The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"You're saying the colony has disappeared?" Before Ange could speak, Mint asked first, "What do you mean by 'disappeared'? How can an entire colony disappear?"

Unlike other regions of the Pan-Pacific Empire, due to its relatively vast land area and the almost absence of local indigenous people, the basic administrative divisions of the North End eventually evolved into numerous "colonial areas" of varying sizes during its development over the past century.

Some of these areas were demarcated based on geographical features such as rivers, mountains, lakes, and drowned valleys, but most were directly divided along lines of longitude and latitude, emphasizing a straight, square shape. Moreover, each settlement area ranged from a few thousand to nearly ten thousand square kilometers, inhabited by hundreds to thousands of people.

Although the northernmost region is fraught with numerous dangers, it is not easy to make an entire colony "disappear" all at once.

“What I mean is,” the lieutenant said, “that the entire population of the settlement, along with the garrison troops, patrols, militia, and merchants who traded there, vanished overnight. Even more astonishingly, the bandits who operated in the nearby forests and highlands also completely disappeared afterward, turning the entire area into a no-man's land…”

"So, everyone's disappeared?" Fish asked. "Which colony specifically?"

"Uh, according to legend, it's South Anadel-11."

Upon hearing this answer, Huang Yan immediately began to compare it with the world administrative map he had recorded in the Penglai Kingdom and quickly found the answer.

"Interesting. That place is less than 100 kilometers away from the high-risk ancient ruins that have been broken into," she reminded Fish.

"In other words..."

"While this alone is not enough to conclude that there is necessarily a connection between the two events, it is also unlikely that there is absolutely no connection between them."

Of course, the lieutenant couldn't hear the "conversation" between Huang Yan and Fish, which was entirely conducted via neural signals. So he continued on his own: "The most prevalent rumor right now is that all regular external communications in South Anadel-11 were cut off that day. No telegrams were sent, and messengers, merchants, and logistics personnel who were supposed to pass through there disappeared. Some people tried to make contact by phone, but although the phone lines weren't broken, no one answered."

"That sounds like the beginning of an old-fashioned horror story," Fish commented. "When we were training together, every time I told Xiaoxing a story like this, she would cover her ears and hide in a corner."

"But I'm not scared now!" Xiaoxing protested, waving the "fox radish" behind her. She said somewhat unhappily. After a series of life-and-death experiences, her aloof personality hadn't changed much, but at least she wasn't as cowardly as before.

"Yes, I know it sounds like a cliché horror story, but I can assure you, this part is true," the lieutenant emphasized. "I have very solid evidence."

"Yeah?"

"A lieutenant named Klim, who rotated here with me, was leading a team on duty there. According to the schedule, he was supposed to come to the port in three days to attend a training course. But I didn't see him—and more importantly, when I asked him why he wasn't there, my superior told me 'don't mention that name' and 'don't ask.'"

"Hmm...and then what?" Fish asked.

"At first, everyone thought it was just a malfunction or an accident. However, after about a day of communication disruption, the people in charge in other places realized there was a problem. Of course, as you know, the Zhongbei region has never been very peaceful. So, to avoid panic, they suppressed the news immediately."

"While it may not be entirely ethical, I must admit that from a pragmatic standpoint, it was a reasonable approach," Ange nodded. "After that, they should have sent out a fully armed team to investigate, right?"

"Yes. Before reporting to the garrison command, they sent the first group of people—a dozen or so militiamen and hunters, not regular troops, of course—to check the situation. Those people disappeared immediately after entering the border of South Anader-11 district, their fate unknown." The lieutenant shrugged.

"That's really unfortunate," Ange said.

"Then, after receiving approval from headquarters, the garrison troops in these colonies spent a whole day assembling a heavily equipped force."

“In the stories, these kinds of units usually don’t fare too well,” Fish shrugged, recalling the adventure tales he’d heard in the Oasis City bar, “but generally, some survivors from the second group will escape back and tell the others what happened…”

"No, not at all." The lieutenant shook his head. "Although the second unit had a full two hundred men, armed speedboats, hovercraft, and armored vehicles, they disappeared after entering South Anadyr-11. Then, the garrison command suddenly ordered the evacuation of all the population from the five adjacent settlements."

"A complete evacuation?" Fish asked, puzzled. "Why?"

"Perhaps it's an infectious disease that can quickly lead to death?" Anjie, who was more educated, thought for a moment and offered her speculation. "That possibility exists—when faced with an infectious disease that has no medical treatment or immune system, the best way is to avoid contact with infected people."

"I don't know about that," the lieutenant said, spreading his hands. "But what is certain is that before the order was given to repatriate the civilians who had entered the Northland from the port, the garrison command had already ordered the deployment of a large number of militia, defense forces and engineers along the perimeter of the colony that had been evacuated by these people, and began digging fortifications, seemingly to establish a blockade."

"Blockade? Blockade what?" Xiaoxing interjected.

"I heard it's about sealing off 'everything coming out of there'...yes, not people, but 'things'," the lieutenant said, frowning. "Also, there are rumors that headquarters is doing everything it can to requisition fuel. Even the fuel reserves of the armored and transport units have been taken."

"That's even stranger. If it's a disease, why would they need to mobilize so much fuel?" Fish scratched his ear.

"I really don't know. Anyway, this is very strange, and I have a very bad feeling," the lieutenant's already low voice dropped even further. "Fortunately, according to the schedule, I should be rotating back in forty days. So far, the garrison command hasn't ordered a suspension of the rotation. I just hope that nothing else goes wrong before I board the ship and return to the Duchy of Cangwu..."

"I understand," Ange said. "Is there any other valuable information?"

