Nothing to Do but Spoil Her

The people outside were still waiting for the nutrient serum Durandal had provided, while Durandal and her group had already followed Xuanhui and the other monks into the temple.

The interior facilities weren't purely ancient in style. On the contrary, the rooms had tiled floors and electric lights on the ceiling, although they weren't lit.

They were using candles for illumination. Judging by the thick layer of wax on the tables, the temple must have been without power for some time.

Several monks took the initiative to pull out chairs for the three of them. Teacups and tea leaves were already placed on the table, and by the stove, a monk was anxiously trying to light a fire.

Seeing the kettle in his hand, it was clear that the monk wanted to light the stove to boil water and make tea for them.

But perhaps it had been too long since it was used. After a while, he still hadn't managed to light the fire. Seeing that the three were about to sit down, the monk gritted his teeth, took out a flattened box of matches from his robes, and was about to use one of the few remaining matches.

"Use this," Rita said, turning to walk over to the monk just before she sat down. She handed him a lighter.

Rita's small backpack had everything. This was the consensus Durandal and Li Sushang had reached after a day.

The monk looked up in surprise, then quickly stood up and bowed to Rita, taking the lighter. He soon lit the stove.

However, when the monk turned back to return the lighter, he couldn't see Rita's figure.

It was as if Rita had no intention of taking the lighter back.

"Shi Xuanhui is deeply grateful for the arrival of the three of you, and I am endlessly grateful for the help you have provided!" Xuanhui had been waiting for the three to sit down from the beginning. Seeing them seated, he immediately bowed to them again.

This bow was much more formal than the one outside. After a full two seconds, Xuanhui straightened up and sat down opposite the three of them.

The seat of honor was empty.

"Master Xuanhui, there is no need for this. It is the responsibility of us, the MOTH, to fight against the Honkai and help the survivors. Since we have chosen to join the MOTH, we will not shrink back in the face of difficulties."

Rita replied with a smile.

"Honkai... is that the name of this disaster?" Xuanhui pondered for a moment, a hint of sadness in his eyes. After a long sigh, he composed himself.

"This humble monk is ignorant and has never heard of such a disaster, but I know that such a disaster has already brought serious consequences..." Xuanhui didn't choose to learn about this disaster. He knew the priorities.

"I wonder how you three plan to help these survivors. Can you take them away from here?"

"Yes," Rita's words were direct this time. "We came here precisely for this purpose. Master Xuanhui, can we first understand how many survivors there are in this temple?"

"Since the outbreak of the disaster, the temple has taken in a total of seventy-two survivors," Xuanhui said immediately.

"Huh? Didn't you say there were a hundred and nine?" Li Sushang asked subconsciously. "I heard that sister say there were over a hundred..."

"There are also thirty-seven monks in the temple," Xuanhui immediately added.

Rita nodded. That added up now. The survivors plus the monks totaled over a hundred, which was not a small number for the three of them.

And the current situation had actually exceeded Rita's expectations. Originally, she had planned to establish a transit station at the shelter at the foot of the mountain. They would set off in batches, find all the survivors scattered throughout the scenic area, and bring them back to the shelter individually.

But now, not only was there no transit station, but the survivors were also concentrated in one place, and their numbers far exceeded Rita's expectations.

The number of zombies at the foot of the mountain was too large. The three of them could come and go as they pleased, but these survivors, who couldn't even be considered healthy, didn't have this ability.

A rough estimate suggested that if they took more than ten survivors with them, unnecessary casualties were very likely to occur.

To get everyone out, they could only break them into smaller groups and take a small number of survivors away each time.

So, without considering issues like resettlement, time cost, physical cost, etc...

Who goes first? Who stays behind for now?

And who should create this Noah's Ark-like evacuation list?

"There are too many zombies at the foot of the mountain. We can only take a small number of people away from here first, and make multiple trips to bring everyone out in batches," Rita said, stating the current optimal solution.

"Why don't we request reinforcements?" Durandal suddenly asked.

Rita looked at Durandal, who had a matter-of-fact expression, was silent for a moment, and then nodded. "That is also a method. We will try to send a signal to request reinforcements from the base."

"However, the base has just consumed a large amount of military resources to retake Sapphire City. I'm afraid they don't have much energy to reinforce us."

"That's not right. Senior Fu Hua, Senior Kallen, and Senior Theresa have all been at the base for the past two days, right? We..." Durandal immediately added, and at the same time, looked at Rita with some confusion.

"Ri... Maid, are you a little too tired?"

Rita: "..."

Lady Durandal, you may have forgotten, but this is a commission we took on as an exploration team, not an official mission from the MOTH.

The few of them could complete this mission perfectly as long as they were careful, without needing to trouble for reinforcements.

But looking at the monks, they were completely stirred up by Durandal's words, their faces filled with surprise. Only Xuanhui, the leader, could still maintain his composure.

Durandal's words were indeed exciting. The long-awaited rescue had finally arrived. Although it was still some distance away, at least they could see it now, couldn't they?

Sighing softly, Rita didn't say anything. Since Durandal had decided on the safest method, Rita wouldn't object.

In fact, Rita was very much in favor of Durandal's opinion. She also didn't want to take risks, but she had considered it because of the mission assigned by Otto.

If they were to become a model team in the MOTH, completing this mission on their own without requesting reinforcements was very important...

And now?

Durandal was the captain. As a subordinate, she could only spoil... and obey orders.

"Okay! Then let's hurry up and send the message!" Durandal immediately stood up and turned to leave. She wanted to find a place with a good signal to send the message.

The signal here was a bit poor, as if something was interfering with it. Inside the building, there was no signal at all.

"As for the signal... maybe the mountaintop would be better?" Xuanhui also stood up with Durandal. "And many of our monks are at the pagoda on the mountaintop right now. We need to go and inform them as well."

Durandal thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright, let's go to the mountaintop then."