The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Who...who are you?!"

Upon hearing the unfamiliar girl's voice, Fish was startled and instinctively shouted a question.

His echo reverberated throughout the enclosed room, simultaneously activating a voice-activated switch that turned on several small, dim red lights.

"Well... of course I'm a great person willing to lend you a helping hand," a girl's voice chuckled from the darkness. "Mr. Fish, if I may be so bold, based on my most optimistic estimate, the chances of your 'reliable companions' coming to your rescue are less than 0.01%. If you want to survive, you'll have to rely on yourself."

How do you know my name?!

"Because I—to be precise, my remote control—just watched your ridiculous struggle from up there," the voice said.

"Well, I have to admit, as a group of greenhorns and young girls lacking the necessary military skills and combat experience, you actually did quite well. Considering your inferior weaponry, the exchange ratio with the E-class synthetic beasts actually reached 1:1.5, which is truly commendable... It would have been even better if you hadn't been foolishly sold out by 'your own people'."

"Who did you say was sold?"

"Look, it's the 'Tidal Lightning' warband you've joined, of course." As a buzzing sound, like the flapping of insect wings, approached from behind Fish, he witnessed the most incredible scene of his life.

A girl wearing a semi-transparent gauze dress and with a head of emerald green hair flapped her two pairs of slender, semi-transparent wings and slowly flew towards him.

Even more astonishingly, the girl's height was about the same as the length of his hand! She looked exactly like a little fairy from ancient Celtic legends.

However, what surprised Fish even more than the other person's appearance was what the fairy girl had just said.

"How...how did you know about us?!"

"That's not difficult, because I've been watching you ever since you arrived in this tower. Well, you poor souls are like those silly little devils in a fairy tale who foolishly wander into the witch's dessert shop, walking step by step down a dead end, and you actually think those guys are giving you a 'trial run'? The dark humor is off the charts, isn't it?"

"No...it can't be...the people from 'Tidal Lightning' have been so kind to us, how could they...?"

"Kindness? Maybe. But have you ever thought about what they're after? Those guys are a gang that makes a living by selling violence, not some charitable organization. Why would they value you kids who have negligible combat skills and experience, and are just ordinary kids?" the fairy girl asked. "Oh, right, that's not entirely accurate. At least Mr. Fish, your situation is quite special... It's just a pity that those idiots can't see your true value, so they just discarded you like an earthworm on a fishhook."

What's your basis for saying that?

"Basis? Hmm... Looks like we're in luck. I can prove it to you right now." As a rumble of concrete and tile fragments falling came from not far away, the fairy girl smiled—a chimera had just crawled into the room through the hole that Fish and the others had fallen through.

Unlike the flying chimeras that previously served as the main attack force on the rooftop, this creature resembled a large cephalopod, except that it had more than thirty tentacles instead of the usual eight of an octopus. Moreover, some of the tentacles had sharp spikes at the ends that could inject venom.

"Reef Assassin," is what the people of Oasis City call this monster. Unlike most chimeras that rarely stray far from the ruins of ancient cities, this creature is occasionally swept away from the ruins by storm surges and accidentally carried by ocean currents to places hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away.

Although they only appear once or twice a year at most, the insidious and vicious behavior of the "Reef Assassins" has made them infamous in Oasis City: these creatures are not only good at changing color and mimicking like ordinary octopuses, but also have inexplicable malice towards humans.

Real octopuses, even the highly venomous blue-ringed octopus, only pose a threat when preyed upon by humans. But this cunning synthetic beast will deliberately disguise itself as harmless objects such as rocks, driftwood, and coral reefs, intentionally approaching humans before suddenly attacking with its venomous tentacles.

Most terrifyingly, sometimes the "Reef Assassin" will deliberately use a non-lethal paralyzing venom to attack the first prey, leaving the victim to float on the water and call for help, before assassinating the rescuer in a "siege and attack" manner.

In the final moments of the rooftop battle, several of Fish's comrades died at the hands of these guys.

"Hmph, good timing." Just as Fish was frantically backing away, the fairy girl swiftly flew behind him, skillfully disassembled the communication repeater he was carrying, took out a cylindrical electronic component, and then threw it away violently.

The moment the component fell, the "Reef Assassin," which had been staring at Fish with malicious intent, preparing to attack, suddenly turned and pounced in the direction it had fallen, tightly embracing it with its thirty tentacles. It was as if the one falling was its own son.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Fish immediately picked up the submachine gun that had fallen beside him and fired most of the magazine's worth of bullets into the monster's body.

"Well done." The fairy girl flew onto Fish's arm and sat down, leaning against his face. "Your reaction time is pretty fast, which is my type."

"That thing just now, could it be...?"

"It's the 'Siren's Song,' an ancient device that can occasionally be found in ruins. It has a strong attraction to nearby chimeras. Autonomous weapons and other automated devices that haven't received orders will also be attracted to it. As for the communication repeater your good brothers gave you, it's actually a signal booster... well, I must admit, it's quite good. Roughly speaking, it's attracted most of the low-level chimeras and autonomous weapons within a radius of more than ten kilometers."

"But……"

"But why would your good brothers give this to you? Hmm, isn't it obvious?" The fairy girl pressed her small face close to Fish's cheek; her cold skin made Fish uncomfortable. "The amplified 'Siren's Song' will overstimulate the aggressive desires of some low-intelligence chimeras. If the device is destroyed prematurely, the attraction effect won't be as good. But if an armed team is left nearby to protect the device, the attraction time can be extended as much as possible... Of course, it also means that the team used as bait has almost no chance of survival."

