At the time, she had been tempted to go all in and buy up every remaining meal in the cafeteria. Unfortunately, she had no money. Her pay from the last mission had been handed over by the evil Kal'tsit to Outcast for safekeeping.
Kanna had been furious, but since she did not need to pay for meals anyway and thought her salary was useless, she had given up fighting for it. Now, seeing a betting pool open up beside her but being unable to join in, she felt terrible.
With that thought, Kanna turned her grief and indignation into appetite, rapidly wiping out plate after plate of food placed before her under everyone's astonished gazes.
It was also Rosemary's first time seeing Kanna go all out. The speed and efficiency with which she finished a plate in a single bite made Rosemary's pupils tremble. She stared blankly at the food arriving like an assembly line, only to vanish into Kanna's mouth, and nearly forgot to eat herself.
After returning to her room, Rosemary remained dazed for quite some time. Then she suddenly began to laugh. As she laughed, tears involuntarily streamed down her face. When she was tired from laughing, she flopped backward onto the bed.
The panic and unease in Rosemary's eyes were gone. Though the experiments had left her with terrible memory problems, the names Amiya and Kanna had been deeply engraved in her heart.
And so, Kanna's days on Rhodes Island finally settled into a rare period of peace.
As for missions, the skill she had received after completing the last one was the complete Lightning Body Refinement Technique and related skills from Naruto. She was deeply dissatisfied with it. Wasn't that just a taijutsu that wrapped lightning around the body and relied on absurd physical prowess? Even without acquiring it, Kanna could have trained those skills whenever she wanted.
As for why she did not train them, first, she was lazy. This sort of martial art was like rowing upstream—if you did not advance, you fell back. She had no interest whatsoever in monotonous, tedious practice day after day. Second, she did not want to become some musclebound demon dragon.
Just imagining her tiny body packed with muscles beneath her clothes, her face turning all JoJo-like, was terrifying enough.
Still, she copied down the body refinement technique and tossed it to Kal'tsit.
After reading it, Kal'tsit said that it looked incredibly impressive—and that was all it had going for it.
Never mind what chakra even was. There were certainly people on Rhodes Island who could use lightning as Originium Arts, but if they actually dared to train this way, they would either die of exhaustion or rapidly trigger an Originium infection outbreak due to the fast-rising Originium levels in their blood, then vanish from the face of the earth with a bang.
Still, while the crucial methods for drawing lightning and tempering the body were unusable, some of its combat and killing techniques had merit.
Kal'tsit called in ACE and Brother Yunlong. After the two discussed it, they extracted the sole usable fighting technique from it.
As for the <Supreme Divine Secret Art of Thunder Body Refinement>, personally written by Kanna in handwriting that looked like ants scurrying across the page, it was tossed beneath the desk as a pad.
The reason was simple: Kal'tsit feared that some dim-witted operator might see the book and try to learn from it. After all, aside from monsters like Kanna, the only result for normal people who studied it would be dying faster.
A book that could neither be thrown away nor safely placed on a shelf naturally became part of the collection beneath Kal'tsit's desk.
The mission generated after this one had once again become the sort that would be difficult to complete unless she left Rhodes Island.
Kanna was also mad at the mission system. Whatever mission it generated, she refused to look. Besides, as her proficiency with Palm Thunder and Star Alignment steadily improved, she had developed quite a few new applications.
Palm Thunder could now not only be released through her entire body, but its range and power could also be adjusted as needed. At present, when she condensed and released Palm Thunder alone, Kanna could successfully hit a target less than ten centimeters wide erected at the front of the ship from atop the observation tower. Its power was no joke, too. Calculations showed that without proper protection, a single strike could seriously injure and knock down an ordinary operator. Outcast, who assisted with her training, praised that accuracy, precision, and power for a long time.
As for Star Alignment, during one experiment Kanna suddenly recalled the Captain's triple-barrel combo from League of Legends.
The Captain used his skill to detonate barrels, causing chain explosions based on the distance between them. Kanna felt that her Lightning Wedges could do the same.
The Hungry Dragon, the Dumb Dog ⊙_⊙
For that, she specifically consulted Outcast.
