Chapter 176: Sandstorm |
The next morning, it was already 8 a.m., but the sky remained gray and gloomy.
Zhao Pu, wearing a mask, came up to remind Qin Ziwen, "Guild Leader, the sandstorm just passed. There are many suspended particles in the air. It's best to wear a mask when going out these next few days, otherwise it's easy to contract respiratory illnesses."
Qin Ziwen found masks from a drawer and distributed them to the members of Home who needed to go out.
Going down from the stairwell, he had just reached the first floor when he stopped in his tracks.
Because he discovered there was actually no place to step outside the first-floor door.
The unit door on the first floor was tightly shut. Through the glass door, one could see a layer of sand nearly half a meter thick piled up outside.
Footsteps sounded from behind. The female college students from Unit 202 came downstairs and, seeing such thick soil, couldn't help but sigh.
"Great, it's all dirt outside. Who knows how long we'll have to shovel."
"We spent half a day shoveling just that bit of dirt on the balcony. This stuff outside... oh my god. I feel like our residential complex was just dug out of the earth."
Causing a series of exclamations.
Qin Ziwen stepped on the thick sand, exiting the building unit. He discovered it wasn't just the residential complex; outside the complex as well, a thick layer of sand had accumulated.
This was the dust newly brought by the sandstorm. Stepping on it felt very soft, like stepping in a snowdrift.
With each step, his foot sank deeply, then had to be forcefully pulled out, requiring a lot of effort.
Some people within the residential complex had already begun spontaneously organizing sand removal.
Seeing this, Qin Ziwen also gathered the members of the Qin Alliance to join the sand-clearing team.
Pushcarts, shovels, they cleared a path between each building.
They kept busy until noon, barely managing to open up several wide roads between the various building stairwells and exits within the complex.
The hard ground of the Gobi Desert outside the residential complex was now also covered with a thick layer of sand. The terrain had changed somewhat, transforming from hard ground into shallow sand dunes.
Qin Ziwen said to Du Yu, "Your mission cannot be delayed. We'll help you find a suitable target while we clean up."
The Crowned Eagle patrolled several circles around the residential complex. Compared to the great animal migration of the previous days, the Gobi Desert after the sandstorm seemed somewhat empty and quiet.
But soon, Qin Ziwen spotted traces of many animals on the eastern mountain ridge through the video feed.
The tall mountain ridge was like a wall, blocking much of the wind and sand.
Thick sand piled up on the side of the ridge, forming tall sand dunes.
The entrance leading inside was completely filled with sand and dust, forcibly raising the ground level by three or four meters.
"There's some bad news." Luo Gang found Qin Ziwen, his expression grave. "That water resource point we found earlier has been blocked by the sandstorm. We dug down a certain distance; the sand at the bottom was soaked, but we couldn't see any trace of water."
Qin Ziwen said, "I remember there was also one north of the canyon."
"The one to the north has also been filled." Luo Gang shook his head.
Luo Gang hesitated for a moment, then said, "If we can't find a new water resource point, our water here will only last three days at most. Could you coordinate and sell us a portion of your water?"
Qin Ziwen said, "We don't have many people. The water we can coordinate and share is limited. The Alliance over there probably gathered some water before the crossing."
"Alright, I'll go ask them then." Luo Gang nodded. He was mentally exhausted; a water resource point he had worked so hard to find had just been buried by a sweeping sandstorm.
Judging by the scale of this sandstorm, it would probably be difficult to find a water resource point within several kilometers of the residential complex.
The Crowned Eagle flew back. The sand and dust in the outside air were heavy; even it, who usually liked to call out, remained silent.
Qin Ziwen took the hot phone from its neck and checked the video.
Suddenly, he noticed a detail.
He dragged the progress bar.
In the video, on the sand dunes at the edge of the eastern mountain ridge, a camel was walking slowly with its head down.
It seemed to sense something and stopped moving.
From a high-altitude view, one could see the sand rising not far away. Beneath the sand dune, a thick, long figure was rapidly approaching, hidden under the sand, speeding towards it.
The camel raised its hoof and stomped down, but the next second, it was sent flying by the figure leaping out from the sand.
The camel fell to the ground. Immediately after, a thick monster emerged from the base of the sand dune, coiled around the camel, then opened its mouthparts and began swallowing the camel from the head.
The camel's head was engulfed. Before long, it stopped struggling.
"Desert Giant Worm." Qin Ziwen frowned.
Wasn't this Desert Giant Worm previously in the northwest direction?
This is bad. This major sandstorm brought a large amount of sand and soil, changing the terrain of some areas.
Probably the Desert Giant Worm's original living environment was also affected. Plus, these newly formed sand dunes blocked by the mountains caused its activity range to shift.
From the video, its body length was at least four to five times that of the camel.
At the very least, it was over ten meters long. And it wasn't the slender body type of a snake, but rather a stockier build similar to a caterpillar.
It could easily flip a camel, so its strength was definitely not small. Combined with its special ability to survive beneath the sand, this thing was troublesome.
Unless they could find a way to lure it out of the sand dune.
But that was difficult.
It was equivalent to trying to lure a fish out of water.
Putting away the phone, Qin Ziwen returned to Home. Li Tieshan brought some good news.
The vehicle-mounted crossbow was finished!
Successfully produced as a finished product.
At the same time, the second vehicle-mounted crossbow was already being adjusted and tested, and would be completed by tonight at the latest.
Qin Ziwen went to the Blacksmith to inspect the finished product.
It was a somewhat crude-looking war chariot, about two meters long, pieced together from wood, iron, and a car's crash beam.
Behind the crossbow body, there was a large winch. The winch drum was made of hardwood, with an iron crank handle running through the middle.
It required two people working together to use the crank handle to hook the crossbow string onto the trigger.
Beside it was a wooden striking hammer. Li Tieshan demonstrated: hitting the striking hammer with a wooden mallet could activate the lever, firing the crossbow bolt.
However, the mallet didn't actually strike down; he just gently demonstrated the motion with the unused mallet.
This thing's destructive power was too great; using it indoors was dangerous.
The most core component was the crossbow bolt. Called a bolt, it actually resembled a short spear more.
The serrated blade-shaped conical head was extremely exaggerated, specifically designed for hunting large beasts.
The bottom had three wheels for easy direction changes. There were also several support legs at the back that could be lowered to fix the vehicle's stance.
Hearing the vehicle-mounted crossbow was finished, Qin Ziwu, Du Yu, and others came over to look.
This vehicle-mounted crossbow, full of violent aesthetics, made their blood surge with excitement.
Du Yu said, "This thing might be able to breach city walls. Some thinner city gates couldn't withstand a few shots from it."
Qin Ziwu said excitedly, "Now I'm kind of looking forward to encountering a large dinosaur. Give it two shots, let it taste the power of the vehicle-mounted crossbow."
Qin Ziwen said, "One vehicle isn't enough. We need at least eight, divided into four groups firing in rotation. The time to replace the crossbow bolt is too slow. We need to leave time for the other crossbow vehicles to change bolts. That way, we can guarantee sustained firepower."