Chapter 66: Long-Term Occupation Quest
The next day.
Shawn, in a rare occurrence, woke up before everyone else. He sat ramrod straight, facing the Prison. And in his line of sight, a massive, golden-yellow exclamation point floated directly above the facility.
[Apocalypse Quest: Conquer the Prison (Long-Term Occupation Quest)]
It was a simple quest notification. It didn't specify any rewards or punishments, just hovered quietly above the Prison. Unlike the previous quest markers he had seen, this enormous exclamation point was embedded with fragmented, sparkling diamonds. From a distance, it shone brilliantly, like a giant firework frozen mid-explosion in the sky.
"No way, this thing definitely wasn't here last night!"
Shawn felt like crying but had no tears. An apocalypse quest of this magnitude would naturally have substantial rewards upon completion. After all, the System had never been stingy.
But this just confirmed what he was thinking before, only in reverse. The more expensive the fish in the market, the rougher the seas have been. With a richer quest reward, the price to take the Prison would naturally be higher. The kind of trap he encountered with walkers hidden outside the treasure room at the 'motel' would surely be present in the Prison as well.
"Could it be because my Strength attribute is maxed out, so it's giving me a high-level quest on purpose?"
"Oh, thanks a lot!" he grumbled.
The good thing was, this was a long-term quest. That meant Shawn didn't have to rush to complete it; the system had given him enough time. At this thought, sitting around wasn't helping, so Shawn got up.
"Shawn, what are you doing?"
Glenn poked his head out of a nearby tent, using the two tent flaps to cover everything below his neck, and looked at Shawn dazedly.
"Warming up, can't you tell?" Shawn replied as he stretched his body.
He had originally thought the Prison was a sure thing, but now, it was best to go all out.
"Warming up?"
Maggie squeezed out from the gap below Glenn, also using the tent flaps to cover herself from the neck down. It seemed the young couple had had a good night~~
Shawn fought the urge to whistle and nodded. "If we want to move into the Prison today, all the young fighters in the team have to go."
"But don't worry, I've already made preparations."
Hearing Shawn's mysterious words, Maggie looked up and Glenn looked down. The two of them exchanged a confused look. In the end, they decided to retreat back into the tent and seize the day. But two seconds later, the tent was kicked twice.
"Out, out! Don't you know this kind of behavior is corrupting the team?!" Shawn grumbled with dissatisfaction.
They were about to go clear out walkers. Seizing the day 'now'? Were they afraid their limbs weren't soft enough, that they wouldn't die fast enough? Of course, Shawn had no selfish intentions at all. He was purely thinking of Glenn's life. It definitely wasn't because he had just been force-fed a bunch of PDA that he went and kicked their tent.
"We know, we're just getting dressed." Glenn's face turned bright red. He quickly got dressed and crawled out of the tent.
"Come with me. I'll take you to get your gear," Shawn said, looking Glenn up and down.
'Very good, full of spirit!'
He led Glenn to the side of the fire truck. Shawn vaulted up. He pretended to rummage at the bottom but was actually taking out the special suits he had found at the 'Fire Station' from his system backpack.
They were tough, provided full coverage, and were sufficient to handle various emergencies. At the very least, a walker's bite or two would definitely not be able to pierce them. The fire proximity suits were suitable for the women and for the more agile, slightly thinner men. The heavy bunker suits were a super-weapon for the tall, strong men who dared to charge into the fray. A full set of matching black components, weighing over 30 pounds... anyone who didn't know better would think Shawn had pulled out a suit of armor from somewhere.
Glenn caught the combat suits outside and laid them neatly on the ground. Shawn also took out the three 'fire axes'.
The rest of the camp gradually woke up. Seeing Shawn sitting on the fire truck, they all gathered around. In the crowd, Shawn saw Shane. After a night's sleep, his emotions had been sufficiently reined in. When Lori appeared before him with Carl, he just lowered his head, not looking at her again. But when Shawn looked at him, he saw that some of the 'spirit' was gone, making him look somewhat numb. He walked with a sway, as if he were a living, empty shell, a 'walking dead' with self-awareness.
Shawn looked away. Seeing that Rick had arrived, he pointed to the few combat suits at his feet and said loudly, "Some little things I found in the Fire Station. They should come in handy now."
"Choose one you can handle. These combat suits can help you resist walker bites."
"This is necessary if we want to take the Prison without sacrificing a single person."
"Doing it today, isn't that a bit too fast?" Hershel asked with a frown.
"It's like rowing upstream; if you don't advance, you fall back."
"If you get used to a comfortable life, you'll never want to take the Prison."
"Just like those prison guards we met yesterday," Shawn said, shrugging bluntly.
At the mention of the 'prison guards', the expressions on everyone's faces changed. The more they thought about what Shawn said, the more it made sense. Hershel was a perfect example. Staying at the comfortable Farm, completely unaware of the hardships outside, even less aware of the horror of the walkers, he had once even treated these corpses as 'patients'. If it weren't for the arrival of Shawn, Rick, and the others, he and his family might have died silently one night.
"I have no problem," Maggie said, stepping out from beside Hershel. She directly picked up a 'fire proximity suit' and began to put it on.
The second to step out was Glenn. Then the third... the fourth...
The young fighters consciously put on the combat suits. The last two 'heavy bunker suits', Shawn left for Rick and Shane.
"What about you, Shawn?" Seeing that the combat suits had all been distributed, Carol asked with concern.
"Me?"
"I'll be fine with whatever."
Shawn took off his outer jacket, revealing the 'Athletic Outfit' underneath. Compared to the combat suits the others were wearing, his was much lighter, yet it could provide a defense no less than that of the 'heavy bunker suit'. All one could say was that Shawn was indeed very 'whatever'.
While everyone was busy putting on their combat suits, Shawn opened his skill panel. He used the skill point he had gained from leveling up after clearing the yard yesterday and put it into [Boomstick] under the Strength tree.
[(Shotgun Hobo) Level 1/5, corresponding weapon damage increased, rate of fire and reload speed increased, chance to stun and dismember increased.]
[Although you're not very good at shooting, you just love to get in their faces and blast away!]
[What's wrong with a hobo carrying a shotgun?]
*****
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