Chapter 177: The Power of the Vehicle-Mounted Crossbow |
Qin Ziwen found Luo Gang and Zou Jianghe and showed them the video.
"Now the east side is very dangerous. I've discovered that the Desert Giant Worms have already migrated here."
After watching it, Luo Gang's expression turned grave, his face slightly changed. He thought of something—there was still one team that hadn't returned yet.
Beside him, Zou Jianghe was utterly overwhelmed, now afraid to even hear such news. After creating the Alliance, he finally understood what it meant that starting a business is easy, but maintaining it is difficult.
"I will notify everyone and have the members be careful," Zou Jianghe said. "I've estimated that to move all the sand out of the residential complex, the workload would take about a day and a half. That's assuming everyone in the complex contributes. With fewer people, it would only take longer."
Luo Gang spoke up, "This is everyone's residential complex. Everyone should contribute. I'll also have my students participate."
"President Zou, do you have any extra water on your side? We could purchase some."
"That's difficult," Zou Jianghe shook his head. "Teacher Luo, I understand your situation. I've coordinated things and can roughly provide you with support of about two thousand liters of water."
Hearing it was only two thousand liters, Luo Gang fell silent.
Zou Jianghe said, "I know this water isn't enough, but now we've encountered a sandstorm. If we can't find a new water source, everyone's household water will be insufficient. Everyone needs to keep some for their own families."
Luo Gang nodded silently. He could understand.
Qin Ziwen pondered. He actually thought of a method.
If he rode Chitu and didn't encounter attacks, he could reach the Oasis in at most three hours. Then, by opening a node at the Oasis, he could let everyone in the residential complex pass through the node to reach the Oasis.
The downside was that it was too far from home. To return, they could only migrate on foot.
Tens of kilometers was too long a journey. Most of the day would be spent on the road.
"We must find new water," Luo Gang looked at Qin Ziwen. "Guild Leader Qin, perhaps our migration plan needs to be moved up. If we wait until half a month later, we might not be able to hold on that long."
After some thought, Qin Ziwen agreed. "Teacher Luo, I can also sponsor you with one thousand liters of water. On my side, the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow has produced a first finished product. To expand the scale, I still need some materials."
Luo Gang said, "What materials? Iron ore? I have some here."
Qin Ziwen said, "Iron ore isn't needed. I have that too. I need some car parts, like bearings, drive shafts, that kind of thing."
Hearing these were needed, Luo Gang regretted he couldn't help.
Zou Jianghe pondered. Were these things useful in making the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow?
They had indeed collected quite a few.
Before the crossing, many cars parked outside were basically dismantled, and many parts were removed. Although during the last trade, they took a lot of iron sheets for trading, most were the outer iron shells of the car bodies. The internal parts were mostly kept.
Zou Jianghe said, "I can give you some for free. Can it be used to trade for the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow's manufacturing technique?"
Qin Ziwen shook his head, then said, "The Vehicle-mounted Crossbow is too dangerous. The technology cannot be spread. But if you need it, after production meets demand, we can sell finished products later."
Hearing this, Zou Jianghe's eyes flickered, as if thinking of something. Finally, he nodded. "Alright."
After Zou Jianghe left, Luo Gang reminded him, "Selling finished products, they can reverse-engineer them. With a finished product, deciphering becomes much simpler. I've heard of mounted crossbows. The difficult part is actually some of the ideas. The technical difficulty isn't high; imitation wouldn't be too hard."
"Thanks for the reminder, I know," Qin Ziwen nodded. But in reality, the core of the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow wasn't just the blueprint. It included a series of key elements like materials, the Blacksmith, the Furnace, and more.
At this stage, the iron ingots forged through the Furnace Bunker and the Blacksmith possessed some special effects, such as toughness and strength exceeding ordinary metals. In some critical parts, these special metals were used.
If a Vehicle-mounted Crossbow was forcibly imitated and pieced together using some materials, even if it could be used barely, it would easily have problems.
Of course, perhaps there really were masters who could solve these problems.
But for the entire residential complex, this was also a good thing, indicating they had the potential to optimize the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow.
Seeing Qin Ziwen had a clear understanding in mind, Luo Gang said no more.
Qin Ziwen extended an invitation. "By the way, Teacher Luo, later I'm preparing for a field test firing of the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow. Would you like to come see?"
Luo Gang, who had just turned around, stopped. He thought for a moment. "Okay."
.....
Building 1, Unit 1, Room 802.
"Tingting, is there no water in the bucket anymore?" a girl shouted in the room.
A girl wearing glasses, her hair tied behind her, dressed in a blue-black checkered shirt, shook her head. "None. This morning was the last pot."
