The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

Currently reading: Chapter Sixty-Five: Important News. Find the latest chapters here.

"Important news? Just how important is it?" Fish frowned and asked in a low voice.

"The General Staff just reported that our aerial reconnaissance mission has finally discovered a noteworthy target," Ange replied.

"Is that Shana and the others?!"

"Possibly." Ange marked a coordinate point on the map hanging on the wall with a red pencil. "To be precise, Reconnaissance Plane No. 05 received short-range radio contact from regular troops on the ground while passing over a woodland on the northeastern edge of the Lanmonia Colony. They claimed to be a mixed unit of several scattered local patrols and militias, unable to retreat due to an attack. Currently, they are taking in a group of refugees, including the elderly and children, among whom is a very 'special' girl."

"Really?" Fish asked. "If it's this distance... Shana and Meru could also have gone there. What does that 'special' girl look like? Is it really Shana?"

"I don't know. Radio communication time is very short, and there's no time to go into such details. Moreover, when the communication was received, the reconnaissance aircraft had very little time left in the air, so it returned to base after receiving the coordinates from the other side."

"Hmm... In that case, tell the staff officers not to reveal this to anyone else. Also, everyone who has heard about it, including the pilots, must keep it strictly confidential for now," Fish said. "Is that alright?"

"Don't worry. At least for now, everyone in the security command can be trusted," Ange smiled slightly. "That's the only thing I can guarantee."

Since Fish replaced Yue Die as "Security Commander," Ange secretly contacted the Duke of Penglai, an ally, and informed him of the matter. Subsequently, under the Duke of Penglai's arrangement, he used his authority as commander to gradually replace a series of high-ranking officers and replaced them with relatively reliable officers from the Duchy of Penglai.

Under normal circumstances, such personnel changes would take at least a long time. Fortunately, among the garrison troops under Yue Die's command, there were over 1,200 regular soldiers from the Principality of Penglai, namely the 525th Independent Border Defense Battalion and the 20th Engineering Battalion. Therefore, Fish directly transferred their deputy battalion commanders and battalion staff officers to make up the numbers. Anjie and her subordinates, on the other hand, spent some time confirming the reliability of the technical officers and staff officers in the headquarters.

According to the plan, after these matters were settled, Fish could mobilize his troops to search for Shana and Meru, who had escaped. Unfortunately, at this moment, an order suddenly and without warning came from the Northland Garrison Command, completely disrupting his original plan.

According to this order from the Supreme Command of the Pan-Pacific Empire, in the 14 colony areas centered around the Anadel-11 area, which had suddenly lost contact with the outside world and whose personnel had vanished without a trace, even regular troops were no longer allowed to enter freely, except for civilians.

As for the patrols and outposts that remained there, the order required them to immediately move to the defensive line at the edge of the buffer zone within 48 hours.

Even more outrageous, the order also emphasized that no frontline troops were allowed to conduct ground operations within the restricted and buffer zones without authorization, and were not to be deployed even if they received a request for assistance. As for the regular army, militia, and civilians who failed to evacuate before the deadline and were trapped in the restricted zones, they were all abandoned and left to fend for themselves.

Although the order seemed inexplicable, its authenticity was beyond question. Left with no other option, Fish had to completely abandon his plan to have ground and naval forces conduct a full search of the colonies, instead ordering them to remain in place and defend their positions.

Fortunately, perhaps due to an oversight, the order did not prohibit aerial reconnaissance. Therefore, he could still dispatch his only air force: the 1st Independent Air Squadron from the Marquis of Ten Victories, to conduct reconnaissance over areas inaccessible to ground troops.

However, the efficiency of this air force... even from the most optimistic perspective, is not very high.

Although modern human civilization has recovered from the chaos and decline following the collapse of the old civilization over the past few centuries, and re-entered the industrial age a century ago by deciphering ancient technological texts, its technological level remains primitive compared to the end of the old civilization. This is especially true for various devices powered by internal combustion engines.

According to the ancient history compiled by archaeologists, the era of internal combustion engines and electric motors—the so-called "Second Industrial Revolution"—was a time of great technological development in the distant old civilizations.

