The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

When the continuously flashing white light around him dimmed, Fish saw a very familiar scene.

It was a sealed culture chamber. More precisely, it was the view inside one of the culture chambers with transparent covers on the "Moon Palace"—inside the culture chamber, Singleton had just opened his eyes and was looking around at everything.

No, it wasn't Singleton. Fish's intuition told him that this time, what he was recalling was genuinely his own memory: at this moment, the body in the capsule was not Singleton's android body, but his own flesh and blood.

Moreover, unlike the previous time when the incubation chamber was used as a temporary escape device, this time, he not only lacked the Phoenix Flame but was also connected to numerous unidentified tubes and electrodes. This indicated that this body was opening its eyes for the first time in its life. Before this, "he" had been undergoing cultivation within the incubation chamber.

"As expected, at least those people from the Solar System Council kept their promise." Fish muttered to himself as he raised his hands in front of him. "They at least did transfer my consciousness to... wait, what's going on?!"

Although it was just a memory, Fish could clearly feel something terrible was violently drilling into his mind—worse still, it was like a torrent of gibberish, messing up, destroying, and covering up his memories.

At the same time, a series of emergency indicator lights on the inside of the incubation chamber lit up: the equipment was being forcibly switched to escape mode and was beginning to be fitted with additional heat insulation and attitude control devices according to standard procedures.

And its next destination is... Earth.

"No! It's outrageous! Who?! Who did this?! You can't be so faithless—you can't—"

As the incubation chamber was completely covered by the insulation layer and plunged into darkness, everything... began to disappear. Then, Fish found himself "sitting" in the center of a large hall.

The hall was filled with various control devices, all of which were semi-transparent projections. Through the outlines of these devices, Fish could see the control room of the "Moon Palace," everyone including Ange, and...

...Dr. Iskandar Lomonosov, who was smiling at him.

"Congratulations, Mr. Fish... no, I should say, Chief of Staff Singleton. It seems my attempt to stop you from seizing control has failed, and the ship is now officially under your control."

Although Iskandar Lomonosov's words sounded like an admission of defeat, Fish knew very well that the other man's tone was full of joy and self-satisfaction at the success of his plan: from the beginning, he had already guessed what would happen, and everything at present was within his expectations.

"You know I'll be forced to connect to the device this way... and then regain my memories," Fish said.

"Yes, I can even guess which memories you've regained. Because..."

"Because you are one of the three 'heroes,' or rather, 'warriors,' from back then. 'The Wise' Iskandar," Fish said. "Your mission is to provide guidance to the 'Sword Goddess'... in fact, to hand over to her the script that the Solar System Council had already drafted. The great uprising that overthrew the old civilization era was a grand drama planned from the very beginning."

"What did you say, my husband?!" Anjie asked in surprise.

"Well... it's a long story," Fish glanced at Ange, then sighed softly. "In short, I just remembered... a forgotten past."

"To be precise, it was a setup by those guys in the Solar System Council that made him forget," Iskandar Lomonosov said. "My dear Mr. Fish, oh no, Lord Singleton, when he agreed to become one of the three 'Heroes' leading the New Human uprising, he made a deal with the then-President of the Solar System Council: he hoped that a thousand years after completing his mission, a backup of his consciousness would be transferred to a New Human body so he could personally verify what had happened. The other party agreed..."

"Well……"

"...However, His Excellency the Chairman played a little trick, and in a very mischievous way, attached a memory erasure program after the consciousness transfer ended," the archaeologist of technology laughed. "So, His Excellency Singleton forgot his past, became the current 'Mr. Fish,' and was ejected into the Pacific Ocean... Due to a system malfunction, the 'Moon Palace' also accidentally ejected several unmanned workboats. The wreckage of these large objects caused quite a stir when it fell into the sea, even creating a mini tsunami near Oasis Harbor."

Fish bit his lip, involuntarily recalling the day his memories began many years ago: at that time, the residents of Oasis Harbor said they saw strange lights in the sky, and a strange wave crashed against the harbor breakwater, bringing large groups of dead fish, as well as himself, ashore.

Of course, this is also why he always instinctively feels that there is something very important in a "higher place" and subconsciously wants to go back.

This is the "higher place" that Fish had wanted to reach in the past.

"Wait, what is this guy talking about? Who is Singleton?" Everyone, including Ange, asked uneasily—however, no one directly accused Iskandar Lomonosov of talking nonsense. Because their keen intuition told them that everything he had just said was serious.

"If Mr. Fish has no objections, may I now answer the ladies' questions?" The archaeologist shrugged.

Fish didn't speak—this time, it was a tacit agreement.

Over the next ten minutes, Iskandar Lomonosov recounted in a very concise manner everything that had happened in the past—from humanity's accidental contact with the planet Shura at the end of the old civilization's era to everything that was happening right now. After listening, everyone looked at Fish with expectant eyes.

"Yes, that's all true." Fish only said this one sentence at the end, "But I have a question."

"Please feel free to speak."

"Why did you do this?" Fish stared intently into the eyes of the tech archaeologist, whose face resembled that of a teenage girl. "Why did you release the 'Tai Sui' and 'Zhong Zai,' which I had sealed away as a precaution, to attack the New Humans? Even setting aside morality and right and wrong, this contradicts our original mission—our mission was to let the New Humans control the Earth, thus making the 'Shura' mistakenly believe that this was the 'superior race' they desired. But..."

