The fingertips were clean, without a trace of grease.
It's flawless, impeccably clean.
"... barely usable."
Old Hope withdrew his gaze, and from an angle where Su Wei couldn't see, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
His tone was still harsh, but this time, he swallowed back the word "get lost" that was on the tip of his tongue.
He casually grabbed a few corpses from the plastic basket at his feet and threw them onto the stainless steel cutting board in front of Su Wei with a few "thuds" as if they were trash.
"Since we have energy but nowhere to use it, we might as well clean up this mess."
Those were several wild ducks, and two unidentified Raptor birds of prey.
Some had already been riddled with bullets by large-caliber hunting rifles, their bodies mangled beyond recognition; others were simply picked up from roadkill, half-crushed by car wheels.
"This line of work doesn't involve many glamorous, large animals, and you don't get to skin a whole polar bear every day."
Old Hope turned back to the crown and antlers, his hoarse voice drifting over, carrying the cold admonition of someone with experience.
"Most of the time, we're dealing with broken, rotting garbage. Your job is to turn that garbage into works of art that can be displayed on museum shelves."
"Listen carefully, bird bones are very brittle, especially the skull and sternum, which are thinner than paper. If you don't want to crush them into powder, put away your brute force."
Su Wei didn't say anything, but silently walked to the pool, washed the oil off his hands with soap, and put on a brand new pair of medical rubber gloves.
He picked up a mallard duck.
The neck was broken, the skin and flesh were stuck together, and the spinous process was shattered.
He tried to make the cut.
Even with the added advantage of Nimble Hands, handling such broken and tiny bones remains extremely difficult.
The scalpel's sharpness seemed somewhat difficult to control at the fingertips; a slight deviation left a white mark on the delicate, cicada-wing-like sternum.
"Fool. That's the keel of the sternum, crucial for birds' flight. You've scratched it, and the specimen is half ruined."
Old Hope's roar immediately rang out, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
Su Wei stopped, took a deep breath, and immediately adjusted the angle, changing from a forceful cut to a gentle teasing motion.
"Yes, follow the muscle fibers. Don't fight the meat; let the knife find its own way. The meat is inanimate, but the muscle fibers are alive."
Although Old Hope's voice was harsh and sarcastic, every word of his advice was terrifyingly precise, hitting the nail on the head.
For the next two hours, only the occasional clanging of metal could be heard in the factory.
Su Wei stood in front of the stinking chopping board, repeating the meticulous deboning motion.
From initial awkwardness and tentativeness, to gradually being able to completely peel off a piece of pectoral muscle, and then to being able to preserve extremely thin leg bones.
By the time Su Wei had removed the leg bone from the last chick, it was completely dark outside the window, and the sound of wind and snow was howling outside the door.
"Ten-minute break."
Old Hope left those words behind, grabbed a bottle of cheap vodka, and walked to the corner to lie down on the worn-out leather sofa, clearly exhausted.
Su Wei took off his gloves and washed his hands again.
Instead of resting, he walked to the shelf and picked up the thick notebook again.
Now I have time to take a look.
The notebook feels heavy in hand, with a rough, oily cover, indicating it's quite old.
He leaned against the dusty shelf and, by the light, turned to the first page.
A dense array of hand-drawn illustrations came into view.
Those were anatomical diagrams of the muscles of various animals, the lines were messy and wild yet incredibly precise, and the origin and insertion points of every muscle and the course of every nerve were heavily circled in red.
The blank space next to it was filled with messy annotations:
"A fox's eye socket bone is extremely thin; the incision must be made three millimeters below the tear duct..."
"A wolf's jaw muscles are so well-developed that they stiffen and contract after death, so the temporalis tendon must be severed first..."
"The fat layer on the bear's paw must be scraped off completely, otherwise it will definitely become oily again after three years, ruining a good piece of skin..."
These are not cold, lifeless facts from books, but rather experiences gleaned from examining corpses.
Su Wei read it extremely quickly.
At this moment, his brain was working at high speed, and every word and every picture was forcibly penetrating his cerebral cortex.
I feel slightly bloated and a little hot.
[High-value skill carrier detected...]
[Analyzing " Hopkins's Anatomy Notes "...]
[Analysis progress: 10%...40%...80%...]
Su Wei turned the pages faster and faster, his fingertips almost leaving afterimages.
Those complex skeletal diagrams were automatically disassembled, reassembled, and rotated in his mind, transforming into a three-dimensional model.
He seemed to see thousands of animals being dissected and reassembled before his eyes.
When he turned to the last page, it was a complex sketch on how to treat comminuted fractures.
"Snap."
Su Wei closed his notebook.
Deep in my mind, that familiar mechanical voice finally rang out, carrying a pleasantly cold quality.
[Analysis complete.]
[Congratulations, host! You have successfully unlocked the ' Crafting Module ' (0/100)!]
[Gain Buff - Blessing: The specimen you create will randomly trigger a special Blessing.]
A massive amount of information flooded his mind.
[Gained Branch Skill: Basic Taxidermy LV1]
[Effect: You have gained intuitive control over separating the fur from the flesh, increasing the precision of your cuts by 20% and reducing the rate of skin breakage by 15%.]
[Gained Branch Skill: Bone Cleaning LV1]
[Effect: You have a thorough understanding of the skeletal structures of 30 common animals. Special passive skill ' Touch of X-Ray Vision ' activated: When touching a corpse, you can vaguely perceive the attachment points of the periosteum and the direction of the tendons.]
[Gained Branch Skill: Preservation Treatment LV1]
[Effect: Mastering the basic tanning solution ratio and borax preservation method extends the preservation period by 10%.]
I don't know if it's because this notebook is special, or because of Old Hope's guidance.
The Crafting Module was just unlocked, and it already unlocked three matching skills!
Su Wei closed his eyes and clenched his fist tightly.
He could clearly feel the strange tingling sensation coming from his ten fingers; his fingertips felt as if they were electrified, and every joint became more flexible and sensitive.
It was as if these hands had suddenly acquired their own memories.
When he opened his eyes again, there was a subtle sharpness and confidence in those dark eyes.
This isn't just about saving money.
As the system suggests, handling the loot yourself will greatly increase the final rating and value of your prey.
It might even trigger some hidden special effects.
Have you seen enough?
Old Hope had woken up sometime earlier and was leaning back on the sofa, waving a half-empty bottle of vodka in his hand, looking at Su Wei with a mocking expression, as if he were looking at a brash and ignorant child.
"How much did you understand? That's all I've ever studied in my life. Even if you only remember one percent, it'll be enough for you to make a living in that low-level specimen circle."
Su Wei put the notebook back on the shelf, arranging it neatly, even aligning the corners.
"Give it a try."
He only said three words, his tone almost excessively calm.
Then, he turned around and went back to the cutting board.
There was one last extremely troublesome "piece of trash" left.
A kestrel skull, half-collapsed, crushed by a wheel.
This level of damage is usually considered a death sentence in the specimen world, and the specimen should simply be thrown into the trash.
Fragments of Raptor's skull are even thinner than an eggshell and have a complex structure. They can fall apart completely with the slightest force, turning into a pile of bone powder that cannot be pieced back together.
Old Hope chuckled, tilted his head back, and gulped down a mouthful of strong liquor, clearly ready to see the kid make a fool of himself.
Repairing the skull of a kestrel?
That requires skillful technique, not something you can learn by reading a book for an hour.
Su Wei ignored the commotion behind him.
The whole world fell silent in his perception.