Chapter 95, Chapter 89: Good Friends Need to Help Each Other Check for Omissions and Fill in Gaps / Chapter 96, Chapter 90: Old Lynx Battles Baby Dragon ...

Kanna muttered inwardly. Empress Kal'tsit, do you really need an escort? The only one I'd worry about if someone actually dared to mess with you is the other person. After all, Mon3tr is existence enough to fight an Inner Guard head-on.

Yet Kal'tsit had already invented an excuse, and Kanna was not tactless enough to ruin it. Wasn't it just continuous work without a break? Which operator at Rhodes Island was not a model worker already accustomed to the 996 grind.

Chapter 95, Chapter 89: Good Friends Need to Help Each Other Check for Omissions and Fill in Gaps

Regarding Kanna having to leave just after returning, everyone was very reluctant to see her go, but they knew there was no help for it. After all, people were talking, and they had to make up for it now.

As for what Kanna was thinking about—it was the sea, seafood, flower-craziness, and Curious Eggs. The first few should be fine, she just didn't know if she'd have the luck to see the last two.

Next, Kal'tsit laid out the operational situation of Rhodes Island after her departure and the preparations made for the subsequent investigation.

"Regarding Kanna's existence, if they ask, there is no need to conceal it. After all, Kanna has been at Rhodes Island for so long that it cannot be hidden. However, if they ask where she went afterward, just tell them that Rhodes Island discovered Kanna was missing upon receiving the news, and we haven't been able to trace her whereabouts."

Hearing Kal'tsit's words, everyone nodded to show they understood.

"Red will take you through the secret passage to the exit, and then we'll rendezvous at the exit. The situation in Iberia is very complicated, we must set off immediately or we will miss our window! I must trouble everyone to help Amiya with Rhodes Island's subsequent work."

After making the final endorsement on the reports in her hand, Kal'tsit stood up and said to the crowd.

After Kal'tsit left, Kanna reached out and patted the head of Popukar, who was looking somewhat sad nearby.

"Mwah! Don't be sad, I'm not really leaving. I heard Iberia has all kinds of interesting local specialties, I'll bring you back some fun stuff when the time comes."

Popukar wiped away her tears and said, "Then let's pinky swear, you have to promise you'll come back!"

"Alright, alright, pinky swear cross my heart hope to die, whoever breaks it is a little dummy." Kanna and Popukar hooked their small fingers together. Accompanied by the crisp children's voices, even Amiya, whose mood had originally felt restless because of Kal'tsit's sudden departure, relaxed quite a bit.

"Don't forget me and Rosemary!" Just as Kanna was about to leave, Amiya said with a smile.

"No problem, I'll bring gifts back for you guys!" Kanna waved her hand and leaped into the ventilation shaft with Red.

"Oh no!" Seeing Kanna leave, Popukar seemed to think of something. After a loud shout, she hurriedly ran outside.

Over here, Kanna followed Red through a maze of turns and finally reached the exit on the bottom floor from the Control Room.

At this moment, Kal'tsit was already waiting by the vehicle.

"Because of the emergency this time, it's just the two of us traveling together. Take good care of each other along the way, Operator Kanna!" Kal'tsit leaned against the car door, waiting as Closure performed a final check on the vehicle.

Before long, Closure wriggled out from inside the car and made an OK gesture.

"Vehicle condition is intact, energy is sufficient, and about half a month's worth of rations are prepared in the trunk. That's enough for you two to cross this desert and find a town."

Kal'tsit nodded and sat in the driver's seat. Kanna also crawled into the car. After bidding farewell to Red and Closure, the vehicle quietly drove out of Rhodes Island.

Right as they were leaving, Kanna touched her horn, feeling a vague sense that she had forgotten something.

"Beep beep beep! This is Amiya, can you hear me, Doctor Kal'tsit, little Kanna!" Suddenly, the communicator in front of the dashboard crackled twice before Amiya's voice came through.

Kal'tsit reached out to turn on the communicator, asking with a hint of puzzlement, "This is Kal'tsit, is something the matter, Amiya?"

"Oh, it's about little Kanna. Look up at the bridge." Hearing Kal'tsit's question, Amiya sounded somewhat nervous.

Upon hearing this, Kanna poked her head out of the window and saw Amiya and Popukar standing up by the edge of the bridge. Spotting Kanna looking up, Popukar excitedly waved the large object in her hand.

Seeing the thing in Popukar's hands, Kanna slapped her forehead. No wonder she'd felt like she was forgetting something just now—she had actually left her greatsword back in Rhodes Island.

Discovering that Kanna was waving at her, Popukar aimed toward the vehicle's location and tossed Kanna's greatsword down from the bridge.