"Because, after the end of the old civilization era, the Solar System Council orchestrated the 'New Human Uprising' and led the vast majority of the remaining old humans to flee their homeland, I remained in a research space station in the asteroid belt to continue studying the behavior patterns and nature of the 'Shura.' As a result, in the final stage of my research, I realized something."

"What is it?"

"We people from the old civilization era are all a bunch of idiots." The previously polite Iskandar Lomonosov suddenly swore.

"Oh, of course," Ange muttered. "In my opinion, the mess you guys made of are things only a fool would do."

"Yeah, a bunch of idiots—big idiots—" Yue Die also made a face.

“I agree with that—but what I just said was something else,” Iskandar Lomonosov sighed. “Based on my research, we probably shouldn’t have fled Shura Star in the first place.”

"What the hell did you say?! Please, 'Shura's' goal is...!"

The archaeologist of science and technology nodded slowly: "Of course I know what their purpose is—to find a race that is 'ideal' by their standards, as their physical form to walk in this world."

"Since you know this, why did you still do it? Even if you are still loyal to your past ideals, shouldn't you at least let the new humans survive?" Huang Yan shouted.

"Ha... a relic of the Coordination and Combat Headquarters in this century? I never expected that you, Lord Singleton... oh no, Mr. Fish, would actually find such a treasure by chance," Iskandar Lomonosov's smile widened. "The answer to your question is simple: I am loyal to true humanity, just like you. I hope that true humanity will achieve the greatest well-being."

"So——"

"After repeated research, I discovered something: Yes, the purpose of 'Shura' is indeed to acquire a physical body, but this is not 'body possession'—because their unique mode of existence means that they don't have a strict concept of 'individual' at all," Iskandar Lomonosov said. "They can understand 'a living being,' 'an object,' 'a tree,' and they exist as independent units capable of thought, but all information and emotions between these units are interacted and shared in real time."

"What does this mean?"

"It means that being 'possessed' by them doesn't turn us into something else—in fact, after this happens, our original consciousness, memories, and emotions will continue to exist, only now they are interconnected. After that, there will be no more ignorance and discrimination, no more deceit and estrangement, no more pain and separation. Because everyone can truly feel the hearts of everyone else, and everything will be equal and shareable."

"Are you sure?" Frostleaf continued to grip her beam saber tightly. "I don't think there's anything that good about it..."

"Oh, that's simply because your thinking is completely incompatible with that of 'Asura'," Iskandar Lomonosov said. "It might be a bit difficult to make an intelligent life form whose primary nature is biological 'selflessness.' But the essence of 'Asura' is merely a 'thinking spirit.' They desire a physical body to walk in the world, but that is not their essence. Therefore, they are naturally selfless."

"Uh..." Shuangye wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.

"In short, Mr. Fish, now that you have remembered everything from the past, and I believe you can understand that everything I just said was true," the scientific archaeologist said calmly. "This ship is now under your control. With just a thought, you can decide everything."

"..."

"The truth is, the retreat order you issued on Shura Star last time caused terrible damage to the well-being of all mankind. Now, a thousand years later, I have awakened from my slumber and decided to correct this mistake—if the new humanity is destroyed by 'Tai Sui,' it means that the old humanity will once again become the target of 'Shura.' This also means that one day, we may be able to reach the state of perfect harmony that we should have already achieved."

"But...you know, I'm not just Singleton anymore. I'm Fish, I have my friends and family, people I know..."

"It's not a big problem. There are still some areas in the abandoned lunar colonies that are still operational—these are underground cities converted from lava tubes beneath the lunar surface," Iskandar Lomonosov replied. "If you need it, I can help you restart the life support systems, and you can live safely there with your friends and companions."

"How many people can that place hold?"

"Several thousand people, or perhaps ten thousand?" the archaeologist thought for a moment.

"Well, if I may be so bold, that's impossible," Fish said. "There are at least one hundred million new humans on Earth right now! One hundred million!"

"Ah... then I can only say that this is truly unfortunate. For the sake of the old humanity's well-being, this number must become zero in twelve years—the time we anticipate the 'Shura' will arrive here. Or perhaps, out of your affection for the new humanity, you would rather these creations of ours obtain this happiness before we do?"

"I don't know if that's 'happiness,' but I don't want it. I think nobody else would either," Fish said. "People in this world should decide their own future based on their own will. Neither you nor I have the right to make decisions for other people."

"Ha, what's this? That 'protecting our daily lives' stuff from those boring light novels of the past?" Iskandar Lomonosov asked. "But if I may be frank, the wheel of fate began turning a thousand years ago when you voted in favor of the fleet's arrival on Shura Star at the military conference! Everything now is inextricably linked to your decision back then, and the 'daily lives' of those new humans are destined to be unsustainable! Staff Officer Singleton! Whether you like it or not, you need to take responsibility for your decision!"

"Ah, I admit, you're right." Fish's gaze swept over his companions one by one, finally settling on his former comrades, advisors, old acquaintances, and greatest enemy. Then, several flexible robotic arms controlled by a security system suddenly extended from under the control room floor, binding the technological archaeologist firmly. "I need to take responsibility for my decision."

A few seconds later, the engines of the "Moon Palace" started up again—this time, it began to push the "Pharsalus"-class planetary fortress, which had been out of control after the impact and was beginning to fall towards the lunar surface, back away from the moon. "I understand your idea," Fish said to Iskandar Lomonosov. "Fortunately, I now know what the best course of action is."

"However, we will absolutely not hand over our lives to any guy to decide. You can't, and neither can the other self-righteous old humans. Of course, neither can those 'Shura'."