Our neighborhood has been transported again.

Chapter 182 Desert Ruins (Part 2)

"Sister Qiu, Cao Biansheng is over there, aren't you going to say hello?" Tingting gently nudged Sister Qiu's arm.

Sister Qiu hesitated for a moment, then walked over and said with a normal expression, "Old Cao, you looked pretty cool when you were killing the worms just now."

"Hahaha, of course!" Cao Biansheng laughed, hands on his hips. "I am Cao Biansheng."

Looking at the boy in front of her, Zheng Qiu smiled and said, "You're still the same as you were in high school. You haven't changed at all."

“No, there have been changes.” Cao Biansheng raised an eyebrow. “I’m much stronger than before!”

"..." Zheng Qiu smiled helplessly, "Alright, I see you're quite busy, so I won't bother you any longer."

After Zheng Qiu walked away, Qin Ziwu came over and said, "I can't stand it anymore. You're such a straight man. Girls are taking the initiative to come to you."

Cao Biansheng didn't explain, but just glanced at Qin Ziwu and said, "If you're in love and have your eye on any girl, I can help you set them up."

Qin Ziwu was dumbfounded. "So you knew? I thought you didn't."

Cao Biansheng shook his head. "I just don't have the mind to think about that right now. I want to survive and help more people survive. I don't have the mood to think about these things. Besides, I feel that the chairman should have the same idea as me."

As he spoke, he glanced at Qin Ziwu, noticing that only this guy was being protected by his brother.

You don't have to think about so much in a day.

The carcass of the giant desert worm attracted a crowd when it was dragged back to the residential area.

Although the grotesque corpse had been dismembered in many ways, its hideous mouthparts and enormous body still aroused both fear and excitement among many residents in the surrounding area.

When Zou Jianghe learned that the giant beast had been killed by a crossbow mounted on a vehicle, he came to check on it.

Seeing the gruesome wounds, my opinion of the vehicle-mounted crossbow rose even higher.

The power of a weapon lies in its actual combat performance. The numerical values ​​may be inaccurate, but the combat record does not lie.

"President Qin, when will you have stock available for immediate sale?"

Qin Ziwen said, "Let's wait a while. Production is too low right now; we only have these two."

Although Zou Jianghe was disappointed, he nodded to show his understanding.

After bringing back the decomposed corpse of the giant desert worm, Jia Liang touched the mangled remains and muttered to himself, "What a strange beast!"

Qin Ziwen sought out Chen Pi and asked if the outer shell of the desert giant worm could be made into armor.

Chen Pi took a piece of the cut-off shell and, after a moment, said excitedly, "Sir, yes! This is a natural wonder, born in this hot and arid land. Its shell is hard and requires little processing. It can be used simply by drying it and cutting off the inner fascia. Moreover, the shell is lightweight, so the leather armor made from it should be very light."

How long will it take to produce the finished product?

Chen Pi replied, "I can make a finished product tomorrow for you to appraise, sir."

In the evening, after everyone had finished their work, they had also processed all the other materials.

The acid in the sac is highly corrosive and is stored in several large glass jars.

The anesthetic liquid was also placed in a separate transparent bottle.

Li Tieshan knocked out the dense array of sharp teeth from his mouth. He was very interested in these straight and slender fangs, thinking that these light and hard teeth might be used as materials to make arrows.

In addition, all the other flesh and blood were also cleaned up.

Scrape away the surface flesh, leaving the outer shell. Grind it clean with fine sand, then wipe it with a damp cloth.

Back in his room, Qin Ziwen finally had some rare time to rest.

Take out three cards.

Keep the blacksmith card for now, then get the building enhancement card, which is random and can grant any building a random special effect.

Currently, any building can only have one special effect.

However, because it is random, it may result in a useless effect.

Hesitated again and again.

Qin Ziwen ultimately decided to use it in the leather armor workshop.

The yellow building enhancement card transformed into light and merged into the courtyard of the level 2 leather armor workshop.

Envelop the entire building.

Finally, the light faded.

[Level 2 Leather Armor Workshop: Level 2 leather armor defense increased, Level 1 leather armor toughness increased, Level 1 leather armor crafting speed increased] (Special effect: Constant temperature workshop produces leather armor that can insulate against temperature, keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer)
The effect is okay. The weather in the Gobi Desert is hot, and the leather armor itself is not breathable. It works fine in cold environments, but in hot environments, it blocks the evaporation of sweat and easily makes the skin feel stuffy.

At least the leather armor produced has a significant improvement in comfort.

Next is the [Advanced Resource Card] Level 1 Water Dew Fruit Forest.

This resource site requires an area of ​​10*10 meters, which is only 100 square meters.

Compared to bamboo forests, the required area is much smaller.