Witnessing Popukar's action, Kanna slapped the car window and scrambled entirely out of the passenger seat and out of the car. Landing on the ground, she shoved off with a fierce push. Amidst rising dust and sand, she easily caught the falling greatsword.

Landing once more, she exerted force anew, leaping straight up onto the roof of the car. Then, with a few quick moves, she strapped the weapon to the top and scrambled back inside through the car window.

Seeing Kanna successfully catch the weapon, Popukar felt deeply satisfied. She wiped a thin layer of sweat from her forehead, panting heavily as she sat down on the ground.

Running from the Control Room all the way to Kanna's room to fetch this heavy weapon, then contacting Amiya and having her lead her to the bridge to successfully locate Kanna right as she set off, and finally throwing the weapon with all her might to a spot where Kanna could easily catch it—this chain of actions had exhausted virtually all of her strength. At this moment, sitting on the ground, Popukar had not an ounce of strength left besides keeping her mouth open to breathe continuously.

Realizing Popukar was unable to move, Amiya was agonizing over how to carry her back when, fortunately, she ran into Warfarin "air-drying" on the bridge.

After getting her down from above, Warfarin, upon learning that Kal'tsit had left, for once picked Popukar up with a grand, magnanimous sweep and walked inside behind Amiya.

Along the way, Amiya heard Warfarin's occasional "hee hee hee" chuckles which, paired with her side-eye expression, felt exceptionally unsettling.

"Ahem! Say, Amiya, since Kal'tsit has left, who is currently in charge of the Rhodes Island Medical Department!" Although she said that, once Kal'tsit was gone, given her own reputation as the Blood-Soaked Doctor, just how many operators would dare ride on her head?

"It's Doctor Hermo." Amiya answered honestly.

Warfarin felt even happier inside upon hearing that. She knew Hermo; she was a medical talent who had previously escaped from Rhine Lab and genuinely possessed very high attainments in the treatment and protection of infected individuals. It was completely normal for her to be put in charge of the medical department after Kal'tsit left. However, most of her focus was on that Sarkaz, and since she had just arrived not long ago, she certainly wouldn't bother managing an old-timer like herself. Could she perhaps start implementing some of her own ideas while Kal'tsit was away?

To this, her only regret was that Skadi wasn't inside Rhodes Island either. She had always harbored curiosity toward the Aegir race, but unfortunately, the other party was unwilling to undergo examinations, and with Kal'tsit meddling in the middle, she had never been able to obtain a sample from her. If Skadi were here, then hee hee hee...

On the other side, Kal'tsit handed Kanna a stack of documents inside the car.

"Iberia's entry management has become extremely strict since the Great Silence. This is your identity for when you are in Iberia later. Your task for the next few days is to completely memorize this identity profile regarding yourself. Afterwards, if anyone asks, answer according to the documents. If it's not in the documents, simply tell them you don't know, and if they continue to press, tell them to come find me."

Chapter 96, Chapter 90: Old Lynx Battles Baby Dragon

Taking the documents, her own name and photo on them were still hers—Kanna Kamui—except her identity had been changed to Kal'tsit's adopted daughter.

Her life background had also been altered to an abducted child from the Sargon Vayvan autonomous region who, after being rescued by Kal'tsit, became her adopted daughter and lingered at Rhodes Island, and this time was traveling out with her.

Nothing else had changed significantly. It was obvious Kal'tsit also worried that if the settings were changed too much, Kanna's little brain would easily make mistakes.

"My plan is to make a detour through Siracusa first. Although Siracusa looks chaotic, as long as you're willing to spend money, you can get a lot of things—like the official passes we need to head to Iberia. Then we'll enter Laterano; I know a Liberi person in Laterano who will take us through official channels without undergoing excessive questioning. Finally, after entering Iberia, we'll go straight to Rock Bay Town."

After listening to Kal'tsit's words, Kanna stroked her chin. Siracusa, eh—the hometown of the double wolves. It was comparable to the Italy she knew, and Kanna's deepest impression of Italy was the Gangnam Star.

"I know Siracusa!"

Thinking of this, Kanna raised her hand. Catching Kal'tsit's out-of-the-corner-of-her-eye glance, she leaned forward, crossed her hands in front of her face, and said with a deliberately deep voice.

"I can offer you an offer you can't refuse. Revenge is a dish best served cold. What have I ever done to make you treat me with such disrespect? You won't even call me Godfather."

Just as Kanna was still enthusiastically imitating snippets from the Godfather in her memory, Kal'tsit said coldly.

