The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

Enjoy reading "The Last Odyssey: The Fantastic Adventures of a Cat Boy".

"You said you encountered... a door?" Upon hearing this, Iskandar Lomonosov immediately showed a wary expression.

"Yes, the passage becomes almost horizontal ninety meters down—though it still has a slope of about one-tenth," the officer continued, "After clearing a portion of the area, we came across the door. As you instructed, we located the control panel and entered several possible universal activation codes, but none of them worked."

"Oh? Does it show 'Open request rejected'?"

"That's right. And we later discovered that even if we weren't refused, it wouldn't have worked—because the metal door itself seemed to be welded shut by some kind of equipment." The officer shook his head. "We've already mobilized cutting equipment and are preparing to use laser cutting torches left over from the old civilization era to forcibly cut it open."

"Wait, what did you say?!" The archaeologist became even more uneasy.

"Uh... sir. I've deployed a batch of laser cutting torches to cut the welded-in airtight door."

"And before that, you tried entering the universal activation code without notifying me? And then the activation request was rejected?" Iskandar Lomonosov began to stroll slowly toward the SUV not far away.

"Oh right. Your Excellency said you allowed us to decide for ourselves... Wait, what?!"

Before the brigadier general could finish speaking, his feet suddenly began to shake violently. A few seconds later, a group of workers and guards dressed only in shorts and loincloths rushed out of the "funnel" screaming, each with an expression of utter terror.

"W-What's going on?!"

"Monster! There's a monster! Aaaaaaaah!"

A junior officer shouted in terror. Then, as the ground shook more violently, a huge shadow emerged from the funnel.

Knight. That was the first word that popped into Iskander Lomonosov's mind when he saw that shadow. Indeed, this ancient being, bipedal, heavily armored, and six meters tall, did resemble the stereotypical image of a late medieval knight in full plate armor from an old civilization. However, while it held a huge shield in one hand, it did not hold the heavy lance that was a knight's "signature" weapon in the other.

Because the other arm of this "knight" covered in bright silver armor is itself a weapon.

Upon discovering this colossal creature, the guards deployed at the edge of the "funnel" immediately took action—these were not regular troops of the Duchy of Fayun, but elite soldiers from the First Brigade of the Imperial Guard, directly under the Emperor of the Pan-Pacific Empire. Although the six-meter-tall giant knight exuded a despairing sense of oppression, these men did not panic, but decisively chose to open fire on it.

7.7mm rifle bullets and light machine gun rounds of the same caliber struck the armored giant's shield and armor with a clanging sound, like raindrops falling on roof tiles. The effect, however, was merely to create a commotion. Then, as several tracer rounds fired from the aiming pistols hit their target, the heavy weapons team joined the fray: two 75mm recoilless rifles opened fire at a distance of less than 300 meters, and in the ensuing flash, specially designed armor-piercing rounds struck the armored giant precisely in the chest.

Then... after the violent explosion, the "knight" staggered, but quickly regained his balance.

"Ancestors above!" The brigadier general who had just spoken with Iskander Lomonosov was completely stunned—after all, in his understanding, to withstand such armor-piercing projectiles that could generate high-temperature metal jets, which the Empire's military scientists had only developed in the last two years, would require at least the level of protection of a naval battleship's armor belt.

However, there wasn't a single scratch on the armor of this behemoth.

Worse still, as the heavy weapons team began reloading the recoilless rifle, the behemoth responded: it raised its weaponized right arm, a bright golden beam sweeping across the heavy weapons team's cover like a longsword, and then, it was all over.

There were no ammunition explosions, because the propellant inside the shells piled next to the cannons sublimated into unstable gas molecules at the higher temperatures before it even had a chance to oxidize. Then, the molecular structure, even the most basic structures of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, potassium, and hydrogen atoms, collapsed one after another, turning into a mass of ionized atomic nuclei and randomly moving free electrons. Of course, the recoilless rifles and their gunners met the same terrible fate. The only saving grace was that, because the end came so suddenly, these men were at least not panicked.

Because they didn't even have time to feel panic, let alone pain.

After that, a hidden 90mm low-pressure cannon, several small-caliber mortars, and automatic grenade launchers also opened fire from their concealed bunkers. Since Iskander Lomonosov had foreseen that there might be dangers lurking underground in the "forbidden area," he had ordered these weapons to be prepared before the excavation work began, just in case.

Unfortunately, just like the recoilless rifles that fired initially, these heavy weapons of varying calibers were ineffective against the "knight": high-explosive grenades were harmlessly deflected off the massive shield, and rockets fired from low-pressure cannons struck the smooth edge of his gauntlets before veering off to the side and exploding harmlessly on the black glass floor.

In contrast, 60mm mortar shells create a more noteworthy visual effect—primarily because they are loaded with a specially designed incendiary warhead that, upon detonation, sprays a large amount of viscous fuel onto the target surface and ignites it. This giant Molotov cocktail-like warhead is quite effective against armored vehicles and fortifications. It can destroy heavily fortified targets by filling ventilation openings or igniting engine intakes with fuel.

Surprisingly, after being engulfed in flames, the "knight" continued to stride forward amidst the raging fire, just like the Ghost Rider from ancient legends, sweeping away the hidden firing points one by one.

"My God! What are we going to do? Lord Lomonosov... wait, where are you, Your Excellency? Don't leave me! Please—" The terrified officer instinctively tried to call for help from Iskander Lomonosov, but he immediately discovered that the archaeologist had already jumped into the SUV and sped away several hundred meters away!

Even worse, before he could figure out how to deal with the situation, a huge, burning foot stomped down on his head!

