The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Small amounts, multiple times? That means administering only a small amount each time, and then..."

"That's right. Records show that in modern humans—whether old or new humans—when the dosage is less than 700 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, the infection of 'Tai Sui' will manifest as a special kind of latent infection," Huang Yan explained, "or more accurately... a latent state."

"In other words, the infected person won't be aware of it..."

"That's right, because there are no symptoms—their thoughts are neither involved nor controlled. Of course, the physical mutations commonly seen after 'Tai Sui' infection will not occur," Huang Yan said. "However, this does not mean that 'Tai Sui' has failed to infect them. On the contrary, a series of tiny lesions will appear in their bodies, especially in the main nerve and lymphatic tissues. The fungal hyphae-like tissue formed by 'Tai Sui' will remain dormant in them for a long time."

"and then?"

"Once they receive external stimuli—or more precisely, signals from high-level 'Tai Sui' command and control nodes—these latent lesions will rapidly develop and control the patient. The higher the level of the command and control node that sends the signal, the faster the latent lesions are activated and the higher the success rate," Huang Yan continued to explain. "The 'zombie outbreak' you encountered in that 'high school' was simulated in this way."

"So... by our ancestors! In this way, when we opened the communication system and let everyone see what the 'Grand Chancellor' did..." Ange swallowed nervously.

"I'm afraid it will backfire. The biggest characteristic of 'Tomb Overlord' is that it can use human communication devices to send control signals, and even complete consciousness transfer in a short time—that's why the imprisoned host died immediately, because that guy had already escaped!" Huang Yan's tone was full of annoyance, and... resentment. "I'm very sorry, the main responsibility for this incident lies with me. I should have considered this extreme situation."

"Meow... But I don't think so," Fish slowly shook his head, "Under normal circumstances, it's unlikely that such small, frequent deliveries would happen..."

"That's right, unless someone—and someone with the authority to interfere with the entire army's logistics, water supply, and epidemic prevention—is deliberately and precisely distributing supplies," Anjie said. "Currently, the most likely explanation is..."

"Hey hey hey! You two armored warriors, have you come up from the 'funnel' yet?" Just as the elevator the two were riding was about to reach the top of the shaft connecting the surface and underground facilities, a communication signal suddenly cut into their armored warrior-only communication channel and asked in a cheerful tone.

"Damn! It's you?!" Fish exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey, don't be so surprised," Iskandar Lomonosov said. "Now that you two know my identity as an Old Human scientist, it shouldn't be too surprising that I can access the Armored Warriors' communication channel, right?"

"Did you foresee all of this happening?" Anjie questioned.

“Indeed,” the archaeologist of technology answered frankly, “At this point, I no longer need to hide anything: as you can see, my goal is to release the ‘Tai Sui’—more precisely, the ‘Zhong Zai’ that can maximize the spread of the ‘Tai Sui’—and then let it begin its test for the new humans.”

"A test?" Just as Fish uttered this word, the elevator reached the black glass "gap" and stopped. At this moment, the "secret realm," which had been deathly silent after nightfall, had already become bustling with activity.

Intense fighting broke out in every corner of this black glass wasteland. Numerous tracer rounds flew into the dark night sky with extremely chaotic trajectories, exploding one after another. The site of what was once the main infantry battalion camp of the Imperial Guard's First Brigade caught fire, sending massive columns of smoke billowing into the heavens.

Undoubtedly, after Fish and Ange connected to the communication center system, allowing the "Prime Minister" sealed beneath this glassy land to extend his will and come into contact with others, the hidden infected in the Imperial Guard First Brigade were instantly "activated".

Subsequently, some of these people immediately launched a surprise attack on their allies who had just been awakened from their sleep, while others began to "transform" on the spot, evolving into terrifying living weapons.

Fortunately, the situation on the surface was better than in the underground area—at least the fighting that broke out in various places indicated that at least some Imperial soldiers, perhaps hundreds, or even thousands, had not immediately fallen into the control of the "Grand Chancellor."

However, under the current circumstances, these people have most likely lost unified command at the platoon or squad level and are forced to fight independently while surrounded and isolated. Without external support, most of them are likely doomed.

"This is what you call a 'test'?" Ange bit her lip—in her mind, these Imperial Guard soldiers weren't enemies, but just ordinary officers and soldiers who were dutifully performing their duties but had been misled. As for the residents of the surrounding villages and towns who had been forced into labor, they were completely innocent. "Making people kill each other?"

"That's not wrong—although you don't know it, the essence of 'Tai Sui' is a kind of 'test'," Iskandar Lomonosov said. "If I'm not mistaken, Lord Fish, while you were down there, you recalled some memories related to the Shura Star battle a thousand years ago, didn't you?"

"How could you possibly know—" Fish was taken aback. After all, he was the only one who had directly seen that memory from Singleton; even Ange and Huang Yan only learned about it after he relayed it to them. No matter how powerful this archaeologist was, he shouldn't possibly know such a thing!

"I don't need to answer that question... Of course, if you're willing to cooperate with me, I can tell you the answer."

"wishful thinking!"

"Ah, well then, let's continue talking about 'Tai Sui': the race that created it... although I don't know if it's appropriate to use the word 'race' to describe it, the reason for creating 'Tai Sui' is very simple, that is, to test other intelligent beings in the universe," Iskandar Lomonosov said in the communication, "Yes, it is not a 'probe' or a 'special weapon' as many people imagine."

“Every test needs a purpose,” Ange said. “What is the purpose of creating this kind of ‘test’?”

