The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"What the heck?! What is this?!"

Although Fish had already broadened his horizons considerably in Twilight City, and was no longer the ordinary teenager who was ignorant of everything and whose understanding of the outside world was limited to unreliable rumors from the Oasis City bars, unfortunately, the current situation was still too... excessive for him.

To make matters worse, during this time, he inadvertently learned some scientific and cultural knowledge from Huang Yan. However, this knowledge actually made his sanity drop more easily in certain situations: Fish now knew the general workings of an animal's spine, brain, and nervous system, and also knew what kind of trauma could cause a fatal injury to a higher vertebrate.

This made him realize just how unreasonable the current situation had become.

It was precisely because of this that Fish was once again caught in thought when he needed to react quickly based on instinct. Fortunately, as a special intelligent combat armor with high autonomy, Phoenix Flame made up for this problem with its initiative.

In the moment Fish was stunned, she forcibly took temporary control of Fish's hands and caught the two "whips" at the last second.

The sharp blades and barbs at the tip of the whip cleaved through the reinforced glove formed by the Phoenix Flame, causing the ancient intelligence a slight displeasure: after all, she knew very well that her strength was sufficient to withstand bullets fired by most light weapons.

"Damn it, you seem to have some skill." With dark anger, Huang Yan muttered to Fish's mind, then manipulated Fish to push off the ground and deliver a flying kick to the black bear that had lost half its head.

With the Phoenix Flame at its maximum power, Fish's flying kick was enough to pierce through a 100-millimeter-thick high-grade precast concrete slab, and it would be even easier to destroy a carbon-based creature—albeit a carbon-based creature of this bizarre nature.

After taking the blow, the black bear's body bent into an inverted "V" shape, crashing through the wooden wall separating the inner and outer chambers, and finally slamming into a bunch of tied-up hammocks. However, these somewhat resilient canvas hammocks also acted as a cushion, preventing the bear from being seriously injured.

However, this attack did severely damage the bewildered beast. Although it could still move with difficulty, its overall movements had slowed significantly. Then, Xiao Xing, who was following behind Fish, also raised his crossbow and fired several bolts containing a powerful paralyzing agent.

After being struck by the crossbow bolts, the black bear's movements became increasingly chaotic and uncoordinated. Like a puppet manipulated by a novice puppeteer, it stiffly staggered back two steps and tumbled back onto the hammocks.

"Now I know why warships pile up the bundled hammocks in the vulnerable compartments at the start of a battle," Ange muttered to herself, looking at the black bear still struggling. "Looks like this cushioning effect... Hey? Husband? Are you alright?"

"I...I'm fine." Fish tried to force a relaxed smile to deal with Ange. Unfortunately, it was quite difficult: after that flying kick, he felt like his ankle was almost completely dislocated. Even though Huang Yan immediately injected him with a powerful painkiller through his capillaries, he still didn't feel much better.

"That's why I'm not usually willing to directly control your body," Huang Yan muttered. "My tactical programming has some flaws. When manipulating a human body, it operates according to the theoretical limits of endurance... This may cause unnecessary collateral damage and pain."

"Thanks for the reminder... I'll do it myself next time," Fish, still gasping for breath, raised his ion gun once more, aiming at the beast that hadn't quite died yet.

This time, he noticed that many tiny, tentacle-like structures were vaguely protruding from the wound on the black bear's head, resembling the limbs that barnacles use to capture organic matter in the seawater. On its chest, some tiny tentacles were also moving violently, trying little by little to push the crossbow bolt that Xiao Xing had shot into the wound out of the wound.

"No matter who you are, lie down properly."

As the plasma burst struck the center of the "V" shape on the chest of the black bear, which it could not dodge, the massive body once again fell backward, smoking—this time, it really couldn't get up.

The plasma cluster's temperature of several thousand degrees Celsius ignited the hair, skin, nervous system, muscle connective tissue, fat, and internal organs the moment it came into contact with the creature, completely burning away the inside of its chest cavity, leaving only carbonized, brittle bones.

An unpleasant, burnt protein odor immediately filled the air in the room.

"Well done, my lord." Ange immediately began to applaud. "It's a pity that the remains of this thing are now severely damaged, so it may be difficult for us to find out what it is."

"No problem. My gut feeling tells me there's probably more than one monster here." Fish, with Ange's help, managed to get up. "At worst, we can find another one later... Meow?!"

