abcnovels
Chapter 41 - 38: Making a Piece of Equipment
Chapter 41 - 38: Making a Piece of Equipment
Lu Yuan had never actually tanned leather or crafted equipment before, which made him somewhat uneasy.
He only knew that if leather was left in place, it would gradually deteriorate into a dry, lumpy substance, and by then, the Fire Lizard Leather would definitely be downgraded from "Ordinary Level."
"The clothes and pants I need to wear myself, so I still need to figure something out to make them a bit more refined."
As for the tanning of the leather, he had seen the general process on TV a long time ago.
He only remembered some rough steps.
The first step was... soaking and degreasing?
The purpose was to remove dirt and fats on the fur that were prone to spoilage.
Lu Yuan had no idea what chemical agents to use, so he could only search half a day through the ruins of the Meida Civilization, eventually finding a bag with a barrel of some unknown powder that had been produced a long time ago.
[Produced at an unknown time, suspected to be laundry powder. It has spoiled, but the residual sodium carbonate and sodium silicate still have some level of cleaning effectiveness.]
He poured this barrel of laundry powder into a bucket with a "whoosh" and then soaked a large pile of lizard leather in it, stirring occasionally.
Just this soaking step took two days.
Using a small knife, he carefully scraped off the fat bit by bit.
He stretched the leather and dried it in the sunlight.
[Fire Lizard Leather (General Level-)]
Lu Yuan’s pupils dilated, his heart raced, how the hell is there a minus sign!
"Is this going to be downgraded?!"
It’s a bit too much.
God, I’m just one person, can’t you be a bit more lenient?!
But he had no choice, one person’s knowledge and strength could only get him this far.
He couldn’t even find another bag of laundry powder.
Lu Yuan calmed his mind and continued to work.
One Fire Lizard skin was chopped into over twenty pieces with an axe.
Some pieces of the leather were 3 centimeters thick, others were even 5-6 centimeters thick, and after soaking in water, they were really heavy and dense.
Lu Yuan labored and was happy, after all, this leather would be his future pants, clothes, and shoes.
A complete set of Fire Lizard Suit, he was still very much looking forward to it.
There were three types of lizard skin in total: the first was the scales on the back and buttocks, extremely hard and tough, practically impervious to knives and guns, and even after being soaked in laundry powder, they were still stiff as wood.
The second type was the skin on the legs, comparatively soft and highly flexible.
The third type was the skin on the belly, which also had short fur, like a carpet, and this skin was the softest.
After the soaking was done, the leather lined up like rolls of fabric, hung to dry on poles.
[Extraordinary Creature Leather after initial cleaning, current quality is ordinary. The tanner must be a Grang Tai, not even willing to use a better cleaning agent. (Ordinary Level--)]
[The method of drying was also a bit rough, it is best to use a dryer for drying.]
After drying, it had two minus signs.
Lu Yuan kept rubbing his head, sighing deeply.
His right eye "kindly" provided a tip: [It still needs to be treated with a tanning agent to further enhance the quality of the leather. The most common tanning agent is alum. In the leather-making process, alum reacts chemically with the collagen in the leather, which helps improve the leather’s elasticity and durability. It also has waterproof, anti-wrinkle, and antibacterial benefits.]
Lu Yuan was heartbroken, but he could only brace himself, praising: "Thank goodness for Pioneer’s Eye... otherwise, I really would be at a complete loss. How about, do you have a better method?"
Unfortunately, the Pioneer’s Eye was not artificial intelligence, and it didn’t change in any way with Lu Yuan’s praise.
Having no choice, Lu Yuan smacked his head: "Alum... I remember finding some somewhere, yes... there was still some left in that chemical plant ruin!"
"Let’s go, Old Wolf! We’re going to pick up some trash."
He headed towards the direction of the city ruins with Old Wolf.
...
...
Safe Zone.
Lu Yuan had reconnected the signal!
This was great news!
However, until a new transmission signal was invented, people hesitated to sound an alarm, fearing Lu Yuan might turn off the communicator once again.
Due to the difference in the flow of time between the two sides, what Lu Yuan had done for several days only amounted to just over an hour in the Safe Zone.
In just one hour, so much information had come through that people couldn’t keep up.
Therefore, the research institute had to increase its staff, each person handling a portion of the content.
In front of computer after computer, many graduate students, doctoral candidates, and professors were summoned... With the great pause in society and the halt in industry and schools, everyone was idle, and this part of manpower allocation was quite easy.
The hundred or so people had a kind of joy akin to watching a wilderness survival program.
"You can tell, this gentleman is still very lonely. He intentionally aimed the camera at his work area… even if deep inside, he doesn’t believe that the camera can really send the images back, he still does it,"
"Sharing personal updates is a way to alleviate loneliness through social interaction."
A psychologist analyzed, jotting these observations down in a notebook.
As the first person to explore the Pangu Continent, the value of Lu Yuan’s firsthand data was self-evident.
"Have you noticed that he seems stronger than the average person? An ordinary person doing so much physical work would have collapsed from exhaustion by now, right?"
"Indeed… Could it be that he possesses some special ability… a Dual Ability User?"
Everyone was somewhat surprised; innate Dual Ability Users were extremely rare; there were only a few on the entire Earth.
"That leather is very tough, not easy to cut open with an axe, it must have a considerable density."
"Wait, his location seems to be in a... city ruin ?!"
Indeed, in a corner of the screen, the remnants of a collapsed house had been captured.
Time had left many marks on the house, peeling wall paint, rusting steel bars, collapsed beams, and in the dark corners, fungi were growing.
Wild vines overgrowing concealed many traces.
In the post-destruction era of civilization, time was like a vast sea, with only withered leaves accumulating on the once-wide roads.
"This must be the Meida Civilization... He found this communicator from the Meida Civilization."
While people were shocked, they also felt a strange sense of trepidation.
Why was there a Ninth Epoch?
What about the first eight Epochs?
Where had those civilizations gone?
What truly was "God’s" purpose?
These questions, no one could answer.
Eventually, they all turned into a sigh.
It was a while before someone in the conference room began to discuss again.
"The way this leather was tanned, how should I put it… it’s quite crude, barely usable."
"He must be intending to make clothes, having lived on the Pangu Continent for a long time."
"However, it seems like he wants to demonstrate something even more important?"
Put yourself in his shoes, having enough knowledge to tan leather on your own is already quite impressive.
Even a leather tanning master on his own, without chemical materials, could only do so much rough work.
A hundredfold time dilation, like fast-forwarding a movie.
It seemed like just a moment in conversation when Lu Yuan excitedly returned from the ruins, carrying several large barrels, his face filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest.
...