By the Way, How Long Has Squad A1 Been a Team of Probationary Operators? / Top-Tier Combat Power Comes from Well-Rounded Development ...

Seeing Blue Poison's anxious expression, Kanna realized Blue Poison did not know what she was capable of. If it had been her, she would have been just as worried to see a child standing at the edge of a high place—more so if it were someone she knew. So she immediately used Star Alignment again to "fly" down from above.

It had taken the girl quite a while to calm down. She had once considered volunteering at Rhodes Island's children's center, but now that idea was completely gone.

After all, the little dragon before her had made her heart skip several beats already. If she had to face a whole group of children, she shuddered. What a terrifying scene that would be.

Yet looking at Kanna's pitiful expression, she could not get angry at all. She could only rub her forehead and sigh. What sin had she committed today?

Just then, the passageway beside them opened, and several operators walked out.

At the front was a Kuranta girl. Behind her followed a girl with orange-red hair carrying a standard Rhodes Island riot shield, and behind them was a sleepy-looking Casters with narrowed eyes.

When the Kuranta girl saw the two at the entrance, she politely nodded to them.

Fen had originally found it strange. Rhodes Island had issued a ban stating that underage personnel were not allowed to remain outside the bridge alone without being accompanied by a Rhodes Island headquarters operator.

That was because the bridge was not as safe as the interior of Rhodes Island, and the risk of Originium infection was much higher. To prevent young children from going outside and encountering danger, this rule had existed since Rhodes Island was founded.

So when they came out and saw a child, the group froze for a moment. Children were a rare sight here. But after seeing Blue Poison's operator ID hanging from her chest, they gave up on asking.

Kanna recognized the three of them as well... members of Rhodes Island's Reserve Action Group A1. One particular "Kokodayo" had been deeply ingrained in the Doctor's mind.

In the story, A1 Squad's greatest moment had been defeating and successfully luring back the exhausted and starving foolish dog Ceobe in Leithanien. Seriously, a whole squad against one person, and they nearly got run over by that dumb dog.

In the story, the three had been good friends who joined Rhodes Island together, so it was only natural to see them appear at the same time.

"Hello! My name is Kanna!" Kanna waved at the three, and only then did they notice that Kanna also had a work badge exclusive to Rhodes Island operators on her chest.

Even Closure, who usually looked the most lazy, could not help opening her eyes when she saw that badge.

Before joining Rhodes Island, the three had experience interning with a security force. They had only been forced to leave their original security force and come to Rhodes Island because they had all contracted Originium infection while covering civilians' evacuation ahead of a Catastrophe.

Fortunately, with their prior experience, the three quickly stood out and were assigned to a Reserve Action Group. But even so, they had only received the status of reserve operators.

If the girl beside her was a full operator, the three could have accepted that. After all, they had seen plenty of geniuses at Rhodes Island. But such a small child actually had the work badge reserved for full operators. With her excellent eyesight as a sniper operator, Closure could clearly see that the badge on Kanna's chest indeed bore her own portrait.

Suddenly, Closure had a flash of inspiration and recalled a rumor circulating around the island today. Dr. Kal'tsit had promoted a little girl to full operator through special channels, and that girl's performance at the testing grounds had left every onlooker speechless.

"Could you be the one Dr. Kal'tsit promoted through special channels?" Closure asked, her voice carrying a hint of shock and doubt.

"Hmm hmm hmm! That's Kanna!"

Hearing Closure's words, Kanna raised her head and puffed out her chest, planting both hands on her hips with a thoroughly proud expression.

The other two looked at Closure, their eyes silently questioning her.

"Weren't people discussing this next to us while we were eating earlier? You two just didn't notice. I thought they were merely telling stories at the time. I didn't expect it to be true."

Closure did not disgrace the name of her Casters race. Even in the noisy cafeteria, she had clearly heard the conversation between the operators beside them.

Fen walked over to Kanna and reached out to stroke her head. Seeing the blissful look on her face, she relaxed.

"Even though Kanna is a full operator, it's still very dangerous outside the bridge!" Faced with the little one rubbing against her palm, Fen simply could not treat her as a full operator.

"Are you big sisters planning to train outside?"

Kanna asked.

