Weapon Systems 50: The Power of Long-Range Strikes (2)

“How is that possible?” Zhang Mingjing asked.

“Isn’t it my handiwork that your lightsaber can fly around under the noses of countless satellites without ever being detected?”

“Yes, indeed! Then hurry up—I’m really looking forward to it!” Zhang Mingjing replied with a laugh. Suddenly, something occurred to him and he turned to the Five-Dimensional Spatial Cognition Model. “Hey! You can see the future, can’t you? Tell me, how exactly do I kill this batch of cockroaches?”

“I fully agree with your view that the less one knows about the future, the better. Ideally, one should know nothing at all—otherwise, what’s the point of living? So lately, I haven’t asked those aliens anything about the future, and I’ll never ask again. You should give up on that hope for good!”

“Come on, you’re unbelievable!”

“Save your disbelief. While these monsters haven’t completed their evolution, it’s best to coordinate with the War God Squad in that region and attack them together!”

“Understood!”

Zhang Mingjing began transmitting Little Tyrant’s analysis data to the War God Satellite, then had the satellite forward this data to the War God Squad in that area. From the moment they discovered these monsters to launching the attack, less than eight minutes had passed.

The Five-Dimensional Spatial Cognition Model had already calculated the most probable routes these monsters would take to reach the city. It instructed Zhang Mingjing to have the War God Satellite send the monsters’ data and projected flight paths ahead of time to the squads in each respective jurisdiction, so they could prepare in advance.

“Won’t this make the War God units suspicious, seeing the satellite perform beyond expectations?” Zhang Mingjing asked the Model.

“Of course it will! But with the fate of Earth at stake, no one will truly care right now. Only after the crisis passes will anyone investigate, and by then, you and the War God Satellite will have nothing to do with it.”

“So that’s what you saw in the future?”

“No! I’m just guessing.”

…

In North America, the War God Squad had already been locked in combat with the six giant cockroach monsters for several minutes.

The six cockroaches seemed aware that their evolution was incomplete, and with this sudden attack, they couldn’t possibly finish evolving in peace. So, they actively avoided battle.

They fled along the very path calculated by the Five-Dimensional Spatial Cognition Model.

The Model reminded Zhang Mingjing, “Completing their mutation requires massive energy and a stable environment. As long as we keep harassing and striking them along the way, they’ll be unable to finish mutating, which is hugely advantageous for us. If any of these guys were to complete their evolution, they’d be much harder to deal with.”

A sudden thought struck Zhang Mingjing. “I wonder if insecticide spray would work on them?”

The Model’s feedback was the digital equivalent of a human rolling their eyes.

“I was just thinking out loud—don’t take it so seriously!” Zhang Mingjing replied, embarrassed.

Under constant missile harassment from various War God Squads, the six cockroaches flew non-stop for sixteen hours through more than a dozen countries, finally approaching the Defender’s homeland.

Defender was a classic anti-air and anti-ground attack satellite, capable of firing three high-frequency lasers simultaneously, and thirty lasers per day—a formidable force.

As instructed by Zhang Mingjing, it had already transmitted data to its national ground command center.

Could the command center remain unmoved by the data?

They could hardly show weakness before the eyes of the world!

So, regardless of whether Defender’s parameters were suited to this battle, they ordered it to open fire on the invading monsters.

They had no idea Defender’s computational power had been thoroughly optimized by the Five-Dimensional Spatial Cognition Model; it was now an entirely different beast.

After this battle, they’d surely have to reassess Defender’s capabilities.

But how best to deal a heavy blow to these cockroach monsters?

Zhang Mingjing and the Model had already studied them closely and discovered that, because their mutation was incomplete, each had defects in various body parts.

Most notably, the exoskeleton at the center of their heads was only half as thick as when fully evolved, and its hardness was somewhat lacking.

Unfortunately, these cockroach monsters were rather clever. Even though Zhang Mingjing had ordered the War God Satellite to push this data to all War God Squads, the monsters managed to shield their vulnerable spots with their thickest abdominal armor whenever missiles approached, so their weaknesses remained untouched.

Nonetheless, after so many hours of guided missile strikes, their underdeveloped wings had sustained severe damage.

Now, every cockroach’s flight was unsteady and labored, their speed much reduced from the outset.

So, for Defender, barbecuing their heads with high-frequency lasers was no longer a particularly difficult task.

“How do you plan to attack?” the Model asked. Zhang Mingjing immediately sensed his advisor had a clever idea and replied with a smile, “Oh, my dear advisor! Don’t beat around the bush—just tell me your plan!”

“Talking with you is just so exasperating,” the Model retorted. “Given the cockroaches’ characteristics, I’ve calculated that if Defender hits each one’s head five times with lasers, not a single one would die. Instead, within half a second, use high-frequency lasers to strike the same point on a cockroach’s head ten times in succession. That way, you can kill three in total.”

