The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Everyone be careful, something seems wrong with these armored warriors."

Just as Shuangye was enthusiastically placing one hand on the hilt of her sword, assuming the starting stance for drawing her sword, Huangyan suddenly spoke in a slightly anxious tone over the public communication channel.

"Something's not right?" Fish asked.

"Under normal circumstances, it's unlikely that armored warriors would be infected by 'Tai Sui'," Huang Yan said. "Although the number of intelligent combat armors with extremely high intelligence and initiative like mine is limited, all intelligent combat armors have basic capabilities: isolating infected substances and monitoring the user's condition through regular health status checks. Normally, people who are already equipped with intelligent combat armor wouldn't become like this."

"But now they really have a bunch of armored warriors, and...aren't they all too young?"

Fish quickly counted and found a total of fourteen figures encased in gray, brown, and green bodysuit-like armor, roughly three for each of them. However, none of these people were adults; they were all children under 1.3 meters tall, a few years younger than Fish, and the vast majority were girls.

Normally, if Fish encountered such a group of lolis, he would probably just smile and think to himself, "So cute." Unfortunately, now they were all wearing intelligent combat armor, and their expressions were all blank, like puppets being controlled. This was clearly a manifestation of being controlled by "Tai Sui."

"It seems that the 'Tai Sui' here has indeed entered the weaponization stage, and at a relatively high stage—they not only have a central brain responsible for command, but this central brain has also devoured a relatively high level of tactical thinking ability."

"What did you say? 'Devour'? Not evolution or something?" Since the enemy armored warriors who had surrounded them were all keeping a distance of nearly a hundred meters and showed no signs of attacking immediately, Fish continued to talk to Huang Yan while remaining vigilant.

"Yes, it's 'devouring'—although the 'Tai Sui's' central brain stores a lot of data during its long interstellar journey, especially tactical information, there's no reason for the ancient humans who captured them to let these dangerous creatures continue to possess this information, right?" Huang Yan said. "So, the original information and database of these creatures are actually in a state of being wiped clean."

"So..."

"But the 'central brain' can acquire relevant knowledge by capturing its parasitic subjects... I'm afraid it has already 'devoured' a large group of experienced officers and technicians in the past few days," Huang Yan replied immediately. "This guy learns very quickly, I can confirm that."

"How do you know?" Anjie asked, remaining on guard.

"First of all, as you've noticed, the armored warriors who came were all children in their early teens—this isn't normal, but it makes sense for 'Tai Sui.' Because it's too difficult to parasitize a real armored warrior," Huang Yan explained. "So, it probably directly seized the intelligent combat armor that was in storage and then forcibly adjusted the host's physiological state to adapt. Although adapting to a top-level intelligent combat armor like mine isn't easy, adapting to those below the 'Agate' level isn't a difficult task."

"But what does that have to do with them being children?"

"This is a characteristic of 'Tai Sui': when parasitizing animals that are not yet fully developed, it can choose not to develop various weaponized limbs, or at most only undergo slight mutations... In the beginning, it was probably able to infiltrate the refugee group by parasitizing minors. The bomb boy who almost caused you to fall victim at the beginning also used this to disguise himself."

"I understand," Ange licked her lips. "After all, intelligent combat armor is designed according to the standards of normal humans. If it's covered with strange things, it will be difficult to wear."

"Exactly. Furthermore, given the limited total mass of armor, smaller individuals can acquire thicker armor, thus increasing its strength—according to my estimates, these children's armor protection is up to 15% to 20% greater than the average for their level. And please don't underestimate them just because they are minors. Because of the power amplification of intelligent combat armor…"

"They're here!"

Just as Huang Yan was still explaining, the "Tai Sui" hosts surrounding them finally couldn't hold back any longer and took the initiative to break the deadlock.

These guys' tactics were very typical and old-fashioned: they formed teams of three, with one person using the smoke grenade capability of their smart combat armor to release a high-temperature smoke screen, interfering with Fish and the others' visual and thermal imaging detection; another person activated the armor's electromagnetic interference facilities to reduce the accuracy of the enemy's fire control radar; and then, under the cover of the smoke screen, the third person fired at the pre-marked position.

"Damn it, move immediately!"

After issuing the order, Ange activated "Golden Soup's" most unique ability: the anti-gravity wings behind her, which allowed her to levitate above the smoke-filled battlefield, gaining a relative height advantage. Fish and the others dodged in different directions, avoiding the energy beams and projectiles falling towards their original positions.

Of course, while the pervasive smoke and electromagnetic interference affected Fish and his team's vision and perception, their impact on their opponents was even more severe—after all, lower-level intelligent combat armor not only had a lower overall output but also lacked perception capabilities. Once they escaped the enemy's aiming position before deploying the interference, it would be virtually impossible for their ranged weapons to hit Fish and his team again.

However, this fact did not make Fish happy: after all, the main purpose of the enemy's shooting was to break up their formation by forcing Fish and others to take evasive action, thus forcing them to disperse and fight separately.

"Everyone, cheer up and show these parasites what we're capable of," Ange said in the air, while activating her ion shoulder cannon—although her incredibly powerful electromagnetic Gatling gun wasn't brought along due to its bulkiness, its power was still astonishing enough.

As a series of plasma spheres induced by electromagnetic fields crashed into the location from which the enemy's firepower was launched, the enemy's long-range attack quickly quieted down amidst the continuous bursts of fireballs.

Of course, for Fish and his men hidden in the smokescreen, this attack was of little significance—after all, the enemy's long-range firepower couldn't hit them from the start. In contrast, it was the enemy melee fighters suddenly emerging from the smokescreen who were their real concern.

And these guys quickly came after them.

