Transforming Kanna on Terra

Finally, this is a special Iberian specialty I prepared. I hope this small gift will make you all forget the little unpleasantness just now."

Carmen, who had stood up again, said to Kal'tsit. These were actually rewards he had prepared in advance for Rhodes Island's help this time.

Kal'tsit nodded again and reached out to shake Carmen's hand. "Thank you for your trouble, Lord Carmen."

"Oh no!" Upon seeing the large cart of rewards Carmen had prepared, Kanna suddenly slapped her forehead, remembering that before leaving, she had specifically promised to bring gifts back for Popukar and the others. She had given her sunglasses to Skadi during the last battle and had forgotten to buy new ones.

The people around heard her cry and looked over.

They saw Kanna, with a crestfallen expression, say to Kal'tsit, "Before leaving, I told Popukar and the others I'd bring gifts back, but I forgot to buy them!"

Hearing Kanna's words, Kal'tsit just wanted to find a bamboo pole and hang her up. This girl's sudden outbursts nearly scared the old woman to death.

Carmen, standing nearby, heard this and said with a smile, "There's a small souvenir shop not far from here. The things there are quite nice. Why don't you go take a look?"

Kanna's eyes lit up when she heard Carmen's words, and she turned to stare at Kal'tsit.

Kal'tsit calmed her almost-breaking composure and said helplessly, "Alright, let's go together."

Led by Carmen, the group arrived at the souvenir shop. Carmen said, "As a border city, this place has souvenir shops everywhere. However, the items in this shop are quite unique, and I believe you and your friends will like them."

Chapter 133: Investigation Report on How Orcas Apologize

Soon, Kanna happily selected several beautiful gifts and packed them to take away.

With Carmen's endorsement, the vehicle quickly left the border of Iberia.

The moment they crossed the border, the system emitted a "ding-dong" sound, proving the mission was complete.

After completing the quest, Kanna looked at the newly acquired skill, curious about what an enhanced skill was.

Extreme: Divine Transformation: Eye of Evil (Enhanced, Skill Source: Raiden Shogun from Genshin Impact): Kanna tears open the void and summons the power of distant lightning, dealing Lightning Element DMG to surrounding enemies and bestowing the Eye of Thunder Punishment and Evil upon all nearby allies (friendly units recognized by Kanna). Allies bestowed with the Eye of Thunder Punishment and Evil will trigger a coordinated attack when their attacks deal damage to enemies.

Enhanced Effect -- All Evils Shall Be Severed: Kanna can choose to condense the allies' Eye of Thunder Punishment and Evil into a Seed of Thunder, which can be carried by the individual. Allies carrying the Seed of Thunder can destroy this seed in any way to summon Kanna's phantom to fight. The phantom's combat power and duration are determined by the lightning power stored within the Seed of Thunder. While the phantom is fighting, the host can observe the surroundings through the Eye of Thunder Punishment and Evil behind the phantom and can actively launch one attack. The longest storage time for the Seed of Thunder is one week. After use, before being defeated, it has at least one percent of the host's strength and a duration of one minute.

This long string of text almost made Kanna's eyes blur.

First, the original effect of the skill was simple: summon a bolt of lightning to deal damage to the surroundings and summon an eye behind to assist in attacks. In the game, it could provide charging, but this effect was not present in reality.

The most important part was the enhanced effect that followed. It was truly worthy of being a specialized enhancement for this skill, condensing the allies' Eye of Thunder Punishment and Evil directly into a seed, which could then be used at any time within a week to summon a clone of Kanna. Although its strength was not comparable to the original, its effect would actually be terrifying.

Because Kanna's base strength was very high, even one percent was not something ordinary Operators could handle. Moreover, there was no limit to the number of these things, and it only mentioned "nearby" without specifying how far "nearby" was. Coupled with no cooldown and a sufficiently long storage time, all Operators acting with Kanna could enjoy the feeling of having a super-powerful attacker with them throughout the entire journey.

Before, Kanna had actually considered how everyone could return safely when they went to Chernobog later, but the conclusion was that unless she disregarded the safety of all residents in Chernobog and turned the area into a Catastrophe zone during their actions, forcing Reunion to retreat or hide, she could not achieve a safe return for everyone with her current strength.

This skill, however, gave her hope again – hope that everyone could return alive.

"Kanna! Kanna!" Just as Kanna was drooling over the skill, Kal'tsit's voice brought her attention back.