This indirectly proves that the water dew fruit is of higher value.

Clear a space next to the bamboo forest, and then use the Water Dew Fruit Forest card.

On the open ground, rows of dark brown, low-lying fruit trees appeared. These trees had a peculiar appearance, with many fist-sized holes on their trunks.

For those with trypophobia, the water dew fruit tree is quite unsettling.

These holes are scattered all over the tree trunk, like the caves in a beehive.

Beneath the thick branches, white fruits hanging down like balloons.

Qin Ziwen picked a fruit.

The fruit is lightweight, about the size of a coconut, and when gently shaken, you can feel the water sloshing inside.

Pry open a hole and pour the liquid inside into a bowl.

A slightly viscous, transparent liquid with some milky white flocs floating in it.

It has a faint fruity aroma.

Qin Ziwen wasn't sure, so he sent his insights to the two nearby plant resource points.

[Level 1 Water Dew Fruit Forest: Level 2 accelerates growth, Level 1 improves taste, Level 1 is rich in nutrients] (Special effect: The peel of the Water Dew Fruit has a certain detoxification effect)
[Grade 1 Nan Bamboo Forest: Grade 1 bamboo hardness, Grade 1 bamboo toughness]

Looking around, there are twenty fruit trees in this grove, with each tree bearing between nine and twelve fruits.

There are about two hundred in total.

I just don't know how fast these water dew fruits grow.

Moreover, the shell of the water dew fruit has a detoxifying effect. The shell is somewhat similar to the outer shell of a coconut, although it is crisper. However, it would probably be a bit difficult to eat it directly.

After much thought, Qin Ziwen felt that it was necessary to process the fruit shells, such as grinding them into powder and then mixing them with water before drinking, which might be better.

This dew fruit may become a specialty product that can be sold to the public.

After finishing his work, Qin Ziwen prepared to rest.

The next morning, Chen Pi successfully made a sample of leather armor. Chen Pi demonstrated its defensive capabilities to Qin Ziwen. He first put the leather armor on a wooden stake, and then tested it with blunt and sharp objects.

Firstly, in terms of blunt impact, this leather armor demonstrates excellent shock resistance.

Secondly, leather armor is also very effective in attacking targets such as dragging, slashing, and cutting.

It demonstrated a certain defensive capability in terms of slashing.

However, the leather armor revealed its weakness in stabbing; it was ineffective in defending against stabs and was easily pierced.

When attacking leather armor, bows and arrows also exhibited a similar armor-piercing effect as thrusting.

No wonder the desert giant worm was killed by three crossbow bolts when faced with a vehicle-mounted crossbow; its armor was naturally vulnerable to spikes.

Jia Liangcai repeatedly offered his congratulations: "Congratulations, my lord, on acquiring this fine armor! Please, my lord, name this armor!"

“Since it’s made from the armor of a giant desert worm, let’s call it Sandworm Armor.” Qin Ziwen didn’t choose any fancy names; he chose Sandworm Armor for its ease of memorization. Jia Liangcai praised repeatedly, “Wonderful! My lord, this name is ingenious yet simple, returning to the essence of things, and truly catchy.”

Chen Pi was stunned. Was the name really that magical?
He felt it was just ordinary.

Qin Ziwen felt somewhat embarrassed.

"By the way, we've acquired a new batch of plants in our homestead. Let me explain," he told Jia Liangcai about the effects of the Water Dew Fruit Tree, and then asked him to pick a few fruits to try it out and how to process them to extend their shelf life.

"Yes." Jia Liangcai bowed.

Meanwhile, Qin Ziwen found Du Yu and asked him to learn how to make sandworm shells from Chen Pi.

Make him make me a suitable set of armor.

Wearing an extra layer of armor would make hunting dragon-like creatures safer.

Du Yu felt that the leather armor looked a bit bulky, so he decided to make himself a simpler leather armor, abandoning the defensive area and instead modifying it to protect a few important parts while maintaining flexibility.

At noon, the harpy eagle, which had been out hunting, flew back down the balcony.

Once inside, it couldn't wait to bark urging us on.

It placed its paws on Qin Ziwen's arm and then kept shaking its head.

It gestured to its owner to remove the phone from its neck.

"Okay, okay, I'll look at it right away."

He took off his phone and found traces of a desert raptor in a video he recorded today.

The environment in the video is somewhat unfamiliar, unlike the scenes from the previous shoots.

Has the harpy eagle flown far away?

With doubts in his mind, Qin Ziwen dragged the progress bar to confirm takeoff, and then it flew swiftly along the northwest direction of the community.

If he remembered correctly, the sand dunes to the northwest seemed to have been inhabited by the giant desert worms.

But after the sandstorm, the dunes were blown away by the storm, and large areas of dunes shifted, exposing the relics buried under the yellow sand.