In that era, the abundance of readily available fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas ensured a continuous fuel supply for internal combustion engines. Within a short time, they were widely used in various types of civilian machinery and experienced rapid development due to market competition. But in this era, everything is… quite different.

Although, according to unearthed ancient technical documents, theoretically, the Earth still possesses a considerable reserve of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, the most easily extracted and highest-quality fossil fuels have been depleted, and what remains are either difficult to extract or of very low grade, requiring further processing.

Therefore, the main energy source for internal combustion engines in this era was alcohol produced from grain fermentation and vegetable oil produced from plants such as soybeans and palms. Because the level of agricultural development itself was very limited, prices remained high.

The high price of fuel prevented the large-scale application of internal combustion engines, severely limiting market competition. This, in turn, led to slow development of various machines powered by internal combustion engines—and one of the main victims was the aviation industry, which is heavily reliant on them. Although modern humans reinvented the first airship 160 years ago and rebuilt the first airplane 115 years ago, the level of aircraft technology has remained lackluster to date.

Although the 1st Independent Air Squadron under Moon Butterfly's command was considered one of the top air forces in the Ten Victories Marquisate, its main force consisted of only six Exocet seaplanes. These two-seat biplanes, equipped with 100-horsepower engines, had a maximum range of only 280 kilometers and a service ceiling of a mere 5,000 meters, even under ideal conditions.

Their only advantages are probably their stable flight, simple and reliable airframe structure, and ability to take off and land using the rivers, wetlands, and swamps that are ubiquitous in Siberia.

However, with no other choice, Fish had to make the most of the limited aircraft: with the help of Ange's newly appointed staff, he selected nearly a hundred locations where Shana and Melu might be hiding, and had the pilots conduct aerial reconnaissance in two shifts, dropping something at each location—not bombs, of course, but small gift bags containing food and candy.

According to Anjie, doing so might lower the other party's vigilance and hostility.

In addition, the air squadron's two small airships also participated in the operation—these unarmed hydrogen airships were even more rudimentary than the "Eye of Surveillance" of the "Tidal Lightning" war gang, and were low-quality, high-priced products produced by a related enterprise under a powerful family of a certain Ten Victory Marquisate.

However, Fish also found a use for them: attaching simple parachutes to the pontoons filled with mixed biofuel and then airdropping them into the swamps and lakes deep in the buffer zone.

In this way, the Flying Fish seaplane can land directly on these bodies of water, resupply, and continue flying, increasing its effective range by a full 50%! This time, it was precisely because of the increased range achieved by this tactic that the aircraft was finally able to deliver the crucial intelligence.

"However, this area is really far from where we are now. It's actually... 270 kilometers away?" After staring at the map and examining it for a while, Fish directly measured the distance between the two points using Phoenix Flame's ranging device and converted it according to the scale. After initially adapting to Moon Butterfly's body, the three who were forced to change bodies also changed their smart combat armor.

However, Huang Yan also emphasized that due to poor adaptability, Yue Die's body could only unleash a fraction of her strength. Furthermore, because of the differences in their physical structures, Huang Yan had to alter her appearance, focusing more on protecting her chest.

"Yes, and there are no roads or rivers directly connecting them. Along the way are swamps and lakes formed by melting permafrost, as well as forested areas. There are also several hills," Ange said. "This is troublesome."

"The trapped unit said they were trapped because of 'frequent attacks by hostile forces,'" Yue Die, currently in the form of Xiao Xing, walked over to the map. "This means we must rescue them before we can conduct further investigations."

Although this girl used to prefer wandering around and bullying the weak under the guise of "law enforcement," now, perhaps to emphasize that she is the real commander here, she stays in the headquarters all day and speaks on all operational decisions.

“And that’s very difficult,” Ange said. “Even if we try to defy the ban and forcefully send reliable ground troops from the Principality of Penglai to rescue them, it would take seven to ten days to cross that distance without roads and rivers—assuming we don’t get caught up in a conflict. Anything can happen in that long.”

