The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"The 'Grand Duke Jupiter'?!"

Between memory and reality, Singleton and Fish simultaneously exclaimed the word in surprise.

"Yes, sir," the expeditionary fleet's chief biologist continued the report, "we currently refer to this peculiar life form by this term. Research indicates that it is a highly unique parasitic organism, and it is very likely that it has been artificially modified."

"Yeah?!"

“That’s right, at least natural evolution would hardly produce such a unique trait,” the chief biologist replied. “These organisms can freely switch between water-like liquids and decomposer ecosystems similar to fungal fruiting bodies, but once they come into contact with carbon-based organisms—mainly animals—they will penetrate their bodies and become parasites. Most remarkably, even carbon-based organisms with opposite DNA helices or different types of amino acids can be parasitized without hesitation, and this thing can even control their nervous systems…”

"How is this possible?!" Singleton exclaimed. "It couldn't have evolved in the natural environment... wait, is this your reason for believing it was artificially modified?"

"Yes, there is no other reasonable explanation." The chief biologist nodded.

"Okay, please continue..."

"In short, once control of the target's nervous system is achieved, these 'Tai Sui' will further modify it to suit their mission—basic modifications usually involve creating certain special tool-like or even weaponized limbs, as well as relatively simple items such as adjusting body shape," the chief biologist then said. "At the same time, these organisms will be connected to a Gestalt-like control network and become part of the form controlled by the 'Tai Sui'."

"So that's how it is... No wonder we see 'alien friends' everywhere in the Shell Clan's army," Singleton muttered to himself. "But that also means these guys are actually..."

"That's right, they are all just puppets under a man-made Gestalt control system. By the way, once they are large enough, the 'Tai Sui' will be able to perform complex modifications on their hosts, including transforming them into all sorts of complex weapons through extremely complex induced mutations... This is the truth behind the 'Shell Clan's expertise in biotechnology.'"

"I see." As the biologist spoke, several holographic images were simultaneously projected in front of the two: they were extremely deformed shell creatures and other alien individuals. Their original forms were long gone, replaced by deformed body tissues that had transformed into energy weapons, cannons, and even suicide bombs.

If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, Singleton—and Fish, of course—would never have imagined that living beings could be so wantonly transformed into such twisted and grotesque forms.

Even more terrifying is that the protagonists in the last two projected images still vaguely possess some human characteristics: they were originally clearly living humans, but were captured in battle and subsequently parasitized, modified, and recombined, becoming two... living weapons.

One of the figures had his entire head almost completely disappeared, with his optic nerves staring out of his vanished eye sockets, forming lobster-like eye stalks. What was once a mouth had become an ossified cannon muzzle—in the Middle Ages, some Asian feudal monarchs liked to create primitive indirect-fire mortars in the shape of crouching tigers or other ferocious beasts, designing their mouths as the muzzles. However, according to the accompanying text, this person's "mouth cannon" did not fire stone or lead bullets, but rather some kind of corrosive substance.

The other person, however, was considerably more "simple": his body was swollen into a ball, his limbs were extremely atrophied, and his fingers and toes had transformed into some kind of twisted, root-like structure. Beneath his skin, his swollen body was filled with a bizarrely husky blackish-red liquid—this liquid was clearly transformed from lymph, making him look exactly like those terminally ill plague patients from back then.

Of course, this person, though seemingly disabled, should not be underestimated—Singleton recalled encountering such creatures in a recent battle: they functioned as low-detectability biological mines on the battlefield, capable of assessing and detonating upon sensing a target. Their destructive power was comparable to that of a tactical nuclear bomb with the equivalent of tens of tons of TNT.

“It seems we must reassess the threats that exist in this world,” Singleton replied. “This is no longer just a hostile civilization, but… something that poses a much greater threat to us.”

“Yes, especially regarding the origin and nature of ‘Tai Sui’,” the chief biologist frowned. “We once thought it might be a biological probe that also served as a weapon. But… is that really the case? Logically speaking, a civilization born on a single planet shouldn’t be able to create such a versatile parasitic organism.”

“Yes, especially regarding the origin and nature of ‘Tai Sui’,” the chief biologist frowned. “We once thought it might be a biological probe that also served as a weapon. But… is that really the case? Logically speaking, a civilization born on a single planet shouldn’t be able to create such a versatile parasitic organism.”

"You mean...?"

"After all, once carbon-based life on any planet has passed through the early stages of evolution and begun to form a stable ecosystem, its genetic structure will exhibit a kind of exclusivity," the biologist said in a low voice after turning off the unsettling and uncomfortable holographic projections and thinking for a moment. "For example, on Earth, adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine became the basic substances used to record genetic information at the end of the Proterozoic Eon. As a result, subsequent organisms only used these substances to record genetic information. And the direction of DNA rotation was determined billions of years ago."

"Um."

"However, in the universe, there are theoretically many kinds of substances that can be used to record genetic information, with dozens of amino acids as options. Although the system on our Earth is relatively common, other combinations are not impossible. For biologists of a race originating from a single world, enabling parasitic organisms to control, fuse, and modify extraterrestrial organisms with different methods of recording genetic information is incredibly difficult."

"And relatively speaking, it's not cost-effective enough," Singleton added. "If it were me, I would choose to use a swarm of intelligent nanorobots as an alternative—it's easier and cheaper to do that."

"I agree with that."

