The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

Two days later, on the deck of the armed merchant ship "Fearless" on the edge of the Timor Sea.

"Ugh... This place is so hot it's killing me..." Although the sun hadn't risen yet, the heat in the air was already making Fish, who was carrying large barrels full of seawater onto the ship on the deck, feel uncomfortable. Although the temperature of 33 degrees Celsius wasn't exactly extreme heat, the thought of the rising temperature that would begin after the sun rose made Fish feel unbearably hot all over.

Of course, as an armored warrior, Fish has a unique advantage over ordinary people: his intelligent combat armor has a full set of temperature regulation functions. As long as he is completely covered up, Phoenix Flame can completely isolate the external heat and maintain the internal temperature at a comfortable 24 degrees Celsius. However, the problem is that neither Phoenix Flame nor Ange recommends that he do this.

According to Ange, future monarchs should get used to meeting their subjects openly and honestly, and should never hide their faces with curtains, screens, or helmets. Only corrupt, incompetent, and unpopular monarchs need to rely on creating an air of mystery to govern their subordinates.

Therefore, at Ange's request, Fish could only temporarily equip himself with the Phoenix Flame to escape the heat during the two or three hottest hours at noon. At other times, he could only use large buckets of seawater to cool down—the worst part being that the midday temperature generally exceeded fifty degrees Celsius. Even the surface seawater would be "boiled" to a temperature close to that of hot water in a bathroom.

Therefore, even the cool water used for cooling down could only be prepared in the early morning and stored in the cool cabin.

Of course, a major downside of constantly rubbing your body with seawater is the periodic accumulation of salt. Fortunately, by equipping the Phoenix Flame once a day, the intelligent combat armor's skin-cleansing ability can absorb and remove this salt. The Phoenix Flame even went so far as to remove impurities and bromine from the purified salt, creating cubic sodium chloride blocks for storage, supposedly to "make the most of it," perhaps even using it to make seafood soup when the time is right…

...Although Fish had made up his mind that he would never drink the soup made with this kind of salt.

Of course, in this hastily decided voyage to the "forbidden land" of the Lindenhild-Fayon family (which, theoretically speaking, could also be considered Fish's own family), the legendary secret realm shrouded in countless mists, the heat was only a relatively minor issue among the many troubles. The bigger problem lay in the terrifying storms in the tropical seas that seemed to never cease.

If they were still aboard the cruiser "Inaba," the situation might have been slightly better—as a training cruiser designed primarily for global training voyages and secondarily for combat missions, the "Inaba" had optimized seaworthiness and possessed a "wider at the bottom and narrower at the top" hull cross-section that converged from bottom to top. While this cross-section would be relatively disadvantageous in the event of damage below the waterline, it was at least highly resilient and could maintain general stability even in the rough seas of the equator.

However, the problem was that Ange herself was currently wanted by the Regency Council of Fayun, and the Principality of Penglai had already become hostile to the Principality of Fayun for sheltering her. Under these circumstances, it was not a wise move to enter Fayun's territorial waters by ship. Therefore, after arriving at the Melanesian Islands, Ange and her party immediately sailed the "Inaba" into the neutral city-state of New Vila.

Of the fifteen autonomous city-states within the Pan-Pacific Empire, New Vira Port was the smallest and most inconspicuous. With a population of just over 30,000, it wasn't on any major commercial shipping routes, possessed little strategic value, and lacked even a thriving shipbuilding industry like Oasis Port. Its main exports were fish and a psychotropic drug called "Kava Pepper," made from local plants. However, its inconspicuous location made it a haven and transit point for many small explorer gangs, low-level smugglers, and mercenary groups.

While Fish and his group certainly couldn't expect these powerless, unknown nobodys to be of any help, they still possessed something Fish and his companions desired. After handing over large sums of Imperial dinars, a small war gang calling itself the "Dreadnought Fleet," whose main business was armed escort, immediately and joyfully surrendered all of their ships.

Despite calling themselves a "fleet," these guys actually only owned two small armed merchant ships, the "Fearless" and the "Good Value," with a full load displacement of less than 400 tons. They could at most be called "boats," and both were quite old and dilapidated. Even so, Ange bought these two pieces of junk for twice the market price.

After a brief rest on both ships, all crew members except for those originally on board the Inaba boarded the two ships and began their voyage towards Timor Island. The Inaba, on the other hand, remained in Porto Nueva to rest and await rendezvous with the reinforcements arriving from the Principality of Ponlai.

"The more inconspicuous the ship, the more valuable it is to us—because our primary task is to avoid attracting the enemy's attention," Ange explained regarding her decision. "Although I would prefer to buy a smaller ship if possible, based on my experience, ships smaller than this tonnage would be too dangerous to sail in low-latitude waters, so I could only choose these two."

As it turned out, Ange was right—these two 400-ton displacement armed merchant ships, powered by outdated triple-expansion steam engines driving single-shaft propellers and auxiliary power from sails on two masts, were far less seaworthy than the motor-sailer of the "Tide Lightning" warship they had previously captured. And the tropical seas were far more challenging than the calm, shallow waters of the ruins of ancient cities.

In this era, due to the side effects of continued global warming, the oceans at low latitudes constantly retain astonishing amounts of heat. This heat, once released, forms a series of terrifying storms.

Although Fish had considerable sailing experience in the past, this was the first time he had ever experienced the feeling of a small boat being violently rocked in towering waves like mountains. To make matters worse, when he asked Huang Yan at midday, when the storm was at its peak, what measures should be taken if the ship sank, the reply he received was even more despairing.

"As far as I know, there is no way," Huang Yan replied. "In these sea conditions, once a ship sinks, taking escape measures is almost impossible—even if I am the crystallization of military technology from the old civilization era, I cannot help you fight against the raging nature."

