The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"This...is unlikely, isn't it?" Fish paused, "An unlimited number? But that just doesn't make sense."

"Oh, what's wrong with it?" Huang Yan asked.

"Hmm... because if the 'Tai Sui's' hierarchical control ability directly depends on the node's computing power, then 'infinity' is impossible—computing means that there needs to be an objectively existing computing unit, and energy and matter need to be invested to drive the computing unit and store information," Fish tried hard to dig out the knowledge he had learned in the past few months, "and energy and matter cannot be infinite."

"Excellent, excellent! It seems my husband has learned quite a bit." As soon as Fish finished speaking, Ange clapped first. "And to be able to apply what you've learned to reasoning and analysis is truly outstanding! With you becoming the next head of the Lyndonhild-Fayun family, our ancestors can rest assured."

"Uh... Meow..." Fish, who could never handle praise, blushed instantly, while Luca covered her mouth and giggled—a smile she used to give Fish every time she teased him in the bar a few years ago.

"Yes, technically you're right," Huang Yan replied, "but this only applies to the situation in 'this universe'."

"Uh... what does 'this universe' mean?"

"Have you heard of quantum physics? Well, it's okay if you haven't. In the past, people believed that, based on countless 'events with different possibilities,' different parallel worlds could theoretically exist: when something goes in different 'possible outcomes,' the timeline of the world would be split in two. And because 'possibilities' themselves are infinite, there could theoretically be an infinite number of parallel worlds."

"This sounds like something out of a fantasy novel."

"Indeed. For a very long time, this theory was merely a thought experiment," Huang Yan replied. "However, at the end of the old civilization era, as the expansion beyond the solar system continued, people unexpectedly found corresponding evidence—namely, the highest-level control node of 'Tai Sui,' the 'Zhongzai.' After a fierce conflict, the exploration team at the time successfully captured a 'Zhongzai' and brought it back to Earth for testing. The result was that it was discovered that its instantaneous computing power seemed to have no upper limit."

"Well……"

"At first, the researchers thought something was wrong. However, after more experiments, they found that their observations were correct: the highest-level control node, 'The Grandmaster,' is essentially a very special living quantum computer."

"I've heard of computers. But what is a quantum computer?" Even Luca joined in the curious inquiry this time.

"To put it another way, when the 'Grandmaster' is operating normally, it can temporarily penetrate the barriers between different parallel worlds created by 'possibilities' during the computation process and connect with itself in other worlds in some way," Huang Yan explained. "I know this is not easy to understand. But you can imagine that in a large number of parallel worlds, the same 'Grandmaster' is also created, and it is essentially the same individual as the one in our world."

"Let me think... So, the 'Gravemaster' can make his counterparts in parallel worlds simultaneously engage in data processing and computation? That's equivalent to 'borrowing' computing power from them?" The quick-witted Luca soon showed an expression of sudden realization.

"Yes. Moreover, theoretically, there could be an infinite number of parallel worlds. Although only a portion of them would contain 'Tai Sui' and 'Zhong Zai', they could still provide nearly infinite theoretical computing power," Huang Yan said. "Therefore, once a 'Zhong Zai' is activated, under ideal conditions, its information processing capabilities are unlimited. This will lead to two results."

"Two?" Fish asked.

"Yes. First of all, the expansion of 'Tai Sui' will theoretically become completely unrestricted," Huang Yan said. "Unlike the situation in the Northwest Land, under the control of 'Tomb Overlord,' once 'Tai Sui' is not suppressed in the initial stage and begins to expand like a snowball, it will multiply endlessly. At that time, as time goes by, it will become increasingly impossible to stop them—and the final result may even be that the entire world is swept away by them."

"And... what about the second result?"

"The 'Tai Sui' will fully reveal its astonishing variability," Huang Yan's tone became more serious. "Although when people first came into contact with the 'Tai Sui,' they thought it was just a parasite with a 'super-individual' structure, whose combat capabilities depended entirely on the host's physical qualities and the weapons and equipment it possessed. But they soon discovered that the situation was not entirely like that."

“That’s right,” Ange said, sipping her tea gracefully in the swaying cabin, and nodding slightly. “The ‘Tai Sui’ will further modify the host after parasitizing it. Some of the hosts we encountered in the battles before showed significant physical deformities.”

"But this is only the first step," Huang Yan said. "These complex modifications, as well as the control of the modified bio-weapons, will also consume a lot of the computing power of the 'Tai Sui' control node. Therefore, with limited computing power, the modification of 'Tai Sui' is limited to adding some simple appendages, tentacles and other structures that can be used as temporary weapons to a small number of hosts that do not possess weapons, especially wild animals, so that they at least have some means of attack."

(Please remember the website 20 ...

"So, those guys can install even more...exciting stuff on the host?" Fish asked.

"Yes, past records show this—although there aren't many of these records, it's certain that experts at the time judged that, given sufficient computing power, the host of the 'Tai Sui' after weaponization even demonstrated combat capabilities comparable to autonomous weapons of the time, to the point that in many combat scenarios, captured weapons, equipment, and protective gear were no longer needed."

"Tsk, that sounds troublesome, but I still have a way to deal with them." Frostleaf, who had been sitting motionless in the corner of the cabin, suddenly spoke up—like Fish, this horse girl was also completely unable to stand the sea's turbulence. However, her coping method was to force herself into a state of "selflessness" through a special technique called "meditation" to escape the external discomfort. She only spoke when necessary, "Among the synthetic beasts left over from the old civilization era, there are also many types that possess living weapons. I have extensive experience in slaying them."

