After clearing the battlefield, the forward team returned to Rhodes Island. Scout, wanting to tease Kanna, his eyes darting around, slipped downstairs, pulled a hot dog sausage from the refrigerator, and with a mischievous grin, scurried back up.
"Been playing outside for so long, I'm a bit hungry. I just grabbed a little snack, want some?" As he spoke, he casually offered it to Kanna.
"Damn it," Kanna immediately wanted to give him the middle finger.
This person was too petty, ambushing a cub like that.
But she wasn't an ordinary person; she was a Taotie , only taking in and never expelling. Everything she ate was fully digested, so there was nothing to throw up, preventing her from vomiting everywhere.
After dry heaving for a while, Kanna felt she couldn't let him look down on her. Plus, she was annoyed by his slightly smug expression. With a fierce lunge, she closed her eyes and, with an "awooo," bit the hot dog sausage from Scout's hand, then swallowed it with a "gulp" without even chewing.
Scout was dumbfounded at the sight. He hadn't expected Kanna to be so dedicated to eating. One must know that after witnessing such a scene, most people, even if they could eat, would only consume plain vegetarian food unrelated to red or white colors. For Kanna, who could overcome her internal revulsion and eat meat upon first exposure, Scout could only describe her with two words—monster.
"Aren't you going to greet Outcast?" Scout asked, pointing to Outcast and the Rhine Lab personnel who were entering the ship below.
Kanna naturally saw Outcast and the people she picked up. She knew Silence far better than Scout did. Since Silence was there, and she saw two other people in the car—though she couldn't see them clearly due to the light and position—she guessed they were probably Ptilopsis and the invincible Ifrit.
Since they were on the island, it seemed the "Rhine Lab Fist King" would arrive soon, and later, the "Prison Fist King" Mountain would also be arranged (here, I highly recommend [Arknights New Year's Eve Celebration] Mountain's One Operation Record BV1qq4y1k74P).
From then on, Rhodes Island, through Silence, embarked on an irreversible path of constantly poaching Rhine Lab's talent (laughs, when will म्यू म्यू be poached?).
Speaking of which, she really wanted to meet Ifrit, but she wasn't in a hurry. After all, there was plenty of time, and as children of similar age, they would always have a chance to meet.
Kanna realized she hadn't seen any members of Provisional Operator Group A4 since she arrived. She estimated they probably hadn't made it to the island yet, so she wouldn't have the chance to witness the splendor of the "Rose Sword Saint."
Soon, amidst their casual chat, the dispatched teams also returned to Rhodes Island one after another.
A moment later, a head popped up from below.
"Captain, Doctor Kal'tsit wants you to take Kanna to the Control Room for a report."
Scout nodded, then patted Kanna's dragon horn. "Let's go. You've probably performed a great service this time."
Kanna was about to agree when she suddenly remembered eating a huge amount of desserts at the pastry shop and telling them to send the bill to Kal'tsit. A drop of sweat involuntarily trickled down her forehead. Going to see Kal'tsit now, wasn't that walking straight into a trap?
"Don't space out… let's go down!" Seeing Kanna, who had been excited, suddenly stand still, Scout waved to her as a reminder.
"Uh! Well, I have a bit of a fear of heights, and I'm feeling a bit dizzy right now. Can I not go see Kal'tsit…?" As soon as she thought of the long bill she'd pawned off on Kal'tsit, Kanna's eyes darted around. She touched her forehead, pretending to be unwell… Scout looked at Kanna speechlessly. You, a ruthless person who stands on the edge of the Lookout Tower and jumps down without batting an eye, are telling me you have a fear of heights? Are you kidding me?!
"Did you make another mistake before?" Scout asked helplessly.
"Uh… it wasn't really a mistake… I just ate a little bit of dessert, and then told the boss to bill Kal'tsit." Kanna said with a hesitant tone, making a tiny gesture with her fingers.
"I think I understand… How much was it…?" Scout raised a hand to his forehead. Based on his understanding of Kanna, her "little bit" was probably very different from a normal "little bit."
"I don't know, I just ordered one of everything," Kanna confessed decisively.
Scout simply gave Kanna an admiring thumbs-up after hearing this. "Don't worry, you've performed a great service today. Kal'tsit won't bother you about such a small mistake."
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
After some hesitation, she thought that Rhodes Island was only so big; she could avoid it for a while, but not forever. Rather than having Empress Dowager Kal'tsit settle accounts later, it was better to balance merits and demerits now.
"Alright! Then I'll wait for you downstairs." With that, Kanna reluctantly walked to the edge, stepped outside, and disappeared from the Lookout Tower… Watching Kanna just jump straight down like that, Scout was speechless. This little one truly was a newborn cub unafraid of heights. Forgive his old bones for not having the courage to constantly do high-altitude rapid descents; even if his mind could handle it, his body couldn't endure such antics.
After going downstairs, he instructed the off-duty Puteer to take his place at the Lookout Tower, then took the elevator from the top down to the platform.
Upon arriving, he saw Kanna staring blankly at the floor in front of her.
He walked over to look, and sure enough, there were two large holes in the ground. This was the deck of a landship, made of pure steel; even with welding equipment, it would take a lot of effort to poke such large holes.
However, the more he looked at these two holes, the more familiar they seemed. After unconsciously glancing at Kanna, he realized that they were exactly the shape of the horns on her head, even the distance between them was identical.
Noticing Scout had discovered it, Kanna rubbed her dragon horns and said sheepishly, "I don't jump off buildings often enough, so my technique isn't perfect. I was blown off balance by a gust of wind halfway down, and ended up hitting headfirst. I absolutely didn't do it on purpose. If I practice more, this kind of thing definitely won't happen next time."
Scout looked at Kanna's head; both horns were bright in color, without any damage or scratches.
Good heavens, your horns are harder than steel.
As for whether Kanna was injured, he couldn't tell. He would only tell Kal'tsit about it in the Control Room and let Kal'tsit decide how to examine Kanna.
He let out a sigh and took Kanna's hand. "It's good that you're alright, but that was too dangerous. I'll tell Kal'tsit about this later. Falling from such a height, you still need to get a check-up."