Chapter 506: Chapter 503: Goodbye, Rainforest.
The wild boar kept sniffing at his feet, and after a while, it almost bumped into him before Bi Fang finally reacted and dragged the rock away from the spot.
With the obstruction gone, the wild boar imdiately buried its head in the soil; its long snout rooted around, and a nut caked in mud was unearthed.
Then a hole was revealed, and a large black mouse darted out from inside. But before it could escape the entrance, the boar bit it and crunched it down bones and all.
The viewers were all shocked. Bi Fang had been living here for about ten days and had yet to discover a mouse hole nearby?
“I almost forgot, the sense of sll of a wild boar is even sharper than that of a dog. Many truffle hunters rely on pigs’ sense of sll to find them,” laughed Bi Fang.
He had been living here for about ten days and had never discovered the mouse hole underneath the rock he often sat on.
The water monitors didn’t react; were they too used to feasting on fish and at to bother with a mouse?
[Pigs are so capable, so why aren’t they used for military purposes?]
[Who says they’re not? They’ve been around for a long ti, in the cookhouse.]
[Cookhouse? Are you trying to kill with laughter and inherit my wealth?]
[Full bellies give strength, and pigs make a great contribution.]
“Since pigs are smarter than dogs, they are more likely to exhibit complex emotions like fear and reluctance, making them much less obedient. Additionally, pigs have poor eyesight and are not as agile, so they can’t replace dogs,” Bi Fang explained.
Seeing one of their companions find food, the other three wild boars joined in; their curled tails stuck up as they overturned the entire soil layer and devoured all the hairless baby mice inside.
Bi Fang looked up. The ti was almost up, and he spoke with a touch of regret.
“Before coming here, the staff told that there are many wild monkeys and boars in the rainforest valleys, but despite visiting many places, I saw wild Baizhi oxen and wild boars, yet I had no luck encountering any wild monkeys. Perhaps it’s a problem with my appearance,” he joked.
This remark had the viewers roaring with laughter.
These last monts were spent in casual conversation as ti quietly drew to a close. The wild boars had departed, and the drone slowly ascended, the wind blowing through the vast hectares of forest, making it look like an ocean from afar.
A vast crimson sea.
The treetops ford waves upon waves,
Countless homing birds turned into dots flying towards the distance or between the thickets, while only one dot grew larger and larger, bringing the roar of an engine.
Everything seed to return to the beginning of the story.
“Why do humans need iron?” asked Bi Fang unexpectedly.
Of course, because iron is useful, the viewers answered without hesitation.
“Yes, iron is useful,” agreed Bi Fang.
He held up the smoothly polished dagger in his hand; its once pitch-black appearance had long vanished, now gleaming silver-white with a dazzling orange glow from the setting sun.
Hard, sharp, and with excellent toughness, who could say it wasn’t useful?
“Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin and was the first tal to be widely used, its history even tracing back to prehistoric tis. Iron, which requires high temperatures for slting, was developed later, but because it was harder, more wear-resistant, and more readily available, it quickly replaced bronze,” he elaborated.
“From buildings and transportation to tools and weapons, iron is everywhere. If one wants to understand the importance of a tal to civilization, look no further than iron.”
“However, wrought iron is too soft, even softer than bronze, limiting its use. In battle, you certainly wouldn’t want your sword to be too soft. That’s when humans needed steel.”
“Throughout the centuries, blacksmiths have sought various ways to strengthen wrought iron. Without the guidance of chemical science, they could only experint over and over again.
Eventually, they found that heating wrought iron on charcoal made its surface harden, making it suitable for cutting edges.
So they speculated that so substance must be penetrating the iron and strengthening it. This was the process of carburization.
Gradually, they also discovered the technique called ‘quenching’, which involved imrsing heated iron tools in oil or water for rapid cooling, making them harder than iron that cooled slowly.
But while they were harder, they were also too brittle, easily breaking upon impact.
Groping in the dark, they found that this drawback could be mitigated by another technique called ‘tempering’, which involved reheating the tools to a lower temperature and letting them cool slowly, allowing the iron to ‘relax’—trading so hardness for toughness.”
The dagger, polished with a rough stone, was full of scratches, vaguely reflecting Bi Fang’s face.
