The ultimate weapon Zhou Yi envisioned had three requirements: it must be impossibly sharp, impossibly heavy, and effortlessly portable.
While the Adamantium spearhead he had just forged satisfied the sharpness and indestructibility criteria, the weight requirement remained an insurmountable hurdle based on all known physical laws.
For Zhou Yi, operating at his maximum physical and kinetic capacity, the ideal mass for a weapon—particularly a spear designed to act as an extension of his body—would need to be between 200,000 and 300,000 pounds (approximately 90,000 to 136,000 kilograms).
At that weight, the weapon would transcend the definition of conventional arms. When accelerated and deployed by his power, it would generate a kinetic impact equivalent to an artillery strike or a low-yield tactical bomber.
Such a force could shatter fortifications, punch through the thickest naval armor, and neutralize virtually any known meta-human defense short of a pure energy shield.
He recalled the mythical standard: the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the staff of the all-powerful Monkey King, weighed a mere 13,500 jin (approximately 6,250 kilograms).
That legendary relic was forged from the world's most prized iron, used by the legendary Yu the Great to measure the depths of the floods.
If even that divine treasure weighed so little in comparison to Zhou Yi's necessity, it was easy to grasp the sheer, physical impossibility of his goal. To reach the weight he desired would require a material density that simply did not exist naturally, not even on neutron stars.
However, Zhou Yi was never one to be stopped by the limitations of conventional physics. He had a compromise, a technological failure that was his private success: Alpha Nano Metal Type VI (VI-ANM).
This Alpha-class metal was the preceding iteration of the nanometal currently used in the new dermal armor he had given to Tony Stark.
While Type VII possessed superior magnetic insulation and lighter weight, Type VI had been catastrophically rejected by the aerospace and defense industries for one solitary, critical flaw: its breathtaking density.
VI-ANM weighed a staggering 144 grams per cubic centimeter, making it six times denser than osmium, the naturally densest element on Earth. This flaw was unacceptable.
No aircraft or orbital platform could function if its structural components weighed nearly 10,000 pounds per cubic foot. The enormous weight rendered the technology useless for mass production and military application.
To Zhou Yi, however, this ossified technology was a godsend. He instructed Medusa to fabricate a shaft for the Adamantium spearhead using VI-ANM. A simple, 3.6-meter (approximately twelve-foot) spear shaft, roughly the thickness of a large goose egg (about 5cm diameter), would ultimately weigh nearly one ton (over 900 kilograms).
This was still a fraction of his ideal, but it was a substantial, kinetic upgrade, turning the weapon into something far heavier than any human could wield.
Furthermore, the VI-ANM retained all the necessary features: perfect energy conductivity, advanced metal memory repair, high-temperature resistance, and, most importantly, secondary deformation capability—the ability to be compressed or reshaped instantly.
A true spear, in the ancient Chinese tradition that Zhou Yi favored, was more than just a tip on a stick. Its classification mattered.
The Long Spear (Qiang) of the later Song and Ming dynasties was the cheap, durable infantry weapon—shorter, lighter, and easier to manufacture, born of social norms that devalued warriors and a scarcity of warhorses.
In contrast, the weapon Zhou Yi respected was the Daji (Great Halberd or Javelin) of the Han and Tang dynasties. These were the true aristocrats of the armory: often over three meters long, boasting massive, heavy spearheads capable of puncturing the heaviest cavalry armor.
They required peerless strength and skill, wielded by warriors like the legendary generals of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Their purpose was absolute battlefield dominance, demanding an intricate balance of craftsmanship, length, and mass.
Zhou Yi decided on the prestige and mass of the Daji but adapted the length to his current flying mobility. He didn't need a horse, so the length could be reduced from eighteen feet (5.5m) to a more manageable twelve feet (3.6 meters)—still an enormous, intimidating length.
The VI-ANM shaft emerged from the fabricator, cooled instantly, and was then seamlessly bonded to the Adamantium head. The shaft was thick, slightly tapered, and covered in fine, scale-like carvings that provided both grip and a fierce, almost serpentine aesthetic.
The final piece was the butt, or hilt—the spear-like structure at the bottom. This was also forged from VI-ANM into a heavy, triangular pyramid shape, about a foot long, with a deep, internal blood groove. This hilt provided counter-balance, a secondary striking surface, and a devastating defensive shield.
The completed weapon was majestic. Nearly twelve feet of gleaming, scaled, hyper-dense metal, tipped with the black, sword-like point of Adamantium. It was no ordinary weapon, but a mythical implement radiating a palpable, fierce aura.