With a loud bang, Fish was surprised to find that the door of the cabin behind them had been destroyed—it was destroyed by a brown bear, much larger than the black bear from before!

This brown bear didn't have any whip-like growths on its spine, but instead, one of its forelimbs became extremely thick. Its claws, already sharp enough to disembowel a person, had become long and thick deadly weapons, like steak knives! And its tail had grown strange stingers similar to those of a scorpion. It looked more like a grotesque creature than terrifying.

However, this behemoth was clearly not entirely safe: two deep, overlapping slashes were visible on its "unicorn arm," from which blood was constantly seeping. Its neck had also suffered a fatal blow. Not only had one of its carotid arteries been severed, but a section of its trachea had also been cut open, rendering it unable to even roar.

Under normal circumstances, such injuries would be fatal. However, like the black bear that was literally in a state of "confusion" yet still managed to survive, this brown bear's condition was clearly far from "normal." After breaking down the door and rolling into the semi-subterranean dwelling, it stumbled, then managed to stand up again.

"Rest in peace, master of the mountains!"

Before the brown bear could even get into a fighting stance, a figure leaped in from outside the door. A bright sword light flashed beneath its still-unraised "Qilin Arm," slicing directly across the giant beast's chest.

The brown bear made a bubbling, churning sound from its throat and collapsed once more. A large gash had been ripped open in its chest, two ribs cleanly severed diagonally, and its churning internal organs spilled out. Then, the figure sheathed its long sword at its waist, clasped its hands together, and nodded in homage to the dead animal.

"I will go to the Yellow Springs without regret or hatred, leaving behind all troubles to be reborn in bliss. I only hope that you will not encounter such an undeserved calamity in your next life," she murmured softly.

That was the Frost Leaf that had run away on its own before.

"Lieutenant Frostleaf, so... you're also a Guardian?" Because the situation had developed so quickly, Fish and Ange hadn't been able to intervene. Only after the brown bear stopped moving did Ange speak up.

"Ah, that's right, of course I am... Eh? Lord Fish? Lady Ange? Miss Xiaoxing? What's wrong with you three...?" Upon seeing the intelligent combat armor worn by the three, Shuangye's expression was also filled with surprise.

"Hey, Frostleaf was such a powerful armored warrior? She defeated that seemingly troublesome guy in one move... Judging by that, we didn't really need to protect her," Fish whispered to Phoenix Flame. "Why didn't you notice that before?"

"Because in terms of the strength of her combat armor, she's actually quite average," Huang Yan replied. "According to my measurements, the theoretical power value of the combat armor she's wearing wouldn't exceed 170, which, according to the classification of this era, would be considered mid-range of the lowest-grade 'Green Jade' level. With such weak combat armor, the energy leakage and the enhancement to strength and speed in non-combat states are practically negligible. It's normal that I wouldn't be able to detect it unless I deliberately probed it."

"Wait a minute, it's only 'Green Jade' grade? Doesn't that mean it's not even as good as Xiaoxing?" Fish asked in surprise.

"That's right, but she has one thing that you don't have: experience in dealing with this kind of opponent," Huang Yan said. "Didn't you notice? Including the few attacks that failed, every move Shuang Ye made was aimed directly at the opponent's true vital points."

"The real crux of the matter?" Ange's expression brightened. "Excellent! How could she possibly join my husband's harem without this kind of ability?! I've decided, I must make her a high-ranking concubine. To have someone like her as a mistress with no official status is simply an insult!"

"Huh...?!" Frostleaf, who was wiping her sword with a cloth, was dumbfounded. "Miss Ange, what did you say? What do you mean by 'lover' and 'harem'? And who is 'my husband'?"

"No, no, no! She was just joking, meow! As a writer, it's normal to have a unique sense of humor sometimes, meow!" Fish quickly covered Ange's mouth with his hand, then wagged his tail and tried to get away with it with a cute smile. After a moment of doubt, Shuangye finally reluctantly accepted this explanation.

"Alright, you cultured people, you have a unique way of joking." After confirming that there were no enemies around, Shuangye put her gleaming longsword back into its intricately patterned sheath.

"What was that thing just now?" Fish asked. "Have you dealt with these things before?"

