East Asia Capital, Central Conference Hall.
The curtains had been drawn, plunging the conference room into darkness.
Ying Shaojun, Lu Sizhe, and Wei Tong sat side by side, watching the massive projection ahead.
It displayed footage of the battle at Mendel Satellite, captured from the perspective of the Black Tortoise.
Watching the Gundam Frame wreak havoc amidst dense vines, Wei Tong couldn't help but slap his thigh and exclaim, "Excellent! Spectacular!"
Lu Sizhe remained silent, his brow furrowed as he stared intently at the Gundam Frame.
Shortly after, the footage ended. The lights in the conference room turned on, and the curtains rolled up.
Ying Shaojun asked, "What are your thoughts?"
"I never expected a humanoid machine to be so agile," Wei Tong marveled. "Zhou Tianming is truly a genius."
Lu Sizhe remained deep in thought, saying nothing. The other two waited quietly without interrupting.
After a moment, he spoke, "To be honest, I'm not optimistic about humanoid weapons."
Wei Tong opened his mouth to speak, but Ying Shaojun raised a hand to stop him.
"I admit that humanoid forms are more agile and versatile in close-quarters combat, but most battles today take place beyond visual range. With sufficient firepower, we can destroy them from thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers away."
"At such distances, their weaknesses become glaringly obvious: large size, slow speed. Even if the pilot can react, they can't close the distance to reach us. From that far, we can launch multiple attacks, while the enemy can't retaliate, and their inherent fragility reduces their margin for error."
"The technology is highly advanced and production is complex. The time and materials needed to build one unit could produce hundreds of missiles. The cost-effectiveness is just too low." Under Lu Sizhe's analysis, Wei Tong's excitement faded. After careful consideration, he nodded, "You're right, Sizhe. This type of humanoid machine is indeed somewhat impractical."
"Moreover, Zhou Tianming is a Coordinator, an elite among elites," Lu Sizhe added. "Even with the Psycommu System, Naturals still can't match Coordinators. I have a test unit here, and the operational results are... disappointing."
"What happened?" Wei Tong asked curiously.
Lu Sizhe shook his head and sighed, "The Psycommu System converts brainwaves into signals, improving operational precision and speed through direct neural linkage. Sounds great, right?"
"But there are many issues. One is that the system has no ability to distinguish between brainwave commands. As soon as the operator has a thought, thousands of commands are sent out. Wei Tong, if you issued a hundred commands per minute while directing troops, what would happen?"
"All would be ineffective. Before one command is relayed, a new one arrives, causing confusion among subordinates. The army would be paralyzed."
"Exactly. The connected device instantly crashes. Without specialized training or specific equipment and software support, it's simply unusable," Lu Sizhe continued. "Secondly, there's the feedback issue. The more complex the connected device, the more information floods back into the brain—far more than the brain can handle."
"Zhou Tianming's method is impossible for others to replicate. If we abandon the Psycommu System and rely on traditional operation methods, we'd be challenging others' strengths with our own weaknesses. It's not worth it."
Ying Shaojun listened quietly, pondering for a moment after Lu Sizhe finished speaking. "Sizhe, commission Zhou Tianming to draft several Humanoid Weapon blueprints. Even if we don't use them immediately, we can keep them as technical reserves. After all, his combat results are undeniable."
"Understood. I'll contact him."
Turning to Wei Tong, Ying Shaojun said, "Wei Tong, after you return, prepare a simulated combat plan for Sizhe. Let him understand under which circumstances Humanoid Weapons would hold an advantage and develop countermeasures accordingly."
"Alright," Wei Tong nodded, then asked curiously, "Do you think some faction will deploy Humanoid Weapons?"
"Haven't you both already given the answer?"
The two were momentarily stunned before exclaiming in unison: "Coordinators?!"
"Current weapons simply don't showcase their advantages, do they? Their desire for independence is no secret, but recently their actions have become noticeably more brazen."
Wei Tong narrowed his eyes. "You think their specialized weapons are already complete?"