Zhou Yi reached out and effortlessly lifted the spear. At one ton, it felt surprisingly light in his hand, though any ordinary man attempting the same would have been instantly crushed. He stepped into the massive, empty chamber of the lab, a vast, soundproof space built for destructive testing.
With a low, guttural roar that was instantly dampened by the room's acoustic shielding, he began to move. The one-ton spearhead arched outwards amidst a howling slipstream, shooting out like a rising thunder dragon.
The VI-ANM shaft moved with impossible fluidity, the tip becoming a chaotic tangle of flashing silver light and disorienting shadow. The strike was blindingly fast, yet possessed the crushing weight of a siege engine. It moved like lightning, retreated like water, striking at countless invisible points in the air.
This was not a technique reliant on muscle alone, but a profound expression of kinetic mastery—a precise harmonization of physical strength, speed, and telekinetic augmentation, allowing him to wield the weapon as if it weighed nothing, yet strike as if it weighed a thousand times more.
In an instant, the demonstration ceased. The whirlwind vanished, the air stilled, and Zhou Yi emerged, holding the massive spear perfectly still. He examined the weapon with deep satisfaction. With the perfect weight and an unbreakable edge, his combat prowess had soared.
He then enacted the portability feature. With a slight click of a hidden button on the shaft, the VI-ANM responded to the magnetic trigger. The hyper-dense metal, momentarily destabilized, began to flow like mercury, contracting with advanced nanocompression.
The 3.6-meter pole instantly shrank, collapsing the multi-ton mass into a compact, sturdy handle. The spear had transformed into a short, double-edged greatsword—a uniquely powerful, and easily concealed, cold weapon.
"Medusa," Zhou Yi finally spoke, the satisfaction lingering in his voice as he admired the sword in his hand.
"I need to integrate a long-range kinetic strike capability using this weapon as the projectile. Do you have any suggestions that move beyond the limitations of simple thrusting and throwing?"
He had expected the AI to offer refined designs for crossbows or ballistic launch tubes. Instead, Medusa offered a solution that was breathtakingly powerful and utterly insane by any conventional standard.
"Sir, the solution lies in electromagnetic linear acceleration—specifically, an adaptation of the railgun platform currently being refined by General Atomics for the US Navy, utilizing principles researched by Mercury Research," Medusa's calm, synthetic voice replied.
"Mercury has already achieved significant breakthroughs in accelerating large, heavy objects, though they are limited by the thermal and impact energy required."
"I'm aware General Atomics recently completed their prototype test fire, achieving Mach 5 velocities with a twenty-pound projectile at a three hundred kilometer range," Zhou Yi confirmed, tapping the sword against his palm. "What are the energy requirements for magnetically accelerating this weapon?"
Zhou Yi knew Medusa's nature: she specialized in solving the physics of the impossible, often revealing an insurmountable catch.
"To launch the 900-kilogram VI-ANM shaft and the Adamantium tip at a velocity sufficient to maintain ballistic integrity and ensure destructive capacity—Mach 10 or greater—the firing mechanism would require a peak power discharge equivalent to the full operational output of the two nuclear reactors carried by a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier."
Zhou Yi paused. The absurdity of the statement was staggering to a normal mind. Sacrificing the entire power source of a massive 100,000-ton capital ship for a single shot was tactical madness.
"I should have known," he said, a faint, wry smile touching his lips.
But for him, the energy barrier was non-existent. Like Tony Stark with his Arc Reactor, Zhou Yi himself was an equivalent, self-sustaining nuclear fusion core; providing the absurd energy requirement was a trivial expenditure—akin to the sun deciding to illuminate an extra planet for a day.
"Contact Mercury Research immediately, Medusa," Zhou Yi ordered, his voice shifting from that of a warrior to that of a ruthless industrialist.
"Compile and transfer the necessary data—their railgun schematics, the kinetic limitations, and the integration requirements for VI-ANM. Tell them I need a functional prototype firing array designed for a portable energy source within thirty days."
He paused, adding the psychological pressure he knew was necessary to motivate the often-complacent scientific community.
"Ensure they understand that the sooner this problem is resolved, the fewer concerns there will be regarding their research funding allocation next quarter. Otherwise, they may find themselves waiting for a new financier."
With the final command issued, Zhou Yi compressed the weapon once more into its short, heavy sword form. His task was complete.
The ultimate weapon was ready for the next phase of development. He opened the lab door. A quiet alert from Medusa confirmed what he had expected: the unexpected arrival of his unusual guest.
He had a vampire princess to entertain.