The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Your Highness, while it's good to boost morale before battle, please watch your words and avoid making careless statements," a somewhat uneasy male voice interrupted Yue Die after she confidently uttered these words. "Necessary caution is indispensable in battle."

"Oh dear, oh dear, I'm not just spouting nonsense, Your Highness Baron Ruan Aofu," Yue Die replied. "Although we currently have fewer armored forces, which might make you, as the commander of the armored forces, uncomfortable, I can assure you that even without armored forces, we can handle the situation."

"I'm not so sure." Ruan Aofu continued to hold up his binoculars, not even glancing at Yue Die. At the same time, the riots were spreading, and the location of the fires and explosions was constantly approaching the direction of the Penglai Embassy. "Even by the most conservative estimate, these guys are more powerful than those low-level armored warriors controlled by 'Tai Sui' that I encountered in the Anadel region last time. They should not be underestimated."

"Well, that's true." Tsukicho, who had also participated in that battle (although she was using Sachi's body at the time), nodded. "But compared to last time, we have a huge advantage."

"For example?"

"In the last battle, although we had a geographical advantage, you lost most of your heavy weapons during the retreat to the high ground, leaving you with only a limited number of light weapons. Not only are you short of ammunition, but your positions are also infiltrated by a large number of civilians who lack combat capabilities," Yue Die said. "What's worse is that a 'Tai Sui' host infiltrated the defensive positions, causing your defenses to collapse and your only advantage of terrain to be effectively lost."

"Hmm..." Baron Ruan Aofu frowned. Clearly, Yue Die's words had stirred up unpleasant memories. "Indeed..."

"But this time it's different. Although the enemy seems to be stronger than those unlucky guys parasitized by 'Tai Sui,' both Lord Huang Yan and Princess An Jie have assured us that they can only maintain this level of combat power for a few tens of minutes," Yue Die said confidently. "Moreover, their main targets are the local residents who are users of the equipment on Deep Dark Island, and they cannot mobilize all their forces for the offensive against the embassy district."

"Even so, we are still at a disadvantage." Ruan Aofu maintained a serious expression, clearly indicating that Yue Die's words had not been persuasive enough for him.

"But this time, we have ample machine gun and anti-materiel rifle firepower, along with traps and roadblocks. Even if we can't kill a lot of those guys, we can at least buy them enough time," Moon Butterfly said.

"Are you sure? With just the weapons we have..."

"That's enough! As a seasoned armored warrior, I can assure you definitively that, aside from extreme special cases like Princess Ange's 'Golden Fortress,' most armored warriors still cannot rely on their armor to withstand armor-piercing rounds fired from large-caliber machine guns and sniper rifles. Even Princess Fish's 'Phoenix Flame' is no exception."

"In other words, as long as we suppress the enemy and buy time..."

"That's right. So I'm very confident..." Yue Die wanted to say more, but her words were cut short by a gunshot that came from not far away.

Melu, who had been on guard with a sniper rifle held aloft on the rooftop, fired the first shot of the defensive operation of the Penglai Principality's embassy towards "something" in the distance.

"Everyone stay alert! Hold your breath and only fire when the enemy is within range! Don't be stingy with ammunition. If you can't eliminate the enemy, use sustained fire to suppress them and buy time!" Ruan Aofu issued the order through the embassy's communication system.

A moment later, after Melu's sniper rifle fired a second shot, even those without binoculars could see the figures silently approaching from a distance: these all-black-clad individuals neither spoke nor interacted during their operation; they simply formed small teams in perfect unison, advancing at a leisurely pace. After Melu shot and felled the first person, the two surrounding teams immediately dispersed, using the surrounding rocks and trees for cover. The teams further away fired a cloud of hot smoke grenades, attempting to block the enemy snipers' beams.

Of course, this was futile—Melu had already discovered that these strange black-masked figures were emitting radio waves of a specific frequency. The old-fashioned smart sights mounted on her weapon happened to possess the ability to capture these radio waves. After a brief analysis, the sights even identified what these radio waves were: some kind of personal tactical radar used to detect hidden traps, booby traps, and enemies that used optical camouflage to conceal themselves.

