The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Your Highness, our machine has been damaged!"

"After the screen went black," Mint said.

"I know," Ange nodded. "We've lost half of our right-side vision."

Like armored vehicles of the past, the "Colossus," which was transformed from an outer space engineering machine into a heavy gladiator weapon in the arena, has very limited field of vision due to the need for enhanced protection (although not by much). There are only a few observation slots with bulletproof glass in front of the driver's seat.

As an alternative, numerous optical sensors were mounted on the surface of the "Colossus" to assist in observing external conditions.

In a sense, these optical sensors are the eyes of the "colossus," and for all animals that need vision, the eyes are their most vulnerable part. However, the designers certainly took this into account: these optical sensors are small in size and have reinforced surfaces, which can withstand a certain degree of damage from shrapnel and shockwaves from explosions. Relatively speaking, they are not so easily destroyed.

Moreover, this "Colossus" is also equipped with an electromagnetic shield generator. In theory, as long as the electromagnetic shield generator is still working, the optical sensors protected by it should be impossible for them to be destroyed by incoming munitions.

"That's impossible—"

"Watch your words, Your Highness," Mint said gravely. "Don't utter that word lightly."

"Thank you for reminding me." Ange twitched her platinum fox ears and took a deep breath—one of the Lindenhild-Fayun family's precepts is "A monarch must acknowledge reality." Therefore, whenever Ange utters words like "impossible" or "not true," Mint, as the head lady, will remind her.

After all, the successive dukes of the Duchy of Fayun were well aware that refusing to accept reality, or even showing a certain inclination towards reality, was digging their own trap.

Just as weevils will always grow in grain, so too will sycophants never lack those around a monarch. Once a monarch shows clear resistance and denial to certain facts, these shameless villains will cater to his desires, gradually creating false information that suits the monarch's needs, ultimately leading the monarch to ruin in a delusion.

"But... what on earth is going on?" Ange muttered, swallowing back the "impossible" that was already on the tip of her tongue. She first pulled up the data on the electromagnetic shield generator, only to find that the device was not only still operating normally, but also had no record of interception at all!

In other words, someone launched a remote attack, precisely targeting one of the sensors... but the electromagnetic shield generator failed to intercept the attack.

Is it a device malfunction code? Just as this thought crossed Anjie's mind, another red warning signal popped up: "Colossus" had been attacked a second time in less than fifteen seconds. This time, the main optical sensor on the left side was damaged.

Next, the motion-sensing radar used to detect slow-moving small objects was also hit—this time, the system's damage detection program deduced the attack method by the degree of damage and the kinetic energy of the attack: a 7.62 mm caliber rifle bullet with an armor-piercing projectile, which used some kind of boosting acceleration method to increase its kinetic energy.

"Miss Mint, please don't go near the observation window," Ange whispered to Mint, who was about to approach the observation window, as the fourth bullet shattered an optical sensor located directly in front of the "Colossus." "Enemy ammunition can penetrate bulletproof glass."

"Understood, Your Highness." Without Ange needing to say anything more, Mint immediately moved away from the observation window and pulled down the reinforced armor plate located inside. This extra layer of armor plate could greatly improve the protection of the front of the cockpit, but it would also render the observation window unusable. At the same time, another optical sensor was hit by a bullet and became disabled.

"We've lost half of our observation methods!" Ange said. "This is terrible."

At this moment, Anjie's previous confidence, which had brought her certainty of victory, had completely vanished. Instead, a growing sense of unease amplified rapidly, accompanied by confusion and suspicion.

Who exactly is this opponent who possesses such a unique attack method?

However, regardless of who the opponent is, one thing is certain: that person is clearly very shrewd and quite intelligent. Not only did he obtain special ammunition that could penetrate the electromagnetic shield generator, but he also chose to gradually cripple the "Colossus's" perception capabilities by carefully destroying its sensors.

