The convoy passed through the valley and stopped at the exit on the other side.
Outcast stepped out of the vehicle with the remaining Operators, listening to the reports from the Operators who had left earlier, and considering how to set up the defensive line.
Just as Kanna had said, a hostile convoy was following them, and everyone in it was armed and heading straight for their convoy's location. Even an idiot could understand their objective.
At this time, the other convoy was still very excited. The group had received a mission to intercept a convoy from a pharmaceutical company and retrieve a target person from it.
When they received this mission, the team was overjoyed. The employer had offered a very generous price, with the only request being that the target should be kept alive if possible.
Everyone thought this was free money. After all, how strong could the security of a pharmaceutical company's team be? Their side consisted of mercenaries who had been active on various battlefields for years, and there were even several Sarkaz. They figured that once they surrounded them, they wouldn't even need to lift a finger to scare the opponents into submission.
On the other side of the valley, Touch silently got out of the vehicle and walked over to Outcast, patting her on the shoulder.
Then, Touch tightened her grip on her staff and walked back the way they had come.
Everyone was stunned by her actions. After all, for Touch, a Medical Operator, to cross the defensive line alone and walk back seemed no different from seeking death.
"You're a doctor now, there's no need to do this!"
Touch raised her hand and waved it, "Precisely because I am a doctor, I must do this."
As her words fell, Touch disappeared into the valley.
"Captain, do we need to follow her?" The surrounding Operators asked Outcast, the backbone of the team.
Outcast glanced at her subordinates, who had anxious expressions, and shook her head.
"Go? To do what? Die? Just stay here and wait!" Unlike these newly recruited Rhodes Island Operators, Outcast knew Touch's strength. No Sarkaz who could survive months of direct combat on the front lines of the bloody Kazdel Sarkaz civil war was not a ruthless individual, and Touch was one of them.
Outcast picked up her communicator. "Reconnaissance team, listen up. From now on, no one is allowed to approach the bottom of the canyon under any circumstances. After this is over, make sure to walk back along the ridge. Remember, do not go down into the canyon."
Upon hearing the captain's order, both those preparing to defend in the valley and those scouting ahead were somewhat bewildered, as the order was too strange.
"Don't feel strange. If you had witnessed Touch's true strength, you would understand that I am doing this for your own good."
After speaking, she didn't continue arranging the defensive line. Instead, she walked to the side, leaned against a tree, closed her eyes, and fell into a doze.
Seeing the captain's sudden abnormal behavior, the team members below were somewhat at a loss. In the end, they instinctively set up a simple defensive measure and then nervously looked in the direction of the canyon.
Kanna led Feline over to Outcast.
"Grandma, do you have any candy?"
Seeing Kanna, Outcast rarely showed a smile. "Of course I do. Here, these are two candies." With that, she pulled two hard candies from her pocket and offered them to Kanna.
Kanna took the candies, peeled off the wrappers, and then brought one to Feline's mouth.
Looking at the candy Kanna offered, Feline first recoiled in fear, then, finding no problem, cautiously extended her tongue and licked it.
"So sweet!"
Feeling the taste on her tongue, Feline couldn't help but exclaim.
"Of course, Rhodes Island's candy-making skills are superb, and there's also an older sister who's very good at making desserts. When we go back, I'll take you to eat dessert. That's what you call a taste that lingers for three days, with an unending aftertaste."
Kanna patted her chest, looking very proud.
Perhaps it was Kanna's age and appearance that finally made her lower her guard. As she carefully licked the candy she had taken from Kanna's hand, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
Kanna hurriedly reached out to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "Oh no, don't cry! Tears are bitter, and if they get on the candy, it won't taste good."
"Okay! I promise I won't cry anymore!" The girl's tearful smile looked exceptionally poignant.
Just as Feline was eating the candy, Kanna's ears suddenly twitched. Seeing that Feline had almost finished the candy, she took her hand again and walked towards the vehicle.
Shortly after Kanna and Feline got into the vehicle, Touch returned from the canyon entrance. While they were wondering where the enemies were, several members of the reconnaissance team, looking pale, jumped down from the ridge.
Upon seeing Touch, the few of them instinctively took a step back.
"What happened? Where are the enemies?" A confused team member asked the reconnaissance team.
Upon hearing this, the reconnaissance team members' faces all changed dramatically, and they leaned against the wall, beginning to vomit violently.
Their disheveled appearance startled the others, who couldn't help but look up in the direction of Touch, who silently walked back into the vehicle and closed the door.
Outcast opened her eyes and looked at the disheveled state of those few, not surprised. She clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention back to her.
"Since the enemies have been dealt with, everyone get into the vehicles immediately. We're leaving now."
Inside the vehicle, after the reconnaissance team members' complexions improved, they recalled the battle with fearful eyes. Or rather, it wasn't a battle, but a slaughter.
The enemy convoy came into their view shortly after their side left. At the time, they were still marveling at where Outcast got the information about a tail following them, when they saw Touch standing alone in the middle of the canyon road.
Upon seeing Touch, the opponents did not stop, but instead accelerated, crashing towards where Touch was.
Then, the reconnaissance team members witnessed a nightmare they would probably never forget in their lives—as Touch stomped her staff on the ground, everything around her, except for rocks, began to dissolve, centered on her.
The approaching vehicles bore the brunt of it. Under their gaze, the entire vehicles melted into a strange substance very quickly, like blocks of plastic burning in flames.
And the people inside instantly transformed from complete individuals into a puddle of human fluid, then rapidly dried up.
As the reconnaissance team, their eyesight was good, so they clearly and completely witnessed the sight of a person dissolving entirely from the outside in.
Especially since some of the opponents were "strong ones" who tried to resist this dissolution with Originium Arts. The result was that the dissolution indeed slowed down significantly, but it also became more painful and terrifying.
After there was no living creature left in the canyon, Touch did not linger there. Instead, she decisively turned and walked back towards her convoy. The reconnaissance team above only reacted in fear and unease, following far behind her as she returned to the team.