"Just daily exercise. Closure said she was tired of the equipment in the training grounds, so we came out here to work out. Though I think that was merely her excuse." Fen smiled as she answered Kanna's question.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't ruin my image in front of a child. You don't get tired of the training grounds every day? If I didn't say that, would you have been willing to come up to the bridge... The view outside is so nice." Closure spoke slowly, giving off an unhurried air.

Kanna sniffed the scent carried by the air.

"Closure's wish to slack off is probably about to fall through."

???

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Everyone looked at Kanna with question marks written all over their faces.

"The wind smells very damp. Kanna has smelled this scent before. Not long after it appears, there will be heavy rain."

While Kanna had been up high earlier, she had smelled an extremely damp scent in the wind. With her extraordinary vision, she had seen rain clouds drifting toward Rhodes Island in the distance. If Rhodes Island did not change course, heavy rain would fall over them within half an hour at most.

Hearing her words, everyone was still somewhat unconvinced.

At that moment, a male figure appeared in the distance, walking toward the passageway.

"Kanna is right. We will soon encounter a rainstorm. Rhodes Island is preparing to change direction and find higher ground to shelter from the rain. Don't stay outside for too long either."

The figure drifted past like a ghost. As his voice fell, he vanished at the end of the passageway.

"It's Scout!" The group, who had been leisurely just moments earlier, immediately stood at attention in impeccable posture as Scout passed by. Even after he left, they answered as if by reflex from military training before relaxing again.

"Wow! I didn't expect you to be able to sense changes in the weather, Kanna." Closure looked around. Nothing seemed different from usual. If Scout had not said it was about to rain, she would have thought Kanna was fooling her.

"Looks like Kanna has a talent for being a Catastrophe Messenger!" The group took Kanna's hand and headed back into the passageway. Though Closure thought of how Fen would drag her back to training once they returned, the weather was unpredictable. Since the heavens would not let her stay outside, she could only obediently return indoors.

"Since we can't play outside now, let's go back and train! See you later!" Fen dragged Closure toward the training room while Closure wore an expression of utter grief and indignation.

Kanna said to Meteor beside her, "You have such a good relationship."

Meteor looked at the two bickering ahead and smiled. "Yes! I'm sure Kanna will find her own companions and gain friendships of her own too."

"Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!" Just as the two were about to head down with A1 Squad, Blue Poison's communicator rang.

After she answered it, Gavial's frantic voice came through the communicator.

It turned out that Gavial was working in anesthesiology today. Several patients happened to need surgery, and she discovered that the anesthetic room was short on medicine. After contacting Kal'tsit, she learned that Blue Poison was the only one both skilled at preparing medicine and currently free, so she called to ask Blue Poison for support.

Blue Poison had no choice but to stop accompanying Kanna on her walk. She patted Kanna's head and told her to go play on her own.

The reason she could be so reassured was naturally Rhodes Island's comprehensive security and surveillance systems. Besides, Kanna was a full operator. Even if something really happened on the island, she could quickly seek support.

After parting with Blue Poison, Kanna looked at the empty passageway and found herself unsure what to do for a moment.

Just then, Kanna's communicator rang as well. After she answered, Kal'tsit's voice came from the other side.

"Kanna, I heard from Scout that you also knew a rainstorm was coming. And the Catastrophe Messengers have concluded that there will be a powerful thunderstorm outside. Cough, cough... So, would you like to..."

Kanna touched her dragon horns, thinking that she had eaten quite a lot after arriving at Rhodes Island. It would be good to stack up some energy another way, or people would really start treating her like a glutton.

With that thought, she agreed to Kal'tsit's proposal. Kal'tsit was also curious whether any "ordinary being" could truly face, or even absorb, lightning. She told Kanna that she would personally come as well. If Kanna could not fully absorb the power of the lightning, Kal'tsit would find a way to redirect the excess electricity away from her.

Kanna felt that Kal'tsit was underestimating her. How could she spit out lightning once it had reached her mouth?

Having made her decision, Kanna did not head farther inside. Instead, she retraced her steps toward the bridge.

When she reached the entrance, she saw Scout leaning there.

"Wow! Are you a monster?" Kanna had clearly seen Scout enter the building, yet she had not seen when he had returned here. His elusive movements startled her.

"Ahem! You took the usual route. There's an emergency passage here, but only full operators can use it. And you can call me Scout. Nice to meet you, Kanna."

Scout pointed at a very hidden little door beside them.

