The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

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"Hey, don't cry..." Five minutes after Shuangye lost her family's heirloom sword, Ange, who was carrying Shana who had just been rescued, returned to her side and patted Shuangye on the shoulder. "It's just a sword. Every sword will break one day, unless it has never been used—and never being used is the shame of a sword."

"Ugh...that's true..." Frostleaf tried to force a smile, but her hands still trembled. "Um...how's Shana?"

"Oh, she's alright. The whole rescue went quite smoothly," Ange shrugged. "We successfully intercepted the last spider tiger that was trying to escape with her, and my husband took care of it with ease."

"That's wonderful! But my sword..."

"Don't worry! The White Lotus Palace in the Kingdom of Fayun has all sorts of precious and famous swords," Ange said. "If you want, I can give you a few."

"Huh? But these knives are...?"

"I know it can't be sold or given away to outsiders," Ange smiled nonchalantly, "but it's not a big problem."

"what?"

"All you have to do is become 'the wife'."

"Nene-nee-nee-nee-nee-nee-human?!" Shuangye's eyes widened instantly. "What...does this mean?"

"In short, become one of my husband's concubines... and then, after my husband inherits the Fayun-Lindenhild family, you'll be part of our family, how about that? Isn't it simple?!" Ange leaned closer and began to stroke Shuangye's hair and those pointed horse ears in an ambiguous manner.

"But..." Shuangye's face turned red and she was sweating profusely. However, Anjie clearly had no intention of letting her off so easily.

"There are no buts. Your abilities are crucial for assisting my husband or for reclaiming the Duchy of Fayun. Do you want an additional title? A reward? A fief? I can give you anything! I can grant you an earldom, allowing you and my husband's descendants to establish an independent branch of Fayun-Lindenhild and inherit this title. That's no problem..."

"Hey! Bringing up having children right now, isn't that a bit too hasty?" This time, it was Fish who was getting impatient. "Shouldn't we discuss the current situation first?"

“That’s true, my lord,” Ange released the bewildered Frostleaf and handed her her beam saber, “Moonshadow,” made with ancient technology. “Miss Frostleaf, rest assured, I—no, our Fayun-Lindenhild family—will definitely have you. Consider this my deposit.”

"Deposit?! Deposit?!" Shuangye seemed utterly speechless. If her face were a kettle, hot steam would probably be billowing from her ears by now. "Wait! I...I..."

"From a tactical point of view, you'd better agree," Huang Yan said calmly. "After all, apart from those throwing weapons, your smart combat armor offers very limited weapon options. You've always fought with a knife, haven't you? Ange's 'Golden Soup' is a firepower output type that emphasizes long-range attacks, so this beam saber isn't necessary. Here, take it to prepare for the upcoming battle."

"The next battle?" Moon Butterfly muttered. "Didn't you already rescue them? We just need to get this young lady to switch our bodies back, and we'll be fine, right?"

"Yes, but the battle is far from over," Ange replied, "both in the short and long term."

"Short-term...long-term...what do you mean by that?"

"First of all, there are still a large group of soldiers and refugees waiting for us to rescue on Hill 503. Have you forgotten about this, Commander?" Ange asked. "With our current strength, we are not enough to defeat all the hosts controlled by 'Tai Sui'. Therefore, the best option is to take the initiative and eliminate the 'central brain' that is the 'root node' of this area."

"Anjie and Huangyan have just confirmed the target's location," Fish said. "After we rest for a while, we'll set off immediately."

"Eh..." The terrified Moon Butterfly trembled—after a series of battles, she had lost all her previous arrogance and all she wanted was to escape the battlefield as quickly as possible. "No way..."

"What about in the long term?" Xiaoxing asked.

"In the long run, it's definitely about fighting those guys behind all this," Ange said. "I'm now 100% certain that some ulterior motives are controlling everything that's happening here. That includes the kidnapping of Shana."

"Wait, didn't you say before that Shana was taken away by the autonomous weapons responsible for protecting the old humans? Those autonomous weapons should be..." Frostleaf asked.

“That’s right, in theory they shouldn’t be manipulated by modern humans. I understand that as well as you do—but that’s on the premise that they are indeed ‘autonomous weapons within the hibernation facilities of the Rotten Chessman Project,’” Ange said. “However, I now believe that this premise is very likely not true.”

"Invalid? I don't quite understand why you say that?"

"Hmm, it's simple. What do you think those autonomous weapons we just took down, known as 'Spider Tigers,' were most likely designed for when they were first created in the old civilization era?" Ange didn't answer the other person's question immediately, but instead asked in return.

"Uh... based on my combat experience, I'm afraid... it should be used for searching and exploration in complex terrains like jungles, right?" Frostleaf thought for a moment before replying, "Of course, it's said that most people from the old civilization era lived in those giant cities, so they probably didn't have many opportunities to frequently venture into the forest to search for things or hunt, so..."

“That’s right. In fact, the Spider-Tiger is a bionic machine specifically designed for gladiatorial combat—although those bloodthirsty guys from the old civilizations preferred to use flesh-and-blood chimeras to fight our ancestors, enjoying more blood splatter. However, most chimeras are either uncontrollable or can only be minimally guided,” Ange nodded, “and in many ‘dramatic’ performances, they are not as good as autonomous weapons that can be controlled.”

"That's really a rather perverse 'show'," Fish frowned unhappily.

“Yes, but what’s really important is that these things used for bloody and immoral gladiatorial activities could never appear in the ‘Rotten Chessman’ project, which is run by people who emphasize ‘technology for good’ as their main ideology,” Ange said, holding up a finger and waving it. “Besides, they don’t have any corresponding markings.”

