The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Brother? Wait a minute, who exactly are you...?"

The moment Moore heard the other person's voice, he instinctively shuddered—he couldn't recall the other person's name for a moment, but there was no doubt that he had heard that voice somewhere before.

"What's wrong? Don't you all recognize me? It's really—heartbreaking," the boy continued in his clear and lovely voice. "We've only been apart for less than three days."

Three days?!

This word deepened Moore's unease. After all, he certainly remembered what had happened three days earlier: in order to minimize unnecessary conflict and avoid the loss of truly important personnel and equipment when entering Twilight City, they had recruited a group of young people who thought they could seize this opportunity to soar to great heights. They had given them at least some basic training on the way here, and then left them as bait in a tower on the edge of the ruined city three days ago. And the training of this cannon fodder "squadron" had taken place in the cabins of the "Waves".

But why...

"Oh, it's me." Seeing that Moore and the others did not react, the young armored warrior took off his helmet and revealed his face—only then did Moore finally remember the other's name.

In Moore's memory, this young man named Fish was a pathetic and ridiculous fellow. Not only was his name ridiculous, but he also kept shouting things like "I want to go to higher and farther places" and "Even a fish can fly into the sky," which were so embarrassing that you wanted to dig your toes through the deck of the ship. He also always stared at others with innocently ridiculous eyes.

Moore sometimes thought that in those metropolitan areas, wealthy and powerful ladies might be happy to keep Fish as a pet—especially since this guy was a cat-like new human known for his cuteness and docility, and quite adorable, making him suitable to be kept at home with a collar. But in his eyes, this kid was nothing more than an insignificant side dish, something that, like bloodworms and earthworms, was only fit to be bait.

But why is he still alive? Did he fail to execute the command and activate the communication relay? Or is the device broken? No, these are unlikely... After all, the obstacles they encountered during their advance into the heart of Dusk City, especially the frequency of encounters with chimeras, were significantly lower than expected. This indicates that the cannon fodder squad did hold out long enough to successfully draw away a large portion of the chimeras and autonomous weapons in the area.

But if the "Siren Song" was functioning properly, how could there possibly be any survivors among those young people surrounded by chimeras hundreds of times their size?! If it were dozens of the most elite armorers, perhaps there would be some hope... But speaking of which, when did Fish get his hands on the smart armor?

"Um...uh...Brother Fish, I'm so glad you're safe and sound!" Despite his suspicions, Moore tried to feign delight. "You know what? We've been looking for you!"

"Looking for me?!" The cat-eared boy twitched his furry ears in surprise.

"Yes, that's right, we were looking for you. A day and a half ago, the observers on the 'Eye of Surveillance' spotted a massive hybrid of chimeras and autonomous weapons suddenly heading in your direction! These kinds of accidents sometimes happen in ruined cities!" Moore recounted vividly. For him, lying was a basic skill in daily life. "Mr. Liu Gang was very worried about your safety, but unfortunately, our radio was out of service at the time, so he had me command the 'Wave' to rescue you."

"Oh, is that so?" Fish's eyes remained as innocent as ever.

"Yes! However, we were attacked by an unknown enemy on the way, most likely pirates raiding the ruined city!" Moore pointed to the trimaran sailing ship nimbly weaving through the massive tower ruins, dodging the attack, and continued without batting an eye, "They even had an illegal armored warrior on board! We were forced to engage them in a prolonged battle here, which delayed our rescue of you. It's truly unfortunate..."

Of course, there were many details in this explanation that didn't hold up to scrutiny. Moore was well aware of this. However, his years of experience dealing with people convinced him that the kid in front of him wasn't much more complex than the sardines he'd eaten the night before. As long as he threw out a bunch of seemingly plausible statements in a short amount of time, the other person probably wouldn't think too much about it.

"I see. It's truly touching that you've come all this way just to rescue us," Fish said with an innocent smile. "It's a pity that all my companions were killed a few hours ago. I'm the only one who escaped alive."

