Chapter 59: Max Strength
Watching Daryl's somewhat cold back, a smile played on Shawn's lips. He found a blind spot where he wouldn't be easily noticed and lay down. He removed the splint from his right hand. The effective time of the splint had long since passed, and his right hand had already recovered.
He clenched and unclenched his five fingers forcefully a few times, feeling no stiffness or pain. It was exactly the same as before the injury.
"A product of the system is truly a masterpiece," Shawn praised inwardly. Even the simplest 'splint' could restore his arm to its original state in such a short time. This effect was nothing short of terrifying.
And with the complete healing of his injury and the passage of time, the last debuff disappeared in due course. His stamina bar returned to its full state. At this moment, Shawn just wanted to throw his head back and roar.
But looking at the two brothers who were already fast asleep, Shawn managed to suppress the urge.
He opened the skill panel and flipped back to the Strength attribute. He opened the basic Strength attribute, and the long row of 'points added' from top to bottom was a truly pleasing sight. Not to mention, at this moment, Shawn was about to add points to the last 2 levels of the core attribute. He felt a faint excitement.
"Just by reaching level 8 in the Strength attribute, my strength has increased by so much."
"What amazing effects will these last two levels have?"
Shawn rubbed his hands together and then, in one go, spent all the points on the last two levels. The remaining 6 skill points were instantly cleared.
And at the same time, Shawn felt a hot current, like magma, churning and surging within his body. If the two brothers were awake now, they would have easily noticed the steam rising from his entire body! This state was quite similar to the second Blood Moon not long ago.
Shawn gasped for breath, his body beginning to tremble violently as immense power poured into him. In places invisible to the naked eye, his muscle fibers were interweaving and reshaping, bulging like vines. Shawn's originally somewhat well-proportioned muscle lines were instantly reshaped into the hard contours of rolling mountains. The 'Athletic Outfit' he wore was instantly stretched taut by his muscles.
After a long while, Shawn's bowed head slowly lifted. A few soft, crisp sounds, like metal colliding, came from his body. Fortunately, he had done his best to control it, otherwise, he would have definitely woken the two Dixon brothers.
The system's notification sound came at the right time.
[(Beast Mode) Level 9/10, massive increase to Strength and headshot chance.]
[Body, strength, muscles... your physique is perfect!]
[( Olympic Champion) Level 10/10 (Max Level), massive increase to Strength and headshot chance.]
[If it weren't the apocalypse, but a cyclical dynasty, you could carve out a territory for yourself with your strength.]
[And now, you can crush walkers at will with your strength!]
Strength fully enhanced!
Shawn felt as if he had been reborn. As his strength surged, a hint of a 'transcendent' feeling began to emerge in his consciousness.
"With the cigar, my strength has almost multiplied several times again."
"The strength increase from the first 8 levels combined isn't as much as the increase from the last two levels!"
"If you put me back on the night of the Blood Moon now, I would never be in such a sorry state again. No... I could crush them all with my bare hands!"
A glint flashed in Shawn's eyes. The immense power gave him absolute confidence! Just as the system evaluation said, a level 10 basic attribute was enough to carve out a territory and become a king. In this apocalypse, it was more than enough to handle walkers at will.
Combined with the box and a half of antibiotics left in his system backpack, Shawn was now almost certain of success in taking the Prison. The thought of being able to move into the prison this time tomorrow filled him with a sense of security.
"Mhm--not bad. Time for sleep!"
Casting aside all distracting thoughts, Shawn lay down comfortably on the floor and gradually fell asleep. This time, it couldn't be said to be the most comfortable sleep, but it was the most peaceful night he had had since arriving in this apocalypse.
***
In the morning, Shawn was woken up by Merle.
Daryl had hunted two squirrels. The three of them had a quick bite and then set off back to the highway. They followed the tire tracks left on the road, heading forward.
When the RV had broken down that rainy night, they were actually not that far away from the Prison. And now, with only the three of them left, riding motorcycles, they didn't need to accommodate the convoy's speed at all. They rode at a stop-and-go pace and still managed to reach the forest on the map before dark.
The speed of the motorcycles slowly decreased. The two brothers both looked at Shawn. The ground no longer showed any traces of passing vehicles. And Shawn had said before that as long as they reached here, it wouldn't be hard to find the Prison's location. So after entering the forest road, both of them fixed their gazes on him.
And following their gazes... Shawn felt a bit helpless. He scratched his cheek.
The forest wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. Most importantly, this was his first time here. He wasn't sure where the exact location of the Prison was.
After some thought, Shawn opened the Map he hadn't used in a long time. The Map unfolded out of thin air before his eyes. What came into view was a green area, representing the large forest before them. In the forest, there was a winding, dark gray path, which was the road they had taken to get here. Besides that, the rest of the area was almost entirely covered in a light gray tone. That represented unexplored areas. As Shawn advanced and explored, this fog would be lifted bit by bit.
And the purpose of opening the Map was naturally not to observe the path they had taken. The Map of 7 Days to Die was, more accurately, a 'topographical map' with richer functions. This meant that Shawn could observe the elevation of the nearby explored areas from a top-down perspective, whether the area was on a mountain, and what the specific landforms were...
Right now, the Prison was on an open ground somewhere in this forest. With the Map, it shouldn't be too difficult to find it before dark.
"Follow me."
With that, Shawn revved the engine and drove straight ahead along the forest road.
'There will be a fully equipped small town not far from the prison.'
'Besides that, following the main road won't be wrong.'
'The vehicles from the prison will come and go. It must be on a road that branches off this main road.'
Shawn thought as he advanced, observing the Map. Every time he reached a foggy area, the fog, displayed in square blocks, would dissipate all at once, which also saved him exploration time.
Daryl and Merle followed closely behind him. The three of them explored from the bottom of the forest upwards.
*****
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