Weapon Systems 49: The Power of Long-Range Strikes (1)

The algorithms of the three satellites—Little Overlord, God of War, and Defender—had finally signed a thirty-year contract of servitude with Zhang Mingjing in order to avoid being eliminated by humanity, and the five-dimensional spatial thinking model had accordingly transformed them as planned.

Time flew swiftly, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

During this period, the relationship between Zhang Mingjing and Catherine developed in a secretive yet inseparable manner.

Catherine and Jamie made remarkable progress in their training as well; with Zhang Mingjing’s telekinetic support, they could now easily wield four flying swords each.

Zhang Mingjing, meanwhile, entered a deep state of meditation daily to polish the stones of his own personality.

Feathering and Immortal—his two pets—also grew sturdier.

One day...

“What? You want to transform Feathering and Immortal?” Zhang Mingjing was stunned by the five-dimensional spatial thinking model’s plan and shouted, “What can they possibly do?”

“Their meridians have long been unblocked, and their potential is gradually being unleashed. This is the perfect time to turn them into super war dog and war cat! As the saying goes, time flies and cats and dogs grow old; if we don’t use them today, it’ll be a wasted opportunity!”

“Come on, is that even feasible?”

“Why not? The space monster once created a horde of creatures with a small segment of code—surely I can transform and optimize these two!”

“I mean, how exactly do you plan to transform and optimize them?”

“I’ll give them a pair of invisible wings and sharp claws like light swords, so they can soar across the blue sky and join the battle against monsters.”

“No need! I already have plenty of high-powered weapons, plus Catherine and Jamie to help. We really don’t need them—let them be!”

“That’s not right! You have your own ambitions—don’t Feathering and Immortal deserve their own glory? If they grow old in obscurity, they’ll only regret it bitterly when the time comes!”

“Oh, come on! What are you saying?”

“Relax! I know your worry—you’re afraid I’ll cripple your two pets, aren’t you?”

“I’m not really worried about that; I’m just afraid you’ll turn them into monsters.”

“Rest assured! My craftsmanship is unrivaled—I wouldn’t degrade them so. I’ll make them able to strike down foes within ten steps, travel a thousand miles without stopping.”

“You’re scaring me! ...How about you sketch out a rough design for me first? After all, they’re our family’s pets—the owner should have a say, right?”

“Sigh... Alright!” The five-dimensional spatial thinking model grumbled and sent a holographic blueprint into Zhang Mingjing’s consciousness.

Now, with true long-range strike capability, if monsters approached the southern town, Zhang Mingjing could control the satellites or wield the light swords, but not both with equal ease. Catherine and Jamie’s current strength was limited; they couldn’t harness all the available energy. If the surplus energy couldn’t be converted into weapons for battle, it would be a tremendous waste. Thus, the five-dimensional spatial thinking model wanted to use this excess energy to arm Feathering and Immortal.

It designed a set of light-powered armor for them—not only bulletproof, but also resistant to detection, lasers, water, fire, and more. At a moment’s notice, it could produce a pair of light wings, granting them flight speed comparable to the flying swords.

The model also equipped them with a full set of light-powered claws. With a bit of training, each pet could take the place of a flying sword on the battlefield.

“Does my team really need to be this extravagant?”

“Spring sets the tone for the year, morning for the day, intelligence for victory, and foresight for a thousand battles,” began the five-dimensional spatial thinking model, launching into a lengthy lecture. “As they say, before the troops move, supplies must be ready. Preparation is key; without it, failure follows. Remain vigilant in peace; don’t wait until disaster strikes to pray for help...”

“Alright, alright!” Zhang Mingjing gave in, though he added, “But shouldn’t we ask Feathering and Immortal what they think?”

“They don’t understand! Right now, talking to them is pointless. When they’re soaring above the clouds, they’ll naturally realize.”

“Sigh! Fine, you win!” Zhang Mingjing finally agreed.

Truthfully, he wasn’t too worried about Feathering and Immortal becoming monsters; he simply knew how dangerous fighting monsters could be—Catherine’s missing limbs were proof, and Jamie had nearly died last month. He really didn’t want his pets to risk themselves, but seeing the five-dimensional spatial thinking model so determined today, he had no real reason to refuse further. He could only take things one step at a time.

The five-dimensional spatial thinking model understood his real concerns, but felt it better to avoid the issue. Since Zhang Mingjing hadn’t voiced his true worries, it pretended not to know.

However, Zhang Mingjing sensed today that the model was hiding something from him—and it was serious.

His intuition was correct; the model was indeed keeping something from him.

In three-dimensional space, time is divided into past, present, and future, but humans can only perceive the present—a single point in time. The past is invisible, and the future is merely a concept that haunts their minds.

