Afterward, Kanna clapped her hands and ran back to where she had hidden the boy. She needed to drive the car to the roadside and wait for Outcast's group, then let someone else take over. After all, she was too short. To drive, she had to stand up, and even then she could barely reach the gas and brake pedals. It was making things terribly difficult for a Little Dragon Person like her.
When she returned to the car and saw that the boy was still unconscious, Kanna relaxed.
Honestly, she had been quite afraid she would come back to find him gone. She definitely would not shamelessly go looking for him again, but just thinking about it made her feel sick.
In Kanna's eyes, that whole "waking up, realizing you're seriously injured, and secretly leaving so you won't burden others" nonsense was downright brain-dead.
Your odds of surviving were obviously higher if you stayed. If you left on your own, some bleeding-heart idiot would insist on searching for you, delaying the group, only for the bad guys to catch up and kill several companions who never needed to die.
That kind of plot was absurd and disgusting.
Besides, even if you could not be saved, at least your teammates could bury you and have something to remember you by. That was better than dying alone in some forgotten corner where no one would ever know.
Meanwhile, after wrapping things up, Outcast and her group led the team out. Then the scouting unit ahead suddenly sent word.
Baron Colin and his troops, who had been lured out by the pillar of light, had been found stopped halfway down the road. She had been startled at first, thinking they had seen through her plan.
But then the scout continued: all the vehicles had been damaged and abandoned by the roadside, while numerous corpses and scattered deserters littered the route.
They had already captured one deserter and were bringing him over.
Outcast nodded, ordering the team to stay alert and halt their advance while they waited for further news.
Before long, the scouts dragged over one of the Baron's men, his face pale and filled with terror.
What they heard from him left everyone stunned—the convoy had been attacked while traveling by an extremely terrifying little girl. Surrounded by lightning, that girl had destroyed the entire convoy in mere seconds, and Baron Colin had been killed as well. He had only seen Kanna attack the Baron from afar and had not confirmed whether he was dead, but under those circumstances, Baron Colin could not possibly have survived.
After hearing him out, Outcast and the others exchanged looks. They all knew who the attacker was. Finally, she shook her head. "Let's go. Knowing Kanna, I'm guessing she'll be waiting for us by the roadside just ahead."
The convoy continued down the road and soon reached the site of the battle. Seeing those dozens of vehicles toppled into the muddy ground beside the road, Outcast almost laughed.
"She even knew to clear the road. Looks like the girl's head is still working."
At her words, everyone in the vehicles smiled.
When the convoy reached the very front, they saw Baron Colin lying on the ground, his limbs severed and his life hanging by a thread. Outcast frowned at his miserable state, drew her revolver, and put a bullet through his forehead, ending his painful final moments.
She understood Kanna's personality fairly well, but this was the first time she had seen her use such ruthless methods. She was not surprised that Kanna could kill, but she had never imagined that Kanna would torture an opponent like this. She decided that once they returned, she would discuss it with Kal'tsit. Kanna's psychological education could not be neglected; they could not raise her into a cruel "torturer."
As the convoy slowly passed through, many of the workers saw Baron Colin's corpse lying on the ground. They called to one another, and as they passed his body, each viciously spat on him, desecrating his corpse even in death.
Outcast did not stop the miners. She had seen far too many Infected who had suffered even worse than they had. This simple and crude way of venting would not slow the team down, so she had no reason to stop them.
Once they passed the battlefield, Outcast could feel the Infected behind her relax. It was not only because Colin was dead, but also because the vengeance they had achieved had lifted a weight from their hearts.
"Beep, beep, beep!" Less than ten minutes later, an off-road vehicle belonging to Baron Colin's household kept honking from the roadside at the approaching convoy.
Looking up, they could only see half a head peeking over the steering wheel in the driver's seat. It was Kanna, who had already grown impatient from waiting.
"Grandma! You guys were so slow. I even took care of everyone for you while I was at it."
Kanna jumped out of the car and threw herself into Outcast's arms, speaking with a smug grin.
"Kanna, you did very well—far beyond Grandma's plan. But we saved you a seat in this vehicle, so why did you get another car?"
