The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"It's an enemy plane!" Just as Fish saw the identification markings on the plane, Ange also came out of the cabin, her expression quite solemn. "It's from the Imperial Guard's First 'Crown' Brigade, and it should be a reconnaissance plane directly under the brigade command."

"Huh? How did you figure that out?" Fish asked.

"Look at the serial number on the fuselage, my lord," Ange explained, "and that proves the worst thing."

"Yes," Fish nodded. After this period of rote learning, even he knew that the First Imperial Guard Brigade should be an armed force stationed in the Pan-Pacific Empire's capital in Hawaii, directly under the Emperor's command. This force could absolutely not be mobilized by the Regency Council of Fayun or the likes of General Rissmer.

In other words, the very appearance of this aircraft meant that their previous speculations had become reality: the Regency Council of Fayun, or more precisely, their advisor to the archaeologist Iskander Lomonosov, had successfully convinced the emperor himself of the "great threat" posed by ancient autonomous weapons by creating several emergency situations, and was willing to deploy the most important royal armed forces to support their excavation work in order to find "countermeasures".

"To be honest, I'm reluctant to take action against His Majesty the Emperor's own army," Ange said softly, clenching her hands tightly. "However, it seems we don't have that luxury right now."

"That plane has definitely spotted us! I'm absolutely certain of that, because it's approaching this way!" Moonbeam, who was in charge of commanding the other ship, "Good Value for Money," shouted in the communication channel dedicated to the armored warriors. Although this girl had once suggested staying with the "Inaba" in New Vila Port, Ange insisted on taking her along, considering that her combat strength as an armored warrior was indeed not to be underestimated.

"What do we do?" Fish asked. "Can we think of a way to deceive them?"

"Unlikely. This plane is most likely on patrol in this area. Besides, I wouldn't recommend using false flags or deception to fool it," replied Frostleaf, who had just arrived on deck. "Based on my usual practice in the military police, upon discovering a suspicious vehicle, regardless of what it says, we must stop and search it. It will most likely order us to stop here and then radio a patrol boat."

"However, I can activate the maximum electromagnetic interference mode—although this isn't my forte, considering the poor radio capabilities of aircraft in this era, preventing that plane from transmitting normally within a 30-kilometer radius shouldn't be a problem," Huang Yan continued. "Then, once we can take care of it, it will take the other side at least several hours to confirm that the plane has crashed."

"It will take even longer to figure out the cause of the crash," Frostleaf nodded. "And by then, we'll have already escaped. The only problem is, given the distance, taking down that plane in one go might be a bit difficult..."

"Let me give it a try!" Mel, carrying her beloved sniper rifle, pulled Shana's hand and came up to the deck. Alicia, who lived with the two of them, did not come along—this rapid clone, created as a combat machine, had already climbed to the top of the bridge and was adjusting the heavy machine gun mounted there, preparing for the worst possible situation.

"No, I'm afraid you alone are not enough now..." As more aircraft engines roared from afar, Fish frowned—just as everyone on the ship was preparing for battle, as many as ten more planes flew over the mountains of Timor Island one after another, rushing toward the coastline like a swarm of angry bumblebees.

In this era, because aviation technology, especially fixed-wing aircraft technology, had only recently been reinvented, none of the states of the Pan-Pacific Empire had established independent air forces. Instead, they chose to allocate their limited air power to the army and navy. Among them, well-equipped units like the Imperial Guard 1st Brigade not only had reconnaissance aircraft directly under the brigade command, but also an entire flight squadron for aerial firepower.

However, it's quite rare for an entire squadron of planes to be fully loaded with ammunition and for this to happen all at once.

"Damn it! When I drew a fortune stick at the temple in New Vila Port, I clearly got the best one! I even spent five hundred dinars to get a talisman and put it on the ship to prevent any accidents! Why? Why did this happen?!" Moon Butterfly burst out with a sharp bang in the communication channel.

"Calm down, sir. The fortune slip you drew and the amulet you obtained were both for 'safe voyage.' And we did indeed survive the storm and arrive here," Shuangye complained in the communication. "If you didn't want to be hit by bombs, you should have also asked for an amulet for 'air raid protection'."

"Calm down, sir. The fortune slip you drew and the amulet you obtained were both for 'safe voyage.' And we did indeed survive the storm and arrive here," Shuangye complained in the communication. "If you didn't want to be hit by bombs, you should have also asked for an amulet for 'air raid protection'."

"Uh... now's not the time to say things like that." Ange patted Shuangye's shoulder and shook her head gently. "It seems we've come at the wrong time. These planes were probably conducting live-fire training and just happened to run into us after crossing the coastline."

"Unidentified vessel ahead, immediately state your name and destination, and stop for inspection," Ange had barely finished speaking when the radio operator of the reconnaissance plane began hailing them over the public radio channel, "By His Majesty the Emperor's authorization, the Timor coast is currently a restricted navigation area, and the Imperial Army reserves the right to take all necessary measures against you."

"Oh, we know all too well what these guys' 'methods of handling' are," Huang Yan said in the tactical channel. "Including the reconnaissance planes in front, there are a total of six seaplanes and five land-based aircraft. According to my observation, the reconnaissance planes are carrying two 20-kilogram small bombs, and the other five seaplanes are each carrying two 50-kilogram bombs. The land-based aircraft are torpedo bombers, each carrying one 324-millimeter aerial torpedo."

"What a very warm welcome!" Ange glanced at Fish. "My lord, what are you planning to do?"

"Do we have any other choice now, my dear?" Fish said with a wry smile. "We can't exactly tell them, 'We are the rightful heirs of the Duchy of Fayun, this is our land, therefore we have the right to set foot here,' can we?"