"Since you've come here, I believe Kal'tsit has already explained it to you. But Outcast still believes this plan is dangerous. If you're not completely certain of your safety, I can help you apply to stop this experiment. Lightning is not as gentle as the electricity we normally use. The latter can easily kill someone, let alone the former, which is completely uncontrollable."

Scout unusually spoke quite a lot to Kanna. Mainly, he was worried that Kanna might be putting on too brave a front. Children her age could be incredibly stubborn about saving face; they might refuse to turn back even after hitting a wall.

If anything really happened, it would deal a severe blow to Rhodes Island's reputation and the cohesion of its operators.

Kanna looked at the man before her. In the story, all he had left behind was a retreating figure and news of his death.

But the fact that he could lead his squad to successfully infiltrate a group of elite Sarkaz and kill their leader proved that his infiltration and assassination abilities were exceptional. If he had not died in Chernobog, he would have become the sharpest "arrow" in the Doctor's hand.

"Uncle Scout, you're a good person. But Kanna wasn't lying. No matter how fierce the lightning is, it won't hurt Kanna. Kanna is confident she can eat every bolt that falls."

Scout had not expected his good intentions to earn him both an uncle card and a good person card. He nearly threw out his back.

"Alright then. Do you need me to take you up to the observation deck?" With a helpless expression, he pulled out a card, walked beneath the bridge, opened the elevator beside them, and invited Kanna inside.

Kanna looked up. The observation deck was very high, but it had not exceeded the maximum range of her Star Alignment.

She shook her head at Scout. "The elevator is too slow. Uncle Scout, Kanna will wait for you at the top." With that, a Lightning Wedge appeared in her hand and flew toward the observation deck with a wave of her little hand.

Scout's pupils constricted. Not only had he discovered that the Lightning Wedge Kanna threw traced a perfect arc and landed precisely on the observation deck, but the accuracy and force behind it meant that anyone capable of such a feat with their body alone, without a weapon, had to be a top-tier powerhouse.

And it had not vanished even from such a distance, which meant that distance was still within Kanna's transfer range. That greatly enhanced the strategic value of Kanna's Originium Arts.

Kanna waved at him. "I'll head up first!" Then she vanished from before Scout.

Scout shook his head and entered the elevator alone.

After reaching the top, Scout found Kanna sitting on the edge of the observation deck. The two operators assigned to stand watch at the top of the tower were sprawled on the ground with their eyes rolling and black smoke rising from them.

"What happened?"

Kanna shrugged. "After Kanna came up, they pointed their weapons at Kanna. Kanna said she came with you, but you hadn't come up in the elevator yet. They didn't believe Kanna and insisted that Kanna surrender, so Kanna gave them a tiny shock. Don't worry, they'll only be paralyzed for a little while. There won't be any aftereffects."

After hearing this, Scout covered his eyes. He could not bear to look. As the person in charge of the observation deck, the personnel stationed here were among the best of his subordinates.

Yet these two elites had been easily dealt with by Kanna in the dozen or so seconds it took him to come upstairs—perhaps even less time than that.

Thankfully, Kanna had harbored no ill intent. He checked her handiwork and found that she had indeed shown great restraint. The two had merely been stunned unconscious by the instantaneous current and would wake up soon.

This gave him a rough estimate of Kanna's actual combat strength.

To easily and swiftly take down two elite operators holding weapons and maintaining considerable vigilance, without allowing them to issue any warning at all—top operators like Logos and Ascalon could likely accomplish the same at Rhodes Island.

But who were those two, while Kanna was only a child? Perhaps once she grew up, she could wrestle with those old monsters from the Sarkaz Royal Court. Scout sighed at the thought. Thinking of Amiya's genius-like learning ability under Kal'tsit's instruction, he could not help sighing again. Kids these days were terrifying. Was he really getting old and falling behind the times?

As Scout agonized over his age, the two operators Kanna had knocked out with electricity gradually woke up. They cautiously got to their feet, then relaxed when they saw Scout crouching nearby with a melancholy expression as he smoked, while Kanna stood at the edge of the observation deck curiously gazing into the distance.

After all, while it was indeed humiliating that the two of them had been knocked down head-on by a little girl, the current situation was far better than Rhodes Island losing control of the observation deck.

After Scout's introduction, the two were Putel and Long Scorpion, elite members of the Rhodes Island sniper squad under Scout's command.

