The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning! Players, please remain where you are and do not take any action. The system will begin emergency remedial measures. Retransmission and adjustment procedures are now in progress. Transmission start timer: five, four, three, two…"

Just as Fish warned Alicia, the synthesized voice on the tablet repeated the warning once more. Then, it started a countdown.

"……one!"

At the very moment the countdown ended, Fish felt as if he had been suddenly thrown from the sky. Because his sense of time was completely disrupted, this "fall" felt both brief and long, and finally, when he opened his eyes again, he found…

...I was still lying in that large decorative glass jar.

Of course, that's not the point. The real key point is that after several weeks of being forced to use the bodies of Moon Butterfly, Frost Leaf, and even Ange (though he didn't dislike being Ange), Fish has finally returned to his original body!

He is no longer a villainous young lady, a high school girl, a female swordswoman, or a princess of the Kingdom of Fayun; he is finally his true self!

"Looks like you succeeded." Huang Yan's voice came from Fish's ear—of course, at this moment, the main body of this intelligent combat armor was still in that "high school" area, and he was wearing the intelligent combat armor originally used by Xiao Xing, named "Grape." However, since the "game" had ended, the blocking of the intelligent combat armor's functions had also stopped, so Huang Yan could finally talk to him.

"That's right, I'm back in my original body now," Fish said, moving his arms and legs. "It feels amazing."

"You mean, you didn't feel well when you used our bodies before?" Beside him, the real Ange also opened her eyes—after escaping the game area by exploiting a bug, the facility's system finally detected that the match between its "player's" personal consciousness and body seemed off, so it retransmitted and "adjusted" these consciousnesses. "How sad."

"Eh? I-I didn't mean that!" Fish quickly said. "What I meant was...uh...actually, everyone's bodies are great too."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true." For some reason, Fish suddenly remembered the time when he first entered a girl's body and began to explore himself out of curiosity at night. It turned out that it was indeed... a very strange experience.

If I were to describe this experience as "great," it probably wouldn't be wrong, right?

"Okay, I just felt really dizzy and then I was unconscious... But I guess we were probably thrown into the 'game' scenario of this facility?" Ange asked. "I can vaguely sense that you did a lot of amazing things with my body."

"Well... I had no choice..."

"It's alright, my body also belongs to my husband," Ange said with a bright smile. "Of course you can do whatever you want with it."

"So, what's next?" Fish asked through the communication system of his smart combat armor as he tore off his fluffy witch costume. Now that the smart combat armor had been restored, he naturally didn't need to maintain his previous appearance. In contrast, Ange seemed to really like the little witch's outfit, taking it off very carefully and folding it neatly before putting it away.

"Come and meet up with me and the others first. Then, before any troublesome defenses in the facility are activated, immediately launch an attack on the location of the central brain," Huang Yan said. "I'll give you the coordinates now."

"What should I do if I encounter trouble on the road?"

"Just blast them away. If there's no path, blast one out." Huang Yan's answer was simple and clear.

"Excellent, I love it." Ange nodded. "This is exactly the style I wanted."

As they finished speaking, their newly activated intelligent combat armor completely enveloped their bodies. Fish was currently using "Grape," originally belonging to Xiaoxing. It was a low-output, very lightweight suit, better suited for covert operations and unsuitable for large-scale destruction. In contrast, the heavy and powerful "Golden Soup" was perfectly suited for this kind of "blast a path" mission.

Although the large number of heavy weapons that Ange originally installed on "Golden Soup" have disappeared, the weapons that Fish had obtained before are still enough for Ange to vent her destructive desires.

"Hi everyone." As a bright red directional arrow appeared on the helmet's flat display, Ange kicked open the glass jar's opening, then hoisted the RPG-7 and fired the last armor-piercing round at a large working robot in the warehouse, turning it into a "campfire." With the piercing fire alarm blaring, the warehouse instantly descended into chaos.

Of course, this suited Ange perfectly—her main objective was to create enough chaos. While all the work robots in the warehouse were busy working around their blown-up "colleagues," Ange discarded the rocket launcher, picked up her M16A2, and blasted an under-barrel grenade into the wall.

Since there were no strength requirements, the walls separating these warehouses, like those in many cheap rental houses, were just fragile plywood and plastic, and were easily blasted open with a large hole. Ange didn't even glance at the chaotic scene behind her before leading Fish through the hole, rushing through an underground passage guided by directional arrows, and then using the remaining grenade to blast open a locked door at the end of the passage.

Inside that door lay the high school, the first "game scene." At this moment, the carnage and chaos of the game had ended. Although bloodstains still covered the ground, most of the bodies had been removed.

At this moment, some "zombies" remained on campus, but they were methodically carrying out repairs and cleaning. If it weren't for their tattered school uniforms and the deformed features left by the "Tai Sui" parasite, it wouldn't seem like there was any problem in saying that these people were just ordinary students.

Of course, this peaceful campus life was quickly shattered by the oblivious Anjie. After barging in, Anjie immediately picked up her M16A2, adjusted the fire selector to single-shot mode, and then, like a gardener pruning flowers, precisely fired a bullet into the chest of each "zombie" girl. After running out of rifle ammo, she pulled out two pistols and continued to "call out" everyone she encountered on the road—whether they tried to rush up to stop her or tried to escape.

Finally, upon arriving at the swimming pool near the old gymnasium, Ange had exhausted all the ammunition from the "Pumpkin Secret Realm." However, when a group of swimsuit-clad girls swarmed out of the pool wielding weaponized limbs, a chilling smile appeared on her face.

