The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"In short, we need to find Shana and the others as soon as possible," Fish said after the conversation, having learned about the current situation. "Otherwise, I'll have to live with these two burdens for the rest of my life."

To emphasize his point, Fish even deliberately rubbed his two large lumps of fat—a gesture that immediately provoked strong dissatisfaction from the original owner of the body.

"Hey, hey, hey, what do you mean by 'burden'?! This is the charm and inner strength of this marquis's daughter! Unlike some sword-fighting idiot who practices every day and builds all his muscle in his arms and thighs, he has no idea about the importance of a young woman's beauty and elegance."

"What did you say?!" Shuangye, standing to the side, was unusually angry... Of course, this was mainly because her chest was indeed completely flat, and coupled with her well-developed pectoral muscles from long-term training, they were as hard as the upper glacis armor of a tank. "Are you asking for a beating?!"

"So a daughter of a baron family who rose from commoner samurai doesn't understand the true elegance of a nobleman." Although Shuangye gripped the knife tightly, Yuedie was no longer afraid—after all, she was now trapped in Xiaoxing's body, which could be considered a blessing in disguise, directly causing Shuangye to have no way to deal with her.

"Enough, you two." Although Frostleaf couldn't do anything to Moon Butterfly, Ange clearly could—after she grabbed the pair of fox ears that originally belonged to Little Lucky and gave them a good rub, Moon Butterfly immediately showed a pleading expression. "Lord Fish is right, Miss Shana must be found as soon as possible. After all, as a person from the old civilization era, her very existence means a huge threat."

"Is it because those autonomous weapons might kill people to protect her?"

“That’s right, but that’s only one aspect,” Ange nodded. “In addition, it’s also quite unusual that Miss Shana would ‘just happen’ to wake up in the modern world: I’ve heard of quiescent sleep technology and know its characteristics—a person in quiescent sleep must be awakened through a special procedure, otherwise they may die. In other words, someone… someone with the corresponding knowledge and skills deliberately awakened her.”

"One of the reasons we're here is that the 'Akasha Compendium' revealed that an important ancient containment facility in this area was recently invaded and destroyed," Fish said. "These two events are probably not a coincidence. But the problem is..."

"...In our current state, it might be inconvenient to find Miss Shana, wouldn't it?" Xiaoxing said in Fish's voice, pointing to the Moon Butterfly that had taken over her body. "Not to mention that Miss Shana's tracking device has been destroyed, my body is still in this guy's hands, and Mr. Fish has become like this. Our team is completely in chaos..."

"Quite the opposite," Ange said. "Have you ever heard the old saying from the old civilization era? 'A loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.'"

"Well?"

"what?"

"Meow?"

Judging from Fish and the others' behavior, they clearly hadn't heard of this.

"Alright. As things stand, we're the only ones who know the specifics of this matter right now—after the conflict with Moon Butterfly's guards, Miss Frostleaf quickly subdued them with her status as a military police officer and then had them take us back to Moon Butterfly's headquarters. These people don't actually know Moon Butterfly's purpose in taking them there; they just think it was a pure accident." Ange smiled slightly.

"What about the others..." Fish asked.

"Currently, Miss Xiaoxing, her husband, and Yuedie have all just woken up, while the rest of the staff at headquarters are unaware of what happened. Everyone, including the staff officer and Yuedie's adjutant, believes that their commander was simply leading a team on an inspection tour to boost morale when he was unexpectedly attacked and knocked unconscious. We happened to be there and brought him back, and he will soon be back to work."

Fish swallowed nervously. "You mean, you want me to replace this guy..."

"That's right! By the way, although Miss Moon Butterfly's military rank isn't high, her position as 'Security Commander' is real: theoretically, she's in charge of the five colonies in the southeast and south of the current blockade zone, covering a total area of ​​35,000 square kilometers, from the Lanmonia Colony to the Anadel-15 Colony." Ange said, "She has the authority to command all regular troops and militia in these areas."

