Rhodes Island's Scratch-Damage Sniper and Thrower Has Arrived / The True Strength of an Elite Medical Operator ...

After a brief conversation, they brought out six or seven children. All of them were infected with Originium infection to varying degrees and were unsuitable to live with ordinary people, so they were being sent away for treatment.

Kanna spotted a familiar figure among the crowd and could not help letting out an "Oh."

It was a very young-looking Feline.

She was asleep at the moment.

But her tightly furrowed brow and frail body made it clear that she was in very poor condition.

When she was carried out, the other children nearby all showed terrified expressions, as if they had seen some kind of monster.

So it's Rosemary, Kanna sighed inwardly.

All Kanna knew about Rosemary was that she was incredibly formidable in the story. Despite her young age, she had become a special talent among Rhodes Island's Elite Operators and was exceptionally skilled at assault battles, positional warfare, and annihilation operations.

Kanna had not expected that this trip to Columbia was to pick her up.

After handing Rosemary and the other children over to Rhodes Island, the people there all breathed sighs of relief.

Before leaving, they warned them that quite a few people in Columbia still coveted Rosemary's body. If they did not want to deal with those ill-intentioned people, they had better leave Columbia as soon as possible.

"Can I go with that big sister?" Although Rosemary had safely returned to Rhodes Island in the game, what if something went wrong in reality? Besides, Rosemary's Originium Arts in the story were terrifying. If she stayed too far away, Kanna was worried that if Rosemary lost control and erupted, she would not be able to safely restrain her at once. So she pointed at the vehicle Rosemary was in and asked.

Outcast merely assumed that seeing someone her own age had piqued Kanna's curiosity. In any case, they could not perform surgery in the convoy, and even if that little girl had a problem, they would have to hold on until they reached Rhodes Island. So she nodded and agreed.

Chapter 37: Rhodes Island's Scratch-Damage Sniper and Thrower Has Arrived

When Kanna came in, Touch nodded to her, then raised a finger to her lips in a gesture for silence.

Kanna quietly walked over and sat down, looking at the pained "Rosemary" lying in Touch's arms. She did not have that name yet.

Though Kanna wanted to help, unfortunately, she lacked the relevant skills and knowledge. All she could do was sit there helplessly and watch the suffering Feline.

When the convoy started driving back, she saw the Feline's eyelids twitch. Her breathing grew heavier as she gradually woke up.

The newly awakened Feline was extremely frightened. She had appeared in another unfamiliar vehicle, one whose interior was filled with all sorts of medical equipment. Suddenly, rage ignited in her mind, and she wanted to destroy every piece of medical equipment before her.

As that thought arose, some inexplicable "creature" appeared within the carriage and began warping the surrounding environment.

Sensing that something was wrong, Kanna kicked the door open, grabbed the Feline, and leaped out of the vehicle.

With the two of them gone, the warped state inside the vehicle eased.

The condition of the medical vehicle was quickly noticed by the others traveling with them. The convoy immediately stopped, and Outcast led the operators in surrounding Kanna and the Feline.

Feeling the immense "sense of distortion" around her, Kanna gently shook her head. If it had been an ordinary person, they would probably have already been crushed into meat paste.

She really did not know how Rhodes Island had safely brought her aboard in the game.

"Don't come any closer... Her mental state is unstable. You'll only provoke her like this," Kanna shouted at the approaching operators.

At Kanna's words, everyone immediately stopped.

Touch got out of the vehicle, her face still full of lingering terror.

"What happened?" Outcast asked in confusion when she saw the frightened looks on the faces of everyone who had emerged from the medical vehicle.

"Phew! See for yourself! I knew Kal'tsit would not have asked me to come along for nothing. This little Feline really is trouble." After letting out a breath and calming herself, Touch looked toward Kanna and the Feline in the distance.

Outcast stepped outside the vehicle door and looked in. Nearly eighty percent of the medical equipment had been damaged. It had either been torn into scattered fragments or twisted into a mess.

Even Outcast was shocked after seeing the state of the vehicle's interior.

After taking the Feline out of the vehicle, Kanna held the girl's head and gently patted her frail-looking shoulders.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. We've escaped now. No one will hurt you again. Be good, learn with me. Take deep breaths. Come on, breathe in~ breathe out~ breathe in~ breathe out..."

With Kanna's soothing, the Feline gradually let go of her fear. She nervously leaned against Kanna and instinctively squeezed Kanna's shoulder as she looked at the surrounding operators. When she saw Touch approaching to check on the situation, she began trembling faintly again.

Touch also noticed that something was wrong from the Feline's eyes, so she stopped in the distance in confusion. But she had never even met this little girl. Why was she so afraid of her?

