Our neighborhood has been transported again.

Chapter 178 Sandstorm

The next morning, even though it was already eight o'clock, the sky was still overcast.

Wearing a mask, Zhao Pu came up to Qin Ziwen and reminded him, "President, the sandstorm has just passed, and there are many suspended particles in the air. It's best to wear a mask when you go out these days, otherwise you're more likely to get respiratory illnesses."

Qin Ziwen took out masks from the drawer and distributed them to the residents who were about to go out.

I went down the stairs and stopped as soon as I reached the first floor.

He discovered that there was nowhere to put his feet outside the door on the first floor.

The unit door on the first floor was tightly closed, and through the glass door, you could see a layer of sand and soil nearly half a meter thick piled up outside.

Footsteps came from behind. The female college students from room 202 came downstairs and couldn't help but groan when they saw the thick layer of dirt.

"Damn it, it's all dirt outside, I don't know how long it will take to shovel."

“We spent half a day shoveling the soil off the balcony. It’s been like this for days. I feel like our neighborhood was just dug out of the ground.”

Pulling open the unit door, a large amount of sand and soil poured in from the outside.

This drew gasps of surprise.

As Qin Ziwen stepped out of the apartment building, he discovered that not only the residential area but also the area outside it was covered in a thick layer of sand.

This is fresh dust brought by the sandstorm; it's very soft underfoot, like walking on a snowdrift.

Each step caused my foot to sink deep into the ground, and then I had to pull it out with great effort.

Some residents in the community have already started to organize themselves to remove the sand.

Seeing this, Qin Ziwen also rallied the Qin Alliance members to join the sand-removal team.

They used carts and shovels to clear a path between each building.

They worked until noon before they were able to clear a few wide paths between the buildings and exits of the community.

The hard ground in the Gobi Desert outside the community has now been covered with a thick layer of sand, and the terrain has changed somewhat, turning from hard ground into a shallow sand dune.

Qin Ziwen said to Du Yu, "Your mission cannot be delayed. We'll clean up while we help you find a suitable target."

The harpy eagle circled the neighborhood several times. Compared to the great animal migration of the past few days, the Gobi Desert seemed rather desolate after the sandstorm.

But soon, Qin Ziwen discovered traces of many animals on the eastern mountain ridge through video.

The towering mountain ridges act like a wall, blocking out much of the wind and sand.

Thick layers of sand piled up on the sides of the mountain ridge, forming tall sand dunes.

The entrance to the interior was filled with sand and dust, which raised it by three or four meters.

“I have bad news.” Luo Gang found Qin Ziwen with a serious expression. “The water source we found earlier has been blocked by a sandstorm. We dug down a distance, and the sand at the bottom was soaked, but we couldn’t see any trace of water.”

Qin Ziwen said, "I remember there's another one on the north side of the canyon."

"The area to the north has also been filled in," Luo Gang shook his head.

Luo Gang hesitated for a moment, then said, "If we can't find a new water source, we'll only have enough water for three days at most. Could you arrange to sell some of your water?"

Qin Ziwen said, "We don't have many people, and the amount of water we can coordinate and distribute is limited. The Tongmenghui should have collected some water before they crossed over."

“Okay, I’ll go ask.” Luo Gang nodded. He was exhausted. The water resource he had finally found had been swallowed up by a sandstorm.

Given the scale of this sandstorm, it is estimated that it will be difficult to find water sources within a radius of several kilometers of the community.

The harpy eagle flew back, but the dust in the air outside was so thick that even it, which usually loved to chirp, was silent.

Take the hot phone off its neck and check the video.

Qin Ziwen suddenly noticed a detail.

Drag the progress bar.

In the video, on a sand dune at the edge of the eastern ridge, a camel is walking slowly with its head down. It seems to sense something and stops.

From a high altitude, one can see sand dunes rising up in the distance, and a thick, long figure rapidly approaching from beneath the sand.

The camel raised its hoof to stomp down, but the next second it was knocked away by a figure leaping out of the sand.

The camel crashed to the ground, and then a huge monster emerged from the bottom of the dune, wrapped itself around the camel, opened its mandibles, and began to devour the camel from head to toe.

The camel's head was covered, and it stopped struggling after a short while.

"A giant desert worm." Qin Ziwen frowned.

Wasn't this giant desert worm previously located in the northwest?

Oh no, this sandstorm has brought a lot of sand and soil, altering the terrain in some areas.

It is estimated that the original habitat of the desert giant worm was also affected, and the newly formed sand dunes after the mountain blocked it changed its range of activity.

Judging from the video, it is at least four or five times the length of a camel.

It was at least ten meters long, and it wasn't the slender shape of a snake, but rather a rather robust shape similar to a caterpillar.

It can easily overturn a camel, so its strength must be considerable. Coupled with its special ability to survive at the bottom of the sand, this thing is very difficult to deal with.

Unless we can find a way to lure it out of the dunes.

But it's hard.

It's like luring the fish out of the water.

After putting away his phone and returning home, Li Tieshan brought good news.

The vehicle-mounted crossbow is ready!

The finished product was successfully produced.

Meanwhile, the second vehicle-mounted crossbow is also being tested and should be completed by tonight at the latest.

Qin Ziwen went to the blacksmith shop to inspect the finished product.

This is a somewhat rugged-looking chariot, about two meters long, made of wood, iron, and a car crash beam.

Behind the crossbow was a large winch with a hardwood winch and an iron lever running through the middle.

It takes two people working together to hook the crossbow string onto the trigger using a joystick.

There was a wooden hammer next to him. Li Tieshan demonstrated that striking the hammer with the mallet would activate the lever and fire a crossbow bolt.

However, the mallet did not actually fall; he merely demonstrated the movement lightly with it.

This thing is too destructive and it's dangerous to use it indoors.

The most crucial element was the crossbow, which, though called an arrow, was actually more like a short spear.

The serrated, blade-shaped cone head is extremely exaggerated and was designed specifically for hunting large wild animals.

It has three wheels at the bottom for easy turning, and several supports at the back that can be lowered to fix the vehicle's position.

Upon hearing that the vehicle-mounted crossbow was ready, Qin Ziwu, Du Yu, and others came over to watch.

This vehicle-mounted crossbow, brimming with violent aesthetics, is truly exhilarating.

Du Yu said, "This thing might be able to attack cities; some thinner city gates can't withstand more than a few shots."

Qin Ziwu said excitedly, "I'm looking forward to encountering a large dinosaur now. I'll fire a couple of shots at it and let it experience the power of the crossbow."

Qin Ziwen said, "One is not enough. We need at least eight. We need to divide them into four groups to take turns firing. Changing the crossbow bolts takes too long. We need to give the other crossbow carts time to change bolts so that we can ensure continuous firepower."

(End of this chapter)