Plan!

She watched Merlin leave.

Yol lowered her head and looked at her bare, fair abdomen, her earlobes unconsciously growing warm.

Kneeling on the dry grass, Yol gently stroked Lami's head and said in a soft voice:

"You must be hungry! Your big brother Merlin brought you food."

Lami nodded obediently, her eyes showing hesitation mixed with timidity as she looked at Yol:

"Are my parents and brother already dead like those people outside?"

Yol froze, sadness appearing in her eyes, but her expression was exceptionally gentle:

"Father and Mother entrusted you to Merlin. They will always watch over you from heaven. Law is very smart. Although the current situation is unclear, you must believe that you will meet again in the future."

Lami lowered her head, then raised it, her eyes wide and red, her tone becoming resolute as she asked:

"Nun, I want to know why this place has become like this?"

Yol fell silent upon hearing this. She didn't want the little girl to know such a cruel truth yet. She could only say:

"I'll tell you when you're older, okay? What Lami needs to do now is grow up healthy. You'll know when you're older."

Lami looked at Yol's sad eyes and fell silent. After a few seconds, she forced a smile to please Yol:

"I'll listen to you, Sister. Lami will be very good from now on. Please don't leave me, okay? Lami only has you guys now."

A bitter flash crossed Yol's eyes. They had seen all sorts of hellish scenes along the way. Lami had unknowingly grown up, her obedience making Yol's heart ache.

She pulled Lami into a hug and nodded heavily, "Yes, I will raise you well."

Lami hugged Yol's neck, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

Merlin walked lightly down the passageway, counting his steps. The path occasionally plunged into complete darkness.

His pupils dilated and contracted.

Familiarizing himself with the environment in the dark, after fifteen minutes, Merlin reached the end of the passageway.

His path was blocked by a stone wall, but there was a noticeably different spot at the bottom of the wall: a stone slab, about one meter in diameter, connected to an iron chain.

Merlin pondered, then pushed against the stone. With effort, the one-meter-diameter stone slab was pushed outward.

His brow twitched slightly as Merlin continued to exert force, pushing outward.

After pushing it out about a meter, Merlin sensed light shining in from outside.

Now, more than half of his body was in the stone opening. Merlin listened vigilantly for any movement outside. After a dozen seconds, there was still silence from the other side.

So, he continued pushing. Before long, Merlin squeezed out of the stone opening.

He emerged outside the stone cave.

It was filled with piles of dry grass, sweet potatoes, and potatoes, resembling a cellar.

The space was quite spacious.

Half-crouching on the ground, Merlin looked around, then raised his head. In the right corner, there was a wooden ladder, and at the top of the ladder was a bluestone lid.

Soon, Merlin climbed the ladder and slowly moved the stone lid. Immediately, an opening large enough for him to exit appeared.

Merlin climbed out and found himself in a hollow pile of dry grass.

Peeking his head out from the grass pile, under the night sky, Merlin quickly realized it was a ranch.

Recalling that Mela had some kind of livestock industry... but then he thought of such a hidden tunnel, "It seems he has his own secrets too!"

But that was none of his business.

He closed the bluestone lid behind him, covering it with dry grass, and emerged from the pile of dry grass.

He used fodder to block the gap that appeared behind him. After looking around.

Merlin discovered.

This was a dairy farm in Frevanz, near the northern border with the mountains and the coast.

However, at this moment, the ranch was filled with the smell of gunpowder from explosions. Dead dairy cows lay scattered throughout the outer pasture.

His gaze shifted slightly, and Merlin quickly reached the edge of the ranch, climbing over the two-meter-high fence to the outside.

This was an apple orchard. Merlin quickly passed through the orchard and then lay down on the inside of a high, raised slope.

His gaze drifted to the border, about three hundred meters away, separated by an iron fence.

Under the moonlight.

About thirty meters from the border.

Merlin saw bonfires burning every hundred meters or so.

Soldiers in protective suits, carrying guns, were patrolling there.

Beyond that, there was a gradually rising mountain range and dense forest. On the other side of this mountain range lay the neighboring country of Fultons, which was primarily focused on animal husbandry.

It was also one of the neighboring countries that had surrounded and slaughtered Frevanz.

Thoughts surfaced in his eyes.

After observing for a while longer, he silently retreated from the area and began to scout along the border.

Patrol soldiers were everywhere: the city's edge, the plains' junction, and by the port.

