The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

You have received a new chapter update: Chapter Seventy, Mutation (Part 1), here is the reading link.

"Hey, what are you doing!" Seeing the old rabbit, covered in snot and tears, rushing towards Fish's arms, Ange immediately grabbed him—having honed her ability to read people since childhood in the Fayun Palace, she knew very well that this old guy was clearly planning to take advantage of his "emotional breakdown" to get close to Fish and take advantage of him. And his target, of course, was those two big mounds of fat.

However, Anjie would not allow him to succeed: although Yuedie's body was only temporarily used by Fish, since that guy had decided to take her husband into his harem, then everything she had, including those huge and despicable things, was her private property!

No one can take Anjie's things from her except her husband!

"Hmm..." The old rabbit, whose collar was being grabbed, looked at Anjie with a resentful expression, but Anjie just smiled at him.

"Commander, Commander Moonbeam is extremely exhausted from the battle just now and has suffered internal injuries. Her intelligent combat armor's medical system is currently performing emergency checks and treatment. I understand your excitement, but please try to restrain yourself a little," Ange said in an elegant tone befitting a nobleman.

"Ah... okay. I was too excited just now," the old rabbit muttered. "After all, I really didn't expect that my renowned commander would risk his life to come here personally to rescue us!"

"Hey, I... oh wait, is Moon Butterfly famous around here?" Fish asked in the encrypted communication channel.

"That's right, sir. I had Xiao Luo and Peanut investigate before. Because she spends all her time idly wandering the streets under the guise of 'catching dangerous elements' and 'maintaining social order,' bullying the weak, Miss Moon Butterfly has successfully cultivated a very standard image of a villainous heiress in the minds of the people in the refugee camp and the garrison soldiers in this area. Besides that, her bra size is the second most popular topic of conversation... The most extreme claims even state that her bra size is H or higher..." Mint reported.

"Enough, enough! Whoever wants such a 'famous name' can have it!" Fish complained silently. Not far away, Yue Die, currently trapped in Xiao Xing's body, huddled up in shame, not daring to look up at anyone.

"However, even with such a bad reputation, it can be reversed by the fact that he personally went to the front lines and led from the front." Ange pointed to the remnants of the defeated soldiers and even civilians who came out of the fortifications.

Not long ago, they were dejected and listless. But after hearing that the rescuer was none other than the local security commander himself, many of them regained their hope.

"That's the power of courage," Ange whispered to Fish, "My lord, this is also a lesson you need to learn: nobles in high positions should set an example."

"Gentlemen, I don't know how you usually view me," Fish took a deep breath and quickly selected the most prominent "longsword" from the weapon menu provided by Phoenix Flame. A few seconds later, as his right arm armor transformed, he raised the blade high above his head, letting the dazzling sunlight shine on it. "But now, I am just one of you, fighting alongside you through thick and thin! I can't guarantee that all of you will leave alive, but I will guarantee to do my utmost to fight alongside you!"

A cheer erupted from the fortifications. Many weary soldiers raised their weapons again and clenched their fists, like drowning men finally grasping a rope. The old rabbit, naturally, once again tried to burrow into Fish's arms, tears streaming down his face, and this time, his forehead finally touched something soft…

...Unfortunately, the owner of this soft substance is Mint, who knows very well how to deal with someone like him "properly".

"It's okay, I can lend you my chest. Don't be shy." Mint smiled as she forcefully shoved the other person's face into her chest.

Although Fish and Ange noticed that Mint wasn't using her smart combat armor to enhance her strength, this female officer was, after all, someone who could catch fish weighing dozens of kilograms with her bare hands. Even without enhancement, the strength in her arms was already terrifying.

"Th-thank you...uh...thank you..." the old rabbit, suffocating between the heavy objects, said, "Please...please let me go...ugh..."

Have you calmed down yet?

"Yes...yes, yes, yes!" the old rabbit, who was almost suffocating, quickly said, while pleading with Mint to let go of him.