"So here's the question: if it's far from the optimal solution, why was 'Tai Sui' even created?"

"I don't know either. So far, our researchers have put forward several hypotheses... but none of them make sense," the chief biologist said. "The only good thing is that after comprehensively analyzing the enemy's performance on the battlefield, we have basically figured out how the tree-like topology of the 'Tai Sui' command and control system works, and the results of a series of encounters have confirmed the correctness of our views."

"Hmm?"

"In short, the tree-like topology command and control system of 'Tai Sui' is inefficient and simple, which is also its biggest weakness. After one node is destroyed, all its subordinate individuals will be in a disabled state until the superior command and control node is replenished. This includes lower-level nodes."

"interesting."

"This means that decapitation tactics are extremely effective against it—in addition, we have calculated the amount of data that the 'Tai Sui' parasitic organism needs to process, as well as the possible number of command/control levels, based on the scale of the organism. Currently, we estimate that there are approximately five levels."

"Then, let's deal with the highest level directly..."

"In theory, doing this would completely—or at least temporarily—paralyze all hostile forces on Shura Star," the chief biologist concluded. "Although 'Tai Sui' remains shrouded in mystery for us, at least winning the war here is always a good thing."

"Of course..." Singleton muttered to himself. At the same time, the scene before Fish's eyes began to flicker in white light once more...

When the flashing white light subsided again, Fish found Singleton sitting in the cockpit of a light vertical takeoff and landing aircraft he had seen before, looking down at the battlefield shrouded in purple mist. On the hillsides littered with craters and felled, thick trees, the expeditionary force from Earth was retreating.

The massive wheeled armored personnel carriers, automated tactical air defense and artillery systems that formed the backbone of the ground combat forces, along with giant shipping containers used for transporting supplies, were abandoned in large numbers on the mountains, much like the Easter Island statues carelessly discarded after the decline of civilization. The tire tracks of numerous heavy vehicles had trampled the soft soil and purple grass of the hills into a chaotic mess, leaving bizarre patterns that looked like some kind of madcap version of the Nazca Lines.

In the distance, amidst a wetland shrouded in thick purple mist, fierce fighting continued. The blinding flashes of energy weapons and the contrails of missiles stood out starkly against the dense fog, their light scattering amplified. Huge explosions erupted in succession, sometimes accompanied by eerie, colorful smoke billows: the remnants of munitions containing special chemicals fired by the Shell Clan army… no, more accurately, by the puppet army of the "Tai Sui" using bio-weapons.

These engagements were fought by the rearguard to buy time for their retreat, and the situation was relatively favorable compared to expectations. However, in Singleton's mind, the battle currently underway should never have happened at all.

In fact, Singleton himself thought so at the very beginning of the operation. However, just as success seemed imminent, he realized that things were not so simple.

"Destroy me," a hoarse male voice said behind Singleton. The man's tone was extremely strange, like someone who had never spoken before trying to force words from hastily learned phonetics—intermittent, lacking inflection, but at least barely understandable. "Destroy me, isn't that your goal?"

"That was a target set based on a previous misjudgment; it can be changed," Singleton replied calmly, continuing to pilot the light attack aircraft back to base. Two other aircraft of the same type soon followed behind, providing escort like worker bees accompanying a queen bee. "I think destroying you would make our situation even more dangerous."

"So, doing nothing will solve everything? Do you really think you haven't attracted the attention of the 'Great Ones' yet?" The man imprisoned in the small cargo hold at the rear of the light attack aircraft let out a hoarse laugh that sounded like fingernails scratching sandpaper. "No, it's too late. You've been targeted."

"Shut up. At least in my opinion, not eliminating you right now makes more sense than eliminating you."

"The difference is negligible, kukukukukuku hee hee hee hee hee hee hee—" The man's laughter became even more lewd, "You have long been watched, targeted, and eventually, the 'Great One' will come for you. The information about your homeland has already fallen into His hands, so you have nowhere to escape."

"Oh, I don't think so," Singleton said.

"The 'Great Ones' are forever seeking out those races with powerful strength and knowledge, those with flesh and blood, and will ultimately unite them," the hoarse male voice continued. "I sensed it the moment you achieved your 'victory' over me! You are very close to the ultimate goal of the 'Great Ones.' Do not fear, do not resist, for soon you will merge—"

"Shut up." Singleton turned off the communication system connected to the rear cargo hold, and then switched to another communication line.

"How is it, Staff Officer Singleton? I just received word that you've completed the raid and decapitation strike, and ordered the frontline troops to retreat and engage the rearguard. Did we succeed?"

"I'm afraid the current situation cannot be described as 'successful,' Commander," Singleton said to the fleet commander. "Please have you and others in command read my report 93-A-2502-D immediately, as quickly as possible. This is extremely important."

"Okay. I don't think it was completely successful..." the other party replied, "Otherwise, the enemy should have been completely paralyzed."

"The outcome of the war on this planet is no longer important, sir—you'll understand once you read my report," Singleton continued. "Please disengage our forces as quickly as possible. If the situation becomes unfavorable, evacuate only the human combatants and discard the automated combat equipment."

"Is the situation really that bad?"

"Yes, or rather, we've got the target of our operation wrong," Singleton said. "Everything's wrong. The Star of Asura is actually..."

The white flash spread out once more, covering everything Fish saw in his memory.

Enjoy reading thousands of great books, including "The Last Odyssey: The Fantastic Adventures of a Cat Boy".