This is a small town buried at the bottom of the desert.

There is a wall around the outside, and inside are scattered buildings.

A desert raptor was walking through this abandoned town.

The sand dunes were blown away by the sandstorm and moved a great distance to the side. Now, nearly half of the small town is still buried in yellow sand.

The desert raptor roams the exposed parts of the body.

"Du Yu, we've found the target," Qin Ziwen called out as he turned around.

“I’ll have the horned eagle and Red Hare take you there first, and we’ll follow from behind.”

By this time, the yellow sand in the community had been basically cleaned up.

Qin Ziwen assembled the core hunting team, then, carrying food, water, and two vehicles equipped with crossbows, they headed towards the sand dune area.

By the time they arrived, the desert raptor was already dead.

Du Yu sat on the ground, leaning against an earthen wall, holding a long spear in his hands, his body covered in blood.

"Are you injured?" Qin Ziwen quickly took out the cup containing the healing spring water.

“My lord, I am fine. This is the blood of the dragon raptor.” Du Yu waved his hand to refuse. “My lord, you must be careful. I just heard some noise from the sand dunes. There might be worms.”

Qin Ziwen looked to the east, where some buildings were still covered by yellow sand.

He immediately shouted, "Everyone, be careful! Don't go near that area! Stay away from the sand dunes!"

Everyone agreed.

"This place seems to be quite well preserved." Wang Jun looked around and found that it looked like an ancient architectural site buried under the yellow sand.

"This house has collapsed."

“This place looks a bit like a field. Look, there are ridges all around.”

"This must be a well, it's full of sand."

The group searched the surrounding area.

They could confirm that there were indeed signs of human habitation here in the past.

They were probably the first people to discover this place.

After searching, the group found that things like stone mills, stone foundations, and stone tablets in these buildings were still well preserved, and porcelain and pottery jars were even found in some of the houses.

Many still retain traces of their original use.

"President, here is a bronze sword."

"There is a bronze mirror here."

"There is a mummified corpse here."

In the room, a dark brown, mummified corpse with skin tightly covering the bones lay quietly on the bed.

The area around his eyes had long since dried out, leaving two black holes. He was covered with a blanket, which was now stuck to his body.

He placed his hands flat on his chest, and his posture suggested he was quite serious.

"There's paper on the table, but unfortunately it's too old and was buried, so the contents are illegible," Wang Jun said with some regret.

Yang Cunshen came in from outside and whispered in Wang Jun's ear.

Wang Jun's eyes lit up, and he said to Qin Ziwen, "Captain, the stone tablet has been cleaned up, and some content was found on it during the review."

Qin Ziwen arrived at the stone tablet in the city. They had just discovered this stone tablet, but the gaps between the carved characters on the stone tablet had long been filled with sand and soil, making them difficult to see.

So two people stayed here to remove the sand and clean the stone tablet.

The stone tablet has now been largely cleaned up, and the inscriptions are now legible.

The text above is in the Song typeface, which is written in a square and round style.

With the combined efforts of a group of people, the inscription on the stone tablet was finally deciphered.

The gist of the story is that they were originally residents of the ironworks in Yangzhou. One day, the market suddenly appeared at the edge of a lake.

Because the iron workshop itself had the ability to smelt and forge, and many of the residents who came with them were blacksmiths in the city.

Initially, they relied on iron tools for hunting and barely survived by the lake. They named their iron workshop Iron County, changed the name of the workshop to a county, appointed a respected elder as the county magistrate, and selected brave men as county lieutenants.

They then gradually gained a foothold by relying on a mysterious power called cards.

Guided by their homeland, they successfully crossed the grasslands; this Gobi Desert was their second world.

Unexpectedly, upon arriving in the Second World, a conflict arose with the newly integrated residents. The two sides clashed over the struggle for power. Although the conflict was eventually quelled, both sides suffered heavy casualties.

Subsequently, because he failed to complete the task within the one-month deadline, he was left in the Gobi Desert forever.

When they carved the inscription, they had been living in this world for eleven years. The survivors of the iron workshop were becoming increasingly rare, so they carved this monument as a memorial.

Cao Biansheng was somewhat shocked. "Yangzhou...is that our ancient city? Could something similar have happened back then?"

“They may not be ancient people from our world; they could also be from a parallel world.” Wang Jun hesitated for a moment when he said this. Before they transmigrated, their status and position were not high. Perhaps the higher-ups knew something, but it was not known to the ordinary people.

While everyone else was still in surprise, Qin Ziwen thought of something.

A memory surfaced in his mind.

He once asked Li Tieshan if he remembered the past, and Li Tieshan answered loudly: "My name is Li Tieshan, a blacksmith in the West Market of Yangzhou City Ironworks."

(End of this chapter)