"Confidence comes from having a foundation first, then the momentum. When you hold a sword in your hand, your demeanor naturally changes—it's not something you can easily hide." Both nodded in agreement with Ying Shaojun's assessment.
After briefly discussing a few more points, they hurriedly departed.
Left alone in the conference room, Ying Shaojun remained seated without moving. After a while, he spoke: "Long Jun, help me research ancient East Asian legends."
"Understood," a deep, magnetic male voice echoed through the conference room.
One minute later, extensive legendary materials appeared on the computer screen before Ying Shaojun.
He rapidly scanned through them until his gaze abruptly halted at one entry—The First Emperor cast twelve bronze figures to stabilize the realm.
"Coincidence?"
"It seems the imperial mausoleum hides other secrets."
"Long Jun, how are the Mental Resistance Devices deployed around the imperial mausoleum? Any reactions observed so far?"
"No unusual phenomena detected to date. Mental Force Field coverage remains below 10%."
Ying Shaojun sighed. "It seems we're still too impatient."
"What about Mental Power reserves?"
"The modified unmanned cars have now spread to surrounding cities," Long Jun's tone shifted slightly, "but the approval ratings are plummeting." Ying Shaojun chuckled: "You just can't stand White Rabbit being above you, can you?"
"No," came the swift reply.
"Put some pressure on Zhou Tianming. Ask him for money. If he doesn't resolve the complaint issues soon, let him experience what it feels like to lose everything."
"Understood," the voice lifted cheerfully.
"Any new targets emerged?" Ying Shaojun's tone turned serious.
"None."
"Any changes among existing targets?"
"None. Zhou Hanxiang remains the closest to meeting the standards, but analysis shows no further developments in her manifestations."
"What about Zhou Tianming?"
"Analysis indicates he hasn't reached Immortal standards, but there are peculiar aspects about him. However, we lack the observational capabilities to investigate further."
Zhou Tianming exhaled, his expression turning disappointed. "Decades have passed, and in the end, there's still only Philia Morpheus... What a pity..."
"Her death was unnatural. With the abilities of an Immortal, she should have been able to foresee the danger."
"Suicide..." Ying Shaojun shook his head in disappointment. "Even with the power of an Immortal, she lacked the corresponding will and courage."
"She was still a child."
After a moment of silence, he said, "Continue monitoring. Don't overlook even the slightest clue."
"Understood."
Mendel, inside the Black Tortoise's room—
Zhou Tianming was hunched over his desk, scribbling and sketching, papers spread across the entire surface.
He was working on another upgrade for the Mental Resistance Device. The chainmail form was still too heavy—fine for him to wear, but making Ray wear it all the time felt like mistreating the kid.
Fortunately, Ray was very obedient and well-behaved. Even if he had to stay inside that first-generation oversized coffin for long periods, he never complained, just sat quietly inside reading by himself.
Everyone liked a good kid like him, and people often kept him company, so he never felt lonely.
But every time Zhou Tianming left, those big, dewy eyes made him feel terribly guilty.
That kid was just too good at acting cute.
Several hours later, Zhou Tianming stopped what he was doing, tossed his pen aside, straightened his back, and stretched.
He let out a comfortable groan. "Ah, that feels good!"
He exhaled deeply. "Finally done. This will be much more convenient. I'll make one set first and test it out."
"Whi—"
Just as he was about to call out, White Rabbit's voice chimed in. "Master, the losers are here demanding compensation."
Zhou Tianming was speechless. "White Rabbit, I haven't upgraded your system in a while. Where did you learn to talk like that?"
He was starting to grow suspicious. White Rabbit's artificial intelligence was advancing at an unnaturally rapid pace.
Previously, he hadn't noticed because the system upgrades were so frequent, but lately, he'd been busy with other matters and hadn't performed any updates—yet its learning progress hadn't slowed down at all.
That was a bit strange.
If the problem wasn't on his end, then it meant the unmanned car was the issue.