But from the perspective of five-dimensional space, the past, present, and future of three-dimensional space all lie on one straight line—the timeline.

Life forms in five-dimensional space can see everything that happens along this line, including some possibilities that may occur in the future.

Earlier this morning, Earth time, Elder A of the five-dimensional space sent a message to the model, warning that the future was dire and urging it to prepare in advance. That’s why the model seemed anxious today.

How dire was the future?

Actually, even the elders hadn’t seen it clearly, because beyond a certain future point the timeline suddenly grew extremely blurry—but it was certain things would become increasingly grave.

Why was the timeline blurry?

Strictly speaking, this was normal—since the future holds countless possibilities. But only one outcome is ultimately realized, and the factors determining that outcome have yet to appear, causing the timeline to become fuzzy beyond that future point.

“Hey! Don’t hide things from me—I’ll be very unhappy!” Zhang Mingjing finally couldn’t hold back and confronted the model.

“What happens if you’re unhappy?”

“Then I’ll have to find something joyful to do—like spending the whole day with Catherine. That’ll teach you!”

“Hmph! You may have time, but she might not.”

“Come on, spill it! You look nervous, as if you owe someone a fortune and the creditors are at your door.”

“Sigh... Fine! In five-dimensional space, we can see some of your future. In ten days, a group of monsters will attack.”

“Wow! So you’ve seen our future? Don’t tell me too much, or living will become way too dull!...But monsters coming is no big deal—they’re bound to arrive sooner or later. I can just test my long-range strike system.”

“But looking further ahead, things seem to get worse.”

“Ah! Worse? How so?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be here cutting water with a knife only for it to flow even more, or raising a cup to dispel sorrow only to deepen it! I’d have started preparing long ago. It’s because we don’t know that we’re anxious.”

“Aren’t you able to see our future? How come you don’t know?”

“We can’t always see clearly! This time, it’s too murky to discern.”

“Well then, if it’s unclear, why worry so much?”

“What do you know? If we can’t see your universe’s future from five-dimensional space, or if it’s blurry, it usually means that chaotic information is affecting the development of the future—usually with bad results! So in our space, we don’t indulge in pointless worries; we simply prepare early. Now that your future is so uncertain, I can hardly sleep!”

“So that’s why you’re desperate to optimize my team—even Feathering and Immortal?”

“Exactly!”

“You’re truly painstaking.”

“Glad you understand! You must also intensify your cultivation.”

“Sigh! How much sorrow can one bear? It’s like a river of spring waters flowing east. You’ve got me worrying now! I say, with a great enemy at hand and troubles enough already, can’t we think about something cheerful? Since we’re in three-dimensional space, shouldn’t we just live in the present? Why bother with the future? It’s too nerve-wracking.”

“What cheerful thing?”

“For example, me and Catherine...”

“Er... Don’t...”

...

Although Zhang Mingjing’s vision was augmented by three satellites, it still couldn’t cover every inch of Earth’s surface.

Take, for instance, the North American desert—six gigantic cockroaches lay there, identical and as large as cattle, unnoticed by his satellites. These were the monsters the five-dimensional spatial thinking model had mentioned ten days ago.

The six cockroaches had most of their bodies buried in the sand, and would complete their mutation in half an hour.

Though their numbers were fewer than the previous swarm of bees, they had evolved from cockroaches, whose endurance was extraordinary. Their wings were not only razor sharp but even harder than light swords—so no fear of broken wings this time.

Their most formidable feature was their mouthparts—utterly indestructible.

They had not yet completed their final mutation; once they did, Zhang Mingjing would have a hard time dealing with them.

Fortunately, Zhang Mingjing still had Realman. In its network, a desert vegetation management AI discovered the six creatures.

Realman immediately reported the information to Zhang Mingjing.

“Damn! I missed these ones,” Zhang Mingjing grumbled, then ordered Little Overlord, “Investigate their situation at once.”

At the same time, he instructed the God of War satellite, “Inform the God of War squad responsible for that area immediately.”

Both satellites received the command and began their tasks.

“I suppose when you scanned that area today, the cockroaches were still small, so they went unnoticed,” the five-dimensional spatial thinking model remarked.

“Yes, that’s what I thought. Too bad Defender is restricted by national borders—or else it could start firing now.”

“Don’t worry! I’ve calculated that these monsters will have to pass through Defender’s host country if they’re coming to this city. By then, it’ll be able to strike. I’ve spent the past half month refining its weapon system, and in five or six days, I’ll have an ideal solution. Then it can fire anywhere, anytime, without being detected by other satellites.”