The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

The next chapter is even more exciting: Chapter 115 Acceleration! Acceleration! We look forward to your visit.

"Wait, you're letting Xiaoxing handle this?" Anjie was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then a girl in a miniskirt immediately swung a sword at her face. Fortunately, she managed to dodge it at the last second. "She can't handle so many opponents... although I admit, taking down one or two is probably no problem."

"Yes, we can," Huang Yan said. "Only at times like this, please believe in Xiao Xing."

"Alright." Ange threw a punch, sending the girl in the miniskirt who had ambushed her flying. Then, Fish finally found an opportunity, piercing the carotid artery of the laughing and screaming opponent as their swords clashed, and then kicking her away. But then, two other girls in miniskirts, laughing maniacally, took her place.

"Hey, are these guys getting faster?" Fish asked. "They seemed a little slower before."

"Indeed," Huang Yan said, "this was all expected, so please don't be nervous."

Meanwhile, in a nearby corner, Jorov, the leader of the Short Skirt Pirate Gang, watched the battle unfold with a relieved smile. Just six months ago, his gang was merely one of dozens of similar small gangs in Oasis City, making a living by smuggling and selling contraband, with only a few smuggling speedboats and a few dozen members as their sole capital. However, due to the unexpected discovery in this "underground city," everything changed dramatically.

Of course, the existence of these ruins from ancient civilizations was already known. However, the valuable items within had long been taken by greedy scavengers. Furthermore, due to its excessive dampness and darkness, and the constant risk of collapse, the Oasis Harbor authorities didn't even intend to use it as a warehouse. Aside from murders and body disposal, even gang members rarely ventured there.

However, on that day, having messed with the "Pitchfork Gang," which outnumbered him three to one and was far more skilled in combat, Jorlov was routed in a street fight and fled in a corner of this abandoned underground parking lot. It was here that they stumbled upon this device... and a user manual left behind by someone.

After that, the lives of Jorov and his small gang changed dramatically—they were no longer an insignificant roadside gang, but rather… a more important one. With the first batch of “products” produced by this machine, they successfully crushed the “Forklift Gang” and a dozen other gangs entrenched in the southern part of the Fish Market, rapidly expanding their influence in the shadows and controlling nearly half of the Oasis Harbor smuggling industry.

Finally, because of the outstanding "products" in gang warfare, Joroff's gang even earned the nickname "Shortskirt Pirates"... which he didn't seem to mind at all.

However, Jorov and his group's grand plan ended there: he knew perfectly well that while these "products" were very effective at sweeping away other gangs, they weren't good enough for anything else—for example, taking down the Oasis City security forces. After all, only he and a small group knew that these "products" had a peculiar flaw that prevented them from becoming an army.

One of these flaws is, of course, the incredibly problematic mental state of these girls in miniskirts: in non-combat situations, they can barely communicate. But once they enter combat, they descend into a state more frenzied than drug-addled insects, completely fearless of danger and ignoring pain… yet also unable to accept command or coordination. Therefore, once they all join the battle, Jorov and the others can only hide to the side to avoid being caught in the crossfire and getting hurt.

Of course, the other flaw is even worse... or to be more precise, it's a more thorough double-edged sword. Having witnessed the destructive power of this flaw, Joroff once decided to avoid using it under any circumstances... However, after encountering today's extremely abnormal situation that is beyond everyone's imagination, he still made a decisive move and activated this double-edged sword.

So far, it seems that doing so has been... quite effective.

While four armored warriors—including clearly high-ranking ones—could literally wipe out an army, the thirty-odd miniskirt-clad beauties, whose key limitations had been removed, still managed to suppress them for a short time. If Jorov's calculations were correct, this advantage could last for another ten minutes or so if the current situation remained unchanged. At that point, the enemy, outnumbered, would likely collapse prematurely.

Unfortunately, just as Joroff was settling down, the fifth enemy armored warrior appeared in front of him.

"This is bad! Could this be optical camouflage...?"

Joroff, who had some knowledge of the wondrous creations of the old civilization, was taken aback. But before he could react further, the slender loli in purple armor was already in front of him. Two members of the short-skirted pirate gang raised their large-caliber revolvers, ready to stop her. But she dodged the first shot almost at point-blank range, then grabbed the barrel of the second man's pistol.

Then, after snatching the revolver, the little girl in purple armor gently grabbed the heads of the two gang members and then slammed them together, knocking them unconscious.

"Wow!"

When the purple-armored warrior stretched out a hand towards him, Jorov was so frightened he lost control of his bladder—after all, he knew very well that, given the intention, an armored warrior could easily tear a grown man in two with his bare hands, without even breaking a sweat. However, the little purple-armored girl simply snatched the ancient controller from his hand and spent two seconds studying the control buttons and data display.

Then, she adjusted the number from "150%" to the extreme level of "1000%".

"ah--"

"Hey, hey, hey—"

"Ugh—mmm...mmm—"

A few seconds later, the short-skirted beauties who were aggressively attacking Fish and his group suddenly erupted in screams one after another. Their voices were a strange mixture of extreme joy and extreme pain.

Then, one by one, the girls who had been laughing wildly stopped what they were doing and knelt down. Their skin was flushed bright red from extreme congestion of the subcutaneous capillaries, and their eyes were bloodshot. Then, as they all began to convulse violently, their ears, tear ducts, nostrils, mouths, and even… All the body orifices began to bleed...