"Watch out behind you!"

Good books and good stories accompany you every day.

Despite facing maximum suppression and interference from the enemy, Huang Yan's tactical radar still maintained a certain level of effectiveness. When an armored warrior who was clearly not a friendly force approached within thirty meters, she immediately located the enemy and sent its relative position directly to Fish's brain.

For an ordinary person preparing for close combat, being discovered at this distance means losing all element of surprise. However, for the armored warrior, this situation still presents an opportunity: after being spotted by Fish, the armored warrior leaped across the 30-meter distance in just 1.5 seconds, reaching a top speed of 72 kilometers per hour.

"Don't be so hasty, Miss!" Fish raised her left arm armor, which had transformed into a small round shield, to block the opponent's powerful slash, and then countered with the sword on her right arm. Although by the standards of humans in the past, the opponent's speed was nearly twice that of a world champion in the 100-meter dash, for a warrior, it was only "slightly fast," not enough to be too slow to react.

In an attempt to strike before her opponent could react, the enemy armored warrior made no other preparations. After Fish deflected her scimitar, she was immediately left wide open. Only thanks to the enhanced reaction speed provided by her intelligent combat armor did she avoid being pierced through the heart; instead, she suffered a large gash at the waist, from which fat and blood flowed out simultaneously.

For a professional gladiator in the Roman Colosseum, such an injury would be considered "barely tolerable." But for a ten-year-old girl without a thick layer of fat and muscle to protect her, such a blow should have directly rendered her unable to move—however, like the boy who had been shot through the chest by a rifle bullet but got up as if nothing had happened, Fish's opponent's movements only paused slightly.

Then, she unleashed an even more ferocious slash.

"This guy's got some serious resilience," Fish said, deflecting another attack. "He's harder to kill than a cockroach."

"Cockroaches? Those insects can't fool 'Tai Sui'," Huang Yan corrected. "After all, 'Tai Sui' is essentially a specially designed biological weapon, and its damage resistance is a genuine, hard standard."

"I know." Fish made two feints, trying to force the other party to retreat—but in the end, it was he who retreated.

If it were an ordinary human, even an armored warrior, they would instinctively dodge when they sensed an attack was about to be launched to avoid injury. However, this person in front of them was different. Instead of dodging, he went to the challenge and tried to ram his body into Fish's sword!

Of course, this seemingly crazy fighting style is actually based on thorough rational consideration: as long as the key areas are not hit and damaged, the "Tai Sui" parasite cannot be killed at all, and the host's body can be easily hit a few times.

More importantly, because the host also happens to have the enhancement of intelligent combat armor, which itself has a self-repair mode, if he were to be stabbed by Fish's blade, then...

"Sheathe your sword! Defensive stance!"

Just as Huang Yan warned Fish, a force struck Fish's right arm: another loli armored warrior rushed up from the side, thrusting a weapon directly at his temple. When he instinctively tried to block, the attack was deliberately caught by her chest.

As the blade sank into what appeared to be the opponent's liver, Fish realized he couldn't pull it out no matter what he did: the intelligent combat armor had immediately activated its self-repair program the moment it was pierced. The armor material around the wound rapidly contracted and gathered, and in the process of repairing itself, it firmly jammed Fish's blade.

"Oh no! This is terrible—"

"Here comes another one!"

Fish had barely uttered a complaint when he heard Phoenix Flame's loud warning: the enemy armored warrior who had launched the initial attack had regained his grip on his weapon and was lunging at Fish, whose main arm and one arm were bound. In desperation, Fish could only hastily deflect the first blow with his left arm, which had been transformed into a shield, and then forcibly adjusted Phoenix Flame's output to its maximum.

Then, he used the little girl who had blocked his sword blade as a hammer to smash his opponent!

In medieval folk songs, many bards boasted of powerful knights impaling enemy corpses on the tips of their lances—of course, this was impossible given the structural strength of the lances and the power of a human. Fortunately, with Phoenix Flame's assistance, throwing a 30-kilogram little girl with one hand wasn't actually that difficult for Fish.

The two enemy armored warriors collided violently and were sent flying together. Thanks to the strong centrifugal force, Fish was finally able to draw his sword.

But the fatal thing is that just a few seconds later, these two little girls, who should have died several times by normal human standards, got up again and transformed their combat armor back into weapons!

"What the hell! Is this ever going to end?!" Fish muttered. "Who does this kind of persistent pestering? Isn't that foul?"

"Idiot, what rules are there in a battle?" Huang Yan said. "As long as you can win, you should make the most of any advantage. And that 'Tai Sui' thing understands this very well."

"Well said... but unfortunately this isn't good news for me," Fish took a step back, assuming a defensive stance. Although, according to what Huang Yan and Ange had told him during their combat training, the sword and shield combination was relatively suitable for a conservative fighting style, making it easier to ensure "not losing," he didn't know how long he could last against two opponents who were well-coordinated, fearless, and very willing to use a trade-off strategy.

"But don't worry," Huang Yan replied rather casually, "even against an opponent like this, we have a way to deal with them."

"Really?" Fish asked. "How much longer?"

"It won't be long," Huang Yan replied. "Hmm... right now."

Immediately afterward, a figure flashed past, and two enemy armored warriors had their throats slashed open. The armor protecting their throats, along with the flesh beneath, was cleaved in two by the gleaming sword.

However, even such a fatal wound, enough to kill an ordinary person instantly, had no effect on these two: after only two or three seconds, their gushing blood was stopped, and what seeped out in its place was the translucent, gum-like sap that had almost stuck Anjie and Shuangye together in the melee.

However, just as the broken armor began to heal itself, two objects suddenly shot into the vicinity of the two men's unprotected wounds!