At some point, the vehicle had stopped. Outside, Kal'tsit and Skadi were discussing something. Kanna curiously poked her head out.

Skadi waved at Kanna. "We're already some distance from Iberia. It seems they've really agreed to let you leave. I have other matters to attend to, so I won't be returning to Rhodes Island with you."

Kanna nodded. Just as Skadi was about to leave, she suddenly jumped out and stood beside Skadi, quietly asking, "Skadi, there's something I've wanted to ask you."

"Speak!" Skadi said with a serious expression.

"Well, it's just that... if you made a mistake, how would you apologize?" Kanna asked, her eyes wide, looking at Skadi.

Skadi tilted her head, bewildered. "By saying sorry!"

"Just like that?" the young dragon asked, unwilling.

"Just like that!" the orca replied, confused.

"Oh! Then it's nothing. Goodbye, Skadi!" Not getting the answer she expected, Kanna appeared somewhat disappointed.

"See you next time, Kanna!" Skadi slung her greatsword over her back, waved goodbye to Kanna and Kal'tsit in the vehicle, and then walked resolutely into the distance.

"What did you just ask?"

"Nothing! Let's go! I'm hungry!" Kanna deflected.

Kal'tsit stared at Kanna for a couple of moments, then looked at Skadi walking away. Finally, she shook her head. She wasn't someone who liked prying into others' affairs, but Kanna often did things she didn't understand, which was why she asked. Since Kanna didn't want to answer, she couldn't be bothered to press further.

Half a month later, the two finally returned to Rhodes Island.

As soon as they entered the gate, Kanna, who had been restless in the vehicle, couldn't wait for it to stop completely and darted out like a released husky.

ACE and his squad were on guard at the gate again.

Everyone else hadn't reacted yet, only seeing a silver-white mass shoot out from the vehicle and arrive in front of them. Kanna crashed into ACE's thigh. "Uncle ACE, I've missed you so much!"

"Ouch! Kanna, you don't miss me, you want me dead!" ACE, who had received a fierce pounce from the young dragon, let out a pained cry and sat down on the ground.

"Hehe!"

As Kanna climbed off ACE, her excitement of returning home finally subsided a bit.

On the stairs, Popukar and the others saw Kanna and waved.

Kanna waved back at them, then jumped onto the vehicle to retrieve the souvenirs she had brought back.

Just as she was about to leave with the souvenirs, Kal'tsit grabbed her.

"What's the hurry? Don't forget you still need to go through a decontamination process before you can leave. After that, you need to take your weapon to the Engineering Department and then go to the Medical Department for a physical examination. Only after all that is done can you go play."

Hearing Kal'tsit's reprimand, Kanna drooped her tail and jumped back into the vehicle to retrieve her weapon.

After a simple cleaning, Kanna, with her greatsword on her back and a gift box full of souvenirs in her arms, walked up to the corridor.

"These are gifts I picked for you all in Iberia. This one is for Popukar, this one is for Amiya, this one is for Rosemary, and this one..." Kanna had brought a gift for almost everyone she knew on her return. Most of them were strangely shaped, colorful seashells, and everyone who received a gift happily thanked her.

Kanna, carrying a large gift box, finally arrived at the Engineering Department.

"Yo! Kanna!" Eyjafjalla waved at her from afar.

"Eyjafjalla, this is a gift I brought for you!" Kanna greeted Eyjafjalla, holding up an orange-yellow disc painted with beautiful patterns.

Chapter 134: Chapter 127: Warm and Friendly Sarkaz

Eyjafjalla took the golden disc and examined it curiously. Although she didn't know what it was for, her instincts told her she liked it.

She hugged the plate and excitedly ran to Vulcan's room, wanting to share her newly received gift with her big sister Vulcan.

Vulcan nodded as Kanna and her companions entered, signaling them to wait.

Watching the weapon being forged in front of her, the group stood quietly not far away. Ten minutes later, Vulcan wiped the sweat from her forehead and stepped down from the workbench.

She first patted Eyjafjalla's forehead, calming the dog who had been somewhat excited since receiving the gift, and then looked at the weapon on Kanna's back.

"It looks like you've used it properly this time."

As a craftsman, she could tell at a glance if a weapon had been used, and Vulcan was no exception.

