Chapter 128: Iron Armor

Baifeng felt a bit flustered, but he still had Sui sit down steadily and then performed a diagnosis on her. Judging by both her pulse and tongue, she was not pregnant; rather, she had indigestion and had overeaten.

For some reason, Baifeng actually breathed a sigh of relief, as if he were glad that Sui was not pregnant. This abnormal emotion and thought made Baifeng wonder whether he had truly made up his mind to have a child.

However, he could not worry about that much now; he would just let Nature take its course. It was just that Sui must have been eating alone again while he was away. Watching her press on her stomach in discomfort, unable to even let out a hiccup, Baifeng couldn't help but chuckle. She was still a child at heart; he controlled her diet because he was afraid she would eat too much without restraint, but she was still in the habit of eating as much as was available.

"How much did you eat behind my back this time?"

This time, it was Sui who became the embarrassed one. She lowered her head and pinched her fingers, saying nothing, using silence to resist Baifeng's questioning. She also knew that Baifeng wouldn't do anything to her; it would be nothing more than a lecture.

Baifeng looked around the room, searching for evidence. He checked every place in the room where things could be hidden. Previously, after Sui snuck food, she would hide the bones in certain corners where the light was poor, and Baifeng wouldn't see them until there were too many ants on the floor and he realized something was wrong.

Sui could take meat, and no one would care, assuming it was what Baifeng wanted to take. But if bones were thrown around and discovered, it would be strictly investigated, and the punishment would be a fine of food or a reduction in meal portions, because bones could also be used as food—boiling them for soup to feed dogs or fish was perfectly fine.

This time, Baifeng hadn't found any bones in the room yet, but Sui's state couldn't lie. If she hadn't eaten too much meat and had indigestion, she wouldn't be like this. After repeated questioning, Sui kept dodging his gaze, but her eyes kept darting toward the outside. Baifeng went out to take a look, and the soil on the ground was of two different colors; it was clearly just dug up.

Baifeng kicked it twice, and a cow rib was unearthed from the soil. Sui had eaten a meal at noon, and yet she had snuck so much meat—and those weren't sheep or pig ribs, but cow ribs, which were so large; it was no wonder she couldn't handle it after eating them.

Baifeng entered the room with the incriminating evidence. Now Sui had nowhere to hide and could only look at Baifeng with pleading eyes, her hands still rubbing her stomach, looking truly uncomfortable.

"I don't skimp on your food or clothing, so why do you still have to sneak food? Look, you have no restraint in your diet; it's uncomfortable to eat too much, isn't it?"

Baifeng didn't criticize Sui any further. He found a few dried wild hawthorns in the medicine storehouse for her to eat. Hawthorn was a nice-looking thing, and it wasn't hard to eat, being sour, but it made people feel hungrier the more they ate, so no one was willing to eat it. It was only after Baifeng found it that he collected it; the tribespeople had no limit when eating meat, and it was easy to get indigestion.

After eating several, it wasn't until bedtime that Sui felt relieved. After this, Sui promised she would never sneak food again. Baifeng didn't quite believe it; for someone who had suffered from hunger for over a decade, the obsession with food wouldn't disappear in a year or two. Although Sui still snuck small pieces of food later on, Baifeng tacitly allowed it.

Baifeng and the others had been working on the Leather Armor for several days, and they had finally finished his set. The general parts used leather, and important positions were reinforced with Iron Armor Plates. There was no armor for the neck and such, so Baifeng planned to integrate it with the helmet.

The Arm Guards were also made separately. It was mostly finished, but Baifeng felt it wasn't imposing enough; a Waist Swallower and a Heart Protector were a must. It would be best if they were golden, but for now, he would use iron; a silvery sheen would also be quite nice.

The Heart Protector was just a curved, round iron plate, only it was relatively thick. Baifeng wanted to make a Waist Swallower, but he couldn't forge it and had to use casting. However, if he used the Lost-Wax Casting method, the wax mold was too difficult to carve, and the resulting weight would definitely exceed the limit, becoming a burden.

So, he simply found the Carpenter who was busy and used his position to have him make a small Waist Swallower out of wood—a lion with its mouth wide open. The Carpenter didn't know what a lion was, so Baifeng told him to follow the design of a tiger, just with longer fur; he just needed to carve it according to the drawings he provided.

It was a pity there were no pigments, and he didn't know how to gild; otherwise, adding a layer of color would be truly cool.

Xiong and the others only knew that Baifeng had been running to the Zhinu's place these past few days, thinking that the Tribal Chief had suddenly become enlightened and set his sights on those Zhinu. Although they were already other people's wives, he was the Tribal Chief, so it didn't matter. Even if he weren't the Tribal Chief, others didn't seem to have much of a reaction, except for a few who already had a sense of private ownership.

They helped Baifeng put on the armor, then slung the bow over his back and hung the Knife at his waist. Baifeng was originally a tall and sturdy Soldier; once this suit of armor was on, his presence was instantly maximized, and the women's eyes were practically glowing.

Baifeng had someone go and call Xiong and the others again; he didn't believe they wouldn't be tempted this time. Baifeng hooked his hands onto his belt and walked with a steady, imposing gait out of the workshop, beginning to stroll around the tribe.

Everyone who saw Baifeng was so surprised they forgot their work; the more extreme ones didn't even notice when the tools in their hands fell to the ground. It was a pity there were no mirrors, or Baifeng would have definitely admired his own grand attire.

Xiong and the others were originally going to the Zhinu workshop, but they happened to run into the Tribal Chief who was unintentionally showing off his armor on the way. Their eyes were instantly drawn to it. Baifeng saw them too, and just raised his hand, and they came trotting over eagerly.

The first thing they did upon arriving wasn't to ask what Baifeng was going to arrange for them, but to reach out and touch the armor, pinching the thickness and tapping the Iron Armor Plates, constantly exclaiming in wonder. One even wanted to draw his Knife and hack at it to test the effect.

If this were Vine Armor, Baifeng would have let him try, but this was his precious Iron Armor, and he couldn't bear to have even a single bit of damage. Unless it was on the battlefield and he was struck, that would be a mark of honor, but if they were to leave a dent on it, what would that be?

"This is the Armor I was talking about. You know now, right? You should be able to understand why I wanted to build this thing. Not only is it handsome, but in battle, you wouldn't even be able to cut through my leather backing with one strike, while I could take your head off with one swing."

They just nodded in agreement, but Baifeng couldn't be sure if they had actually listened.

Baifeng wore a mischievous smile: "Do you want one?"

They heard him clearly this time and nodded frantically.

So Baifeng followed up by asking: "If you want Armor, you have to go kill elephants. Without elephant hide, there's nothing to make Armor with. Are you going to go?"

They nodded at first, then shook their heads frantically, likely struggling between the danger and the Armor. But after thinking for a while, they all made up their minds: "We'll go! Let's go kill elephants!"