"That's good." Mint nodded and released the other person. This time, the old rabbit retreated a few steps as if avoiding a plague—after all, experiencing such a peculiar close call with death is not something just anyone has the opportunity to do.

"Are you the commander here?" Although the old rabbit's behavior displeased Fish, he still asked after seeing the three bronze stars on the other man's epaulets.

"Uh... I guess so for now, Your Highness," the other man nodded quickly. "I am Captain Jeffs, the highest-ranking officer here, and also the temporary commander. This is Sergeant Tull, my assistant." As he spoke, he pointed to the man who had led Fish and the others through the underground tunnels to this place.

Are there any other officers here?

"Yes, yes." The old rabbit pointed out three more people: an unremarkable, fat man with dog ears, a handsome young man with brilliant blond hair and curved antelope horns, and a short cat-eared girl with a splint on one arm, an eye patch over her left eye, and many newly wrapped bandages on her body.

"This fat man is Lieutenant Redo, a logistics officer from the 9th Independent Garrison Infantry Regiment of the Duchy of Cangwu; this blond gentleman is His Highness Ruan Aofu, a baron from the Duchy of Ilian. He was originally the deputy commander of an armored company, but now, including him, there are only two men left in the entire company. Even the last usable tank was captured by 'those things.' As for this one..."

"Ah...we meet again." The cat-eared girl smiled shyly at Fish.

"We know this one, Lieutenant Kokoro from the 1st Independent Air Squadron... a native of the Principality of Yunzhou, the radio operator and self-defense machine gunner for aircraft number 06," Ange said. "I'm glad you survived. And Mr. Dole?"

"Um... that bird with the bomb strapped to it crashed right into his cockpit," Kokoro said, scratching her chocolate-colored hair with her still-intact hand. "I was thrown from my seat before the crash, but luckily I was caught by a tree branch, so I survived."

"This shows that our ancestors have always protected those with courage." Ange reached out and patted the other person's head. "Of course, those with courage also have the right to leave behind descendants with noble bloodlines, so, Miss, would you be interested in...?"

"Ahem." Fish quickly coughed a few times, interrupting Ange's plan to abduct the girl. "Let's talk business now. Captain Jeffs, what exactly happened here? Why did the situation deteriorate like this? And who are those guys outside?"

"That's a long story," said the old rabbit. "To explain in detail, we have to start from when all this trouble just began. That was... about three weeks ago, wasn't it?"

"Although it feels like three years have passed," Kokoro interjected.

"Well, after all, everyone has gone through some really terrible things during this time," the old rabbit shrugged. "At least, if I remember correctly, it all started... well... twenty-two days ago. At that time, I heard that the Anadel-11 colony, along with its eight villages and more than 4,500 residents, suddenly lost all contact with the outside world overnight. The reinforcements sent by the Northland Garrison Command also disappeared without a trace after arriving there."

“I know about that,” Fish said. “And then?”

"I was originally the captain of the 17th Independent Security Squadron. Our garrison was located in the Anadel-7 colony area, which was quite a distance away. So at first, I was just following orders from my superiors to have my men increase their alert level and take inventory of supplies. But after a few days, news started coming in from my area that people were going crazy, and it was getting worse and worse..."

"Are the people you're referring to who are 'going crazy' developing strange, deformed limbs, or undergoing severe mutations?"

“Yes. All the guys who got into trouble ended up like that,” Captain Jeffs sighed. “It wasn’t until some time later that I heard from an experienced hunter that it was actually the result of a parasitic infection by ‘Tai Sui.’ But even he said he’d never seen anything like it.”

"Yes, under normal circumstances, 'Tai Sui' parasitizes wild animals or wild synthetic beasts more often than humans. And even if it does happen, the parasitized creature will only act alone, blindly attacking any creature it encounters. It has no organization and will not possess the original technology," said the chubby Lieutenant Redo.

"We know about these things too," Shuangye patted her scabbard. "Just two weeks ago, we killed a few of these abnormal 'Tai Sui' hosts."

