"Ziwen, have you seen videos of African Maasai people collectively hunting elephants? Even a six-ton elephant ends up looking like a porcupine covered in spears under their coordinated attack."
Qin Ziwen, who was shoveling soil, straightened up upon hearing Zou Sheng's words beside him. He wiped sweat from his forehead and smiled. "I've seen those videos before, but the Maasai train from childhood - hunting is their livelihood. We definitely can't compare to them."
"Hey, don't build up others' confidence while diminishing our own! I exercise regularly too, and I think my physical fitness might not be inferior to those African hunters." Zou Sheng flexed his arm, striking a bodybuilding pose.
Zou Sheng had that kind of physique that looked slim in clothes but revealed well-defined muscles when undressed.
When he tensed his arm, the muscles became clearly visible.
On the grassland outside the residential complex, everyone was working with intense enthusiasm. When someone got tired, another person immediately took their place.
To successfully trap the Giant Crocodile, they were preparing to dig a large pit measuring 1244 meters.
Deng Guang expressed concern: "Brother Qin, do you think our trap can actually contain the crocodile? What if the crocodile tries to climb out?"
Qin Ziwen hesitated: "With a pit this deep, the crocodile probably won't be able to get out."
Deng Guang shook his head: "But what if the soil walls collapse? Like a landslide. If the crocodile causes the pit edges to crumble and form a slope, it could just climb right up."
Qin Ziwen pictured the scenario and felt Old Deng's concerns were quite reasonable.
He found Huang Tao, who was standing by the pit edge, seriously conversing with a balding middle-aged man nearby.
"The way you're digging this absolutely won't work. The soil here is quite loose - if you dig too deep, it's prone to collapse. Plus, with a pit this large, the workload is enormous. It would take at least several days, and during that extended period of heavy physical labor, everyone's household food consumption would increase faster."
"Although there are many participants, earth pit projects have 'work surface' limitations. A twelve by four meter pit can only accommodate twenty to thirty people working simultaneously at most. And without machinery, relying solely on manual labor for digging is too slow."
"Furthermore, the deeper you dig, the greater the engineering difficulty becomes. I've calculated that based on this pit's volume of 192 cubic meters, you'd need over a dozen truckloads to remove the soil. And that's under ideal conditions. At four meters depth, this qualifies as a foundation pit project. Without proper slope grading or support structures, it will definitely collapse. But we don't have those conditions available now."
Huang Tao found this overwhelming. He had no engineering background and didn't understand these technical aspects, thinking simply digging a big pit would suffice since it was only four meters deep.
But he knew the man before him worked in engineering, so his opinion was certainly more professional than his own.
Huang Tao thought for a moment: "We initially planned to dig this deep to trap the crocodile. Since we can't dig this deep, what about using other methods, like creating a mud pit?"
The balding middle-aged man replied: "Theoretically that could work. As long as we mix the proper ratios, we can create mud slurry. Mud behaves as a non-Newtonian fluid - the more the crocodile struggles, the deeper it will sink. But this approach also has a problem. To create a mud pit, we need large amounts of water, and fetching water requires going to the river..."
Huang Tao said: "The property management warehouse has a diesel water pump. The cars in the underground garage have fuel."
The balding middle-aged man rejected this: "No good. Even with extension hoses, the pump can only reach forty or fifty meters maximum. We're at least over a hundred meters from the river here. The pump can't draw water from that distance."
Qin Ziwen, standing nearby, spoke up: "I have an idea. What if we create a spike trap? There are some iron fences in the complex - we could dismantle them, make them into spears and embed them at the bottom. When the crocodile falls in, since its belly lacks the armored protection of its back, these iron spikes should easily pierce through it."
The balding middle-aged man pondered, then slowly nodded: "That... does have some feasibility. But if the pit is too shallow, the crocodile might still climb out. If it gets injured and retreats back to the river, luring it out next time won't be so easy."
Qin Ziwen suddenly said: "Then why don't we just add a coffin lid to it."
Huang Tao looked puzzled: "Where would we find a coffin lid that big? Regular wood wouldn't be enough to cover it."
Qin Ziwen pointed behind them: "Aren't there plenty of cars in the garage?"
"Cars..." Huang Tao clenched his fist and slapped his palm. "Great idea! I happen to have a Jeep."
The balding middle-aged man rubbed his head, somewhat reluctantly saying: "Then I'll donate my G-Class too."
Huang Tao and Qin Ziwen stared at him in shock.
The balding middle-aged man sighed: "It was exciting when I first got it, but after driving it for a while, it's just okay. The sound insulation is poor, the seats are hard, and the engine is really loud."
Qin Ziwen and Huang Tao exchanged glances, deciding to take it as him just complaining.
The middle-aged man looked at Huang Tao and said half-jokingly: "Since I'm offering up my G-Class to crush a crocodile, how about giving me a bigger portion when we divide the meat? Here are the keys - do whatever you want with it."
Huang Tao heartily patted his chest: "Since you're contributing your car, definitely no problem giving you more meat. President Yang, we'll need to consult you more about engineering matters in the future."
President Yang repeatedly waved his hands: "Don't embarrass me like that. If you don't mind, just call me Old Yang. My physical strength can't compare to you young folks, but having worked in engineering all these years, I know a little about various aspects. Actually, I think if we want to survive properly here, just maintaining our current mode definitely won't work. And the residential floor levels are also a major problem."
Old Yang pointed toward the residential complex: "Before, with elevators, higher floors were fine - even had better views. Now without elevators, these high floors are really exhausting to climb. Those living on the eighth, ninth, or even tenth floors - just imagine, going up and down those long staircases is exhausting enough, plus we have to carry firewood, haul food, and carry water buckets."
"It's tolerable short-term, but continuing like this long-term will definitely cause problems."
Huang Tao nodded, quite agreeing with this point since he lived on the seventh floor himself.
Even as a thirty-something adult man who exercised regularly, he found the daily climbing up and down somewhat tiring.
The elderly and children didn't need mentioning.
Qin Ziwen said: "Actually, lower floors aren't as ideal as imagined either. Although no large beasts have entered the complex yet, that might not remain true in the future. Plus snakes, insects, rats, and ants can easily access lower floors."
Huang Tao agreed with this point: "True, that's why I originally bought the seventh floor - thinking it wasn't too low, would have better lighting, and fewer bugs."
After everyone vented their frustrations for a while, they each returned to their tasks.
While digging soil, Qin Ziwen glanced back at the complex's window glass.
He had originally chosen this residential complex considering its decent quality - not one of those old complexes, and most units didn't have security bars installed.
Under the sunlight, the glass reflected the azure blue sky.
"Screeeech—"
A deafening, earth-shattering cry suddenly came from overhead.
"That giant bird is back!" someone shouted.
"Run for it!"
Qin Ziwen looked up. Directly above, a dark shadow was rapidly approaching their position.
People scattered in all directions around him.
He scanned his surroundings - the area was somewhat open with no large trees, and the complex's main gate was still several dozen meters away. Given the giant bird's speed, there was no time to run there.
Qin Ziwen quickly grabbed his younger brother and pushed him into the pit. "Crouch down!"
......