The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Huh? Those bastards actually came to a high-class place like this?" Anjie asked in surprise. "I thought they were just ordinary thugs who steal things in the slums."

“In my opinion, perhaps they have simply come to this area to continue their thefts, Your Highness,” Mint offered her speculation. “After all, this area seems to be a good place to commit thefts—there are plenty of targets to steal, but relatively few guards.”

As she described, dozens of seaside villas are scattered along a nearly deserted white road in this seaside area surrounded by coconut groves. While beautiful and elegant, these villas are not grand mansions; they are relatively small and spaced far apart, with no shops or service establishments nearby. Clearly, these are the residences of the city's wealthy residents during their holidays.

Unlike affluent neighborhoods that are typically protected by walls and security personnel, these seaside villas are clearly lacking in security measures. Only a few security guards are absentmindedly patrolling the streets in the more densely populated areas of the villas. As for the smaller villas on the outskirts, their only means of defense is their door locks.

More importantly, even if the wealthy don't usually live here, these villas are usually filled with valuable decorations and the like. For impoverished petty thieves, the risk-reward ratio of breaking and entering isn't bad at all.

"Oh, that's wrong," Fish waved his hand. "Miss Mint, I assure you, those kids who 'borrowed' my purse just now will definitely not steal in this area."

"How can you be so sure, Your Highness?"

"Because I happen to know who they are, that's it." Fish continued forward, guided by the arrows projected by Phoenix Flame, and finally arrived at the edge of this seaside villa complex.

The area is a dense forest of Norfolk Island pines and dawn redwoods, with only one small villa standing quietly at the end of the road. Surrounded by dense woods, the villa is difficult to spot from the outside. Of course, it's also larger than other small villas, even enclosed by a white wall. However, from the outside, it's almost impossible to tell that anyone lives there.

"The target is inside," Huang Yan said. "I have to say, I'm very curious. Who would live in a villa that's definitely not cheap, yet specifically go to the slums to steal and rob?"

"Oh, of course it's my old friend, and her companions." Fish suddenly stopped as they reached the main gate of the villa. "Everyone, be careful."

"Watch out—whoa ...

Fortunately, Mint behind Alicia reacted immediately, grabbing her arm just before she touched the sharp sticks, saving her from being pierced from all angles.

"Wow, what the hell is this?! Someone actually set a trap in a place like this?!" Alicia exclaimed after being pulled back by Mint, her subordinates Peanut and Little Luo. "This is outrageous!"

"Hmph, this is just the beginning," Fish shrugged. "Watch out ahead."

"Heave-ho!" With a few sharp sounds of weapons cutting through the air, Frostleaf swung her sword, severing all three short arrows launched by the mechanism. After cutting them down, she noticed that the arrowheads of each arrow were made of rusted iron nails—meaning that if no treatment was given after being cut, there was a risk of infection or even tetanus.

Having been given a grand "welcome" before even entering, the group decided to climb over the wall directly—the two-meter-high brick wall wasn't difficult to scale, and Shuangye even took a short running start before easily leaping over. However, as soon as she landed, she stepped into a lasso, and was immediately bound by the rope to her ankle, being violently pulled into the air!

"Miss Frostleaf!" Shana exclaimed as she was climbing over the wall. However, her friend Melu reacted immediately: the squirrel girl, who had been hunting in the frigid forests and swamps of the far north since childhood and had excellent marksmanship, instantly raised a compressed air shotgun hidden behind her cloak and accurately severed the rope binding Frostleaf's ankle.

"Merlu, nice help!" Alicia, who had already climbed over the wall, gave a thumbs up in approval of Merlu, but then she noticed something unusual under her feet—of course, this time, having learned her lesson, Alicia didn't fall into the pit a second time, but immediately jumped to the side to avoid triggering a mechanism.

"This villa is really interesting," Huang Yan muttered. "So many traps, what's this? Is it the set of 'Home Alone'?"

"What is Home Alone?" Fish asked.

"It's nothing," Huang Yan said. "Just a few remnants of memories from the old civilization era."

"Well, you're right about one thing," Fish shrugged, "there are definitely a lot of kids in here."

As Fish traversed the garden and approached the main building of the villa, he dodged a log hidden on the roof that was about to be thrown down by a trap, as well as an attack from a bucket of manure. When he reached the villa entrance and rang the doorbell, several teenagers wielding daggers and pistols appeared inside.

"Who are you? Why are you here?!" one of the bolder boys shouted.

"I'm a friend of your boss... um, you're the 'Red Cat' thieves, right?" Fish asked.

"We're the Righteous Thieves! We're the Righteous Thieves! Who are you calling a lowly thief gang?!"

"Alright, alright, Righteous Thieves," Fish changed his tune very gently, "So, can we see your leader now?"

"Don't even think about it. How could the leader be someone like you..."

"Alright, alright, Felipe," just as the boy continued to shake the revolver in his hand, trying to intimidate Fish, a soft, seductive female voice, like that of a seasoned "princess" in a nightclub, but with a hint of wicked humor, interrupted him, "Don't scare the little fish."

"Ah, Chief?"

The crisp sound of high heels clicking on the wooden stairs came from afar, growing louder as it approached.

A dog-eared girl in a beautiful evening gown walked down from the second floor of the villa.

