The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Administrative building complex? What's that?" Fish asked.

"It's where the factory's management and administration departments are located—in short, where the bosses run things," Huang Yan patiently explained. "Although this 'killing factory' is just a place for those bloodthirsty spectators to get involved and have fun, it probably never actually produces anything. However, to ensure realism, its structure is most likely designed based on a real factory."

"But why would Ange go there?"

"That's my guess," Huang Yan answered frankly, "but there's some basis to it."

"What is the basis for this?"

"The basis is her psychological characteristics."

"This works?" Fish's face was practically covered in question marks.

"Yes. Anjie is not like you, a country bumpkin. She is a princess of the noble Kingdom of Fayun," Huang Yan said. "Although I lack understanding of the political structure, political doctrines and ideologies of this era, from my previous interactions with her, she is obviously very assertive and has a strong desire for control."

"Oh...so what?" Fish and Xiaoxing still looked like they "didn't understand."

"So, when she's thrown into an unfamiliar place, her most likely choice is to first hide and observe—with her 'golden fortress' of firepower and defense maxed out, it's actually not easy for the enemy to hurt her," Huang Yan continued. "And after confirming the situation, there's a high probability that she will choose to go to a place where she can 'control everything'."

"So, it's the administrative building complex?"

“Of course,” Huang Yan said, “these noble families, who are used to controlling everything, might instinctively want to try to find a way to ‘gain control of the situation’ in those buildings. At least I think this possibility should not be underestimated.”

“Okay,” Fish nodded, “that does… make a lot of sense.”

"That makes sense? Princess Anjie is your official wife, the one you signed the formal contract with!" Huang Yan's tone sounded quite dissatisfied. "As the future Grand Duke of Fayun, even if you're just a grand duke responsible for signing and stamping documents in the palace and performing ceremonial duties, shouldn't you understand your wife's personality and personal habits?!"

"Um... but we've only known each other for less than two days!"

"That's not a valid reason!" Huang Yan said. "Anyway, let's get going. Every minute we stay here increases the danger."

"Okay." Fish sighed.

Finding the administrative buildings wasn't too difficult. Like real factories and other large facilities, this factory was filled with maps hanging on walls and signs—some of which were in front of booby traps, of course, but Fish, having learned his lesson with directional mines, could easily spot and clear them beforehand.

While observing the map, Fish also noticed a notification: Phoenix Flame's "Devour Ability" skill had been gained again! This time, the gained ability was "Standard Disguise - Level 2".

"What is this?" Fish asked.

"Detailed description: This is a technology used in intelligent combat armor."

It can modify the helmet visor of combat armor to resemble the target's face. Level 2 Standard Disguise can simulate the facial features of any person of similar build for up to 4 hours, including hair and eye color, and adds a voice changer effect after recording the target's voice data. It can also partially mimic the secretion activity of sweat glands and sebaceous glands, as well as body temperature.

"Damn, that's impressive." After seeing the description, Fish swallowed hard and muttered to himself. Undoubtedly, this was the ability that Huang Yan had acquired when he ate the two "masks" disguised as Xiao Xing, and it was the second new ability he had obtained so far.

In some ways, this ability might even be more useful than the "Overdrive Control System" he acquired first. Fish had already begun to imagine himself using this ability to play pranks and have fun everywhere after leaving the Twilight City ruins.

“However, I don’t recommend relying on this ability down here,” Huang Yan said. “Although my own IFF system is interfered with and unusable here, it’s clear that the enemies in the arena—apart from those low-level chimeras that act purely on instinct—all possess some reliable means of friend or foe identification. I don’t think you can fool them with disguise.”

"I agree," Fish said.

After leaving the warehouse, the group first crossed a wide road that could accommodate four trucks side by side, then crossed a green belt planted with poplar trees. Next, they walked along several sidewalks covered with grass on both sides, and a huge concrete mixing tower surrounded by ornamental shrubs.

