The Young Dragon Wakes Up to a Drink of Water / One Person Eats, the Whole Family Goes Hungry ...

"How about we try waking her up?"

Although Misery himself did not believe that conclusion, the facts were right in front of him, and he found it utterly absurd as well.

Seeing Misery about to reach out and wake Kanna, Outcast shoved him aside. "You idiot, no wonder you have no luck with women on the island apart from those fools like ACE."

Seeing Kanna's adorably silly sleeping face, Outcast wore a rare, kindly expression.

She gently gathered Kanna into her arms. "No matter what, we can't leave a young one alone in this wilderness, whether there's anything unusual about her or not."

Misery did not disagree with Outcast. In his eyes, Kanna was only a young one. Even if she possessed powerful Originium Arts, he believed that he and Rhodes Island's Elite Operators could easily restrain her.

Although Rhodes Island's purpose was to find a path for the infected to coexist with the uninfected, it also spared no effort in taking in and protecting abandoned young ones.

That was why Elite Operators like them were willing to remain at Rhodes Island—the land already suffered from far too much hardship, but those hardships should not be borne by young ones who had only just been born.

Kanna had actually noticed the squad the moment they arrived outside the entrance. However, they had shown no hostility from beginning to end, and after hearing that they came from Rhodes Island, she let down her guard even further.

After all, though Rhodes Island's little donkey had a somewhat naïve mindset, Rhodes Island could still be considered one of the rare paradises on Terra.

In Kanna's view, joining Rhodes Island with this squad was a very good choice.

Moreover, just before they entered, her mission had displayed as complete. The new mission was to successfully join any organization or country in this world. Once she followed Misery and the others into Rhodes Island, she could naturally complete it with ease.

At that moment, she had her eyes closed as she studied the reward from her first mission—the basic technique Palm Thunder from Hitori no Shita's Five Thunders Orthodox Method.

Although Palm Thunder counted as a basic technique, Kanna saw in it a glimmer of hope for how to use her lightning abilities.

Even though she had no way to practice right now, Kanna was like an enormous dam, while Palm Thunder was a sluice gate. It taught her how to use the immense power within her body instead of simply covering herself in lightning and relying on her physical strength to force her opponents into close combat.

The Awakened Young Dragon Has Water to Drink

As the first ray of morning sunlight shone into the off-road vehicle, Kanna finally woke from her deep sleep.

After waking up, she discovered that she was in the arms of a kindly grandmother.

When Outcast saw the young one in her arms awaken, she smiled slightly, then carefully supported Kanna's head so that she would not bump into anything from the vehicle's jolting.

Misery, in the passenger seat, also noticed that Kanna had awakened.

Unlike Outcast, he had not completely lowered his guard. He instinctively tensed up.

As a Sarkaz, he had witnessed quite a few unfathomable Originium Arts. Though Kanna looked like a child, who could say whether she truly was one?

Not to mention the old monsters of the Royal Court, each of whom was inscrutable and eerie. There were also those High Tower Sorcerers obsessed with researching forbidden arts. Who knew whether one of them had developed a spell to extend their life by shrinking themselves down?

Naturally, he did not believe that a little girl could survive alone in a desert where even a fully armed squad would struggle to last for long.

"Would you like some water, little one?" Outcast took a cup from a nearby operator, shook it gently, and asked.

"Hm? Awoo!"

Kanna was still a little dazed after waking up, but when she saw the cup before her, she reflexively stretched out her head—

Then, under everyone's astonished gazes, she swallowed the hand Outcast was using to hold the cup into her mouth.

The nearby operators became extremely nervous at Kanna's action and prepared to pull Outcast's hand out of Kanna's mouth.

Outcast stopped them, because she felt Kanna stop moving after putting her hand into her mouth, as though she had realized she had made a mistake.

Sure enough, Kanna opened her mouth and released her hand.

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

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

Kanna was internally falling apart. She had not expected that after crossing over in Kanna's form, their bodily instincts would merge as well. Otherwise, no matter how bad her morning grumpiness was, she could not possibly 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 how did you end up in that cave? Where is your family?" Outcast stroked Kanna's smooth, soft long hair and asked gently.

"Umm... Kanna doesn't know!"

Kanna had no way to explain her appearance. After all, Dragon Maid and Terra were not works from the same setting. So after hesitating for a moment, she used the ultimate little-girl move: acting cute to muddle through.

Seeing the young one in her arms frown and think for a long time before squeezing out that answer, Outcast felt rather helpless. But whether Kanna was hiding something or genuinely knew nothing—

Since she had found this little one, as long as Kanna harbored no ill intentions toward Rhodes Island, bringing her back to the island would be the mission Outcast set for herself.