"If you're bored, you can look at the books on the back seat. They contain the history of Siracusa, Laterano, and Iberia. Later, I will personally assign you homework."

"Gah..." The sudden surge of excitement was extinguished cleanly by a single sentence.

"You can't do this... reading books in a car hurts your vision!" Before she could even get cocky, she received the grim news that she actually had to do homework. Kanna was extremely dissatisfied and tried to use an excuse to force Kal'tsit to retract her order.

"Oh! It doesn't matter if you can't read them, there are audio recordings. You can listen with your ears, that should be no problem at all. Remember to wear your headphones..."

Kanna stared in shock at the calm-faced Kal'tsit, refusing to believe she could be so vicious as to trap a little dragon person—especially when she herself had been working herself to the bone and devoting all her effort for Rhodes Island!

I object, I want to see management!

What?

Kal'tsit is the actual management of Rhodes Island?

Never mind then...

Kanna slumped completely across the seat, staring blankly at the sky with unseeing eyes—this world was beyond saving.

Perish, world! Shatter, reality!

A few minutes later, wearing headphones and listening to the mechanical broadcast sounds playing inside, Kanna felt her eyelids subjected to a powerful sealing technique in an instant. Before Siracusa's history had even reached the one-third mark, she was defeated by the power of the seal and drifted off to sleep.

Seeing Kanna fall asleep, the corners of Kal'tsit's hitherto indifferent mouth curved slightly upward.

Before setting out, she had figured that this little Kanna wasn't the easiest creature to handle, so she had casually brought along the audio-learning materials she'd previously bought for Amiya. Sure enough, this seemingly casual move had produced unexpected and miraculous results.

When Kanna woke up, the sky had already turned pitch black, and Kal'tsit was outside boiling water and cooking.

Rubbing her eyes, a yawning Kanna crawled out from the car.

"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, you can go wash your face by the river nearby first."

Hearing this, Kanna hurried off, terrified that if she walked too slowly, Kal'tsit would grab her and quiz her on the study materials from the car that afternoon.

Are you kidding? The moment she put on her headphones, she started battling the sleep demon and suffered a crushing defeat; how could she possibly have the energy to listen to that stuff?

Stepping outside, she realized Kal'tsit had parked the car beside a small earthen mound, leaning against the mound on one side while using the vehicle to block most of the other. This way, even at night, the blocked firelight wouldn't be overly eye-catching.

Not far from the temporary camp was a small stream that could meet the water needs of both of them. It was apparent that although the old lynx was a bit of a riddle-speaker and her non-medical skills were somewhat lacking, her survival experience was still quite rich.

"There are fish shoals in the river. If you want to eat fish, catch them yourself, I can grill them for you! But you can't make too big of a commotion catching them!" As Kanna was about to reach the riverside, Kal'tsit's voice drifted over.

Hearing the word "fish," Kanna perked up, her short legs bouncing a few times until she reached the riverbank.

Opening her eyes wide to scout around, she saw that, just as Kal'tsit had said, although the river didn't look large, the fish population was abundant.

Rolling up her sleeves, Kanna pushed off the ground and shot straight into the middle of the river. Firing off rapid-fire Palm Thunder from both palms, several large fish below that had still been leisurely enjoying the midnight hours gave a start, rolled their white eyes, and floated belly-up to the surface.

Landing on the other side of the river, Kanna pushed off the ground once more to jump back the way she came, casually scooping up all dozen-or-so electrocuted fish halfway across.

Just as she was worrying about how she wouldn't be able to carry so many fish, she suddenly noticed Mon3tr standing on guard not far away. A clever thought flashed in her eyes, and she tossed the fish in her hands right toward Mon3tr.

Feeling the sudden rush of air coming from the riverside, Mon3tr instinctively raised its sickle-like sharp claws.

With only a few swishing sounds, dozens of fish accurately passed through its claws, skewering onto them like a barbecue kebab.

"Nice skewering, Mon3tr! With just this trick, you'd definitely make money working as a barbecue chef."

Although Mon3tr's appearance looked terrifying, Kanna—bold and skilled—wasn't intimidated at all.

After the other party "caught" her dinner, Kanna happily hopped onto a rock beside it, then reached out a small hand and contentedly patted its claw.

Receiving such "favor," Mon3tr shrank back toward Kal'tsit as fast as a frightened bird.

Watching Mon3tr—upon which she had bestowed utter trust—acting like an ordinary pet in Kanna's hands, Kal'tsit couldn't help but look somewhat helpless. After all, given Mon3tr's terrifying appearance, even Amiya would show fear and dread in front of it.

Currently, the only person who could completely ignore Mon3tr's threats and warnings while scaring it into such a state was Kanna alone.

