The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Uh, of course I want to." Although Huang Yan's tone was a little strange, Fish still nodded.

"Very well, I'll tell you after we've dealt with the spoils," Huang Yan said.

"Spoils of war?"

"Yes, we finally caught such a rare prey, are you just going to abandon it like this?" Huang Yan's remote terminal flapped its two pairs of wings and nimbly flew to the side of the "Black Destroyer"'s wrecked remains, kicking its corpse.

"Can this thing... be eaten?" Fish scratched his head, looking confused.

"If I had to say, yes," the fairy-like terminal transformed a slender hand into a small knife, deftly slicing through the "Black Destroyer's" charred skin to reveal the underlying muscle and fat layers. Since no pre-bleeding had been done, blood gushed from the cut as the blood vessels were severed. "At least, 45% of this thing's mass is living tissue, roughly the same proportion as my terminal."

"Is it good? How should I eat it?" Fish naturally asked the other two of the classic "three questions".

"For you new humans, it probably wouldn't taste good no matter how you look at it," Huang Yan replied. "The muscles and nerves of this thing are specially designed for combat, making them extremely tough. The toughness of its dermis and epidermis is four times that of wild boar skin of the same thickness, and it has very little fat, so there are almost no suitable cooking methods. However, for me, that's not a problem."

"Huh?!?"

To Fish's astonishment, a portion of his combat armor suddenly "dissolved": the substance transformed into a writhing mass of red, slime-like material, flowing along the ground to the remains of the "Black Destroyer" like a legendary slime, and then quickly enveloping it.

"What are you doing?"

"What else can I do?" the petite fairy girl asked, hands on her hips. "As the saying goes, food is the foundation of life. You'll get hungry if you skip a meal. Although I'm not human, I am still a living being in essence. As a living being, I need to ingest energy and nutrients."

"So, you also need to eat?"

"Otherwise what? Although the technology of the old civilization was very advanced, the law of conservation of energy is an undeniable objective truth. Of course, the legends about perpetual motion machines in ancient city ruins are pure nonsense, understand?" Huang Yan replied in a matter-of-fact tone. At the same time, the size of the "Black Destroyer" wreckage rapidly shrank at a visible speed. All the organic matter that made it up was digested, absorbed, and then transformed into supplies for the armor on Fish's body.

"Hoo... Ha... Thank you for the treat, I'm full." After spending a few minutes eating, Huang Yan transformed the part of himself that had become a predatory organ back to its original state, leaving behind a pile of... mechanical parts that somewhat resembled animal bones. "Look, this is the true form of the 'Black Destroyer'—it is first and foremost a machine equipped with hunting-type artificial intelligence, and on the outside, it is covered with living biological structures. The latter can enhance its environmental adaptability and increase its camouflage effect. Of course, it also conforms to the aesthetics of its designers and clients."

"Clients? Aesthetic sense?"

"Yes. After all, this is some people's favorite 'pet'."

"Huh? Pets?! But I've heard that chimeras and such are super weapons created by ancient people..."

"To people of your time, chimeras, especially the enhanced ones, may indeed be very dangerous. But in the old civilization era, their combat capabilities were nowhere near those of genuine military weapons. Incidentally, even your so-called autonomous weapons, only a small portion of them are true military equipment. The rest are either civilian devices modified with offensive programs or purely recreational items."

"Entertainment...products..." Fish could hardly believe his ears.

"I knew you'd find it a little hard to accept, but that's the truth," Huang Yan continued. "By the way, your ancestors, when they were first created, were also intended to be playmates, pets, and experimental animals."

"This... is impossible..." Fish shook his head. Although he had not received a formal education in school, he still learned a lot of history by listening to the idle chatter and boasting of the guests in the Oasis City entertainment venues, which was like a "university of life".

According to the official historians of the Pan-Pacific Empire—and of course, the version accepted by the vast majority—the "New Humans" are the product of the evolution of weaker, slower-witted humans from the old civilization towards a more perfect form. They are great evolvers and the destined new masters of this world. Their ancestors were the best among the ancient people, the product of evolution bestowed by fate, but most ancient people feared and envied them, regarding them as dangerous competitors.

