After getting the generator repair manual and spare parts, Kirk and Little Fatty got to work repairing the generator.
It was already noon on the third day. According to the System Prompt, the zombies would undergo their second mutation tonight. There were large numbers of zombies both inside and outside the prison. If they couldn't clear them out and seize this safe haven before nightfall, the team would face a grave threat from being attacked on both sides.
Two hours later, the two, drenched in sweat, received a wonderful prompt from the Space: "Contractor No. 4444, Contractor No. 4445, you have successfully repaired the generator and completed the related Hidden Side Quest, 'The Prison's Hidden Threat - 1.'"
"Now that the generator is working again, the electric fence will resume normal defensive operations, greatly strengthening the prison's defenses! In addition, repairing the generator has allowed the plot mission team to discover the prison's hidden threat ahead of time. Potential enemies can no longer exploit it to threaten the team, indirectly changing the fate of important Plot Characters to some extent. Together, these two achievements earn you a total of 3.2% in Plot Deviation. Your current cumulative Plot Deviation is 5.6%. Your relationships with Rick, Laurie, and Carl have improved significantly!"
"Based on your performance, with a 50% reward bonus for the novice trial environment and a 50% reward bonus for the difficulty of the Contractors' strength, choose one of the following five options as your reward.
a. +2 to one random basic attribute (originally +1)
b. +2 to one random hidden attribute (originally +1; the six hidden attributes are Willpower, Reflexes, Resilience, Perception, Luck, and Elemental Affinity's intrinsic modifier)
c. Increase Team Contribution Value by 100 points.
d. One vial of High Protein Potassium Injection (100% vitality recovery)
e. One piece of Light Blue equipment (randomly selected)"
"After completing 'The Prison's Hidden Threat - 1,' no similar quests will be issued."
"Bro, we've struck it rich!" Little Fatty exclaimed, his face alight with joy. "So fixing the generator was a Hidden Side Quest! I've never seen such generous rewards before, and we get to choose one out of five. There are so many options!"
Kirk looked disappointed. "What a shame."
"What? What's a shame?" Little Fatty asked, confused.
"We probably aren't the first Contractor team to complete this quest. If we were the first to complete a Hidden Side Quest, the rewards would be another 100% better, and we'd probably get to choose two out of five."
"How do you know?" Little Fatty's eyes widened in shock. "Could it be—?"
"Yeah." Kirk nodded. "I've completed one of these quests before."
Little Fatty stood there, stunned for a long moment, then burst into tears. "Bro, you're a genius! Why didn't I come to you sooner? I regret it so much!" He kept tugging at his already thinning hair.
Kirk wasn't all that disappointed. This quest had been fairly obvious and easy, so it was only natural that another Contractor had completed it before them. The one at the nursing home had never been completed because it was too difficult. Things like that were entirely down to luck—opportunities like that couldn't be forced.
They were lucky Ma Ruiqi, Blondie, and Sally hadn't caught on, allowing them to complete the quest without trouble.
Kirk mulled over the five options for a long time. Bonuses to basic attributes were extremely rare; Little Fatty said Sally and the others had never gotten one. One hundred points of Team Contribution Value were worth a lot. The High Protein Potassium Injection could save his life at a critical moment—Little Fatty's toast had saved him when he was on the verge of death. The random Light Blue equipment could be a gamble, but a good piece could greatly boost his strength or even change the way he fought. In the end, though, he steeled himself and took the risk of choosing b.
After all, even when he'd completed such a difficult Hidden Side Quest alone last time, he hadn't received a hidden attribute bonus. Since they were hidden attributes, they were probably hard to obtain, and this option was rare. According to the explanation he'd gotten by querying the Space, Willpower determined the positive or negative modifiers for resisting Abnormal Status checks against all attacks. Increasing it could effectively resist abnormal statuses, including but not limited to Slowness, immobilization, and petrification. Reflexes determined the modifiers for dodging danger and ranged weapons, and increasing it improved the chance of a successful dodge. Perception determined one's ability to sense danger in advance and resist illusions and the like. Resilience determined the positive or negative modifiers to damage taken from all attacks, including the specific damage dealt by weapons, magic, poison, and elements. Luck needed no explanation. Elemental Affinity determined one's ability to use magic and Immortal Techniques, improving success rates, casting speed, and damage.
As for the other options, there were ways to replace or make up for them. Hidden attribute rewards, on the other hand, were extremely rare, so Kirk chose b. As long as he wasn't terribly unlucky and drew Elemental Affinity, any of the other five would be useful to him.