Kanna took out the weapon from her back and handed it to Vulcan. "This weapon was a great help when I went to Iberia..."

"Don't say anything yet, let me see." Even its creator was a little surprised by the weapon presented before her.

To accommodate Kanna's exaggerated close-combat abilities, the weapon's strength was extremely high. In Vulcan's opinion, under normal combat intensity, it would take dozens of battles to cause wear and tear on this weapon. Yet, after just one trip to Iberia, she saw that the edge of the blade, especially the ice sword side, was slightly chipped due to its sharpness. The fire sword side, though designed with a blunt edge, had wear marks all over its blade, and even bite marks (left while eating teppanyaki). Judging solely by the scars on the weapon, she could imagine how difficult the battle the user had experienced must have been.

"It seems Iberia is quite dangerous! When you're back from the Medical Department, tell me about your trip with Kal'tsit. Judging by this weapon, your experience must have been very exciting. Leave the weapon here! In its current state, it will take several days to restore it to its previous condition."

Vulcan, familiar with Rhodes Island's procedures, wasn't in a hurry to hear the stories behind the weapon's damage. After confirming its condition, she patted Kanna's head.

"Mhm!" Seeing that Vulcan was preparing to study the weapon carefully, everyone walked out.

Before leaving, Kanna suddenly remembered that Vulcan had been talking since they entered and she had forgotten to give her gift. She took out the small gift she had prepared for Vulcan from the large box and went back in.

"Oh! Is there something else?"

Upon entering, she saw Vulcan hoisting her "Song of Ice and Fire" with a machine.

"This is a gift I brought for you from Iberia. I hope you like it!" Kanna presented a stone almost as big as her head.

The stone was a deep blue color with specks of golden light, resembling a beautiful night sky.

Vulcan was surprised to see the stone in Kanna's hand.

"Yo, Star Sand. This is a good item. Thank you for your trouble. But this is a controlled item in Iberia, and not something you can just pick up on the roadside. How did you get it?"

Then, with Vulcan's explanation, Kanna and Eyjafjalla, who was watching with curiosity, learned that this mineral called Star Sand was a unique resource in Iberia. Due to its excellent magical conductivity and reinforcement effects, it was strictly restricted from export and was an important raw material for the Inquisitors' weapons, the Lantern and the Hand Cannon.

"An old man gave it to me before I left Iberia. It was an official gift, so you don't have to worry about anyone coming to retrieve it." This item was one of the small gifts specially given to Kanna by "Saint Carmen" before she left. Initially, she just thought it was pretty and accepted it. On her way back, she decided to give it to Vulcan as a gift, thinking that Vulcan, as a weapon manufacturer for Rhodes Island, would be interested in such strange ores. She never expected it to have such a significant origin.

Seeing that Vulcan was quite satisfied with the gift, Kanna was very happy. When she said goodbye to the two and came out again, her steps were lighter.

As they left the Engineering Department and headed towards the Medical Department, Amiya recounted the events that had occurred on Rhodes Island during Kal'tsit and Kanna's absence.

First, there was the search team from Victoria that had forced them to leave. When those people first arrived on the island, they were extremely arrogant, acting as if they would thoroughly search Rhodes Island that day.

However, when they met, the reception staff arranged by Rhodes Island were Sarkaz who had survived the bloody battle of Kazdel and remained on Rhodes Island.

The search officers, who hadn't even begun to show their might, were glanced at by the Sarkaz, whose blood-soaked appearances and expressions clearly conveyed "push me further and you'll die," and they instantly regressed from Aslan to Feline.

Then, the experienced Outcast stepped forward and led them into the interior of Rhodes Island.

The subsequent search became very simple. Wherever Rhodes Island didn't want them to go, they would station two Sarkaz guards, and the search officers would tactfully bypass those areas.

It wasn't that no search officers had ulterior motives, trying to frame Rhodes Island to force them to compromise. But under Amiya's magical perception, these petty tricks were all exposed and easily thwarted. Thus, the Victoria search team, having gained nothing, slunk away from the main vessel of Rhodes Island.

With Amiya's vivid narration, Kanna and her companions felt as if they had witnessed the other party's embarrassed, helpless, and distressed expressions firsthand.

Amiya then spoke about the situation within Rhodes Island during that time. Amiya said with some sadness that due to Rhodes Island's special nature, many of the dispatched Operators could not obtain official permission from various countries to enter large mobile cities to obtain supplies.