Kanna stroked the Feline's ears, then pulled her close so that she could no longer see Touch.

At that moment, Outcast walked over. When she was about five meters away from Kanna and the Feline, Kanna raised a hand and stopped her.

"Don't come closer yet. Her ability is strange, and it's powerful. I'm not confident I can safely get you out if she loses control again."

Hearing Kanna's words, Outcast stopped where she was. She noticed that the ground where Kanna and the Feline stood had sunk several centimeters. Though Kanna appeared perfectly normal, her clothes clung tightly to her body, revealing that she was under immense pressure.

"Do you know what's going on?" Outcast asked, pointing first at Touch and then at the Feline in Kanna's arms.

Seeing that the Feline had calmed down and that the pressure on her body was gradually weakening, Kanna finally spoke.

"I suspect she isn't afraid of Auntie Touch. She's afraid of her clothes, or rather, some kind of symbol."

Though Kanna remembered some of Rosemary's background, she could not say it outright. She had no way to explain how she knew, so she could only remind the others in a speculative tone.

At Kanna's words, Touch lowered her head to look at herself. She was wearing the standard Rhodes Island combat uniform, much like Outcast's. There were no special symbols on it... except...

She suddenly thought of something, and her expression immediately turned extremely grim.

Then she cursed, "Don't let me find out what those bastards did, or I won't be able to stop myself from stuffing every last one of them into a shit pit and drowning them."

Still cursing, Touch raised her right hand to her left shoulder and ripped off the red cross armband representing the medical team.

Sure enough, after Touch threw away the armband and slowly approached again, she no longer triggered the Feline's fear. This added sorrow and pain to Touch's already grim expression.

What kind of harm had she suffered for a little girl to harbor such deep resentment toward medical personnel? As a healer herself, Touch felt ashamed.

It was nearly half an hour later before Kanna beckoned them over. By then, they found that the child had fallen unconscious again due to weakness and excessive use of Originium Arts.

Now that they knew her taboo, they removed everything medical-related from that medical vehicle. Anything they could not remove was covered up before they put her back inside.

And after learning that Kanna was unaffected by the girl's Originium Arts, Outcast still had Kanna remain by the Feline's side. That way, if anything happened again, Kanna could at least serve as another safeguard.

After all those twists and turns, the convoy once again set off on its journey home.

They had not gone far when Kanna's ears twitched, and she looked through the window behind them.

"What is it?" After Kanna had saved her life earlier, Touch no longer treated her as a child, so she asked when she noticed Kanna's unusual behavior.

"Someone's following us. Three off-road vehicles and seven motorcycles, and they're all armed." Even though the view inside the vehicle was poor, Kanna could still clearly see the unidentified people several kilometers behind them rushing toward the convoy.

At Kanna's words, Touch immediately contacted Outcast.

The convoy then drove to a canyon. As the vehicles continued into it, several operators abruptly jumped down from the vehicles.

After getting out, the operators quickly hid in the forests on both sides of the canyon.

Chapter 38: The True Strength of an Elite Medical Operator

After passing through the canyon, the convoy stopped at the exit on the other side.

Outcast led the remaining operators out of the vehicles. As she listened to reports relayed by the operators who had left earlier, she considered how to set up their defenses.

Just as Kanna had said, a clearly hostile convoy was following them. Every one of them carried weapons, and they were charging straight toward the convoy. Even a fool could understand their intentions.

The other convoy was still quite excited. Their mission was to intercept a convoy from a pharmaceutical company and bring back the target inside.

When they received the mission, the entire group had been delighted. The employer had offered an extremely generous price, with only one condition: the target should be kept alive if possible.

They all thought it was free money. After all, how strong could a pharmaceutical company's security possibly be? Their side consisted of mercenaries who had spent years roaming various battlefields, and they even had several Sarkaz among them. They figured that once they surrounded the target, they would not even need to fight before scaring the other side senseless.

On the other side of the canyon, Touch silently got out of the vehicle, walked over to Outcast, and patted her shoulder.

Then Touch tightened her grip on her staff and started walking back along the road they had come from.

Everyone froze at the sight of her actions. Touch was a Medical Operator, and walking back alone past their defensive line seemed no different from seeking death.

"You're a doctor now. There's no need for you to do this!"

Touch raised a hand and waved it. "Precisely because I'm a doctor, I have to do this."

As her words fell, Touch disappeared into the canyon.

"Captain, should we follow her?" The nearby operators asked Outcast, the backbone of the team.

Outcast glanced at her subordinates' tense faces and shook her head.

"Go? For what, to die? Just stay here and wait!" Unlike these newly recruited Rhodes Island operators, Outcast knew Touch's strength. Any Sarkaz who could survive after fighting on the front lines for months in Kazdel's bloody Sarkaz civil war was a ruthless figure, and Touch happened to be one of them.