"What?!"

"So, you guys were actually just 'disposable' pawns from the very beginning... Thanks to your hours of continuous fighting, the pressure and risks your 'good brothers' faced venturing deep into the urban ruins were reduced by at least half," the fairy girl gently stroked Fish's cheek with one hand, then brushed the fur on his cat ears. "How about it? Sacrificing yourself for brothers you've only known for a few days, don't you feel incredibly honored?"

"..."

Although reluctant to admit it, after carefully considering the cause and effect, Fish realized that everything the mysterious fairy girl said was true—at least, he couldn't produce any evidence to refute it.

"How could this be... Could it be that from the very beginning we... we... we..." Fish gasped for breath, enduring the pain all over his body as he moved to his companions' side: Rock and Adam, whom he was carrying, were both dead. The two of them had unfortunately broken their necks together when the floor collapsed a second time.

Xiaoxing was hit on the forehead by a hard object. Although she was still breathing faintly, she had lost consciousness.

Twenty companions, twenty lives lost. Twenty young people who came here full of hope and trust in their companions were turned into bait and expendable pawns because of a lie.

All their efforts, even their sacrifices, were merely to attract the attention of nearby chimeras and autonomous weapons, allowing the truly "valuable" members of the warband to reach their destination more safely and easily.

Of course, there would be no rescue from the start. Fish could even fully imagine the smug smiles on Liu Gang and his cronies' faces when they discovered that the number of enemies they faced had decreased significantly as planned.

The thought ignited a fire of rage within Fish, like gasoline meeting a flame. His entire body trembled slightly with fury, and his hands instinctively clenched into fists.

Unbeknownst to him, he even bit his lip, and a drop of blood flowed down his lip... Then, the fairy girl suddenly flew to his mouth, dipped her little finger in the blood, and put it in her mouth to taste.

"Huh? What are you doing?" Fish was taken aback.

"Very good, I like the taste of hatred," the fairy girl said approvingly after carefully tasting Fish's blood. "This emotion can stimulate a person's potential when necessary... and your potential is exactly what I value most."

"My...potential? Is it the potential to get revenge on those guys?!" Fish asked excitedly. His pointed ears and the fur on his tail stood on end due to his excessive excitement.

"At least, if you wish for revenge, I can help you... Not everyone is capable of accepting such a gift from me, but at a genetic level, you may possess this talent," the fairy girl said. "However, you should know that there's no such thing as a free lunch..."

"So, you're saying I want that thing in exchange for a deal, right?" Fish asked. "Sure, take whatever you want! As long as it lets me get revenge on those bastards!"

"Deal made. User's consent has been confirmed." The fairy girl's voice suddenly became flat and emotionless. "According to Agreement C-5530A, please follow me."

"Okay...okay." As the fairy girl flapped her wings and left Fish's shoulder, he reached out to hold onto the wall, enduring the pain from his broken bones, and followed her step by step.

After struggling for a short distance, he came to a row of things that looked like medicine cabinets. The fairy girl flapped her wings and flew around the "medicine cabinets" a few times like a worker bee returning to the hive to report to its companions. Then, the electronic locks on the cabinets lit up in green, indicating that they were unlocked.

"Mr. Fish, you have been granted permission to use the Advanced Intelligent Combat Armor AM-271," the fairy girl continued in a flat tone. "The final adaptability test will now begin. Please wait. Once the test is passed, the usage agreement can be formally signed."

"Intelligent...combat armor?" Fish repeated the phrase, then shuddered—even a nobody like him, lurking in the lower rungs of an atoll city, had heard of such a thing.

As one of the technological legacies left over from the old era, this device is said to be usable only by a very few lucky individuals with special bloodlines, and these people are known as "Armored Warriors." They are not only powerful armor, but also possess many amazing functions.

Most importantly, because it can accumulate experience alongside its users and autonomously improve upon that experience, this type of armor has enormous growth potential. It is said that no two sets of intelligent combat armor are the same in the world.

Although Fish had never seen a physical example of intelligent combat armor before, nor had he ever encountered a single armored warrior, he was quite aware that armored warriors were almost all honored guests of the various countries and city-states under the Pan-Pacific Empire, and were a very important fighting force. Even the most mediocre among them were highly sought-after stars in their respective free-fighting factions.

Even a large war guild like "Tidal Lightning" reportedly only has one weakest one-star, or rather, "Jade" level armored warrior.

But now, Fish, who had always been an insignificant, marginal figure, had actually been given the opportunity to become a Master Armorer! For the first time in his life, he felt that his dream of going to higher and farther places to accomplish great things actually seemed so realistic...

"Don't get too excited, little kitty," the fairy girl said, perhaps noticing the barely suppressed excitement and joy on Fish's face. "I've just confirmed that you might have a talent in this area... As for whether it's feasible, we'll only know after the test. After all, not everyone with the corresponding genes can complete the connection."

"connect?"

"You'll find out soon enough." The fairy girl twirled in the air and took out a jar as tall as herself from an open cabinet. Inside the transparent jar was a red, semi-liquid substance that looked somewhat like strawberry jam.

"What is this?" Fish asked.

"This is the advanced intelligent combat armor AM-271. To be precise, it's the most basic form of combat armor," the fairy girl explained. "Now, please take off your clothes."