Yu Cheng tilted her small head, looking at the somewhat unusual Mo Tan, and whispered, "I just feel like you're a bit off today..."
"Am I?" Mo Tan subconsciously asked, then suddenly realized his behavior was indeed a bit unusual, and quickly responded cleverly, "I just suddenly remembered that I seemed to have met Cordova, so I was just a little surprised."
Yu Cheng covered her small mouth in surprise, "You've met?"
Mo Tan slightly sorted out his thoughts, and after confirming that his previous statement had no loopholes, he nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, I should have met him."
"But Wan Yang said that Cordova had always been in the Northwest Continent before, and seemed to have spent most of his time in a place called Tian Zhu Mountain." Yu Cheng blinked curiously, wondering, "Mo Tan, weren't you always in the Southeast Continent before?"
Mo Tan shrugged, "I meant we met in real life."
"Huh?" Yu Cheng was stunned for a moment, scratched her hair blankly, and repeated softly, "In real life?"
"Yes, Yi Dong brought Wan Yang and Cordova to my house to visit a while ago." Mo Tan spread his hands and chuckled, "It was shortly after that last gathering. I don't have many friends, and usually not many people come to my house, so the impression is quite deep."
"It's good to be lively~"
Yu Cheng smiled slightly, the clear Luminescence between her fingers shone exceptionally brightly in the night, the soft halo intertwining with the maiden's innocent smile, like Holy Angier in a hymn.
If Mo Tan were in his 'chaotic neutral' personality right now, he would definitely have said that, and then added a bunch of insincere compliments, and at the end, he would have brought up one or two pieces of Angier's dark history from unofficial records, for various unclear entertainment purposes.
However, at this moment, Mo Tan merely shrugged, indicating that he was not the type to socialize well.
This was indeed true, as although Mo Tan's three personalities were fine individually, when integrated into one person, they seemed particularly strange. Without intending to expose his mental issues, he naturally found it difficult to trick... I mean, it was difficult to make many close friends like Yi Dong, so Mo Tan's social circle had always been the complete opposite of his connections.
Of course, he was also happy to be at leisure...
"Actually, I'm pretty much the same~" Yu Cheng subconsciously tapped her fingers together, but was blinded by her own Luminescence, whimpered, and squatted down on the spot. After a long while, she staggered to her feet, her eyes red, and smiled foolishly at Mo Tan, "I accidentally blinded myself..."
The latter sighed, "You should develop more cute traits that won't hurt yourself in the future."
"I'm usually very careful! Oh, where were we just now..."
The maiden held her hand out high in front of her, then walked in goose-step while muttering softly. After a long time, she finally remembered the previous topic, turned back to Mo Tan and smiled, "I remember now, I actually don't have many friends either, maybe because I'm more... introverted?"
"Evidently so." Mo Tan, who had used up his magic points first, dispelled his Luminescence, took two quick steps, and walked alongside Yu Cheng, "You were the quietest at that last gathering."
Yu Cheng wrinkled her nose and protested softly, "But Xiao Dao isn't very talkative either..."
"Oh right, she's not very talkative either." Mo Tan nodded in agreement, then changed the subject, "But she clearly looks like the super aloof, doesn't-want-to-talk-to-anyone type. You're simply afraid to speak."
Holy Maiden buried her head in her chest without a sound.
"Right." Mo Tan nodded like a garlic pounder next to her, and chuckled, "Just like you are now."
Yu Cheng glared at him in slight annoyance, then extinguished the Luminescence between her fingers, cast a Holy Healing on herself, and then cast a Dawn Nova on the spot, and then used a Calm Aura that activated Dark Interference to scare Mo Tan into running away...
He wasn't afraid, nor did he want to run, but the level suppression was completely unreasonable. Given Mo Tan's overall attributes and level were completely inferior to Yu Cheng's, he had no choice.
Five minutes later
West of Mida City, Temporary Holy Knight Station
"Good morning, Tairo."
Yu Cheng leisurely appeared before the square-faced knight who was doing his morning exercises, and greeted him shyly.
"Holy Maiden." The latter immediately bowed respectfully with a solemn expression, then asked curiously, "Is there anything you need here?"