Clearly, the other side intended to blind this behemoth before delivering the final blow.

"The sniping is coming from the northeast," Ange said. "Let's retreat in the opposite direction, create distance, and find cover!"

"Agreed," Mint nodded, controlling the "Colossus" to turn and retreat in large strides—although theoretically, after determining the approximate location of the opponent, rushing in and eliminating it directly would be the best approach. However, Ange and Mint were both worried about a trap, so they chose a safer method.

After all, once out of the enemy's sight, the sniper with special ammunition would inevitably have to leave the building where he was hiding if he wanted to continue attacking. At this moment, Ange, still equipped with "Golden Soup," had just activated the last two special rounds carried by this combat armor, which gave her confidence in tracking the enemy's movements.

All that's left is to wait for the other side to make a move.

"This is the last shot."

After pulling the trigger for the fifth time, Xiaoxing, who was in charge of sniping, did not pull the bolt or eject the spent cartridge—because there was no need to do so.

This replica Remington M700 was equipped with only the five rounds in the magazine. Although she had obtained a number of 7.62x51mm rifle rounds from the enemies she had killed, these ordinary rounds could not penetrate the Colossus's electromagnetic shield generator. Even if she used them to fire, they would only needlessly accelerate the overload of the Colossus's reactor.

So she simply discarded the weapon and began her next move: using a grenade launcher she had stolen from the previously defeated "clone" to continuously fire smoke grenades.

For the Colossus in its normal state, these smoke bombs are actually of little significance: some of its optical sensors also have microwave, infrared, and ultraviolet detection capabilities, so a simple smoke screen cannot completely prevent its observation. Fortunately, these sensors have all been destroyed by Xiaoxing. Therefore, the operator inside the Colossus is now completely unable to see through the rolling smoke screen.

"Uh... while there have been challengers who have reached this point before, I've never seen anyone do it like this before." Whether it was acting or genuine surprise, Lulu's image beside her showed a dumbfounded expression. "You actually managed to weaken the 'Colossus's' observation capabilities to this extent..."

"It's all thanks to Mr. Fish's Phoenix Flame," Xiaoxing said, glancing at the image floating in the air after firing the smoke bomb. "She knew the location of the Colossus's main optical sensor and pointed it out to me—and I happen to have some talent for shooting."

"No, that's impossible..."

"Huh?"

"Even the AI ​​in ordinary intelligent combat armor—even the fifth-tier strength armor—would not have this kind of information," Lulu Meng muttered to herself. "I can guarantee that."

"How did you know?" Xiaoxing asked as she dropped the grenade launcher and retreated to the green belt to wait for orders.

"Because... this model of 'Colossus' was modified and put into the arena in the last year before the end of the old civilization era. It hadn't even officially participated in the competitions when the old civilization era ended in the Great Rebellion," the arena's host said bluntly. "And its external sensor layout is not the same as the previous 'Colossus'."

"So what?"

"Under normal circumstances, all the information available to the low-level artificial intelligence of intelligent combat armor comes from a specific database. Although they can disguise themselves very well as real humans, their learning ability is limited for security reasons. Without the assistance of human administrators, they cannot update the database on their own—meaning they absolutely cannot know the relevant intelligence details about the new 'Colossus'!"

Xiaoxing waved the fluffy "fox radish" back and forth, shrugging indifferently: "Phoenix Flame is special, after all."

"This isn't 'special' in the usual sense! Unless that thing isn't some ordinary artificial intelligence used to complement intelligent combat armor, could it be...?" Lulu suddenly covered her mouth. "Ah, sorry, I think I said something I shouldn't have. Please continue the challenge. This has nothing to do with me."

"It's not me who's going to be challenged now," Xiaoxing said softly. She didn't take Lulu Meng's words to heart at all. "Although I'm a little reluctant, the main character next is Mr. Fish."