"Yes. Although... there are some differences," Frostleaf nodded, "My family has a tradition of cultivating in the mountains and forests. Therefore, I have encountered all sorts of ordinary beasts, monsters, and synthetic beasts in the deep mountains in the past. Among them was this... thing."

"What is this?"

"An uncommon creature. I don't know if it's a natural product, a synthetic beast, or some other kind of monster." Frostleaf drew the shorter of her twin swords and sliced ​​open the back of the slain "Kirin Arm" brown bear from behind, peeling off a flexible, translucent object bit by bit from its spine.

If I had to describe it, it's like a hybrid of a parasite and burdock: it has the pale white surface and elastic skin common to internal parasites, but it's as slender as burdock and has many tiny "roots" extending from its surface.

These tiny "roots," though inconspicuous at first glance, were deeply embedded in the brown bear's spine, allowing the creature to cling firmly to its surface. Although Frostleaf's dagger was extremely sharp, it still took considerable effort to barely peel it off the spine.

Undoubtedly, it was some kind of parasitic organism.

“Some hunters and loggers have seen it deep in the mountains,” Frostleaf said as she peeled the leaves. “There are many different opinions about the nature of this thing, but what is certain is that it is not common, and once it is discovered, it will definitely parasitize other creatures—including humans, of course.”

"What?" Fish quickly took a few steps back from the two bear corpses.

"It's alright," Frostleaf smiled slightly after tearing off the parasite. "Once it has found a host, it won't attack anyone else. A reclusive scholar experimented on this creature and discovered that its parasite needs to leave its host after reaching maturity, transforming into a mushroom-like organism in the natural environment, parasitizing places like rotten wood. Perhaps because of this, the hunters in the mountains gave this monster a nickname, 'Tai Sui'."

"That sounds really strange," Xiaoxing said in a low voice.

"'Tai Sui' was originally a name for some strange, large fungi," Shuangye said. "Anyway, after developing for a period of time, these eerie 'mushrooms' will partially dissolve, producing an amorphous, translucent substance. This substance will wander around, mix into water or food, and be ingested by new hosts in order to carry out the next parasitic cycle."

"Is that so?"

"Of course, as long as the food and water are properly heated, the 'Tai Sui' can be killed. Therefore, it is almost impossible for someone with wilderness survival experience to become a host of the 'Tai Sui'," Shuangye smiled slightly. "Also, when fighting an opponent parasitized by this monster, be careful to attack the target's spine area, not the head. Because its 'true form' is there. Otherwise, even if the target is decapitated or has its intestines spilled out, it will still be controlled and fight."

"That's terrifying..." Xiaoxing, standing to the side, drooped her ears and shivered.

"In addition, although it is possible to stop the parasite from moving as long as the host is effectively damaged, in order to eliminate the future trouble, this thing must be removed and burned."

After saying this, Frostleaf tossed the slightly struggling thing to the ground and then unleashed a burst of flame from the gauntlets of her combat armor—it seemed her combat armor's fixed weapon was a small flamethrower. "Otherwise, after a while, this thing will turn back into a mushroom shape and then spawn those swimming, shapeshifting creatures."

"A typical parasitic organism's abnormal life history, complex and varied," Huang Yan commented—this time, she was using the speaker of her combat armor. "I think I know what this is."

"Eek?!" Frost Leaf was slightly startled because she was unaware of Phoenix Flame's autonomous intelligence.

So, over the next few minutes, Fish had to spend a little time explaining to her about the Phoenix Flame—of course, excluding his true identity and everything that had happened in Twilight City. He simply told Frostleaf that he had accidentally obtained the Phoenix Flame in some ruins and had gained the approval of this ancient intelligence.

"How interesting." After listening to Fish's explanation, Frostleaf nodded. "I didn't expect you to have such a good thing... Now I understand why His Highness the Grand Duke specially invited you to be 'military reporters.' Actually, he noticed something unusual happening in the Northwest Lands, so he sent you to assist in the investigation, right?"

“You can think of it that way,” Fish said, “but Phoenix Flame isn’t some ‘thing,’ she’s our comrade and partner. Oh, and if there’s anything you don’t know, feel free to ask her. Phoenix Flame knows a lot.”

"I understand," Shuangye replied. "Then, Lord Huangyan, what do you think the appearance of these things signifies?"

"Oh, that's complicated," Huang Yan replied. "To put it slightly dramatically, our world might be on the verge of collapse."