Shen Le: So I Still Have to Go Learn Blacksmithing?

"Senior Brother can't save you."

Doctor Senior Brother told Shen Le with particular cruelty. Shen Le froze completely.

"What?"

You people restore ancient ships!

You pieced together that ancient ship salvaged from the seafloor well enough to put it on display in a museum!

You even made a replica ancient ship for the museum!

And now you're telling me you can't figure out those nails and can't help me?

"Senior Brother, you never studied these nails?"

"Of course we studied them!" Doctor Senior Brother told him with perfect confidence.

"You know perfectly well what we study! We study what those iron nails are made of, how to stabilize rusted, decayed nails, and how to restore them—

"We never studied exactly how these iron nails were driven into a ship, how many nails an ancient ship needed, or how they were fixed in place!"

"Then when you assembled the ancient ship—"

"Oh, come on. It's not like you don't understand." Senior Brother rolled his eyes dramatically. "The ancient ship salvaged from the seafloor still hasn't even finished being dehydrated and desalinated. It's all still soaking in water. We only pieced it together roughly—why would that replica ship need to reproduce the original techniques?

"If there's glue, use glue. If there are bolts, use bolts. Do it however is cheapest!

"Museums have budgets too, okay?

"If it's not for writing papers or producing results, who bothers obsessing over this stuff?"

"Slowly scan every single plank again and make detailed survey records." Senior Brother sighed and began instructing him. "All these ships have nail holes. Once the surveying is done, mark every nail hole. Then, based on the nail remnants left inside them, you should be able to make a rough comparison.

"If you need more ship nails, I'll give you a few