Quite a few Operators had lost contact in the wilderness.

As the administrator of Rhodes Island, these reports used to be handled personally by Kal'tsit. But during her absence, these heavy responsibilities fell upon Amiya, and she realized how difficult the lives of everyone on Rhodes Island were outside.

"Don't be so sad! Think about it this way: without Rhodes Island, everyone's lives wouldn't be any better. It's precisely because they believe in Rhodes Island's ideals that everyone gives their all. Instead of dwelling on your own weakness, why not think more about how to make Rhodes Island better in the future?"

Kanna stood on tiptoe, patted Amiya's head, and then put her hands on her hips, admonishing her in an adult tone.

Chapter 135: Chapter 128: Who Was Hanged Below the Bridge

"That's right! Everyone has seen Amiya's efforts during this time. However, the prejudice ordinary people have against the Infected cannot be changed overnight. Think about it, we can now operate in the territories of various countries and are not interfered with by these countries when we house and treat the Infected. Isn't that much better than when we first started!"

Ya Ye, who had been following behind the group, completely unnoticed, suddenly spoke.

As Kal'tsit's disciple, she had witnessed more suffering and helplessness in the Medical Department, so she understood even better how incredible it was that Rhodes Island had managed to operate to this extent.

"Amiya, you see, the conflict between the Infected and ordinary people stems from fear and ignorance of Originium infection, as well as exploitation by those in power. We gather the Infected of Terra, you be the boss, I'll be your right-hand man, and when you call out, we'll immediately put the imperial robe on you. Since Terra doesn't welcome the Infected, let's establish a Holy Terra, and I'll get you a golden toilet, no, a golden throne..."

Before Kanna could finish, she received a sharp rap on the head.

She looked up angrily and saw the old woman Outcast standing in front of her with a stern expression.

"Kanna, that's enough. You're not allowed to say that anymore!"

Although she felt wronged, Kanna had only wanted to say something strange to distract Amiya. But looking at Outcast's expression, it seemed what she had said was problematic.

What was the problem? Recalling the plot from her memories, Amiya's identity was simple: besides being the leader of Rhodes Island, she was also the "Demon God"...

Alright, Kanna realized. As an old member of Rhodes Island, Outcast probably knew some "rumors" not widely known to the public. And Kanna's words just now must have touched upon a prophecy about the "Demon God" in her memories.

So, the rap on the head she received wasn't undeserved.

Thinking this, Kanna felt even worse.

A few minutes later, led by Outcast, they arrived at the Medical Department. Kanna went in and came out quickly.

Because her examination results could only be accessed by Kal'tsit and Warfarin, and coupled with her status as an elite Operator of Rhodes Island, any examination would be prioritized. Thus, everything went very smoothly.

After coming out, the group headed towards the cafeteria.

Outcast patted Kanna's head. "Grandma was a bit impulsive just now. Kanna, you're not mad at Grandma, are you?"

Kanna rummaged through the gift box and took out a very beautiful, round seashell brooch, presenting it to Outcast.

"This is a gift Kanna picked out for Grandma. Look, its orange-yellow color with golden streaks, doesn't it resemble a coiling phoenix? So I named it the Phoenix Round Brooch."

Outcast took the gift and picked Kanna up. "As long as Kanna isn't mad at Grandma for just now, MUA!"

"Kanna won't be mad at Grandma! MUA!" Kanna wrapped her arms around Outcast's neck, nuzzled her, and then found a comfortable angle to lean against her.

"Isn't this our little Kanna who showed her might in Iberia? How come you're already clinging to Grandma the moment you're back!" Scout's flippant voice echoed from the entrance of the cafeteria before anyone could see him.

Turning her head, Kanna saw that there were quite a few people in the cafeteria, and they were all familiar faces. Seeing Kanna, everyone returned her greeting. Kal'tsit had already spread the official news from Iberia throughout Rhodes Island. Everyone knew how difficult it was to gain the support and aid of a country when most nations outwardly refused. Even though Iberia's glory had faded and it was far from the mainland, it was still a vast country. Upon receiving this news, Amiya had already arranged for many Operators to travel to Iberia, hoping to use this opportunity to expand Rhodes Island's reach.

"Hmm? Why don't I see Uncle Ace?" Kanna looked around and found that all the members of ACE Squad were in the cafeteria, but Ace, unusually, was not there.