Chapter 19: Slaying the Intermediate Lord Monster!

Bullet after bullet struck the hide of the “Granite Black Bear,” leaving behind bloodied holes as thick as a finger. Even a beast capable of withstanding direct artillery fire could not endure the rounds from the enhanced “Ripper.” Yet, because the bear was so swift, none of the shots hit a vital spot; though the wounds inflicted were severe, they were far from fatal.

Nevertheless, the pain sent the Granite Black Bear into a frenzy. Bears were notoriously ill-tempered to begin with, and now, having seen its followers slaughtered en masse and itself badly wounded, its rage boiled over. It yearned to tear the strange, humanoid machine before it to pieces.

With a thunderous roar, the Granite Black Bear ordered its minions to close in, seeking to hem in the “Boxer” and limit its room to maneuver. At the same time, it lunged again, claws outstretched, intent on rending its enemy apart.

The subroutine controlling the Boxer, honed through countless battles, now executed its tactics with conviction—avoiding direct clashes with the Granite Black Bear and exploiting the Ripper’s formidable armor-piercing firepower to inflict wound after wound. Only the bear’s incredible speed, accelerating to supersonic velocities in a heartbeat, kept the bullets from hitting their mark; all the Boxer could do was aim for the torso whenever possible.

Had it been able to land several consecutive shots on vital points, it would have taken fewer than ten rounds to bring down this lord-class beast, famed for its strength and impenetrable hide. As things stood, however, the battle still favored the Boxer; the attacks from the ordinary beasts posed no real threat, barely affecting its evasive maneuvers or marksmanship.

Meanwhile, the Granite Black Bear’s speed still couldn’t match the Boxer’s—leaving it to bleed and weaken, unable to escape or retaliate. Frustration and fury mounted in the bear as its injuries worsened, but all it could do was vent its impotent rage with deafening roars.

As its life ebbed away and the wounds grew graver, the Granite Black Bear realized that if it stayed any longer, it would be doomed. The instinct to flee replaced its bloodlust.

Monsters—especially those of higher rank—were far from mindless. When danger threatened, they would do all in their power to escape, hoping for a chance at future revenge.

With another series of roars, the Granite Black Bear commanded its warriors and captains to entangle the enemy while it turned and charged away, breaking the sound barrier in the blink of an eye.

Like a living shell, the bear crashed into a wall, blasting a gaping hole in the side of the tower. Seeing its quarry escape, the Boxer swung its arms, flinging off the beasts that clung to it, then leapt through the breach created by the bear. Raising its weapon, it opened fire at the fleeing monster’s back.

A bullet punched through the bear’s knee, causing it to stagger and nearly collapse. But even gravely wounded, the lord-class beast pressed on, weaving through the ruins in a desperate bid to shake its relentless pursuer.

It was all in vain. Once outside the cramped interior, the Boxer’s full potential was unleashed; its speed soared to twice the speed of sound, leaving the Granite Black Bear unable to shake free. Though the advantage was clear, the Boxer did not rush in for a melee finish; instead, it maintained a careful distance, continuing to pepper the bear with Ripper rounds.

Only after enduring fifty or sixty more bullets did the Granite Black Bear finally succumb, letting out a roar of despair before its mountainous form collapsed with a thunderous crash.

—

Within the city’s base, Jiang Chen finally let out a sigh of relief as he witnessed the scene.

“Jarvis, your subroutine’s progress is astonishing—your marksmanship even anticipates enemy movements now,” Jiang Chen remarked with a smile, overjoyed by the Boxer’s performance in live combat.

He was especially amazed by Jarvis’s subroutine. Even after being disconnected from the network and cut off from Jiang Chen’s direct commands, it executed its tasks flawlessly and showed remarkable growth through each successive battle.

From the early days, when it had relied solely on the Boxer’s brute strength for frontal assaults, to now, where it exploited range and speed, employing hit-and-run tactics reminiscent of “kiting,” the subroutine could defeat a mid-tier lord-class Granite Black Bear with barely any cost.

Even in marksmanship, it had evolved from shooting at stationary targets to efficiently predicting enemy movements, greatly improving its hit rate. Though striking vital points in the heat of battle remained difficult, its accuracy had climbed from about fifty percent against beast-captain monsters to over seventy percent even when facing lord-level foes—an astonishing rate of improvement.

“If I were online, my subroutines could learn from each other—efficiency would climb even higher,” Jarvis replied, showing no hint of humility as he accepted Jiang Chen’s praise.

“Still, the Ripper’s inability to reliably hit vital points against fast and powerful enemies is a real limitation that I overlooked...” Jiang Chen mused, recalling the previous battles. He realized he had been overly optimistic when he introduced the Ripper.

No wonder, whether on Earth or across the stars, the development of advanced weaponry always favored lasers. No projectile, however fast, could rival the speed of light. If the issues of atmospheric diffusion and insufficient lethality could be resolved, the accuracy of laser weapons would be unmatched by traditional kinetic arms.

Unfortunately, that field was not Jiang Chen’s specialty. In the short term, producing a laser weapon superior to the Ripper was out of reach.

Besides, Earth already boasted high-powered laser weapons, some capable of slaying king-class monsters with ease—though their size made them unsuitable for individual soldiers. When it came to personal arms, the Ripper, despite its flaws, was already an exceptional weapon.

Reflecting on the Boxer’s performance in combat, Jiang Chen quickly made up his mind and issued an order: “Jarvis, gather the necessary data and draw up a plan for forming a Boxer battalion.”