After hearing her out, Outcast thought it was a good idea. However, since the explosion of a single Lightning Wedge had already proven terrifying during previous tests, and the powerful current could easily damage other equipment in the training room, Kal'tsit approved conducting the experiment on the bridge.
The results were extremely gratifying.
Kanna kept the three Lightning Wedges roughly twenty meters apart. No matter which of the three she detonated again, the chain reaction would set off the other wedges at the same time.
And if detonating a single Lightning Wedge was like thunder from a clear sky, detonating all three at once would trigger a violent thunderstorm at that location.
Once, she directly summoned a lightning pillar nearly forty meters thick from the sky.
Fortunately, the tests were conducted from the edge of the landship, with their attacks aimed at the barren land outside. Otherwise, even if Rhodes Island itself could withstand that strike, the subsequent maintenance would have made Closure's heart bleed.
Nearly half a month later, Kanna heard while playing around that the squad sent to Leithanien on a mission had returned. She thought of A1 and the doggy, wondering whether Fen had listened to her and whether the doggy had successfully made it onto the island.
Curious, she led Popukar and "Rosemary" toward the places where the Reserve Action Group's A1 Squad usually hung around.
As for why Amiya was not with them, that was obvious. The three of them were "unemployed wanderers," while Amiya was a ruler. Being able to take time out to play with them for a while was already an exceptional mercy from Empress Kal'tsit. Naturally, she could not wander around doing nothing all day like the three of them.
Though Rosemary still frequently forgot things because of her condition, she had etched Kanna's small figure deep into her heart. Unless she was receiving treatment or undergoing various tests, she followed Kanna around to play.
When they neared A1's residence, they heard Fen's energetic voice from far away.
Once they approached, the members of A1 Squad saw Kanna and hurried over with looks of "admiration."
After getting close, Ifrit, who normally did not like chatting with Kanna, unusually gave her a hug.
Pheobe, still looking a little frightened, said, "Kanna, can you see the future or something? Luckily, we got bored on the way, so Fen told us what you said. At the time, everyone thought you were messing with us. We never expected to really be attacked during the mission by a Perro girl. Closure was the one who remembered what you said and knocked her out with some food mixed with sleeping pills. Otherwise, my sister..."
"Ahahaha... I can't see the future or anything, but I know that doggy. Did you bring her back?" Kanna looked around but did not spot Eyjafjalla.
Seeing Kanna looking everywhere, Fen said, "We brought her back, but her Originium infection is severe. She's receiving treatment in the Medical Department."
Thinking about Eyjafjalla's background, Kanna nodded. She was a somewhat dim-witted girl who had traveled alone across more than half of Terra. Because she did not understand how to protect herself, she had suffered an extremely severe Originium infection along the way.
"So how did your mission go?" Now that she knew Eyjafjalla had made it onto the island, Kanna was no longer in a hurry.
The first reason she had sought Eyjafjalla was that she had liked that somewhat silly doggy in the game. The second was that she wanted to challenge her and see who was truly Rhodes Island's biggest eater.
Fen nodded with a smile. "Not bad. Aside from being attacked by that Perro girl called 'Eyjafjalla,' the journey went fairly smoothly."
Kanna patted her chest. "That's good. I'll go see that doggy first. You just got back, so go get some rest."
As Kanna led Popukar and Rosemary away, Closure complained to the others beside her, "Say, don't you have anything to say about Kanna and those two little ones' clothes?"
Some time ago, Kanna had suddenly asked Rhodes Island's tailors to make white T-shirts for herself, Popukar, Rosemary, and Amiya.
Each shirt had a few characters written on it in Yanese. Kanna's read "Flat Chest" on the front and "Extremely Hungry" on the back. Popukar's read "Strength Can Smash Bricks," Rosemary's read "Peerless Meow," and Amiya's read "Donkey Meat Hotpot."
Though the other three did not understand what the words meant, they happily accepted Kanna's gifts. Compared with Kanna's own shirt, at least the words on theirs were less likely to make people complain.
"Uh... that's true. But Yanese characters have many layers of meaning. We aren't Yanese, and we don't understand their writing deeply enough. It would be awkward if we judged them wrong."
Yato, who had helped make the shirts, had plenty to say about that. When she received the words Kanna had provided, she had wanted to complain. Did Kanna really think there were no Yanese people on Rhodes Island, or that most operators could not read Yanese? Wasn't she afraid of being laughed to death?