After the initial morning grumpiness passed, Kanna fully woke up. She looked around and discovered that she was in a moving vehicle.

She crawled over to the window and curiously looked outside. She had been in this world for ten days now, but this was the first time she had observed its scenery with hopeful anticipation. Before this, she had spent most of her time either looking for food or secretly watching the battles that occasionally broke out around her.

When One Eats, the Whole Family Goes Hungry

After a while, she grew tired of the scenery. After all, outside the window was nothing but desert. Aside from piles of rocks and the occasional vegetation, there was truly nothing worth admiring.

Bored, Kanna unconsciously rubbed her belly. As a "young dragon," one meal could actually sustain her for a long time.

However, she had discovered earlier that the food she ate could not only serve as physical energy, but could also convert its energy into the "charge" within her body.

After ten or so days of eating and drinking heavily, her internal "charge" had only reached around ten percent.

As someone with both obsessive-compulsive tendencies and a firepower deficiency complex, that emptiness made her deeply uneasy. So after each meal, she converted most of the energy into electricity, leaving only a small portion to maintain her body's functions.

That was why she got hungry and ate huge amounts every day.

Noticing Kanna's movements, Outcast spoke up. The squad found a concealed yet relatively safe place to stop, and several operators skillfully set up a stove to begin preparing the day's food.

After all, they had lost quite a bit of time because of Kanna the previous night. To return on time, they had no choice but to compress their already limited rest time. So they planned to prepare all of the day's food in the morning, then take turns driving and head toward their planned destination with as few stops as possible.

However, their plan was quickly ruined, and the reason was naturally Kanna.

As soon as the operators began cooking, she crouched beside the large pot with an excited gleam in her eyes.

Once the food was ready, she looked at the operator cooking with teary eyes.

The operator could not bear it and gave her a little. Yet the moment he turned around, a spotless plate was held out before him, along with a pitiful pair of eyes peeking over its edge.

After this happened again and again, everyone noticed that something was off about Kanna. At that point, Misery walked over and took the place of the operator who had been cooking.

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

Then, as the other operators' expressions shifted from shock to numbness and finally to blank confusion, Kanna let out a satisfied burp and happily flopped into Outcast's arms.

"Phew! Kanna is full. Kanna wants to sleep."

Looking at the little one in her arms, whose belly had not swollen at all and whose weight remained unchanged, Outcast could only smile wryly. There was no way an ordinary family could afford to raise this little one. Rather, unless they owned several mines, even the cheapest, plainest black bread would be enough for her to eat them into bankruptcy.

They had prepared that food for two squads, fifteen people in total, for an entire day. Yet before anyone else had even gotten a sip of soup, it had all gone into Kanna's stomach.

But even more frighteningly, after eating so much, her belly still showed no sign of bulging. It made one wonder whether Kanna's mouth was connected to another world.

"Forget it. I'll take two people to hunt around the area. The rest of you keep resting here, but maintain the necessary watch."

Misery looked at the large pot with only a thin layer of broth left at the bottom and helplessly decided to extend their break.

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

This went beyond simply being able to eat. Her stomach was practically connected to some mysterious realm. All he could do was admire it. He had no idea what sort of family could raise such a glutton. They had probably truly been unable to afford her, which was why they had abandoned this little one in the wilderness.

Driven to Hunger by Food

By the time the squad set off again, an hour had passed.

Considering that the squad could not reach the designated location and board the island according to schedule, Outcast sent Rhodes Island a report through communications saying that their return would be delayed. The squad's journey was no longer as rushed as originally planned.

The main reason was that the sight of Kanna running around everywhere after taking only a short nap following that meal was truly terrifying.

Everyone was also curious whether Kanna, after eating so much, would suffer any problems.

However, when the second pot was ready and everyone began eating breakfast, after everyone had filled their plates, Kanna happily ran back to the large pot, drooling as she stared at the food remaining inside.

"Still not full?" Misery asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Kanna is fine. Wasting food is worse than not being able to eat it. So, so if there is extra food, Kanna can help eat it!"

Kanna had noticed earlier that the tastier, more nutritious food made by the squad provided her with more "charge." That single meal had raised it by a full five percent—an amount of "charge" that would have taken her several days of eating outside to obtain.

However, she was worried that if she ate too much at once, she would have nothing to eat later. So she had kept plenty of energy in her body for her usual activities.

But when she saw there was more food, her instinct to hoard food brought her back in front of the cooking pot.

Misery's expression became somewhat complicated after hearing her words.