"As far as I know, it's a selection process," Iskandar Lomonosov replied. "Its creators wanted to select a sufficiently superior intelligent race to achieve a certain purpose. To that end, they spread the 'Tai Sui' on Shura Star and used various covert methods to attract races whose civilizations had developed to a sufficiently high level and had begun to explore space beyond their home planet to that world full of purple mist, causing them to be drawn into an endless cycle of war."

"An infinite loop... You mean, individuals from the defeated races are devoured and possessed by 'Tai Sui,' then become the opponents of the next group of explorers who arrive there?" Fish asked.

"Yes. If these visitors ultimately succeed, then they will be the ones who have passed the test—in fact, the old humans who arrived there were already very close to passing the test."

"But they escaped from Shura Star in the end, taking only a batch of 'Tai Sui' samples and the captured 'Tomb Slayer'." Fish muttered to himself as he recalled the last scene in his memory.

At that time, the human expeditionary fleet that landed on Shura Star had long lost its initial momentum of certain victory. Instead, it was in a state of panic and even abandoned a large amount of equipment and supplies to run away, making it look like it had suffered a major defeat.

The problem is, Fish remembers very clearly, that when the retreat began, the human side had already completed the crucial decapitation operation, capturing the "Gravemaster" who used a human body that had been taken over as his own. The enemy, having lost unified command and the ability to make strategic plans, was theoretically only one step away from being defeated.

Logically speaking, victory was clearly within reach at that time, but the expeditionary fleet chose to give up.

"Do you think the expeditionary fleet's actions back then were strange? Yes, I think so too," Iskander Lomonosov, who was hiding somewhere, continued. "They were already on the verge of entering the new world, but because of their own cowardice and suspicion, they gave up such an important opportunity."

"A new world?"

"Yes, that was a golden opportunity for us to evolve into a higher form of existence, but unfortunately, the decision-makers and high-level intellectuals of the old humanity lost the last and most crucial challenge—the challenge of courage in the face of the unknown. They ultimately dared not cross that invisible Rubicon River. Although I was present at the time and tried my best to oppose it, unfortunately, it was to no avail."

"What is meant by 'a higher level of existence'?"

"This is something I must also keep secret for now—I cannot tell you more details until you are willing to become my companions," Iskandar Lomonosov replied. "Furthermore, the reason I am still willing to invite you to join me is entirely out of gratitude. After all, without you, my plan to completely unleash 'Tai Sui' would not have been completed so easily. However, even if you are not on my side, the outcome was already predetermined. The new humans will face their final test."

After saying this, the archaeologist cut off the communication.

"That bastard, it was all his doing!" Ange whispered. "If I catch him..."

"I don't think we have a chance to catch him right now—in fact, the 'Tai Sui' infection here is completely out of control. Although the Imperial Army is still fighting hard, I don't think they can hold out for long."

"I can see that too," Fish said. Just now, while communicating with Iskander Lomonosov, the intensity of the surrounding firefight had noticeably thinned out—clearly, some of the Imperial Guard squads that had been separated and surrounded had likely been wiped out by their former comrades, or at least run out of ammunition. In this situation, running out of ammunition was tantamount to certain death. "What should we do?"

"Retreat immediately, get out of this dangerous area first, and then we can discuss things further." Huang Yan's tone was reluctant. "For now, this is the only way."

“I agree to retreat as soon as possible. But… what about Mary and the others? There are still many laborers who were brought here at the work shed. I promised before that I would go back to Mary and the others,” Fish said. “We can’t just leave them here, can we?”

"This...could they have become...as well as others?" Ange looked uneasy as she thought of Mary and the other laborers.

"It's alright! These people haven't been here long. Judging from the current situation, adding the infection source in 'small amounts multiple times' seems to take a long time to be effective, so even the Imperial Guard soldiers haven't been completely infected and are still able to resist it. And those laborers who have only been here for a few days shouldn't have been infected by 'Tai Sui' yet either," Fish said.

"I agree with your assessment, Mr. Fish. However, I need to point out that those laborers have low combat capabilities and are not very organized. This means that most of them will become a burden to you during the breakout and escape," Huang Yan warned.

"We can handle it."

"Is that so? But if I may be frank, your condition has declined after the frequent battles. Under these circumstances, it is tactically inappropriate to cover a large group of people with poor combat capabilities as they try to break through the encirclement of a superior enemy force," Huang Yan warned. "Not only will you likely suffer heavy casualties, but you may also be dragged down and unable to escape."

"My lord, I'm afraid Huang Yan's suggestion is indeed worth considering." An Jie also hesitated. "Our situation is very unfavorable right now, it's hard to say..."

"No." Fish shook his head.

"Eh?"

“Have you forgotten? This is the County of Timor, a vassal state of the Principality of Fayun. Even after what has happened, the residents here are still under the protection of the Principality of Fayun,” Fish said. “Don’t forget who I am.”

"You are the next head of the Lindenhild-Fayun family, the first in line to the throne of the Duchy, and the future Grand Duke of Fayun," Ange said after a few seconds of silence.

"So, what are my responsibilities towards these people?"

"They are loyal to the County of Timor, a vassal state under the flag of the Grand Duke of Fayun, and are protected by the Grand Duke of Fayun. The Grand Duke has the right to protect their personal safety and property," Ange recited fluently. She had said the same thing a few months earlier when giving Fish a basic lesson in aristocracy: "This is... the duty of a nobleman."

"So, you should know exactly what I need to do, right?" Fish said.

"Of course," Ange nodded, "Everything is as you wish, Your Highness. Since this is your idea, I will help you make it a reality."