The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

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"You noticed it too, didn't you?" After hearing Fish's reply, Aqua smiled. "Although I don't know exactly why, the monster's actions can only be explained by this reason: it's guarding the first floor to prevent anyone from entering the underground area."

Of course, Fish knew exactly why—after all, since this was just a game scenario, it was perfectly normal to place troublesome elite monsters to guard key areas. The regular presence of these elite monsters in the event was, in fact, a subtle hint to players that it was necessary to explore the underground areas.

"I agree. It seems we really need to go underground for a look around," Fish nodded after a moment's thought. "Besides, once it realizes we've reached the first level, the monster will prioritize chasing us, so the decoy team shouldn't be in danger."

"That's exactly right."

"So, who's willing to come down with us?" Fish asked.

Upon hearing this, Alicia and Aqua, who had proposed the plan, both raised their hands. After a while, the other three people also raised their hands.

"So, who would be willing to participate in the mission to lure the enemy?"

Four people raised their hands, but five others remained silent, hiding in a corner like frightened quails, including the little girl who had previously claimed she would rather starve to death than go out.

Of course, Fish didn't blame them—after witnessing so many horrific events and even the death of their companions, most ordinary people, and of course, these NPCs set to "ordinary" mode, would be terrified and at a loss. At this moment, it was quite surprising that as many as seven people besides Aqua were willing to participate in the operation.

"Then let's get ready as soon as possible," Fish said. "Even if we don't have to face that monster head-on, we'll definitely need a lot of equipment."

"Of course." Aqua nodded, and then she and her companions split up to begin preparations. Of everyone gathered there, she was the only one who demonstrated strong leadership, assigning everyone to different work positions within minutes.

Some people were tasked with melting and molding the large, bulky scented candles into small, portable candles to be placed in ceramic cups and then distributed to everyone; others were responsible for tearing dresses and clothes and tying them into usable ropes. Still others were responsible for another task: folding and binding together lace ribbons used to pack gift boxes to make strong straps.

"What is this?" Alicia asked curiously.

"It'll be easier to demonstrate in person," Aqua said, picking up a ribbon and wrapping it around a piece of the remaining scented candle fragment. Then, she began to spin it vigorously. As the ribbon reached its maximum speed, she released her grip on one end, and the candle fragment flew out due to centrifugal force, smashing to pieces against the wall.

"Is it a sling?" Fish asked. Before working as a groveler in a bar, he had spent a long time as a street hustler in Oasis Harbor and was familiar with all sorts of fighting methods, so he had naturally seen this kind of thing before.

"Yes. This is the only 'ranged weapon' we have available right now," Aqua said.

"But if I may be so bold, in my experience, hitting a target accurately with a sling requires repeated training," Fish shook his head. "This thing is very experience-dependent; you're not planning to have everyone learn it in a few tens of minutes, are you?"

"In fact, that's exactly what I planned," Aqua shrugged, "but I didn't intend for everyone to be able to hit the target accurately: after we start the decoy operation, all we need to do is use this thing to throw the lit scented candles as far as possible. In the dark mall, the flames and fragrances burning everywhere will greatly distract the monster, at least enough to provide temporary cover for our team."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing." Fish thought for a moment, then nodded. Then, he suddenly noticed that there were some transparent plastic battery packs stuffed in the trash can next to him.

"You even managed to get your hands on dry cell batteries?"

"Yes, before I met you guys, I found these in the small supermarket on the second floor. They had batteries of sizes 1, 3, 5, and 7," Yakia said, taking a few batteries out of his pocket and placing them on the table. "I spent a lot of time collecting them, only to find that there wasn't a single electrical appliance in this store that used dry cell batteries! Not even a flashlight! In the end, the batteries I finally found can only be used as pebbles to smash those monsters."

"There are batteries, but no electrical appliances? Hmm... it seems the game developers really have a twisted sense of humor." Fish muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear.

Perhaps tired of being stuck in the scented candle shop, the girls worked incredibly fast. Soon, the ropes for the "suicide squad" heading to the underground area were ready, and the cover team was also quickly prepared. Fish and Alicia each received a rope, a cup candle for lighting if necessary, and a homemade short spear and frying pan.

The cover team received slingshots, matches, and many small art candles that could be thrown. Yakia also thoughtfully found some cone-shaped plastic covers to prevent the lit candles from going out when thrown.

"Alright, let's get to work!" After all the preparations were complete, Aqua first glanced outside through the observation slit in the stainless steel roller shutter door, then instructed his two companions to pull open the shutter door. "Our fate hangs in the balance!"

Although there was no opportunity for prior rehearsal, the girls, divided into two groups, still displayed amazing teamwork during the operation: Fish led one group to a spot not far from the still smoldering Spider's Nest, tied one end of the rope they carried to a knot on the railing, then wrapped the other end around their waists, and they all climbed over the railing and began to slide down.

On the other hand, the cover team ran to the vicinity of the escalator and began to bang on the railing while throwing small lit scented candles with slingshots.

As the first batch of candles fell to the ground, a massive dark figure appeared beneath the escalator connecting the first and second floors, and began rushing upwards at an astonishing speed. Of course, because of the two-story gap, the cover team didn't retreat immediately; instead, they lit a second batch of candles and hurled them out, waving them around.