“In fact, we have the right, even the obligation, to say that,” Ange said with a relieved smile. “However, in this situation, we do have to take some expedient measures—it would be bad if our whereabouts were discovered beforehand.”

"I see."

"Miss Huang Yan, please handle the electromagnetic suppression," An Jie stretched out her arms towards the sky. The components of "Golden Soup" rapidly expanded and took shape, eventually covering most of her body. "Prepare for air defense! We have to take care of all these planes; we can't let them get back!"

At her command, Huang Yan immediately activated its jamming module, temporarily obscuring surrounding radio communications and preventing the aircraft in the air from reporting to the base via radio. Of course, even if all these aircraft were annihilated, the Imperial Guard First Brigade would realize within a day or two that they had been attacked and destroyed.

But at least, without reports from surviving pilots, the Imperial army and the Fayun people on the island will be unable to confirm the identity and intentions of the visitors for some time, and will find it difficult to take targeted preparatory work, which will give them more freedom of action.

The only problem is that destroying these planes is no easy task... even for a group of the most skilled armored warriors.

While highly skilled armored warriors, whose talents are among the best in the world, are considered invaluable treasures in this era, even they are not the omnipotent superheroes stereotyped as they are. Faced with the harsh laws of physics, a single, powerful and accurate barrage of firepower can easily kill even a top-tier armored warrior—and in this respect, aircraft pose a threat to armored warriors second only to warships.

Even the relatively primitive and simple airplanes of this era were highly efficient vehicles, capable of carrying tens or even hundreds of kilograms of ammunition, or machine guns and heavy cannons. While intelligent combat armor was a product of materials science from a bygone era, it still had to accommodate the fragile human body in every way. Therefore, its protective capabilities were only equivalent to light armored vehicles from older civilizations. It was essentially ineffective against direct hits from artillery and bombs. As for torpedoes carrying hundreds of kilograms of explosives… well, they were even less effective.

In open terrain, the mobility advantage provided by intelligent combat armor can largely offset this inherent weakness. Aside from extremely dense, inescapable carpet bombing, armored warriors can usually evade deadly fire. But at this moment, apart from Ange with her anti-gravity wings, Fish's side is almost completely unable to utilize this advantage—maneuvering between these two cramped ships is simply asking the impossible.

So they had no choice but to bite the bullet and turn themselves into "fixed turrets".

"Unidentified vessel, report immediately...identity, this is the last chance..." The lead seaplane radio operator began to call out again, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the radio communication was jammed by the interference activated by Phoenix Flame, turning into a bunch of ear-piercing white noise. However, Fish and the others could guess what the other party was going to say next.

The crew at the helm and everyone in the engine room faithfully carried out Fish's orders—unfortunately, due to their own hardware limitations, neither the "Indomitable" nor the "Cheapskate" had very high limits in terms of acceleration and maneuverability. Even with their best efforts, they could only wriggle and crawl back and forth on the sea like two slow-moving slugs, which was of little use in evading air attacks.

In comparison, their anti-aircraft firepower was... somewhat useful. Since the original users were warbands that frequently ventured into dangerous areas, especially the ruins of the old civilization era, these two motor sail merchant ships were equipped with some decent weapons—mainly 12.7 mm heavy machine guns mounted on the stern and the top of the bridge.

The main gun, located directly forward of the ship and converted from an outdated 50mm field gun from the army, was theoretically more powerful, but the shells it fired had very low initial velocities and only triggered the fuse. The probability of successfully shooting down an aircraft was even lower than winning the lottery, so it was basically unreliable.

Even so, the anti-aircraft firepower of these two ships is still very reliable—after all, in addition to several armored soldiers who have to serve as "fixed emplacements," they also have some very... special means.

As it approached its target, the seaplane at the head of the formation began preparing to drop its bombs. Its mission was originally intended for a live-fire exercise and patrol training, but it unexpectedly encountered two vessels that were highly likely to be genuine illegal intruders!

Needless to say, for the pilot of this aircraft, being unexpectedly given this chance to perform meritorious service was an extremely exciting thing. After issuing two warnings as required, he immediately increased the engine speed to maximum and rushed towards the nearest ship.

As they approached their target, the pilot also observed their prey—small, armed boats with wooden hulls, propelled by a hybrid power of sails and steam engines, typically favored by financially strapped adventurer gangs. They usually possessed somewhat outdated armament, barely enough to fend off small groups of pirates, chimeras roaming the desolate wilderness, or other minor threats, but were largely ineffective against aerial attacks.

This was it. That was his last thought—because, just a second later, a bullet pierced the windshield in front of him, went through his forehead, liquefying and shattering his brain tissue under the intense impact. Then, after passing through his flight cap with a pile of skull fragments, it struck the back of the head of the radio operator and self-defense machine gunner in the back seat, who was bewilderedly adjusting the radio and utterly astonished by the sudden inability to send or receive communications.

After both crew members died, the out-of-control seaplane crashed into the sea more than a kilometer away from the two ships. Small bombs hanging under its wings were detonated by the impact of the water, creating two large splashes on the sea.

Because the rifle bullet that struck the lead reconnaissance plane was so inconspicuous, the land-based torpedo bombers and seaplane squadrons following behind didn't even realize how the reconnaissance plane had crashed until the second bullet hit the cockpit of the torpedo bomber squadron's lead aircraft.

As before, the bullet struck the pilot precisely in a critical position, taking his life before he even realized what was happening. The massive aerial torpedo created a huge column of water tens of meters high as it crashed into the sea, and it also made the remaining pilots realize one thing.

If a plane suddenly and inexplicably goes out of control and crashes, it could be a coincidence caused by an accident. But if two planes crash in quick succession like this, there's only one possibility!

Cola Novels makes reading always a chapter faster than others.