"Those trapped people may not have enough supplies to last this long, especially since they are fighting the enemy," Yue Die scratched her chin. "Perhaps we can rely on airdropped supplies and airstrikes to assist them..."

"Not very meaningful," Fish shook his head. In terms of armament, apart from the 7.7mm direct-fire machine gun in the rear seat, the seaplanes Fish owned could only carry a total of 100 kilograms of bombs on three hardpoints under the wings and fuselage. That was the limit when transporting supplies. Considering the range, the amount of bombs or aid supplies each plane could carry to its destination each time would probably have to be halved.

While a few small bombs, a few dozen kilograms of food and ammunition might not be entirely of no help in the battle, they could at best serve as a perfunctory atmosphere booster.

"So, did they mention what the enemy was?" Fish asked. "Was it an animal parasitized by the 'Tai Sui'? A self-governing weapon? Human armed forces? Or something else?"

“They didn’t say,” Ange replied, “but I tend to think it’s autonomous weapons—after all, they mentioned the term ‘firefight.’ First of all, in the current situation where they are caught in the middle between autonomous weapons and the ‘Tai Sui’ host, the humans in the restricted area and the buffer zone will almost certainly help each other. Even the most vicious bandits would not waste ammunition to actively attack the army.”

"Moreover, the hosts of 'Tai Sui' basically only have animal instincts, so fighting them doesn't count as 'firefighting'," Fish... well, actually, it was Xiao Xing, who was reluctantly using his body, who also entered the command room, and added the second half of the sentence, "Everyone, we're back."

Accompanying Xiaoxing were Shuangye, who usually assisted with duties throughout the refugee camp, as well as Bohe, Xiaoluo, and Huasheng, who had just finished cleaning the bathroom. All three maids had changed into assault infantry gear, carrying submachine guns and grenades. Bohe had even reactivated her smart combat armor… Clearly, they had done this on Ange's orders.

"It seems you already have a plan?" Fish asked Ange upon seeing this.

"Preparing for my dear husband is the duty of a good wife," Ange smiled slightly. "Considering the current situation, I believe that only by taking relatively radical and risky measures can we possibly solve the problem."

"For example?"

"This is the time for us armored warriors with special talents to show our strength!" Ange made a clenched fist gesture. "Since a large-scale ground rescue is not feasible, the only option is for a small number of elite armored warriors to directly enter the encirclement."

"Our arrival should boost morale," Mint, already prepared for battle, continued. "Although most armored warriors will join the army, their numbers are limited. The proportion of armored warriors in the second-line army units that rotate to the Northland as garrison troops won't be as high as that of a warband like 'Tidal Lightning.' As long as high-ranking armored warriors appear, the soldiers will definitely regain their fighting spirit."

"Then, we will act as the spearhead, leading all those who are still able to move to break through. The 1st Independent Air Squadron can be responsible for transporting supplies and evacuating the seriously wounded, assisting our operation," Ange said. "In complex environments such as jungles and towns, a high-ranking armored warrior of 'Agate' level or above can even exert a higher combat effectiveness than fifty ordinary soldiers."

"In other words, we have a total of six armored warriors here. They are either highly talented and skilled in combat armor, or their talent is slightly inferior, but they have excellent combat skills and experience to compensate for it," Fish glanced at Frostleaf, who was gripping his longsword tightly. "This is equivalent to two or three elite infantry companies, and it only takes up the supplies of one squad."

"Yes, with such a spearhead, it's not impossible to cover the breakout of hundreds or even thousands of people," Ange nodded. "Moreover, because there are fewer people, we can directly take a plane to the base of that trapped unit. Even with the limited transport capacity of the 1st Independent Air Squadron, it will be enough."

"But that means willingly jumping into a dangerous encirclement... without knowing anything about the enemy. Even if you're incredibly strong, it's far too risky..." Yue Die said. "Um... may I not go?"

"No, that won't do," Anjie smiled slightly. "Of course, whether or not to take action is up to my husband to decide."

Fish considered for five seconds, and finally, he nodded.