Not long after, a very young-looking girl in the experimental team raised her hand high, "Done!"
"Begin," said Zou Zhou.
"Begin!" Ou Zhanpeng issued the command, and the soldiers immediately put a swift dog into the iron cage.
The first batch of swift dogs had been used up in experiments, and these few were specially re-captured by frontline troops at the base's request.
They weren't specifically tasked with capturing live ones; instead, they were swift dogs stunned by explosions during combat or captured by humans for other reasons.
Perhaps due to being confined for a long time, the swift dogs were extremely agitated. After entering the large cage, they jumped and thrashed, their fierce eyes filled with provocation.
On the other side of the iron cage, a robotic dog also entered.
This thing was slightly smaller, with slender legs and a long body, its steel teeth bared, making it look somewhat fierce.
Before the robotic dog could even stabilize itself, the swift dog lunged forward, initiating the attack. It bit down on the robotic dog's neck and exerted force, immediately piercing through the alloy-crafted outer shell.
With a grating, screeching sound, the robotic dog went still.
Everyone, including Ou Zhanpeng, was dumbfounded.
That's it? What kind of experiment is this, a pushover?
Zou Zhou's expression was unreadable, "Record it: insufficient shell strength, attack speed too slow, improve immediately!"
"Received!" The researchers immediately sprang into action, using 3D printing equipment to manufacture new shells and quickly fitting them onto another robotic dog.
However, solving the slow speed issue was not as easy. The programmers present, working in coordination with the team in Yanjing, spent more than ten minutes writing new code.
This speed was already quite fast, but from an outsider like Ou Zhanpeng, it was essentially like a snail's pace.
Soon, the second round of experiments began.
This time, as soon as the gate opened, the robotic dog rushed out and agilely lunged at the swift dog, opening its mouth, lined with alloy fangs, and biting down hard on its opponent.
But the swift dog was not only fierce but also tactical, deftly sidestepping and biting the robotic dog.
Before long, the second trial also ended in failure.
This was followed by a third and fourth trial, with the robotic dog lasting longer each time.
After several such attempts, by evening, the robotic dog finally defeated its opponent and achieved victory.
This confrontation lasted a full twenty minutes. It was less that the robotic dog defeated its opponent and more that it tired its opponent out.
Ou Zhanpeng was a bit confused. He asked doubtfully, "Is this necessary?"
"Yes!" Zou Zhou stated with absolute certainty, "We need to understand the swift dog's behavior through a series of confrontations in order to formulate the most effective containment strategy."
"Containment?" Ou Zhanpeng raised his eyebrows slightly.
It wasn't that he doubted the answer, but rather that he had been standing there for a long time, and this was the first time he had spoken such a long sentence.
"Yes, containment," Zou Zhou said. "The robotic dog must possess the ability to neutralize targets silently; this was the original intention behind designing this weapon."
Alright, you win.
Ou Zhanpeng didn't really understand what original intentions or high-level concepts were. He only knew that war required any means necessary, using the simplest and most effective methods to destroy the enemy.
However, thinking about it from another angle, a dog that couldn't even bite its opponent to death, what right did it have to be called a robotic dog?
After several consecutive one-on-one battles, all won against their opponents, the day's experiments concluded. Ou Zhanpeng's involvement was over. The experimental team worked through the night to improve the robotic dog's structure and programming. The next morning, the improved robotic dog, based on the new plan, made a stunning debut.
The most significant change was the addition of weapons to its shoulders, with a shotgun mounted on each side.
Ou Zhanpeng was surprised, thinking the progress might be too fast.
However, Zou Zhou and his team didn't see it that way. Since the biting capability had been optimized yesterday, it was natural to move on to weapon equipment today.
Possessing biting capability did not mean abandoning the advantage of weapons.
Ou Zhanpeng wholeheartedly agreed with this, believing that leveraging strengths and avoiding weaknesses was the proper attitude for researchers!
After modification and facing the swift dog again, the effect was indeed remarkable. Two shots from the shotgun downed the opponent. It wasn't just one-on-one; even facing a group, it could fight effectively.
But that wasn't the end. They continued to improve, replacing the two shotguns with one shotgun and one rifle to further enhance long-range firepower.
This still wasn't the end. The experimental team continued to optimize the program, adding a recognition module.
Simply put, it was to teach the robotic dog to distinguish between Earth's native species and unnatural, evolved alien creations, to prevent the robotic dog from wiping out other native species while eliminating swift dogs.
There were already mature solutions for recognition programs; the main challenge was how to port the program into the system.
Finally, safety experiments were also conducted, involving several human mannequins to test whether the robotic dog would misidentify humans as other creatures. Furthermore, when swift dogs and humans appeared simultaneously, the robotic dog had to prioritize protecting humans.
This protection wasn't simply about blocking the human; it involved making the optimal choice between blocking, intercepting, and actively attacking based on the actual situation on the ground.
After several days of intense work, the new model suitable for dealing with swift dogs was finally completed. However, this was only the end of the experimental stage, not practical maturity.
Therefore, the experimental team split into five groups and immediately rushed to the blockade zone. Upon arrival, they released the robotic dogs and issued them free-hunt commands.
Robotic dogs possessed different behavioral modes. As the name suggests, free hunt meant no restrictions, with the highest objective being to pursue and kill swift dogs.
In addition to this, there was guardian mode, where the robotic dog operated around a specific target, eliminating any hostile targets that dared to approach. There was also coordinated mode, where several robotic dogs acted together, cooperating to hunt targets. Other modes included stealth mode, search mode, assault mode, ambush mode, sentinel mode, and composite mode, sufficient to handle most missions.
Upon receiving the command, eight robotic dogs immediately disappeared into the jungle.
Landmines were simply not an issue. Even if the active recognition system failed, the robotic dogs still had enemy-hostile identification systems, providing double protection and double recognition to ensure foolproof operation.
Technicians monitored the status of the robotic dogs through the data link. In just over ten minutes, a gunshot echoed from deep within the jungle, marking the first target of the mission.
Gunshots continued thereafter. In just half an hour, over twenty swift dogs were eliminated.
This was only the harvest of one group. Other groups also reported good news. The group with the highest number eliminated over thirty swift dogs, while the lowest had nearly twenty, effectively curbing the arrogance of the dog packs and alleviating the heavy pressure on various fronts.
The soldiers who witnessed the experiments unanimously praised the robotic dogs and demanded an accelerated deployment.
Robotic dogs versus swift dogs, it was like humans against robots; who was stronger or weaker was self-evident.
However, this was still only initial success, and there was still a considerable distance to go before widespread deployment to troops!