Shawn slid down the long rope that had been tied together.
Many people above shone their flashlights to illuminate Shawn, but it was still not very clear relying only on the natural light.
But they didn't know that Shawn inherently had 'light in his eyes'.
It wasn't until his feet touched the bottom of the second basement level that Shawn silently thought 'lights on' in his mind, and his vision instantly brightened, illuminating everything within 10 meters.
This was a 'helmet light' module that was always embedded in his head armor.
At this moment, Shawn finally got a clear view of his surroundings.
Looking around, there were rows of server-like units, completely encased in silver-white shells, which were dented and deformed by fallen rocks.
Although no large rocks fell from the ground above, the ground on the first basement level collapsed during the initial explosion, which is where these fallen rocks came from.
Shawn moved the large fallen rocks aside and couldn't help but frown.
The unit that had been deformed by the fallen rocks had its outer glass shattered and its interior also deformed.
The thought of his efforts possibly being in vain made Shawn agitated.
"If only I had known, I should have come down to check when I passed by here. The plot didn't mention that the AI persisted for a while, and that Morgan even discovered it once."
Shawn could even boldly guess.
In the original plot, Morgan discovered the AI, but due to his state at the time and only encountering the anomaly once, he put the matter out of his mind.
Over time, the units that originally had hope of being repaired gradually deteriorated, indirectly leading to the AI's complete shutdown.
Patting the silver-white casing, Shawn sighed regretfully, seeing that the unit was completely unresponsive.
Just as he was about to climb back up the rope, he vaguely seemed to notice something.
When he looked again, there was nothing.
"Lights off," Shawn tried to call out in his mind, and the surroundings instantly plunged into darkness.
Shawn held his breath.
Gradually, he saw an inconspicuous red light in the darkness.
Following the red glow, it led to an indicator light at the bottom of the unit.
Shawn turned the 'helmet light' back on and saw a green 'energy' icon below the slowly blinking red indicator light.
Upon seeing the icon, Shawn was both startled and overjoyed.
It was as if something lost had returned to his hands.
Shawn wished he could hug the unit's casing and kiss it a couple of times before letting go.
It turned out that Morgan had not been mistaken that night; that light was indeed emitted by the AI. It was just that the AI had long stopped working due to a lack of energy.
However, what was strange was that the CDC explosion happened more than two months ago. What had the AI relied on to maintain low-frequency operation before then?
"Never mind, it's good news that the unit can still operate!"
Shawn acted immediately.
He carefully sorted these units by their silver casings, dismantling them one by one and hoisting them up with the long rope.
For some damaged parts, Shawn disassembled them into small module blocks and sent them up.
He didn't follow them up to the ground until he confirmed that no parts were left on the second basement level.
Patting the dust off his body, Shawn's face was alight with an irrepressible smile.
"These metal shells can have a significant impact on the future development of the Prison?"
Merle tapped it curiously.
"I told you to read more, but you insisted on being a street bum. Don't you know that technology is the primary productive force?"
Shawn, in a good mood, uncharacteristically explained it to him this time.
"Then we need to get them back to the Prison quickly," Merle said, staring at the units.
Everyone worked together, quickly loading all the units into the back compartments of two empty cargo trucks.
They tried their best to secure the units with ropes, stuffing some blankets near them as cushioning.
After doing all this, Shawn clapped his hands and turned to look at Morgan.
This stage was indeed not a good time for Morgan to join the Prison, but Shawn was interested in the criminal psychologist who taught Morgan.
Bringing him back to be the Prison's psychologist would also be good.
So Shawn let the main group go ahead, while he drove the fire truck, taking people to go with Morgan.
"You're letting so many people walk on their own, aren't you worried?"
"Daryl and Diana will handle everything. Don't forget, the convoy is already in our territory."
The Zealots drove in the front, while Shawn and Morgan sat opposite each other in the back.
The stone house Morgan mentioned was in the suburbs of Atlanta, not far from the Centers for Disease Control.
Normally, it would take Morgan about 20 minutes to walk there, but now it was about ten minutes by car. The fire truck turned from the main road onto a small one.
The road gradually became bumpy, finally stopping by a small jungle path.
Shawn got out of the car and looked up, and sure enough, a small stone house stood isolated in the distance.
The faint sound of a river stream reached his ears; this small stone house was backed by a riverbank.
Seemingly hearing the commotion, a white man with a balding head, appearing to be around 35-40 years old, walked out of the small stone house.
Shawn looked at him, he looked at Morgan, and Morgan looked at Shawn.
20 minutes later.
When Shawn walked out of the small stone house again, the bald man was beside him.
Criminal Psychologist Eastman
He was Eastman, and he had long wanted to leave the small stone house and go elsewhere.
It was just that he had always been alone, so he hadn't had the idea of embarking on a journey.
Eastman nurturing Morgan was actually hoping to have a companion to travel with in the future when he left, someone to look out for each other.
But now with Shawn's invitation, especially when Shawn described the future of the Prison to him, he no longer hesitated.
After getting into the fire truck, Eastman looked at Morgan.
"Are you really not coming with us?"
"That day will come, but before I leave, I still have some things to do."
Morgan's tone was steady, and he didn't seem sad about Eastman's departure. Perhaps he knew that after this trip, Eastman would live well, and he wouldn't need to worry anymore.
And without his last concern, Morgan decided to do some things he had hesitated about before, things that should have been done a long time ago.
"Good luck."
Shawn left these words, and the fire truck slowly started, gradually disappearing from Morgan's sight.
Watching the fire truck's receding back, Morgan seemed a little dazed, muttering softly.
"Rick?"
...
After leaving that suburban jungle, the fire truck drove at full speed.
It caught up with the convoy before reaching Atlanta, and the fire truck followed closely at the very end of the convoy.
"Is your Camp in the city?"
Eastman asked, a little confused, turning his head to look out the window, his voice carrying a subtle hint of emotion.
"No, we just need to pass through the city streets. Some people have been waiting for us for a long time."
Shawn looked through the car window, his gaze towards the city center.
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