Chapter 14: Planetary-Level Spiritual Telekinesis

Ten free attribute points were evenly distributed among Spirit, Intelligence, and Mystery, bringing each to 102 points, just barely surpassing the threshold of 100. Yet, nothing happened...

“No breakthrough to Planetary-level?” Jiang Chen instinctively frowned. Greeting Jarvis, he made his way to the training room.

Ordinary testing instruments have limited capacity and cannot accurately measure Planetary-level strength. But Jiang Chen was never short of money; his equipment was the best available. It was robust enough that even a typical Planetary-level couldn’t damage it, and could provide precise data.

Activating [Telekinesis], he hurled a flying knife hard at the specially designed target. Numbers flashed across the display: 1,125,368 kilograms.

Over 1.12 million kilograms—more than double the peak War God’s 510,000 kilograms—firmly stepping into the threshold of Planetary-level.

But Jiang Chen was certain: his source power and telekinesis hadn’t undergone any transformation, nor had anything like a ‘micro planet’ formed within him.

“Are the system-added attributes unrelated to source power and telekinesis? Or is there another reason?” Jiang Chen was deeply puzzled, but answers would not come.

The breakthrough had happened, but not fully. His telekinesis had merely reached the threshold of Planetary-level, without any metamorphosis or evolution.

Clearly, this was not truly attaining Planetary-level.

The gulf between Planetary-level and War God is not just basic attack and speed, but lies in the leap of life’s essence, and the special abilities that result.

For example, using the internal micro planet to counteract gravity and fly, or resist extreme environments. Or, during breakthrough, gaining unique abilities according to one’s constitution—such as Luo Feng’s “Diamond Body.”

The latter was seldom described in the original, only because Luo Feng was so extraordinary that he quickly mastered domains and had no need for Diamond Body.

But for an ordinary Planetary-level, such abilities significantly enhance strength.

Jiang Chen possessed none of these.

Relying solely on powerful telekinesis, he could still bully ordinary martial artists by exploiting flight. But if he faced a Spirit Master who could also fly—even a War God-level Spirit Master, with superior combat experience, might defeat or even kill Jiang Chen.

This was not the ‘self-preservation’ power Jiang Chen had hoped for.

Without true Planetary-level strength, Jiang Chen didn’t dare unveil the [Boxer] at once.

The stakes were enormous; War God-level strength simply couldn’t protect it.

Though humanity’s leaders had agreements, such rules could often be broken.

Just look at Luo Feng’s family’s troubles during his years trapped in relics and after seizing the Golden Horned Beast in the original; it was clear.

Humanity was generally united against monsters, but selfish, petty individuals were never in short supply.

“I’ll have to go with the backup plan...” Jiang Chen checked the progress of [Boxer]; within a week at most, the first test model would be assembled and ready for trials.

But for now, the test would probably be delayed.

Without rushing to give Jarvis new instructions, Jiang Chen closed his eyes and summoned the system interface, repeatedly reviewing the [Blueprint] and [Specialization] screens, comparing different plans’ merits, hoping to find an ‘optimal solution.’

Sometimes, when indecisive, he would discuss matters with Jarvis.

“Jarvis, if you were to control [Boxer] or similar robotic soldiers, could you guarantee the control rights wouldn’t be seized?” Jiang Chen asked.

Using unmanned mechanical units in combat, the biggest issue is ‘control.’

Jarvis certainly had the capability, but enemies could interfere, even deploying their own AI to seize control.

Even without AI, signal jammers, EMP weapons, and more could significantly impact unmanned machinery.

And not only humans possessed such abilities; certain monster types with ‘Lightning’ attributes could also disrupt signals and electromagnetic systems.

This is why, despite Earth’s advanced technology in Swallowed Star, fighting monsters still required martial artists to risk their lives.

It’s not that mechanical weapons and equipment lacked power, but they couldn’t operate without humans.

Jarvis didn’t answer immediately; after a long pause, he finally spoke: “Master, if the hypothetical enemy is a monster, based on publicly available monster data, none are powerful enough to break through [Boxer]’s protection among lightning-type monsters. But if the enemy is human, the EMP blast from a small nuclear warhead would be enough to turn [Boxer] into scrap metal.”

The [Boxer] power armor indeed had some anti-interference and anti-electromagnetic protection.

But limited by Earth’s technology level, these features were somewhat weakened, and not especially effective.

Its EMP resistance left something to be desired.

“I see...” Jiang Chen nodded slightly.

Originally, Jiang Chen had planned to fund production of a batch of [Boxer] units as his own armed force, operated by Jarvis.

Of course, [Boxer]’s design was always intended for human control; otherwise, it wouldn’t be called ‘power armor.’

The truly core electronic components were shielded by the armor’s ‘Faraday cage,’ making them immune to electromagnetic shocks.

But the communications equipment, which received signals, was not protected.

—While the armor shell protected the interior, it also heavily blocked signals, so communications devices had to be installed outside the armor layer.

If an EMP destroyed the communications module, Jarvis would be unable to remotely control the unit.

Though there was an intelligent chip inside for pilot assistance, its computational power was nowhere near enough for Jarvis’s needs.

“If we want to build a truly unmanned mechanical force, the units themselves must have enough computing power to host my ‘subprogram.’”

Jarvis considered for a moment, then added: “Take [Boxer] for example. If we modify the cockpit and install a computer equipped with at least 128 ‘Longwei IV’ chips, it would be enough for my subprogram to operate. That way, remote network control wouldn’t be needed. However, this approach would significantly increase costs, and the production capacity of ‘Longwei IV’ chips is insufficient for mass deployment.”

The ‘Longwei IV’ chips Jarvis mentioned were among the most advanced chips available on Earth.

Of course, advanced also meant limited supply.

Only tens of thousands could be produced annually; even if Jiang Chen got them all, he couldn’t build many unmanned [Boxer] units.