Looking at the completely empty small bucket, the yellow-clothed girl who spoke sat down weakly on the floor, licking her dry lips.
A knocking sound came from outside the door. "Open up."
"It's Sister Qiu," the girl sitting in the living room quickly got up and went to open the door.
Outside, a short-haired girl with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a slightly round face walked in carrying a water bucket. "This is the water we were allocated today. I just went to ask Xiaqing. There isn't much stored water now. It's allocated a fixed amount daily."
"Sister Qiu, if you didn't come back, I was starting to think I'd die of thirst," the door opened, and a tall girl wearing hot pants fanned herself, a happy smile on her face.
Tingting gave her a cool glance.
The yellow-clothed girl leaned close to Tingting's ear and whispered, "This Qin Siyao, every time it's her turn to fetch water, she finds all sorts of excuses. But when it's time to drink water, she's the most enthusiastic. Sister Qiu is just too nice."
Sister Qiu poured the water into the kettle and started boiling it.
She said, "Old Luo said that later everyone needs to go downstairs to help clear the sand. Tools can be collected from the Teaching Building."
"Ah, can we not go?" Qin Siyao pouted. "It's really tiring. We're already dying of thirst all day. Let those people clear it down there. Whether we go or not doesn't matter. No one's supervising anyway."
"Bang!" Sister Qiu suddenly stood up, slapping the table heavily. She turned to look at Qin Siyao, her voice carrying anger. "I've tolerated you for a long time!"
"Always slacking off during work. It's been almost a week since we moved here, and you haven't fetched water once. During the big clean-up, you said you had your period and your stomach hurt. When we go out to gather supplies, you work for a bit and then say you're tired, doing nothing, doing nothing well."
"At first, I thought since we're all girls, we should help each other. Now I see clearly, you're purely selfish!"
"We are all residents of this residential complex. This isn't just one person's business! Others are down there clearing sand. If you don't go, and I don't go, and nobody goes, how will others see us? You need to remember, the place we're living in now was provided to us for free by others. People should know how to be grateful!"
Hearing Sister Qiu's domineering speech, the yellow-clothed girl secretly clapped.
Hearing this, Qin Siyao's face turned green then white.
"I was just looking out for you all. You don't appreciate kindness," Qin Siyao said angrily before stomping back to the bedroom and slamming the door shut with a bang.
Sister Qiu gave her a cold look and suddenly said, "Find another place to live. You're not welcome here. Otherwise, in the end, if everyone votes to have you removed, it will only get uglier."
Inside the room, Qin Siyao didn't respond.
After quite a while, she left with a cold face, carrying her luggage.
After she left, Sister Qiu asked the others, "Do you want to go clean up together?"
The other three nodded like chicks pecking at rice, their attitudes proper.
Sister Qiu glanced at them, a helpless expression on her face. "Actually, my temper is quite good."
"Right, right, right."
"I heard from Old Luo there's a performance outside the residential complex tonight. Want to go see it together?"
"Okay, okay, okay."
.......
"Sister Qiu, this is the performance you mentioned?" The yellow-clothed girl patted her chest, curiously looking at the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow full of Violent Aesthetics being pushed out not far away.
If it were her before the crossing, she might have looked down on it.
But after more than a month of experience, the rough Vehicle-mounted Crossbow looked completely different in her eyes.
"I didn't know before coming either."
"Hey, Sister Qiu, isn't that your Cao Biansheng?" The yellow-clothed girl tugged Sister Qiu's arm, pointing at the boy pushing the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow not far away.
"What do you mean 'my'? Don't talk nonsense. He's just my high school classmate," Sister Qiu explained.
Not far away, Cao Biansheng was communicating with the young man beside him, nodding from time to time.
Then, he seemed to receive some instruction and began operating the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow.
He propped the three Support Legs at the back of the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow on the ground, fixed the position, then turned the Winch Drum. Yuan Ming assisted from the side, placing the Crossbow Bolt.
Not far away, fifty meters out in an empty area, was their target—a long-dead tree.
Outside the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow, a large circle of residential complex residents had gathered. Everyone stared at the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow, this seemingly ancient device.
Here, it seemed to have regained new vitality.
"What do you think the power of this Vehicle-mounted Crossbow is like?"
"Don't know, but that bolt looks pretty big. Probably could nail a cow to death with one shot."
"I think nailing it to death might be a bit hard, but seriously injuring it should be no problem."
"Do you all have some misunderstanding about Vehicle-mounted Crossbows as siege weapons? They belong to siege weapons, for attacking cities," someone slightly more knowledgeable stepped forward. "Forget a cow. As long as it hits the torso, even an elephant would die."
