Lastly, this is a specialty from Iberia that I prepared especially for you. I hope this small gift will help everyone forget that little unpleasantness from earlier."
Carmen got back to his feet and spoke to Kal'tsit. These had actually been rewards he had prepared in advance for Rhodes Island's assistance this time.
Kal'tsit nodded again and reached out to shake Carmen's hand. "Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Lord Carmen."
"Oh no!" When she saw the cartload of rewards Carmen had prepared, Kanna suddenly slapped her forehead. Before leaving, she had specifically promised Popukar and the others that she would bring them gifts, but she had given her sunglasses to Skadi during the last battle and forgotten to buy new presents.
Everyone nearby turned to look at her when they heard her cry out.
They saw Kanna with a miserable expression as she said to Kal'tsit, "Before I left, I told Popukar and the others I'd bring them gifts, but I forgot to buy any!"
Hearing Kanna's words, Kal'tsit wanted nothing more than to find a bamboo pole and hang her from it. This girl was always making a fuss over nothing and had nearly scared this old woman to death.
Carmen, standing nearby, smiled and said, "There is a small shop not far from here that specializes in souvenirs. Their things are quite nice. Would you like to take a look?"
Kanna's eyes lit up at Carmen's words, and she turned to stare at Kal'tsit.
After calming herself down from nearly losing her composure, Kal'tsit said helplessly, "Fine. We'll go together."
Led by Carmen, the group arrived at the souvenir shop. Carmen said, "As a border city, this place has souvenir shops everywhere, but this one has particularly distinctive items. I believe you and your friends will like them."
About How an Orca Apologized: An Investigation Report
Kanna quickly picked out several beautiful gifts, happily had them wrapped, and took them away.
With Carmen's guarantee, their vehicle soon left Iberia's border.
The instant they crossed the border, the system chimed, proving that the mission had been completed.
After turning in the mission, Kanna looked at her newly acquired skill. She was rather curious about what an enhanced skill was.
Extreme: Divine Transformation: Eye of Evil (Enhanced, skill source: Raiden Shogun from Genshin Impact): Kanna tore open the void and summoned the power of distant lightning, dealing Lightning-element damage to surrounding enemies and granting the Eye of Thunder Punishment and Evil to all nearby allies (friendly units recognized by Kanna). When allies granted the Eye of Thunder Punishment and Evil dealt damage to enemies, the Eye of Thunder Punishment and Evil launched a coordinated attack. Enhancement Effect—All Evils Shall Be Slashed: Kanna could choose to condense her allies' Eye of Thunder Punishment and Evil into Seeds of Thunder, which could be carried by the ally herself. Allies carrying a Seed of Thunder could destroy it by any means to summon Kanna's phantom into battle. The phantom could use all skills except Prayer for Rain. Its combat strength and duration were determined by the lightning power stored within the Seed of Thunder. While the phantom fought, Kanna's true body could observe the surrounding environment through the Eye of Thunder Punishment and Evil behind the phantom and launch one attack herself. Seeds of Thunder could be stored for up to one week. After use, before being defeated, the phantom possessed at minimum one percent of Kanna's true strength and lasted for one minute.
That long string of words nearly made Kanna's eyes go blurry.
The skill's original effect was simple: it unleashed a slash of lightning to damage the surrounding area, then summoned an eye behind her to assist with attacks. In the game, it could also restore energy, but that effect did not exist in reality.
The important part was the enhancement effect that followed. It truly lived up to being a dedicated enhancement for this skill. It directly condensed her allies' Eye of Thunder Punishment and Evil into seeds, then allowed her to summon a clone of Kanna at any time within a week. Though it was not as strong as her true body, its actual effectiveness would be terrifying.
Kanna's base strength was incredibly high. Even one percent of it was not something ordinary Operators could handle. Besides, there was no stated limit on the number of them; it only said "nearby," without specifying how far nearby actually was. Coupled with no cooldown and a sufficiently long storage period, every Operator acting alongside Kanna could enjoy having an overwhelmingly powerful fighter with them at all times.
Before this, Kanna had actually considered how to ensure that everyone could return safely when they went to Chernobog. But her conclusion was that unless she disregarded the safety of every resident in Chernobog and turned the place into a land of catastrophes during the operation, forcing the Reunion Movement to withdraw or hide, her current strength simply could not guarantee everyone's safe return.
But this skill allowed her to see hope again—a hope that everyone could return alive.