Taking the fish down from Mon3tr's claws, Kal'tsit experienced a sense of grievance from her "partner" for the very first time.

What surprised her most was that the fish in her hands had already been gutted and cleaned completely, requiring no processing from her at all before going straight onto the fire to grill.

Seeing the expression with which Kal'tsit glanced over, Kanna clapped her hands. "Don't look at me like that. Entrails are hard to process and smell too strong, they definitely had to be removed. I'm just small, not stupid."

Chapter 97, Chapter 91: On How to Quickly and Effectively Infuriate a Group of Siracusans

Paying no mind to Kanna's teasing, Kal'tsit nimbly strung the fish up one by one and placed them beside the campfire.

Just as the two of them were waiting for dinner to finish grilling, Kanna's ears suddenly twitched. She looked up at Kal'tsit and found that Kal'tsit was looking back at her as well.

"Everything except the fish is edible. Are you going to eat first, or exercise first?" Kal'tsit asked.

"Can't you just send Mon3tr? I'm just a kid, I can't go hungry. Besides, ordinary people can just be scared off, my attacks are too powerful." Kanna hadn't sensed any threat from the arrivals; although that somewhat unpleasant feeling proved the newcomers harbored ill intent, the lack of threat proved their strength wasn't high.

So it was most likely a group of wild-roaming scavengers attracted by the firelight, who came over to check the situation and then, discovering only a female with a child here, developed evil intentions before the two of them even noticed.

Kanna really couldn't be bothered to make a move against such people, after all, there was no loot to be gained, nor any deep enmity.

If it were herself seeing a pair of helpless, lonely mother and child out in the wild, she might not be immune to dark impulses either.

Discovering that Kanna was staring at the food before her and showed no intention of moving, Kal'tsit simply waved her hand. Mon3tr emerged from the shadows, brandishing its exaggerated giant sickles toward the incoming people.

Those scavengers, who had still been somewhat driven by lower-body impulses, were scared out of their wits the moment they saw the terrifying monster suddenly appear.

Accompanied by miserable screams, those scavengers used every ounce of milk-drinking strength they had to flee into the distance.

After scaring the scavengers away, Mon3tr—which had previously seemed somewhat depressed—finally perked up its spirits as well.

The next few days passed without further incident, and the two successfully entered Siracusa territory.

Once inside the city, Kanna unexpectedly grew excited and prepared to look around.

The races within all of Siracusa were primarily Lupo, though of course other races were not lacking...

Come to think of it, in Kanna's memory, the least Siracusan-looking member of the Siracusa squad was undoubtedly Javi. Considering Javi was a Vulpo rather than a Lupo, it was understandable in theory. But Broca was a Feline, yet he was still a pure Siracusan, so perhaps Javi simply wasn't suited for "Siracusa."

Just as Kanna was thinking of that conversation within the Monthly Squad, Kal'tsit happened to lead her into a Siracusan restaurant to prepare for a meal.

A waiter enthusiastically handed the menu to Kal'tsit. Before Kal'tsit could even speak, Kanna excitedly shouted out loud,

"I want to eat Sistern style fruit pizza!" The moment those words fell, the previously bustling restaurant instantly dropped to a pin-drop silence.

"And orange jam macaroni and chocolate sauce straight noodles!"

With every dish she spoke of, the air pressure in the entire restaurant dropped another notch. The corners of the waiter's mouth, who had just been wearing a smile, kept twitching, looking as though he was about to lose it completely.

"What's wrong? I saw it in the book Innovative Terran Cuisine, aren't these supposed to be Siracusan specialties?" Even though the atmosphere inside the restaurant had reached the verge of eruption, Kanna still maintained a completely clueless expression.

"Siracusan profanity, I knew it was that damn liar, Siracusan profanity, I'm definitely going to pull his intestines out of his ass-hole and shove them down Siracusan profanity his throat..." A Siracusan man who could no longer hold it back slammed his tableware onto the table and cursed as he walked out.

The man's actions seemed to trigger an erupting volcano, and subsequently, the others walked out of the restaurant with similarly furious expressions, leaving only the restaurant owner, who wore a bitter, awkward smile, standing at the entrance.

From Kanna's very first sentence, Kal'tsit knew things were bad. Before she could figure out a way to shut Kanna up, Kanna threw one fire after another onto other people's nerves. Seeing this situation, even the seasoned and steady Kal'tsit could only cover her face.

Although children spoke without taboos and she believed these Siracusans wouldn't haggle with a child, with this commotion Kanna made, she felt like her toes were about to dig out a brand-new Rhodes Island on the floor.