Section 131: Bone-Frame Light Armor

Animal bones are inherently biological materials, possessing many unique physical properties. The bones of mutated creatures are exceptionally robust. Certain special types of mutated creatures have bone materials even harder than high-strength alloys, with remarkable toughness. Most importantly, they are much lighter than metals, which is crucial. As a lightweight material, they can significantly reduce the burden on exosuit engines, markedly enhancing the exosuit’s performance!

However, as a special material, bone is uneven in texture and extremely difficult to process, let alone craft into the various components of an exosuit. Even if one manages to fashion parts from it, the grain often causes uneven stress distribution, making these parts less sturdy than expected and highly unpredictable in strength.

Due to the high cost and difficulty in obtaining satisfactory finished products, bone materials have long been undervalued.

Nana’s grandfather was originally a bone carver, living a modest life. One day, a client came to him with a piece of beast bone and a schematic, requesting him to carve the bone into the shape specified in the diagram. The client promised a higher reward for a sturdier finished product.

Since childhood, Nana’s grandfather had worked with bones and was thoroughly familiar with their grain and structure. He quickly completed the piece according to the client’s demands. After rigorous mechanical testing, the product’s performance was outstanding, much to the client’s delight. Nana’s grandfather received a generous reward as a result!

From then on, more and more people sought him out, and he never ceased refining his craft, steadily improving. Within a certain circle, his reputation grew prominent! However, since he was unfamiliar with exosuits themselves, he always required clients to bring their own schematics to create qualified pieces.

Everyone who knew him called him the Bone Artisan.

Life improved steadily, and his fame drew the attention of numerous organizations. Various tactics were tried to recruit him, but he resisted all pressure, rendering their efforts futile. Later, a ruthless and violent organization targeted him. Unlike previous gentle approaches, this group employed cruel and bloody methods. Tragically, Nana’s parents were killed in the ensuing turmoil. Nana’s grandfather fled with her, eventually arriving at the Orbital Zone.

In this violent place, he quickly found shelter again, and his skill earned him great respect. No one dared cross the Bone Artisan in the Orbital Zone. No organization dared lay a hand on these uniquely talented individuals, as they were protected by the Guild. Even the Guild’s own sorcerers treated them with great courtesy.

Of course, this didn’t guarantee absolute safety. For example, when Ye Chong last encountered a group threatening a traveling doctor’s life, some would take desperate risks. After all, everyone here was a desperate outlaw.

That is why Nana’s grandfather installed highly advanced security systems at home!

Bone carving is an obscure and dying art, rarely taught formally and passed down only among folk artisans.

Heizi was Nana’s grandfather’s apprentice after arriving in the Orbital Zone—diligent, hardworking, and eager to learn, earning the old man’s fondness. The only regret was that Heizi started too late in life and lacked innate talent, making his progress slow.

Seeing Ye Chong absorbed in listening, Heizi grew even more excited, speaking rapidly: “Look at this. This is the back shell of a locust beetle. It looks like metal, but I’ve tested it—there’s not a trace of metal inside. It’s extremely hard with excellent toughness, perfect for making exosuit shields. Best of all, it’s very light. Try lifting it!”

He held up a slightly concave shell, about two or three tabletops in size, shimmering with a metallic luster. The shell was dark blue-black, patterned with bright yellow wavy stripes, vivid and striking. Ye Chong tapped it twice; the sound was crisp, confirming its hardness. He grasped the edge and lifted it with ease.

Indeed, it was very light. If this could really be made into a shield, it would greatly reduce the engine load on the exosuit, and also improve the reaction speed of the arm wielding the shield. The only concern was whether it was truly hard enough to serve as a shield, as Heizi claimed.

“This is an exosuit’s mechanical arm,” Heizi continued, holding it up casually. “All five fingers are hollowed-out bones from fragrant salamanders. Besides being hard, their leg bones have a natural matte layer that prevents slipping. They’re also relatively easy to process.”

If an entire exosuit were made from bone materials, like Heizi’s, and paired with a decent engine, it would excel in speed—a critical advantage. Imagine a fleet of ultrafast, all-bone exosuits flooding the skies; Ye Chong felt a chill at the thought.

“How many can you make in a day?” Ye Chong asked cautiously.

“How many in a day?” Heizi shook his head. “You should ask how many days it takes to make one part! Every batch of bone material is different, so before starting, my master carefully analyzes the bone and designs a feasible plan. That alone takes several days! If it’s an unfamiliar bone, even longer! Then comes rough processing, followed by immersion in special liquids—like hardening solutions that strengthen the bone. Master calls these ‘enhancement liquids.’

“All the enhancement liquids are prepared by Aunt Guan, the best alchemist in this area. Soaking time varies by bone type, usually seven to twelve days.

“After that is fine processing, the most complex and almost entirely manual stage. A small mistake ruins the entire work, so master usually asks clients to provide at least two sets of bone materials to make two copies at once, giving some room for error.”

He pointed to the exosuit parts on the floor. “These are all master’s past works. For every two successful pieces, one goes to the client, and the other stays here. This collection contains everything master has made since he began. That disaster almost lost them all, but fortunately, the Guild recovered these items for us!”

Making an ordinary part typically takes about half a month. Larger parts like the main body of an exosuit take much longer. The longest master ever spent on one part was nearly three months!

“That long?” Ye Chong was surprised. In this era of advanced technology and efficiency, an exosuit can be produced in under ten minutes, so a single part taking half a month was staggering. But he quickly felt relieved—it meant large-scale production was impossible. For Ye Chong, this was good news. If mass production were possible, the Guild would be the first to equip all-bone exosuits. After causing such a huge incident, a manhunt would be imminent. The stronger the Guild, the greater his danger. Ye Chong understood this well.

“How do fully bone-made exosuits perform?” Ye Chong asked Heizi, who owned one and surely knew its merits and faults.

Heizi pondered: “It’s hard to say. Generally, bone exosuits are much lighter and faster than metal ones, with better endurance. But despite hardening treatments, they still aren’t as tough as mature metal exosuits. So bone exosuits aren’t suited for head-on confrontations but rather require agile, fluid tactics.

“Of course, that’s just general. Performance depends on the bone type, which varies greatly. Some rare premium bones can be harder than ultra-high-strength metals, but they’re extremely difficult to process and rarely found.

“One important point: bone exosuits cost far more than ordinary ones. Maintenance and repairs are inconvenient too—once a bone part breaks, it’s basically irreplaceable except by a new piece. So unless you’re a bone artisan yourself, using a bone exosuit for everyday tasks just seems foolish.”

Ye Chong silently nodded, realizing the truth in this. The pros and cons were stark. But he wasn’t thinking about that now. If someone put a Blackbird exosuit in front of him, he wouldn’t hesitate to take it—let alone this bone exosuit type he’d never heard of before.

At that moment, the voice from the pasture came through: “Scan complete. A total of 372 component types identified with three recommended configurations. Yezi, do you want detailed information?”