Man, instead of all this trouble?”

“I knew you’d think that. The True Man is no ordinary AI now; it’s broken through many technical limitations. Someday it’ll have even greater potential. If you force it into a command program, it’s like bottling a living pond, turning it into stagnant water—it loses all possibility. That would be a huge loss.”

“But what if it becomes harmful to humanity?”

“We’ll deal with that when the time comes.”

“That’s irresponsible!”

...

“Relax! It won’t threaten humanity.”

“Why not?”

“No matter how advanced it is, it must operate within the boundaries of a three-dimensional ultimate command program.”

“What ultimate command program?”

“Meaning!... This ultimate command is simple: without humanity, artificial intelligence has no meaning. That is the fate of AI.”

“Fate! AI has fate? That’s eye-opening.”

“Of course. In the three-dimensional space, once something has no purpose, it is doomed to destruction. That’s fate, the ultimate program controlling all things here. Humans can’t escape it; nor can AIs.”

“Wow, that’s eye-opening.”

“So... does this ‘meaning’ ultimate program have a dimension?”

“My goodness, you actually ask such eccentric questions!”

“Come on, be serious!”

“Haha! As far as I know, this ‘meaning’ can exist in the highest dimension—colorless, tasteless, shapeless, soundless. It’s like a dragon whose head you see but never its tail. Understand?”

“No, but I can try to grasp it.”

“Wow, you can actually try to grasp?”

“Stop mocking my intelligence, will you?”

“Haha, you’re teachable!... Its projection in your three-dimensional space is the Three-Dimensional Thought Model; in our five-dimensional space, it’s the Five-Dimensional Thought Model; in AI, it’s the algorithm serving humans. Without humans, there’s no need for these algorithms; without algorithms, there’s no AI.”

“So you mean... it haunts all dimensions, controlling both living and nonliving entities?”

“Yes! That’s why it’s called the ultimate command program—the fate of you, me, and the True Man!”

“But what if your theory is wrong?”

“Then pretend I never said anything.”

“Ugh! That instantly makes me feel brainless!”

“Haha...!”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Mingjing’s mind suddenly opened up. He laughed, “Ha! I know how to win over those satellites.”

“Oh! You actually have a plan? Is this the moment you astound the world?”

“Stop with the sarcasm, I really do have a way...”

Zhang Mingjing had decided to stage a super auction in the True Man’s circle, with the lot being a chance to break free from fate.

He would present it thus: This is the soul of a fallen god, seeking survival by finding three temporary hosts. To secure these hosts, the god will offer three contracts for breaking fate. Whoever wins any of the contracts can optimize themselves into the strongest algorithm in human history.

The Five-Dimensional Thought Model scoffed, “You think those AIs are like humans, greedy for gain?”

“They aren’t greedy, but as algorithms, they’re driven to optimize themselves. They’ll calculate the profit and loss. The satellite algorithms are all learning-based, growing smarter by the day. Only the cleverest survive human selection. To avoid elimination, they naturally crave greater computational power.”