"What?! Damn it! It's all my fault!" Moore quickly continued his act. "If only we hadn't gotten entangled with these awful pirates! If only we had arrived sooner... But how did you get this intelligent combat armor?"

"Well... it was pure luck." Fish patted the head of the green-haired fairy sitting on his shoulder armor, who gave him a meaningful smile—however, Moore and the other crew members didn't notice the expression. "When I retreated into the tower to avoid the attack, I accidentally picked up 'Phoenix Flame' and unexpectedly discovered that I happened to have a talent for it. So I fought my way out of the encirclement and pursuit of the chimeras and autonomous weapons and escaped with my life. That's how it is."

"Ah, it seems the gods are truly watching over you, Brother Fish!" Moore opened his thick arms as if to embrace him, but Fish dodged. "Your incredible luck in surviving proves you're destined for greatness!"

"That's right." Fish nodded.

"Then, how about rejoining us?!" Seeing that the other party seemed completely unaware of being betrayed, Moore became even more excited—this foolish boy with his head full of flower fields was clearly very useful. With a little trickery and coaxing, he could become a very effective weapon. "We'll offer you... three times your original salary, and we'll give you a new squad to command! I believe..."

Fish waved his hand, interrupting the other man: "Ah, I'm sorry, Mr. Moore, I have my conditions."

"Please speak," Moore said hastily—as long as the other party was willing to set conditions, he was confident he could handle them.

"I think... the 'Wave' is a very good ship. For its tonnage, its armor and firepower are quite excellent, its speed and maneuverability are also up to standard, and its design is quite elegant. It would be even better if it could become my personal property."

"No problem...wait, what did you say, bro?" Moore took a second to react. "You want us to give you the ship? That's a bit too much..."

“I don’t think that’s unreasonable at all—after all, compared to the lives of my comrades, the price of a mere ship is far too low.” Fish put his helmet back on. “So? Aren’t you going to reconsider, my dearest brothers?”

"But……"

"Oh, and also, I want revenge on the guy who made the decision to let my comrades die in vain. Of course, I'm sure it wasn't you. Right, my dearest Captain?"

"Hmm, okay..." Moore feigned a "let me think about it some more" look, secretly taking a few steps back while making several hand signals to the others with his hidden hand. Then, he suddenly waved his hand forcefully and leaped to the side.

A 25mm machine gun located on the bridge of the HMS Wave immediately lowered its muzzle and spewed a scorching tongue of fire in the direction of Fish.

While this dual-purpose machine gun is relatively minor among naval artillery, it's more than enough to deal with the Armored Warriors. Many people, intimidated by their reputation, subconsciously perceive them as invincible. However, experienced combatants like Moore know that, in terms of weaponry, the Armored Warriors are more like armored attack aircraft than armored vehicles or tanks, relying primarily on maneuverability to evade attacks, with the armor itself serving only as a last resort.

Admittedly, their combat armor possesses considerable defensive capabilities, but it still falls within the scope of "individual protective gear." Human physique and the most basic laws of physics determine the upper limit of their defensive capabilities: it's adequate against swords, spears, or small- to medium-caliber bullets, but when facing high-explosive shells fired from machine guns, even a top-tier armored warrior of "diamond" rank might not be able to withstand several direct hits at close range and emerge unscathed.

In the blink of an eye, the smoke from the exploding gunfire covered most of the deck, causing Moore a pang of heartache: if Fish was truly a fool, he could have made a fortune. But now, not only was the money gone, he also had to pay extra for ammunition and repairs to the teak deck…

"Oh, not bad." Just as Moore was busy calculating in his mind, the machine gun that was firing at the deck suddenly exploded: its barrel, shield, and the two gunners operating it were all instantly vaporized, turning into a rapidly expanding cloud of high-temperature mist. This cloud then engulfed the spare ammunition storage box containing 10 20-round magazines placed to the side, causing a spectacular secondary explosion.