"I believe in your abilities in this area, Lord Frostleaf," Phoenix Flame said. "However, the 'Tomb Overlord,' once its control is fully unleashed, can infect not only humans but also animals. According to research left behind by the old civilization era, they may even be able to infect and modify plants, fungi, and other organisms—as long as they are large enough and complex multicellular organisms. Only some simple multicellular organisms, single-celled organisms, and viruses—organisms without complete cellular structures—are unaffected."

"So... in extreme situations, the entire natural environment can also become our enemy?" Fish asked in surprise.

"Just to be on the safe side, you'd better think of it that way."

"Damn, is that so...? Well, that really is... uh..."

After Huang Yan finished speaking, eerie images once again flashed through Fish's mind: swamps and mountains covered in misty purple clouds, eerie purplish-red forests, giant multi-legged monsters advancing like insects, walking machines and vehicles covered in fleshy vines and chitinous spikes, monsters flapping their wings in the air like legendary wyverns, and acidic spits and writhing living ammunition flying everywhere...

In the past, he had also suddenly and inexplicably associated these images with news related to "Tai Sui" before, but this time, Fish finally understood something - due to his previous experience of contacting those hosts who had been modified by "Tai Sui", he was now quite certain that in this strange scene that was like a memory and a dream, the things that appeared in the purple clouds and were in his camp were very likely the products of "Tai Sui" parasitizing and distorting other life!

Of course, Fish didn't tell anyone about these fleeting images that crossed his mind—after all, he couldn't explain why he saw them, let alone what they meant.

"My lord, are you alright?"

"I'm fine! It's just... uh... just a little seasick..." Fish quickly bluffed and managed to get away with it—of course, neither Ange nor anyone else suspected anything.

"In short, if Iskandar Lomonosov went so far as to deliberately provoke conflict and meticulously create the illusion that 'ancient autonomous weapons pose a huge threat to modern people' in order to excavate the 'Forbidden Land,' and use this to intimidate the royal family and the Regency Council of Fayun, then we should assume that he knows very well what is in the 'Forbidden Land,' and that he may already be preparing a plan to manipulate the 'Tai Sui,'" Ange said. "However, others involved in the plan, especially the rank-and-file soldiers and workers, are likely unaware of this."

“That’s right. They were probably just told that some kind of powerful weapon is hidden in the ‘Forbidden Land’ that can be used to fight against the autonomous weapons of the old civilization era that have been ‘suddenly awakened’ and threaten the survival of human civilization,” Luca put down her teacup and nodded slightly. “Therefore, we cannot simply regard them as enemies.”

"In fact, as long as we can make them realize the true nature of 'Tai Sui' and the real threat they are currently facing, we have a good chance of winning them over," Ange said. "In addition, seeking help from the locals is also an option. Therefore, although the situation is urgent, we still need to spend some time conducting preliminary investigations and trying to obtain allies while waiting for reinforcements."

"Hmm, I agree." Fish said, trying to figure out how to convince people that "Tai Sui" was the real threat. However, as soon as he thought about it, images that were either dreams or memories resurfaced in his mind, causing Fish to fall into deep thought again.

Was all of this truly his memory? Or merely his imagination?

If it's just imagination, why does it seem so real?

If it really is a memory he has forgotten, then when and where was this memory left behind? At least, Fish himself has a feeling that this place is very likely... not even on Earth.

After all, even setting aside those eerie, ominous mountains and the swirling purplish-red mist, in his memory, there were three small moons in the sky above this world!

However, despite Fish's best efforts, he still couldn't figure it out even after the "Indomitable" had sailed out of the storm area and the sun had set. After that, the "Indomitable" and the "Good Value" continued sailing for about a day and a half, surviving two more equally violent storms. Finally, as the cumulonimbus clouds gradually dispersed, revealing the blue sky and scorching sunshine, Timor's verdant coastline finally appeared on the horizon.

"Huff... huff... huff..." Legend has it that Christopher Columbus's men cheered and celebrated on deck when they saw the coasts of the Bahamas and Hispaniola. However, when this mini "fleet" approached Timor, the first thing most of them, including Fish, did was... run to the edge of the deck to vomit.

After all, the previous storm was really life-threatening!

After emptying his stomach in this unseemly manner, Fish gasped for breath as he estimated the distance to the coast—barring any unforeseen circumstances, they would be able to approach the coastline a dozen nautical miles away in an hour, launch the transport boat, and begin organizing the landing.

According to the map provided by Anjie, the straight-line distance between the login location and the inland mountain basin where the "secret realm" is located is nearly 90 kilometers. Considering that there are many mountains with an altitude of over 1,000 meters along the way, the actual time required to traverse this distance is...

Before Fish could even process these questions in his mind, a piercing whistle suddenly blared from the masttops of both the "Invincible" and the "Good Value"—a danger alarm! Upon hearing this, everyone who had finished vomiting immediately took their positions and rushed to their battle stations, while Fish looked around, trying to find the source of the danger.

Thanks to the visual and auditory enhancements provided by Phoenix Flame, Fish's search didn't take long—following the low hum of the radial aircraft engine, he quickly found his target: a biplane in the distance. This aircraft, flying close to the island's coastline, was an improved version of the "Flying Fish" model he had flown in the Northland before, with striking sun and lightning patterns painted on the edges of its fuselage.

That's the emblem used exclusively by the royal army.