As he said this, Luo Gang looked apologetic. "But this will likely mean more work for you."

Qin Ziwen was just about to speak. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The woman, who had been sitting silently to one side since they entered, suddenly spoke up. "Chairman Zou, my husband trusted you. He always said you were a good person, working for the good of everyone. He wanted to do more for the Gated Community, too."

"I married him for his kindness, but now, I wish he’d been more selfish! My child is only five, and there are two elders at home. With our family’s breadwinner gone, how is a woman like me supposed to provide for them all?"

The woman turned her head, her eyes bright red.

Zou Jianghe rubbed the bridge of his nose, a look of exasperation on his face. "Sister Li..."

"My name is Xiang," the woman said icily.

"Alright, alright. Sister Xiang."

"I’m not older than you."

Zou Jianghe frowned. "Fine, Miss Xiang. Like I just said, I will arrange a less strenuous job for you within the alliance. Once your son is a little older, I’ll arrange a good job for him as well."

"Hah." The woman sneered. "A little older? Why don’t you tell me how many years I have to wait? In a few years, will my family—the old and the young—even still be alive? Are you just so used to making empty promises that you decided to make one to me?"

Zou Jianghe’s face flushed with anger. This would be one thing in private, but with two other people sitting right there, how could he not lose face?

He slammed his hand on the table. "How am I making empty promises?! Your husband wasn’t the only one who died. Seven people died this time! You think you’re the only one with kids and elders? Other people don’t have families? Am I a god?! The Gated Community is only this big, and we have limited resources. Where am I supposed to conjure up that much food for you? This isn’t something I wanted to see happen either!"

"Hah. You seem to be living comfortably enough," Miss Xiang sneered, her eyes sweeping over the other two people in the room. "You leaders, with your cushy lives. All that ’fat’ is just skimmed off the backs of us at the bottom."

Luo Gang’s brow furrowed slightly. Qin Ziwen leaned back in his chair and yawned.

Luo Gang stood up. "Chairman Zou, if there’s nothing else, Chairman Qin and I will take our leave."

"Let’s go." Qin Ziwen stood up and left side-by-side with Luo Gang.

On their way downstairs, Luo Gang asked, "How has Xiaocao been doing lately?"

"He’s doing great. Very proactive," Qin Ziwen nodded.

Luo Gang considered this for a moment before speaking. "We stockpiled food and water before the second crossing, but we’re going through it too quickly. Our water consumption, in particular, has already outstripped our supply."

"This morning, we went to the eastern canyon and found that the wildlife was more abundant than we expected. More importantly, we located two water sources."

"One is a large pool of stagnant water near the northern altar."

"The southern source is smaller and has a low flow rate, but it’s frequented by animals."

"I plan on organizing a team to clear out the southern source and turn it into a stable water collection point for us. Do you want in?"

Qin Ziwen agreed without hesitation. "Sure. But I have one condition: if your people find any dinosaurs of a suitable size, have them keep an eye out for me."

"What’s considered a suitable size?"

"Carnivorous dinosaurs weighing over four hundred pounds."

Luo Gang nodded. He found the request a bit strange, especially the restriction on the dinosaur’s weight.

But it was a simple enough thing to do, so it wasn’t any trouble.

Besides, it was a good thing that Qin Ziwen’s people were willing to take on more of the beasts.

After all, the beasts needed to be killed anyway.

Qin Ziwen smiled. "Once it’s done, I can tell you a secret."

"Alright." Luo Gang nodded. His curiosity was piqued. "Are you guys not short on food and water?"

"We are, why wouldn’t we be?" Qin Ziwen felt a wave of pressure at the mention of it.

Unlike a typical family, which might have three or four members at most, he was supporting thirteen people in his Home alone—not to mention the Beaked Eagle, the Mongolian Horse, and a variety of smaller livestock.

Every day, they went through thirty to forty pounds of meat alone. That didn’t even account for the grass the Mongolian Horse ate. The horse itself was a heavy drinker, downing thirty to forty liters of water a day. When you added the daily needs of everyone else in the Home, their water consumption was nearly seventy liters per day.

Factoring in the daily consumption from workshops like the Blacksmith Shop, the water produced by the Level 2 Spring Eye was just barely enough. There was a small surplus, but not much.

’But there’s no need to share all these details with an outsider,’ Qin Ziwen thought, and changed the subject. "Teacher Luo, I’m curious—how do you distribute the food your group acquires? Of course, you don’t have to answer if it’s not convenient."

Luo Gang unscrewed his thermos and smiled. "It’s nothing I can’t talk about, and it’s not a very sophisticated system. Initially, we had a communal system where everyone got an equal share. But we soon discovered some people were slacking off—showing up but not putting in any real effort. So, we switched to a team-based competition."

"We divided all the students into small teams, which were then organized into eight major groups."

"Each of the eight major groups receives a fixed amount of resources daily. But within those major groups, the small teams have to compete with each other for their share of the supplies. It’s a way to stir the pot and encourage competition."

"However, to prevent excessive competition from creating too much internal conflict, resources are divided equally among the members of each individual team."

Qin Ziwen asked, "And how did that work out?"

Luo Gang tightened the cap on his thermos, a wry smile on his lips. "Well, efficiency has certainly improved. Teammates keep each other in line, since anyone slacking off directly affects everyone else’s take."

"And with the competition between teams, everyone is much more motivated than they were at the start. People, sometimes you just need the carrot and the stick."

At this, Luo Gang added, "Honestly, I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse. Unlike us, many residents in your Gated Community managed to bring their families with them. Having loved ones by your side gives you another reason to keep going. But this is a harsh place, and sometimes it means having to face being torn apart by death."