The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Huh? What did you say?!" Fish was completely bewildered—logically and emotionally, Miss Ange should have been extremely grateful to him. After all, it was he and Xiaoxing who took care of the "Waves" that were chasing her; otherwise, given the situation at the time, she and her men would most likely have been kited to death by the enemy using their superior artillery range. Even with armored warriors, they wouldn't have had a chance to turn the tide in close combat.

In the story, after being rescued, at least eight out of ten noble ladies would fall in love with the knight who saved them at first sight and give themselves to him, while the remaining two would usually choose to get married on the spot.

Although at the beginning, because of Huang Yan's disguised form, An Jie failed to recognize Fish's identity as a warrior and mistakenly thought that Xiao Xing was the one who saved her, why did An Jie not only show no gratitude after Xiao Xing explained the situation, but instead glared at him angrily?

Are all the stories in the story just lies?

"I, of noble blood, a descendant of the 'Three Heroes,' possessing a supreme lineage and glorious ancestors, a person who carries honor, hereby formally challenge you, Fish, who possesses impure blood and has no lineage or honor," the platinum-blonde-haired girl said, rising from her ornately decorated gilded chair after downing her cup of black tea. "Do you accept?"

Then, she took off a semi-transparent white lace glove from her delicate hand and gracefully tossed it at Fish's feet.

"Um... excuse me, what did you say? I didn't understand."

Based on a set of tricks he had learned from his past experiences of charming female customers in bars to get tips, Fish blinked, maintained an adorable smile, and gently wagged his tail while asking in an innocent tone.

In his experience, when guests suddenly say strange, illogical things, or make strange, unreasonable demands, he would use this endearing expression to laugh it off. In most cases, this worked... at least it would make those emotionally charged female guests reconsider their remarks or stop their pointless outbursts of anger.

Although Fish currently has a rather poor impression of Ange due to her previous attitude, Ange's words were so unexpected that Fish still tried to calm her down first and then try to ascertain her true thoughts.

"Hmm..." Although Ange had been calling them "unclean" before, it turned out that Fish's trick did come in somewhat useful: after all, since ancient Egyptian times, cats have been known for their strong attraction to all kinds of two-legged creatures, and thus successfully domesticated the latter.

Fish's appearance was undeniably cute and harmless; without concealing his face, he could perfectly embody feline charm with just a few simple gestures and expressions. Therefore, even Ange hesitated for a moment.

But after that, she still gently shook her head.

“What I mean is, you stole my prey,” Ange said. “Of course, I must apologize to you, because I forgot that you are not a Fayun person and do not understand our noble etiquette and norms. It was inappropriate of me to suddenly make such a request to you under these circumstances.”

After saying this, the previously arrogant young lady actually bowed to Fish at a 45-degree angle—although she did it with a look of reluctance and disgust, this action still surprised Fish a little.

"These nobles from the Duchy of Fayun... are really strange," Fish muttered to himself.

"Agreed. In the past, this condition was generally called 'excessive self-consciousness'," Huang Yan agreed. "If the target is an ugly fat otaku, it is recommended to use chemical or physical therapy for auxiliary correction."

"Wait, you mean pretty girls don't need that?"

"Of course! It's a certain charm point for pretty girls," Huang Yan replied immediately. "Although it can be a bit troublesome if you encounter a pretty girl who won't listen to advice."

"In short, please allow me to explain to you both the values ​​and etiquette of the nobles of our Principality of Fayun," Ange took a deep breath and then spoke in a primary school teacher's tone, "All the nobles of our Principality of Fayun possess noble bloodlines that can be traced back to the three heroes who overthrew the tyranny of the old humans and established the Yongle Heavenly Kingdom—the predecessor of the current Pan-Pacific Empire. Their glorious heritage and endless honor also..."

"Stop, stop, get to the point, or I'm leaving." Fish said, making a gesture as if he was about to take Xiaoxing away.

"Wait! Don't go!" Fish's unconventional approach was quite successful; Ange immediately panicked. "Let me finish!"

"Then please get to the point. As an 'impure' commoner, I don't quite understand your nobles' talk of glory and heritage."

"Okay, fine..." Perhaps worried that Fish would leave her like this, Ange had no choice but to compromise with an expression that looked like she had been stuffed with a dead rat... But then again, wild foxes seem to eat rats, right? "The point is, everyone on that 'Wave' ship just now was my prey."

"Wait, if I'm not mistaken, weren't you the ones being hunted by the 'Wave'?" Fish asked, utterly bewildered. "How did they end up being your prey?"

"That's because I've sworn an oath to hunt down those villains who dare to offend me in such a despicable way, to make them know the terrible mistake they've made," Ange said, extending the hand she had just removed her glove from. On her slender, white fingers, Fish saw a cut that had just scabbed over. "I swore the most solemn blood oath in a noble ceremony to personally end my enemies!"

"Oh, then you should be happy now," Xiaoxing said, puzzled. "Wasn't the enemy defeated?"

"But they were defeated by you, especially by him!" Ange pointed at Fish, a blush rising on her delicate face. "This won't do!"

"Why not?" Fish and Xiaoxing retorted in unison—in their view, since the enemy had been eliminated, that was enough. Who exactly eliminated them was irrelevant. After all, the dead enemy could no longer threaten them on the battlefield, and that was sufficient.

Therefore, they naturally couldn't understand why Anjie was so furious.

"So commoners are just commoners," Ange sighed. "We nobles, especially the nobles of the glorious Duchy of Fayun, cannot easily retract our oaths, especially the most severe blood oaths. If I swear to take the life of an enemy with my own hands, then they must die by my hand!"