Outcast patted Kanna's head. Looking into her eyes, which held not the slightest trace of killing intent or cruelty, she swallowed the words that had reached her lips.
"Oh, I happened to save someone from that Colin guy's house. He was pretty badly hurt, and I was afraid he'd die on the way if I carried him around, so I got a car to transport him."
She pointed toward the back seat, then quietly sat to the side after taking the lollipop Outcast handed her.
"Green! Oh, my Green! How did you end up like this? How were you hurt so badly?!" As several Operators carried the boy out of the car, a woman in the group suddenly screamed.
Turning around, they saw a woman in her forties staring at the wounded boy in shock and grief. Her expression seemed somewhat exaggerated, but the tears overflowing from her eyes and the concern on her face were genuine.
Outcast tilted her head, and an Operator went over to bring the woman forward. At that moment, the Medical Operator who had gone to examine the boy's injuries also returned.
"This... um... Mr. Green has indeed suffered serious injuries. The worst is on the back, near his heart. However, there are traces of medicine having been applied there. Thanks to that medicine, his life was saved. His other injuries look frightening, but they are only superficial wounds and will not have much impact. He just needs some medicine and plenty of rest."
Section 90: Chapter 84: Terra Was Not Beautiful
Upon hearing the Medical Operator's words, Kanna raised her head proudly and put her hands on her hips, looking as though she were waiting to be praised.
Instead, Outcast smacked the back of her head, and she obediently sat back in the car.
After speaking with the Medical Operator for a few moments, the tearful woman followed the team back step by step, while the Operators took the boy to the medical vehicle. He was too weak; if he was to avoid lasting complications, he needed professional care.
Just as the convoy was about to move on, a man broke away from the crowd and ran to the front of the vehicle. He knelt before it and asked Kanna whether she had seen his daughter.
Kanna's eyes darkened at his words. She lowered her head and shrank back.
Seeing Kanna's reaction, the light vanished from the man's eyes. He understood—and because he understood, the world instantly spun around him.
Just as he was about to collapse, an Operator beside him caught him.
As the Operator led him back to the group, Kanna's voice came from behind. "I'm sorry. I got there too late. But every murderer received the price they deserved."
Hearing Kanna's words, the man opened his mouth as tears streamed continuously down his cheeks. He wept with heartbreaking anguish, yet not a single sound came out. Those nearby could not help turning their heads away.
After a long while, he finally recovered. He bowed deeply toward Kanna, then walked back into the group like a puppet... Though this man was still alive, his heart was dead. But there were too many tragedies like this on this land, and everyone had long since become numb.
Once everyone had boarded again, the convoy slowly started moving.
"Tell me. What happened to that girl?"
Outcast held Kanna in her arms. She had not said anything before, but she had always had a question. If the girl had simply died in the manor, Kanna should not have worn that expression.
"According to the information I got from the manor, that girl refused to submit to that man's son, so he hung her outside the gate and whipped her to death."
Kanna's voice was calm, yet it sent a chill through everyone who heard it.
"Then that man minced the girl into meat and made her into soup for the mining district..."
Crack.
The Operator beside them, who had been recording Kanna's account and intelligence, crushed the pen in his hand.
Outcast's arms tightened slightly around Kanna as she asked in an extremely calm tone, "Knowing your temper, I trust you did not let that family off?"
"Of course not. How could I let scum like that go so easily? Everyone in the manor is dead except for the Baron's son and wife... As for those two, I crushed a piece of Pure Originium on each of their heads. After breathing in a bellyful of Pure Originium dust, they should have become severely infected by now."
At first, everyone had been confused upon hearing that Kanna had spared the two main culprits. But after hearing the rest, they felt a measure of satisfaction.
On the land of Terra, death was not frightening. A fate worse than death was. And becoming Infected—especially severely Infected—was a true fate worse than death.
Mildly Infected people could still be saved, but the severely Infected were only one step away from death. Moreover, Infected crystallized and exploded after dying, so a severely Infected person was a living, extremely unstable Living Bomb.
Even Rhodes Island, whose primary work was aiding the Infected, found people like that extremely troublesome to handle, much less the outside world, which turned pale at the mere mention of the Infected.
