Transforming into Kanna on Terra

After it was over, Kanna clapped her hands and ran back to where she had hidden the boy. She needed to drive the car to the side of the road and wait for Outcast and the others to arrive before switching drivers. After all, her height wasn't enough. To drive, she had to stand the whole time, and it was difficult to reach the gas and brake pedals, which was a real struggle for her as a little dragon-person.

When she got back into the car and saw the boy still unconscious, Kanna felt relieved.

Honestly, she was afraid of coming back and finding the person gone. Although she wouldn't go groveling to find them again, the thought of it made her feel sick.

After all, in Kanna's opinion, the act of waking up, realizing one was severely injured, and then secretly leaving because they didn't want to burden others was pure idiocy.

Staying behind to survive had a higher chance of success than leaving alone. If they left alone and encountered a "saint" who insisted on helping, it would slow down the group's pace. Then, they might be chased by bad guys, resulting in the sacrifice of companions who didn't need to be sacrificed at all.

Such a plot was utterly ridiculous and disgusting.

Besides, even if they couldn't be saved, at least their teammates could erect a grave for them, a memorial. It was better than dying unknown in some forgotten corner.

Meanwhile, Outcast and her group were walking out after the event. Suddenly, a message came from the scouting team ahead.

Baron Colin and his troops, who had been lured out by the pillar of light, were found stopped halfway. Outcast was surprised at first, thinking they had discovered her plan.

Unexpectedly, the scout continued, saying that all the vehicles had been damaged and abandoned by the roadside, with many corpses and scattered deserters along the way.

They had already captured a deserter and were bringing him over.

Outcast nodded, ordered the group to heighten their vigilance and halt their advance, awaiting further news.

Soon, a pale and terrified subordinate of the Baron was brought over by the scouts.

The news from him stunned everyone in the group—while the convoy was on the move, they were attacked by a terrifying little girl. Surrounded by lightning, the girl destroyed the entire convoy in mere seconds. Baron Colin was also killed by her. At the time, he had only seen Kanna attack the Baron from afar and hadn't confirmed if he was dead, but he figured Baron Colin couldn't have survived under those circumstances.

After hearing this, Outcast and her team exchanged glances, all guessing who the attacker was. Finally, she shook her head, "Let's go. Knowing Kanna's personality, I bet she'll be waiting for us on the roadside not too far ahead."

The group continued along the road and soon reached the site of the battle. Seeing dozens of vehicles lying in the muddy ground, Outcast couldn't help but want to laugh.

"She even knows to clear the road. Seems this girl's brain is still working."

Hearing her words, everyone in the car let out a smile.

When the convoy reached the very front, they saw Baron Colin lying on the ground, his limbs severed, barely clinging to life. Seeing his miserable state, Outcast frowned, pulled out her revolver, and shot him in the forehead, ending his painful end.

She understood Kanna's personality quite well, but this was the first time she had seen Kanna's ruthless methods. She wasn't surprised that Kanna could kill, but she hadn't expected her to torture her opponents so severely. For this reason, she decided to discuss it with Kal'tsit later, emphasizing that Kanna's psychological education could not be neglected, and she couldn't be trained into a cruel "torturer."

As the convoy slowly passed, many of the former workers saw Baron Colin dead on the ground. They called their friends and spat fiercely at his corpse as they walked past, ensuring that even in death, his body would be desecrated.

Outcast didn't stop the miners' actions because she had seen far worse from the Infected. This simple and crude form of venting wouldn't affect the convoy's speed, so she had no reason to stop it.

After passing through the combat zone, Outcast could feel that the Infected behind them had relaxed. It wasn't just because of Colin's death, but also the sense of liberation after revenge.

"Beep beep beep!" After driving for less than ten minutes, an off-road vehicle belonging to Baron Colin's family was honking incessantly at the approaching convoy from the side of the road.

Looking up, only half a head could be seen behind the steering wheel in the driver's seat—it was Kanna, who had grown impatient waiting.

"Grandma! You're so slow. I even helped you take care of everyone along the way."

Jumping out of the car, Kanna threw herself into Outcast's arms, saying proudly.

"Kanna, you did very well, far exceeding Grandma's plan. But there was a spot for you in the car, why did you get another one?"

