That's the thickest fork of the antlers, and also the core support point of the entire crown design.
Old Hope's fingers rubbed against it repeatedly, finally stopping at a very fine line.
If you don't look closely, it looks like a natural growth line.
"Listen."
Old Hope picked up a metal probe and gently ran it along the groove.
Click.
The sound was crisp, yet carried a subtle, almost imperceptible hollow echo.
It didn't feel like hitting a solid bone; it felt more like hitting a cracked piece of porcelain.
"Bone fracture."
Old Hope turned off his flashlight, his tone tinged with regret.
"This is an old wound. This stag probably had a fierce fight with another stag before it died, and this antler was almost broken. Although the surface has healed, the bone inside is fractured."
He tossed the probe into the plate, making a crisp sound.
"Once it dries and dehydrates, the stress point changes, and the crack will widen rapidly. In less than three years, the forked branch will fall off on its own."
Old Hope turned around and looked at Su Wei with great interest.
So, what will you do now?
Su Wei did not move.
He looked at the tiny crack.
That was indeed a fatal wound, stretching across three-quarters of the fork.
Su Wei reached out and placed his fingertips over the crack.
[ Bone Cleaning LV2 ] Passive trigger: [ Touch of X-Ray Vision ].
A wonderful tactile sensation traveled from my fingertips back to my brain.
He can clearly feel the internal structure of the bones without needing X-rays.
Although the trabeculae around the crack are broken, the bone density on both sides is extremely high, and the hardness remains. It's just that a connecting medium is missing in the middle.
This is not a death sentence.
This is simply a void that needs to be filled.
Images of touching up paint at a car repair shop and grouting at a construction site flashed through Su Wei's mind, finally settling on the principle of a dentist filling a tooth.
Since it's bone, then use bone to heal.
Do you have AB glue?
Su Wei spoke.
Old Hope crossed his arms, his wrinkled face scrunched up, and gave a mocking look.
"What are you trying to do? Use glue to fix it? That's something only third-rate taxidermists do. Glue will have color variations, and it will yellow and age over time. That black line will look like a centipede crawling on it, even uglier than the crack itself."
"It's not pure rubber."
Su Wei ignored his sarcasm, his gaze sweeping across the workbench before finally settling on a bottle of dusty white powder in the corner.
That's industrial-grade, high-strength collagen powder.
"I need the epoxy resin with a five-minute curing time, and this bottle of collagen."
Su Wei picked up a small spherical drill bit and attached it to his phone.
"Also, I need to borrow your UV curing lamp."
Old Hope squinted at Su Wei.
He didn't refuse, but just snorted through his nose and gestured with his chin to the top shelf.
Su Wei brought over a ladder and took down the set of reagents that were covered in dust.
He didn't rush to mix the adhesive.
"Zi€€€€"
Su Wei pressed the pedal again.
This time, instead of grinding down the cracks, he aimed the drill at a completely unseen area of discarded bone on the back of the antler base.
The drill bit is gently ground.
The dark brown powder wasn't blown away by the air gun; instead, Su Wei carefully collected it onto a clean sheet of white paper.
That was bone powder that originally belonged to this set of antlers; its color, texture, and luster were completely identical.
Old Hope's hand, which was holding the coffee cup, froze in mid-air.
He understood Su Wei's intentions.
Su Wei collected about five grams of dark brown bone powder and three grams of white skull powder.
He mixed the two powders in a certain ratio, added a small amount of collagen, and then dropped epoxy resin into the palette.
Stir.
The stable feel provided by the Life Module allowed him to minimize the bubble rate.
He mixed two colors of paste: dark brown and ivory white.
Next, Su Wei picked up the probe and gently ran it across the crack to remove the impurities inside, and then slightly widened the crack.
This is called expansion.
To make the filler adhere more tightly.
He first filled in a white paste to simulate the medulla inside bones.
Expose with ultraviolet light for thirty seconds.
Curing.
Then there's the dark brown paste on the surface.
Su Wei held his breath, his wrist hovering above the antlers.
The tip of the probe picked up a tiny bit of the paste and precisely filled it into the hair-thin gap.
The amount of cream must be precise; too much will cause it to bulge, and too little will cause it to sink.
After filling it in, he didn't smooth it out immediately. Instead, he used the tip of a needle to gently pick at the still-wet paste, mimicking the rough texture and graininess of deer antlers.
The ultraviolet light turned on again.
The purple light looked somewhat eerie in the dimly lit factory.
Five minutes later.
The paste hardened completely, its hardness even exceeding that of the original bone.
Su Wei switched to the finest polishing wool wheel, dipped it in a little polishing wax, and swept it slowly over the repaired area.
As the wax layer melted, the gruesome crack disappeared.
Instead, a seamless, dark brown patina has formed.
[Successfully repaired a critical bone suture, Crafting Module Experience +17, Bone Experience +15]
[ The Crafting Module has been successfully upgraded to level 2 (15/300), gaining a new effect - Efficiency Improvement: production time is reduced by 5%-15%, while ensuring that quality does not decrease.]
Seeing the system notification pop up, Su Wei knew he had succeeded.
The Efficiency Improvement allowed him to produce the products with peace of mind.
Su Wei turned off the machine and put down his tools.
"Alright."
He stepped back, making room for him.
Old Hope came over.
This time, instead of using that broken flashlight, he simply picked up the heavy antlers and walked to the factory gate, facing the dim natural light outside.
He took a magnifying glass out of his pocket.
This old man carries more tools with him than anyone else.
Old Hope stared at the base of that fork for a full two minutes.
He scratched with his fingernails, touched with his fingertips, and even brought it close to smell it.
Not only were there no cracks or color differences, but even the fake texture blended perfectly with the surrounding natural growth lines.
Unless you cut this corner off and do a cross-section analysis, no one can tell that it was ever broken.
Old Hope put down the antlers and turned to look at Su Wei.
Satisfaction finally appeared in his cloudy gray eyes.
This kid not only has steady hands, but he's also quick-witted.