Under normal circumstances, such tactical radars can provide users with a significant advantage in low-visibility environments. But now, they are unknowingly exposing the attackers' coordinates. Relying on the detection of radio waves, Merlu's second shot pierced the trunk of a coconut tree 1,600 meters away, taking down the guy hiding behind it.

Under normal circumstances, such tactical radars can provide users with a significant advantage in low-visibility environments. But now, they are unknowingly exposing the attackers' coordinates. Relying on the detection of radio waves, Merlu's second shot pierced the trunk of a coconut tree 1,600 meters away, taking down the guy hiding behind it.

"How is it?" Unable to see clearly, Shana, clutching a submachine gun for self-defense and crouching anxiously behind cover, could only ask in a low voice during a lull in Merlu's firing.

According to Ange's original plan, as an important figure but lacking combat ability, she should have hidden in the safest area, the embassy's basement. However, because she was worried about her companions, after hesitating for a while, she returned to the roof and chose to stay with Melu.

"No problem! The new bullets Ange gave me are just as good as this scope!" Melu said with a smile after pulling the bolt and ejecting an empty cartridge.

Unlike the brass cartridge cases common in this era, these ejected cartridge cases, though similar in color, lacked the characteristic luster of metal and made no sound when they hit the ground—this was because they were made of a high-strength plastic specially crafted in the old civilization. And this was just one of the many unique features of the ammunition that Melu had obtained.

After their adventure in the Northland, Fish and his companions, while searching the occupied ancient facilities, not only found hundreds of Alicia's "sisters," but also acquired a batch of relatively less important loot. Among them were the smart sight mounted on Meru's rifle and this special ammunition. As tools for a death game, the ammunition boxes containing these rounds were labeled "General Purpose 7.7mm Rocket-Boosted Armor-Piercing Rounds" when they were found.

Unlike conventional ammunition of this era, these things, although they can be fired by ordinary firearms, do not primarily derive their kinetic energy from the propellant—the gases produced by the combustion of the propellant are at most enough to propel the bullet out of the muzzle and give it a limited initial velocity.

After that, the second-stage miniature rockets are ignited, further accelerating the warhead. The miniature shaped charge inside the warhead allows it to achieve better armor penetration than anti-material ammunition twice the size of the warhead, and the recoil is so low that even a little girl like Melu can tolerate it.

With this combination of specially made ammunition and intelligent aiming devices, Melu had successfully rendered the five black-masked men incapable of fighting after firing all five rounds in the magazine. However, more important than directly killing the enemy was indicating targets for other defensive firepower: the bright exhaust plume of the mini booster rockets was more effective and accurate in indicating target locations than any tracer rounds.

After each specially designed rocket-propelled armor-piercing round is launched, the heavy machine guns deployed inside and around the embassy will open fire in the direction of its flight. For the black-masked men who operate in small squads, this means that the entire squad around them will be suppressed by fire and have to stop advancing or even retreat.

Melu wasn't fixated on eliminating the enemy—she remembered Ange's parting words, conserving ammunition and only opening fire decisively when she detected enemies attempting to approach the embassy area by any means, while simultaneously directing her own machine gun fire for suppression. While the Black Masked Men possessed formidable combat prowess, their weapons had relatively limited range; once suppressed from a distance, they posed little threat to the embassy guards. A few attempted to stealthily approach through the complex terrain, using the ground features for cover, but repeatedly stumbled upon booby traps and ammunition.

After nearly half an hour of back-and-forth fighting, the faceless men in black made no progress against this "sniper rifle guidance + heavy machine gun barrage" tactic. Then, an unexpected change occurred: after another squad's advance was repelled, a large group of men in black suddenly ignored the heavy machine gun fire, transformed one of their arm armors into a heavy bulletproof shield to protect their vitals, and began to charge forward at an astonishing speed while firing wildly at the front with their individual energy weapons.

Of course, this charge was destined to fail: because there were too many of them, the embassy guards didn't even need to use rocket-propelled bullets to point out the targets. They had already fired several flares with light mortars into the heads of these guys. Then, a dense barrage of heavy machine gun bullets, like a torrential downpour during a typhoon, began to bombard these reckless attackers from all angles.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha—"

The heavy machine gun on the second-floor terrace of the embassy ceased firing and began changing ammunition belts and barrels. Merlu briefly heard Alicia's sharp laughter, who had been assigned there as an auxiliary gunner.