"I don't know. Currently, all news broadcasts are controlled, and public discussion of this matter is strictly limited... Oh, and even you guys probably have a hard time moving around freely. Because according to orders, military journalists must remain in designated areas and wait for permission from the garrison command before they can move."

"It seems the situation is indeed worse than I imagined." Ange nodded slightly. "Thank you for providing this information."

"Well, if you don't mind, I have a small suggestion," the lieutenant said. "It's no longer safe to stay in the Zhongbei region. If you can find some connections, you'd better find a chance to go back as soon as possible. Otherwise, you might not be able to leave."

"Don't worry, our goal is..." Fish had only finished speaking when Ange stomped on his toe, so he immediately swallowed the rest of his words.

"Thank you for your concern, but we have our own obligations to fulfill." Ange nodded to the lieutenant. "Good luck."

After saying this, Ange and her group quickly returned to the checkpoint and successfully passed through using their military journalist and journalist assistant credentials. But just as the lieutenant had warned them, they were stopped a second time near the port exit shortly after passing through the checkpoint.

This time, the person who stopped them was a military police officer with graying hair and beard. Although not young, as a strong and tall wolf-type new human, he was intimidating enough simply by standing in front of others. Fortunately, his attitude towards Fish and the others was relatively mild.

After politely presenting his credentials, the "old wolf" then produced an order bearing the official seal of the garrison command: according to the order, since the entire area west of the Bering Strait in the far north is currently under wartime crisis, military journalists are under "restricted movement" in more than half of the areas.

In addition, as many as 35 settlements were designated as "highly dangerous" and "uninvitable," covering a total area of ​​over 60,000 square kilometers.

"This is troublesome." Huang Yan, currently disguised as a body armor user, whispered in Fish's ear, "Our destination is also on the list. The facility is located on the western edge of the West Chukochi-3 colony area. And the entire area around that place is an 'inaccessible' zone."

"So what should we do?" Fish asked silently. Although he knew very well that the current mess was definitely related to the previous intrusion into the facility, it was still unexpected that things had gotten this bad.

"To hell with regulations and bans!" Huang Yan declared. "We have a noble cause to save human civilization. Regulations? Bans? 'Using expediency in times of emergency' is the only true principle."

"Uh, but he said those places are dangerous..." Xiaoxing interjected.

After the last adventure, thanks to Huang Yan's modifications, everyone's smart combat armor has been equipped with the encrypted communication system she provided. When necessary, they can communicate silently like this, with a range of up to ten kilometers or more.

"Maybe, but so what? If I'm not mistaken, these guys will probably send us to the garrison headquarters, which is Changdong Port, the capital of Zhongbei, and then stuff us and other reporters into some big hotel, where they'll announce some useless official news to us at press conferences every day," Huang Yan said. "In that case, we won't be able to do anything."

“Indeed, we can’t just sit around doing nothing,” Fish said. “If those people are planning to lock us up in some hotel, then I…”

"Of course, please don't worry," although it was impossible for them to know about Huang Yan's existence, the "old wolf" seemed to have seen through Fish and the others' thoughts. "We will not prohibit or obstruct normal news reporting, nor will we restrict the public's right to know, especially since you are military reporters guaranteed by the Grand Duke of Penglai. There is no reason for you to impose any restrictions."

"Oh?" Fish raised an eyebrow. Although he had considered many scenarios, to be honest, he had never thought of this one.

"Thank you very much. We will follow the regulations of the Garrison Command." After saying this, Anjie tried to leave, but the other party did not let them go.

"To prevent you from acting on your own and to avoid unnecessary danger, Warrant Officer Frostleaf will accompany you. She will be in charge of supervising you. In addition, any press releases sent back must first be reviewed by her." "Old Wolf" raised a hand and made a gesture.

Then, a serious-looking girl with waist-length black hair walked up to the crowd and gave a standard salute.

The girl was wearing an Imperial Military Police uniform with prominent yellow, white, and black stripes on the cuffs and collar, along with a crimson shawl, making her look exactly like the military uniform girls that anime fans had imagined... except that she was a real person. As she was still a probationary warrant officer, her officer's shoulder insignia were unmarked, but the Golden Crow of the Sun of the Penglai Kingdom on her armband indicated that she was probably a noblewoman.

After all, only noble armbands were allowed to be decorated with gold thread.

"Gentlemen, I am Shimoha, a trainee military police officer. I am under orders to supervise your work within the scope permitted by headquarters." As the girl saluted, her other hand unconsciously gripped the scabbard of the sword at her waist, and it was trembling slightly.

In addition, Fish noticed that there were many tiny beads of sweat on her forehead, and her ponytail—not a braid, but a real horse's tail—was trembling slightly. These were all signs of high tension.

"I understand," Anjie said calmly through the secret communication system provided by Huang Yan. "It seems that my old friend, the Duke of Penglai, has already heard the news here and made arrangements for us."

"Well?"

"This Miss Shuangye is from Penglai, and she's a noblewoman—though not as noble as our Fayun Duchy, the nobles of Penglai also send their heirs to the army for training," Anjie explained. "However, those who serve as trainee military police officers instead of going to combat units are usually members of lower-ranking noble families promoted by the Grand Duke from among his close confidants. Although these families don't have high status, they are highly valued by the Grand Duke and are therefore entrusted with important responsibilities."

"In other words..."

"The Duke of Penglai preemptively arranged for someone he trusted to 'monitor' us—that way, others can't use the excuse of 'ensuring security' to force us into a hotel for a pre-arranged press conference, or put other people around us," Anjie said. "Of course, the premise is that Miss Shuangye better not get into trouble."

"So, we still have to protect her?" Fish asked.

"Exactly," Ange shrugged. "So, wish her good luck."