Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 357: Chapter 228: Simple Iron Saw

He had thought of many ways to open the can before he actually got started.

He never expected it to open like this once he started hammering at it. It was a genuine surprise.

He held the piece of sheet metal against his thigh to size it up. Its length was about the same as a common saw, but this meant the blade would lack strength.

If he folded it in half as he’d envisioned, the saw would be too short.

’Oh well, a short saw is better than no saw at all.’

He didn’t dwell on the problem, immediately setting to work on the blade.

The method of striking it from both sides gave him a fresh idea. He had a hunch that making the saw blade might be easier than he’d thought.

He laid it on a rock, leaving just one corner sticking out.

The stone axe came down, bending it with ease.

He flipped the metal sheet over. With the point now facing up, he struck the area right beside it.

CRACK.

With a crisp crack, the raised point was forced down by the impact on the adjacent metal. A clear tear appeared at the point where they connected.

After two more repetitions, the tear was a knuckle deep.

’Excellent! This method really works!’

What followed was a repetitive process of flipping the metal sheet. Every time he made a tear, he would bend all the irregularly torn metal around it, folding it over to the back of the blade, leaving only a triangular point facing outward.

After forming six teeth in a row, he shook his aching forearm and decided to take a break.

He held the metal sheet, its edge now half-serrated, up to his eyes, turning it over. As he stared at the tightly folded sections behind the teeth, his eyes lit up.

’Of course! This naturally reinforces the blade, doesn’t it?’

’Once the extra metal is folded back, the blade is naturally double-layered. What the hell was I thinking about folding it? It’s ready to use right now!’

A little over half an hour later.

One entire side of the metal sheet was now serrated. It wasn’t perfectly uniform, but the overall shape would do.

After finishing the teeth, he hammered down all the jagged metal fragments along the top and bottom edges, folding them flat against the back to form a smooth spine that wouldn’t cut his hand.

’Now, how do I attach this thing to a piece of wood?’

He searched his memory for how stone axes were made and quickly found a solution.

The handle had to be made from Light Wood; it would be lighter and easier to maneuver. Besides, Light Wood’s hollow, honeycomb-like structure wouldn’t be hard to cut through.

He ran to the area where the Lightwood Forest grew, chose a branch of suitable size, and climbed the tree to chop it off.

He chopped off the thinner end to use as firewood, keeping only the thickest part, nearest the trunk, for the handle.

Back at the shelter, he went to work with his combat knife, bamboo knife, and stone axe, quickly cutting a slit down the middle of one end.

After widening the slit, he hammered the top and bottom corners of the blade’s smooth edge, folding them back to create a triangular tang. This could then be wedged into the slit in the wooden handle.

Then, using bamboo fiber cord, he lashed the blade in place with an X-shaped binding, wrapping the cord several times around the top and bottom. And with that, the work was complete.

This binding technique was inspired by those used on ancient stone axes; it would effectively dissipate the force transferred to the handle and protect the joint from damage.

"Haha, with this thing, a lot of people are going to be green with envy, aren’t they?"

He raised the saw, shaking it excitedly and miming a few sawing motions in the air. A powerful sense of pride welled up in his heart.

’To think I could turn a metal can into a saw! I really am a genius!’

[Successfully crafted a simple saw on the beach in Panama. Happiness +5]

Huh?

The system notification that rang in his ears made his smile freeze.

’Oh, right. A saw is even more important than a raft. How could I have forgotten that?’

’Doesn’t that mean I can make the exchange right now?’

"Exchange for Basic Diving Mastery!"

As 15 points vanished, his barely replenished stock was once again down to a paltry 4 points.

There was no great tide of knowledge flooding his mind as he’d imagined. On the contrary, compared to the other skills he had exchanged for, the information for diving seemed pitifully scarce.

’Oh, I see. It’s not that there’s little to know about diving, but that most of the skills overlap with Basic Swimming Mastery. It only imparted the parts I hadn’t yet grasped, which is why it seems like less.’

It couldn’t be helped. The system required redeeming swimming before diving. The two were inextricably linked and only worked as a life-saving measure when combined.

He closed his eyes, reviewing the diving-related movements and images in his mind, his body subconsciously moving in rhythm.

He was confident that with his current swimming and diving abilities, he was by no means inferior to that Andre fellow—he might even be better!

’I don’t know if he can dive, but I should still play it safe and not show off too much. It would be too unbelievable. After all, I’ve never had any swimming experience in my life. Suddenly displaying the diving skills of a professional would be a bit too much.’

He could claim he learned it back home, and normally, no one would bother to check something like that. Still, he felt it was better to be cautious.

’If it comes down to it, I’ll just do what I did before and spend time in the ocean every day, pretending to practice diving.’

After finishing the saw, he grabbed a bite to eat and then immediately threw himself into the construction of the bamboo raft.

Twenty bamboo stalks were already scored with white marks; all he had to do was cut off the excess portions.