"Kanna! Kanna!" Just as Kanna was drooling over the skill, Kal'tsit's voice pulled her attention back.
At some point, the vehicle had stopped. Outside, Kal'tsit and Skadi were discussing something, and Kanna poked her head out in confusion.
Skadi waved at Kanna. "We're already some distance from Iberia. It looks like they truly agreed to let you leave. I still have matters to attend to, so I won't be returning to Rhodes Island with you."
Kanna nodded. Just as Skadi was about to leave, Kanna suddenly jumped out, stood beside her, and quietly asked,
"Skadi, there's something I've always wanted to ask you."
"Speak." Skadi looked serious.
"Um, well... if you made a mistake, how would you apologize?" Kanna stared at Skadi with wide eyes.
Skadi tilted her head in confusion. "You say sorry."
"That's all?" The little dragon was unwilling to accept that.
"That's all." The orca was puzzled.
"Oh! Then never mind. Goodbye, Skadi!" Having failed to get the answer she had imagined, Kanna seemed somewhat dejected.
"See you next time, Kanna!" Skadi slung her greatsword onto her back, waved to Kanna and Kal'tsit in the vehicle, then decisively walked off into the distance.
"What did you ask her just now?"
"Nothing! Let's go! I'm hungry!" Kanna changed the subject.
Kal'tsit stared at Kanna for a moment, then looked at Skadi's retreating figure before finally shaking her head. She was not someone who enjoyed prying into other people's affairs. It was merely that Kanna often pulled off strange stunts even she could not understand, so she had asked one more question. Since Kanna did not wish to answer, Kal'tsit could not be bothered to press further.
Half a month later, the two finally returned to Rhodes Island.
The moment they entered the gates, Kanna, who had been cooped up in the vehicle to the point of howling, did not even wait for it to stop properly. Like a husky slipping its leash, she shot out of the vehicle.
ACE and his squad were once again on guard duty at the gates.
Before anyone could react, they saw a lump of silver-white streak from the vehicle and appear in front of them. Kanna crashed into ACE's thigh. "Uncle ACE, I missed you all so much!"
"Ow! Kanna, you don't miss me—you want me dead!" ACE let out a moving scream after taking a fierce little dragon pounce, then fell flat onto the ground.
"Hehe!"
After climbing off ACE, Kanna's excitement at being home finally subsided somewhat.
On the corridor above, Popukar and the others saw Kanna look up and waved at her.
Kanna waved back, then jumped onto the vehicle to retrieve the souvenirs she had brought home.
Just as she hugged the souvenirs and prepared to leave, Kal'tsit grabbed her and pulled her back.
"What's the rush? Don't forget that you still need to undergo decontamination before leaving. And after delivering your weapon to the Engineering Department, you need to go to the Medical Department for a checkup. You can only go play after everything is done."
Hearing Kal'tsit's scolding, Kanna drooped her tail and jumped back into the vehicle to retrieve her weapon.
After a simple cleaning, Kanna carried her greatsword on her back and held a gift box full of souvenirs as she walked up the corridor.
"These are gifts I picked out for you in Iberia. This one is for Popukar, this one is for Amiya, this one is for Rosemary, this one..." This time, Kanna had brought gifts for nearly everyone she knew. Most were strange, colorful seashells in all sorts of shapes, and everyone who received one happily thanked her.
Hugging a large gift box, Kanna finally reached the Engineering Department.
"Yo! Kanna!" Eyjafjalla began waving at her from far away.
"Eyjafjalla, this is the gift I brought for you!" Kanna held up an orange-yellow disc covered in beautiful patterns and called out to Eyjafjalla.
Warm and Friendly Sarkaz
Eyjafjalla took the golden-yellow disc and examined it curiously. Though she did not know what it was for, her instincts told her that she liked it.
Hugging the disc, she eagerly ran toward Vulcan's room, wanting to share the gift she had just received with Big Sister Vulcan.
Vulcan nodded at Kanna and the others as they entered, signaling for them to wait.
Seeing the weapon being forged in front of Vulcan, they quietly stood some distance away. More than ten minutes later, Vulcan wiped the sweat from her forehead and stepped down from the workbench.
She first patted Eyjafjalla on the forehead, telling the dog girl, who had been excited ever since receiving her gift, to calm down. Then she looked at the weapon on Kanna's back.
"Looks like you used it properly this time."
As a craftsman, she could tell at a glance whether a weapon had been used. Vulcan was no exception.