Two hours later, Merlin stood on the edge of a five-story building near the port, breathing slightly. He pondered:

"These are all the escape routes. The plains junction and the port are out. Running from here would make me a sitting duck."

"So, the mountain range is the only way. But there are soldiers guarding there too.

In that case, I'll have to use a feint. Create a diversion and then slip away.

Cause chaos elsewhere to draw them away, creating an opening so I can escape with them."

Merlin was grateful he came from Huaxia; the strategic thinking passed down by his ancestors was absolutely time-tested.

A moment later, Merlin took down a three-man cleanup crew in the city, taking their three guns and two hundred rounds of ammunition.

He also acquired seven grenades.

That brought his total to fourteen grenades.

Afterward, Merlin bought some fishing line and rope from a tackle shop, then found and bundled a quilt and some dry rations in a hotel.

Then, he retraced his steps.

Not long after, around one in the morning, Merlin, moving stealthily, returned to Viscount Mela's villa.

A short while later, he spread the quilt on the leveled dry grass and explained his escape plan to Yol.

After listening, Yol didn't hesitate and said earnestly to Merlin, "Then I'll go with you. We can look out for each other."

The kind nun's eyes flickered with a trace of barely perceptible hatred.

Merlin pondered, then asked her, "I remember you know how to use a gun?"

Yol glanced at the three guns and small pile of bullets nearby and hesitated, "I know how to use them, but my aim isn't very good."

Merlin nodded. "Alright, then starting tomorrow, you'll go with me."

Yol breathed a sigh of relief at his words. She didn't want to be a damsel in distress, leaving everything to Merlin as a matter of course.

She was an adult, after all, and she couldn't bear to let Merlin face such danger alone.

She knew clearly that with Merlin's current abilities, he could easily escape on his own.

Yet, he hadn't abandoned the two of them. She was incredibly grateful, and that made her even more determined not to let him face the danger alone.

Going together would allow them to watch each other's backs.

If any insurmountable problems arose, she could cover their retreat.

At this moment, Lami nervously asked, "Brother Merlin, what about Lami?"

Merlin looked at the little girl, hesitating for a moment, then rubbed her head. "Then you can come too!

But, you must stick close to Yol then and not cause any trouble."

Lami nodded earnestly, a stubborn glint in her eyes. "I'll be good."

Yol opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. She wouldn't feel at ease leaving Lami alone here either.

Merlin then looked at Yol. "Spread out the quilt and sleep with Lami. I'm going to set some grenades and will be back shortly."

Saying this, he picked up two grenades and the fishing line and walked into the passage.

Lami stared fixedly at Merlin's retreating back before whispering, "Brother Merlin is so reliable. Much more reliable than my brother."

Yol covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

A short while later, Merlin reached a point twenty meters before the end of the passage.

On the walls, twenty centimeters from the ground on both sides of the tunnel, he used his dagger to carve out two small holes. He then wrapped the fishing line around the safety lever of the grenades and pulled out the pin slightly.

He embedded the two grenades into the small holes to secure them, then used the fishing line to tie to the pins, creating a horizontal, transparent, and strong fishing line across the tunnel.

This was a simple trigger-type booby trap.

He owed this to the anti-Japanese war dramas from his past life.

As soon as someone passed and touched the fishing line, it would pull the pin on the grenade, causing it to explode with a boom, collapsing the cave and also serving as a warning for him.

After all, Merlin couldn't guarantee that no one would discover the secret passage here.

After finishing all this, Merlin extinguished the oil lamps in the vicinity.

Then he returned to the cave on the other side. Lami was already asleep, but Yol was not. She sat on the neatly made bedding.

Merlin asked, "Aren't you going to sleep yet?"

Yol replied softly, "I'll keep watch!"

Merlin shook his head, "Go to sleep. I have a very high level of alertness. I'll be woken by the slightest rustle of wind or grass.

You don't need to keep watch, get some good rest and recharge!"

Seeing Merlin's serious tone, Yol obediently nodded. Then she pointed to the bedding beside her, "You sleep here then!"

Merlin nodded. Already very tired, he lay down on the bedding, covered himself with one of his own clothes, and used his backpack as a pillow.

Before long, Merlin had fallen into a light sleep.

Yol lay on her side next to Merlin. In the dim light of the flames, she looked at Merlin's profile and, without realizing it, her increasingly heavy eyelids closed.

Accompanied by the occasional rumble of gunfire and explosions from outside.

Inside the cave, on the bedding, One man and two women, their relaxed breaths rose and fell slowly.