Although the sling is a nearly unwieldy tool for inexperienced novices, at least two candles still hit their target after this volley. The flames burning at the top of the candles ignited the bear's fur, causing it to let out a painful howl.

"Hurry up, everyone, move fast!"

As the giant black bear charged up to the second floor and began its descent towards the third, Fish's toes finally touched the first-floor floor—judging from the decorations, it seemed that Christmas celebrations were underway. Although it was dark, one could still see rows of carefully decorated Christmas trees, their branches adorned with bells, baubles, gift boxes, and stockings, creating a festive atmosphere.

The only flaw was... several twisted corpses stuck in the tops of the trees. These were the victims who had died in the attack by the two giant black bats. And Fish knew that all he could do was pray for them.

...And that would have to wait until the current problems are solved.

"Hey! You monster!" The first thing Fish did after regaining his footing was to light the cup-shaped candle in his hand, then he shouted at the giant black bear charging towards the third floor, "We're here!"

"Woo-woo-woo..." The giant bear stopped and stared at Fish and the others below with its tiny, beady eyes.

"What's wrong? Aren't you scared to come down? Then we're going to go underground!" Alicia called out.

"Woohoo..." The black giant bear remained standing in place, looking confused. Clearly, the light and strong scent of the scented candles thrown earlier had confused its less-than-perfect vision and extremely sensitive sense of smell. At the same time, according to the original plan, the cover team stopped throwing candles and began to silently retreat towards the stronghold.

According to Yakia's plan, with its sight and sense of smell disrupted, the black bear will only be able to rely on its hearing to locate its target. At this point, if the group reaching the first floor shouts and the original cover team stops making noise, the bear will definitely rush towards the first floor, thus ensuring the cover team's safety. And with a sufficient distance between them, they will naturally have time to escape into the underground area before being caught.

The only problem is that reality and plans sometimes do have some... differences.

"Why isn't that guy coming down?" Seeing the giant black bear still standing there looking around, a young girl asked naively, "Is it afraid of us? Or is it completely confused?"

"I don't think so," Fish said in a low voice. "Stay alert, slowly make your way to the entrance to the underground area—whoa?!"

Before he could finish speaking, a huge shadow suddenly fell from the nearest Christmas tree, like a "falling bear" in Australian folklore, crashing directly onto the girl who had asked the question. The powerful impact caused the girl's spine to snap like a match under pressure, and her internal organs were squeezed out.

"Wa ...

This sudden change stunned everyone present. Of course, what was terrifying was not only the gruesome scene of the girl's death, but also the shadow itself: it was actually another giant bear, three meters long, with claws as sharp as steak knives!

"There are two?!" Alicia exclaimed. "That's practically cheating!"

"Uh... well... no one says there can only be one bear in this game," Fish muttered. "Having two can't be considered a foul... right? At most, it's just a bit of an accident."

"The problem now is how to deal with this guy!" Alicia said.

"Of course...run fast, ahhhhhh—"

At Aqua's scream, the team members immediately chose the most desperate but also the most effective tactic: to scatter and escape. They fled in different directions, forcing the giant bear to chase only one of them. Meanwhile, perhaps relieved to confirm that its "comrades" had arrived in time, the black giant bear that had been lured upstairs breathed a sigh of relief and continued its pursuit of the cover team, who hadn't gone far.

Just seconds later, another death scream echoed throughout the mall. Clearly, someone in the cover team had fallen into the black bear's claws.

Of course, Fish had no time to worry about that right now—he was lucky enough not to become the target, but the other girl who was being watched wasn't so fortunate. The seemingly massive, clumsy behemoth closed the distance in just a few seconds and swung out a powerful claw…

Fortunately, perhaps due to the excessively dim lighting in the mall causing the monster to misjudge the distance, the claw only sliced ​​through the girl's pink Lolita dress and slightly grazed her back, causing her to trip and fall to the ground. Then, the giant bear stopped, preparing to use the ten "steak knives" on its front paws to completely dismember its prey.

Look at this!

Just as the colossal creature stood upright, Fish tossed his frying pan—each member of the group had carried one before setting out, to be used as a helmet or shield in emergencies. However, as in some cheap cartoon from an old civilization, a frying pan could certainly be used as a throwing weapon… at least, after being struck on the forehead, the giant bear did stumble back several steps.

"Hurry up, stand up!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Alicia helped the fallen girl up and continued running towards the entrance to the underground passage. Then, Fish gave the pursuing behemoth a frying pan; although it still didn't cause much damage, it at least bought some time.

The entrance to the underground area was also an escalator, but unlike the one in the ground area, this escalator was actually running. In his haste, Fish accidentally ran onto the upward-facing escalator! He only realized his mistake after running some distance.

"Kaelin! Over here! Over here!" Alicia, who hadn't gone the wrong way, called out, but it was too late.

"Huh...Eh?" Fish was about to turn around when he found that the giant black bear had already caught up to the end of the escalator...and then, it suddenly fell down.

"Holy crap, this even works?"

When a horrifying sound of metal parts of the elevator drive mechanism tearing flesh and crushing bones came from under the collapsed elevator cover, Fish was completely stunned—he never expected that the operating escalator would play the role of a "death trap" at this moment, and just right put the monster into a fatal situation.

Author Sohof personally recommends: I hope you enjoy the story of "The Final Odyssey: The Fantastic Journey of a Cat Boy" on Cola Novels.