As it turned out, Kirk got one of the five he'd hoped for: Luck +2. It wasn't the hidden talent awakening value he'd wanted most—Resilience or Willpower—but no one would complain about being luckier. All in all, it was a decent result.
Little Fatty chose the High Protein Potassium Injection without hesitation. When Kirk asked why, Little Fatty stared at him as if he were an alien. "Bro, in this godforsaken place, what could be more important than staying alive?" Kirk was speechless, but it really wasn't a bad choice. If Little Fatty hadn't risked his life to get that lifesaving piece of toast, Kirk wouldn't have made it this far.
Kirk had already asked Little Fatty whether he'd gotten any prompt from the Space when he completed a Hidden Side Quest last time. Little Fatty hadn't. It seemed the Space was fairly considerate and wouldn't go around broadcasting good fortune to explorers and making trouble for them. The two had also talked it over and agreed to keep their rewards under wraps.
As for the Plot Deviation reward, Little Fatty said he'd received a prompt too, granting him 1% Plot Deviation. Kirk still hadn't figured out what Plot Deviation was for, but it probably wasn't a bad thing. Little Fatty marveled at it.
The power was back on, but to use the loudspeaker, they still needed to enter the Control Room and switch on the audio system. That was no problem, of course. The Control Room was right next to the generator room. The two charged in again and, after taking out two zombie sound technicians, seized control of it.
"Bro, you said we could use the terrain. What's the plan? Every zombie in the area will be drawn here. I'm a little worried," Little Fatty asked anxiously.
"Don't worry." Kirk put on his mystic's air again. "I have a plan. We found plenty of diesel in the generator room, didn't we? We just need to run a little test."
Ma Ruiqi was leading her team toward the generator room. A burly man took the lead while she kept firing her automatic weapon. Watching her kill count rise, Ma Ruiqi could barely contain her excitement.
"Why didn't I think of using the generator to draw the zombies over here earlier? We don't have a loudspeaker, but Rick showed me the map of the whole prison. The Control Room is close to the generator room, and there should be broadcasting equipment there. Once I lure them over, I can farm Contribution Value as much as I want." Ma Ruiqi thought smugly. The loudspeaker outside would also sound and draw the zombies beyond the prison into an attack, but she didn't care. As long as she got what she wanted, that was enough. She couldn't care less about the team as a whole. The more people died, the fewer competitors she'd have.
Just as she was feeling triumphant, she heard a sharp alarm. The others looked confused, but Ma Ruiqi was horrified. Her pointed nails dug deep into her other hand, drawing blood, but she didn't even feel the pain.
"Who was it? Who turned on the generator room first?" she gritted out, her pretty face twisting.
"Move! Hurry up!" she screamed hysterically. She stopped conserving ammunition and let her submachine gun spit fire, mowing down the zombies ahead.
Blondie was in the middle of a satisfying killing spree when he heard the alarm too. Though someone remarked that it was strange, Blondie laughed it off and said alarms were normal in a prison. Maybe a zombie had bumped into a button. He carried on searching for zombies.
Kirk sounded the alarm for only a dozen seconds. He saw several zombies quickly approach at the sound, their hunger making them eager to reach him. As the prison's core facilities, the Control Room and generator room had been built with defense in mind; the only way to reach them was through an upward-sloping corridor. The two stood above and poured plenty of diesel down it. When the zombies came up, Little Fatty set the diesel in the corridor alight, and the two watched them.
Zombies were generally afraid of fire and instinctively fled from it. Now they had to see whether the alarm would drive them to press on anyway.
Sure enough, the shrill alarm drove the zombies into a frenzy. They spotted the living people in the distance and howled. Unable to suppress their bloodthirsty instincts any longer, they began shambling up the corridor with low growls.
Little Fatty couldn't help cheering. "You bastards! I was worried you wouldn't come up. Now that you're here, this'll be easy!"
One by one, the zombies walked into the Sea of Fire, becoming burning figures and then charred, walking skeletons. The sight was both terrifying and gruesome. But halfway up the corridor, they finally fell, growling as they burned to ash.
"Huh? Why do we only get one point for burning each one?" Little Fatty cried out in surprise.
"One point is still something. The Space will naturally reduce the reward when we use a shortcut to kill zombies. But what we really want is Team Contribution Value for killing them, and the diesel didn't cost us anything. What's wrong with getting a free reward?" Kirk chuckled.
"That's true. You're brilliant, bro." Little Fatty understood.
After their test succeeded, the two sounded the alarm without holding back. A horde of zombies came rushing over.
The battle was about to begin!
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