Others try to survive on an island, I try to survive on a raft?

Chapter 64 Amazing Plants

This is steel and wood!

It was unlike any other plant around it; not only the trunk, but every branch and every leaf was dark silver.

The tree doesn't look like it grew naturally; it looks like it was cast here from refined steel by some being.

Just then, a gentle breeze blew by.

Ding ding ding.

A soft metallic knocking sound was heard.

That was the sound of steel and wood leaves colliding with each other.

The sound was crisp and clear, with a slight echo, somewhat like a large chorus of wind chimes swaying and ringing.

A few leaves were blown down by the wind, not drifting, but falling in a slow, spinning motion.

Su Jin reached out and caught a piece precisely.

The steel blade was much lighter than he had imagined, completely lacking the heaviness of metal.

Moreover, the leaves themselves are very thin, looking like tin foil, but not as easily deformed as tin foil.

In addition, the veins on the leaves are particularly clear, and the edges are extremely sharp. If you are not careful, your skin will be cut. They are much sharper than a knife.

He tried to bend the steel sheet with both hands like a cookie, and it wouldn't bend at all, showing that it was very resistant to bending!

He tried to apply more force and finally broke it in half.

It turns out that unlike iron, which is highly ductile and deformable, it is actually brittle.

This thing is truly amazing, somewhere between a plant and a metal.

Shen Qiaoqiao also bent down curiously and picked up a leaf that had fallen to the ground.

She held it in her hand and examined it carefully, then closed her eyes, and a faint white light emanated from her palm.

That was a sign that she was using her talent, but the white light quickly went out.

Shen Qiaoqiao opened her eyes, her small face full of confusion and frustration, and gently shook her head.

"I...I can't use this."

Her tone was full of disbelief as she frowned and analyzed:

"Normally this is impossible. I can roughly shape even ordinary soil, but this leaf... my talent is completely ineffective against it."

"I feel there's only one possibility: this thing is of too high a grade. I might need to upgrade my talent to be able to handle it, but... I don't know how to upgrade it yet."

The little girl became dejected again when this was mentioned.

This was the first time she felt that her talent was insufficient, but she had a vague feeling that talent could be upgraded, she just hadn't found the way.

This greatly troubled her.

Shen Qiaoqiao's words stirred something in Su Jin's heart, and he felt somewhat surprised.

Even the craftsman's almost rule-like manufacturing talent is temporarily unable to process it?

It seems that the grade of this steel and wood is probably higher than they imagined.

That's really something, no wonder it's so rare.

However, he couldn't care less about these things right now. Whether the level was high or not, or whether the talent could be improved, were not the most urgent matters.

What he needs most right now is its sturdy trunk to make a mast, a prerequisite stipulated by his [Pirate King] talent.

"It's alright. We can find a way to upgrade your talent later. For now, let's get the stuff first."

Su Jin casually stuffed the light, fluttering leaf in his hand into his pocket and patted Shen Qiaoqiao's head.

Without further hesitation, he put Li Yuanyuan down so she could rest against the rock, then gripped the heavy iron axe in his hand and strode toward the solitary, dark silver giant tree.

No matter how amazing or advanced you are, you are about to become a mast on his ship.

He walked up to the steel-wood tree, looked up to estimate the thickness and height of the trunk, chose a suitable position to lower the axe, took a deep breath, and raised the iron axe.

clang!

The moment the iron axe made contact with the steel and wood tree trunk, it produced a loud metallic clang, but the sound was rather muffled.

Clearly, the steel-wood construction retains some characteristics of wood and is not a purely metal structure.

Therefore, when Su Jin swung his axe, it wasn't just a white mark, but a small gash was actually cleaved open.

Keep in mind, he's a man with a strength of 12.3, and he's wielding an iron axe. If he can't even cut through this, then this steel and wood must be ridiculously hard.

From the split opening, you can see that the inside of the trunk is not actually the same dark color as the surface, but rather an ivory white.

Su Jin continued his efforts at the opening and found that chopping was much easier than at the beginning.

It seems that this thing is only hard in bark; the internal structure is not that strong.

However, this is to be expected, as the tree trunk has good resistance to bending; otherwise, it would not be recognized by the system as a good material for a mast.

Next, he determined his felling strategy and began to alternately strike the tree trunk from opposite sides.

Each axe blow landed precisely near the notch of the previous one, sending metallic wood chips flying everywhere.

As the notch in the trunk deepened, more and more of the ivory-white wood of the steel-wood was exposed.

Finally, after a series of dull axe blows, a tooth-grinding creaking sound came from inside the tree trunk.

Su Jin stopped what he was doing, quickly stepped back a few paces, and looked up at the tree canopy.

The giant, dark silver tree began to tilt slowly, emitting a series of cracking sounds.

The direction in which it fell was precisely controlled by Su Jin, pointing towards the only open space without large rocks.

boom--

The giant tree fell to the ground with a dull thud, causing the earth to tremble.

In an instant, the sound of clanging filled the forest, and countless steel leaves fell from the treetops as they were struck.

Dark silver leaves covered the area around the open space, like a strange snowfall.

"Wow! What a great harvest!" Shen Qiaoqiao's eyes lit up immediately, and she instantly forgot her earlier disappointment.

Like a squirrel that has discovered a treasure, she immediately ran over and began picking up the pieces one by one and putting them into her little linen bag, her eyes shining.

"Mom! Quick, help me pick these! These leaves are good stuff! They'll definitely be useful later!" she shouted as she picked them up.

Shen Ruying shook her head helplessly, but followed to help. She was careful, pinching the leaf stems with her fingers to avoid getting cut.

As Li Yuanyuan watched them busy, she subconsciously wanted to stand up and help, but a sharp pain shot through her left leg as soon as she exerted any force.

She bit her lip and sat back down, looking somewhat disappointed.

However, her injuries have indeed improved a lot; at least she can move her body slowly on her own.

She quietly used her hands to support herself on the ground and moved little by little to a more open and unobstructed place to the side, trying her best not to block the way or cause trouble for others.

Su Jin ignored the noise of people picking up leaves over there.

He picked up his axe and walked to the fallen tree trunk, beginning to clear away the excess branches.

His goal was clear: he only needed to keep the main trunk; the rest was unimportant.

After the cleanup was completed, he didn't intend to force the ten-meter-high tree trunk down; he had a better way.

He tied the freshly cut side branch to the tree trunk with flax rope and made a simple ground roll.

He walked to the higher end of the tree trunk and pushed hard with both hands.

"Get out of here!"

The heavy steel and wood trunk creaked as it began to move slowly on the logs.

Using the slope of the hillside, it rolled faster and faster, crushing fallen leaves and pebbles along the way, rolling back in the direction they had come from.

Su Jin followed behind, adjusting the direction as needed to ensure it wouldn't crash into a tree or roll into a ditch.

Although this method is a bit crude, it is the most labor-saving and practical way in these primeval forests.

He glanced back and saw that Shen Ruying and Shen Qiaoqiao had already collected a large handful of steel leaves and were carrying them in their coats.

Li Yuanyuan moved to a safe place and looked at them expectantly.

"Let's go." Su Jin called out, turned around, and carried the adorable girl on his back. "Come on, let's go back."

The most important mast material has arrived.

Next, he will go back and upgrade his ship.