“Didn’t a family of four just come over a few days ago? How come there are more aliens here today?” Todd said to Rachel, looking at the plush toys and charcoal pencils on the table on the first floor and the graffiti of simple stick figures on the wall.

The nun walked to the door of the storage room at the far end of the first floor, turned around and said, "Grand Master, didn't the Heavenly Father say that every day there are people struggling and suffering in the fires of karma, and that saving the lambs is not limited by time?"

Todd paused for a moment, then replied, "Why does your tone make me sound more and more like a nun? Also, stop calling me Grand Master, it sounds a bit strange."

“Okay, Todd.” Rachel’s voice was barely audible as she twisted her right hand and opened the storage room door.

"Huh? Wait a minute, you hid him in the storage room?"

Reschel answered the question with silence, moved two bags of hay aside, and lifted a movable door panel on the ground with both hands.

Seeing this familiar scene, Todd, after his initial surprise, rolled his eyes and said in a voice only he could hear, "Well, why did people in the Middle Ages like to do this?"

Beneath the door, a spiral staircase descended, and Todd grew increasingly uneasy, a bad premonition creeping into his heart. Given the construction techniques of the Middle Ages, the excavation of this underground space was no project that a few craftsmen could complete in a short time. Most likely, the convent site above was merely a cover, and the true main structure was underground.

As he stepped down the last step, the sight before him made his mind go blank, and he involuntarily gasped.

The 100-square-meter underground hall was divided into countless small rooms by wooden planks and piles of earth. The elderly, children, men and women huddled in each of these rooms, drinking filthy stagnant water from wooden buckets and gnawing on discolored and moldy flatbread from earthenware jars.

Someone recognized the newcomer and stood up, shouting, "Our savior has arrived!"

Hearing the cheers of the crowd, Todd opened his arms, his face displaying the greatest possible goodwill, but before he could say anything, people rushed past him and gathered around Rachel.

With an awkward smile still lingering on his lips, Todd slowly lowered his hands, turned to look at the nun surrounded by people, and said gently, "Miss Rachel, do you have a moment? Let's talk?"

——————————————

How many people are underground in total?

"Yes, 52 people: 19 adult men, 17 adult women, 7 elderly people, and 9 children."

When did they arrive in Muxi Town?

"The earliest was a month and a half ago, and the latest was the day before yesterday."

Sitting in the wooden chair at the table, Todd covered his forehead with his hands, looked at Rachel standing in front of him with her head bowed, sighed heavily, and said with a hint of annoyance in his voice: "According to what you just said, the escape of that family of four a few days ago was just a test?"

"Um."

"Were those pursuers from the Inquisition also people you hired to impersonate?"

"Um."

"Is the decree brought by the Papal States' envoy also part of your plan?"

"Um."

Just as Todd was about to ask more questions, a knock came at the door, forcing him to stop his interrogation.

Huggins pushed open the door and walked in. He glanced at the nun standing in the room, then bowed to Todd and said, "Sir, as you instructed, water, food, and medicine have been delivered to the refugees underground."

"Thank you for your hard work. Find someone to keep an eye on them and prevent them from running into town."

Watching Harkins leave the room, Todd rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers, then suddenly remembered something and asked the nun, "Wait, you didn't need to take me to the underworld today, and you didn't need to tell me those plans and secrets you mentioned. Why did you tell me everything? Aren't you afraid that I'll get angry and kick you and all those aliens out?"

The woman raised her head, and the expression on her face seemed somewhat unfamiliar to Todd: "I believe you."

“Ratchet, I really don’t understand what you’re thinking.” Todd tilted his head back and closed his eyes. “What exactly do you want me to do after all this trouble? Send these mutants to the relief center?”

The woman did not respond.

Todd was a little confused. He sat up straight, opened his eyes, and what he saw left him speechless, almost causing him to fall off his chair.

The nun turned her body, her back to Todd. She unfastened her wide nun's robe, pulling it down to her waist, leaving nothing underneath. On her frosty white skin, between her crescent-shaped shoulder blades, a pattern of an eagle spreading its wings was etched in crimson ink, below which was a string of numbers in ancient Roman numerals.

"Grand Master, what I hope for is that you can build a haven for all the alien races, a sanctuary free from enslavement and cruelty..."