Kanna also apologized to them. She should have waited a little longer. After all, Scout would have taken only a dozen seconds to come up from below, and that could have completely avoided the fight between both sides.

She had merely been too excited at the time, which had led to the clash.

The two shook their hands and apologized as well. If they had not been so aggressive and provoked Kanna into acting, this probably would not have happened.

Seeing that everyone had reconciled, Scout grinned and patted his two subordinates on the shoulders. "Not bad, not bad. Looks like you've both gotten too restless staying up here. Head down and do five sets in the training room, the full routine. Don't even think about slacking off. I'll have Little Mary keep an eye on you."

Hearing Scout's words, the two looked as if they had been struck by lightning on a clear day. Wearing expressions of utter despair, they slowly shuffled down from the observation deck.

"Don't mind them. They're not bad people at heart. They just have too much energy every day. A little training will do them good." Scout ignored their wounded looks entirely, dropped into a chair beside him, and spoke to Kanna.

"Kanna really isn't angry! Kanna knows they're good people, so Kanna only used a tiny bit of electricity. Kanna only wanted to play a little prank, but it ended up being just a little too strong." Kanna held out her hand to demonstrate. She did not want to be accused of attacking her Rhodes Island companions.

Seeing Kanna's anxious expression, Scout reached out and patted her dragon horns. "Alright, they won't mind. Kanna doesn't need to blame herself. Besides, the storm clouds seem to be arriving. Doesn't Kanna need to make any preparations?"

"Preparations? Kanna only needs to stand there. As long as Kanna is noticeable enough, the lightning will come find Kanna itself." Kanna scratched her head. What preparation did getting struck by lightning require? Just find somewhere high and wait. With Kanna's lightning-attracting constitution, as long as thunderclouds passed by, they would definitely be drawn to her.

"Of course I believe in Kanna's ability to attract lightning, but you still need protective measures. Outcast is watching you from below. You don't want her to worry about you, do you?"

After that small display earlier, Scout believed Kanna possessed extraordinary abilities. But while coming up, he had received a message from Outcast asking him to take extra care of Kanna. If there was any problem, he was to immediately send an alarm downstairs. She and Kal'tsit would be standing by nearby below, and if anything happened to Kanna, they would act to divert the lightning afterward.

So he knew Outcast genuinely cared about the little Vayvan she had brought back.

Hearing that, Kanna rubbed her head in distress. What counted as protection? Her plan was to draw down lightning to charge herself. Judging from what had happened last time, she did not need to make any movements or take any protection. She only needed to lie there and wait until the lightning was done striking her. Then her tail swept across the table beside her, giving her a flash of inspiration.

She hopped outside and bent her legs slightly, letting her tail reach the ground. Seeing Scout's baffled expression, she proudly explained, "Left foot is the live wire, right foot is the neutral wire, tail is the ground wire. Three wires in one—completely safe."

Scout looked like an old man staring at a phone on the subway.

What was any of that supposed to mean? Whether she stood on one foot, both feet, or added a tail, would not the lightning still come down from above? He had meant for Kanna to find a way to reduce the force of the lightning when it arrived. Instead, this child had given him that nonsense. She nearly made him laugh in exasperation.

But the storm clouds arrived overhead along with a steady drizzle.

Just as Kanna had said, she possessed a special attraction to lightning. After the successive bolts seemed to search around nearby for a while, they struck toward Kanna's location as though they had locked on with perfect precision.

Bolt after bolt, accompanied by blinding flashes, illuminated the entire outskirts of Rhodes Island. The people watching from below could not help drawing sharp breaths. Scout, who was standing closest, could not see it, but those who had stepped outside could see that lightning from this entire stretch of sky had converged on Kanna. It looked as though a tree made of lightning had grown over Rhodes Island, with the entire sky filled by its branches.

Though they could not make out whether Kanna was safe amid the blinding light, Scout had not sent an emergency signal, so everyone eased their worries. They had already considered that lightning might disrupt communications, so Scout had specifically brought a flare gun. If something happened up there that he could not handle, he would fire it immediately. The people below would then act according to the plan prepared in advance.

As for how Scout knew whether Kanna was alright, that was simple. Lightning usually produced an enormous crash in the brief instant it struck, but with lightning continuously falling like this, the sound was instead greatly reduced, giving him a chance to chat with Kanna as she bathed in the lightning.