"Gah—"

In the light off-road vehicle speeding away from the "funnel" area, Iskandar Lomonosov heard the unfortunate brigadier general's final scream. However, there was no time to mourn his death; the group he had truly placed his hopes on arrived next—a rapid response team of eight elite armored warriors of "Crystal" rank or higher.

Even within Emperor Anthemius III's Janissary Guard, there were only two such high-ranking armored squads. However, due to the powerful "persuasiveness" generated by previous events, he generously loaned one of these squads to Iskander Lomonosov as the final security measure at the "Forbidden Zone" excavation site. This decision proved remarkably prescient: with all the pre-prepared heavy weapons proving ineffective, only these elite troops could be of any help.

The first to engage in combat were three armored warriors from the rapid response team equipped with anti-gravity wings. Capable of short-range flight, they were the first to reach the vicinity of the excavation area. To achieve surprise, while the massive "Knight" swept through the surrounding firing positions, the three armored warriors ascended to an altitude of nearly a thousand meters, deliberately flying towards the setting sun. They used the sunlight scattering in the atmosphere to conceal their presence before suddenly diving under the influence of gravity.

The three armored warriors, who launched their attack in a triangular formation, broke the sound barrier in an instant. The crisp sonic boom attracted the attention of the giant "knight" who was burning the strongpoint with energy weapons. Just as it turned around, three specially made tungsten alloy armor-piercing bullets hit its weakest point.

This tactic was specifically designed by Iskander Lomonosov to deal with the possibility of giant guards, and it largely imitated the dive bomber tactics of the mid-20th century. Of course, in this era, since fixed-wing aircraft using internal combustion engines had only recently been rebuilt, their strength and speed were very limited. Therefore, this tactic could only be carried out by a very small number of armored warriors.

Powered by their supersonic initial velocity, the three drill-shaped projectiles, each weighing eighty kilograms and constructed primarily of sturdy tungsten alloy, gained astonishing instantaneous kinetic energy. The silver-armored "knight" immediately assessed this by estimating the target's mass and velocity. Without hesitation, he raised his heavy shield, blocking the attack at the last possible moment.

Three tungsten alloy armor-piercing projectiles slammed heavily into the heavy shield, forcing the ancient, autonomous weapon to retreat two steps. Although the 20-centimeter-thick, high-strength shield successfully avoided being directly penetrated, the projectiles still managed to pierce its surface and become lodged in a semi-molten state. The "knight," like a barbarian attacked by a Roman javelin, was forced to discard his damaged shield.

Then, it raised its right arm energy weapon, which was already nearing overheating, and fired a dazzling beam at the attacker in the air—however, the way the armored warriors, relying on their anti-gravity wings to stay in the air, flew was completely different from that of fixed-wing aircraft. Because they could easily perform hovering or near-zero radius sharp turns, the traditional methods of observing flight trajectories, calculating lead, and firing were basically ineffective against them.

As we all know, no matter how powerful an attack is, it is meaningless if it misses.

Just as the three-man squad in the air nimbly dodged left and right like flies dodging a fly swatter, drawing the enemy's attention, the other five members of the rapid reaction team also entered the battlefield: unable to fly, they could only approach the target in a four-wheeled off-road vehicle identical to the one used by Iskander Lomonosov.

The armored giants, over six meters tall, naturally noticed their arrival. Fortunately, on this black glass field, apart from a few withered, low-lying plants growing from the cracks, there were no obstacles. Therefore, the off-road vehicles had a high degree of freedom of movement, able to maneuver and evade attacks at will. As they approached, the armored giants, their armor still flickering with residual flames, fired a total of three energy beams, but only one hit its target. The off-road vehicle enveloped by the energy beam, along with its driver and one armored warrior, was completely vaporized into atoms in the blink of an eye.

Then, the ancient guardian's good fortune finally came to an end.

Once within range of individual weapons, the four surviving members of the rapid response team unleashed a barrage of small, powerful ion beams. While this rapid-fire attack was limited in power and unable to penetrate the target's armor, it was not entirely useless.

Unlike the ordinary guards who were frantically firing, they knew exactly where the true weakness of the ancient autonomous weapons lay—the main distribution of the complex external sensors—and could cover those areas with relatively accurate fire.

As the ion beams struck the target area, the six-meter-tall giant's optical sensors were rapidly melted and rendered unusable, while its acoustic sensors, radar system, and motion sensors were also severely damaged. Within a very short time, it became deaf and blind, only able to blindly wave its arms and attack aimlessly.

In contrast, the rapid response team quickly jumped off the off-road vehicle, using the armored warriors' leg strength to sprint to the target's feet, attaching their cone-shaped explosive devices to the target's leg joints, and then detonating them one by one.

Although this six-meter-tall "Knight" was covered in heavy armor on most parts, like any walking machine, its joints were one of its few weaknesses. With a loud explosion, its "ankle" was blown off, and it finally fell helplessly to the ground, ceasing its destructive actions.

"Phew... my God... what on earth did those guys put in there to prevent this thing from being unearthed again..." Seeing the behemoth had fallen, Iskandar Lomonosov let out a long breath and stopped the SUV. Then, he took out a notebook from the SUV's storage compartment and hurriedly started making notes.

The fact that such staggering losses occurred from a single encounter with the guardians undoubtedly meant that they would need significantly more guards and weaponry to reach their final destination. However, the archaeologist's expression was one of delight as he wrote these requirements down in his notebook.

After all, having encountered such a formidable guardian, it also meant that his target was within reach. In other words, once all obstacles were cleared, the "final reward" he had been searching for would await him.

"Very good, the show is about to begin." After closing his notebook, Iskandar Lomonosov muttered to himself in a light tone.