With the combined efforts of the three, the molten iron on the forging platform gradually solidified, turning into a massive iron block.
Looking at the iron block in front of her, Nian let out a relaxed sigh.
"Alright! Kanna, your part and mine are done. The remaining processes will be handled by Sister Vulcan. Go have breakfast and get ready to assemble!"
Hearing Nian speak, Kanna finally slumped to the ground. At this moment, she felt completely drained, her limbs weak. Only after Nian's words did she suddenly realize that she had been in this room from the previous afternoon until the next morning.
Remaining motionless for such a long time while focusing on providing a steady stream of lightning power—no wonder she felt so awful after it was over.
Coming out with Nian, she saw Cerberus sleeping on a mechanical bed not far from the doorway.
Hearing the footsteps of the two walking out, Cerberus's ears twitched, and then she lifted her head with a bewildered expression.
"Good morning, Kanna-chan, Nian-chan! Ha~ Awooo!!" Rubbing her eyes, Cerberus greeted them both, and at the end, she couldn't help but let out a Lupo-style yawn.
"Want to go eat together?" Seeing that Cerberus had also woken up, Kanna asked her if she wanted to go for breakfast together.
"Of course! Eyjafjalla's honey cakes are for breakfast today, Cerberus can't be late!!" Although her mind was still a bit muddled, Cerberus immediately perked up at the mention of food, and she even accurately stated that Eyjafjalla would be making honey cakes for breakfast in the cafeteria.
"This little one has quite a lot of resilience, but unfortunately, her mind doesn't seem to be very good. Still, she's quite interesting." Although she had never specifically observed Cerberus, Nian still knew that she had guarded outside for several days. In such hot conditions, she never complained once, nor did she ever back down. Even when she was yelping from the heat, she never left her post.
"For Little Knives, those things probably aren't important, right? After all, thinking so much is not as good as eating an extra honey cake, don't you think? Besides, Little Knives isn't stupid; she just doesn't want to bother."
Kanna held Cerberus's hand and said to Nian beside her. Hearing Kanna talk about herself, Cerberus kept nodding, regardless of whether it was true or not.
Upon entering the cafeteria, they indeed saw Eyjafjalla selling food at a counter. Seeing Cerberus arrive, she immediately brought out a large portion of honey cakes from the back kitchen and presented them to her.
Receiving the honey cakes, Cerberus happily said she would take them back to share with Sister Vulcan, then, after bidding Kanna farewell, she walked out of the cafeteria, tail wagging, carrying a pile of food.
After Cerberus left, Nian and Kanna ate some simple food and then walked together towards the deck.
Upon reaching the deck, they found that everyone else had already arrived and stood in formation, with Dobermann and her instructor corps at the front of the team.
"Sorry, we're late!" Since everyone else was already in formation and they had just arrived, Kanna naturally apologized first.
"No need to apologize, you're not late. In fact, you're ten minutes earlier than the agreed time." Hearing Kanna's voice, Dobermann turned around to look at Kanna and Nian as they approached.
"The team's foundation is barely solid. The remaining issue is the compatibility between the two of you and the team. However, with your abilities, it shouldn't be difficult to integrate into the team. Rather, I have reservations about whether the team members will become overly reliant on your abilities and lose their own growth potential after having you two. Dobermann gestured to the team behind her, indicating that the two could rejoin.
Looking up at her team, Kanna realized that the squad now had a completely different spirit compared to five days ago. They were still the same people, but if before they felt like elementary school students lining up, now they were like middle schoolers who had undergone military training.
Although still within the student category, their spirit, energy, and discipline had clearly improved severalfold.
Because of this, she couldn't help but praise Dobermann as worthy of being Rhodes Island's general instructor for new recruits. In just five days, she could train the team to this extent. One must remember that while there were seasoned veterans in the team, there were also highly unstable troublemakers like Night Witch and Weedy.
But now, looking at them, both Weedy and Night Witch were standing obediently in the team, not nearly as unsociable as imagined—to be precise, compared to the assembled crowd, she and Nian, who arrived late, were the two who looked the most out of place.
"Thank you for your guidance!" Kanna extended her left hand to Dobermann.
Dobermann glanced at it before reaching out and shaking it. "Don't be happy too soon. The remaining two days of training will be group exercises. Although you are an Elite Operator and also the captain, I won't go easy on you because of that. On the contrary, because of your status and strength, my demands on you will be even stricter than on others."
Although Dobermann's words weren't very pleasant to hear, Kanna didn't argue. Instead, she stood properly among the crowd.
"Very good, your squad is now officially assembled. The next two days of training will all be combat training. I have already asked Closure to simulate several different scenarios in the training ground. Now, Kanna, you will lead the team to solve them one by one. The instructor corps will act as your temporary opponents. Now, right face, target Training Ground One, double time!"
...Soon, led by Dobermann, Kanna Squad arrived at the first simulated training ground.
"Kanna, you haven't participated in training with us these past few days. Are you confident in leading us?" As they entered the room, Blue Poison was a bit worried. After all, Kanna and Nian had not participated in any team training, so they would inevitably be unfamiliar with the team's internal strength and habits. Suddenly taking command like this would inevitably lead to mistakes.
This was precisely Dobermann's first test for Kanna—as a team leader, the first thing one must do is to know every single person in their team like the back of their hand. Only then can one leverage everyone's strengths and avoid their weaknesses, and prevent situations where long-range Operators are on the front lines while close-combat Operators are in the rear.
"Daijoubu, Mondai nai!"
Regarding Blue Poison's concerns, Kanna stated that there was absolutely no problem. After all, she considered herself an experienced Doctor. Although she became lazier and lazier in the later stages, always copying strategies from big names like Xiao Ran for high-difficulty events, at least in terms of troop deployment, it wasn't a big issue.
Besides, she had "played" with everyone in this team except Misha. Even if there might be some differences in combat power, the general combat style shouldn't deviate too much.
Most importantly, with Nian and herself present, it was hard to imagine losing.
Upon entering the room, they found that it had changed. Operators lay scattered on the ground, nearby equipment was severely damaged, and the front lines were steadily retreating.
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