Taylor City, a slum.

Randall carried a girl with an injured ankle on his back and urged the children around him, "Hurry up!"

Climbing on the old mossy wall, Kellogg hooked his tail to the masonry to keep his balance, looked forward for a moment, then lowered his head and shouted, "I see it!"

Bourville rubbed his sore shoulders, and the cow gasped in his nose: "It's finally here." ”

After a few more walks, Randall straightened up, and through the layers of plant stems and leaves, he finally saw the safe house that Karin had said.

A long-abandoned clock tower built on a low hill in the slums of Taylor.

Glancing at the exhausted children around him, Randall encouraged them, "Cheer up, our destination is ahead, and someone will soon pick us up from this city." ”

A smile called Hope appeared on the children's faces, but Randall's good mood didn't last long.

"They're catching up. ”

Carol walked over to Randall's side and lowered his voice, "At least three large corpse tides have merged together and are moving quickly towards here. ”

Randall glanced behind him, the devastated sky was filled with black smoke, and a dense black shadow gradually engulfed most of the city, slowly eroding in his direction.

Gritting his teeth, Randall whispered to Carroll: "Let the children enter the bell tower as soon as possible, search for all the available supplies inside, delay time, and wait for rescue." ”

Everyone walked quickly through the dilapidated paths, stepped through the gates of the bell tower, and entered a hall full of broken walls.

The statue of the Virgin that fell to the ground and broke into several pieces, the fountain that had dried up for a long time and was covered with moss and fungi, and the large bell that was half buried in the earth and covered in rust.

Randall looked up at the top of his head, a spiral staircase built along the wall, as far as the eye could see, leading to the rooftop overhead.

Randall nodded and said, "This is indeed a good place to hide. ”

With all the children in place, Barbara could no longer support her tired body and fell to the ground.

Randall, who heard the voice, looked back, and in a panic, he hurriedly ran to Barbara's side and asked urgently, "What's wrong?"

"It's okay, I just need a break. ”

Barbara's lips were white and bloodless, and she patted the back of Randall's hand, "Do what you should do, I can take care of myself." ”

Randall helped Barbara to a clean clearing, helped her sit up, and kissed her on the forehead.

Aldenan lay on the ground in a 'large font', staring blankly at the sky.

Carol threw a jug of water in his face and said in a deep voice, "If you want to live, help me get up." ”

Aldenan rolled his eyes to Carroll and asked calmly, "I've always had a question. ”

Say. ”

"Why should I live?"

Carol picked up the kettle and took a sip: "If you want to die now, I will never stop you." ”

Ignoring the orc sarcasm, Aldenan asked slowly, "For more delicious food, for a more comfortable place to live, or for fame, for wealth, for women?"

Carol was silent for a moment, then said, "You should have something more dear......

Aldenan said self-deprecatingly: "When I was eleven years old, I was sold into the underground fighting ring, and in order to survive, I did everything good and bad. ”

"When I was beaten again and again and collapsed, I often asked myself, what am I doing to survive in such a hellish place?"

Aldenan turned his head to look at the others: "Each of you has something you believe in, and you are willing to fight for it, but I am different from you, I live in chaos, and I can never find the direction of struggle. I just want to live, live without a purpose......"

Carroll's face was rarely soft, and he patted Aldenan on the shoulder: "Someday, you will find it, find that thing that is more important than life." ”

Kellogg walked over to Randall, pointed to what he was carrying, and said, "I found this in the back storage." ”

It was a worn-out oil lamp with a jar for kerosene underneath.

Randall picked up the oil lamp and shook it, and there was a clangling sound in the jar, and he nodded and said, "There is still half a pot." ”

Just then, Bourville burst in from outside the door and shouted to Randall, "Here they are!"

Randall's body froze, and then he couldn't wait to run out of the bell tower, onto the hill outside the door, and looked up at the sky.

Far away, a few small dots slowly grew larger in the air, accompanied by a clear griffin chirping, and finally came to the top of the bell tower.

The Valkyrie Ashley, who was the leader, controlled the griffin to slowly land in the clearing, and when she saw Randall walking towards her, she asked with a slap on her face, "What the hell is in the city?!"

Randall shrugged and smiled wryly, "I don't know. ”

"Useless guy, I knew it was useless to ask you. Ashley beckoned, signaling that the sisters were okay and could land.

Randall looked at the Valkyries who landed one by one, and frowned as he counted, and asked, "Only ten people came?"

Ashley turned around when she heard this, and looked at Randall with a smile: "What's the matter? Ten people don't think it's enough? Blame me for not bringing you the red carpet and honor guard?"

As the deputy commander of the Valkyrie Squad, Shiffrai explained to Randall, "The Valkyries are assisting the Holy Cult and the Knights in their attack on the city of Taylor, and we not only have to take on the tasks of bombing, sniping, reconnaissance, and sometimes even playing the role of a cameo messenger, so we really can't draw more manpower......

Randall shook his head in embarrassment and said, "But ......"

Ashley flicked her wavy blonde hair and said, "If it weren't for the Xenomorph Society's use of emergency signals, do you think we would have been able to get here so quickly? and...... Wait, who are they?!"

Several small heads protruded from the gate of the bell tower, and they were looking curiously at the griffons with their eyes closed on the hills.

With Ashley's look of surprise, Randall explains to her what happened.

"Thirty-seven children?!Are you crazy?!"

Ashley's face was full of incredulity, and she yelled at Randall, "What do you think we are riding with so many kids, plus a few of you, taking so many people out of town?

Randall said firmly: "Take the child, I have already obtained the consent of the dragon god in this matter." ”

Ashley grabbed Randall by the collar and shouted, "You bastard! What do you think of the Supreme God!"

Randall looked fearlessly into Ashley's eyes and said word by word, "Let the children leave first, followed by my partner, and I will be the last to leave." ”

Ashley was stunned for a moment, then she pushed Randall away and said viciously, "This account, when I return to Twilight City, I will settle it with you!"

Glancing back at her sisters, Ashley exclaimed, "Empty your baggage, all of you!

She then turned to Randall and said, "Each of us can only leave with two children at a time, which means that this time we will take twenty children, and the rest will only have to wait for us to come over next time." ”

"The next time I get here, how long will it take. ”

"Forty minutes. Ashley first pointed in the direction of the center of the city, where a huge tide of corpses was slowly approaching the bell tower.

"I don't need to remind you, you should know that in forty minutes, if those things encroach on the hills, it will leave us with no open space to land. When that time comes, I will not hesitate to leave you behind and return immediately!"

Looking at the tide of black corpses getting closer and closer in the distance, Randall gritted his teeth and said, "I promise you, we will definitely be able to survive these forty minutes." ”