Kanna Transforms on Terra

"How about we try waking her up?"

Although Misery didn't believe this conclusion himself, the facts were laid out before him, and he found it utterly absurd.

Seeing Misery about to reach out and wake Kanna, Outcast shoved him aside. "You, no wonder you can't get any female attention on Rhodes Island besides those idiots like Ace."

Looking at Kanna's adorable sleeping face, Outcast's usually stern expression softened into a rare look of tenderness.

She gently scooped Kanna up. "Regardless, we can't leave a cub alone in this wilderness, even if she's unusual."

Misery didn't refute Outcast's words. In his mind, Kanna was just a cub. Even if she possessed powerful Originium Arts, he believed he and the other elite Operators on Rhodes Island could easily suppress her.

While Rhodes Island's purpose was to find a path for the Infected to coexist with the non-Infected, they also spared no effort in taking in and protecting abandoned cubs.

This was also why elite Operators like them were willing to stay on Rhodes Island. This land already bore too much suffering, but that suffering shouldn't be borne by newly born cubs.

Kanna had actually noticed the group's arrival outside the cave, but they hadn't emanated any ill will. Moreover, after hearing their words and realizing they were from Rhodes Island, she let down her guard.

After all, while Rhodes Island's little donkey might have a touch of naivete, Rhodes Island could be considered a rare Eden on the continent of Terra.

Joining Rhodes Island with this group seemed like an excellent choice to Kanna.

Furthermore, just before they entered, her mission had shown completion. Her new mission was to successfully join any organization or country in this world. By following Misery and the others into Rhodes Island, she would effortlessly complete this task.

At this moment, she had her eyes closed, studying the reward for her first mission—the basic Originium Art, Palm Thunder, from Hitori no Shita.

Although Palm Thunder was considered a basic Originium Art, Kanna saw in it a glimmer of hope for how to use her lightning abilities.

Even though she couldn't practice it now, Kanna was like a massive dam, and Palm Thunder was a sluice gate. It showed Kanna how to utilize her body's immense power, rather than simply filling her body with lightning and relying on physical prowess for close-quarters combat.

As the first rays of morning sunlight streamed into the off-road vehicle, Kanna finally awoke from her deep sleep.

Upon waking, she found herself in the embrace of a kind grandmother.

Seeing the cub in her arms stir, Outcast smiled faintly. She then carefully supported Kanna's head to prevent it from hitting the surroundings due to the vehicle's bumps.

Misery, in the passenger seat, also noticed Kanna waking up.

Unlike Outcast, he didn't completely lower his guard. Instead, he unconsciously tensed his body.

As a Sarkaz, he had witnessed many mysterious and unfathomable Originium Arts. Although Kanna looked like a child, who knew if she truly was one?

After all, look at the old monsters in the Royal Court; they were all incredibly enigmatic. And then there were the High Tower Sorcerers, engrossed in researching forbidden arts. Who knew if one of them had developed a spell to extend their life by shrinking their body?

The reason was simple: he didn't believe a young girl could survive alone in a desert where even a fully armed team would struggle to last long.

"Do you want some water, little one?" Outcast took a cup from a nearby team member, shook it, and asked.

"Huh? Awoo!"

Kanna was still a bit groggy from just waking up, but upon seeing the cup, she reflexively stretched her head forward—

Then, to everyone's surprise, she put Outcast's hand, cup and all, into her mouth.

The Operators nearby grew tense at Kanna's action and were about to reach out to pull Outcast's hand from Kanna's mouth.

Outcast stopped them, as she felt Kanna cease her actions after putting her hand in her mouth, as if she had realized her mistake.

Indeed, Kanna opened her mouth and released Outcast's hand.

As everyone's attention shifted from Outcast's hand to Kanna, they saw her looking at Outcast with teary eyes.

"I'm sorry! Kanna just wanted water, Kanna didn't mean to bite you, Kanna doesn't eat people..."

Kanna's mind was in turmoil. She hadn't expected that after transmigrating into Kanna's body, her consciousness would merge with it. Otherwise, no matter how bad her morning temper was, she wouldn't have put someone's entire hand in her mouth just for a sip of water.

"Your name is Kanna? That's a lovely name... But why were you in that cave? Where are your parents?" Outcast gently stroked Kanna's soft hair and asked.

"Mmm~~~ Kanna doesn't know!"

Kanna couldn't explain her appearance, as Dragon Maid and Terra were from different universes. After a moment's hesitation, she unleashed the ultimate loli move: the adorable bluffing strategy.

Seeing the cub in her arms frown, think for a long time, and then utter such a response, Outcast felt helpless. But whether Kanna was hiding something or truly knew nothing, Since she had found the little one, and as long as the child harbored no ill intentions towards Rhodes Island, bringing her back to the island was her self-appointed mission.

