The next morning, though it was already eight o’clock, the sky was still a hazy gray.

A masked Zhao Pu came up to remind Qin Ziwen, "Leader, the sandstorm just passed. There are a lot of suspended particles in the air. It’s best to wear a mask when you go out these next few days, or you could easily get a respiratory illness."

Qin Ziwen found some masks in a drawer and distributed them to the members of his Home who were heading out.

He went down the stairwell, but stopped as soon as he reached the first floor.

He had discovered that there was nowhere to even set foot outside the first-floor entrance.

The building’s main entrance on the first floor was shut tight. Through the glass door, he could see a layer of sand and dirt piled up nearly half a meter high.

Footsteps sounded from behind him. The female university students from Room 202 came downstairs and couldn’t help but groan at the sight of such a thick layer of dirt.

"We’re doomed. It’s all dirt outside. I can’t imagine how long it’ll take to shovel."

"It took us forever just to shovel the bit of dirt on our balcony. This... oh god. I feel like our Gated Community was just dug up from underground."

They pulled the entrance door inward, and a large amount of sand and dirt poured in from outside.

This drew a series of startled cries.

Qin Ziwen stepped onto the thick sand and walked out of the building. He discovered that not only the Gated Community, but the area outside it as well, was buried under a thick layer of sand and dirt.

This was fresh dust brought by the sandstorm. It was soft underfoot, like stepping on a snowdrift.

Each step sank deep into the sand, and it took a great deal of effort to pull his foot back out.

Inside the Gated Community, some people had already started organizing on their own to clear the sand.

Seeing this, Qin Ziwen also gathered the members of the Qin Alliance to join the sand-clearing teams.

With wheelbarrows and shovels, they cleared a path between each building.

They worked nonstop until noon, barely managing to open up a few wide paths between the various building entrances and the exits of the Gated Community.

The hard ground of the Gobi Desert outside the Gated Community was now also covered in a thick layer of sand, changing the terrain somewhat from flat, hard ground to a stretch of shallow sand dunes.

Qin Ziwen said to Du Yu, "Your mission can’t be delayed. We’ll help you look for a suitable target while we clean."

The Beaked Eagle circled the Gated Community several times. Compared to the great animal migration from a few days ago, the Gobi Desert seemed somewhat empty and desolate after the sandstorm.

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

The tall ridge acted like a wall, blocking much of the wind and sand.

Thick sand had piled up against the side of the ridge, forming tall dunes. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The entrance leading further in was completely filled with sand and dust, raising the ground level by a good three to four meters.

"I have some bad news." Luo Gang found Qin Ziwen, his expression grave. "That water source we found before was blocked by the sandstorm. We dug down for a bit, and the sand at the bottom is damp, but there’s no sign of water."

Qin Ziwen said, "I remember there was another one north of the canyon."

"The one to the north is buried too." Luo Gang shook his head.

Luo Gang hesitated for a moment, then said, "If we can’t find a new water source, our water will only last three days at most. Your side... could you spare some to sell to us?"

Qin Ziwen replied, "We don’t have many people, so the amount we can spare is limited. The Alliance Association should have collected some water before the crossing."

"Alright, I’ll go ask them." Luo Gang nodded. He was mentally and physically exhausted. A water source they had found with such great difficulty had been completely buried by a sweeping sandstorm, just like that.

Judging by the scale of this sandstorm, it would probably be difficult to find any water source within several kilometers of the Gated Community.

The Beaked Eagle flew back. The air outside was thick with dust, and even the normally noisy bird was silent.

He took the hot phone from its neck and checked the video.

Qin Ziwen suddenly noticed a detail.

He dragged the progress bar.

In the video, on a sand dune at the edge of the eastern ridge, a camel was walking slowly with its head down.

It seemed to sense something and stopped moving.

From the high-altitude perspective, he could see the sand not far away bulging upwards. A long, thick shape hidden beneath the surface was rapidly approaching the camel.

The camel raised a hoof to stomp, but in the next second, it was sent flying by a figure that leaped out of the sand.

The camel fell to the ground. Immediately after, a massive monster burst out from the base of the dune, coiled around the camel, then opened its maw and began to devour the camel, starting with the head.

The camel’s head was engulfed, and it wasn’t long before it stopped struggling.

"A Desert Giant Worm." Qin Ziwen’s brow furrowed.

’Weren’t the Desert Giant Worms in the northwest before?’

’This is bad. The massive sandstorm brought a huge amount of sand and changed the terrain in some areas.’

’The Desert Giant Worm’s original habitat was probably affected. That, combined with these new sand dunes formed where the mountains blocked the storm, has caused its territory to shift.’

From the video, its body was at least four or five times the length of the camel.

It had to be at least ten-something meters long, and it wasn’t slender like a snake, but rather thick-bodied, like a caterpillar.

’Being able to easily knock over a camel means its strength is nothing to scoff at. Add in its special ability to live beneath the sand, and this thing is going to be tough to deal with.’

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

’But that would be very difficult.’

’It’s like trying to lure a fish out of water.’

He put away the phone and returned to their Home, where Li Tieshan brought some good news.

The Car-Mounted Crossbow was finished!

He had successfully completed the first one.

At the same time, a second Car-Mounted Crossbow was already being calibrated and would be completed by tonight at the latest.

Qin Ziwen went to the Blacksmith Shop to inspect the finished product.

It was a somewhat crude-looking war machine, about two meters long, pieced together from wood, iron, and the collision beams from a car.

Behind the body of the Crossbow was a large winch. The windlass was made of hardwood, with an iron crank handle running through the middle.

It took two people working together to use the crank and hook the Crossbow String onto the trigger mechanism.

Next to it was a wooden striking hammer. Li Tieshan demonstrated that by hitting the striking hammer with a mallet, it would activate a lever and fire the Crossbow Arrow.

However, the mallet didn’t actually fall. He just used it to gently demonstrate the motion.

The weapon was too destructive to be used safely indoors.

The core component was the Crossbow Arrow. It was called an arrow, but in reality, it looked more like a short spear.

The serrated, cone-shaped head was ridiculously exaggerated, designed specifically for hunting large beasts.

It had three wheels on the bottom for easy turning, as well as several support legs in the back that could be lowered to fix the machine in place.

Hearing that the Car-Mounted Crossbow was finished, Qin Ziwu, Du Yu, and the others came over to crowd around and take a look.

This Car-Mounted Crossbow, filled with a violent aesthetic, was enough to make one’s blood boil with excitement.

Du Yu said, "This thing could probably be used in a siege. A few shots would break through a thinner city gate."

Qin Ziwu said excitedly, "Now I’m kind of looking forward to running into a large dinosaur. We’ll hit it with a couple of these and let it have a taste of the Car-Mounted Crossbow’s power."

Qin Ziwen said, "One isn’t enough. We need at least eight, split into four groups to fire in rotation. Reloading a Crossbow Arrow is too slow, so we need to leave time for the other Crossbow Wagons to reload. That’s how we’ll maintain continuous fire."

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