"If these people can be guaranteed to be obedient, they will be a powerful force."
Daryl walked over, full of praise for the Zealots.
Their efficiency was truly rare.
When told to clear Walkers, they not only showed no fear or retreated a single step, but instead, each one was braver than the last.
They would even fight to be first to kill a Walker, as if afraid of being beaten to it.
One might even think there was a reward for killing Walkers.
The Walkers on the second floor were practically pinned to the ground and rubbed to pieces by them; these Zealots seemed more like Walkers themselves!
"Relax, these people are all elites. You should see who brought them back."
Shawn's lips curved upwards.
These Zealots were originally screened by the cult leader using their doctrine in the vast North Carolina, from tens of thousands of people down to less than 2,000.
Then, after Shawn screened them repeatedly, the purest part, the most suitable elites for the apocalypse, were left from those 2,000.
They had all crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, so how could they not be effective?
With the Walkers on the second floor cleared, Shawn began collecting from the first row of bookshelves, just as he had on the first floor.
There were fewer bookshelves on the second floor than on the first, and there was no grand feat of 'drawing 20 gold in a row'.
By the time the last row of bookshelves was searched, he had only found 23 magazines in total, less than half of what he found on the first floor.
However, it's worth mentioning that while he didn't find more magazines, Shawn found a lot of supplies like paper and glue.
He even found 'gold nuggets' on one of the bookshelves.
But what was the use of this stuff? There were no apocalypse merchants anymore.
He could only take them back to give to someone for collection, or perhaps have them gilded, which might make them look better.
But wait...
Shawn suddenly remembered the system's prompt when he unlocked the Lv60 sequence.
—More functions await exploration.
Could it be that apocalypse merchants actually existed, somewhere in this country at this very moment, and he just didn't know yet?
The more Shawn thought about it, the more he felt it was possible, especially since even functions like airdrops and Search were available.
But who cared? The merchant's biggest use was to issue apocalypse missions and provide a shop for purchasing system items.
Shawn had already experienced apocalypse missions, and the mission rewards were not bad.
Even if no merchant existed, he would only lose the ability to actively purchase items. Shawn's growth rate wouldn't slow down, after all, the system's foundation was still there.
Opening his system backpack, Shawn roughly calculated.
He had found a total of 82 magazines throughout the Thomas Cooper Library.
This number was quite astonishing. One should know that Shawn had only ever obtained a dozen or so at most from a single apocalypse mission, and that also involved facing other survivors with firearms and hordes of Walkers, with no small risk.
But after unlocking the 'Search function', Shawn only needed to spend two hours searching, and that could be equivalent to several apocalypse missions.
"Awesome."
Shawn stood on the second floor of the library, looking out the window. Although the afternoon sun was obscured by clouds, in Shawn's eyes, there was sunshine everywhere.
It seemed like this apocalyptic world had become beautiful.
Lightly patting the windowsill, Shawn turned to leave with his people. There was still some time before dark, and if they moved quickly, they might even be able to go to another state library in Columbia City to Search.
Then, he could use all the books at once, how delightful~~
But when Shawn reached the staircase, he stopped.
The two Zealots who were originally guarding the staircase were now leaning on the bookshelves near the staircase, looking inside.
However, the bookshelves here were not the double-sided type; they had a wooden back panel, so they couldn't see anything, which made them scratch their heads in frustration.
Seeing Shawn appear, they quickly took two steps back and cautiously pointed in the direction of the bookshelf.
"I think I heard a sound, it came from inside."
Should it be said that they were indeed Zealots in their past lives?
Just like before, the Zealots who, after just a glance, unhesitatingly chased after the Wichita sisters.
Upon hearing an uncertain faint sound, they were eager to tear down the entire wall and drag the person out.
Shawn looked back at Daryl, who subtly shook his head.
He hadn't noticed anything when he came up.
Walking forward, Shawn tentatively raised his hand and knocked on the center of the back panel. A hollow sound indeed came from within.
"I'll do it!"
Tarah volunteered.
But when he gripped both sides of the bookshelf with his hands and strained for a long time, he couldn't move the bookshelf an inch.
Shawn, speechless, patted his shoulder and pointed to his feet.
Tarah looked down, and beneath the thick dust, he vaguely saw a horizontal slide.
This slide was designed to be hidden, and with the dust obscuring it, they hadn't noticed it immediately when they came up.
"No wonder it was so hard to move, hey--"
Tarah awkwardly scratched the back of his head, then applied force horizontally with both hands, easily pushing the bookshelf aside.
With the obscuring bookshelf pushed away, a wall came into view.
To be precise, directly opposite and to the right were walls, while to the left was an upward sloping passage, about one and a half persons wide, normally only allowing one person to pass through.
Shawn tried to stick his head in and look up.
But before he could fully extend his head, he suddenly pulled it back sharply!
However, in the very next moment, an arrow flew in, striking the concrete wall and falling to the ground.
"Someone?!"
Everyone reacted instantly. The Zealots, seeing this, widened their eyes and were about to rush up without regard for their own safety.
At least in the face of their death charge, piled high with bodies, no matter how many people were hidden above, they would have no chance.
But when everyone wanted to act, Shawn stopped them.
Shawn left the secret passage and went to the window where he had just been standing.
First, he poked the Crescent Blade, covered with coarse cloth, out for a moment, and then, reassured, he looked up.
"Indeed, there's another floor above."
"But who could it be?"
Shawn shed his outer clothing, revealing the 'stalker suit' underneath.
"Be careful." Daryl and Merle held onto the window.
Shawn gave them a reassuring look, then stepped onto the windowsill and lightly leaped, tightly gripping the raised carvings on the upper edge.
Shawn exerted force with both hands, his muscles bulging as if meticulously sculpted. He steadily lifted his body, using a slight arc of momentum to swing himself up.
Throughout the entire process, Shawn made not a single sound. His strength and control over his body had reached an extremely meticulous level.
His feet gently landed on the library roof, and the first thing Shawn saw was a window.
The window was at a 45° angle, conforming to the roof's slope.
At this angle, if viewed from below, it would indeed be very difficult to spot the attic.
Shawn approached the window, his gaze sweeping across, getting a general idea of the situation inside.
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