"So, if you're killed by someone else, you can't fulfill your oath," Xiaoxing finally seemed to understand. "So, you feel like you've lost your honor?"

“Yes, but it also depends on who killed my enemy—Miss Xiaoxing. I’m certain that although you have no family name and are not from the Duchy of Fayun, your appearance and abilities indicate that you are very likely a descendant of a high-ranking noble in our Duchy of Fayun. Having your prey stolen is not a disgrace to me at least,” Ange explained. “However, if it were a noble from another state or a commoner who stole the prey, it would mean that my honor has been seriously damaged.”

"Does it make you seem incompetent because people who are 'lower' than you have accomplished things that you noble nobles haven't?" Fish asked with a displeased expression.

"Exactly!" Ange nodded. To her, being described with the word "noble" seemed like a matter of course. "Especially since you are an 'unclean' one, which means my blood oath has been defiled..."

"So what?" Fish retorted. "There are no outsiders here, just your three maids, the two of us, and you. Your maids are certainly loyal to you, this great nobleman, and won't speak carelessly. Xiaoxing and I aren't interested in your honor. As long as you don't say anything, no one will know... Of course, it would be even better if you were willing to give us each a thousand imperial dinars as hush money."

"Is this a matter of a thousand dinars?" To Fish's surprise, Ange seemed even angrier. "Only corrupt and degenerate nobles, unworthy of their family name and the glory of their ancestors, resort to deception! I...I...my honor is definitely worth more than a thousand dinars!"

"Then...two thousand?" Fish took a step back, intimidated by the other party's imposing manner. After all, although he had seen a lot in his life, this was the first time he had ever complained about giving someone too little money.

"This isn't about money!" Ange shouted. "Honor can't be bought with money! I won't spend money to have you spread false information to others—on the contrary, I want to reclaim my honor. So I only have three paths to take."

Which three?

"First of all, honor belongs to the entire family, so if I...I...if I marry you, your honor is my honor..." The platinum-haired girl blushed deeply, fidgeting with her fingers awkwardly. "However, don't get the wrong idea! This is only a theoretical solution! In reality, because you are an 'unclean', it's absolutely, definitely, and certainly impossible! No one will acknowledge a marriage between a noble and an 'unclean'!"

"Um... I wasn't thinking about anything," Fish drooped his furry ears, looking aggrieved. "What about the other two?"

"Although you are not qualified to marry me, you can swear allegiance and become my retainer," Ange continued. "That will work! As long as you remain loyal to me, I promise to feed... no, I mean, employ you to the highest standard."

"Please refuse this request," Huang Yan immediately reminded Fish. "Although Miss Ange is the person the Joint Operations Headquarters specifically requested to protect, becoming her retainer could conflict with subsequent missions, so it is not recommended to do so."

"Of course, I don't want to be kept as a pet either." Fish shook his head. "Although being tied up in a cage and fed every day is certainly nice, it would prevent me from going to higher or farther places."

"I'm not planning on tying you up!" Ange shouted. "Anyway, if that doesn't work, then we'll have to duel! I'll stake the honor of my nobility on this duel with you, and if I win, all the honor you gain will be mine! After all, you are a warrior, so a fair duel is warranted!"

"That's true," Fish glanced at the white lace glove at his feet, then hesitated. "But, Miss Ange, do you really want to duel me? As you can see, I'm a very skilled armored warrior. An ordinary person could never be my match in a one-on-one fight..."

"Ha, that's right. But I am a noblewoman who carries the blood of heroes." Ange raised a hand into the air, making a magnificent downward chopping motion. Then, an astonishing transformation occurred: her fluffy dress visibly shrank and deformed, finally turning into a set of golden combat armor, part of which covered her head, forming a helmet—clearly, just like Huang Yan had done earlier, Ange's intelligent combat armor had also undergone mimicry. "Is it strange that a descendant of heroes possesses the power of those heroes?"

“No, of course not,” Fish licked his lips, then bent down to pick up the white gloves—even he knew this meant the nobles were “accepting the challenge.” “What are the rules of the challenge?”

"There are no rules. The two sides will fight on the field until one is subdued or killed—only in this way can I live up to the blood oath I swore," Ange said coldly. Although her intelligent combat armor was similar in appearance to Fish and Xiaoxing's armor, her helmet and arm guards were covered with ornate wing-shaped decorations. She not only had shiny reinforced shoulder and chest armor, but also a Captain America-style round shield. Clearly, she was the type that paid great attention to protection.

Even more deadly, as Ange's combat armor deformed, the green-haired maid, who was also an armored warrior, immediately threw the large box she was carrying at her.

After opening the box, Ange took out several pieces of heavy equipment of various shapes and fixed them to the interfaces of her armor: a six-barreled Gatling gun was mounted on the right arm armor without a shield, two small-caliber energy shoulder cannons were fixed on the shoulder armor, a huge backpack appeared on her back, and it was unknown what was stuffed inside. A gorgeously decorated longsword was suspended at Ange's waist.

"Holy crap! Is this even possible?" Fish, who was eagerly preparing for the test, was so shocked by what he saw that he almost dislocated his jaw.

He was originally confident that with the Phoenix Flame, which had outstanding performance among all intelligent battle armors, it would be easy to subdue this young lady without harming her life.

But to his utter surprise, this person was a heavy spender who started with a full set of premium gear! Meanwhile, his own combat armor had absolutely no slots!

The situation is... a bit hard to say now.