"Two weeks ago... that's when we were forced to abandon the colony," Jeffs shook his scarred rabbit ears, looking quite helpless. "At the time, my men were already suffering considerable losses from suppressing the growing number of 'Tai Sui' hosts' riots. I telegraphed the garrison command requesting reinforcements, but received no response. To make matters worse, I received news that autonomous weapons had begun attacking the army."

"My infantry regiment was the first to be attacked," Lieutenant Redo added. "We were stationed on the south side of the settlement, and since the first settlers began clearing the land forty-five years ago, no one had ever witnessed any autonomous weapons from the old civilization in that area. However, they emerged after the hosts of the 'Tai Sui' began attacking people."

"Wait, you're saying that autonomous weapons appeared after the host of 'Tai Sui' attacked people?"

"Probably. But I'm just a quartermaster officer in the regiment's logistics department, so I'm not entirely clear on the specifics. I've only heard about a lot of things from what I've heard."

"Where is the person who told you this?"

"They're all dead." The fat man made a face. "The situation deteriorated very quickly. On Monday, we were just 'hearing that something was wrong,' but by Wednesday, ha, our ammunition resupply requests had multiplied several times! By Friday, the requests had decreased again—because many of the attacked, scattered garrisons had either collapsed or lost contact."

"By the weekend, the regimental headquarters had also been breached: at least four or five groups of 'Tai Sui' and autonomous weapons from different directions attacked their position simultaneously, and then a melee ensued," said Baron Ruan Aofu, who had been silent until now. "I was ordered to lead the armored company to reinforce and cover the survivors' retreat, but I suffered heavy losses and almost lost myself."

"Then, the remnants from many colonies began to retreat. At first, the garrison command ordered us to retreat to this place—Hill 503. They said we could wait for reinforcements here." Jeffs rubbed his big teeth angrily, clearly quite angry about it.

“To be honest, there’s nothing wrong with the order itself,” Ruan Aofu replied. “Hill 503 was an important supply storage center set up by the garrison command at the beginning of the colonization era. At that time, bandits, cultists and dangerous chimeras roamed the forests, and conflicts were constant among the newly established colonies, so supplies were very important.”

"For the sake of supplies, the underground storage facilities here have been built to be very large and sturdy," Lieutenant Redo pointed to the concrete underground bunker where he had been hiding. "There are also plenty of ready-made trenches and fortifications—by the way, the firewall we just built uses the circular drainage ditch that was built back then."

"Yes, that was His Excellency Ruan Aofu's idea—after all the combat vehicles were lost, he ordered the remaining fuel to be collected and then a makeshift valve was made. Whenever 'those guys' approached, the valve would be opened and fuel poured into the drainage ditch as a last resort," Jeffs grinned. "That trick worked. Because those guys are afraid of fire."

"Impressive adaptability, Your Excellency," Ange said. "In any case, you were ordered to retreat here and hold your ground, only to be abandoned?"

"Yes, the garrison command had promised to provide support. But after we gathered dozens of scattered troops and refugees and retreated to this high ground, those guys suddenly changed their minds! They said they received instructions from the Imperial General Staff to no longer organize rescue efforts for those trapped in the blockade zone!" Lieutenant Redo said.

"Some say it's an order from His Majesty the Emperor himself," a refugee muttered, "but I just can't understand why..."

"It's that despicable Iskander Lomonosov! That evil scientist!" shouted a corporal wearing an artillery insignia. "He's the one who misled His Majesty!"

"Yes, I heard that it was this vixen who drove His Majesty mad with her detestable ancient bewitching arts!"

"No, no, no, I heard that guy is clearly a man! It's said..."

"Enough, folks," Fish took the pistol from Loh, which she had intended to use to commit suicide, and fired a magazine into the air—a move that proved effective in stopping people from arguing about unimportant things. "Captain Jeffs, what happened after you retreated here? Since the fortifications here are so strong, they shouldn't have been breached so quickly."

"Indeed. But we didn't expect the defenses to be breached from the inside in the end," Jeffs said.

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