The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"It's over. This is your complete elimination."

Mint whispered as she controlled the "Colossus" to raise its arm again.

As the last opponent on this level, she had to admit that this guy had indeed caused a lot of trouble: now, the Colossus's main optical sensors were destroyed, leaving only the backup sensors with limited functionality. If Ange's "Golden Soup" hadn't happened to have two unused loitering munitions, they wouldn't have even been able to spot the enemy trying to attack from the side under the cover of smoke.

Fortunately, they still gained the upper hand in this game—because of the difference in key information between the two sides, Mint successfully lured this troublesome enemy to the position where he could be killed in one fell swoop.

Although Ange's impatience led her to launch an attack prematurely with a loitering munition, causing the enemy to notice the abnormality and avoid Mint's first attack, it was not a big problem.

After all, with two-thirds of the rooftop destroyed, that guy had nowhere to escape. If he tried to jump to his death, although the intelligent combat armor would prevent him from suffering serious injury, it would still waste a lot of time—and then he would be trampled to death by the "Colossus".

The only thing that made Mint hesitate was that the red bodysuit-like armor on this opponent looked too familiar... In fact, it was exactly the same as Fish's "Phoenix Flame"!

However, she had no intention of giving up the attack. After all, when she was first teleported to the "Killing Factory," those despicable "avatars" had deceived Mint with Ange's face and almost successfully killed her before she could react. And at this moment, the "Colossus's" friend-or-foe identification system had also marked this person as an "enemy."

In that case, killing him is the right thing to do!

However, just as Mint was about to launch its second attack, an unexpected incident occurred: a volley of bullets struck the man in the red combat armor, knocking him to the ground. Thanks to the Colossus's fairly sensitive acoustic sensors, Mint quickly pinpointed the shooter's location.

It was an "avatar" common in the "Killing Factory," a beautiful pink-haired girl with a face so exquisite it seemed inhuman, yet lacking any vitality. She wore a gray camouflage cloak and had been hiding in a corner of the building's roof, concealed inside an empty plastic bucket. Because she had hidden so well, neither Mint nor Ange had noticed her presence.

Just moments ago, as the man in the red combat armor retreated toward the corner of the rooftop, this "clone" suddenly emerged from the plastic bucket and fired dozens of 5.7mm bullets at him with a replica P-90 submachine gun.

The figure wearing red combat armor immediately fell to the ground.

"Wait! That's—" Ange, sitting to the side, naturally noticed this scene as well—of course, she saw it through the image transmitted by the last loitering munition still hovering in the air. The moment she saw it, Ange immediately tried to stop Mint's actions, but it was already too late.

Mint raised her fist high and slammed it down. This action was captured by sensors, transmitted to the Colossus, and amplified. The Colossus then raised its fist and slammed it down as well.

"don't want!"

As the fist struck the rooftop, Ange shouted... but that was all. Because the punch didn't hit the man in red combat armor who had just been shot and fallen, but rather the "clone" who had fired at him.

"Please rest assured, Your Highness Ange. What you can consider, I can certainly consider," Mint said. "I know very well who that person is."

"Quick, open the hatch!" Although theoretically, the risk of enemies still being around could not be ruled out, Ange hurriedly opened the hatch and jumped up the "colossus's" arm to the half-destroyed roof, helping Fish up from the ground. The latter was clutching his waist, curled up in pain, looking like a frightened grub.

Fortunately, he is mostly unharmed.

"Miss Ange, it's good that you recognized me." Fish smiled after being helped up.

“It’s not difficult,” Ange said, “because the enemies in this arena don’t fight each other—at least they don’t attack their own kind who are still alive. So, when you were shot just now, I understood everything…at least, the guy hiding in the barrel definitely wasn’t one of us.”

"That's right." Fish nodded, clutching his groin and gasping for breath—the limited penetration of the 5.7mm bullets had allowed Phoenix Flame to barely stop them, preventing serious injury. However, the remaining impact still caused him considerable pain…

...especially since more than one bullet impacted the area near the groin...

"In short, my lord, you did very well and were very brave, but please don't take such risks next time," Ange scolded. "If we hadn't been so lucky this time, and if there hadn't been an enemy lying in ambush, we might have..."

"Oh, actually I guessed there were enemies there," Fish's expression finally softened as Huang Yan began injecting painkillers. "In the legends passed down from the past, if a perfectly intact barrel suddenly appears on the battlefield, it usually has only two uses: either it will explode, or there are enemies hiding inside. Since exploding barrels are usually red, I guessed the latter."

"But this is reality, my husband. It's not a story." Ange still frowned.

“Yes, but don’t forget, in this ‘arena,’ everything ‘reality’ follows the logic of the story. After all, it’s all just an extremely cruel game played by the ancients,” Fish wagged his tail and shrugged. “In other words, if you follow the story, there won’t be any problems.”

"Eh...that makes sense..." Reminded by Fish, Ange nodded and finally showed a look of sincere agreement.

Although Ange's education far surpassed Fish's in any respect, at this moment, her past education became a restrictive framework, preventing her from truly breaking free from conventional thinking and considering things from the perspective of the arena's designer's "storytelling." "Truly worthy of my husband!"

"Alright, praise can wait... Let's talk about the important things first." After hearing Ange's praise, Fish blushed and quickly explained to Ange the fact that the Colossus's reactor could overload and melt down at any time, as well as the consequences of overload. Ange, who was shocked, immediately returned to the Colossus and shut down the electromagnetic shield generator.