Outcast stroked Kanna's head and looked at her eyes, which held no trace of killing intent or ferocity. The words she was about to say were swallowed back.

"Oh, I happened to rescue someone at that Colin guy's place. He was quite badly injured. Carrying him around, I was afraid he'd die on the way, so I got a car to transport him."

She pointed to the back seat of the car, then took the lollipop Outcast handed her and quietly sat down to the side.

"Green! Ah, my Green, how could you be so badly hurt!" As the boy was carried out of the car by several Operators, a woman in the group screamed.

Turning her head, she saw a woman in her forties looking at the boy, covered in wounds, with a shocked and sorrowful expression. Although her expression seemed a bit exaggerated, the tears welling up in her eyes and her concerned look didn't seem fake.

Outcast tilted her head, and an Operator walked over and brought the woman to her. At this moment, the medical Operator who had gone to examine the boy's injuries also walked over.

"This... um... Mr. Green is indeed severely injured. The most serious wound is on his back, near the heart. However, there are traces of medication applied to it, and thanks to that, his life has been saved. The other injuries, though they look terrifying, are all superficial. He'll be fine with some medicine and rest."

Hearing the medical Operator's words, Kanna stood tall, hands on her hips, looking like she expected praise.

As a result, Outcast tapped the back of her head, and she obediently sat back in the car.

After chatting with the medical Operator for a few minutes, the woman, with teary eyes, followed closely back to the group, asking the Operator to take the boy to the medical vehicle. Because he was too weak, professional medical personnel would best care for him to avoid any lasting complications.

Just as the convoy was preparing to move on, a man broke free from the crowd and ran to the front of the car. He knelt before the car and asked Kanna if she had seen his daughter.

Hearing his words, Kanna's eyes dimmed, and she lowered her head, shrinking back.

Seeing Kanna's reaction, the man's eyes lost their light. He understood, and precisely because he understood, he felt a sudden dizziness.

As he was about to fall, he was supported by an Operator next to him.

As the Operator led him back to the group, Kanna's voice came, "I'm sorry, I was too late, but all the culprits paid the price they deserved."

Hearing Kanna's words, the man opened his mouth, tears streaming down his cheeks. He cried heartbrokenly but couldn't make a sound, causing those around him to look away.

After a long while, he recovered. He bowed deeply to Kanna's position and then walked back to the group like a puppet... Although this man was still alive, his heart had died. However, there were too many such tragedies on this land, and everyone had become numb.

After everyone got back in the cars, the convoy slowly started moving again.

"Tell me, what's going on with that girl?"

Outcast held Kanna in her arms. She hadn't spoken before, but she had a question. If the girl had simply died in the manor, Kanna wouldn't have had that expression.

"According to the information I gathered from the manor, that girl was hanged outside the door and whipped to death by his son because she refused to obey him."

Kanna's voice was steady, yet it sent a chill down one's spine.

"Then that guy minced the girl into meat paste and served it as soup to the mining area..."

With a snap.

The Operator who had been recording Kanna's experiences and intelligence beside her snapped the pen they were holding.

Outcast tightened their grip on Kanna's arm slightly and asked in a very flat tone, "With your temper, I assume you didn't let that family off the hook, right?"

"Of course not. How could I let scum like them off easily? In the manor, everyone except the Baron's son and wife is dead... As for those two, I crushed a piece of Pure Originium above their heads and made them inhale a belly full of Pure Originium powder. They should have become severely Infected by now."

At first, everyone was confused that Kanna had let the main culprits go, but after hearing her words, they felt a sense of catharsis.

On this land of Terra, death is not terrifying; a fate worse than death is. Becoming Infected, especially severely Infected, is truly a fate worse than death.

While minor infections could still be treated, a severe infection was merely one step away from death. Furthermore, Infected would crystallize and explode upon death, making the severely Infected a living, highly unstable Living Bomb.

For individuals of this type, even Rhodes Island, whose primary mission is to rescue the Infected, finds them extremely troublesome, let alone the outside world which shudders at the mere mention of the Infected.

Just like Baron Colin, whose limbs were severed and who was left to die, Kanna, although she didn't kill him directly, inflicted upon him more pain and torment than a direct death would have.