After her morning tantrum, Kanna's mind cleared. She looked around and realized she was in a moving vehicle.

She crawled to the car window and curiously peered outside. She had been in this world for ten days, but this was the first time she was observing the world's scenery with a sense of wonder. Most of her time had been spent foraging or secretly watching battles that occasionally occurred nearby.

After a while, the scenery grew tiresome. After all, it was just a desert outside the window. Apart from piles of rocks and occasional vegetation, there wasn't much worth admiring.

Bored, Kanna couldn't help but touch her stomach. As a "young dragon," she could actually go a long time on a single meal.

However, she had discovered that the food she consumed not only served as energy but also converted into "electricity" within her body.

Over the past ten days of feasting, her internal "electricity" had only charged to about ten percent.

As someone with both obsessive-compulsive disorder and a lack of firepower, this deficit made her feel very uneasy. Therefore, after each meal, she converted most of the energy into electricity, leaving only a small portion for her body's basic functions.

This was why she was hungry and ate large amounts every day.

Noticing Kanna's movement, Outcast spoke up. The team found a concealed and relatively safe spot and stopped the vehicle. Several team members skillfully set up a stove to prepare the day's meals.

Last night, they had lost considerable time due to Kanna. To return on schedule, they had to compress their already limited free time. Therefore, the team decided to prepare all their meals for the day in the morning. Afterward, they would take turns driving, minimizing stops, and head towards their originally planned destination.

But their plan quickly fell apart, naturally because of Kanna.

When the Operators started preparing food, she squatted beside the large pot with an excited glint in her eyes.

As soon as the meal was ready, she looked at the Operator who cooked with teary eyes.

The other Operator couldn't stand it and gave her a little, but when they turned their head, they saw a clean plate extended in front of them, along with a pitiful gaze from behind the plate.

After this happened repeatedly, everyone else also noticed something was off with Kanna. At this point, Misery walked over and took the place of the Operator who was cooking.

He looked at Kanna curiously, wanting to see just how much this little one could eat.

Then, amidst the other Operators' transition from shock to numbness, and finally to a bewildered "Who am I?", Kanna let out a satisfied burp and happily collapsed into Outcast's arms.

"Huhu! Kanna is full, Kanna wants to sleep."

Looking at the child in his arms, whose stomach wasn't bloated at all and whose weight remained the same, Outcast couldn't help but show a wry smile. This little one couldn't possibly be supported by an ordinary family. In fact, without a mine or two at home, even the cheapest, most ordinary black bread would bankrupt them.

Keep in mind that this was food prepared for fifteen people across two squads for an entire day, and yet it all went into Kanna's mouth before anyone else could even get a sip of soup.

What was even more terrifying was that despite eating so much, her stomach showed no signs of distension, making one wonder if Kanna's mouth was connected to another dimension.

"Never mind, I'll take two people to find some prey around here! The rest of you, continue resting here, but maintain necessary vigilance."

Misery glanced at the pot, which only contained a thin layer of soup broth, and reluctantly made the decision to continue their rest.

If he could do it all over again, he would never have been curious about this Vayvan's appetite.

This wasn't simply "eating a lot"; it was like a stomach connected to a mysterious realm. He could only express his admiration. He wondered what kind of family could raise such a glutton. Perhaps that family, unable to support her any longer, had abandoned the little one in the wilderness.

Section 11, Chapter 7: Starving on the Road, All Because of Food

It was already an hour later when the team set off again.

Considering that the team couldn't reach their designated location to board the island as planned, Outcast sent a report to Rhodes Island via communication about the delayed return. Consequently, the team's journey was no longer as hurried as initially scheduled.

The main reason was Kanna's behavior after eating, where she would bounce around after a short nap, which was truly unsettling.

Everyone was also curious if Kanna would have any problems after eating so much.

However, the result was that when the second pot was ready and everyone began eating breakfast, after everyone had been served, Kanna once again trotted to the large pot, drooling as she looked at the remaining food.

"Not full yet?" Misery asked knowingly.

"Kanna is fine. It's worse to waste food than to not be able to eat enough. So, so if there's any extra food, Kanna can help eat it!"

Just now, Kanna had discovered that the tastier and more nutritious food the squad made could provide her with more "power." That one meal alone had increased her "power" by a full 5%, which was an amount she would normally gain from eating for several days outdoors.

However, worried about eating too much at once and having nothing later, she had saved a lot of energy in her body for normal physical activity.

But seeing new food, her hoarding instinct kicked in again, and she found herself back at the cooking pot.

Misery's eyes became complex upon hearing her words.

