It was a wonderful night.
Shawn drank ten people under the table at the night party.
Amidst the joyful laughter of the crowd, he staggered, slightly tipsy, up to the third floor.
He ruffled Beth's small head, originally thinking of a drunken embrace, but instead stumbled and fell onto the sofa.
Beth tenderly pulled Shawn's head into her embrace, gently resting it on her delicate lap.
She extended her slender fingers and lightly stroked Shawn's cheek and hair bun.
"Sleep, you've worked hard."
Shawn seemed unaware; he only felt very soft and comfortable.
With half-closed eyes, he raised his hand to grasp Beth's warm palm, his consciousness gradually blurring as he fell into a deep sleep.
...
He woke up from a hangover.
Shawn, however, didn't feel a headache, perhaps this was another benefit of his body being digitized.
Getting up from the sofa he had been leaning against, Shawn leaned down and gently kissed Beth's cheek, including her luminous earlobe.
Coming to the window, the pasture was empty except for the patrolling guards on the watchtowers and high platforms.
"Last night was truly wild; thankfully, Rick, Shane, and the others are reliable, otherwise, getting that drunk could have led to trouble."
Shawn slightly stretched his body according to the'Seventh Set of Broadcast Gymnastics: Colorful Sunshine' routine.
Only when he felt his condition had returned to its best did he silently utter'System' in his mind.
His personal panel opened, with the following data:
[Shawn]
[Level Lv70 (19%)]
[Skill Points to Use: 4]
[Health: 170 / 170 (Initial 100, Level Bonus 70)]
[Stamina: 170 / 170 (At Full Value)]
[Food & Water: 131 / 170 (Continuously slowly decreasing)]
[Body Temperature: 70°F]
[Walkers Killed: 1207]
[magazines: Hunter's Bow Lv40, Hammering the World Lv43, Night Walker Volume 1...]
[Skills: Strength - Attribute Lv10, Skull Crusher Lv4, Exterior Strength Internal Activity Lv1, Shotgun Lv1; Fortitude - Pain Tolerance...]
[Status Effects: None]
Yes, Shawn had leveled up two more times, which came from his previous outing with the Zealots to scavenge supplies.
Although Shawn only gained 75 experience points when the Zealots made kills, it accumulated over time.
Coupled with the Walkers Shawn killed himself, the experience points were just enough for him to level up twice.
As for the 19% that followed, Shawn estimated it was from the shared kills made by Shane with the army and the patrolling members from the time he returned yesterday until he went to sleep.
Patting his cheek, Shawn went downstairs and found Milton.
Over the next hour, Shawn had Milton draw out every detail of the Stirling Engine.
Then Shawn took the Zealots and left the Prison, circling around to the woods behind the Prison.
Shawn was seen holding a cowhide-covered notebook in one hand and throwing out five forging furnaces with the other.
"I got a lot of spring parts when I dismantled cars before, and they've been accumulating in my backpack, unused."
"So, currently, the main need is for a sufficient supply of forged steel."
The Zealots spread out, clearing any approaching Walkers, and Shawn's ears were filled with the sound of experience points being gained.
He looked up, and before him was a stretch of jungle not too far from the Prison.
"Build a wall here; later, I can put the completed Stirling Engines inside and connect them all the way into the Prison."
"The main gate will be a locked sluice gate; Walkers can't dig through it."
Shawn closed his notebook and got to work.
He was responsible for the technical work, crafting the engines according to the data and blueprints Milton provided.
The Zealots, on the other hand, were responsible for cutting down trees; although their efficiency was not as good as Shawn's, their strength in numbers meant it didn't take much time.
They skillfully felled the trees, moved them aside, and cleared a large open space in the middle of the forest.
Then they squatted on the ground, tilting their heads and curiously watching Shawn's actions.
Flames surged before Shawn, and being stared at by countless pairs of eyes, Shawn was somewhat sweating profusely.
"Damn it, the blueprint structure looks simple, but why is it so hard to make?"
Shawn scratched his forehead, cursing at the misshapen forged steel in his hand.
But it wasn't really Shawn's fault; he had too little relevant experience.
The most difficult thing he had ever crafted before was the sliding steel gate installed at the entrance of the Prison.
Time passed by minute by minute.
Three hours later, Shawn, with a face covered in black smudges, looked at the 'Stirling Engine' before him, which had many dents and bumps, and clapped his hands.
"Done!"
But then Shawn felt a bit guilty.
"Although the exterior is unpresentable, the internal structure should be fine, right?"
Shawn took out a brightly burning torch from his system backpack and placed it beneath the ignition point behind the engine.
Ten seconds passed, but there was no movement whatsoever.
"No way, this engine took 3 hours and gave me so much trouble; don't tell me it's unusable."
Shawn's face was bitter.
Bray, who was nearby, suddenly let out a cry.
When Shawn cast a questioning gaze at him, he pointed to the engine at Shawn's feet.
Shawn instinctively looked down again, only to see that under the continuous heat generated by the torch, the piston at the front of the engine slowly began to operate.
However, the speed was a bit slow, completely failing to reach the full operating speed of a 'Stirling Engine' of this size.
"I understand, it's because the firepower is insufficient."
"Nuclear-powered torches burn infinitely, but that doesn't mean their firepower is also infinite."
With that, Shawn simply took out two more torches, placing their burning ends together, forming a triangle at the base, and tying them with hard iron wire to fix them to the ground.
This time, Shawn was not in a hurry; instead, he quietly waited with the Zealots for 2 minutes.
The operating speed of the Stirling Engine's piston, which had started slowly with just one torch, gradually became faster and faster.
The flames of the three torches evenly covered the ignition point, the surface of the forged steel began to glow faintly red, and the front piston suddenly started operating at full speed.
"It's a success!"
Shawn and the Zealots were all excited.
Do not underestimate this unassuming engine; its significance to the Prison is no less than that of the first seed that sprouted.
Just as Milton analyzed, once mechanical energy begins to operate, electricity follows.
The generator set began to shake wildly and rhythmically; at this point, all that was needed was to connect wires, and electricity could be routed directly into the Power Generation Room and then flow throughout the entire Prison.
But Shawn was not in a hurry; instead, he patiently continued to produce them.
As his technique became more proficient, the production time decreased from the initial 3 hours to 2 and a half hours, and then directly to 1 and a half hours.
By now, Shawn basically only needed 30 to 40 minutes to craft a Stirling Engine.
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