Under Daryl's deliberately fierce gaze,
Shawn looked in the rearview mirror, waving goodbye without turning his head.
According to the plan he had made for everyone,
Shawn, along with Bray and a dozen others, traveled directly through North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Daryl and Merle, accompanied by Diana and others, took a detour through Tennessee, the way they had come, before reaching the large supermarket in South Carolina.
They promised to do their best to ensure the safety of this flock of sheep; at the very least, they would become subjects of the Prison in the future, a rare and easily controllable labor force.
Bidding farewell to Daryl, Shawn and his group drove straight south.
Bray had intended to drive, but Shawn forced him into the back seat to rest.
The person driving now was the one who had just taken Shawn's body bag.
Because he could keep one eye on guard and one eye on watch, Shawn decided to call him Mr. Smart.
Since it was a direct translation from Chinese, the guy seemed quite pleased after hearing it, completely missing the underlying meaning.
Before Shawn could say anything, he had already called himself that dozens of times.
The faces of the people in the back row grew darker and darker, as they gritted their teeth and stared at the rearview mirror, waiting for the guy to look at them so they could collectively glare him to death!
Shawn didn't notice their small actions; he was just leaning back in his seat, eyes closed tightly.
On the surface, he was resting, but in reality, he was organizing all the known information about the Zealots and Elijah in his mind.
Just as Shawn himself had said, he wouldn't push himself into a dead end; every decision had some degree of certainty.
The dozen or so Zealots who instantly defected beside him were already an example.
Their existence and reactions all indicated to Shawn that—
This group of Zealots had never, from beginning to end, believed in the man named Elijah.
They believed in God, in doctrine.
Elijah had merely exploited this loophole, packaging himself as the only one who had achieved 'transcendence' and'salvation,' as God's spokesman on earth, which allowed him to command the Zealots.
And at that time, Shawn's ability was clearly regarded by these Zealots as a new divine spokesperson, or even that Shawn was the true God.
It was precisely for this reason that these Zealots would instantly and unhesitatingly defect to Shawn.
To be precise, for the Zealots, there was no such thing as betrayal or loyalty.
They had always stood firmly on the side of 'God.'
So, as long as someone could prove to them that they were 'God,' they would defect to that person without hesitation.
And if that were the case, then Shawn had something to work with.
Others didn't know, but Shawn himself knew very well.
No one else in the world could resemble God more than Shawn himself.
Devouring souls (experience)...
Creating things out of thin air (manufacturing)...
Communicating with God and receiving gifts from Him (apocalyptic missions)...
...
So Shawn wasn't worried at all that these people, once under his command, would choose to defect to others one day in the future.
At least with the system's existence, Shawn had this confidence.
The Zealots were extreme, but on the positive side, they were pure; they abandoned individuality to form a close-knit group.
If Shawn could make them listen only to him, these Zealots would certainly be a good help.
However, if he brought them back to the Prison, then the Prison would have to expand again.
But that wasn't a problem.
Shawn could use his abilities freely in front of them; at worst, he could have them build another high wall outside the Prison.
But speaking of high walls... he wondered how Rick and the others were doing. Had the latter half of the high wall been built?
It should have been built by now. Although Jacob was sometimes unreliable, he was, after all, a professional in construction.
He also wondered how Shane's army training was going and whether they had encountered any other ill-intentioned survivors during this time.
Had Carol's cooking improved? Had Carl's archery fallen behind? How much bigger had Lori's belly gotten...?
Hmm?!
Shawn suddenly woke up. Why was he concerned about Lori's belly?
It must be because Lori might affect the friendship between Rick and Shane, right?
Shawn comforted himself.
However, this time Shawn didn't close his eyes to ponder again. He looked at the abandoned vehicles piled on both sides of the road; they were getting closer and closer to the Zealots' main camp.
Everywhere his eyes could see, there were traces of human activity.
The closer Mr. Smart drove, the more solemn Shawn's expression became.
Perhaps... the number of people in the Zealots organization might be more than he had imagined.
In fact, after going deeper into North Carolina, Shawn even saw a sculpture.
Yes, it was a stone sculpture.
About 10 meters high, with carvings all over its body, it stood by the roadside.
90% of the sculpture was exquisitely carved; it wore clothes similar to a priest's, yet somewhat strange.
The outer layer resembled a priest's robe, but the inner garments made Shawn frown, finding them increasingly familiar.
His gaze moved upwards, but when it reached the face, it was only a blur; they hadn't carved a face for the sculpture.
Was it for some reason?
Had Elijah specifically instructed it, leaving a retreat for himself?
Or was it due to their faith that they wouldn't carve a face?
Shawn didn't know any of this, nor did he have an urgent desire to know, because everything would be revealed once the two of them met.
However, through this, Shawn's evaluation of the Zealots increased even more.
In this apocalypse, to be able to procure a 10-meter giant stone and carve it into a human form...
This difficulty was no less than that of ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom, where people moved huge stone bricks back and forth to lay the foundation for the pyramids.
"How much longer until we arrive?"
Shawn didn't ask Mr. Smart but looked at Bray in the back row.
Bray merely glanced out the window, "Soon, faster than you imagine, because we've already been surrounded."
Shawn frowned, suddenly turning his head to look out the car window.
His gaze swept from the passenger side window across the front windshield, but he saw nothing within his line of sight.
Shawn immediately called out silently in his mind, opening the Blood Bar MOD.
In that instant, the blood bars that appeared before Shawn's eyes made his pupils tremble slightly.
"I underestimated them!" Shawn concentrated.
In Shawn's vision, blood bars appeared in the surrounding bushes, and in seemingly abandoned houses and cars!
Without him realizing it, the Zealots had silently occupied the important nodes around them.
But they only stared at the fire truck and showed no intention of appearing to attack Shawn and his group.
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