In his view, no one who had never experienced hunger would say something like that. For such a small child to understand this principle, what kind of hardship must she have endured?

Without thinking, he served Kanna another portion, crouched down, and handed it to her. As she began eating happily, he stroked her head.

"Don't worry. From today onward, you won't have to go hungry again."

Not far away, Outcast's lips curled up slightly when she saw Misery's actions.

At Rhodes Island

Kal'tsit frowned as she held the report that had just been delivered.

Outcast and Misery were among the few island-based operators she could currently dispatch to carry out missions.

Neither of them had disappointed her. Every mission had been completed beautifully.

This time, they had led a routine inspection of the safety along the landship's route. There should not have been any problems. Yet during such a simple mission, Outcast had sent word that their return would be delayed.

Although the delay was less than half a day, considering that the two of them had brought along the combat power of two full squads, a half-day delay in returning to the island was already an extraordinary situation.

Therefore, after the intelligence department received Outcast's request, they quickly forwarded the report to Kal'tsit.

The squad has successfully completed its reconnaissance and exploration mission. During the return journey, we must delay our return to the island by half a day due to force majeure. We request that the landship make new arrangements for our return procedure.

Looking at the report Outcast had sent back, even Kal'tsit, a professional cryptic speaker herself, was somewhat confused.

What did "force majeure" mean?

A Catastrophe, or an enemy encounter?

They were not that far apart. If there had truly been a Catastrophe, the Catastrophe Messengers on her side could not possibly have failed to notice it.

And if it was an enemy, even if Outcast could not eliminate them, she would have called for support.

They would naturally send people to assist. There should not have been any "force majeure" in the report.

Cryptic Words Lead to Wild Speculation and Uncontrollable Consequences

It was fortunate that Outcast's message contained no coded warning of danger and included proof of identity. Otherwise, Kal'tsit would have suspected that Outcast's squad and Misery's squad had already met with trouble.

"The contents are fine. They are only delaying their return to the island, which is understandable. Aren't ACE and SCOUT idle all day, holding all sorts of pointless competitions? Send them to the docking bay to receive Outcast's group."

After thinking it over, Kal'tsit still decided it was better to be cautious. She assigned two available elite operators to meet Outcast's group below. If there truly was a problem, ACE and SCOUT had the strength to easily hold them off and raise the alarm.

She was not worried in the slightest that enemies could infiltrate Rhodes Island. After all, S.W.E.E.P. was still on the island. If anyone truly dared infiltrate, they likely would not even know what terrifying existence they were about to face.

Meanwhile, ACE and SCOUT, who had been leisurely resting in the hall, received Kal'tsit's order. Their eyes immediately gleamed as they smelled trouble.

If it were merely receiving dispatched operators returning to the island, two engineering operators would have been enough to ensure the passage opened and closed normally. There was no need to trouble elite operators like them.

That meant Outcast's group had likely run into some sort of problem during this return, but Kal'tsit was unsure what the issue was, which was why she had sent them to inspect it.

"What mission did Misery and the others go on?"

"If I remember right, it was an ordinary route-scouting mission. I just went to the intelligence department's hall to check. Not long ago, they sent word that they would return to the island half a day late, and the reason in the report was force majeure."

"Hiss..."

"Don't worry. With Outcast and Misery's abilities, even if the Witch King himself came, they would not be completely unable to resist. Since it isn't a warning, perhaps the vehicle broke down or something. Kal'tsit is just being overly cautious..."

"I hope so."

While chatting, the two led their newly assembled squad to the entrance beneath Rhodes Island that connected to the outside world and quickly arranged their defensive positions.

Even though they felt Kal'tsit was making too much of a fuss, they remained extremely cautious and thorough in their actions as operators.

When night fell, they received word from above that Outcast's group would enter Rhodes Island through the entrance they were guarding in half an hour.

The operators who had been scattered about quickly moved into their assigned positions.

With a rumble, the gate connecting Rhodes Island to the outside world opened. In the pitch-black night, the darkness beyond was so deep one could not see one's hand before one's face, like a terror capable of swallowing everything, making everyone tense up involuntarily.

Soon, accompanied by the piercing blast of horns and the glare of headlights, Outcast's four vehicles drove through the passage and into Rhodes Island in orderly fashion.

"Yo! Big Brother ACE, SCOUT, did you offend Kal'tsit? Why has she got you guarding the gate in the middle of the night?" Misery, sitting in the lead vehicle, rolled down the window and teased when he saw ACE and SCOUT standing nearby.

Seeing Misery looking so carefree, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed things were not as bad as Kal'tsit had imagined.