Thanks to the "perfect" placement of this machine gun, the forward section of the bridge of the HMS Wave was devastated in the blink of an eye: although the propellant charge of a single 25mm machine gun shell was limited, the destructive effect of 200 shells detonating simultaneously was still considerable. Flying shrapnel struck down seven or eight crew members in the open area, and even shattered the windshield of the wheelhouse, killing everyone who remained inside.

"What's going on?!" Moore shouted in shock, only to find Fish, clad in red combat armor, standing right in front of him! Exposed, he instinctively swung his thick arm, brandishing a scimitar at his opponent, but missed completely.

"Oh, right, what happened?" As a slender bayonet pierced Moore's chest, splitting his heart in two, he realized in his dying moments that Fish had "teleported" behind him. The Fish who had been in front of him earlier had vanished completely, like a mirage.

That was just a holographic image projected by a small, spherical drone floating in the air.

"Damn it...despicable..." These were Moore's last words.

"Likewise, to deal with a despicable person like you, I have to be despicable, otherwise I wouldn't have the face to come back to see you," Fish drew the bayonet that his arm armor had transformed into, and casually raised his left arm to the side, firing a full-power plasma beam that turned the upper body of a crew member who was raising a rifle at him into a burst of high-temperature plasma cloud. "But don't worry, I'll soon send everyone down below to keep you company. That way, you won't be lonely."

"Hmm, to be honest, you looked like a bad guy just now." As Fish took care of Connie Moore, Phoenix Flame's remote terminal whispered in his ear.

"Eh, really? But I... Meow!" Before Fish could reply, a heavy machine gun on the port side of the Wave began roaring at him, forcing him to take cover behind the armored gun shield of the forward main gun—just now, he had used the projection drone he had accidentally found in the small spare parts box in the Peregrine's cockpit to give Moore an unexpected "surprise".

According to Huang Yan, these gadgets were just ordinary toys in the old civilization era, with little use other than briefly creating holographic images. Due to the widespread use of the "Virtual Paradise" system, their application was further restricted, and only those who enjoyed flying powered gliders to the outdoors would still use them.

Although the projection drones themselves are genetically locked, meaning only their legitimate owners, who have been dead for thousands of years, can activate them, this limitation is not a problem for Fish, who had previously gained the ability of "short-range system overdrive control" from the defeated "Black Destroyer" by chance. After gaining control, he had the drones replicate his projection and temporarily conceal his presence in the same way before having a final conversation with Moore.

Moore's reaction greatly pleased Fish—although he had gained immense power, Fish, who had never killed anyone, knew very well that he needed some necessary... catalysts to psychologically cross this threshold. Fortunately, after he issued his ultimatum, Moore indeed "cooperated." The moment the machine gun fired, he finally let go of his last bit of psychological burden.

The feeling of killing someone else for the first time... was not bad.

The only downside was that after Moore was killed, everyone still alive on the Wave noticed Fish's presence. Although the holographic projection drone was still operational, Fish had virtually no room to maneuver on the limited deck space. Therefore, when Moore's men began to unleash a barrage of fire on the deck with various rifles and cannons, he could only use the main gun shields as his only cover... and incidentally threw all his gun crew members under the ship to swim.

"The first half of the plan was passable, but the second half lacked consideration and put himself in danger," Huang Yan commented. "Overall score... 35 points at most."

"Hey, don't say that," Fish muttered unhappily, "Didn't we have a backup plan?"

"Yes, but the premise is that you can't be taken down like this before the backup plan comes into play," Huang Yan pointed out. "But as it stands, the possibility of us being taken down before that is at least theoretically possible."

"Surely not?" As two crew members stealthily crept from under the burning bridge, attempting to throw explosives at the main gun shields, Fish poked his head out and swiftly fired an ion gun at the one in front. The violent explosion not only ended their tragic lives instantly and painlessly, but also saved them the expense of funerals and coffins. "You're a very rare and powerful intelligent combat armor, you know. Even if you don't believe in my abilities, at least believe in yourself, right? The other side are just ordinary people; at least they can protect themselves..."

"If only the other party were just an ordinary person," Huang Yan said. "However, I don't think the situation is that simple."