In publicly available historical records, it was this fear and jealousy that ultimately sparked the war. The ancients attempted to exterminate the new humans, who, led by the "Three Heroes"—the supreme commander Alicia, known as the "Sword Goddess," her lover Hero, the "Guide," and the "Wise" Iskandar—ultimately triumphed over the odds and seized control of Earth after a long and fierce war. The remaining old humans vanished into the depths of the stars.

After that, these "evolvers" established a great kingdom known as the "Eternal Paradise Kingdom"... which is the predecessor of the current Pan-Pacific Empire and other countries.

"Hmm... So this is what the 'official' history of this era is like?" Although Fish didn't say a word, Huang Yan had obviously read through all the thoughts that came to mind. Just thinking that his combat armor could read his thoughts anytime, anywhere made Fish feel uneasy, as if he were naked.

"Hmph, this combat armor covers your entire body, and we're always in zero-distance or even near-distance contact! Why are you shy?! Besides, what's wrong with letting a super cute girl like me see your little thoughts?"

"Hey, who was it that kept saying they were 'genderless'? How come they're calling themselves a beautiful girl now?! And since you're a creation of the old civilization, you must be at least several hundred or even a thousand years old, right? What are you doing, old lady pretending to be a young girl? Waaaaaaahh ...

Before Fish could finish speaking, he felt a sharp electric shock between his legs, causing his eyes to roll back in his head. And that wasn't all. Immediately afterward, the remote control terminal of Huang Yan, in the form of a fairy-like girl, flew in front of him and kicked him hard in the nose with its tiny foot!

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"

"Hmph, this is your retribution for slandering me—who told you psychological gender doesn't count as gender? Besides, for most of these years, I've been in standby mode, including low-power operation with only remote control functionality. My total power-on time is less than 150,000 hours! If we're talking about power-on hours, what am I if not a young girl?!"

"Yes, yes, you're right!" Seeing that Huang Yan's remote control terminal was still trying to twist its tail into a bow, Fish quickly softened his tone.

"In short, the truth is probably... a little different from what you know," Huang Yan continued after Fish gave in. "Unfortunately, your race is not some kind of 'evolved being,' nor is it a leader among the old human civilizations... If you have to say, you, like the chimeras, are products of the ancient abuse of genetic technology. Or more accurately, you are a terrible symbol of the depravity at the end of the old civilization era."

"We're not going to fall!" As he said this, Fish suddenly remembered Liu Gang, who had tricked him and his companions onto the path to their deaths, and his tone softened considerably. "At least, most of us aren't..."

"The 'degeneration' I'm referring to isn't you," Huang Yan interrupted Fish. "I'm referring to the golden age of the old civilization—the best and worst era in human history."

"Um... I don't quite understand... how can an era be both the best and the worst?"

"In that era, human civilization reached its peak in scientific and productive development," Huang Yan didn't answer the question, clearly completely immersed in memories of the glorious past. "Two and a half centuries before I was created, general-purpose artificial intelligence, also known as AGI, had already reached the most basic practical standards. And specialized AGIs like mine, possessing free will, had a development history of nearly a century before my 'birth.' At that time, humanity not only built colonies in various worlds of the solar system, but could even build sub-light-speed spaceships that could accelerate to 35% of the speed of light, exploring the surrounding star systems. And the development of life sciences had, in fact, allowed humanity to overcome most of its innate deficiencies."

"Uh, you mean...?"

"In other words, humanity no longer needed 'evolution' at that time," Huang Yan summarized. "The essence of evolution is the accumulation of random genetic mutations in organisms under the selection of the external environment. Its characteristic is that it is passive and uncontrollable. However, in the final stage of the old civilization era, humanity, which worshipped science as a god, no longer accepted any passive or uncontrollable factors. If they wanted, they could theoretically make their offspring possess almost any beneficial hereditary trait, from knocking out genes for genetic diseases to strengthening the body and making them immune to specific diseases... This was not impossible."

Beneath the helmet, Fish's expression turned grim: although he didn't quite understand, according to Huang Yan's explanation, "evolution" didn't seem to be very important to people in the past. So, the so-called "evolvers"...