Holy Maiden waved her small hand, "No, nothing. I'm here to accompany Black Vatican to find you..."
"Black Vatican?" Tairo scratched his black hair, whose length the author hadn't yet decided, and asked curiously, "What is he doing here... Uh, where is he?"
Looking around, besides Yu Cheng and other Holy Knights who were doing their morning exercises, there was no one else.
"He got lost." Yu Cheng pouted angrily and snorted softly, "He's gone."
【Gone!?】
Tairo and a few passing Holy Knights were stunned. How could such a big person just disappear? And Holy Maiden didn't seem very worried, so should we look for him or not?
For a moment, several square faces fell into deep confusion.
"Ahem, well, everyone don't worry." Yu Cheng turned her head away, her face slightly red, then whispered, "Anyway, the place he got lost isn't far from here, he should find his way over soon. Oh, everyone just go about your business. Tairo, please wait here with me for a while..."
Tairo, who obeyed Holy Maiden's commands unconditionally in most situations, immediately nodded. He turned and ordered the others to continue what they were doing, then stood with Yu Cheng at the entrance of the station and waited.
Ten minutes passed...
Twenty minutes passed...
One class period passed...
The sky began to lighten...
Tairo looked at the maiden beside him and asked cautiously in a low voice, "Holy Maiden, is he still not coming?"
"I, I don't know either..."
Yu Cheng, who was drawing circles on the ground, mumbled softly, then gently pursed her lips, "Wait a moment."
"Yes!" Tairo immediately stood at attention without a word.
【Could he be angry?】
Yu Cheng couldn't help but think, then sent Mo Tan a message: 'Where are you~ Tairo and I have been waiting for you for a long time! Also, I'm sorry I deliberately scared you ΩДΩ!'
Five seconds later, Yu Cheng saw Mo Tan's reply, and then fell into deep speechlessness...
'I'm not angry, I just got lost, but I think I should be almost there. I have XXX and XXXX nearby, wait for me to look again = (д)'
It didn't seem to be a problem, but...
"Tairo." Yu Cheng turned to Tairo, exasperated, covering her face with the Holy Tome in her arms (which she had been reading to pass the time), and whispered, "Could you please send a knight to pick up Black Vatican? I don't know why, but he should be almost at the East Gate now..."
Tairo: "?!"
...
Game time AM06:12
Mo Tan appeared in front of the station, slumped on the back of a low-level Holy Knight's horse, then slowly climbed off the horse in Tairo's unusually horrified gaze (Mo Tan had never seen such a rich expression on him), and walked to Yu Cheng...
The two looked at each other and said in unison, "I'm sorry..."
Then they smiled at each other, a second smile, a third smile... Mo Tan couldn't smile anymore, Yu Cheng couldn't stop.
"Pfft, hahaha, Mo Tan, how on earth did you manage to get lost from the west of the city to the east of the city?" The maiden covered her small mouth and bent deeply at the waist, her small shoulders shaking, as if possessed by Ji Xiaoge.
"It's hard to live, don't expose me..."
Mo Tan sighed, then looked at the square-faced man standing next to him and said seriously, "Tairo, I have something I'd like to discuss with you."
Five minutes later
"You mean to increase the number of personnel dispatched outside the city to meet them, so that even if various teams encounter a large number of Mutants, they can still spare hands to report back..."
Tairo furrowed his thick brows over his large eyes, and asked Mo Tan, who was sitting opposite him, in a deep voice, "To ensure the safety of every knight team?"
This was Tairo's tent in the station, containing only a simple bed, no different from other Holy Knights' temporary residences, and even more modest. He and Mo Tan sat on the ground, while Yu Cheng sat with her knees hugged on a small soft cushion, which Tairo used for his own prayers. The stubborn uncle insisted that Holy Maiden not sit on the ground, and the latter, in this situation, clearly couldn't use the excuse of 'the goddess instructed me to sit on the ground like you all'.
So, let's continue our previous topic...
Mo Tan nodded gently, "That's right, none of us want to see the previous tragedy happen again."
"But that's not realistic." Tairo, however, did not intend to adopt this suggestion. He flatly denied it, "We've been receiving more and more requests for help recently, and our manpower is already stretched to the limit. If we reduce the number of teams dispatched outside the city at this time..."