"That's right, that's right, the power of nature is that strong." Unlike Fish, who was terrified and turned pale, Ange, who was also in the cabin, was extremely calm. In fact, she even had time to have three female officers, including Mint, prepare tea for her! Although the ship was constantly rolling and pitching violently, Ange's female officers had mastered the art of pouring tea very well, keeping the tea in the cups at just the right height so that it wouldn't spill.

"Not bad. To be able to ensure that not a single drop of tea is spilled in such a storm, the ladies-in-waiting serving Princess Fayun are truly renowned for their professionalism." What made Fish even more ashamed was that Luca was also sitting comfortably with Ange, leisurely sipping tea and commenting on Ange's subordinates. Although not a nobleman, the mental fortitude of this heir to the Sherin Group was indeed far superior to that of a country bumpkin like Fish.

"You flatter me. This is merely the way of a maid in Fayun—as descendants of the 'Sword' Hero among the heroes of yesteryear, anyone with the blood of Lindenhild-Fayun is first and foremost a warrior. One must approach everything with the fighting spirit of facing a formidable foe, taking it seriously and actively," Ange replied, sipping her drink. "Mint, Peanut, and Little Luo, if their bloodlines are traced back ten generations or more, are also from a branch of the Grand Duke's family. The blood of the 'Sword' Hero also flows in their veins."

"So, their ancestors also..." Fish, who was dizzy and only managed to stay nauseous thanks to the seasickness medication injected by Phoenix Flame, suddenly realized something after hearing this. "So, Mint also knows about the 'Forbidden Land'?"

"I'm sorry, my lord, as I've already told you, detailed knowledge about the 'Forbidden Land' is limited to the direct descendants of the Grand Duke's family. Other nobles, even if they possess the Grand Duke's bloodline, can only know of the existence of the 'Forbidden Land' at most," Ange explained. "However, in theory, their bloodline could indeed resonate with the 'Forbidden Land'."

"Echo?" Fish repeated the word.

"Yes, the seal on the 'Forbidden Land' is said to be broken only by the bloodline of a hero. According to legend, the 'Forbidden Land' is where heroes of the past suppressed 'ancient evil spirits'—after my adventure in the Northwest Land, I compared the legends and finally confirmed that those so-called 'ancient evil spirits' are very likely 'Tai Sui'." Although theoretically, this knowledge should be strictly kept secret from outsiders, at this moment, neither Anjie nor anyone else cared about such rules at all.

"In other words, it's the same as what we found in that ancient facility in the North..."

“It’s not the same thing,” Ange said. “After discussing it with Huang Yan, we’ve basically confirmed this. What our ancestors trapped beneath the ‘Forbidden Land’ is most likely something far worse and far more dangerous.”

"Worse?"

"Yes, the last 'Tai Sui' group was artificially emasculated and restricted because it was used for entertainment by people from the old civilization era. Its scale was relatively limited, and it was controlled by only a 'central brain'. However, according to the records of researchers from the old civilization era, there is a higher level above the 'central brain' in the tree-like topological control structure of 'Tai Sui'," Huang Yan, who possessed a huge database of old civilization era data, replied.

"That doesn't sound good..." Fish muttered as the ship began to rock to one side once more. "What kind of class?"

"Researchers of the old civilization era call it the 'Grave Steward'," Huang Yan said, uttering this obscure term filled with ominous connotations.

"What...what the hell is this?" Fish stared wide-eyed. To him, this strange term was simply too difficult to understand.

"Literally, it means 'Supreme Controller.' The term originates from classical East Asian civilizations," Huang Yan explained. "Of course, I'm not interested in the naming conventions of scientists from the old civilization era. The important thing is the key difference between 'Grand Chancellor' and 'Central Brain.' I think you can guess it, right?"

"Hmm... let me think..." Fish began to rack his brains—since meeting Huang Yan, besides constantly participating in battles and being forced to do all sorts of cramming, he was required most to "use his own brain."

Unfortunately, for Fish, "thinking" is, in some ways, even more troublesome than fighting: when faced with a predicament in battle, or in a critical situation on the verge of collapse, he can often come up with a way out in the blink of an eye and escape by sheer quick wit. However, when it comes to calmly analyzing and reasoning, his ability is probably not even a fraction of that of a certain elementary school student who is a death god.

So, after exhausting every brain cell he could muster and engaging in a fierce mental struggle, Fish finally uttered the answer he could think of: "Hmm... the 'Grand Chancellor' is at a higher level than the 'Central Brain' in the 'Grand Duke's' command system. Right?"

"What a brilliant answer! Congratulations on discovering the fact that 'Grandpa is of a higher generation than Dad.'" Huang Yan let out a cold laugh in a synthesized voice. "So, anything else?"

"This... I really can't think of anything. Maybe the 'Grandmaster' is smarter?"

"In a sense, yes," Huang Yan replied. "According to past records, the 'Tomb Overlord's' tactical capabilities and judgment are indeed superior to those of the lower-level 'Grand Dukes' control nodes. But its greatest characteristic is 'infinity'."

"unlimited?"

"As you should know, the 'Tai Sui,' a weapon developed based on parasitic organisms, isn't particularly effective," Huang Yan said. "Its hierarchical, tree-like topology command and control system means that its basic units have no autonomy whatsoever. They can only receive and process information from each control node and issue commands. This means that the number of combat units that a single control node can control depends on the upper limit of its computing and processing capabilities. Even the 'Central Brain' we encountered last time, according to my estimate, could not effectively control more than 100,000 individuals."

"That's already quite a lot," Fish said.

"Yes, but not that many. This number only poses a regional threat," Huang Yan said. "However, the 'Tomb Overlord' is different; it has no limit on the number of units it can control."