Unlike the group of boys dressed in rough vests and work pants, draped in dark cloaks, she was dressed as if she were rushing to a banquet, adorned with more silk ribbons than a wedding cake. In an old-fashioned parlance, her attire was simply "out of place."

"Hey...it's you. What's up? Did you miss me?" The girl, whom the boys called "Leader," asked with a smile after seeing Fish.

"Uh...yes...indeed..." For some reason, Fish seemed quite nervous when facing the girl. "I'm here this time because...uh..."

"Hehehe, Little Fish, you seem to have brought some very interesting people," the dog-eared girl walked up to Fish and began sniffing him intently, just like a real Pomeranian. "When you left last time, you said you'd be back in two months at most, but you've been gone for more than half a year... So you've been busy hanging out with these girls?"

“Miss, please mind your manners,” Mint said. “Our young lady… uh… Miss and Mr. Fish have been fighting for the future of the nation and the world all this time, not just ‘hanging out.’ Mr. Fish’s companions are also his and Miss’s loyal, reliable, and righteous comrades-in-arms, gathered together to accomplish the same just cause.”

"Oh my...that sounds amazing," the dog-eared girl quickly left the blushing and bewildered Fish, slipped over to Ange's side, and began to sniff her intently. "Miss, if I may be so bold, you have a rather noble scent."

"Huh?" Ange blinked in disbelief. Frostleaf, Alicia, Shana, and Melu were all stunned as well—after all, could someone's social status really be determined by smell?! Only Sachi crossed her arms and wore a rather complicated expression.

"Hmm...it seems you are a nobleman. And definitely not some nobody. As for these three ladies, they must be your ladies-in-waiting, right?" After removing her nose from Ange, the dog-eared girl pointed to Mint, Peanut, and Xiao Luo, and asked with a confident tone.

"Interesting, Miss." Frostleaf nodded. "You're right... and I'm starting to get interested in you. May I ask your name?"

"My friends all call me Luca," said the dog-eared girl with exaggeratedly curly blonde hair, dressed in an evening gown. "Of course, I have a real name for formal occasions. But I don't use that name when I'm with my friends."

"So, you mean a dual identity, right?" Huang Yan muttered in the team's private communication channel, "Just like the infamous Mr. Bruce Wayne."

"You mean Bush?" Fish asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing, just an old trope from the old civilization era," Huang Yan said. "Anyway, your childhood friend is quite interesting. Although she seems to be of high status, she actually has such a strange group of friends..."

“But they’re not as wonderful as my little fish friends,” Luca said, quickly walking over to Fish and putting her arm around his neck. After discovering that the nickname could displease Fish’s companions, she emphasized it even more now, “especially this princess from Fayun.”

In the next instant, Fish noticed a faint sound as the intelligent combat armor began to rapidly transform: though it wasn't outwardly visible, beneath the loose skirt, Mint's combat armor gauntlets had already transformed into an ion gun and a short sword. Meanwhile, Little Luo and Peanut quietly drew their weapons, and even Frostleaf placed her hand on the hilt of her beam saber, "Moonshadow."

Although they didn't know what the other party was up to, since they could recognize Ange's identity, in their eyes, Fish's "friend" was already a potential source of danger.

"Hey, everyone, don't do this," Fish quickly said. "I can assure you, Luca has absolutely no ill intentions towards us."

Although Fish, theoretically the next head of the Fayon-Lindenhild family, was their master, Mint and her two subordinates did not lower their guard because of Fish's words. Finally, Ange spoke up: "Please trust our husband. Since he believes there's no problem, then Miss Luca can be trusted."

"Yes, ma'am." Mint, Peanut, and Xiao Luo then lowered their guard—for them, in most cases, the judgment of the person they were loyal to was unconditionally superior to their own.

"However," Fish swallowed hard, "Luca, how did you recognize that Ange was the princess and rightful heir of the Duchy of Fayun? I clearly used the Phoenix Flame's power to disguise them..."

"This trick might fool most people, but it won't fool me," the dog-eared girl said. "Have you forgotten? I'm a Pomeranian-type new human whose ancestral home is in the Americas, and I mainly rely on my sense of smell rather than my sight to observe the world. Besides, there's one exception out of every two hundred people with an exceptionally strong sense of smell."

"Ah... I do know that." Fish nodded.

"Fortunately, I am that special case. Moreover, I happen to be knowledgeable enough to have smelled many special things that others rarely smell... For example, the essential oil made from white lotus honey, which is unique to the Duchy of Fayun."

"What's that?" Fish was stunned. He had lived with Ange for so long, but even he didn't know such a thing existed.

"The nobles of the Duchy of Fayun have a custom of using perfumes and incense—of course, many nobles of duchies, marquises, and earls like to do this, not to mention the royal family. So, when I smelled a trace of incense on Her Highness, I was just confirming that she was probably not a commoner," Luca spread her hands. "Well, after all, you've avoided using perfumes and incense recently to avoid being exposed. I smelled this scent on her undergarments."

"Eh?" Upon hearing the words "underwear," Ange's face turned bright red.

"Undoubtedly, the fact that your underwear still retains this scent even after a period of not using perfume and incense indicates that you have been using these expensive perfumes and incense for a long time, which is a characteristic of higher-class nobles," Luca said. "Ordinary minor nobles may not have such spare money."

"No wonder..." Shana muttered to herself. The others also showed expressions of surprise—not entirely because of Luca's powerful sense of smell, but more because she was able to deduce so much from such a small clue.