Chapter 127: Attempts at Armor Making

If one wants to make leather armor, elephant hide is indeed a very good choice; historically, rhinoceros hide was often used, and perhaps rhino hide is better than elephant's, but we haven't found any rhinos yet, though there are a few elephants.

Moreover, the volume of an elephant is so large that I don't know how much hide can be taken from just one; perhaps a single elephant could make a dozen sets of leather armor.

What's more, those few elephants have a grudge against them; although that bit of a grudge could be said to be completely negligible, at least it serves as a reason for seeking revenge—a righteous cause, after all.

However, killing an elephant is not like killing a cow; elephants are truly too formidable. If you fail to kill one, it might be you who dies. If you hunt a cow, you might be killed by the cow, but the probability is very low. Hunting an elephant, the probability of you being killed by the elephant and you killing the elephant is about the same.

Now that there is a goal, let's make a plan. Have the entire Bow and Blade Team stop training to discuss how this hunt should be carried out. They are also the people with the strongest hunting skills in the entire tribe; asking them is definitely the right thing to do.

Their arms were aching from shooting arrows, and upon hearing Baifeng call them for something, they all happily put down their bows. In any case, no matter what they were doing, they were unwilling to continue drawing bows and shooting arrows—unless, of course, it was to hunt elephants.

As soon as Baifeng stated his intention, everyone fell silent. It was neither fear nor excitement, just silence; no one was willing to be the first to speak.

Finally, after pushing each other forward, Xiong was the first to speak: "Tribal Chief, why did you suddenly think of killing elephants? Our tribe has more than enough meat to eat. If you are worried, we can just go out and hunt more; there is no need to take such a big risk."

"As for your intention to seek revenge, I think there is no need for that. So much time has passed, and it wasn't a big grudge anyway. You, who are usually so... uh, so vigilant, why are you suddenly talking such nonsense?"

Baifeng also felt helpless: "I don't want to kill elephants either, if there were other better choices. I intend to make a set of armor for everyone, but Vine Armor is too difficult to make, and the tribe currently only has Boar Skin for leather armor, which isn't enough for many sets, so I can only set my sights on elephants."

"Tribal Chief, why must you make armor? The Bamboo Armor you had us make last time was not only ugly and hindered our movement, but it was also of little actual use. It could only defend against wolves; if we were to actually go to war, it would be a burden." Everyone nodded.

Baifeng also knew that the so-called Bamboo Armor from that time was of little use, but although it was very restrictive, didn't it also mean that no one was bitten by wolves? However, they didn't understand what real armor was like. Having armor and not having armor are two completely different concepts. Baifeng even thought about making a set of armor for Xiaoniu; when the time comes, he would ride the cow into battle, which should be better than riding a panda.

Seeing that they were not very willing, Baifeng still intended to make the leather armor first. Only by letting them see the benefits would they be willing to do the work. If he forced them to do it without the heart for it, doing such dangerous work would easily lead to problems.

Making leather armor also involves turning the hide into armor plates, then stacking them layer by layer and binding them tight. Baifeng thought about this for a moment; it should be better for a few Zhinu to do it, as this should be something they are skilled at.

So, Baifeng dismissed the others, telling them to continue training, but he kept Xiong and Hui, and also had someone go call Lu, who was currently training in the Scout Team.

Baifeng did not arrange any specific work for them; he just used a rope to measure their shoulders, chest circumference, and height. After recording the data, he let them go back. They all felt a bit baffled.

Carrying a few pieces of Boar Skin, Baifeng took the data and went to find the Zhinu to explain how to make the leather armor. Unexpectedly, they understood it at once, which saved Baifeng a lot of trouble.

He told them to put their hearts into it and finish the leather armor as soon as possible, as he still needed to use it. The Zhinu all said they would definitely be able to finish one within five days. Baifeng thought this speed was passable, and once they became proficient later, it might be faster to make.

Meanwhile, Baifeng simply went to make his own Iron Armor. His armor was made entirely of Iron Armor Plates; although the plates were very thin, they were iron after all. Furthermore, Baifeng considered the issue of weight. Although his physique and stamina were now comparable to, or even surpassed, those great warriors recorded in history, he did not dare to be overconfident. He couldn't yet determine how many jin it would weigh.

Because the armor plates were not fully collected, Baifeng planned to make it half leather and half iron, nailing the Iron Armor Plates onto the leather at vital parts. If possible, he even wanted to install a Heart Protector.

Because making armor is indeed very troublesome, even though he had a draft in his mind, when he actually started doing it, his hands were a mess, so he had to ask the Zhinu for help again.

He spent the day in the workshop and didn't install a single Iron Armor Plate, only managing to make a base out of Boar Skin. However, Baifeng had fully understood how the armor plates should be tied, so although his body was extremely exhausted, his mood was very happy.

As Baifeng dragged his sore body and hummed a little tune on his way home, he only hoped that Sui would have dinner ready—preferably white rice and stir-fried cured meat, followed by a few cups of white Wine, and if he wasn't full, maybe half a bowl of canned peaches. Just thinking about it was delightful.

However, when he returned, he didn't smell any food; there was only Sui standing at the doorway with a sullen face. Baifeng thought something had happened, and even though his arms were very sore, he still trotted over to look. Unexpectedly, as soon as he touched Sui's arm, she shook him off.

"Those big-bottomed, big-breasted women are better than me, right? Otherwise, why are you only coming back now? You even said I was the most beautiful woman in the entire tribe. Now you can barely walk; if there were a wall, you'd probably have to lean on it all the way here."

Baifeng was somewhat shocked. Sui was jealous? She was actually jealous? This was truly an unexpected joy; he hadn't expected this kind of emotion to emerge at this time.

Just as he was about to explain, Sui leaned against the door and retched. Baifeng thought this was perhaps going too far; he hadn't touched those women, and even if he had, there was no need to be so disgusted by him.

But when Baifeng saw the corners of Sui's eyes blurred from the effort, he knew this definitely wasn't faked, so he hurriedly went over to support Sui and gently stroked her back.

Taking the opportunity, Baifeng explained: "It's impossible for me to fancy them. It's just that we're making armor now, and those few are skilled at this, so I went over to have them do it. I didn't trust them to handle my Iron Armor, so I worked on it until now. It was too strenuous, which is why I ended up like this. I wouldn't lie to you; you are the most beautiful woman in the entire tribe."

Sui nodded with teary eyes, and then let Baifeng help her back into the room. As soon as she sat down, Baifeng asked her to extend her hand so he could take her pulse.

He had always been paying attention to Sui's menstrual cycle because hygiene still needed to be addressed; after all, due to physiological structural issues, it is easy to develop various gynecological problems. Sui didn't have this awareness, so Baifeng had always been the one worrying about it.

But she had been having them normally these past few months; it couldn't be that she was retching because she was pregnant, could it?