Outcast picked up her communicator. "Recon team, pay attention. From now on, no one is to approach the bottom of the canyon under any circumstances. When it's over, make sure to return along the ridge. Remember, do not go down into the canyon."

Upon hearing their captain's order, those preparing to stop the enemy within the canyon and those scouting ahead were all baffled, because the order was too strange.

"Don't find it strange. Once you see Touch's true strength, you'll understand that I'm doing this for your own good."

After saying that, she stopped arranging the defensive line and went to lean against a tree, closing her eyes in a light doze.

Seeing their captain's sudden abnormal behavior, the other operators were at a loss. In the end, they followed instinct and set up simple defenses, then nervously watched the canyon.

Kanna led the Feline over to Outcast.

"Grandma, do you have any candy?"

When she saw Kanna, Outcast revealed a rare smile. "Of course. Here, two pieces of candy." As she spoke, she took two hard candies from her pocket and held them out to Kanna.

Kanna accepted the candies, unwrapped one, and held it to the Feline's mouth.

Seeing the candy Kanna offered, the Feline first shrank back in fear. After realizing it was fine, she cautiously stuck out her tongue and licked it.

"So sweet!"

Feeling the flavor on the tip of her tongue, the Feline could not help saying it aloud.

"Of course. Rhodes Island's candy-making technology is unmatched, and we have big sisters who are really good at making desserts too. When we get back, I'll take you to eat some. That's what you call a taste that lingers for three days."

Kanna patted her chest, looking immensely proud.

Perhaps Kanna's age and appearance finally allowed her to let down her guard. As she carefully licked the candy she had received from Kanna, tears began streaming uncontrollably down her face.

Kanna hurriedly reached out and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Hey, don't cry! Tears are bitter. If they get on the candy, it won't taste good anymore."

"Okay! I promise I won't cry!" The girl's tearful smile was especially poignant.

While the Feline ate her candy, Kanna's ears suddenly twitched. Once she saw that the girl had nearly finished it, she took her hand again and led her back toward the vehicle.

Not long after Kanna and the Feline got into the vehicle, Touch returned from the canyon entrance. Just as everyone was wondering where the enemy was, several members of the recon team jumped down from the ridge, their faces pale.

When they saw Touch, they instinctively took a step back.

"What happened? Where are the enemies?" An operator who did not understand the situation asked the recon team.

At those words, the members of the recon team all went pale and leaned against the wall as they began vomiting violently.

Their miserable appearance frightened the others, who could not help looking toward Touch as she silently returned to the vehicle and shut the door.

Outcast opened her eyes. She was not surprised by the miserable state of those people. She clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention back to herself.

"Since the enemy has been dealt with, everyone get back in the vehicles immediately. We're leaving at once."

Inside the vehicles, after the recon team members had recovered some color, they recalled the battle with terrified expressions. Rather than a battle, it had been a massacre.

Not long after their own side left, the enemy convoy entered their sight. At the time, they were still marveling at how Outcast knew they had a tail following them. Then they saw Touch standing alone in the middle of the canyon road.

After seeing Touch, the enemy did not stop. Instead, they accelerated and rammed toward her.

Then the recon team witnessed a nightmare they would likely never forget for the rest of their lives—Touch slammed her staff against the ground, and everything around her began dissolving, except for the rocks.

The charging vehicles were the first to suffer. Before their eyes, the vehicles melted into strange puddles at incredible speed, like rubber blocks scorched by flames.

The people inside instantly changed from whole human beings into pools of meat slurry before quickly drying out.

As members of the recon team, they all had sharp eyesight, so they watched in clear and complete detail as people dissolved entirely from the outside in.

Especially when several "stronger" enemies tried using Originium Arts to resist the dissolution. It did indeed slow the process somewhat, but it also made it far more painful and horrifying.

Once there was no longer a single living creature in the canyon, Touch did not linger. She simply turned around and headed back toward their convoy. Only then did the recon team react in terror and unease, following far behind her back to the group.

Chapter 39: Rhodes Island! Your Little One Is Coming Home!

About an hour after Kanna's group left, another convoy drove toward the area.

Judging from their equipment and clothing, the people trying to capture Rosemary had apparently hired more than one group of mercenaries.

When they reached the canyon entrance, the leader seated in the front suddenly waved for the convoy to stop.

After getting out, he walked to the middle of the road, sniffed the air, then gestured for one of his subordinates. "Go catch an Originium slug from the road we came from."

"Boss? What do you need that thing for?"

"Just go when I tell you to! Tell everyone to get out and rest for a while." After snapping at his subordinate's question, the leader stared at the strange puddle of water ahead, his expression shifting uncertainly.