Chapter 83 - 79: Powerful Beast Trap
Qin Ziwen said, "What you’re saying is good, but is there an easier way to get springs?"
Li Yue had a sudden realization. "Bro, don’t tell me you don’t have a car."
"WOOF WOOF." The golden retriever barked twice, wagging its tail.
"..."
Li Yue chuckled and leaned in. "It’s fine, I do."
"Impressive." Qin Ziwen wasn’t too surprised he had a car. After all, this kid could afford to mess around with cold weapons and Mountain Armor, so his family must be well-off. "I won’t take it for free. I can trade you supplies for it later."
Li Yue chuckled again and offered, "No, don’t. If you give me something, you’re looking down on me. My car isn’t much use anyway. Brother Qin, if you can salvage useful parts from it, you’d actually be putting it to good use."
Hearing they were going to strip a car, Deng Guang volunteered. It was only then that Qin Ziwen learned that Deng Guang had worked at an auto repair shop for a few years when he was younger and still had basic tools like wrenches and pliers at home.
’We’ve really got a lot of talented people here.’
The group went to the garage, where the floodwater hadn’t completely receded yet.
A thick layer of silt covered the ground, and messy footprints were everywhere.
Li Yue led the two of them to a skyscraper-gray BMW.
"A BMW M240i xDrive?" Qin Ziwen recognized the car and understood why Li Yue had left it in the garage.
The two-door coupe’s chassis was really low. It could only be driven on smooth, paved roads. Outside the Gated Community was uneven, rocky mountain terrain; it probably wouldn’t make it more than a dozen meters before getting stuck.
Li Yue said regretfully, "It’s a shame about the engine, though. We don’t have the specialized tools to remove it."
After opening the car doors and seeing the water inside, they carefully checked it first. Once they confirmed there were no snakes or insects, Deng Guang looked back and said, "I can take it apart, but other things besides the springs might get damaged."
Li Yue sighed. "Go ahead and strip it. If we wait any longer, it’ll all just rust. It’s already a proper flood-damaged car anyway."
After two or three hours of hard work, they finally managed to remove the springs from the suspension, engine, clutch, and other systems. As they worked, passersby occasionally walked past, and Qin Ziwen, holding a flashlight, noticed that they weren’t the only group in the garage salvaging parts.
When they were done, Deng Guang put the oil-stained parts into a bag.
Li Yue said in a low voice, "Brother Qin, if you need some high-strength metal, I know a way."
"I’m listening."
"The steel cables from the elevator. Their strength is definitely more than enough! Think about it, just a few of those ropes can pull an elevator and carry over a dozen people. Imagine how strong they must be. The only difficulty is that their strength is too high, making them hard to remove.
I reckon we’d have to separate the cable into individual strands and take them apart one by one."
Qin Ziwen asked, "Even pliers can’t cut through them?"
"It’d be tough. Oh, right, Brother Qin, about the springs—besides cars, you can also find them in a lot of places like under sofas, inside mattresses, on bicycles, and in home appliances. Their strength isn’t as high, of course, but they should still be usable for some smaller Beast Traps."
"Don’t worry about it. We’ll use the car springs for now. There are so many cars in the Gated Community, we can just buy some more later. By the way, there’s something you two might not know." Qin Ziwen then told the two of them that the Gated Community would be going through a second transmigration.
Li Yue blurted out, "Does that mean we’ll go back?"
Deng Guang looked at Qin Ziwen.
Qin Ziwen said, "New people will be joining us during the next transmigration, but it’s not yet clear how they’ll be added. For now, we should stock up on as many supplies as we can."
Li Yue’s expression darkened. He understood.
’If new people are joining next time, it’s highly unlikely we’ll be returning to Earth. Otherwise, there’d be no need to add newcomers.’
"Thanks, Brother Qin. I’ll stock up on more supplies."
Back at his place, Qin Ziwen found his brother planting something in the field. Looking closely, he saw they were two small Zhe Wood saplings, only about a meter tall, with thin roots and branches.
Carrying the springs, he entered the Blacksmith Shop. Li Tieshan was installing parts on a Beast Trap. Seeing Qin Ziwen come in, he immediately put down his work.
"Sir."
"Take a look at these springs. Think you can use them? If the size isn’t right, we can try to modify them."
Li Tieshan took a random spring from the bag, tried to pull it, and exclaimed in admiration, "Good steel! I’m afraid I couldn’t make a spring of this quality even if I used all my strength."
Qin Ziwen chuckled. "If you could make one of these, you’d be a god."
’These are the marvels of modern industry. The difficulty of forging a spring with this kind of strength and resilience by hand is astronomical.’
Li Tieshan then modified the springs, adjusting their size to fit the Beast Trap. After a long while of work, a powerful Beast Trap was finally fresh off the forge.
He looked at the menacing iron device on the ground. In the glow of the furnace, it emanated the distinct, cold gleam of metal.
The jaws were lined with sharp, serrated teeth and powered by three springs. A two-and-a-half-meter-long chain was attached to the side of the Beast Trap, with a clasp at the end for securing it to a nearby tree trunk.
Sizing up the diameter of the powerful Beast Trap, he figured it was big enough to clamp not just a wild boar’s leg, but even a rhino’s.
"You’ve worked hard. Get some proper rest," Qin Ziwen said with feeling. Li Tieshan had barely rested these past few days, going from forging Spearheads to making Beast Traps. He had done most of the main work all by himself.
Li Tieshan shook his head. "It’s no trouble, Sir. I’m used to it. I heard you’re planning to go up the mountain tomorrow, so I’m preparing to rush out another Spearhead before morning."
"Will you have enough time?"
"Yes. There were some leftover Ferrous Iron Ingots from making the Beast Trap. I just need to hammer it into shape and quench it a few times."
Thinking that another Long Spear would indeed increase their safety on the mountain tomorrow, Qin Ziwen didn’t try to persuade him otherwise. He just mixed him a large bowl of saltwater and added an extra half-pound of meat to his dinner that night.
That evening, the man in black came as promised to complete the rest of their transaction.
Xiao Xuemei came to the door with two fish and one shrimp. "The Earth Cage only caught two small fish and three small shrimp today. It’s probably because of the recent flood; we didn’t catch much."
Qin Ziwen accepted them gladly and said to Xiao Xuemei, "You can just keep the Earth Cage at your place. You all can use it yourselves tomorrow."
"Okay." Xiao Xuemei nodded. Deng Wen, who was behind her, waved her hand. "Bye-bye, Uncle."
After getting home, Xiao Xuemei put the Earth Cage in the kitchen and said to Deng Guang, who was smoking in the living room, "The Earth Cage only caught two fish today, and you went and gave away all four fish you caught."
Deng Guang took a deep drag, then stubbed out the last of the cigarette butt. "So what if I shared them? Think about how Brother Qin usually takes care of us. Besides, how are five families supposed to split just two fish and a few small shrimp?"
"That’s not what I meant, can you just let me finish!" Xiao Xuemei shot him an exasperated glare. "Am I that stingy of a person? I know who’s good to us and who isn’t. My point is, you gave away the fish you caught today, but what about tomorrow? Tomorrow you’re going up the mountain with him. What if we only catch two fish again? You would have been better off bringing those four fish back and giving them all to Xiaoqin."
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