Just like Baron Colin, whose limbs had been cut off as he lay barely alive, Kanna had not killed him directly, but she had given him far more pain and torment than immediate death would have.
"Killing people like that is easy, but I think a simple death would be letting them off too lightly." Unaware that Outcast had already shot Baron Colin, Kanna looked out the window and spoke as if merely complaining.
"Well said, and well done! Grandma was the one who overthought it." Outcast gently stroked Kanna's hair, following her gaze out the window as she let out a sigh.
Naturally, they could not bring so many people into the town. Besides, the town was not far from that manor, and word of the attack would surely reach it soon. Bringing these people there now would be walking straight into a trap.
Thus, the convoy soon split into two groups. Some of those who had shown their faces before headed toward the town, while several teams that had remained behind the convoy and never appeared publicly led the rescued people toward Rhodes Island.
Considering how many people there were, and that Kanna had not shown her face in town before, Outcast assigned her to the other group.
"To avoid suspicion, we'll stay in town for a few more days. You must behave yourself and not run around. J.A, I'm leaving this team to you. Once I return, I'll contact Rhodes Island and have them send people to meet you. If there's danger on the road, let Kanna handle it without hesitation. I believe she can take care of any trouble."
After repeatedly reminding her, Outcast spoke to the other group's temporary leader, Medical Operator J.A.
Kanna nodded, then thumped her chest loudly. "Don't worry, Grandma. I'll protect everyone properly."
When the convoy split in two, some commotion was unavoidable, but J.A easily calmed it down.
After leaving Outcast's embrace, Kanna received J.A's approval and nimbly jumped onto the roof of the vehicle, taking on the role of the convoy's lookout.
As for why J.A was willing to let Kanna observe the outside, it was because she had heard Scout say back at Rhodes Island that Kanna's long-range vision was unmatched throughout Rhodes Island. She was a natural lookout and sniper prospect. He had always wanted to take Kanna as his apprentice, but he had failed to get past Kal'tsit and Outcast.
If even Scout praised her, how could J.A possibly underestimate her? Besides, even if she had not known Kanna's combat ability before, after witnessing her wipe out Baron Colin's fully armed regular force by herself, only an idiot would still look down on her.
However, such a major incident quickly spread across Victoria, and this huge convoy carrying thousands of miners naturally caught the attention of the border troops.
At the hint of a certain Grand Duke, a border force headed toward the convoy.
Before the border troops arrived, Kal'tsit, who had received the news in advance, contacted J.A's group through an emergency radio.
"What do we do? The border troops are less than fifty kilometers away. With so many people, we can't possibly hide our tracks. They'll catch up to us soon." Upon receiving the news, J.A immediately gathered the team's Operators.
"We can't avoid them, and we can't hide. So we fight?" someone said.
Section 91: Chapter 85: There Was No Way She Was Staying Behind
"Are you insane? How can we fight? Never mind whether we can win—if we really fight, Rhodes Island will become a target for everyone," someone immediately refuted.
"Then what do we do? We can't escape, and we can't fight. Do we just wait here to be captured? Or what, abandon these people and sneak away ourselves?" The first person was growing anxious as well.
"Stop arguing. I didn't call everyone here to listen to you argue. First, we absolutely cannot abandon these Infected. As long as there's even the slightest chance, we cannot leave them behind.
"And fighting is not an option either. According to Kanna's reports, quite a few spies have appeared around us these past two days. I believe our information has already reached the people above. Even if they do not know our identities, once we exchange blows, we will be at risk of exposure no matter what.
"If it comes down to it, we can have Kanna scout the area again and see whether there's a place to hide. We're not far from the border. As long as we get through this wave, we might be able to leave safely if we're more careful afterward."
J.A had a terrible headache over the situation. Even with a warning already received, the only path left before her seemed to be a dead end.
"There isn't one. The terrain here is relatively flat, so there's nowhere that can hide this many people. But there is another method we can try!"
Kanna first shook her head, rejecting J.A's proposal, but she also offered a new suggestion.
"Go on," J.A said expectantly.