But then Yato remembered that the people wearing them were either children or Rhodes Island's leader. Even if people understood the meanings, they probably would not mock them. So while Kanna's stunt was rather absurd, it happened to sit right at the edge of everyone's tolerance—and had also brought Rhodes Island plenty of laughter.
For example, after seeing Kanna's text T-shirts, quite a few people thought they were fashionable and applied to the Engineering Department for clothing in that style, allowing Closure to make a tidy profit after hearing the news.
After waiting in the Medical Department for a while, Kanna and the others saw a doctor emerge with a blond Perro girl who did not look particularly bright.
As they walked, the doctor kept emphasizing something to her.
But judging from the Perro girl's blank face and drifting eyes, it was obvious that she had not listened to a single word.
Sure enough, the moment the doctor's attention shifted away, she began looking around as though searching for something.
"Are you looking for that?" Seeing the Perro girl's gaze turn toward her, Kanna pointed at a bag not far away.
The Perro girl's eyes lit up when she saw the bag. Before the doctor beside her could react, she pounced toward it like a starving dog.
She picked up the bag and looked inside. Seeing that everything was there, she happily wagged her tail.
When she pulled her head out of the bag, she saw a child standing beside her, curiously examining the Originium crystals on her leg.
Kanna reached out to touch them, then looked up and asked, "Does it hurt when these things grow on your legs?"
Perhaps because Kanna had pointed her in the right direction earlier, the Perro girl shook her head. "As long as I don't pay special attention to them, I usually don't feel anything. They just dig into me when I lie down to sleep."
"Rhodes Island has a really skilled blacksmith. Some of your weapons are rusty. How about I take you to him so he can maintain them?"
The Fastest Way to Raise Affection Is Feeding Them
"??? Why do they need maintenance???" The Perro girl took out her weapons one by one and strapped them onto her back, then asked curiously.
"Weapons are like you. When they rust, they're sick. Maintenance means treating them. Otherwise, the weapons will die too."
Kanna knew that if she used overly technical language with Eyjafjalla, she would not understand. So she personified the weapons to make her understand why maintenance was necessary.
"Eek! So that's how it is. Take me to the blacksmith!" Eyjafjalla immediately grew nervous upon hearing Kanna's words.
"My name is Kanna. I hope we can become good friends." As she spoke, Kanna handed over a cookie she had prepared before coming.
"Mm-hmm-hmm, I'm Eyjafjalla. I like Honey Cakes best, though I like all other food too. Crunch... Wow! This is delicious! I declare it the second tastiest food after Honey Cakes." Eyjafjalla casually accepted Kanna's food, took a bite, and could not help praising it.
"Rhodes Island has lots of delicious food. I'm sure you'll like it here." As she spoke, Kanna headed toward the Engineering Department.
Seeing the doggy carrying a pile of weapons behind Kanna, the doctor from earlier could not help sighing. She had talked for so long, yet it seemed Eyjafjalla had not heard a word. All she could do was turn around and head back toward the Medical Department's entrance.
After arriving at the Engineering Department, Kanna asked the operators inside for directions. Leading the others through several twists and turns, she finally arrived outside a secluded little room.
After she knocked on the door, a red-eyed Hooves woman came out.
Seeing several children at the door, she could not help frowning. As a blacksmith, lively and restless children usually meant trouble. Seeing so many at once made her uncomfortable.
Just as she was about to turn around and close the door, Kanna reached out and stopped her.
"Big Sister Vulcan, Miss Eyjafjalla has some weapons that need maintenance. The Engineering Department operators recommended you to us, saying you're Rhodes Island's best at forging and maintaining weapons. That's why we came here. Don't worry, we're good children and won't cause you any trouble."
Vulcan did not entirely believe her, but when she tried to force the door shut and found that it felt welded in place, she understood that the child before her was no ordinary child.
She opened the door again and nodded. "Fine. But let me make this clear first. This is where weapons are manufactured and maintained, so there are no children's toys here. If you get bored, go play outside. Don't touch anything in here without permission."
Only after Kanna nodded did she step aside and let the four of them in.
The moment they entered, Eyjafjalla impatiently took the weapons off her back. "Big Sis, please check them. Will they die?"