Then, the fist encased in "Golden Soup" was literally smashed into the chest of the swimsuit-clad girl at the front. The sound of ribs shattering made Fish behind him shudder, and he even subconsciously activated the optical camouflage of "Grape".

"Phew... Ha! That felt so good!" On the final stretch into the old stadium, Ange fully revealed a side of herself rarely seen: a complete violent maniac who derives pleasure from destruction and bloodshed. When she still had firearms, she eliminated her opponents in a routine, almost choreographic way. But once she ran out of ammunition and could only resort to physical combat, the situation changed completely.

With a cold smile, Ange used almost every method Fish could imagine, inflicting extreme destruction and violence on her opponents: some had their necks snapped, their spines and the "Tai Sui" parasites attached to them ripped out; others had their chests shattered by a punch, and then the parasites were forcibly torn from their spines. Still others had their limbs broken and their skulls smashed, then were carelessly tossed aside, left to writhe like worms.

At first, Fish fired a few shots with his shotgun to assist Ange. But later, overwhelmed by Ange's ruthless efficiency, he acted like a cat seeing a vicious dog, instinctively hiding himself in optical camouflage and retreating to the side. Ange, engrossed in her violent outburst, only noticed Fish's actions after smashing the last person who stood in her way.

"Ah, I'm so sorry, my lord! Did I scare you? I...I just really wanted to clear a path for you so you could reunite with Huang Yan! I didn't mean anything by it!"

"Okay, okay... I understand." Fish, his voice trembling, tried his best to hide his fear—he knew just as well as Ange that her crazy and violent behavior just now was not just for this reason.

After all, during their first meeting, Fish had witnessed his fiancée's fury at not being able to hunt her enemies with satisfaction, accusing him of "stealing her prey," and even leading to a fight. Although Ange had since tried to portray herself as a virtuous, intelligent, and polite noblewoman, Fish knew very well that she was, at her core, still a ruthless and belligerent warrior capable of tearing her opponents apart with a smile.

So Fish made up his mind once again: no matter what, he must never awaken the real beast hidden deep in Ange's heart!

"You guys got here pretty fast," Huang Yan said through the communication channel after Anjie, clad in "Golden Soup," had completely wiped out all the enemies in the old gymnasium and kicked open the door to the control room. "Good, the others are in the temporary containment facility not far away. They're awake now. Go through the wall ahead and continue for another 100 meters to meet them."

"So... is that something called the Central Brain also nearby?" Fish asked as he deactivated "Grape" from its combat state, took it off his body, and re-equipped it with Phoenix Flame.

"That's right," Huang Yan said, "I have successfully located that thing. Please follow the marker."

"Let's go now." Fish moved his hands and feet, feeling the long-lost immense power, and then casually kicked a large hole in the wall of the control room. For the armored warriors who did not need to worry about collateral damage and whose intelligent combat armor was fully powered, when moving indoors, smashing a path directly in the direction of the target was always a more convenient way of moving than spending time and effort finding a way.

Just as Huang Yan said, after breaking through several walls, the two successfully found a place that looked like a hotel—it seemed to be designed as a "safe zone" where eliminated "players" or "avatars" who had completed a certain game would be sent here to rest in various rooms.

However, all these rooms are locked until all the "games" are over, and the people inside cannot leave or use their equipment.

However, this precaution was not intended for anyone intending to break down the door from the outside.

"Ah, Mr. Fish! I knew you'd come!"

"Your Highness Fish, your performance is truly admirable!"

"Waaaah... I've been locked up here all this time, I'm so scared..."

"Lord Fish, I... I knew you and Princess Ange wouldn't abandon us!"

As the doors opened one by one, Xiaoxing, Shuangye, Shana, and Yuedie were released one by one. Apart from Shana, who was identified from the beginning as a pure ancient civilization and was not considered a player, the other three had all suffered some injuries during their previous adventures, but had obviously received treatment from the medical system.

Moreover, according to them, since waking up, they had been observing the progress of the other "game" areas through the television in the room, so everyone saw Fish's performance... and more than once they were worried for him.

Of course, they also saw how Fish and Alicia "played" them by replaying the video.

"I must admit, Miss Alicia is indeed a very... nice person," Xiaoxing said as Fish opened the last door—the one where Alicia's original self was located. "Although her life and personality are fabricated, her loyalty and positive attitude are real. I don't object to her joining us."

"I agree," Ange said. "If you'd like, you can make her one of Grand Duke Fayun's concubines."

"A concubine...a concubine?" Alicia was startled when she heard this word as soon as she opened the door. "Eh?!"

"Uh... Your Highness Ange, can we put this aside for now? After all, I'm not yet the Grand Duke of Fayun," Fish quickly chuckled. "Alright, now that everyone's here, let's finish this mess."

The entity known as the "Central Brain" was placed in the central circular area of ​​this "game" arena by the ancient civilization that captured it, right within the "safe zone" that contained those eliminated. Therefore, after releasing the others, Fish found it there without any difficulty... and unsurprisingly discovered that it was completely undefended.

The heavy blast-proof door that had originally locked the area had its lock melted through by some kind of high-energy cutting equipment, and several defense robots and automated turrets hidden in the ceiling were also smashed to pieces. The walls and floors were covered with burn marks left by energy weapons. And in one corner, Fish spotted a line of graffiti.

"The trapped souls dwell here, awaiting their final release."

Exclusive! An exclusive interview with Sokhov and behind-the-scenes look at the creation of "The Last Odyssey: The Cat Boy's Fantastic Journey," available only to Cola Novels.