The ribs are the most vulnerable.
Especially these small rodents.
The usual practice is to boil the large pieces of meat until they are very tender before scrubbing them with a brush.
Using a knife to scrape it off directly is very risky.
But Su Wei's hands were frighteningly steady.
The crescent-shaped knife deftly twirled between his fingers, using the curve of the blade to perfectly conform to the curvature of his ribs.
Each incision was made precisely outside the periosteum.
It scraped off the flesh without damaging the bone.
This requires not only a steady hand, but also extremely strong perception.
The passive skill [ Nimble Hands ] in the [ Life Module ] has been unconsciously triggered.
Five minutes passed.
The beaver, which was originally a blurry mess, now has half of its body showing a clear, white skeletal structure.
A fine layer of sweat appeared on Su Wei's forehead.
He exhaled a breath of hot air, but his hand movements remained perfectly fluid.
Old Hope had already lowered his arms from his embrace at some point.
He silently walked up behind Su Wei.
The mocking glint in those critical, harsh old eyes had completely vanished.
Instead, there was a strange excitement when seeing one's own kind.
He stared intently at Su Wei's hand holding the knife.
That hand wasn't fair and delicate; it was covered in calluses and scars, marks left from years of handling guns and crawling around in the forest.
But this rough hand was moving with incredible delicacy.
"This kid..."
Old Hope let out a low groan from deep in his throat.
Su Wei brought down his final blow.
The beaver's skin and flesh were completely peeled off and placed aside.
All that remained was a skeleton, with almost no remaining flesh except for the ligaments connecting the joints.
He gently placed the knife on the table, producing a crisp metallic clang.
"All done."
Su Wei took off his gloves and turned around.
The stench of decay still lingered.
But he remained calm.
Old Hope did not speak.
He didn't even look at the skeleton.
He just stared at Su Wei.
A long time passed.
Old Hope suddenly turned around and walked towards the cabinet filled with various chemical reagents.
Only a madman knows how to dispose of a corpse.
The old man had his back to Su Wei, his voice still hoarse, but a crack had appeared in his otherwise aloof and cold demeanor.
"You passed, kid."
He took out an old notebook as thick as a brick and a tool bag wrapped in waterproof oil paper from the locked compartment on the top shelf of the cabinet.
"Got it."
Old Hope didn't even turn his head, casually tossing it behind him.
The heavy notebook and toolbox traced a parabola through the air.
Su Wei raised his hand and caught it steadily.
It feels quite heavy when you hold it.
The notebook cover was worn so badly that its original color was no longer visible. It was covered in various suspicious stains and emitted a musty, stale leather smell.
"These are my notes from the past forty years of working with skeletal specimens. You are only allowed to look at them here; you are not allowed to take them away, and you are absolutely not allowed to take pictures."
Old Hope returned to his workbench, picked up his scalpel, and continued working on the precious Roosevelt antlers.
"Go and scrub that big pot of bones in the corner clean. If you don't get it clean, you're not leaving this room tonight."
His tone remained harsh.
But Su Wei clearly saw that the old man's hand, which had been holding the knife, trembled slightly just now.
Su Wei lowered his head and opened the thick notebook in his hand.
The yellowed pages were covered with hand-drawn anatomical diagrams and hastily written annotations.
Su Wei closed her notebook and looked up at the hunched figure busily working under the lamplight.
The corners of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
This deal was incredibly profitable.
He carefully placed the notebook on the shelf beside him, rolled up his sleeves, and walked towards the large pot in the corner, which was covered with black grease.
Chapter 132 Crafting Module Unlocked! Random Augmentation?
Su Wei didn't waste any words; he rolled up his sleeves, revealing his muscular forearms.
He lifted a bucket of boiling water with both hands and, without any hesitation, poured it directly into the large iron pot filled with black grime.
A wave of heat surged up instantly.
The hot water activated the dormant grease, releasing a strong, sour odor that filled the underground factory.
The smell was even stronger than the stench of a corpse, like moldy lard mixed with dead rat and rotten fish intestines, boiled for a long time.
It's not just a bad smell, it's a greasy feeling that gets into your nostrils and sticks to your throat.
Su Wei didn't even frown.
He grabbed a thick, stiff wire brush, leaned forward, and slammed it hard against the side of the pot.
"Zila €€€€Zila €€€€"
The grating sound of metal scraping echoed in the empty, dimly lit space.
The thick black sludge peeled off layer by layer under the pressure of the wire brush, revealing the metallic base underneath.
Su Wei's movements were extremely rhythmic, one after another, with steady and even force.
Sweat trickled down his temples, evaporating before it even dripped into the pot.
There was no disgust on his face, nor did he pause; he showed none of the affectation typical of urban youth.
Since you've decided to do it, do it to the best of your ability.
A few meters away, Old Hope sat at his workbench, holding a boning knife, carefully removing the connective tissue from the base of the antlers.
Hearing the rhythmic scraping sound coming from the other side, the old man's hand holding the knife paused almost imperceptibly.
He didn't turn around; his back remained hunched and cold, but his ears, covered in age spots, perked up slightly.
That pot was specifically used for boiling corpses; it contained over a decade's worth of accumulated corpse oil and bone marrow residue, and even chemical residues.
Ordinary apprentices, let alone getting their hands dirty with the brush, would vomit bile just from standing three meters away and smelling the odor.
That guy who claimed to be a "top student in the Yale biology department" turned green as soon as he got close to this pot, covered his mouth, and ran out to vomit for half an hour.
But this kid...
Old Hope let out a barely audible snort, and the deep nasolabial folds at the corners of his mouth seemed to soften slightly.
Before I knew it, half an hour had passed.
Su Wei straightened his aching back, picked up the last bucket of water, and poured it into the pot.
As the black water receded, the inner wall of the large pot revealed a clean, iron-gray color, reflecting a cold, hard metallic luster under the dim light of the tungsten filament bulb.
Su Wei wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to look at Old Hope.
"Done."
The voice was calm, as if talking about a trivial matter.
Old Hope then slowly put down his work and turned around.
He squinted his cloudy, grayish eyes and stared at the pot for a full five seconds.
He even stood up and touched the bottom of the pot with his finger.