"Die?" Vulcan looked at Eyjafjalla.
"She means whether they're too damaged to be used anymore." People who had just met Eyjafjalla might not understand what she meant, so Kanna explained from the side.
Vulcan nodded and picked up each weapon, carefully examining them one by one.
"They're fine. They all have some rust on them, but nothing serious. A little reforging and regular maintenance afterward will be enough for them to keep being used."
With that, she carried the weapons over to the workbench.
Since it was their first time seeing a smithy up close, the children were all highly interested. After promising not to touch anything, they carefully explored the place.
In Kanna's eyes, it was very different from the blacksmith shop she had imagined. Aside from the enormous furnace in the center, it did not resemble a traditional smithy at all. It was more like a small workshop.
The various mechanical forging devices could produce a batch of qualified weapons with just a few flicks of a switch. If the person working here had not been Vulcan, Kanna would have doubted whether she really possessed enough skill.
After staying with Vulcan for quite a while, Kanna noticed Popukar beginning to yawn and Rosemary struggling to keep her eyes open, so she decided to leave.
Seeing that Vulcan was still working without any sign of stopping, she took two cookies from her pocket and handed them to Eyjafjalla.
"Everyone's tired from playing, so we're heading back. I'm guessing you won't leave, so I'll leave these two cookies with you. Once Big Sister Vulcan comes down, you can share them."
Eyjafjalla carefully accepted the cookies and nodded firmly at Kanna. "Mm-hmm-hmm! Once my weapons are saved, I'll come find you to play."
As Kanna and the others left, Vulcan glanced at their retreating figures from the workbench and could not help sighing in relief.
Those children truly were as well-behaved as their leader had said. They had been in the workshop for so long without touching things out of curiosity. Yet that only made Vulcan more nervous.
Mischievous children were everywhere, but such obedient little ones surely had significant backgrounds. On top of that, they were all so adorable. She worried about how she would explain herself if something in the workshop went wrong and hurt them.
After Kanna and the others left, Vulcan looked at Eyjafjalla, who sat there staring at the workbench, and casually asked, "Why didn't you go back with them?"
"Eyjafjalla only just came here. The person in the white coat told Eyjafjalla where she lived, but Eyjafjalla forgot. But it's okay. As long as Eyjafjalla is with her weapons, she can live anywhere."
"Oh? Aren't those little ones your friends?"
"Kanna is Eyjafjalla's friend. She's a good person." Eyjafjalla did not deny it.
"Then why didn't you ask her to help you find a place to stay?"
"Eyjafjalla's weapons are here! Wherever her weapons are, that's where Eyjafjalla lives!" Eyjafjalla's foolish face showed a look of pride as she said that.
Vulcan smiled upon hearing her words.
"The room next door is unused. You can rest there. Your weapons will probably need another four or five hours before maintenance is completely finished. You don't need to stay here the entire time."
Eyjafjalla shook her head and stared at Vulcan with a resolute expression. "No. Eyjafjalla isn't going anywhere."
Seeing how firm she was, Vulcan said nothing more and turned back to continue working.
After Kanna and the other two left Vulcan's workshop, they headed toward the resting area.
Aside from Kanna, the other two had probably been made dizzy by the heat in the workshop. Once Kanna delivered them to the dormitory, they quickly fell asleep. After thinking it over, Kanna decided to go have some fun in the training room. If she was lucky, perhaps she might see Hanti.
When she arrived at the training room, she did not encounter Hanti. There was only Mad Shark, silently swinging a chainsaw at the targets.
Perhaps it was her wild, broad attacks, or perhaps it was the obvious instability of her mind, but aside from a defender operator stationed nearby to prevent accidents, there was no one else around her.
"Hello, Hardbrick. Want some candy?"
Just as the defender operator was looking bored, a little girl's voice came from behind him.
My Sharky, My Sharky—How Did You Become Worse After Reaching Six Stars?!
Hardbrick could not help shuddering when he heard the voice.
To ACE's group, that voice had become a nightmare lately. Not only had she tricked food and drinks out of them, she had gotten them punished with cleaning toilets. Thinking of the smell in those toilets, Hardbrick's face went from red to green, then from green to purple.
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