Although the Colossus was no longer invincible after losing its "golden shield," fortunately, the vast majority of enemies on this level had already been wiped out in the previous battles. Therefore, with the help of Fish and Xiaoxing, Ange and Mint successfully cleared out the remaining enemies in about half an hour.

When the last "clone" that tried to escape the "colossus" attack was also taken down by Xiaoxing, who was hiding in the side, a series of virtual fireworks flew into the air and formed the word "Congratulations".

"Well done, everyone! By annihilating all hostile forces within the 'Killing Factory,' you have earned the right to enter the lowest level of the 'Arena' and claim the ultimate reward! How about it? Aren't you excited?! Aren't you thrilled?!"

After the clichéd fireworks show ended, Lulu, who had been selectively revealing facts and causing trouble for Fish and his group along the way, suddenly appeared before everyone and spoke in an exaggerated tone.

"Stop talking nonsense, you piece of junk program! Tell me! Where is the entrance to the bottom floor?!" Huang Yan was the first to speak.

"Don't rush! I... I'll take you there right away!" For some reason, Lulu Meng, who had been passionately arguing with Huang Yan before, now seemed somewhat afraid of her. However, no one else present noticed this change.

Led by Lulu Meng, the group abandoned the overly massive "Colossus" and traversed the factory, which was mostly reduced to ruins. Along the way, Fish noticed that some automated construction machinery had quietly emerged and begun silently clearing away the rubble and removing debris.

Clearly, the "factory" within this arena has likely been vandalized many times in the past. But each time, the automated maintenance system swiftly restores everything to its original condition.

How affluent and convenient life must have been for humans in the old civilization era—no wonder they were so bored that they eventually pursued those perverse and bloodthirsty hobbies. Fish thought to himself.

However, Fish didn't spend much more time pondering the question. They soon entered the factory's underground area, the sixth level of the arena. Here, massive warehouses and pipes stretched out like termite mounds, intricately intertwined, with cables crisscrossing the ceiling.

Unlike the fifth floor, which was generally clean and tidy with only some areas deliberately aged, many places were riddled with broken holes, collapsed and twisted metal structures, pipe breaks that constantly spewed out high-temperature steam or emitted electric arcs, and even pools of chemical waste liquid that smelled sour and were obviously highly toxic. In the dim light, these places would undoubtedly be extremely dangerous traps for careless travelers.

Of course, after witnessing the efficiency of the factory's ground area repairs, Fish knew very well that these seemingly dilapidated areas were actually part of the arena's "design".

For the bloodthirsty audiences of that time, watching gladiators flee in the darkness, scalded by steam, falling into pits, or poisoned, was probably a very pleasing sight, a thrilling experience that would send endorphins and adrenaline levels soaring.

In addition, Fish saw many more horrifying things along the way: genuine bullet holes and traces of an explosion not long ago, dark bloodstains that had just congealed, and corpses dressed in pink camouflage uniforms and camouflage miniskirts and wearing berets that appeared from time to time in nooks and crannies.

The deaths of these "clones" were varied and bizarre: being shot by bullets, energy weapons, or stabbed with melee weapons was the most "normal." Being blown to pieces or half-burnt wasn't too outrageous either. Several unfortunate individuals even had their necks cruelly broken, were strangled by thin metal wires, or hung from rusty pipes. One person was even forced into a toxic wastewater pit and drowned!

Although Fish had seen countless dead people and witnessed many die before his very eyes, he had to admit that the scene below was still far too... horrifying, even for him.

"Did you do all this?" Fish glanced at Mint, who was walking ahead, and asked in a low voice.

"There's no other way. In order to get back to Princess Anjie's side as soon as possible and ensure her safety, I must take all necessary measures to remove obstacles." Mint's tone was as natural as if she were saying, "I have to get up at eight o'clock in the morning to clean."

"But this also..."

"I am the Lady-in-Chief serving the Lyndonhild-Fayon family," Mint said. "Ensuring the safety of the next head of the family and his spouse is my primary responsibility—especially under these extreme circumstances. Do you understand?"

"Okay, okay. I understand..." Fish's forehead began to be covered in sweat.

Although technically Fish himself was the next head of the third branch of the Lyndenhild-Fayon family, the Lyndenhild family that founded the current Pan-Pacific Empire, the "protection" of such a ruthless execution machine still made him quite uneasy.

After navigating these narrow, dark passages, the group finally arrived at another downward elevator entrance. A moment later, as the feeling of weightlessness from the descent briefly appeared and disappeared, they finally reached the seventh and final level of the grand arena.

"The end of the arena... is this it?" After the elevator doors reopened, Fish heard Ange mutter to herself. They had assumed that the final level of the arena, as the end of the entire bloody competition, would be either a magnificent ceremony venue or the most challenging area, one of the two. But this place was unexpectedly... ordinary.

No, if I had to describe it, the strongest feeling this place gives is actually a sense of "incompleteness": this underground cavern, as large as a standard football field, has white-painted walls, a ceiling with huge lights hanging from it, and a floor covered with hard gray plastic material. It looks like it has been repaired and tidied up, but that's about it.

Inside the cave, there were no decorations, traps, or obstacles. In one corner were several boxes of varying sizes, but they looked more like materials haphazardly thrown into a corner after a half-finished renovation. The only conspicuous object was a several-meter-high white "pace" in the very center of the underground cave.

Above the "award podium," a box decorated with gold thread and silver foil was quietly placed on a red silk cushion, much like the treasure chest that protagonists in an adventure story would finally obtain.

"We need something... Is that 'Akasha's Compendium' inside?" Fish asked in a low voice.

"Absolutely true," Huang Yan said. "However, please be careful. I think there might be a 'surprise' waiting for us in this arena."