Shawn held a piece of cowhide paper in his hand.
Rough markings were drawn on it, seemingly pointing the way to some kind of treasure.
Shawn put down the cowhide paper and looked ahead, only to see a golden exclamation mark in his vision, floating in front of him.
The exclamation mark was like a large balloon, two people tall, slowly floating up and down when suspended in the air, looking both bizarre and interesting.
"We're here," Shawn said.
Behind him, figures stirred, and dozens of Zealots emerged from behind the trees.
The treasure map in Shawn's hand was the final reward from the system when the fourth Blood Moon ended.
When Shawn first examined the treasure map, he discovered that this buried treasure location was not far.
It was deep in the forest, approximately less than 20 kilometers from the Prison.
Since it was inconvenient to drive deep into the forest, Shawn simply brought the Zealots with him to find it.
And it wasn't until he saw the treasure map's burial site that Shawn fully confirmed it.
"It seems all treasure locations are like quests in 7 Days to Die; the quest objectives won't be too far."
"Last time it was in downtown Atlanta, this time it's in the forest outside the Prison."
Shawn nodded to himself and walked towards the exclamation mark.
Although the Zealots behind him didn't know what Shawn intended to do, they still followed closely behind him.
"Careful!"
Bray blocked Shawn's path.
Shawn followed his gaze and saw, in the open space where the golden exclamation mark floated, amidst the tall grass.
A fuzzy gray ear perked up, as if it had alertly sensed something, followed by the raising of a sizable wolf's head.
A pair of bright yellow beast eyes were looking towards Shawn and the others.
And as this gray wolf propped itself up on all fours, its entire body almost in a cautious crouch, from within the grass and behind tree trunks, wolf heads emerged simultaneously.
Counting carefully, it turned out to be a pack of 27 wolf members.
"Are they Coyotes?"
Shawn looked at these wolves, and they looked at Shawn.
Coyotes in Georgia are also called Coyotes because they don't frantically run into urban areas; they primarily operate in suburban or even rural areas.
This led to many Farms raising livestock being harassed by Coyotes.
Coyotes usually forage and survive in the wild as family units, with a male and female as parents, plus their nursing offspring forming a group.
In a few cases, a dozen or so will hunt together, which often means the Coyotes are facing large prey or threats.
The scene of nearly 30 individuals before them is almost unheard of in this species of wolf, the Coyote.
"The New Era, does it also make you change your habits to adapt?"
Coyotes band together for survival.
And now, what can affect them, besides hungry survivors, are the omnipresent Walkers.
Shawn knew from his time at the Farm that in the absence of humans, Walkers were also interested in animals.
Walkers might not eat them, but they would certainly bite animals to death and draw blood.
The smell of blood and living things instinctively made them want to tear and bite.
Coyotes belong to the canid family, and their individual strength is not particularly great.
So, once they face such situations, they will actively seek out their own kind; only stronger, more vigilant, and better-hunting individuals among their kind can help them survive.
Thus, a unique wolf pack was formed.
Bray saw Shawn remain unmoved, and the eyes of all the Coyotes that had emerged converged on Shawn at the same time.
He slowly raised the hot weapon in his hand, pointing the muzzle directly at the first wolf that had raised its head, its eyes glowing orange.
But just before he was about to pull the trigger, Shawn raised his hand without looking back and pressed the muzzle down again.
"My God..." Bray looked at Shawn's profile, somewhat puzzled.
But Shawn didn't respond to him, only stepped forward two paces.
And it was these two steps that caused many members of the wolf pack to stand up; more of them temporarily lay low, close to the ground, their paws slightly bent and poised, ready to spring into action at any moment.
Shawn propped the Crescent Blade in his hand on the ground.
A strong, bloody aura emanated from his entire body, and his tall figure appeared even taller in the eyes of the crouching wolf pack, full of menace!
However, facing these wolves, Shawn actually had no intention of killing.
The number of this wolf pack and their eyes reminded Shawn of the past.
Shawn looked at the large wolf that held its head high but wasn't as restless as the other wolf members, remaining calm and still, its bright orange beast eyes still striking.
This Coyote was somewhat different.
The growth limit of Coyotes is not high; generally, individuals do not exceed one meter in length and do not exceed 22 kilograms in weight.
But this one, just its exposed wolf head was 2-3 times larger than the other Coyotes around it, and Shawn estimated its body size to be similar.
Its body length could approach two meters; calculated by this proportion, it was at least no less than 70 kilograms, and possibly even reached 90 kilograms, significantly heavier than an average human.
This reminded Shawn of the largest gray wolf to date—the North American Gray Wolf.
Its most prominent feature was that pair of sharp, keen eyes.
In just one or two minutes, Shawn couldn't help but look at it several times.
When Shawn looked at it, it was also looking at Shawn.
Perhaps because it sensed Shawn had no killing intent, or perhaps it was extremely confident in its hunting abilities, even now it showed no intention of leaving.
Shawn did not approach rashly; instead, he raised his hand, covered by an attacker's glove, and pointed to the area beneath the wolf pack.
"We, want this place, you, leave."
His natural fondness for wolf packs allowed Shawn to give them a chance to leave before taking action.
Otherwise… Shawn actually wanted to taste what wolf meat tasted like.
Daryl had never hunted a wolf pack; in his words: high risk, many troubles.
There was a lot of meat on a wolf, but facing these wild Coyotes, Daryl would still choose to detour if he encountered them.
They are a group, highly vengeful, and can smell scents from several kilometers away.
They can run at 65 kilometers per hour and leap 4 meters.
If they get entangled with a hunter, it's a very troublesome matter.
Because wolf packs are obedient to their leaders, they can't be killed easily and are even harder to shake off.
But for Shawn, none of this was an issue.
He brought dozens of people out, fully capable of having a deep jungle hunt to make these animals understand who was the strongest predator in this land!
As Shawn's voice fell, regardless of whether the Head Wolf understood, he raised the Crescent Blade in his hand again.
But at this very moment, the Head Wolf, which had been crouching, actually stood up voluntarily.
Its shoulder height, nearly 80 centimeters, made this gray wolf appear even taller.
Two slightly larger Coyotes slowly walked to its side, lowering their heads slightly; it seemed these were its two capable lieutenants.
The Head Wolf glanced at Shawn, then let out a howl, leading the Coyote pack to turn and leave.
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