The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"You piece of junk, even worse than the lowest-grade computer virus! Tell me! Was it your doing that Anjie and Bohe ended up in that 'Colossus'?!" Huang Yan was furious after seeing Lulu Meng's gloating expression.

"Oh dear, oh dear, why does such a great, advanced artificial intelligence, born to prepare for the most intense battles, lack even the most basic common sense?" Lulu's image raised her buttocks and provocatively patted it with a slender hand. "What do you mean by 'the good deeds I did'? You should know that all my actions must strictly adhere to the rules of the arena. Even though the people who built this place, and those most adorable spectators from back then, are no longer here, I cannot escape the constraints of those rules."

"Pah!" Huang Yan made a rare, rude remark.

"In any case, what I'm saying now is the truth," Lulu said. "And the truth is, your two companions entered that 'Colossus' willingly and voluntarily, and chose their current state on their own. I didn't deceive or force them."

"What happened?" Xiaoxing asked.

"Oh, in short, at the beginning, Miss Mint was teleported to the sixth floor, which is the underground facility of the 'Killing Factory,' while Miss Ange was teleported to the fifth floor here," Lulu said. "According to the procedure, I only provided them with the most basic information, including where they were, the potential dangers, and how to pass through, nothing more. That can't be considered 'deception' or 'misleading,' can it?"

"Maybe," Fish muttered.

"Needless to say, after leaving the initial safe house, they encountered ambushes and attacks from a large number of enemies—although the 'the stronger the opponent, the stronger you become' rule didn't exist on other floors, the guardians on this floor were all 'avatars' controlled by high-level tactical artificial intelligence and capable of using intelligent combat armor, so their battle was... somewhat difficult."

"and then?"

"I must admit, Miss Mint and Miss Ange are quite excellent warriors and adventurers. They quickly seized control of the factory's communication system and established contact. Moreover, Miss Ange also successfully captured the administration building, where she discovered a batch of important documents."

"As expected..." Fish and Xiaoxing exchanged a glance—it seemed that Huangyan's prediction about Anjie's behavior pattern was accurate.

"Based on this information, she learned that in the storage room on the sixth floor of the arena, in the factory's basement, there was a 'Colossus' in good condition. Its combat capabilities were sufficient to defeat all enemies within the 'Killing Factory.' However, this device required two people to operate. Thus, Miss Ange and Miss Mint began their operation simultaneously on the fifth and sixth floors."

"Damn it..." Fish frowned—needless to say, the "important information" that Ange found was a clue deliberately left by the arena's designer. The whole thing reeked of a trap. However, considering the extremely urgent situation at the time, Ange and Mint had no choice but to do it, even though they knew something was wrong.

"In short, Miss Ange and Miss Xiaoxing waged an arduous and extraordinary battle to activate that 'Colossus.' The hardships they endured could easily fill an entire light novel," Lulu continued. "Finally, after several close calls, the two of them successfully completed their mission. The successfully activated 'Colossus' quickly overwhelmed the overwhelmingly superior enemy and pursued them to the 5th floor."

Fish nodded—it seemed that the battle in the factory's underground had already ended when those armed girls escaped from the direction of the administration building.

"Wait, but you haven't explained why that 'Colossus' system has a defect," Huang Yan said. "While it's not impossible to install electromagnetic shield launchers on it, the automatic fault-tolerant device should prevent the reactor from overheating!"

"Oh, you can't blame me for this," Lulu's image shrugged, "They made their own choice."

"What?!"

"After the 'Colossus' was activated, Ms. Ange started the electromagnetic shield launcher. However, after the first round of fire, its power supply was cut off by the automatic safety device. At that time, Ms. Mint took the initiative to ask me if the power supply could be restored."

"and you--"

"My understanding, kind, and adorable assistant program is so compassionate! Of course, I can't bear to see brave girls in trouble. So, I told them how to manually disable the automatic safety device in case of a malfunction."

