"Continue."
Old Hope returned to his original position expressionlessly.
The next two hours were a tedious and meticulous tug-of-war.
Su Wei felt his neck was as stiff as a piece of wood, and his fingers were starting to ache from maintaining high-intensity micro-operations for so long.
Until the last trace of blood was cleaned away.
On the operating table, the enormous antlers still retained their original wildness, but the nauseating flesh and blood at the skull incision had disappeared, replaced by a clean, ivory-white bone cut surface.
Even the texture between the bones is clearly visible.
[Completed a complex Bone Cleaning.]
[ Bone Cleaning LV1 Experience +25.]
[Current progress: LV2 (37/300)]
[Effect: You have mastered the skeletal structure of 60 common animals.]
[Special Passive Touch of X-Ray Vision: When in contact with a corpse, one can vaguely perceive the attachment points of the periosteum, flesh, and fascia, as well as the direction of the tendons.]
Su Wei put down his tools, straightened his back, and you could even hear a cracking sound coming from his spine.
"Let's check."
He stepped back, making room for him.
Old Hope didn't stand on ceremony.
He pulled a powerful flashlight from his pocket, shone it, and brought it close to the skull.
The beam of light traveled across every inch of the bone surface.
From the edge of the orbital bone, to the crease at the root of the horn, and then to the depths of the foramen magnum.
Old Hope even stretched out his deformed little finger, plunging it deep into the bone of his nasal cavity, and then sniffed at the tip of his nose.
There was no smell of rotting flesh.
It only smelled of bone meal and cleaning agents.
The inspection took a full five minutes.
Old Hope turned off his flashlight and straightened his hunched back.
He looked at Su Wei and exhaled a heavy breath from his nostrils.
"Barely watchable."
"However, this is just the simplest dirty work."
Old Hope walked to a cabinet to the side, took out a bucket of clear liquid marked with a skull and crossbones symbol, and a high-powered electric drill.
"The surface of the bone is clean, but what about inside?"
He patted the enormous skull.
"The skull of this large deer appears solid, but it's actually filled with spongy, cancellous bone. Those tiny pores are filled with oil."
"If the oil isn't forced out, this beautiful white skull will turn a disgusting deep yellow in three months. In another six months, the oil inside will become rancid, and this $80,000 antler set will turn into a piece of garbage that smells like dead rats."
Su Wei looked at the electric drill, his brow twitching slightly.
"Do you want to drill holes in it?"
"How can you boil out the oil without drilling a hole?"
Old Hope attached an extremely fine drill bit to the electric drill.
"Look closely, the location is crucial. It must not damage the appearance, but it also needs to create convection."
"Zi€€€€"
The ear-piercing sound of drilling rang out.
Old Hope's hands were incredibly steady. In the hidden places on the cut surface of the skull, he quickly drilled four tiny holes, no bigger than a toothpick. Two were below the occipital bone, and two were inside the eye sockets.
The location was chosen in an extremely tricky way; it would be impossible to find unless you looked carefully.
"Go, push that stainless steel tank over here."
Su Wei did as instructed.
Old Hope poured the bucket of pungent-smelling liquid into the tank, then added some white powder. The liquid instantly became cloudy and began to bubble.
"This is a solvent specifically designed for bone fat; you don't need to know the formula yet."
The two of them worked together to turn the heavy antlers upside down, immersing only the white skull portion in the liquid.
The enormous antlers were suspended in mid-air on a specially designed support at the mouth of the trough.
"Turn on the heater and maintain a constant temperature of 45 degrees Celsius."
Su Wei pressed the switch.
The liquid began to swirl slightly.
Soon, wisps of yellow oil slowly drifted out like threads from the small holes that had just been drilled.
"Did you see that?"
Old Hope pointed to the oil stains.
"This is the poison in the bones."
After doing all this, Old Hope glanced at the wall clock.
It's already 11 a. m.
"Alright."
Old Hope took off his gloves and wiped them on his apron.
"The next step is waiting. This stuff needs to soak for a full three days, until no more oil bubbles appear."
You don't need to come these next few days.
Su Wei paused in his work of cleaning the table.
"No need to come?"
"How?"
Old Hope glanced at him.
"You want to live here and smell this? The bear skin is still soaking in the tanning vat for at least seven days. The deer antlers will take three days to degrease. During this time, there's nothing you can do except stir and observe."
"Go back. Take care of your own mess. The real battle will begin once this character's skin is degreased."
Old Hope walked to the door and opened the iron gate.
It was already bright outside, the wind and snow had stopped, and the long-awaited sunshine shone on the snow, so bright it hurt the eyes.
"Don't forget about the aftermath of dealing with that bear skin; that's when your patience will truly be tested."
"If it's your terrible skinning technique, you might ruin the whole skin."
Su Wei smiled, not intimidated by Old Hope's words.
See you in three days, Mr. Hope.
He took off his apron and hung it back on the wall. The moment he stepped out of the factory, the crisp air instantly filled his lungs, dispelling the smell of formaldehyde in his nostrils.
Su Wei took a deep breath and felt as if he had come back to life.
Although it was only half a day of cleanup work, I was highly focused the whole time, which was more tiring than hiking ten kilometers in the snow.
He got into the driver's seat of the Ford Raptor and started the engine.
The roar of the engine sounded particularly pleasant in the empty factory area.
Three-day holiday.
No need to face a rotting corpse, no need to endure Old Hope's roars.
Su Wei leaned back in his seat, looking at the distant, snow-capped mountains through the windshield.
Now that we have some free time, let's put those previously shelved plans back on the agenda.
Whether it was the location of the exhibition hall or Aruk's tempting proposal.
The heater in the cab gradually dispelled the chill, and the engine's idling sound was steady and powerful.
As soon as Su Wei connected his phone to the car's Bluetooth, the screen lit up.
Caller ID: Matt - Polar Strong Shield.
Su Wei pressed the answer button and casually shifted the Raptor into Drive.
The wheels crunched over the thin layer of snow at the factory gate.
"Mr. Su, this is Matt."
The male voice coming from the car stereo sounded a little tense, carrying a caution typical of someone facing a client.
"Regarding that grand plan you mentioned yesterday, our cost estimator worked overnight to produce a preliminary budget."