"Do you know why I call the final stage of the old civilization 'Degeneration'? Because in that era, the vast majority of people did not embrace higher pleasures, nor did they establish better moral norms or a meaning to life. They possessed astonishing power, and then indulged in it... For a time, two-thirds of the world's population was addicted to virtual entertainment, even directly injecting signals that brought extreme pleasure into the nervous system. Even addictive chemical drugs were largely abandoned... simply because they were too slow to take effect, and those hedonistic madmen couldn't wait! And when all of this could no longer satisfy people, they began to pursue the most extreme desire for domination."

"Domination?!"

"Yes, being able to decide everything for others, to bestow pain and pleasure upon them, to arbitrarily control their life, death, honor, and disgrace... such things... are actually worthless to those who are already materially advanced and living without worries. However, the inertia accumulated during the development of human society makes many people flock to it," Huang Yan said, his tone revealing obvious disgust. "But, of course, it's not acceptable to dominate other humans. So, some people began to implant human genes into the fertilized eggs of specific animals to produce chimeric organisms."

Fish didn't speak. Even though he hadn't received a formal education, he knew what Huang Yan was about to say.

"...This is not slavery in human history, because these 'people' without human rights were not created to create value. They are pets, playthings, or even objects to be tortured and killed—for a small group of depraved scum, this 'game' is more attractive than the virtual world. Because these pitiful, fragile souls can convince themselves that they are 'higher beings' through the act of domination."

"So, the chimeras that attack humans... and things like the 'Black Destroyer,' are also just part of the 'game'?" Fish asked weakly.

"Exactly. During that period, the Earth's ecological environment deteriorated severely, especially with rising sea levels and uncontrolled extreme weather, making this place uninhabitable. The population of the old humans had also shrunk to a pitifully small number," Huang Yan explained. "Large areas of abandoned land became 'playgrounds.' In those years, these degenerate individuals even competed to see who could create the most unique chimeras and win the war games. Incidentally, some new humans were also designed to have certain combat abilities and even be able to operate specially designed combat equipment in order to increase the 'fun' of the game."

"The combat equipment you're talking about... includes combat armor like yours?"

"Partially correct."

"So, what exactly happened to the old humans in the end...?"

"This section requires Level 7 access," Huang Yan's tone instantly returned to its usual emotionless state. "However, I can tell you that those most depraved and addicted to vile pleasures were indeed defeated and wiped out in the war against the New Humans—that was their just deserts. The people of the old civilization era did not perish, but they are no longer active on Earth. At this moment, this planet truly belongs to the New Humans."

"Hoo..." Fish sighed softly. Although he hadn't been particularly interested in history in the past, hearing this story and convincing himself to accept it had taken a toll on his mental health, almost as much as fighting the "Black Destroyer." At least, the ending of the story was somewhat acceptable.

"In short, the hostility of the chimeras towards you, and even towards all other creatures, actually comes from the underlying code in their genes... Although it's quite surprising that these guys have been able to multiply to their current scale after the end of the old civilization era," Huang Yan concluded, "Well, I have to admit, these guys taste pretty good."

"I'm glad you like it," Fish said with a slightly awkward smile. Then, he suddenly noticed a line of text popping up in his field of vision.

"The absorption of the new ability is complete. You can now view the description."

"Meow?! I think I've seen something incredible!"

"Don't worry," Huang Yan said. "Didn't I tell you? That 'Black Destroyer' guy tastes pretty good."

"Eh?"

"Have you forgotten? I have excellent growth potential and self-learning ability, and part of 'growth potential' includes gaining some of the abilities and permissions of these chimeras and autonomous weapons after consuming them," Phoenix Flame's remote terminal smiled and patted Fish's cat ears. "Although it was initially just part of that cruel and inhumane lousy game, this ability is quite useful."

"Is that so? We'll have to go hunting more often then."

"That's right. But don't get your hopes up too high—although there are quite a few chimeras and other artificial monsters in the ruins, the chances of getting effective abilities are actually not many. However, we've obtained some pretty good abilities this time... or more accurately, permissions."

"What is it?" Thinking of the immense trouble the "Black Destroyer" had caused him, Fish immediately became excited—this guy's abilities were so great that even if only a small portion could be used to his advantage, it meant…

"See for yourself, there's a surprise!"