Unlike the unmanaged, chaotic "vibrant life" outside the arena, the facilities below were clearly regularly maintained. The factory buildings and equipment were spotless, practically brand new, with only some artificially aged textures painted on—of course, Fish knew that to others, the "Virtual Paradise" system would embellish them to look weathered and worn, making this place look more like a "battlefield."

Even the flowers, plants, and trees used purely for decoration are regularly maintained and look very beautiful. In some flower beds, many small shrubs have even been cleverly pruned into adorable animal shapes.

Unfortunately, having recently suffered at the hands of the predatory plants on the third level of the arena, Fish had no interest in appreciating the beauty of these ornamental plants. Before approaching each clump of trees, he would throw scrap parts and stones at them to test their reaction.

Fortunately, several tests showed that the plants on this level were quite ordinary. Although there were small anti-personnel mines and even smaller butterfly mines scattered throughout the lawn, at least no plants were aggressively hunting humans.

"Mr. Fish, have you noticed?" Xiaoxing suddenly said, "It seems like it's getting foggy around here."

"Fog?" Fish shook his head in confusion: at this moment, there was no fog on the ground of the entire "Killing Factory." The warm sunlight streaming in from the dome illuminated everything in perfect detail; there was no fog at all. However, after a few seconds of stunned silence, he understood.

Is it the influence of "Virtual Paradise"?

"That's right," Huang Yan said. "Down here, the constantly changing details such as weather, rust, and dust are all created by the 'Virtual Paradise' system directly interfering with the brains of those who enter. It just doesn't work on you. In Xiao Xing's eyes, there are blue skies and white clouds above you right now, not a concrete dome. Also, there's a large cloud of fog spreading outwards from the center of the area."

"This doesn't sound like a good sign," Fish muttered.

How did you know?

"Isn't that how it's always written in the stories?" Fish recalled a story he had heard in a bar in Oasis City—a place where a large group of bards would gather all year round hoping to earn money by chanting stories. "Usually, dangerous secret realms or mysterious enemies would always appear under the cover of fog."

"Not a bad guess," Huang Yan said. "Although such dramatic situations are rare in reality, the logic of this arena prioritizes 'entertainment' and 'drama.' Since Miss Xiaoxing saw the fog created by 'Virtual Paradise,' it means something is about to happen."

"Then... our plan remains the same?" Fish asked Phoenix Flame for confirmation.

"Of course," Huang Yan said, "In a place like this, the more you fear trouble, the more trouble you'll get into. The best way is to break through head-on."

"Phew... alright." Fish took a deep breath and continued walking into the depths of the "fog" that he couldn't see at all—but Xiaoxing's situation wasn't so good.

For her, who was not immune to the effects of the "Virtual Paradise" system, the surrounding fog was so thick that she couldn't see her own hand in front of her face at this moment, and she couldn't even see Fish's figure clearly just inches away. For a moment, due to deep unease, Xiaoxing subconsciously activated the optical camouflage system of her intelligent combat armor, but when Fish turned his gaze to her, Xiaoxing changed her mind.

She turned off the optical camouflage system, then took two steps forward and firmly grasped Fish's hand.

The moment their fingers intertwined, Fish instinctively shuddered—based on his observations of them together, he knew very well how withdrawn and shy Xiaoxing was. At the slightest disturbance, her first instinct was to hide, to conceal herself in an inconspicuous place. This was perhaps why her intelligent combat armor possessed such powerful optical cloaking capabilities.

But now, Xiaoxing made this choice unconsciously when she felt uneasy, which means...

Before he knew it, Fish's cheeks had turned the color of a ripe persimmon... After all, he himself completely lacked experience in this area. Signing a contract with Ange was one thing, but being intimate with a girl was quite another!

Fortunately, this awkward situation didn't last long.

"Attention, both of you, there's a signal indicating unusual activity in the direction of the factory's administrative facilities." After the two walked around a huge workshop and arrived in front of a rather ordinary-looking six-story office building with a huge glass curtain wall, Huang Yan said, "Please take cover and prepare."