From the distance, a loud shout came. "Release!"
The next moment, the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow's Bowstring was released.
"Boom!!!"
A loud explosive sound.
Fifty meters away, the dead tree thick enough for two people to embrace instantly broke into two sections.
The long Crossbow Bolt pulled out a long afterimage, disappearing into a Sand Dune further away, kicking up a large cloud of dust!
Although it was a dead tree, after years of wind and sun exposure, its bark was extremely hard.
But before the fired Crossbow Bolt, it was as fragile as a sheet of paper.
It broke instantly with no resistance.
The onlookers fell silent for a moment, then immediately erupted into a sea of cheers.
Some, with hot tears, laughed up at the sky.
Some raised their arms, clenched fists, and shouted loudly.
The surroundings became an ocean of cheers.
This was a sharp weapon against beasts, and also their courage.
Seeing this scene, Luo Gang couldn't help but reveal a smile.
He deeply understood that in a high-intensity, oppressive environment, people's nerves were like tightly drawn strings. Over time, they would become increasingly irritable, sensitive, fragile, and quick-tempered.
They easily moved toward two extremes: either becoming more combative and irritable, or escaping, withdrawing, avoiding all social interaction and responsibility.
This change was subtle. Some people might not even notice it themselves.
News that could boost morale could ease the tense emotions of many. This was also why he wanted the students to come see it.
Zhou Xiaqing came to Luo Gang's side. "Teacher Luo, can we also make a Vehicle-mounted Crossbow?"
"In the short term, it's very difficult because none of us know the specific structure of the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow. Of course, we could also deduce from the finished product's appearance, but that requires time," Luo Gang shook his head.
Zhou Xiaqing looked at Cao Biansheng, a trace of emotion flashing in her eyes.
Previously, they had privately discussed that Cao Biansheng being sent by Teacher Luo to the Qin Alliance meant he had "fallen out of favor." But today, seeing Cao Biansheng's high-spirited appearance while operating the Vehicle-mounted Crossbow, she now understood that perhaps when Cao Biansheng went to the Qin Alliance, he embarked on a path completely different from theirs.
At eight in the evening, the second Vehicle-mounted Crossbow was freshly produced.
But regarding suitable dragon-type prey, no information was found the entire day.
Du Yu was very calm about this, as if the one doing the extreme challenge wasn't him.
"Instructor Du, you're too calm. It makes us seem like the eunuchs beside the emperor," Qin Ziwu said helplessly.
"Why?" Du Yu asked curiously.
Qin Ziwu said seriously, "The emperor isn't anxious, but the eunuchs are."
Du Yu laughed heartily. "Speaking of which, I'm ashamed. How could I not be anxious in my heart? But seeing you all running around for me, with such sincere and abundant goodwill, I am already immensely grateful. Since we have already tried our best, success or failure now rests with fate."
Qin Ziwu sighed. "You really are like a monk."
"Rather than wasting energy on vague hopes, it's better to gather one's spirit, calm the mind, and wait for the right time," Du Yu said with a smiling, poetic tone.
"Knock knock knock!"
Urgent knocking interrupted their thoughts.
Outside was a girl with a pretty face, her voice carrying a bit of anxiety. "Hello, is Guild Leader Qin here?"
"What do you need him for?"
Zhou Xiaqing said, "I was entrusted by Teacher Luo. There's an urgent matter, and I've come to ask for his help."
"Oh, I remember now. You're the one beside Old Luo. I've seen you a few times," Qin Ziwu suddenly realized. He pointed outside. "My brother went out. He should be downstairs shoveling dust right now."
Zhou Xiaqing quickly nodded. "Thank you."
Du Yu stood up and followed behind her. He nodded and said, "I'll show you the way."
"Then I'll trouble you."
At the edge of the residential complex's South Gate, Qin Ziwen held a modified, crude Shovel, pushing a large pile of dust outside the South Gate.
Originally, there was a downward-sloping staircase at the South Gate, but now it was basically buried by dust. Walking out along here would lead out of the residential complex.
Seeing the Qin Alliance's guild leader also rolling up his sleeves and working alongside everyone, sounds of praise occasionally came from the surroundings.
But there were also those who couldn't stand it, sneering disdainfully. "Isn't this just a show?"
Such comments were quickly refuted. "Hey, the efficiency of the Qin Alliance's guild leader equals three of you. What are you being sour about here? I've been watching for a while. That person's strength is like an ox's. One person can do the work of several. No wonder he can be the guild leader."
"Wait, no wonder you're working so slowly. Turns out you've been staring at others working all this time!"
"What kind of talk is this? What do you mean I haven't been working? This is called slow work, sustained work, rhythmic work!"