Inspection

Watching that mother turn around and follow at the end of the formation, Durandal realized that she had unknowingly clenched her other hand into a tight fist.

They were so close... such a short amount of time... If they could have come earlier, if...

Perhaps it was just those few missing days... Such a short time couldn't heal such a large wound. That's what left this mother in such a state.

She could still give thanks, could still evade, could still think clearly... All she lacked was time...

After about half an hour, the group reached the third defense line. At that point, the final battlefield cleanup was still underway. Hearing Theresa's request, the third frontline immediately made several trucks available.

"Let's go, let's get on the truck too," Theresa said to Rita and Durandal. "The frontline soldiers will soon conduct a large-scale cleanup of the outer districts of Sapphire City, followed by the arrival of the rescue teams and city exploration teams."

"If nothing unexpected happens, Sapphire City will become the second city reclaimed by humanity..." Theresa paused, then added, "If we still have that many people left..."

The MOTH was currently rescuing so few people that they couldn't even fill the MOTH base. The MOTH base, which could accommodate tens of thousands of people living together, now housed only a few hundred.

With such a huge disparity in numbers, to say nothing of relocating and rebuilding Sapphire City, it was questionable whether anyone could even leave the base and settle in Arc City.

After clearing the two major threats in the outer districts of Sapphire City, the MOTH should be able to find a few hundred survivors in Sapphire City. Combined with those who voluntarily came to Arc City, the MOTH's ranks would finally break a thousand.

Durandal silently nodded, then quietly watched the survivors being inspected.

The disheveled mother was holding her child and was at the very end of the line. As the line continued to shrink, her expression revealed more and more anxiety.

"What's wrong?" Theresa noticed the change in Durandal's expression and followed her gaze, seeing the mother as well.

"No..." Durandal subconsciously wanted to deny it, but the expression on her face betrayed that she really wasn't good at lying.

And looking at how quickly the line was shrinking, it wouldn't be long before it was the mother's turn to be inspected. At that point, the child's condition would definitely be detected...

Rita watched Durandal's fist clench out of nervousness and couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

Durandal hadn't been this nervous even when facing an onslaught of Honkai Beasts and Deadwalkers. Even last night, when Durandal had been asking her questions, she hadn't been in this state.

Was it because of that child?

Rita turned to look at the mother, who now had only a few people ahead of her.

Rita had already seen through the truth of the child in the mother's arms back at the school. Even Rita, who had spent so long wandering through the seedy gray and black corners of the world, couldn't help but feel a sigh of emotion upon seeing this scene.

"Next." The soldier in charge of the inspection finished registering the data of the previous person and looked up. "Hello, please come over here for an inspection."

At this point, there weren't many people left to be inspected. Only the mother was left, hugging her child and shrinking back, hesitant to come forward.

Anyone could see that something was wrong. The soldier frowned slightly, gave a look to the guards stationed nearby, and then spoke to the mother again.

"Hello, ma'am, please come over here for an inspection, can you do that?"

The mother still didn't come forward. The surrounding soldiers began to slowly encircle her.

Even if she looked like a mother holding her child, who knew if she was actually holding her child?

Putting aside the crazed fanatics who used children's corpses to transport contraband, it was also common in this chaotic world for a mother to hide an infected and eroded child out of attachment.

Out of sympathy for the latter, they wouldn't directly attack, but it was impossible for them to let such a danger pass.

Noticing the people gradually closing in, the mother seemed uneasy, and her hands, holding the child, gradually tightened.

Watching all of this, Durandal wanted to step forward, but she didn't know what she should do.

Help the mother and bring the child onto the truck? No, that would be irresponsible to the MOTH and to everyone's safety.

Make the mother leave the child? That would be too cruel for the mother...

Trade-offs—this was one of the main themes of the mortal world, but Durandal had not yet learned it.

"Hello, ma'am!" The inspector gave a third notification. Unlike the friendliness of the first two times, this was more like a warning. At the same time, the inspector's hand rested on their weapon.

Just as Durandal gritted her teeth and was about to step forward, Theresa took a step out first.

"Lady Judah!" The surrounding soldiers were shocked to see Theresa coming over and made way for her.

"Let me do the inspection," Theresa said, signaling for the soldiers not to get agitated. Then, she quickly walked up to the woman.

Seeing a young child walk over to inspect her and her child, the mother hugged her child tightly, seemingly afraid of scaring the young girl, and her whole body began to shake.

"Don't look... don't look..." she murmured, her voice trembling, as if she was about to break down.

"Wait!" A figure rushed over, blocking the mother's path. Everyone looked over and saw it was the suited man who had led the way in accepting the inspection.

He raised his hands to show he meant no harm, gave a professional smile, and apologized to everyone. "I'm sorry, everyone, I'm sorry. I'll talk to her, I'll talk to her..."

While apologizing, the man pulled the mother back, soon taking her to a corner.

"What are you doing!" Once they reached the corner, the man revealed an angry expression, almost shouting at the woman. However, the woman's miserable state made him retain a shred of decency.

He looked down at the child in the woman's arms. "How can you pass the inspection like this? We're about to get on the train in a few hours and leave! You've waited so long, are you going to give up here?!"

"Baby..." But the woman didn't answer. She just muttered softly, as if in a dream.

The man almost choked, but he could only clench his fist in frustration.

He couldn't just punch the woman because of this, could he?

"I'm telling you, I don't want to make it too harsh! Now, immediately! Find a good place to put your baby, then accept the inspection and wait for me on the train!"