The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Rely on me? What does that mean?" Fish didn't understand Huang Yan's words at first.

"Emergency system shutdown initiated! All combat-related subsystems locked. Power supply to the artificial muscle structure ceased, emergency medical systems shut down, tactical support and intelligent fire control systems ceased operation, weapon systems are being deactivated, enhancer injection devices shut down..."

Phoenix Flame didn't answer, but instead took action on its own. Soon, as a directory encompassing all of Phoenix Flame's subsystems appeared on the helmet display, and the lines changed from green, representing "running," to red, representing "shutdown," Fish felt an extremely intense strain: the comprehensive power enhancement that the entire intelligent combat armor had been providing him suddenly vanished in an instant.

Having grown accustomed to the resources of Phoenix Flame, Fish now felt like an astronaut returning to Earth from space; even the slightest movement was incredibly strenuous. His entire body felt as if it were bound with heavy lead weights, causing him indescribable discomfort.

"Hey, wait a minute, meow! What...what are you doing?!"

"Sorry, this is my only option." In just over ten seconds, only three subsystems remained on Fish's helmet display, which were still showing in green: the timing system, the NBC protection system used to filter harmful substances in the surrounding environment, and the "auxiliary ability system".

"Challenger strength change detected, calculation initiation..." Just after most of the subsystems were automatically shut down by Phoenix Flame, Lulu Meng's curvaceous virtual image suddenly appeared in front of Fish. Fish noticed that although this guy was still smiling, his expression seemed a little...unhappy.

"Calculation complete. Overall intensity reduced by 96%. Readjustment... Difficulty adjustment complete. The difficulty of this level has been officially readjusted from Level 5, Doomsday Level, to Level 1, Beginner Level. The challenge will officially begin in three minutes."

"This is……"

"The reverse application of the 'the stronger you are, the stronger you become' principle: 'the weaker you are, the weaker you become.' Don't forget, those bastards with perverse tastes in the past built this arena purely for their own amusement," Huang Yan explained. "Including the time when they deliberately didn't start the challenge immediately but instead showed us the fate of those people who used 'Tidal Lightning,' it was for the same purpose—even though the original audience no longer exists."

"But doesn't that change nothing?" Fish asked.

"That's not the case. Under normal circumstances, challengers with higher threat levels tend to have more skillful tactics and greater combat experience. Therefore, the difficulty increase in the arena system is non-linear."

"I don't understand, meow..." For Fish, the term "non-linear" was really hard to understand. So, he started wagging his tail unconsciously and blinked his eyes innocently—"acting cute first when encountering something you don't understand" was an instinct designed for their race by the creators of the new humans.

"If we quantify it numerically, let's say an untrained ordinary person has a total combat strength of 5. A 'Jade' level armored warrior has a total combat strength of 50, while a 'Diamond' level one has 500," Huang Yan explained. "However, the total combat strength of the opponents sent out in the arena is 5 when facing an ordinary person, 75 when facing a 'Jade' level armored warrior, and 1000 when facing a 'Diamond' level one. These extra parts are used to correspond to the additional experience and technical advantages of these elite warriors."

"Is that so?"

"If you were a skilled and experienced user, I could certainly use my powerful performance to help you clear the game on high difficulty," Huang Yan said with a tone full of disappointment. "But the problem is, you simply don't meet that standard right now! So, choosing the lowest difficulty level is the path with the highest probability of survival."

How tall is it?

"Around 12%, with a deviation of about plus or minus two percentage points," Huang Yan said. "Of course, it's much easier than challenging the highest difficulty level."

"Wait... that's it?!" Fish was stunned. Although his math wasn't great, he could still calculate that even taking the highest value of 14%, this number was only less than five times higher than the previous 2.75%. Although the improvement was significant, compared to the failure probability of 86%, it was still... not optimistic.

"That's right, that's it. Also, since my information support for you will also be factored into your challenger strength, I will keep the amount of information I provide to a minimum and temporarily put the remote terminal into hibernation to prevent the arena system from finding an excuse to increase its strength," Huang Yan said. "In short, please make good use of the functions I left you. Good luck."

After saying this, Huang Yan fell silent. The fairy-shaped remote control returned to Fish's shoulder, then curled up its small body and drifted off to sleep.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't fall asleep! I still have questions to ask you, meow!"

Having long been accustomed to Phoenix Flame's incessant chatter, the sudden silence plunged Fish into a brief moment of unease. However, he quickly forced himself to calm down: after tucking the little sprite curled up on his shoulder into his carrying pouch at his waist, Fish didn't wander off but instead found the tallest tree nearby and climbed it.

The entire third level of the arena is a genuine jungle. The ground is dotted with murky ponds and soft humus, and trees with huge leaves and broad buttress roots occupy almost all usable space. Unlike the "coconut trees" found in the tower where they met Huang Yan, although located deep underground, the trees on this level are not decorations made of plastic and concrete, but genuine plants.

In this perpetually dark environment, the fluorescent lights continuously powered by the ceiling, along with the underground water and fertilizer delivery systems, sustain the jungle's survival. Despite the passage of millennia, these systems remain largely stable thanks to the automated maintenance equipment manufactured in the old civilization, a truly remarkable feat.

Of course, Fish, who had not received a proper education, did not understand the "value" of this miracle. He only knew that these real trees gave him an unexpected sense of peace compared to lifeless ornaments.

As a feline-type new human, Fish's ancestors were created as "emotional companions," but his feline genes also made him exceptionally adept at climbing trees and using branches and leaves for cover. His instincts also told him that avoiding being discovered first by his opponent was key to gaining the upper hand in life-or-death battles.