"I don't mean to reduce the number of response teams." Mo Tan shrugged and spread his hands, "That would put a large number of civilians who originally had hope of being rescued into desperate situations."
Tairo was stunned, "What do you mean?"
Increasing the number of people in a single small team = personnel integration = reduction in the total number of response teams. He thought Mo Tan couldn't possibly not understand such a simple principle.
"Do you remember the Erbazi Village incident?" Mo Tan smiled and shook his finger at Tairo, "That rescue team didn't just have Holy Knights."
Tairo's reaction wasn't slow either, "You mean to let those low-level professionals act with the various teams?"
"Exactly." Mo Tan nodded slightly, subconsciously tapping the ground with his index finger, "Last time we also encountered dozens of Mutants, and there were only four powerful Holy Knights, including you, but everyone still successfully rescued all the survivors, and without losing a single life."
Tairo shook his head vigorously, "The situation is different. A large part of our success last time was due to you, plus the terrain in the village was quite complex, those Mutants couldn't fully exert themselves. But this method requires conditions; we won't always encounter suitable terrain, and you can't follow all the response teams at the same time. This is unrealistic no matter how you look at it."
"Yes." Mo Tan, however, nodded as if it were a matter of course, and spread his hands, "But what we need now is just to get everyone back safely as much as possible, not to completely annihilate all the Mutants we encounter on the way. Those who act with the knights don't all need to convert into combat power and fight to the death with the enemy. What they need to do is simple: when they encounter the previous situation, report back to Mida City immediately. Is that difficult?"
Tairo pondered for a moment, then nodded gently, "It's not foolproof, but it has feasibility..."
An honest knight would not lie. Tairo admitted that Mo Tan's suggestion indeed had some value, after all, low-level professionals were not like civilians who would be instantly killed by one or two Mutants. As long as they were fast enough, or were provided with a few horses, it would not be difficult for them to return to Mida City safely, at least it would prevent the previous tragedy from repeating.
"I know this isn't a perfect plan, but it's better than nothing." Mo Tan stared into Tairo's eyes and said slowly, "Holy Maiden is very important, innocent civilians are also very important, and you and those knights are equally important. If there's a way to avoid risks, we should at least try..."
Tairo, who adhered to the knight's code and the Dawn Creed, looked at Yu Cheng with some struggle. He felt it was more reliable to ask a high-level figure about this.
"Uh, although the Goddess didn't give me any revelation this time..."
Yu Cheng nervously fiddled with her fingers, then looked up and whispered, "But I also think it's worth a try."
Tairo thought for a moment, and finally nodded and agreed to Mo Tan's proposal, stating that he would prepare horses for every professional participating in the operation to maximize their safety factor.
After all, low-level Holy Knights and low-level Thieves, Mages, Rangers, and so on are two different concepts, especially Holy Knights who wear heavy armor, can cast divine emblem effects on themselves, and have undergone professional training. They not only have high HP, high defense, and are good at fighting, but are also tough and have far greater combat endurance than most professionals of the same rank.
"Great!" Mo Tan clapped his hands happily, then asked Tairo, "How many response teams need to depart soon?"
"Three teams. One team is currently on standby in the city, and the remaining two need to be organized after the others return this afternoon." Tairo answered without hesitation, "Their destinations are Nuka Avenue to the east of Mida City, the Wildwood to the Southwest of Hofur City, and Erlong Lake Town, which is further away, but there are two Holy Knights left behind by Xia Lian there, making it relatively the safest."
Mo Tan nodded slightly, then glanced at the list Yu Ying had sent him in his friend messages, and said to Tairo, "I understand. Please help me find fifteen horses, and I will have Yu Ying bring the people before the first team departs today."
"Understood." Since Tairo had already made a decision, he no longer hesitated. He immediately stood up and bowed to Yu Cheng, then rushed out of the tent to get busy.
Yu Cheng, however, looked at Mo Tan with some concern, "Is the plan you just talked about really reliable?"
"Not likely."
"Ah? Then why did you still..."
"Because I didn't plan to follow the plan I just mentioned anyway~"
"Hmm, Tairo will be angry, won't he?"
"No, he'll thank me~"
Chapter 218: End