"Eh...that makes sense!" Fish nodded in sudden realization, and quickly walked to the wreckage of the nearest Spider Tiger: just as Ange said, these ugly bionic robots did not have the special mark of "axe handle turning to dust" on them, but they also did not have any numbers or abbreviations.

In fact, all the markings that should have been there seem to have been deliberately erased! All that's left is the original gray of the outer shell after it's been polished.

"It seems someone has found a way to control these autonomous weapons and is trying to take advantage of the chaos," Fish said. "But... who could do something like that?"

"They're either from the old civilization era or some experienced archaeologist specializing in technology," Ange analyzed. "But the chance of encountering even one of the former is lower than being killed by a meteorite, while the latter... In this world, there are currently not many people who are capable of issuing commands to devices from the old civilization era, or even changing their programs to some extent, but there are still hundreds."

"Hundreds? That would be incredibly difficult to find..."

"That's not the case. In fact, I have a pretty good idea who it is," Ange said. "Ever since Huang Yan relayed the order to investigate this area, I've been investigating the relevant information and have confirmed the possibility that a technological archaeologist has entered that ancient storage facility..."

"You mean Iskander Lomonosov?" Fish suddenly remembered hearing about this person before.

"It is this person," Ange said. "Through information within the elite aristocratic circles, I obtained some important information about him: for example, in the past few years, this person has frequently visited the royal libraries and archives of various duchies, marquises, and autonomous city-states to search for key information that few people seek."

"The key information... could it be... something related to the survivors of the old civilization era?" Fish asked immediately.

"As expected of my husband, you guessed it right away," Anjie nodded. "In the era when the old civilization was heading towards its end, there were actually quite a few people who realized that doing this would bring terrible consequences. All over the world, 'reserved areas' ranging from hundreds or thousands of people to hundreds of thousands of people have appeared. The people there reject the absurd behavior and technological abuse of the late old civilization and draw a line between themselves and those outside who have fallen into endlessly expanding desires."

"So, there were good people in the past?" Fish said.

"I...I...of course we're good people." Surprisingly, it was Shana who answered this time: ever since Fish and Ange killed the Spider-Tiger that had taken her away and rescued her, the girl had been trembling and silent, like a gazelle cub caught in a pride of lions. Only now had she finally spoken for the first time.

“I completely believe that, Miss,” Ange said with a smile, “otherwise you wouldn’t be in the hibernation pod.”

"Yes," Shana said, her courage growing as she saw that the other person seemed to have no hostility towards her. "My parents, and everyone in the reservation area, all... uh... all absolutely oppose that evil practice of not treating New Humans as human beings! My father was originally a senior researcher at a genetic engineering research institution, but after receiving the task of developing a New Human lineage specifically for death gladiatorial combat, he objected and then resigned..."

"That sounds really amazing..." Fish wanted to immediately ask the other party to switch him back to his original body, but after hearing these words, he was stunned - he really couldn't imagine that the father of the little girl in front of him was actually one of the creators of his race.

This was, in a way, as amazing as seeing one's own ancestor in person.

"Not impressive at all! Dad said that the existence of the new humans is itself a kind of 'blasphemy and immorality,' and they should not have been born into this world—distorting the biological nature of humans with science is, in fact, a smear on our species! The new humans have been a pathetic and painful existence since their birth."

"So... the existence of us inferior beings is just a disgrace to the human species?" Frostleaf said with a look of loss, holding the beam saber she had just acquired.

"Huh? No, no, that's not it!" Realizing her words might have been misunderstood, Shana quickly waved her hands, frantically trying to explain herself, "I didn't mean you were all pathetic, I was referring to the act of 'creating a new kind of human.' I didn't mean to insult you either, in fact I..."

"You have a Newtype friend named Melu, right?" Angela patted Shana's forehead. "She's still at Hill 503. Hmm... she should be relatively safe for now, because the core defensive position of the hill is very strong. I also left Mint and the others to assist in the defense."

"Then...aren't you here to arrest me?"

“We have indeed received such orders before, but we do not intend to obey them,” Fish replied. “After all, I have a feeling that the person who gave such an order is also our enemy.”

"That's probably true," Ange added. "Miss Shana, thanks to your device in the chaos, you managed to switch bodies with Fish and the others, which is why Fish was able to obtain the authority of the Security Commander and access that order—although it was vague, it's clear that the purpose of that order, as you guessed, was to capture the new humans hiding within the blockade. And the one who issued that order was the unnamed 'Emperor's Private Scientific Advisor'."

"Could it be... that person is Iskandar Lomonosov?" Frostleaf asked.

"It's uncertain, but judging from all indications, it's highly likely. Incidentally, the order prohibiting frontline troops from rescuing those trapped within the blockade line was probably also his doing," Ange said. "Although I'm not sure of his ultimate goal, considering his involvement in the coup in Fayun, I must consider him an enemy. Therefore, I will never carry out any orders issued by him."

"Uh..." Although she knew the other party wasn't there to capture her, Shana's expression turned panicked again after Ange mentioned "that matter." "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you switch bodies! I was completely terrified! So..."

"It's alright, I understand you," Ange said, swaying her fluffy fox tail as she crouched down next to Shana. Although she was a princess from a noble family, she could easily adopt the demeanor of an approachable older sister if she wanted to, making others lower their guard. "Given the circumstances, it's understandable that you didn't understand our purpose and acted rashly."

"Well……"

"Anyway, can we switch our bodies back?" Fish rubbed his chest. "It's so inconvenient to carry around these two big lumps every day during battle. I really want to be able to use my own body again as soon as possible."

"Um... I'm sorry..." Shana said, "but... not right now."