"Understood!" Fish quickly pulled Xiaoxing to lie down and hide behind a clump of decorative hedges—to Xiaoxing at this moment, the surrounding fog was as thick as the fog level in "Plants vs. Zombies," with only a blank white expanse a few meters away.

Although in theory, it wouldn't matter whether you need cover or not in this level of fog, Huang Yan and Fish couldn't be sure if this fake "fog" would be equally effective against their opponents. Therefore, with caution being paramount, the two lay side by side behind the bushes, holding their breath and waiting.

More than a dozen girls ran out of the office building with its glass curtain walls. These girls, who looked no older than middle school students, were all dressed like the fake Xiaoxing that Fish had first encountered, wearing clothes that at first glance looked like military camouflage uniforms, but upon closer inspection, were full of certain implications.

Putting everything else aside, the combination of a bulletproof helmet, tactical vest, miniskirt, and high heels alone is enough to make someone so embarrassed they'd dig a hole in the floor.

However, despite their embarrassing attire, these girls were carrying large individual weapons that were completely disproportionate to their size: at least two of them were carrying heavy general-purpose machine guns, two others were carrying heavy anti-materiel rifles with gun bodies as tall as them, and even three of them were carrying several disposable rocket launchers on their backs!

Moreover, Fish had no doubt that their seemingly delicate small bodies would not hinder them from operating these large machines.

After all, as Huang Yan had said before, those perverted bastards from the old civilization era seemed to enjoy this extremely embarrassing contrast and were hopelessly addicted to it.

With the help of Phoenix Flame's fire control system, Fish monitored the girls rushing towards them in real time, focusing on the closest ones. But he quickly noticed that these girls didn't seem to be coming for them. After escaping some distance, they immediately turned around, raised their weapons, and became defensive.

Then, the administration building suddenly began to shake violently, and then... half of it collapsed.

Previously, in the video Lulu Meng deliberately showed him, Fish had also seen a similar scene: Believing the first level was safe, Liu Gang carelessly ordered all members of "Tidal Lightning" to enter the arena, only to instantly trigger the "the stronger the opponent, the stronger you become" rule, causing the difficulty of the first level to rise to its limit. And at that time, the enormous war elephant-shaped autonomous weapon "Ganesha" appeared on that level.

Of course, this time it wasn't those "elephants" that crashed into the administration building, but something far more astonishing. This thing was over twenty meters tall, and its shape resembled a giant, headless black doll with disproportionately long, thin legs and arms. In what should have been its chest, a whole system of sensors was flashing an unsettling red light.

"Wow, good heavens," Huang Yan muttered, "They even have something like this?"

"What is this?"

"WLK-570 walking mech, nicknamed 'Colossus'," Huang Yan replied. "A pretty but useless thing."

"Looks good but is useless?"

"That's right, like the more common 'Goron,' it's actually an engineering device. However, because it was originally designed to carry out engineering activities on other terraformable objects within the solar system, it was designed to look like this."

"Um... I don't quite understand."

"In short, because other habitable solid bodies in the solar system—whether large planets, dwarf planets, or moons—are smaller than Earth and have less gravity, WLK-570 was designed to be relatively 'slender' to increase flexibility in environments with lower strength requirements. On Earth, this wouldn't be a good design."

"Hmm..." Fish still didn't quite understand.

"In short, the tall and slender 'bamboo pole' design results in poor load-bearing capacity and structural stability. Compared to real military equipment, the weight of armor and weaponry it can carry is very limited," Huang Yan commented. "Moreover, these behemoths can easily hit these large targets on the battlefield, whether by long-range artillery or air strikes. As military equipment, they have extremely low cost-effectiveness. However, because their appearance resembles a 'giant soldier' ​​from an old comic book, they have unexpectedly become popular with those perverted viewers and are widely used in arena battles."

"Okay..." Having no knowledge of comics and other art forms from the old civilization era, Fish obviously didn't understand. "Anyway, you mean we don't need to worry about this thing, right?"

"Wrong," Huang Yan said, "I'm afraid we're in big trouble."