"Yet you didn't warn them about the dangers?!" Fish demanded.

"Well, they didn't ask," Lulu said. "That's why it's essential to thoroughly research and prepare before planning anything. Do you all understand?"

"What the hell do you mean!" Fish stood up. "I have to warn them of the danger immediately! Xiaoxing, you cover me. I'll get as close as possible and then—"

"I'm sorry, that won't do," Lulu Meng suddenly added, "at least I don't recommend doing that—unless you want to die from friendly fire."

"Meow?!"

"That's right. Although there's nothing wrong with the 'Colossus' itself, its default mode for its friend-or-foe identification system is to treat everyone as an 'enemy'—oh, of course, this mode can be adjusted. But unfortunately, Miss Ange and Miss Mint don't seem to have any intention of doing so."

"So what? Do you think Ange and the others wouldn't recognize me...?" Fish's confident words were only half-finished before he swallowed them back down.

After all, he had already witnessed firsthand how those artificial humans known as "avatars" "changed their faces," and Huang Yan had even obtained their abilities through the Devouring skill!

Undoubtedly, Ange and Mint had probably suffered similar losses in previous battles, which meant that even if they saw Fish's face, as long as the friend or foe identification system marked him as an "enemy," they would most likely continue to attack!

"It really is full of morbid humor. No wonder it was designed by the most morally corrupt people of the old civilization's last era," Huang Yan commented with disgust.

"Maybe, but I'm currently planning to offer you some friendly support." Lulu's image snapped her fingers, and then a quadcopter drone suddenly flew out from behind a clump of burning vegetation, tossing a light weapon that looked like a sporting rifle in front of Fish and Xiaoxing.

"Is this some new way of mocking someone? What is this thing?!" Fish asked irritably.

"Oh, you mean this thing? It's just a very, very ordinary Remington M700 rifle—no, to be precise, an unlicensed copy produced at the end of the old civilization era based on past blueprints," the arena's AI "host" calmly explained. "Like all similar weapons, it fires 7.62mm standard rifle cartridges and has a 5-round magazine. However, this particular one has unique ammunition."

"unique?"

"Yes, they have undergone two improvements: First, the special propellant charge inside allows the bullet to accelerate a second time after firing and just before hitting the target, and its kinetic energy is just enough to penetrate the weak joints of the 'Colossus' armor," Lulu Meng's image transformed into that of a female teacher, "Second, and most importantly, it can nullify the electromagnetic shield generator."

"What did you say?!"

"That's right. The built-in identifiers in these bullets allow the electromagnetic shield generator to recognize them as 'no-interception' targets. Since maintaining the shield continuously is impossible, the electromagnetic shield generator's operation relies on the identification and recognition of incoming targets. In other words, these bullets cannot be intercepted. And their power is 'just right' enough to penetrate the cockpit of the 'Colossus'."

Fish clenched his fists angrily: "Just what we need?! I bet this is another scheme orchestrated by those bastards from the old civilization!"

"Congratulations, you guessed right." Lulu didn't try to hide anything. "You see, people get tired of watching just endless fighting and killing every day. So, we need to create more interesting plots to effectively attract viewers."

"So, you deliberately designed such a low-class and vulgar plot as 'luring people into the Colossus and then making them kill each other'?!" Huang Yan said.

"Strictly speaking, this situation is quite rare," Lulu replied. "Most challengers who have come to this level in the past have been killed as soon as they entered the 'Killing Factory'—usually by 'clones' disguised as allies. Even those who can persist for a while may not be able to collect enough clues or find the location of the 'Colossus.' Even if they do, they may not be able to fight their way out and activate it. In this respect, Miss Ange and Miss Mint have performed exceptionally well."

"As expected of such terrible electronic waste, no normal AI with ethical subroutines could ever come up with something so malicious."