"Our current problem is that we need time to leave Victoria's sphere of influence. Once we cross the border, even if they know something is wrong with us, they cannot pursue us so easily. But the border is still a full day away, while Victoria's border troops will catch up in less than two hours, right? Then all we need to do is make sure they can't catch us... We can't directly clash with official troops because of diplomatic concerns, but if something happens to the road and they can't catch up for a while, that isn't our problem, right?"
J.A's eyes lit up at Kanna's words, but then dimmed again. "That's true, but we didn't bring enough explosives. It won't be easy to stop them from advancing."
"Leave it to me!" Kanna patted her chest and continued once everyone looked at her.
"To leave Victoria, we have to pass through the canyon ahead. There are continuous mountains on both sides, and it'll be difficult to go around. As long as I find a way to block it, we'll have enough time. You go on ahead. I'll make some preparations here and catch up afterward."
Everyone immediately objected to Kanna's words. The reason was simple: no matter how difficult the circumstances were, they could not make a child stay behind to cover their retreat.
"Oh, stop with this adult-and-child stuff. Those people can't catch me anyway, and you staying here would only get in my way. Once I've blocked the route well enough, I'll come back right away." Seeing a group of adults looking so conflicted, Kanna spoke impatiently instead.
"Then how about this? We'll pass through the canyon first, and then you lead the team onward. I'll wait outside the canyon for Kanna. Once you've blocked the road, we'll leave together." Unable to out-argue Kanna, J.A ultimately chose a compromise.
"Fine, fine! You adults and your weird pride are such a pain." Knowing they were worried about her, Kanna did not refuse J.A's suggestion.
Once the decision was made, the group did not linger and headed for the canyon.
Soon, the convoy entered the canyon. Kanna left the group and climbed one of the nearby mountains.
From her high vantage point, she spotted the spies trailing behind the convoy. They thought their disguises were excellent, but under Kanna's inhuman vision, they looked utterly ridiculous.
Looking at the canyon, she saw that although it was called a canyon, the mountains on either side were nearly fifty meters apart. Blocking such a wide road would not be easy.
Taking a deep breath, Kanna produced two Lightning Wedges in her hands and threw them toward a chosen location. She placed a third using the first two as points of reference, forming an equilateral triangle, then inserted a fourth Lightning Wedge in the middle to trigger the explosion.
In an instant, thunder roared alongside a massive explosion. Great swathes of rock shattered from the cliffside and slid down, burying nearly two-thirds of the road.
"Tch! So I still can't block it?" Kanna stared unhappily at the remaining stretch of road, irritation rising in her heart.
Her strength was indeed among the best on Terra, but she was not omnipotent. In a situation like this, changing the terrain was not something she could accomplish in a short time.
Just then, ding. The system, which had been silent for a long time since giving her the last reward, finally made a sound. Curious, she took a look.
New Mission: Kill one enemy. Mission Reward: Prayer for Rain.
Kanna froze when she saw the new mission. Did this system not only give lightning-related skills? What the heck was Prayer for Rain?
But then she saw someone speeding toward her. Clearly, Kanna's destruction of the road had made them anxious.
Seeing the approaching people, then glancing at the mission, Kanna realized she could conveniently complete it at the same time, so she accepted it.
As the Grand Duke's shadow force, they had followed the clues along the road after receiving news of the mining district incident. Once they caught the enemy's trail, they sent the information and location to the Grand Duke.
Behind them, the border troops directly under the Grand Duke were rushing over. Once the main force arrived, they could easily capture the "rebels" trying to flee ahead.
But as they passed through a canyon, lightning suddenly struck from the clear ground ahead. Following a thunderous blast, massive falling rocks piled up across the canyon's only passage.
"Not good! They're trying to blow up the canyon!" The weather was clear and cloudless. This lightning could not possibly have occurred naturally.
In an instant, they understood the source and purpose of the lightning.
Several of them immediately rushed toward the canyon, trying to hold off the enemy Caster before the main force arrived.
As they hurried toward the canyon, they failed to notice a streak of purple light cut across the sky and land on the road they had to take.
They had not gone far when a little girl's voice suddenly rang out.
"I'm sorry. I don't know whether you're good or bad, and I don't know which faction you belong to, but as long as you're still here, we can't leave. So goodbye."
Before you continue