The Mirage Dragon's dorsal mane was a bundle of red hair that the Drought Demon had casually plucked from the dragon's back before leaving; it was heavy and fiery hot.
This mane was located on the right side of the Mirage Dragon's back and was not among the longest strands. However, it still measured two to three meters in length and formed a cohesive bundle, resembling a bundle of sugar canes.
[Name: Mirage Dragon Dorsal Mane]
[Type: Unique Item]
[Quality: Perfect]
[Special Effect: None]
[Remark: Material from the body of the mythical creature, the Mirage Dragon—indestructible. It might be put to use in some way, such as crafting equipment.]
[Remark: Perhaps you could mount it on the wall and, when you're old, boast to your grandchildren about your dragon-slaying adventures—assuming you have any grandchildren.]
[Remark: OWWW... it kind of hurts.]
"..."
Li Ang contemplated the several remarks on the Mirage Dragon Dorsal Mane. Even looking at them a second time, he couldn't help but feel an urge to retort.
That second-to-last remark is so malicious, isn't it? Can I sue the System for cursing me to a lonely death?
As for the last remark, that must be what the Mirage Dragon thought when the Drought Demon plucked its mane. Should I say the Mirage Dragon is actually kind of cute? But that's understandable. According to the Drought Demon, that Mirage Dragon—twenty meters in diameter and stretching for who knows how many miles—is probably still just an eight-year-old kid... And a little girl at that.
Li Ang set the sugarcane-like mane on the ground, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind: In a way, this dorsal mane could be considered a little girl's hair...
He shook his head to clear the random thoughts and began to seriously consider how he might use the item.
The dorsal mane, like the Origin of Life and the Abnormal Embryo, was a Perfect quality item. However, while the Origin of Life had a clear use, and the System noted that Divinity could be stripped from the Abnormal Embryo using a certain amount of Game Currency, the System hadn't specified a use for the Mirage Dragon Dorsal Mane, offering only vague hints like "can be used to craft equipment."
One way is to throw the dorsal mane directly into the Forging Furnace to craft equipment. I estimate these hairs alone could be refined into some pretty decent gear. Unfortunately, the Alchemy Workshop is only Excellent quality. Because of this, the highest quality of equipment the Forging Furnace can produce is Rare. That would be too wasteful.
As Li Ang pondered this, he felt a headache coming on. That Drought Demon, who was now presumably tinkering with something on the Moon, had given him mane—not the legendary Dragon Blood capable of healing any wound, nor fragments of Dragon Horn that seemed to have medicinal properties, nor scales that could be directly used as armor or shields.
Alright, it's greedy to bite off more than one can chew. I shouldn't dwell on it.
Li Ang shook his head and tested the defensive capabilities of the Mirage Dragon Dorsal Mane, finding them to be incredibly potent. Even Li Ang's strongest strike, using "Adrenaline + Ripple Breathing + BGM Skill + Triangular Bone Tipped Spear," couldn't inflict visible damage on a single strand of the Mirage Dragon Dorsal Mane. Not even thermite Molotov cocktails or hand grenades were able to breach its defense.
The tenacity of these hairs is incredible. With all my might, I can make them stretch and deform. Unbreakable, extremely heat-resistant, and quite decent at absorbing kinetic energy... Wait a minute!
Li Ang looked at the mane, his eyes suddenly lighting up, and he separated the whole bundle into individual hairs.
Perhaps due to the larger follicles on the Mirage Dragon's back, the thinnest of these hairs was 0.2 centimeters in diameter. However, they felt extremely smooth to the touch. Even under a microscope, there were no visible fissures on their surface; each strand possessed an almost perfectly smooth curve.
Li Ang returned to his bedroom and fetched two knitting needles. He had picked up some handcraft skills during his time at the orphanage, often knitting woolen underwear, shorts, and vests for himself or others.
They were quite warm, but extremely itchy.
I wonder if this could work...
Li Ang laid out strands of mane on the ground, sat cross-legged, and started to knit them with the needles.
Several hours later, a small, red, knitted hat made from the mane began to take shape. Li Ang found a watermelon and stretched the newly knitted mane hat over it, then he used a small-caliber pistol to shoot at the watermelon, which was placed in a hollow in the ground.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
After the gunshots, Li Ang walked over and found that the mane-knitted hat was intact, and the watermelon inside was undamaged.
Li Ang conducted a series of tests. He discovered that when items knitted from the mane were combined with soft materials like bulletproof nylon, aramid fiber, and polyvinyl alcohol fiber (mainly to stabilize the extremely soft mane and incidentally increase tensile deformation capabilities), their ability to absorb kinetic energy was astonishingly high. They could easily withstand the impact of small and medium-caliber bullets, or explosions.
Only when faced with machine gun fire or repeated shots from a high-powered heavy sniper rifle did the watermelon inside shatter.
If I used an entire bundle of dorsal mane to knit hats, masks, turtleneck sweaters, woolen thermals, socks, gloves, and underwear, wouldn't I have all-around, no-blind-spot, absolute defense?
Li Ang was utterly shocked by his own genius idea.
If one could tolerate the prickliness, these mane-knitted items would arguably be the strongest soft bulletproof vests. Mere bullets would be nothing to them, and they could outright ignore common slashes and stabs from swords or knives. If I had a full set of mane-knitted armor like this at the Williams Mansion, standing still and taking a few hits from the Abnormal Embryo's vine spears wouldn't have been an issue. Besides, the most perfect part is that knitting it into sweaters doesn't affect the essence of the mane. If the Forging Furnace is upgraded in the future, the entire set of knitted armor could be taken apart and forged into other items.
Li Ang estimated that he had just enough mane for a full set of knitted wear for one person. He continued his work diligently, completely finishing the mane hat. Thus, a piece of Excellent quality defensive gear was freshly made.
[Name: Mirage Dragon Red Mane Hat]
[Type: Armor]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Defensive Power: High]
[Special Effect: Tough. Indestructible]
[Consumption: None]
[Equipment Requirements: None]
[Remark:]
Just like with the Bloodworm Crowbar, players could add remarks to the extraordinary items they crafted. The Special Affairs Bureau typically tagged standard-issue gear with a message like, "If found, please return to the nearest Special Affairs Bureau office. A generous reward will be provided." Some players who specialized in forging and alchemy also marked the equipment they crafted with the creator's name and their organization.
Li Ang thought for a while and then added a remark to the Mirage Dragon Red Mane Hat.
[Remark: Xiao Ming's girlfriend gave him a hand-knitted red hat. He was quite happy until he found out she was colorblind to red and green.]