Kanna took the weapon off her back and handed it to Vulcan. "This trip to Iberia, this weapon was a huge help..."
"Don't talk yet. Let me see." Even as the weapon's creator, Vulcan was somewhat surprised upon seeing it brought before her.
To match Kanna's exaggerated close-combat ability, this weapon had been made extraordinarily sturdy. In Vulcan's estimation, under normal combat intensity, it would need to go through dozens of major battles before showing wear. Yet after only one trip to Iberia, she could see that the blade edge—especially the ice sword's side, due to being sharper—had faintly curled. The fire sword's side followed the philosophy of a heavy blade without an edge, but its edge was covered in signs of wear and even had bite marks on it—from eating teppanyaki. From the wounds on the weapon alone, she could imagine how difficult the battle its user had gone through must have been.
"Looks like Iberia isn't lacking in danger. Once you return from the Medical Department, come tell me about your trip with Kal'tsit. Judging from this weapon alone, your experience must have been very exciting. Leave the weapon here. In its current condition, it'll need several days to return to how it was before."
Familiar with Rhodes Island's procedures, Vulcan did not rush to learn the story behind the weapon's scars. After confirming its condition, she patted Kanna on the head.
"Mm-hm!" Seeing that Vulcan was preparing to send them away so she could properly study the weapon, everyone left the room.
Before leaving, Kanna suddenly remembered that Vulcan had been the one talking since they entered, and she had forgotten to give her gift. She pulled the small present she had prepared for Vulcan from the large box and went back inside.
"Oh? Is there something else?"
Once inside, she saw Vulcan using a machine to hoist up her Song of Ice and Fire.
"This is a gift I brought back from Iberia for you. I hope you like it!" Kanna took out a stone nearly as large as her head and held it out.
The stone was a deep blue, with flecks of golden light inside, making it resemble a beautiful night sky.
Vulcan was startled when she saw the stone in Kanna's hand.
"Oh, Star Sand. This is good stuff. Thank you for taking the trouble. But this is a controlled item in Iberia, not something you can casually pick up by the roadside. How did you get it?"
Only after Vulcan explained did Kanna and the curious Eyjafjalla beside her learn that this mineral called Star Sand was a unique resource of Iberia. Because of its excellent Arts conductivity and enhancement effects, it was strictly restricted from export and was also an important raw material in the lanterns and hand cannons, the two weapons of Iberian Inquisitors.
"An old man gave it to me before we left Iberia. It was an official gift, so don't worry about anyone coming to confiscate it." This had been one of the small gifts Saint Carmen had specifically given Kanna before she left. At first, she had merely thought it looked pretty, so she accepted it. On the way back, she separated it out as a gift for Vulcan. Her thought at the time had been that, as Rhodes Island's weapon maker, Vulcan would surely be interested in strange ores like this. She had not expected its origins to be so significant.
Seeing that Vulcan was also quite satisfied with the gift made Kanna very happy. When she bade the two farewell and left again, even her steps felt a little lighter.
On the way from the Engineering Department to the Medical Department, Amiya told them about what had happened on Rhodes Island during the time Kal'tsit and Kanna had been gone.
First were the Victorian search teams that had forced the two to leave. When those people first came aboard, they had been arrogant beyond measure, acting as if they would not rest until they had searched Rhodes Island from top to bottom.
But the reception staff Rhodes Island arranged to meet them were Sarkaz who had survived the bloody war in Kazdel and remained on Rhodes Island.
The inspectors, before they could display any authority, were glanced at twice by the blood-soaked Sarkaz, whose faces plainly said that one more word would get them killed. In an instant, they devolved from Aslan into Felines.
Then the mature and steady Outcast stepped forward and led them into Rhodes Island's interior.
The search that followed became very simple. Wherever Rhodes Island did not want them to enter, they just stationed two Sarkaz guards there. The other side understood the message and skipped those places outright.
It was not as if no inspectors had tried to get clever and force Rhodes Island to compromise through planted evidence, but under Amiya's Arts perception, every little trick was laid bare and easily exposed. Thus, having gained nothing, Victoria's search team left Rhodes Island's main vessel in disgrace.
With Amiya's vivid explanation, Kanna and the others could practically see the awkward, helpless, miserable looks on their faces.
Amiya then spoke about Rhodes Island's situation during this period. Somewhat sadly, she said that because of Rhodes Island's special nature, many deployed Operators could not obtain official permission from the various nations to enter large mobile cities and obtain supplies.