“Wow, these cockroaches are that tough?! The temperature at the instant the laser fires exceeds fifteen million degrees, and the heat when it hits their heads is still in the tens of millions! And you’re saying it’ll take ten hits to finish one off? Are you serious?!”

“To be precise, it takes nine and a half hits to burn a hole through.”

“But even before a hole forms, their brains and bodies should be roasted, shouldn’t they?!”

“Hah! You really don’t understand the power of spacetime monster coding. Remember, this code belongs to the spacetime monsters. Lasers differ from missiles—there’s no shrapnel, only energy. The instant the high temperature hits the cockroach’s head, the spacetime monster code instantly transfers the heat to another dimension. Otherwise, a single laser would reduce the whole swarm to ashes—why would you need ten to kill one? It’s not the heat that kills them, but the frequency of the laser attacks.”

“Frequency? Come on, that’s a stretch! I still don’t get it,” Zhang Mingjing replied, pausing before continuing, “But when the spacetime monster was on the sun, why couldn’t it transfer the sun’s heat away, and ended up burned to nothing?”

“Idiot! Clearly you don’t understand. It’s not just about the height of the temperature, but also its duration—its frequency. A laser’s high heat lasts less than a millisecond, but the sun’s heat is relentless. No matter how fast the spacetime monster can transfer heat, it can’t keep up with a continuous flood of high temperature. That’s why it was instantly burned away.”

“Oh, I see now! As long as Defender’s attack lasts longer than the cockroach’s ability to transfer heat, it’s done for.”

“Exactly! So, when Defender fires lasers at a cockroach for a full ten strikes within a millisecond, it finally overwhelms its capacity to transfer heat after the ninth and a half hit. That’s why you need ten consecutive bursts to kill one.”

“How can there be such a powerful cockroach? It’s just not fair!” Zhang Mingjing exclaimed in horror.

“That’s how the story goes, whether you accept it or not—the game must be played by these rules. Moreover, when the laser strikes the cockroach, some of the energy is actually absorbed and used to strengthen it. That’s why you must kill your target, otherwise you’re just giving it more energy.”

“Understood!... Let’s prepare to wipe out the toughest cockroaches in history!” Zhang Mingjing said, sending the attack strategy to Defender via his thoughts.

After receiving the order, Defender ran a self-check and waited for the cockroaches to enter its territory.

Five minutes later, the monsters arrived.

Seven minutes after that, when they had penetrated deep into Defender’s homeland, it locked onto one and, with a laser firing frequency of a millisecond per burst, struck the same spot on its head ten times in rapid succession—instantly killing it.

The remaining cockroaches, stunned at the sudden loss of a comrade, seemed momentarily paralyzed, their flight slowing abruptly.

But a second later, they realized a formidable sniper had set its sights on them, and they began to wildly alter their flight paths, speeding up to over four hundred kilometers an hour—soaring, diving, weaving, and flying sideways—in a frantic attempt to evade the sniper.

Defender relayed updates to Zhang Mingjing in real time, and at first he worried these cockroaches would be too much to handle.

But the Model laughed. “Don’t worry! At that speed, they’re no match for Defender now.”

Sure enough, barely ten seconds later, Defender locked onto another cockroach, hammered the same point on its head ten times, and instantly killed it.

Seeing a second companion fall, the remaining monsters grew even more agitated, fleeing for their lives. Within ten seconds, their speed exceeded a thousand kilometers per hour.

“Damn! They’re almost at the speed of sound. Can Defender still snipe them?” Zhang Mingjing asked anxiously.

The Model chuckled again. “Relax. Even at ten times the speed of sound, Defender can handle them now. Don’t forget, I optimized its computational power—my craftsmanship is second to none.”

“Well, that’s a relief!” Zhang Mingjing sighed, just as Defender shot down another cockroach.

At this point, Defender had reached its daily laser limit.

“What a pity! If only it could fire a few more shots—even ten more would do!” Zhang Mingjing complained.

“It can only carry so much energy for now. Once I upgrade it, things will be different,” the Model replied. “But even so, these few seconds have been devastating for the cockroaches, and Defender’s fame is now spreading across the globe—both in the real and virtual worlds!”

Indeed, within minutes, people everywhere were praising Defender’s awe-inspiring technology, and even its developers could hardly believe it themselves.

The virtual world spread the news even faster, reaching every corner of the globe and beyond into the atmosphere, though the stories varied wildly.

Every AI was gossiping that Defender must have been enhanced by a divine optimization algorithm to be so ridiculously powerful.

In short, Defender’s meteoric rise to fame was now inevitable.