In his opinion, someone who has never experienced hunger wouldn't say such a thing. What kind of hardship had such a young child endured to understand such a principle?

He couldn't help but serve Kanna a portion, then squatted down and handed it to her. As she happily ate, he stroked her head.

"Don't worry! From today onwards, you will never go hungry again."

Outcast, watching Misery's actions from not far away, slightly curled the corners of his mouth.

On Rhodes Island

Kal'tsit frowned, holding the newly delivered report.

Outcast and Misery were currently among the few stationed Operators she could dispatch for missions.

They had not disappointed her expectations, completing every mission beautifully.

This time, they were leading a team for a routine inspection of the ship's sailing direction safety, which should not have presented any issues. Yet, for such a simple mission, Outcast had sent back intel about a delayed return.

Although the delay was less than half a day, for the two of them, accompanied by two full squads of Operators, a half-day delay in returning to the island was already a significant matter.

Therefore, upon receiving Outcast's request, the intelligence department quickly forwarded this information to Kal'tsit.

The current squad has successfully completed their reconnaissance and exploration mission. On the way back, due to force majeure, a half-day delay in returning to the island is required. We hope the ship can re-arrange the return process.

Looking at the intelligence Outcast had sent back, even Kal'tsit, a professional riddle-maker, was somewhat bewildered.

What did "force majeure" mean?

A Catastrophe or an encounter with enemies?

It wasn't as if they were too far apart. If there had been a Catastrophe, their own Catastrophe messengers would surely have detected it.

As for enemies, even if Outcast couldn't annihilate them, they would have called for support. Rhodes Island would naturally send people to assist. This kind of "force majeure" in the report shouldn't have occurred.

Section 12, Chapter 8: Riddles Can Lead to Uncontrollable Consequences Due to Overthinking

It was fortunate that Outcast's message did not contain any dangerous codes and included proof of identity. Otherwise, Kal'tsit would have suspected that Outcast's squad and Misery's squad had met with foul play.

"The content is fine, just a delayed arrival. That's understandable. Aren't Ace and Scout holding some kind of bizarre competition because they have nothing better to do? Have them go to the cargo bay to receive Outcast upon arrival."

After some thought, Kal'tsit decided to err on the side of caution. She arranged for two idle elite Operators to go down and escort Outcast's group back. If there were indeed problems, Ace and Scout, with their abilities, could easily hold their ground and issue a warning.

She had no worries about enemies infiltrating Rhodes Island, as S.W.E.E.P. was currently present on the island. If anyone dared to infiltrate, they probably wouldn't even know what terrifying entity they would face.

On the other side, Ace and Scout, who were leisurely resting in the hall, received orders from Kal'tsit. A glint of gold flashed in their eyes as they sensed something was wrong.

If it were just about receiving dispatched Operators back, sending two engineering Operators to ensure the normal opening and closing of the passage would have been sufficient. There would be no need to mobilize elite Operators like themselves.

This proved that the Outcast group returning to Rhodes Island had likely encountered problems. However, Kal'tsit wasn't sure exactly where the issue lay, which was why she had sent them to investigate.

"What kind of mission were Misery and the others sent on?"

"If I recall correctly, they were scouting ahead. I just went to the intelligence department hall a moment ago. They sent a message not long ago, stating they would be delayed by half a day returning to the island, citing 'force majeure' as the reason."

"Hiss~"

"Don't worry! With the abilities of Outcast and Misery, even the Witch King himself wouldn't be able to overwhelm them completely. Since it's not a warning, perhaps it's just a situation like a broken-down vehicle. Kal'tsit is just being overly cautious..."

"Let's hope so."

While they were talking, the two arrived with their newly formed squads at the passage entrance connecting Rhodes Island to the outside world and quickly set up a defensive line.

Even though they felt Kal'tsit might be overreacting, as Operators, they acted with extreme caution and thoroughness.

As the time reached deep into the night, they received a message from above: the Outcast group would enter Rhodes Island through their current entrance in half an hour.

The Operators, who had previously dispersed, quickly moved into their designated positions.

With a rumble, the gate connecting Rhodes Island to the outside world was opened. In the pitch-black night, the impenetrable darkness seemed like a terrifying entity capable of swallowing everything, causing everyone to involuntarily tense up.

Soon, accompanied by a piercing horn sound and the glare of headlights, the Outcast group, in four vehicles, orderly passed through the passage and entered Rhodes Island.

"Yo! Brother Ace, Scout, did you two offend Kal'tsit? Why are you guarding the gate so late at night?" Misery, sitting in the front vehicle, opened the window and saw Ace and Scout standing nearby, before quipping.

Seeing Misery's carefree demeanor, the two also breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed things weren't as dire as Kal'tsit had imagined.