Quite a few Operators had lost contact while out in the wilderness.
As Rhodes Island's leader, Kal'tsit had previously handled all such reports personally. But while she had been away, Amiya had borne those burdens, and only then did she understand how difficult life outside truly was for everyone at Rhodes Island.
"Don't be so sad! Think about it this way: without Rhodes Island, everyone's lives wouldn't be any better than they are now. It is precisely because everyone recognizes Rhodes Island's ideals that they give everything they have. Instead of dwelling on your own weakness, why not think more about how to make Rhodes Island better in the future? Isn't that right?"
Kanna stood on tiptoe and patted Amiya's head, then folded her arms and advised her in the tone of an adult.
Who Was Hanging Beneath the Bridge of the Landship?
"Exactly! Everyone has seen Amiya's efforts during this time. But ordinary people's prejudice against the Infected cannot be changed overnight. Think about it: we can now operate within the territories of various countries, and those nations do not interfere when we take in and treat the Infected. Isn't that much better than at the beginning?"
Ya Ye, who had been following behind the group without any presence at all, suddenly spoke up.
As Kal'tsit's student, she had seen more suffering and helplessness in the Medical Department. Therefore, she understood better than anyone how incredible it was that Rhodes Island had made it this far.
"Amiya, the conflict between the Infected and ordinary people comes from fear and ignorance of Originium infection, along with exploitation by those people at the top. We'll gather all the Infected on Terra. You'll be the boss, and I'll be your champion. When the time comes, you raise your arm and call out, and we'll immediately drape you in the yellow robe. If Terra won't welcome the Infected, then we'll establish a Holy Terra. We'll even get you a golden toilet—ptui, a golden throne..."
Before Kanna could finish, she received a sharp knock on the head.
She angrily raised her head and found Grandma Outcast standing before her with a stern expression.
"Kanna, let's stop those words right there. You are not allowed to say them again, understood?"
Although she felt wronged, she had only wanted to say something strange to draw Amiya's attention away. But judging from Outcast's expression, there seemed to be something wrong with what she had said.
What was wrong with it? Kanna thought back over the plot she remembered. Amiya's identity was very simple; aside from being Rhodes Island's leader, she was only a "Demon King" and...
Fine, Kanna understood now. As an old member of Rhodes Island, Outcast probably knew some "rumors" not known to the public, and Kanna's words had certainly touched upon the prophecy concerning the "Demon King" in her memories.
So she had deserved that knock on the head.
Realizing that only made Kanna feel worse.
A few minutes later, under Outcast's lead, they arrived at the Medical Department. Kanna went inside and soon came back out.
Since only Kal'tsit and Warfarin could access her examination records, and since she was a Rhodes Island Elite Operator, every examination could be moved directly to the front of the line. Everything went very smoothly.
After coming out, the group headed toward the cafeteria.
Outcast rubbed Kanna's head. "Grandma was a little impulsive earlier. Kanna, don't be angry with Grandma, all right?"
Kanna rummaged through the gift box, took out a very beautiful round seashell brooch, and held it out to Outcast.
"This is a gift Kanna picked for Grandma. Look, its orange-yellow and gold colors make it look like a circling phoenix, don't they? So Kanna named it the Phoenix Round Brooch."
Outcast took the gift and lifted Kanna into her arms. "As long as Kanna doesn't blame Grandma for earlier. Mwah!"
"Kanna won't blame Grandma! Mwah!" Kanna wrapped her arms around Outcast's neck, rubbed against her, then found a comfortable position and leaned against her.
"Isn't this our little Kanna who showed off her might in Iberia? Why are you climbing all over Grandma the moment you get back?" Before they even saw him, Scout's carefree voice came from the cafeteria entrance.
Turning around, Kanna found quite a few people in the cafeteria, all familiar faces. When they saw Kanna, everyone greeted her in return. Kal'tsit had already passed Iberia's official message throughout Rhodes Island. Everyone knew how difficult it was to gain the strong support and aid of a nation at a time when most countries openly rejected them. Though Iberia had lost its former glory and was far from the mainland, it was still a vast country. Upon receiving the news, Amiya had already arranged for many Operators to head to Iberia, hoping to use this opportunity to bring Rhodes Island greater expansion.
"Hm? Why don't I see Uncle ACE?" Kanna looked around and found that the members of the ACE Squad were all in the cafeteria, but ACE himself was unusually absent.
Before you continue