"Killing these guys would be easy, but I think dying so easily would be letting them off too lightly," Kanna said, looking out the window as if complaining, unaware that Baron Colin had already been shot dead by Outcast.

"Well said, and well done! It was Grandma who was overthinking things," Outcast said, gently stroking Kanna's hair and following her gaze out the window, sighing with emotion.

They naturally wouldn't bring so many people into the small town, and the town wasn't too far from the manor. They would likely receive news of the manor being attacked soon. Bringing these people to the town at this time would be like walking into a trap.

Thus, the convoy quickly split into two parts. Some individuals who had shown themselves earlier headed towards the town, while several teams that had been following the convoy without revealing themselves rushed towards Rhodes Island with the rescued people.

Considering the large number of people involved and Kanna's previous discretion in the town, Outcast assigned her to another team.

"To avoid suspicion, we'll stay in the town for a few more days. You need to behave and not wander off. J.A., I'm entrusting this team to you. I'll contact Rhodes Island when I get back and have them send people to assist. If there's danger on the road, feel free to let Kanna handle it; I trust she can resolve any trouble."

After giving further instructions, Outcast spoke to J.A., the Medical Operator who was the temporary captain of the other team.

Kanna nodded, then patted her chest with a resounding thud. "Don't worry, Grandma, I'll protect everyone well."

As the convoy split into two, there was inevitable chaos, but it was easily quelled by J.A.

After leaving Outcast's embrace and receiving J.A.'s approval, Kanna nimbly jumped onto the roof of a vehicle, taking on the role of the team's scout.

The reason J.A. felt comfortable letting Kanna observe the outside was something she had heard from Scout back at Rhodes Island. Kanna's long-distance vision was unmatched at Rhodes Island; she was a natural talent for lookouts and snipers. Scout had always wanted to take Kanna as his disciple, but he couldn't get past Kal'tsit and Outcast.

Someone even Scout praised wouldn't be easily underestimated. Moreover, even if Kanna's combat prowess wasn't known before, after witnessing her single-handedly wipe out Baron Colin's fully armed regular army, anyone who still looked down on her could only be a fool.

However, with such a major incident, news quickly spread throughout Victoria, and the massive convoy carrying thousands of miners naturally attracted the attention of the border guards.

At the hint of a certain Grand Duke, a border guard unit was dispatched towards the convoy's direction.

Before the border guards arrived, Kal'tsit, who had received the news in advance, contacted J.A. and her team via emergency radio.

"What do we do? The border guards are less than fifty kilometers away. With so many of us, we can't hide our tracks, and we'll be caught soon." Upon receiving the news, J.A. immediately summoned the Operators of the team.

"We can't evade and can't hide, so we can only fight?" someone ventured.

"Are you crazy? How can we fight? Putting aside whether we can win, if a fight breaks out, Rhodes Island will definitely become a target of public criticism." Someone immediately retorted after hearing the previous statement.

"Then what do we do? We can't escape and we can't fight, are we just going to wait to be captured? What else can we do? Abandon these people and run away secretly?" The first person was getting anxious.

"Stop arguing. I didn't call everyone here to listen to you bicker. First, we absolutely cannot abandon these Infected. As long as there's a glimmer of hope, we won't leave them behind.

Second, fighting is impossible. According to Kanna's report, many scouts have appeared in the vicinity these past two days. I believe our intelligence has reached the higher-ups. Even if they don't know our identities, if we engage, there's no avoiding the risk of exposure.

If all else fails, let Kanna scout the area to see if she can find a hiding place. We're not far from the border now. If we can get past this wave, we'll be careful afterward, and we might be able to leave smoothly."

J.A. was also troubled by the current situation. Despite receiving the warning, it seemed only a dead end remained before her.

"No, the terrain here is relatively flat, there are no places where so many people can hide. But there is another method we can try!"

Kanna first shook her head, rejecting J.A.'s suggestion, but at the same time, she offered a new one.

"Go on!" J.A. asked expectantly.