"What the hell?!" Although wiping out a troublesome opponent in an instant was undoubtedly a great thing, the way this opponent was wiped out still took Fish very seriously.

"Hmph, anyone who tries to control uncontrollable power should be prepared to be devoured. It's that simple."

"Uh... I don't quite understand." Huang Yan's words only confused Fish more.

"In short, these specially made rapid clones are just enhanced versions of the regular rapid clones like Alicia, but their equipment is quite interesting—it's a 'cheap version of smart combat armor' that was experimentally produced in the past."

"What the hell is this?"

"In short, like standard smart combat armor, this thing provides some protection, significant strength enhancements, or the ability to transform into various weapons. Most importantly, it is much cheaper and requires less talent from the user."

"Sounds good," Fish said.

"Not bad at all—there's no such thing as a free lunch. This cheap version of smart combat armor is no exception. Its low cost and low demand result in a short lifespan. A weapon of my own, a product of ancient civilization's smart weapon technology, can operate continuously for a hundred hours at maximum power consumption, maintaining your vital signs during that time. But this thing, even at its lowest power, is lucky if it can stay running for an hour," Huang Yan said.

"That's still impressive."

"In addition, because there are no restrictions on the user, this cheap version of armor requires the use of strong chemical and neuroelectrical stimulation to forcibly 'adjust' the user to an adaptive state. This not only seriously damages the user's health, but also cannot be sustained... Under high-power mode, although their users can exert combat power at the level of an above-average armored warrior, their bodies will collapse in less than ten minutes. Moreover, the intense stimulation will gradually cause the user to go insane."

"And what about Xiaoxing just now...?"

"She forced these people's armor to its limit, causing them, who were already highly exhausted, to be overwhelmed by the extreme stimulation and load in an instant. In other words, it's the same principle as causing a car to overturn through extreme acceleration," Huang Yan sneered.

"They brought this on themselves. I just gave them a little push," said Xiaoxing, holding the remote control she had snatched.

"In short, this cheap version of smart combat armor is very suitable for disposable cannon fodder. At the end of the old civilization era, some bloodthirsty spectators paired the production equipment of this thing with modified rapid cloning equipment to mass-produce sufficiently strong and insane disposable gladiators. Unfortunately, even at the end of the old civilization era when moral standards were declining, this was too much. Therefore, the few of these devices were eventually banned."

"I see. Then we should ask this guy how he got his hands on this thing." Fish said as he walked towards Jorov. But he had only taken two steps when Phoenix Flame issued a warning.

"I see. Then we should ask this guy how he got his hands on this thing." Fish said as he walked towards Jorov. But he had only taken two steps when Phoenix Flame issued a warning.

"Danger!"

At the same time, among the girls in miniskirts and pirate hats who had just collapsed, bleeding from all seven orifices, someone suddenly stood up from the ground and reached out to hug Fish's leg.

"Get away from her! Quickly!"

Warning from Huang Yan, Fish, like a ballet dancer, raised his leg with all his might and then kicked off with all his might, sending the bloodied girl in the miniskirt flying. The girl crashed violently into the concrete wall at the edge of the underground parking lot.

Of course, the impact wasn't enough to kill her. However, just as she was falling, the girl suddenly exploded in mid-air.

Yes, she...self-destructed...

"Get down!"

The moment the explosion occurred, Fish and his group immediately took cover. Then, Fish felt many soft-feeling objects fly out... some of them even landed on him.

Undoubtedly, those were human remains... and parts of other structures.

"That was close! If you had been any slower, Fish, you would have become Yamcha 2.0," Huang Yan said.

"What kind of tea?" Fish seemed a little confused.

"It's nothing, I was just talking to myself," Huang Yan quickly changed the subject. Thankfully, after that guy's self-destruction, the other girls in miniskirts remained motionless—the extreme power boost from that cheap version of smart combat armor had completely overwhelmed their bodies, ultimately causing them all to die silently from multiple organ failure. "However, speaking of self-destruction..."

“Yes, it’s so similar.” Fish nodded—he remembered that all the bizarre “murders” that had happened in Oasis Harbor before involved victims suddenly exploding. The reason they had tracked them here was because they found the mangled remains of a child in a bag. Clearly, the explosion just now was no “coincidence” or “accident.” “I think this dear gentleman would be happy to explain what happened here to us.”

"No...don't kill me! I'll tell you everything!" Terrified and pale-faced, Jorov cried out after Fish grabbed him like a chick—after all, having lost all his bargaining chips, there was nothing he could do but pray for mercy. "I'll tell you everything!"

"That's a very good attitude," Fish nodded. "Then I'll ask. First, what's your relationship with those Fayun people?"

"Fayun? I have no business dealings with the Duchy of Fayun..." Jorov seemed somewhat confused.

“What I mean is, your relationship with the Fayun delegation that recently arrived at Oasis Harbor,” Fish said. “Don’t play dumb, I know you’re in contact.”

"Injustice! I'm innocent!" Jorov trembled violently. "I really don't know anything about any envoys from Fayun. I have nothing to do with them!"

"Then where did you get this device? Did you pick it up from a garbage dump for free?" Fish said, while having Huang Yan insert a cluster of neural probes into the other person's body—these organic probes could detect the target's neural activity and detect whether they were intentionally lying.

"Yes, yes!" Joroff answered without hesitation. That was indeed the case!

Then, the neural readings that Huang Yan obtained revealed... there was a 91% probability that what the other party said was true!