After leaving the Engineering Department, the group began discussing where to eat.
Kanna thought of the previous restaurant and suggested they go to the place they ate last time.
Although Popukar still had lingering trepidation about the taste of the nutritional meal that came later, she still found the earlier food delicious. Amiya, Rosmontis, and Cerberus had no preference for where to eat, so the group meandered their way to the same restaurant as last time.
When the Head Chef saw the two giants, whose presence was etched into his DNA, appear together, he rolled his eyes and collapsed.
However, other chefs from the kitchen were quickly arranged to assist.
Before the last chef collapsed to the ground, unable to lift his hand, the group looked at the mountain-high stack of plates and left the restaurant, fully satisfied.
One particular Pero once again failed the challenge. Without him watching over her, she directly ate half her meal, then let out a burp, rolled her eyes, and collapsed. Fortunately, there were Medical Operators among the kitchen assistants (not just Hibiscus). After a series of back pats and compressions, she finally recovered, looking at Kanna, who was still eating heartily, with admiration.
And besides Kanna and her group, the happiest person was Hibiscus. Although there were some minor mishaps during the process, her carefully prepared nutritional meal was not wasted again.
99.9% of it was eaten by Kanna, and the remaining 0.1% went into the mouth of the brave Amiya.
Of course, Amiya's strange expression after eating it was not something to be shared with outsiders.
One morning a few days later, the group was playing poker in the Greenhouse when Amiya walked in from outside.
Her deeply furrowed brows clearly indicated she had something heavy on her mind, but her coming here specifically meant she hoped they could offer her some advice.
Sure enough, after sitting for a while, Amiya spoke.
"Kanna-chan, if someone once did something very wrong to Rhodes Island, but he is also very capable of helping Rhodes Island overcome its current difficulties, do you think we should bring him back?"
Kanna understood immediately that Amiya was referring to the Doctor. Although she didn't know what difficulties Rhodes Island was currently facing, every outing required Elite Operators to lead the team, yet even so, they often left with a full complement but returned with several missing.
Rhodes Island currently has a solid foundation and some strength in small-scale combat, but strategically, the Sarkaz are out of the question; most high-ranking Sarkaz at Rhodes Island want to take down Theresis. Kal'tsit's thoughts are too heavy, and her overall strategic vision is somewhat lacking. Amiya is even less mature. The best way to change Rhodes Island's current situation is to pull the Doctor out of his coffin in Chernobog.
Thinking about the Doctor's return, from Karen Civil to Victoria, Rhodes Island's military and political strength saw a very significant improvement after he officially took power.
At least in the timeline where Skadi did not have a bad ending, Rhodes Island's situation was constantly improving.
And this was brought about in just one short year, showing how terrifying his strategic vision was.
Speaking of which, before the Doctor returned to Rhodes Island, Kal'tsit had always expressed refusal, but after Amiya rescued him, even with heavy losses, Kal'tsit did not blame her excessively. Although she remained stubborn, in reality, she relinquished power quite swiftly.
Of course, because of the Doctor's past, Kal'tsit was not 100% trusting of him and still retained many rights, but in combat, with Kal'tsit's nod, the entire Rhodes Island came under his command. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been assistance from veteran Operators like Ascalon and Misery during the Victoria incident.
"Was what the person you're talking about did intentional or unintentional? Has he ever regretted his mistakes? If he returns, would those affected by his past wrongs be willing to forgive him? Amiya, although I don't know why you want to recall someone who made a big mistake against Rhodes Island, you are the leader of Rhodes Island. All Operators of Rhodes Island, including me, will strive for your decision. But when you make a decision, don't be swayed by your emotions. If you think his arrival is truly necessary, then go and say it, go and do it. However, from your expression, that person probably has a very bad relationship with Kal'tsit, otherwise you wouldn't have come to ask us…"
Hearing Kanna's words, Amiya paused. At this moment, she somewhat understood the meaning of the word "leader." Everyone at Rhodes Island trusted her, so her decision needed to respond to that trust.
Amiya nodded, her expression looking much more relaxed.
"Thank you. I have something I need to talk to Doctor Kal'tsit about, so I won't disturb your playing."
With that, Amiya walked out of the Greenhouse.
Although her steps were much firmer than when she entered, Kanna wasn't optimistic that she could persuade Kal'tsit. According to Kanna's guess, Kal'tsit had definitely not agreed to Amiya's plan before; it was only later, probably after receiving intelligence about Reunion's impending attack on Chernobog, that she would agree to Amiya's request. After all, if Chernobog fell, the Doctor's location would inevitably be uncovered, and then the Doctor's life or death would be uncertain.
It was only under these circumstances that Rhodes Island was willing to arrange a rescue operation led by Amiya, ACE Squad, Scout, and Nearl, several Elite Operators.
The result of this rescue was the Doctor's survival at the cost of the near-total annihilation of Amiya Squad, ACE Squad, and Scout Squad.
However, this time with Kanna, she would absolutely not allow Rhodes Island to suffer such a tragedy again.
Although she didn't know the exact time, she remembered that the operation was supposed to take place in winter. The current time was late summer to early autumn, which meant that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Kanna might have less than four months to prepare.
Thinking of this, Kanna suddenly lost her mood for slacking off. The people of Rhodes Island were just pictures and text in the previous world, but now they were real people she could see, talk to, and who had their own thoughts, hobbies, and culture.
When she first arrived at Rhodes Island, she had thought that she must prevent tragedies from happening. Before, she thought it was still far away, but now she suddenly realized it was right in front of her.
Kanna opened the system.
"Hey, hey, hey! I'm telling you, System, give me some power! It's been so long since I came back last time, why is there no activity at all? Chernobog is only a few months away, so you'd better pull something out for me!"
… The system was also bewildered by Kanna's shameless statement. After a while, with a 'ding-dong,' a new mission appeared before Kanna.
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