"Good grief," Xiaoxing muttered, "This guy is clearly just a major..."

"But she is the daughter of a marquis from the Ten Victories Marquisate, and that's enough." Ange shrugged.

Within the empire, the military rank systems of various duchies, marquises, and autonomous city-states varied greatly. In some places, a captain could command a force of thousands, while in others, there were more colonels than corporals. Therefore, when armies from different states were deployed together, the unwritten rule was to determine command authority based on the rank and family background of the commanding officer… Although this practice had many flaws, it was a necessary measure when there was no other option.

"Well, but with me..." Fish was still quite uneasy.

"Don't worry, with your intelligence, my husband, the commander's duties are no problem for you. Besides, Yue Die usually spends most of her time soliciting bribes from her officers and using 'patrol' as an excuse to wander around and bully helpless refugees like Melu to get attention. If you can handle her, you'll be even more capable."

"Stop talking, stop talking..." Yue Die blushed deeply after her secrets were exposed, and curled up into a ball with her head down—a look exactly like the real Xiao Xing.

"Furthermore, there's no need to worry about being exposed: even you went to great lengths to believe that you and Yue Die had switched bodies. People who know about this are extremely rare in this era," Ange continued. "Even if Yue Die or I were to tell someone about it, I doubt anyone would believe us. Besides, if Miss Yue Die wants to switch back to her body, she'll have to cooperate with us. So, we're not in any danger at the moment."

"That's true..." Fish looked at the two lumps on his chest again—if he hadn't had this experience, he wouldn't have believed that cellulite could be this heavy.

"Stop looking! Stop looking!" Yue Die shouted, her cheeks flushed, but no one paid any attention to her.

"Finally, with her 'security commander' authority, many tasks will be easier to carry out," Ange snapped her fingers. Then, Mint and her two subordinates immediately brought in a 1:7500 scale map covered with troop markings. "Husband, please take a look. This is the southern blockade zone currently under Moon Butterfly's... that is, your responsibility. The markings on this map represent the troops you can theoretically deploy."

"Wow... quite a lot." Fish glanced at the colorful troop markings and swallowed hard. After leaving Twilight City, he not only crammed for academic subjects under Phoenix Flame's supervision, but also learned general political and military knowledge from Ange and Mint. Therefore, he could now understand this type of map.

Judging from the markings on the map, although her military rank is only that of a major, the marquis's daughter, Yue Die, can currently command more troops than many generals in small states.

The total number of troops deployed within the entire blockade zone exceeded nine thousand. Their sources included regular troops from countries such as the Tokachi Kingdom, the Irian Kingdom, the Penglai Kingdom, the Inaba Kingdom, and the Fayun Kingdom, as well as several temporarily recruited mercenary war gangs similar to "Tidal Lightning," and dozens of militia battalions of varying sizes.

Judging from the information on the map, Moon Butterfly has at least mastered basic military strategy: the mercenary gangs and local militia with the worst equipment and lowest organizational level, unable to perform complex tasks, were dispersed and deployed along the edge of the blockade zone, responsible for standing guard at various land routes and passes, or patrolling along the blockade line. Some militia remained in small squads within various settlements, tasked with maintaining order.

Conversely, the regular armies of various countries were concentrated and deployed: due to the previous continuous evacuation operations, the people who had evacuated from different settlements had spontaneously formed several large refugee camps near the main transportation routes that were cut off by checkpoints. Each camp had tens of thousands of people.

To maintain order, most of the regular army was deployed inside the refugee camps, while mechanized and naval units were positioned near rivers and roads for immediate deployment.

Although most of these troops were broken down into small companies or even platoons and stationed in various locations to guard against potential violent crime and riots, making them completely immobile, up to six light armored detachments and four boat squadrons with a total of more than eighty boats still possessed considerable mobility—in the river-ridden Siberian region, waterways have been important transportation routes since the ancient civilization era.

