Why Metals Bend

That same electron sea is why a blacksmith can hammer iron flat instead of shattering it.

In ionic and covalent crystals, shoving the atoms out of place breaks the bonds and the material cracks. In a metal, the nuclei just slide to new spots and the electron sea flows around them, bonds intact. That's why metals can be drawn into thin wire (ductile) and pounded into sheets (malleable).