Chapter 139: Impregnable

Solar water heaters aren't easy to make, are they?

If we meant a genuine solar water heater, of course it's impossible—whether glass vacuum tubes, metal heat collectors, or ceramic heat-absorbing coatings, we can't make any of them, let alone the circulation pump and a full set of temperature sensors and automatic controls; but we don't need something that complicated now.

"Because the water volume is small?" Chen Mu tried asking.

"Exactly, even just wrapping water in iron sheets and leaving it in the sun would be enough for us to use."

Tang Jing sighed: "So heating isn't actually difficult; our biggest problem is insulation."

"Would making something like a thermos be feasible?"

"As you know, the key to a thermos is the vacuum inner layer in the middle, which we simply can't make at our current level."

"But if we can't keep it warm, heating loses much of its point."

"Can we use ready-made solar equipment?"

"In theory we could, but the school probably doesn't have any, and even if it did, we could hardly operate it."

"So we've been talking for half a day, and it's all for nothing."

"Of course not." Tang Jing laughed: "The reason I brought up this problem is actually to discuss something else."

"What is it?"

"Solar energy devices actually take up a lot of space; if we installed something that big outdoors, it'd probably attract attention in just a few days, so..."

"You wouldn't be thinking..." Chen Mu already had a vague idea, and he unconsciously lifted his head.

"Exactly, solar power naturally has to be installed on the roof." Tang Jing said, then pointed upward.

"Huh?" Wei Dalei lifted his head foolishly.

The storage room's 2.8-meter height is, to them, like a skyscraper; anyway, they can only see that there's a ceiling, and the specific details are indistinct.

"But now you're saying we should install a solar device on the roof?"

"That's a bit exaggerated." Dong Junwei couldn't help muttering.

"Of course we can't do it now, but it definitely won't be far off." Tang Jing said with a smile.

Often, what Chen Mu envies isn't Tang Jing's knowledge and intellect, but her confident mindset of being able to control the future.

Tang Jing continued: "However, what I want to say is that utilizing the entire room's height is a problem we need to consider next."

"Isn't it too early?" Dong Junwei frowned.

"Saying it's early isn't really early; we can start by making use of the walls."

"The walls?"

"Yeah, like the lookout platform on the door, except the walls are thicker, so it's a bit harder."

Chen Mu nodded in agreement: "I tried before; the whitewash on the walls is loose and crumbling, constantly powdering and peeling off—there's no way to remodel it. Speaking of which, this house hasn't been built that long, has it? How can the quality be so poor?"

Tang Jing laughed: "Strictly speaking, these little buildings are all illegal constructions, temporary in nature; they're only unregulated because they're inside the school, so when they were built, nobody cared, and they used inferior materials."

"It won't collapse, will it?" He Ying worried.

"That's unlikely; it'd be hard to make such a small building collapse. However, things like wall paint, to save money, they wouldn't use good latex paint; it looks like they just coated it twice with lime wash, and the lime wash proportion wasn't adjusted properly."

"They also have to add alum and salt." Chen Mu nodded.

"You still know how to paint walls?" Tang Jing asked, tilting her head and smiling.

"I've helped people with it before."

"Back then some people even added rice soup, but your method is rather outdated, and properly processed slaked lime can itself be used directly as paint—no need to add salt or anything. Nowadays, people either use latex paint or, to save trouble, just mix glue into the whitewash; this room is probably the latter, except they didn't do it well, so the powder starts falling off soon."

"Is there any way to fix it?"

"None." Tang Jing spread her hands: "We can only scrape off the surface layer of the wall."

"That workload would be large."

"Besides, we don't need to scrape the whole wall clean; just scrape where we need to."

"All right." Chen Mu nodded: "But what exactly are we supposed to do?"

"On one hand, we'll build a lookout platform on each of the remaining three walls to prevent people from sneaking up behind us without us knowing; on the other hand, I think we still need to do some defensive works."

"For example?"

"For example, throwing bombs down from the lookout platform."

"Is that necessary?"

"You've seen the strength of Yi Zhong and Qingbei; even if we can't fight them head-on, we at least need some means of self-defense. Although we seem not to have been exposed yet, over time it's hard to guarantee we won't be discovered."

"Hmm." Chen Mu nodded in agreement: "Last time we injured so many of them and even snatched Gu Yinglong; Yi Zhong is surely looking for us."

Tang Jing said: "My idea is to first make this place impregnable, so we can advance to attack and retreat to defend, and also stockpile at least a year's worth of food."

"A year?"

"The rice we currently have is enough to last about a year; of course, other things still need to be sought out occasionally, but having these 12 crates of rice gives us more confidence, and potatoes, if stored properly, can also last a month or two."

"With grain in hand, there's no panic in the heart."

"That's exactly what I mean." Tang Jing laughed: "With a year's time, even if we don't gain new members, I believe everyone's abilities will reach a new level; then we can do more things and won't have to fear others too much."

"But." Chen Mu frowned: "The ability users of Qingbei and Yi Zhong will also keep growing, and with combat as training, they might progress even faster than us."

Tang Jing said: "Combat certainly can train people, but injuries and deaths are inevitable; although they say they have many people, in the end it's only a couple hundred—how much loss can they sustain?"

"To be honest, I've always felt that Qingbei's understanding of abilities surpasses ours; after all, they have more people and more reference standards. Earlier, Song Yu inexplicably killed some small bugs on the road, and to this day we still don't know why."

All things considered, Chen Mu is a proactive and enterprising person, but perhaps because of his experiences, he often habitually thinks of the worst-case scenario.

Tang Jing said: "Looking at it now, the diversity and complexity of abilities far exceed our imagination; I don't think there could be much difference between their two hundred-plus people and our twenty-odd."

"Moreover, both Qingbei and Yi Zhong have a huge disadvantage."

"What?" Chen Mu wondered.

"They don't have me." Tang Jing revealed a strange smile.