Gangduo pondered for a moment, then asked, "If we skinned the monsters, could their hides keep out the green fire outside? Or could their blood have the same effect?"
Tongba said, "Our experiments showed that their scales and hides can indeed keep out the green fire, but they have to be relatively intact. As for their blood... only blood that retains its vitality has that effect. Once it dries, it burns just the same."
"But where would we get that many monster hides? Wouldn't we have to slaughter every monster in the Abyss to cover this ship?"
"Besides, without the Source of the World's protection, the monsters outside would swarm us. How could we hold them off?"
The recent intrusion had only been a chance occurrence, yet that single monster had caused over a hundred casualties, proving just how terrifying the Abyss monsters were.
"But the Source of the World can only protect us for two months... after those two months, we..."
At this point in the discussion, the Bearded People fell silent.
When the entire ship and its crew of over ten thousand had only two months left to live, the crushing pressure weighed on their hearts, making them feel like giving up on themselves.
Gangduo suddenly turned and retrieved an item from his room. "Objects Without Rules. We brought some among our trade goods this time."
"Can you turn them into defensive equipment, enough to keep at least one or two warriors safe from the green fire? Then those warriors can go into the water to retrieve minerals!"
He held a piece of metal that shone with a mysterious golden luster. In the Bearded People's native language, it was called "refined gold."
This fist-sized piece of metal weighed over a hundred kilograms!
Mithril's defining property was "immunity to