Chapter 679 - 17: Preparations Before the Battle
Dissecting a beaver is a troublesome affair.
From modern times to life on a deserted island, then back to modern times, Chen Zhou has personally dissected no less than a thousand animals. Yet, faced with this beaver, he was indeed at a loss for where to start.
Of course, this was mainly because he wanted to preserve the Beaver’s bone armor to make a set of protective gear for Paul. Otherwise, with his brute strength, he could rip the Beaver into pieces even using his hands.
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After pondering for a long time with the knife in hand, Chen Zhou ultimately decided it was best to start dissecting from the beaver’s abdomen, first removing the internal organs. Once he somewhat understood the internal structure, he would then attempt to extract the tightly arranged bone armor.
While he worked, Paul was not idle either; he went into the underground hole to search for kindling.
However, the result was quite disappointing. Due to the Beaver’s lack of flexible front claws and the habit of not storing food, Paul thoroughly explored the cave, getting himself muddy all over, and failed to find even a single dry twig. Instead, he found two clumps of fresh Beaver droppings.
Outside the cave, while Chen Zhou was dissecting the beaver, three lethargic serrated tiger cubs excited by the smell of blood, under their "big brother’s" lead, kept clawing at the Beaver’s tail trying to climb onto the corpse.
Worrying they might climb to the Beaver’s side and fall into the emptied abdominal cavity, thus dirtying the fresh organs, Chen Zhou had to repeatedly and tirelessly push them away.
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Without dry wood, Paul couldn’t just wait for Chen Zhou to finish dissecting—
Once the meat was cut out, they couldn’t eat it raw; they still needed to make a fire, even if conditions were harsh, they had to find a way.
Continuing to twist grass ropes into a fire bow, he found a sufficiently thick piece of wood and peeled off the soaked bark, carved a small pit in it, and Paul prepared to embark on his arduous journey of fire-making.
Ordinarily, the pit carved in the wood should have a hole to let the friction-produced wood powder fall into, so any sparks generated can ignite the tinder.
However, the knife that could carve holes was with Chen Zhou, therefore he resorted to using a stone to carve the pit, which took considerable effort. If he’d wanted to pierce through the 30cm thick wood, he’d be working until it got dark, so he had to make do.
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No matter how strange the Beaver’s appearance, as a mammal, its internal structure is not much different from pigs, sheep, cattle, or horses.
Chen Zhou was a seasoned butcher and quickly emptied the beaver’s insides, using the diaphragm between the stomach and chest cavity as a cushion, throwing the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, and other organs on top.
The serrated tiger cubs who had been longing for a taste were tantalized by the rich scent of blood, drooling and whining as they watched Chen Zhou dissect.
Finally able to reach the nutrient-rich organs, these little guys couldn’t resist and eagerly climbed onto the fresh, red heart.
But before they could succeed in their little schemes, they heard Chen Zhou snort and turn his head, glaring at them.
Remembering how the big serrated tiger died, a deep inner fear stopped the little serrated tigers from advancing further. They pitifully stood still, their eyes magnetically locked onto the Beaver’s organs, utterly reluctant to move.
Serrated tigers are social animals with hierarchical status within the group, thus unlike the defiant nature of tigers and leopards, they tend to follow order, not provoking those in higher positions.
However, this is only limited to established groups. Those newly formed groups experience different dynamics during tigress mating seasons, where males compete for mates.
In the little serrated tigers’ eyes, Chen Zhou was undoubtedly the leader of their group.
The concept of "vengeance for father or mother" doesn’t exist in serrated tiger society. They only recognize the strong, adhering to the serrated tiger tribe’s ancient traditions, showing respect through their behavior to maintain tribal stability.
This unity enables the serrated tigers to challenge the largest animal on Earth at the time, the mammoth, and successfully hunt young elephants.
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After emptying the beaver’s chest and abdominal cavity, not only did Chen Zhou gather a pile of food, but he also made an unexpected discovery—
The beaver’s prominently round shoulders weren’t just a "shield" against a predator’s attack; it was also an energy reserve similar to a hump.
Possibly because this beaver had reached adulthood and there were no fierce beasts threatening its safety, allowing it to eat and rest peacefully.
Upon dissecting the bone armor, Chen Zhou found the Beaver’s fat reserves were quite remarkable, totaling sixty to seventy pounds, all of a creamy yellow color, piled on the ground spectacularly.
Digging out this oil provided Chen Zhou with inspiration—
He wanted to use this oil as an ignition aid.
However, the ignition point of fat is much higher than materials like dried grass leaves or twigs. Dry grass leaves have an ignition point of about 130 to 180 degrees, while the fat typically ignites at over 300 degrees. To ignite the fat, he needed to find or create some wick-like conductive material.
Whether hemp or cotton twine can use capillary action to absorb oil, expand the contact area between oil and flame, utilizing low ignition point material to drive the higher ignition point fat.
Coincidentally, there was still half a grass rope left from when Paul was twisting the fire bow, so he soaked that half rope into the fat.
Additionally, Chen Zhou mischievously plucked some fur from the little serrated tigers, molded it into a small fur ball, threw it into the fat, leaving the little creatures indignant yet afraid to resist, sitting upright on the ground, all closing their small mouths tight, exuding a look of sulky discontent.