Most importantly, these troops even included an air squadron sent by the Ten Victories Marquisate! This squadron, with its six small multi-purpose seaplanes and two small patrol airships, while not exactly a formidable air force, still…

"The mechanized forces available for maneuver here are more plentiful than I imagined," Fish said in a low voice, unconsciously stroking Moonbeam's pointed chin. "I just wonder how well the equipment is maintained."

"Uh, according to the reports I received, the ships, combat vehicles, 'Gorlon' and various aircraft are all in pretty good condition, at least two-thirds of them are ready to use immediately," Yue Die, currently trapped in Xiao Xing's body, quickly replied, perhaps to show her sincerity in cooperating. "Fuel and spare parts for maintenance are also in good condition."

"By the standards of these second- or even third-rate troops, this readiness is almost too good," Ange commented. "Are you sure these numbers are accurate?"

"Of course! Because my staff advised that our valuable mechanized forces be reserved for concentrated use in case of an emergency, these mechanized units have hardly been used except for routine patrols," Yue Die said. "Whether it's a vehicle, a boat, or an airplane, it won't break down if it's not used."

"This is actually a good thing for us right now," Ange nodded. "Then, we can use these well-maintained mechanized units to quickly organize searches of the various colonies. Aerial reconnaissance is especially crucial. Shana and the others' decision to seize the armored unit's 'Gron' as a means of transportation was a wise one, but it also made them larger targets and increased the probability of being detected by reconnaissance... My lord, these are your tasks for now."

"Um..." Fish blushed, looking embarrassed—and he wasn't the only one blushing. Standing behind Ange, Shuangye's face was also flushed, her gaze shifting. Clearly, after the accident, Ange had revealed her and Fish's true identities to facilitate continued cooperation. Considering her previous comments about Shuangye becoming Fish's lover, it was understandable that Shuangye would feel uneasy upon hearing that term.

"But... I'm not like you, a military aristocrat who hasn't received any formal military education," Fish wiped a large amount of sweat from his forehead—for some reason, Moon Butterfly's body sweats profusely when it gets nervous, and once it starts sweating heavily, the area covered by its nearly meter-long, straight black hair, and the area between the two large mounds of fat on its chest, becomes extremely difficult to manage. "Asking me to directly command... that's..."

"Don't worry, my lord," Ange sat on the bed, wrapping her large, fluffy tail around Fish—an intimate gesture that was even more stimulating than simply hugging him. "This is not a problem. Whether in the old civilization or now, the best military strategists can learn warfare from warfare itself."

"but……"

"What's more, I will be by your side to assist you at all times, just like Cleopatra and Caesar in the old civilization..." Angela whispered, while continuing to stroke Fish's body with her fluffy tail, as if cleaning a treasure.

Needless to say, her actions made many people around her—especially Xiaoxing—extremely jealous. After all, under normal circumstances, Xiaoxing was confident that her "fox tail" would be no less impressive than Anjie's.

Unfortunately, her body had been switched with Yue Die by a twist of fate, while she herself had been transferred into Fish's body. Therefore, all she could do while Ange did this was watch helplessly from the sidelines.

"Um... I know that. But please don't touch me like that... This body belongs to Moon Butterfly..." Ange's suggestive breath made Fish feel itchy all over, and the fur on her tail was even more stimulating, almost making Fish's brain go blank. "Isn't this... not very appropriate..."

"Don't worry, don't worry, no matter whose body it is, as long as it has my husband's soul, it's my favorite... Not to mention, after eliminating the problematic personality from before, just looking at this body, the quality is still very good... Especially this figure, it's very much to my liking."

As Ange spoke, she pressed her nose against the area near Yuedie's chest and sniffed deeply. Fish couldn't help but shudder again.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing—now that you've switched to a girl's body, my husband, you'd better get used to it as soon as possible," Ange continued. "In the coming period, I will try my best to help my husband get used to everything... and incidentally, enhance our relationship."

Fish felt more sweat starting to pour from the body that originally belonged to Moon Butterfly—he was afraid that the next few days would be quite tough from any perspective.