"The current predicament is that we need time to leave Victoria's sphere of influence. Once we cross the national border, even if they know we have a problem, they can't easily pursue us. But it's still a day's journey to the national border, and the Victorian border guards will catch up in less than two hours, right? So, as long as they can't catch up... While we can't directly conflict with official troops for diplomatic reasons, if the road has problems and they can't catch up for a while, that's not our problem anymore, is it!"

Hearing Kanna's words, J.A.'s eyes lit up, but then dimmed again. "That's true, but we don't have enough explosives. It's not as easy as it sounds to block their advance."

"Leave it to me!" Kanna patted her chest and continued as everyone looked at her.

"To leave Victoria, we must pass through the canyon ahead. There are continuous high mountains on both sides. It's difficult to go around. As long as I find a way to block it, it will buy us enough time. You all go first, I'll make some arrangements here and then catch up."

Upon hearing Kanna's words, everyone surprisingly disagreed. The reason was simple: no matter how difficult the environment, they wouldn't let a child stay behind to cover their retreat.

"Oh, stop with the adult and child stuff. Those people can't catch me, and you staying here will only hinder me. I'll hurry back once this is mostly blocked." Seeing the group of adults looking conflicted, Kanna said impatiently.

"Then how about this: we'll cross the canyon first, and then you'll lead the team forward. I'll stay outside the canyon to wait for Kanna. After you block the road, we'll leave together." Unable to argue with Kanna, J.A. finally chose a compromise.

"Alright, alright! You adults, this inexplicable pride is so troublesome." Knowing that everyone was worried about her, Kanna didn't refuse J.A.'s proposal.

After the decision was made, the team didn't linger and headed towards the canyon.

Soon, the team entered the canyon. Kanna left the team and ascended one of the adjacent high mountains.

Standing at a high vantage point, she saw the scouts lurking behind the team. Although they thought their camouflage was excellent, under Kanna's superhuman gaze, it appeared utterly ridiculous.

She surveyed the canyon. Although it was called a canyon, the mountains on either side were nearly fifty meters apart. Blocking such a wide road would not be an easy task.

Taking a deep breath, Kanna conjured two Lightning Wedges in her hands. She found a spot and threw them, then used the position of the first two as a reference to place the third in a triangular formation. Finally, she inserted the fourth Lightning Wedge, meant for detonation, in the center.

Instantly, thunder accompanied by a massive explosion echoed. Large chunks of rock shattered and slid down the cliff face, burying nearly two-thirds of the road.

"Tch! It still didn't completely block it?" Kanna looked with dissatisfaction at the small section of road that remained, feeling a bit frustrated.

Her strength was indeed among the top on Terra, but she wasn't omnipotent. For instance, changing the environment here wasn't something she could accomplish quickly.

Just then, ding-dong. The system, which had been silent since the last reward, finally chimed. Curious, she glanced at it.

[New Quest: Defeat an enemy.] [Quest Reward: Rain Prayer.]

Kanna blinked upon seeing this new quest. Wasn't this system only supposed to give lightning-related skills? What was this "Rain Prayer" thing?

However, at that moment, she saw someone speeding towards her. It was clear that Kanna's destruction of the road had made them anxious.

Seeing the approaching person and glancing at the quest, Kanna accepted it, thinking she could take care of it along the way.

As part of the Grand Duke's shadow unit, they had followed the clues on the road after receiving word of the incident in the mining area. Once they caught the enemy's trail, they relayed the information and location to the Grand Duke.

Behind them, border guards, who had always been under the Grand Duke's command, were rushing towards the scene. Once the main force arrived, they could easily capture all the "rebels" attempting to escape ahead.

However, as they passed through a canyon, a sudden clap of thunder erupted from clear skies. Following an explosion, a massive amount of falling rocks piled up, blocking the canyon's only passage.

"Not good! They're trying to blow up the canyon!" The weather was clear and cloudless; this lightning couldn't possibly be natural.

In an instant, they understood the cause and purpose of the lightning.

Several of them immediately rushed towards the canyon, attempting to hold off the enemy's Arcanist before the main force arrived.

As they hurried towards the canyon, they failed to notice a streak of purple light flash across the sky, landing on their path.

They hadn't run far when a little girl's voice suddenly called out.

"I'm sorry. I don't know if you're good or bad, nor which faction you belong to, but we can't escape as long as you're here. So, goodbye."