As a rapid clone created for a death game, Alicia's love for death, violence, and destruction is ingrained in her very being. Therefore, the large number of deaths just now clearly pleased her greatly.

"That feels so good! Hahahaha—" As she attached the new barrel to the heavy machine gun, Alicia's excitement was beyond words. Even the others on the rooftop could sense her instinctive joy. "These idiots actually charged over here! Looks like they know that being smashed to pieces is their just desserts!"

"No, they just know their time is running out," Shana said. "Have you forgotten? The combat capabilities of these rapidly cloned humans, secretly manufactured and hidden in the Oasis Harbor slums, are maintained by cheap, limited-duration smart combat armor and enhancement drugs—just like those short-skirted girls from the Short-Skirt Pirates. From the time they were activated until now, the first batch has likely already reached its limit."

"So, that's why they chose to go all out in the last few minutes, launching a desperate, all-or-nothing charge?" Melu asked after taking down another figure in the center of the sights.

"Well... if we consider them as 'disposable tools,' this is indeed the theoretically optimal solution," Shana said softly.

As the heavy machine gun on the second-floor balcony began its incessant roar again, the machine guns deployed in the surrounding fortifications had completed their volley and fallen silent once more. Of the nearly one hundred masked men who had initially charged, only a dozen or so remained. Thanks to the stamina boost provided by their black armor, these men had successfully reached an area less than five hundred meters from the embassy compound. At this distance, the energy weapons formed from their arm armor could finally pose a threat to the guards.

When the last man fell into the pitfall trap set by the "Red Cat" gang and was blown to pieces by explosives hidden at the bottom—enough to shatter an armored vehicle—this suicidal charge resulted in the deaths of six defenders and the destruction of a heavy machine gun by a plasma missile—overall, a perfectly acceptable loss.

"See? We can win." After the battle temporarily came to an end, Yue Die reappeared on the roof of the Penglai Embassy with a smug look on her face, feeling very proud of her foresight. Ruan Aofu, who was walking with her, also looked much more relaxed.

"It seems the situation is indeed more optimistic than I previously estimated," the baron said.

"That's for sure. I've already calculated it—if the 'Red Cat' bandit group's previous observations are accurate, the total number of these rapidly cloned individuals placed in the city to cause trouble will not exceed 1,500. These people will first be deployed to attack targets within the city, namely the locals who may have inherited the 'registered user' identity."

"This part isn't difficult," Melu said, recalling the scene she had seen earlier.

"Yes. But the problem is, they have to attack here—after all, the 'Red Cat' bandits and the short-skirted pirate gang that retreated into the embassy district are almost all local natives, and there must be descendants of the earliest settlers among them. In other words, at least some of the people who inherited the 'registered user' identity are in the embassy. Without eliminating them, we cannot achieve the goals of those ambitious people in Fayun," Yue Die said. "Those guys certainly understand that the embassy district of Penglai is very likely the most heavily fortified stronghold in the entire city. Therefore, they will commit their main forces to launch an offensive here—according to my estimation, they will commit a maximum of seven hundred to eight hundred people."

"But because the duration of the battle is limited, this group of people will not be deployed all at once," Ruan Aofu said. "Without the confidence to capture the embassy district in one go, they can only choose to attack in batches, which will significantly reduce their combat advantage."

"That's right. According to my estimation, sending out an attack wave of one or two hundred people at a time, divided into a dozen to twenty squads, is the limit for these guys." Yue Die nodded confidently.

"Just like before," Shana said.

"Yes. But an offensive of this scale falls precisely within the range where our firepower can intercept and slow it down. This means that unless they launch a desperate attack with no remaining troops, they have no chance," Moon Butterfly's expression grew increasingly smug. "In this respect, we are already invincible. There's absolutely no need... Wait, what's going on?!"

Just as she was delivering her seemingly flawless theory, a massive force—far exceeding the "one or two hundred" she had just mentioned—rushed towards the embassy district from the distant Oasis Port area like a swarm of frenzied fire ants.