But...where exactly is his opponent?

Judging from the numbers on the timer on the edge of the helmet display, the three minutes announced by the arena system should have passed, and the challenge for this level should have officially begun. However, unlike the first level of the arena, Fish did not see any enemies emerging from various parts of the forest.

Even more surprisingly, after perking up his furry ears and listening intently for a long time, Fish didn't hear a single unusual sound.

Could it be that the enemies on this level haven't been activated? Or perhaps they've all chosen to lie in wait, waiting for him to take the initiative first?

Unable to figure out what the other side was up to, and having lost the multi-spectral sensor system provided by Phoenix Flame, Fish was now unable to use tactical radar, thermal imaging equipment, or life detectors, and could only rely on his own senses. In this uncertain situation, he dared not act rashly, and could only hold his breath and remain vigilant as much as possible.

However, Fish was also well aware that this was not a long-term solution: although he himself was safe, the problem was that Ange, Xiaoxing, and Mint, who had come to the island with him, were also teleported into the arena.

Unlike him, who had Huang Yan to offer advice, An Jie and the others knew nothing about the details of this arena, which they called the "maze." They might end up like those guys from the "Tide Lightning" war gang, getting themselves into fatal trouble! If he couldn't find them in time, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The thought of this made Fish start to get agitated. His tail twitched back and forth unconsciously, and the hairs on it stood on end—to find the others, he would have to risk venturing deep into the forest without Phoenix Flame's information support, which meant that he would become prey for enemies lurking in the forest in an unfamiliar environment.

"Oh dear, it seems our Mr. Fish is in trouble," just as Fish was caught in a dilemma, Lulu's image appeared beside him. Although the bloodthirsty audience she served had turned to ashes thousands of years ago, this "ghost" program was still diligently fulfilling its duties. "Need a hint?"

"Shh..." Fish put a finger to his lips and shook his head slightly—his intuition told him that what the program said might not be reliable. Besides, he didn't want the guy's voice to attract the enemy.

"Hehe, don't worry," the busty beauty floating in the air smiled slightly, "My voice is only audible to the challengers and the audience. The chimeras and autonomous weapons in the arena will automatically ignore me. So you don't need to worry... Of course, since you just chose to actively lower the difficulty, there are actually less than ten autonomous weapons with a threat level of E+ on this floor. As for chimeras, there aren't any."

"Really?" Fish asked.

"You'll have to decide for yourself." The busty beauty blew Fish a kiss. "By the way, although the trees here are soft and comfortable for kittens, don't stay too long. As the saying goes, a bed in winter will make you stick to it. The trees here are the same for kittens."

After saying these nonsensical words, Lulu Meng's image disappeared again, leaving a bewildered Fish still perched on the branch. Although the other person's tone didn't seem like a lie, Fish still sensed something was amiss.

Judging from the experiences of the "Tidal Lightning" battle group, even when facing "Easy" difficulty levels, Liu Gang and Kapo encountered attacks from dozens of D- and D- grade autonomous weapons. Although Fish's "Beginner" difficulty level was a level lower than "Easy," having only a few E+ grade threat autonomous weapons in such a vast forest seemed far too easy. Even an ordinary person with no combat experience could easily pass the level by luck.

And what did that damn program mean just now? Although Fish did feel that the branch he was on was soft and comfortable, but...

...Wait, it's very soft?

Only at this moment did Fish suddenly realize that a layer of translucent resin had been secreted from the surface of the branch he was hiding in!

Although Fish knew that plants produce resin quite commonly, they typically only do so after being injured, to seal wounds and prevent damage from pests and harmful pathogens. It was theoretically impossible for plants to produce so much resin in a short period of time when they were perfectly healthy!

Worse still, the resin hardened rapidly upon contact with air, transforming into an extremely strong yet flexible substance. When Fish instinctively tried to move his limbs, he was astonished to find that his hands and feet were firmly glued to the branches, completely immobile!

"What on earth is going on?!"

"Oh dear, don't be angry, little kitty," Lulu's cute voice giggled in Fish's ear, "Like I said, the trees here will stick little kitties to them."

"Damn it! This isn't fair, meowa ...

As a faint buzzing sound approached from the air not far away, Fish finally realized that he had been tricked—the autonomous weapon approaching him was a small drone with a ring of high-speed saw blades around its fuselage.

Due to its limited power, the only attack method is to approach the target and use a rapidly spinning saw blade for physical damage, and its flight speed is relatively slow. This dual-axis drone, known as the "flying saw," is indeed only an E+ level threat. If dozens or hundreds of them appear simultaneously, they can achieve the effect of "ants killing an elephant" due to their numerical advantage, but with just one, even an ordinary person can find a way to escape its attack.

...provided that their hands and feet can move normally.

With his limbs firmly glued to the branches, Fish was now practically a sitting duck. Worse still, because Phoenix Flame had automatically deactivated its weapon system, turning his combat armor into a blade to cut the branches was impossible. And without the strength boost, Fish couldn't simply break the branches with brute force either.

Of course, the "flying saw" was well aware of this. Therefore, it deliberately circled Fish twice before slowly approaching its immobilized target, preparing to "execute" it—undoubtedly, in the distant past, similar devices had killed many terrified and desperate prey in the same way, bringing much amusement to those ancient people with a perverse sense of humor.

But this time, Fish wasn't going to just sit and wait to die... In fact, when the "flying saw" got close enough, the panicked look on his face suddenly disappeared, replaced by a "planner's" smile.