Qin Ziwen found Luo Gang and Zou Jianghe and showed them the video.

"It’s dangerous to the east now," he said. "I’ve discovered that the Desert Giant Worms have migrated over."

Luo Gang’s expression turned grave after watching the video, his face paling slightly. He recalled something: one of their teams had yet to return.

Standing beside them, Zou Jianghe looked completely overwhelmed. He was getting scared of hearing any more bad news.

Only after establishing the Alliance Association did he truly understand the saying that it’s easier to start a business than to keep it running.

"I’ll notify everyone and tell them to be careful," Zou Jianghe said. "I’ve made a rough estimate. To clear all the sand and dust from the Gated Community, it’ll take a day and a half. That’s assuming everyone in the community pitches in. If we have fewer people, it will take even longer."

Luo Gang spoke up. "This is everyone’s Gated Community. We should all contribute. I’ll have my students participate as well."

"Chairman Zou, do you have any spare water? We’d like to purchase some."

"That’s difficult," Zou Jianghe said, shaking his head. "Teacher Luo, I understand your situation. I’ve coordinated with our people, and we can probably spare about two thousand liters of water for you."

Luo Gang fell silent upon hearing it was only two thousand liters.

If they were frugal, that amount of water would be just enough for the students to hold on for another two days.

Zou Jianghe continued, "I know it’s not enough. But we’ve just been hit by a sandstorm, and if we can’t find a new water source, everyone’s supply will be dwindling. People need to keep some in reserve for their own families."

Luo Gang nodded silently. He understood.

As Qin Ziwen thought about it, an idea came to mind.

He could ride Red Hare to the Oasis. As long as he wasn’t attacked, he could reach it in three hours at most. Then he could open a Node at the Oasis, allowing everyone from the Gated Community to travel there through it.

The downside was that it was too far from home. If they wanted to return, their only option would be to travel back on foot.

A journey of dozens of kilometers was simply too far.

They would have to spend most of the day just traveling.

"We have to find new water," Luo Gang said, looking at Qin Ziwen. "Chairman Qin, we might have to move up our migration plans. If we wait for half a month, I’m not sure we can last that long."

After some thought, Qin Ziwen agreed. "Teacher Luo, I can also contribute one thousand liters of water. I’ve already finished one prototype of the Car-Mounted Crossbow, but I need more materials to scale up production."

Luo Gang asked, "What kind of materials? Iron ore? I have some."

Qin Ziwen replied, "I don’t need iron ore; I have that too. What I need are some car parts, like bearings and drive shafts." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Hearing this, Luo Gang was disappointed that he couldn’t help.

Zou Jianghe wondered, ’Are those things useful for making a Car-Mounted Crossbow?’

They had indeed collected quite a few.

Before the transmigration, they had stripped most of the cars parked outside, taking many of their parts. Although they had traded away a lot of sheet metal last time, that was mostly from the cars’ outer shells. They had kept most of the internal components.

Zou Jianghe said, "I can give you some for free. Can we trade them for the schematics for the Car-Mounted Crossbow?"

Qin Ziwen shook his head and said, "The Car-Mounted Crossbow is too dangerous; the technology can’t be spread. However, if you need them, we can sell you the finished products later, once we’ve met our own production targets."

Hearing this, Zou Jianghe’s eyes flickered. It was unclear what he was thinking, but in the end, he nodded. "Alright."

After Zou Jianghe left, Luo Gang offered a word of caution. "If you sell them the finished product, they can reverse-engineer it. With a complete model, deciphering it will be much easier. I’ve heard of Mounted Crossbows before. The difficult part is the design concept; the technology itself isn’t that complex. It wouldn’t be too hard to replicate."

"Thanks for the warning. I’m aware," Qin Ziwen said with a nod. But in reality, the core of the Car-Mounted Crossbow wasn’t just the blueprints. It also involved a series of key factors, including the materials, the Blacksmith Shop, and the Furnace Fortress.

At this stage, the Iron Ingots forged in the Furnace Fortress and the Blacksmith Shop had special properties, such as toughness and strength, that surpassed ordinary metals. These special metals were used in some of the key components.

Even if someone managed to build a makeshift Car-Mounted Crossbow by cobbling together other materials, it would likely be unreliable and prone to problems, even if it barely worked.

Of course, there might be a true master who could solve these problems.

But that would be a good thing for the entire Gated Community, as it would mean they had the potential to optimize the Car-Mounted Crossbow.

Seeing that Qin Ziwen had things under control, Luo Gang said no more.

Qin Ziwen then extended an invitation. "By the way, Teacher Luo, I’m about to field-test the Car-Mounted Crossbow. Would you like to come and watch?"

Luo Gang, who had just turned to leave, stopped in his tracks. He thought for a moment. "Alright."

...

「Building 1, Unit 1, Apartment 802.」

"Tingting, is the bucket empty?" a girl shouted from inside the room.

The girl with glasses, her hair tied back and wearing a blue and black plaid shirt, shook her head. "It’s gone. This morning was the last pot."

Staring at the completely empty little bucket, the girl in the yellow shirt who had spoken sank weakly to the floor and licked her dry lips.

A knock came from the door. "Open up."

"It’s Sister Qiu," said the girl sitting in the living room, quickly getting up to open the door.

Outside, a short-haired girl with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a slightly round face walked in carrying a bucket of water. "This is our share for today. I just went and asked Xia Qing. There isn’t much water left, so they’re rationing it out every day now."

"Sister Qiu, if you hadn’t come back soon, I thought I was going to die of thirst!" A tall girl in hot pants fanned herself as she emerged from a room, a joyful smile on her face.

Tingting gave her a cool glance.

The girl in yellow leaned close to Tingting’s ear and whispered, "That Qin Siyao... she always finds an excuse when it’s time to fetch water, but she’s the most eager when it’s time to drink it. Sister Qiu is just too nice."