Carl's heart instantly thumped twice.
It wasn't out of fear, but out of unfamiliarity.
The last time he faced the black bear that was chasing Daryl, Carl only saw it from a distance, glimpsing a furry, broad-shouldered back before, at Daryl's urging, he went to Shawn for help.
This time, it was a beast again.
The oppressive feeling emanating from those bright orange beast eyes made Carl feel a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen them somewhere before.
But then an unfamiliar feeling would follow, the contrast making Carl feel a bit detached.
Meeting the Head Wolf's gaze, Carl subconsciously tightened his grip on the bow in his hand.
However, a second thought reminded him that he was currently inside the high walls of the Prison, with no possibility of encountering danger, so he immediately loosened his grip.
Carl ignored the chirping voices of the children beside him; he only found these innocent children a bit noisy.
With the bow slung over his back, Carl turned and took small steps down the high platform's stairs.
Then, under the gazes of others, he ran across the grassy field towards the Administrative Building.
Carl's figure had grown taller and more slender with development, his posture agile yet robust.
"Carl, where are you going?"
Lori, who was sitting on a sofa placed on the ground, sunbathing, saw Carl hurrying past and couldn't help but call out softly.
"To find the Warden!"
Carl heard her but didn't turn back, only raising his hand to wave behind him before his voice carried.
Upon hearing this, Lori instinctively wanted to get up, but she touched her bulging belly, and thinking it was Shawn, she sat back down with relief.
On the other side.
Shawn was dismantling his exclusive vehicle.
That's right, dismantling.
The parts were neatly arranged on an empty space nearby, and the outer panels of the fire truck in front of Shawn had been removed, revealing its internal core structure.
Ever since his last trip to the Georgia State Library, the red overlord's modifications were pretty much Waste (ruined).
The spikes were bent and blunt, the barbed wire was broken and dented, and the front windshield had been broken for who knows how long…
In short, this 'Vehicle Expansion Mod' came quite timely, so Shawn planned to take the opportunity to modify the red overlord again.
However, this time was different from before; this time, Shawn intended to completely dismantle the red overlord and then reassemble it.
He would use one of the blueprint recipes for a cargo truck from the 'Vehicle Expansion Mod' to give it a complete makeover.
This was not only for its appearance but also because vehicles manufactured using blueprint recipes could handle more diverse types of resistance and challenges.
As Shawn removed the last wheel, he clapped his hands, ready to proceed to the next step.
Then, a figure of moderate height swayed in the distance, and soon Carl ran over, breathless.
There was no sweat on his fair face; he had just run too fast, so he was out of breath for a moment.
As soon as Carl arrived, he bent down, supporting himself with his hands on his knees, panting heavily for a few breaths before looking at Shawn and speaking.
"…Shawn…those wild wolves haven't left yet…"
"No rush, have some water first."
Shawn handed him a water bottle, and Carl took it, gulping down two mouthfuls.
In front of the children, Carl always appeared steady, even cold, but facing Shawn, he seemed to return to his gentle and obedient self, without any pretense.
Carl wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, then heard Shawn's question.
"Have you asked Daryl? What did he say?"
"Daryl said winter is coming soon, and wild beasts have a habit of storing food. If they set their sights on us, then the army and search teams will go out together to round them all up and use them to supplement our meat supply."
"That's Daryl's style."
Shawn chuckled softly.
For hunters, it's difficult to feel pity for wild beasts; similar stories like 'The Farmer and the Snake' are also prevalent in America.
In Daryl's eyes, they might be more like walking bundles of meat and fur.
"But, I also want to know what you think?" Shawn took back the water bottle, placed it on the table, and looked at Carl again.
"Me?"
Carl seemed a bit at a loss, with a hint of confusion on his face.
However, Shawn did not scold him for this but instead patted his shoulder.
"You understand Rick's expectations for you, right?"
"Always be ready to make decisions, Carl. What you need now is not brute force, but the ability to think."
"For the same situation, besides how others do or say things, you also need to make your own judgment."
If Carl wanted to go out on missions one day, this was essential.
Saying that, Shawn turned around and continued to dismantle the parts of the red overlord.
"Don't mind them, at least not until they actively show aggression."
"Preventing others from wantonly attacking them, this is the first instruction I need you to convey for me, understood?"
"Mm!"
Carl nodded vigorously, then turned and hurried off into the distance again.
Only after Carl left did Shawn stop what he was doing and glance over.
Perhaps it was due to him that the Prison developed too quickly, which made Carl seem a bit naive at this stage.
Shawn planned to have Eastman also join the education system and be responsible for enlightening the children on combat matters.
One person would hold two positions and earn two sets of contribution points.
If Morgan also came to the Prison later, he would replace Eastman, allowing Eastman to focus on his primary job.
Psychologists are also extremely important.
His attention returned to the red overlord, and Shawn spent another half a day completely dismantling it into parts and storing them in his system backpack.
Opening the workbench crafting panel, Shawn scrolled through the vehicles expanded by the 'Vehicle Expansion Mod'.
The vehicles here seemed to be born for the apocalypse.
Besides not being bad looking, their defensive capabilities were greatly improved compared to ordinary vehicles, and their kinetic energy was also much stronger than the original fire truck.
There were even a few vehicles specifically designed for slaughtering Walkers.
Shawn even saw one blueprint recipe that combined with a road roller or flamethrower, and the key was that its speed wasn't slow.
It ensured the smoothness of crushing Walkers in the way and stabilized the driving speed… though safety still needed consideration.
"These vehicles might not be suitable for others, but they are suitable for me."
Shawn smiled.
The damage he inflicted on Walkers directly affected their health bars, and many strange and unconventional attack methods had miraculous effects for him.
Scanning through the many strange, even somewhat flashy-looking vehicles, Shawn finally fixed his gaze on a vehicle blueprint under the cargo truck category.
NAME: odin
VEHICLE CATEGORY: Medium Cargo Truck
ALIAS: Survival Mobile Tribe Base
DIMENSIONS: Length - 8.2 meters, Width - 3.5 meters, Height - 4.5 meters
WHEEL SYSTEM: 8-wheel drive (front and rear dual-four dual-motor layout), 1.3-meter puncture-resistant resilient tires (tire pressure self-adaptive)
INTERNAL FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE (First Floor): Cockpit, Living Room, Kitchen, Empty Equipment Bay
INTERNAL FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE (Second Floor): Double Bedroom, Observation System, Independent Bathroom, Retractable Stargazing Platform
SINGLE BATTERY CAPACITY: 800kwh (expandable to 1200kwh)
MAX SPEED: 150km/h (Road Mode), 80km/h (Off-road Mode)
ENERGY REPLENISHMENT SYSTEM: Super Fast Charging Technology, Rooftop Solar Panels (optional), Kinetic Energy Recovery
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