Jia Liangcai stroked his beard and chuckled after hearing Zhao Pu’s grievances. "Mr. Zhao, this is a good thing. Why are you so troubled? People flocking to us means our Qin Alliance has won their hearts and minds. The tide is turning in our favor. This should be a joyous occasion."

"..." Zhao Pu fell silent. "But we can’t support this many people right now. Besides, once we’ve produced so many weapons, we can’t just sell them all, can we? Trading these sharp weapons to others is no different than handing them the very blade they might turn against us."

Jia Liangcai smiled. "From what I know, the Alliance Association is hardly a monolith. We can win over some of their factions and support others. With the Student Union also tying them up, what is there to worry about?"

Zhao Pu frowned. "But if I only accept some people and reject others, won’t I offend those I turn away?"

Jia Liangcai said meaningfully, "Isn’t offending people part of our job description? Master Zhao, if you won’t be the bad guy, are you suggesting our lord should? If you’re unwilling, I can handle it myself."

Zhao Pu looked up at Jia Liangcai, his expression displeased. "Mr. Jia, you don’t have to use words to provoke me. If you can play the villain, then so can I.

I’m just considering this from the Captain’s point of view. Don’t forget, Mr. Jia, that in your time, scholars were few and far between. The common people were illiterate and easy to fool. Now, almost everyone in this Gated Community knows how to read. They’re not so gullible."

"Oh?" Jia Liangcai smirked disdainfully. "Master Zhao, it is precisely because I am a scholar that I know this: educated people are experts at weighing pros and cons. There is no need to trick them. They will invent their own reasons."

He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice. "In that case, I have a plan. First, we’ll publicly announce the number of people we’re accepting. Then, we’ll raise the requirements for joining, giving priority to applicants with useful skills or those from families with two or more able-bodied men.

Then, we’ll secretly spread word, having our new Qin Alliance members boast about the benefits. There will be no shortage of ’great minds’ to argue our case for us. Once this news gets out, the Alliance Association won’t be able to just stand by and do nothing."

At this, Jia Liangcai gave a chilling smile. "They’ll either have to offer even more generous terms than us, or they’ll have to resort to brute force to suppress them. Why should we trouble ourselves?"

Zhao Pu was silent. He found Jia Liangcai’s ideas... difficult to comment on.

’But announcing a limited number of spots and then raising the entry requirements... that part is actually feasible.’

Jia Liangcai said, "The Alliance Association can fall, but not right now."

Jia Liangcai returned to Home and reported to Qin Ziwen, relaying the conversation he just had.

Upon hearing the report, Qin Ziwen frowned. "How petty."

Jia Liangcai bowed his head to listen.

Qin Ziwen said, "We’ll accept everyone who wants to join us. If that Zou Jianghe can support them, you think I, Qin Ziwen, can’t?"

"Although, it’s not really me supporting them—it’s them supporting me. I will provide them with weapons, for a price, and let them hunt beasts and secure resource points. I’ll take a cut of their profits. The more they earn, the more I get." Qin Ziwen stood up. "Otherwise, what’s the point of my Yanwu Military Equipment Supervisor making so much weaponry and Armor? No matter how many weapons and suits of Armor you have, they’re useless without people to wield them. They’d just be a pile of inert junk."

"Your insight is brilliant, my Lord!"

"However, there is one thing I do need you to do. Work with Guo Xiaochun and screen everyone who joins our Qin Alliance. Sift out those with good character and principles, and mark those with poor character or a history of betrayal." Qin Ziwen turned back to Jia Liangcai. "This task must be done perfectly."

’It’s a motley crew. The bigger the forest, the weirder the birds that fly in.’

’He needed to make preparations in advance.’ 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Yes."

...

Jia Liangcai and Zhao Pu ran themselves ragged. They even recruited a dozen more people to help with the paperwork, and after a frantic afternoon, they had signed up nearly two hundred new members.

The Yanwu Military Equipment Supervisor’s labor shortage was solved in one fell swoop.

There wasn’t an abundance of anything in the Gated Community, except for people who wanted a full meal.

If the Alliance Association hadn’t issued all sorts of restrictions—resorting to threats, bribes, and all manner of excuses—they probably would have lost even more people.

The majority of them were assigned to the Yanwu Military Equipment Supervisor. While they weren’t professional craftsmen, they were all fast learners. Having received a modern, systematic education, they learned new techniques with incredible speed, provided they had an instructor.

To increase efficiency, they were divided into teams, and the work was distributed in an assembly-line process.

This approach not only compartmentalized the skills—ensuring no single person knew the entire process—but also significantly boosted production efficiency.

Aside from the students, most of the new recruits had families to support. The able-bodied young adults among their family members were chosen to form a fifty-man Hunting Team.

The weapons, Bows and Arrows, and Armor produced by the Yanwu Military Equipment Supervisor were prioritized for the core Hunting Team. Once their needs were met, the surplus was provided to the regular Hunting Teams.

That very evening, the first batch of finished products came off the line.

"Sir, here are the Long Spears and Leather Armor made by the Yanwu Military Equipment Supervisor." Li Tieshan brought the weapons over.

Qin Ziwen took the Long Spear from his hands. The shaft was made from sturdy nanmu bamboo, uniform in thickness, and perfectly sized. Its weight was just right for an ordinary person.

Interestingly, the three Long Spears Li Tieshan had brought looked as if they had come from the exact same mold.

Their length, thickness, and even the angle of their spearheads were perfectly uniform.

’This must be the effect of the ’Standardized Military Equipment’ trait.’

Next was the Leather Armor. Though they came in different sizes, the suits were all remarkably similar, like different sizes of the same article of clothing.

He had the distinct impression that this batch of weapons and Armor from the Military Equipment Supervisor was essentially standardized equipment, all made from the same template.

’Although he didn’t know the specific advantages of standardized equipment, he subconsciously felt this was a very good thing.’

"Keep up the great work," Qin Ziwen said. "Oh, and Iron Mountain, Du Yu had a breakthrough, and his weapon is too light for him now. You’ll need to forge him a custom one. You’re our best master craftsman."

Hearing the praise, Li Tieshan puffed out his chest and declared, "Sir, I’ll be sure to forge a suitable weapon for Instructor Du!"

「The next day」 The first Longbow was completed.

Testing showed the new Longbow had a maximum range of over 150 meters. A trained archer using a high-arcing trajectory could send an arrow over 300 meters, but at such a distance, both stopping power and accuracy dropped significantly, making it useful only for volley fire.

Its effective combat range was between 50 and 100 meters.

And within 30 meters, its lethality was at its peak.

It could inflict significant damage on large beasts, like the Giant Hyena, at a range of up to fifty meters.

Due to material shortages, the first batch consisted of only twenty Longbows, which would be finished over the next three days.

On the same day, ten Long Spears and seven sets of Sand Worm Armor were also completed.

The Car-Mounted Crossbow was still under construction. While working on it, Li Yue discovered a new alloy formula that increased the strength of the crossbow’s arms. He was currently testing it. If successful, the new model of the Car-Mounted Crossbow would have significantly improved range and power.

...

...