The rumbling in the sky drew nearer, and Bi Fang spoke faster, stirring a sense of loss in the viewers.
The ti for farewell had co.
“Though ancient people developed technology through experience without understanding the principles, every advancent was the result of countless coincidences or trial and error. We, however, have received a good education and understand many basic principles; yet we also cannot easily replicate these technologies.”
“As of today, steel slting has beco an entire set of closely connected complete industries.”
“Iron ore and coal mined from all over the world are shipped to large steel mills, where the crushed iron ore is sintered into pellets, while coal is dry-distilled into coke—then they are stacked in layers inside blast furnaces that reach up to a hundred ters tall.”
“The processed coke can even burn at temperatures above 1500°C, lting the iron ore directly into molten iron, which is then poured into converters, where pure oxygen is blown in, allowing impurities to oxidize and escape, and different elents are added as needed to produce steel with precise compositions.”
“Finally, it’s poured into molds to cool, at temperatures around 1100°C, it’s pressed into various shapes and distributed to every field of modern industry, ultimately sustaining the entire modern civilization.”
“How to develop the most accurate formulas and manufacture the best performing steel is the core competition of modern civilization. Compared to that, the little piece of Hundred-refined Steel I forged in the wilderness pales in significance.”
Bi Fang said with self-deprecating laughter.
The audience suddenly beca anxious.
[How can that be, absolutely aweso!]
[That’s right, knowing the whole process, I can only look up to it]
[I don’t care, I don’t care, Master Fang is the best in the world!]
Bi Fang smiled, “I know you all like a lot, but if you are truly interested in iron slting, then study hard. Maybe one day, you can develop even more useful materials and contribute to the construction of our holand. That alone would surpass .”
The helicopter discovered Bi Fang in the dense forest and quickly lowered a rope ladder.
Bi Fang grabbed the rope with ease and climbed swiftly. Halfway up, he made a gesture to the pilot, and the helicopter began to rise slowly.
“The density of dangers in the rainforest is very high. In twenty-one days of survival, we saw many beautiful and dangerous creatures coexisting, from the Wild Baizhi Ox to the Burse Python, from the Water Monitors to the Cobra. Before coming here, I never imagined I would encounter so many national first and second class species.”
The audience rembered the Cobras, Giant Squirrels, Wild Oxen, Big Pythons, and the companion Water Monitors, and they couldn’t help but nod their heads.
“I also built a shelter with Leonardo, made all kinds of tools, but most importantly, I started a furnace for iron slting and obtained a Steel Dagger!”
Bi Fang held high the only trophy he brought out of the rainforest.
If it hadn’t been witnessed with their own eyes, no one would believe that this dagger was crafted bit by bit in the rainforest.
He ca with just a grass skirt, and he left with still a grass skirt and a steel dagger.
“Now, the ti has co for to leave. I sincerely hope that the skills and stories I’ve shown can bring you knowledge and joy.”
“So, today’s live broadcast ends here, we’ll see you next ti!”
[Wow, my Master Fang]
[Don’t go, please]
[Wuuuwuuu, when is the next broadcast?]
[I have a feeling, the next broadcast, will be in the next]
As the rope ladder swung slightly, Bi Fang hung mid-air, his back to the setting sun, edged in gold, he extended his hand toward the drone in front of him and saluted with two fingers, then he slowly ascended and vanished from sight.
The screen went completely dark.
Inside the first venue, people facing the now dimd large screen all exhaled, feeling sowhat unfulfilled.
In these twenty-plus days, the shock brought by Bi Fang was by no ans inferior to any previous live broadcasts. Although there was no life-or-death crisis, the Steel Dagger alone was enough to command absolute respect.
The Master Fang live broadcast room lived up to its na.
If one didn’t know where the greatest adventurer of this century was, just open the live broadcast, and he would surely appear.
The helicopter rose slowly into the damp night sky, and after a long ti, the sky darkened completely.
The city, like a glowing body gradually enlarging, then the myriad lights of Banna beca clear through the moistened window.
In the distance, vast stretches of the rainforest were visibly dark, gradually shrinking to a small patch of rainforest, and finally to a single tree.
The flowing air whooshed past the cabin windows, leaving only the darkened heavens and a layered tapestry of grey and white clouds in sight.
“Goodbye, rainforest.”
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