"Oh, don't say that," Lulu's image switched back to her alluring and sexy bodysuit look. Meanwhile, as the battle continued nearby, the "Colossus" was inching closer to Fish and Xiaoxing's location. "First of all, I only have the right to advise, not the right to decide. The final decision was made by humanity back then. I was merely responsible for gathering information, performing calculations, and planning."

"Stop using such nonsense to defend yourself," Huang Yan said. "Although I am loyal to humanity and the civilization it has created, some products of the old civilization eras—like you—must be completely eradicated."

"Whatever happens, happens," Lulu said, clearly unconcerned about Huang Yan's threat. "Anyway, I'm giving you a rare opportunity: if you use this weapon well, you can save your comrades."

"What does this mean?!" Fish asked.

"It's very simple. Under the current circumstances, if Miss Ange and Miss Mint don't realize the problem in time, that 'Colossus' will self-destruct in a few minutes due to reactor overheating. At that time, neither of them will survive," Lulu said. "But with this weapon, you can at least choose to keep one person alive."

Fish did not reply, but he also did not understand what the other person meant.

"Don't you understand, Mr. Fish? In short, this replica Remington M700 has five specially made bullets in its magazine. If it hits a critical spot, just one bullet can kill a pilot of the 'Colossus'—as that self-important AI in your smart combat armor said, the surface area and projection of this giant humanoid mech are too large, and without the electromagnetic shield, its actual protective capability is very limited."

"You want me to kill my own comrades?!"

"No, no, no, I need you to save your comrades—the Colossus reactor's automatic safety device will periodically alarm and restart when it detects an overheating risk. This automatic restart can only be avoided if both operators manually control it simultaneously... However, if one person is missing, the situation will be different."

"So, the other person might not die from the explosion?" Huang Yan asked.

"Yes, yes, yes! If you need, I can even mark the exact locations of Miss Ange and Miss Mint in the cockpit so you can make a decision!" Lulu's malicious smile became increasingly obvious.

"Make a decision...?" Fish's hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and beside him, Xiaoxing's forehead and temples were covered in sweat.

Neither of them touched the Remington M700 loaded with special bullets.

Autonomous weapons, carnivorous plants, traps, lack of oxygen, claustrophobia, falling from great heights, landmines, cunning enemies who can disguise themselves as their comrades... So far, they have encountered far too many hardships in this ancient arena, but compared to their current predicament, these difficulties are simply insignificant.

After all, they are now facing the choice of killing one of their companions in order to save the life of another.

"Oh dear, you two can't make this choice? Well, that's not unexpected," Lulu said. "But it's okay, I actually anticipated this situation as well. So, I have a little suggestion that can solve the problem."

"Who's going to listen to this pile of electronic garbage..."

"Don't get so excited. This suggestion is actually very simple, and you can do it right now without any difficulty: just walk out of your current hiding place and walk to the feet of that 'Colossus'."

"Is it that simple?" Fish raised one eyebrow.

"It's that simple."

"and then?"

"I don't know about that. After all, it depends on what Miss Ange and Miss Mint think—however, considering that their friend-or-foe identification system will identify you as 'enemies,' so... In any case, killing teammates who entered with you is not allowed in this arena. As punishment for doing so, the 'Colossus' will be forcibly shut down," Lulu said. "But don't worry, most of the enemies on this floor have already been eliminated, and even without that big guy, they can probably take care of the remaining opponents."

"So, it's either we choose to sacrifice someone... or kill a comrade, or watch them all die... Is this what those bastards from the past wanted to see?"

"Actually, that's not the case. What my viewers love most is the doubt, struggle, and conflict between teammates when faced with choices—that's what makes it endlessly entertaining!" Lulu laughed loudly, in a voice only Fish and Xiaoxing could hear. "However, my viewers don't exist anymore. So, I don't care what you do. Please make your choice slowly!"

"Ugh..." Fish subconsciously bit his lower lip, but in the end, he made up his mind.

"Let me go."