As he was rubbing the shell with his fingertips, Messer didn't feel or find any soft spots or cracks on his fire crabs shell. Since he didn't find any cracks, he could move on to step two, no?

He picked up his brush and gently started to scrub the entire shell in circular motion. He paid extra attention to the fire crabs jewel and avoiding areas covered in scales.

Scrub. Scrub. Scrub.