"This… this counts as good news, right?"
Glenn reached up and adjusted his baseball cap, then suddenly chuckled softly and looked at Maggie beside him.
Maggie stared blankly at Shawn's figure, nodding subconsciously.
"Of course, it couldn't be better."
Maggie snapped back to reality, turning to look at the second floor of the wooden house behind her, saying nothing.
Everyone present, whether from the Quarry Camp or the Farm, had different thoughts.
Their minds kept replaying the scene of Shawn bowing without hesitation to Lori, and only then did they completely believe that it had truly happened before their eyes.
Lori looked at Shawn, somewhat lost in thought, and she shifted her gaze to look at Rick, who was standing shoulder to shoulder with Shane in the distance.
Her eyes met Rick's, and Rick merely gave a subtle nod.
"At least… at least so far, you've done very well."
Lori's voice was a little weak, but when everyone heard her words, they secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"But I hope you can keep your promise and there won't be a next time. I can't… I can't lose Carl."
After making eye contact with Rick just now, Lori instantly understood.
Firstly, Carl was really fine, and Shawn had not lied.
Secondly, Shawn's attitude was sincere and not feigned.
Shawn stood up again, turned to face everyone, showing no embarrassment at being watched by the crowd.
"Since everyone is at the Camp, I'll take this opportunity to announce something."
"Before midnight tonight, we will have a brief meeting. I hope everyone will be there."
"Hershel's side… I'll trouble you to inform him, Maggie."
Shawn looked at Maggie, and she nodded.
"Alright, what needed to be said has been said. Everyone go do what you need to do."
Shawn waved his hand impatiently, still staring as if addicted?
The crowd, who seemed to have been frozen in place, finally woke up as if from a dream and began to continue their tasks.
However, at this moment, everyone's state was completely new, almost two different people from before.
Suddenly, there were more sounds of laughter in the Camp, and an atmosphere of joy and vitality spread throughout the entire Camp.
It seemed that seeing Carl safe and sound, and seeing Shawn like this, everyone's anticipation and confidence for the future suddenly increased greatly.
Shawn walked outside.
"Alright, things are done here. I'll go sleep in the car for a bit and wake up tonight."
Shawn stretched, picked up the Stone Hammer and rested it on his shoulder. Not far away, a figure slowly followed him, stopping him before he entered the red overlord.
"Shawn."
Old Dale adjusted the long gun slung over his shoulder and gave Shawn a kind smile, though his small figure seemed a bit constrained in front of Shawn.
"What is it?" Shawn stopped and leaned against the car door, looking over.
"I just wanted to say that we are always very grateful for everything you've done for the Camp."
"Facing new challenges, you have to make some choices that seem very tough… even if they seem a bit unfeeling."
"I just want you to know that if you ever feel like you can't hold on, you must tell me, at least let me share some of the burden."
Old Dale looked at Shawn, like a respected elder.
Shawn nodded to indicate he understood, without directly responding, and pulled open the rear car door to get in.
Bang--
The moment the car door closed, the world finally became completely quiet.
Watching Old Dale's figure gradually disappear, Shawn shook his head.
"Old Dale isn't suited for the apocalypse, which is why he originally got his early exit."
"So he absolutely cannot be in the Camp's decision-making layer, at least not with the current situation of the Camp."
"But if the Camp starts to expand rapidly in the future, perhaps people like Old Dale will be indispensable."
"It's like the good cop and bad cop, autocracy and benevolent governance."
"Autocracy is implemented during special periods, but when development enters another stage, a new management method is needed to support the Camp to continue."
Thinking of this, Shawn's heart stirred, and he silently called out 'System'.
A light screen suddenly unfolded in Shawn's view, displaying the following information:
[Shawn]
[Level Lv13 (61%)]
[Skill Points Available: 4]
[HP: 113 / 113 (Initial 100, Level Bonus 13)]
[Stamina: 107 / 113 (Slowly Recovering)]
[Food & Water: 113 / 113 (Continuously Slowly Decreasing)]
[Body Temperature: 70°F]
[Walkers Killed: 136]
[magazine: Bow and Arrow Crafting Level Lv5]
[Equipment: Stone Hammer Lv2, Stealth Gloves Lv3, Wooden Armor Set Lv1]
[Status Effects: None]
--Level 13
Previously, when he went to the small town and the highway to the east with Carl, Shawn also gained a lot of improvements while training him.
Especially during the battle when Carl was unconscious, Shawn directly rose from Lv10 to about 40% of Lv12.
He almost completely cleared out the remaining Walkers in that small town area.
He subsequently gradually leveled up to Lv13 on the highway.
"Not bad." When his gaze fell on the 'Skill Points Available' after the level, Shawn finally showed a knowing smile.
Effort brings rewards, and sometimes Shawn even feels that coming to this apocalypse isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Clicking on the skill panel, it was time for another easy and pleasant skill point allocation.
Last time, Shawn had already allocated points to the most core Strength attribute up to Lv6.
And the passive skill bonus exclusive to the hammer—Skull Crusher—was allocated to Lv3.
Seeing this, Shawn was in a dilemma.
4 usable skill points were enough to directly raise the core Strength attribute from Lv6 to Lv8.
But if he only allocated one level, then he could unlock the next level of Skull Crusher when allocating Strength attribute to Lv7, and also leave one skill point for backup.
Both options were enough to greatly enhance Shawn's strength…
"It's better to be safe. My experience pool isn't far from the next level, there's no need to rush for a moment."
Ultimately, Shawn still decided to allocate points according to the latter option.
[(Protein Bodybuilding) Level 7/10, Strength and Headshot greatly increased]
[Hammers and clubs can give you divine power, bro!]
Attribute: Strength Level 7/10
Then he allocated points to Skull Crusher Lv4, only one level away from the final Lv5.
[Skull Crusher Level 4 (Specializes in using heavy weapons like hammers to destroy enemies and buildings.) — Bone Breaker]
[You can now smash everything around you to pieces!]
[Want to party?]
Skull Crusher Level 4/5
[Remaining Skill Points: 1]
The moment the allocation was completed, Shawn suddenly leaned forward.
Inside the car, the muscles all over his body twitched slightly, as if they were having a wild party.
He instinctively gripped the Stone Hammer with one hand, suppressing the urge to smash everything, and lifted his head, a hint of joy surging in his eyes.
"I didn't expect the strength attribute to increase so much in the later levels!"
"From Lv7 onwards, my strength has almost doubled. What kind of changes will I experience when I reach Lv8 or even the top Lv10?"
The increase in the Strength attribute was the most intuitive.
As for Skull Crusher, that would only be clearly felt when actually facing Walkers or enemies and swinging the great hammer.