Because the billowing, hot smoke quickly mixed with the dust kicked up by the collapsing building, obscuring her vision, Xiaoxing couldn't see Fish at all. But strangely, she wasn't worried about her companion at all.

This wasn't out of cold indifference, but rather a complete and unconditional trust. Xiaoxing had complete faith that Fish would safely reach his destination and complete the rest of the plan—because she absolutely didn't believe that anyone could stop Fish and Huangyan from cooperating.

And that is indeed the case.

With the explosive power and speed boost provided by Phoenix Flame at full power, Fish quickly traversed the smoke-shrouded open area and rushed to the front of the retreating "Colossus." Then, with the assistance of Phoenix Flame's computer, he estimated the behemoth's direction and speed of movement and swiftly climbed onto a building.

Like the surrounding buildings, this building had previously been used as a firing point by the "clones" scattered throughout the "Killing Factory" to intercept the "Colossus". However, before Mint arrived in the "Colossus" to demolish the building, the fire team on the roof had already withdrawn, so the building was not reduced to ruins like the other buildings.

Fish scrambled to the rooftop as fast as he could, then lay prone, waiting for the retreating "colossus" to approach. He estimated that in half a minute, the "colossus" would brush past the building, the distance between them shrinking to less than five meters.

At that time, without even needing a running start, he could leap onto that behemoth with the aid of the Phoenix Flame, performing a standing long jump. All that would be left was to forcibly open the "Colossus's" hatch and explain the situation to the two people inside.

"Come on... come on... hurry up and come over..." As the tremors from the ground became more and more obvious, Fish clenched his fists and began to prepare to act. But at that moment, his sixth sense, which had become incredibly sharp from facing danger many times, suddenly reacted.

"What's wrong?" Huang Yan asked. She noticed the sudden changes in Fish's blood pressure and heart rate, as well as the sudden increase in his blood adrenaline levels.

"I sense...this is bad!"

Fish suddenly rolled to the side, and then a small explosion occurred where he had been lying face down—something had suddenly swooped down from the sky and hit him there. If Fish hadn't instinctively taken evasive action, it wouldn't have been just a small piece of concrete that had been destroyed.

"This is……"

“A small loitering munition—but probably not the kind you see in the arena,” Fish said. “Ange used one against me in our previous duel. I guess she didn’t use it all up.”

“Agreed,” Huang Yan said. “She must have done this after discovering that the Colossus’s main optical sensor had been deliberately destroyed… to release the remaining loitering munitions and then observe the outside situation through data links with the smart combat armor.”

"If I remember correctly, these loitering munitions..." Fish frowned—even without Phoenix Flame's sensory enhancement, his pointed ears could hear the sound of small propeller engines running from the air.

Undoubtedly, Ange launched more than just the loitering munition that had just been shot down. More importantly, the miniature centimeter-wave radar they carried could penetrate the smoke screen to some extent—in other words, Fish was already being watched before he used the smoke screen as cover to cross the open space between the buildings and reach the planned ambush position.

So, if Ange already knew about his actions, why did she still give him the opportunity to get close to the "Colossus"? No, this probably means...

"Boom—"

In the next instant, a giant hand slammed down on a corner of the building's roof, crushing a third of its surface. Fortunately, Fish, realizing the danger, had already jumped back a few steps, avoiding the same fate as the monkey under the Five Elements Mountain.

"So, it was Mint who was operating it, wasn't it?" Fish muttered to himself after dodging the fatal blow.

"How did you know?" Huang Yan asked.

"Because that's her style. If it were Ange operating, she would definitely attack without hesitation after spotting the target. But Miss Mint is more patient and knows when the best time is—like now."

"Hmm, not bad analysis," Huang Yan said, raising his other hand like an angry housewife aiming a fly swatter at Fish, who was trapped in the remaining corner of the rooftop with nowhere to go. "But how do you plan to solve this problem?"

"It's simple," Fish said. "The solution is here."

Then, a series of bullets struck his body.