Chapter 68: You're Sick, Need Treatment!
The burly man sat across from Su Xiao at the wooden table. His name was Augut. A few years ago, he was known as Red Wrist Augut, skilled with a saw-axe, his left hand naturally gifted with immense strength, able to easily tear open an enemy's throat or pierce into their chest cavity to rip out their organs.
The Augut of now no longer had the ferocity of his Red Wrist days. He was wondering if he had come to the wrong place. In all his previous battles, he had rarely felt such a sense of crisis. He looked at the pharmacist across from him, who exuded a casual and lazy air, seeming easy to get along with? Probably.
Obviously, Su Xiao was trying to activate his 'Alchemist persona,' the Holy Flame Alchemist. Of course, he wasn't actually disguised as the Holy Flame Alchemist right now, but he could take the opportunity to practice. First, he needed to smile.
A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. The burly man, Augut, felt a jolt in his heart. He even had the urge to turn and flee. The situation was too strange. The pharmacist across from him seemed casual and kind, yet gave him an inexplicable sense of danger, as if it were all a facade, and the person opposite was a ferocious blood beast baring its fangs, ready to devour him whole.
"Your complexion is bad."
Su Xiao observed the changes in the patient across from him. Through the information gathered by the Eye of the Gods, he learned that this man was named Augut. Not one of his twenty-four ribs had a smooth, curved shape; every single one had been broken and healed without proper alignment. As for his internal organs, the situation was a complete mess.
The injuries inside Augut were severe. Using conventional methods, treating only this one patient would take an entire morning, which was inefficient.
In terms of treatment speed, Su Xiao certainly had ways to speed things up, but to save time, the faster the treatment, the rougher the process.
The good news was that the believers coming for treatment were all transcendents and beast hunters. They had strong physiques and endurance. A bit of roughness probably wouldn't matter. Probably.
First, he couldn't let this patient run away. This was a big client, allowing Su Xiao to understand roughly how much reputation he could gain from treating believers.
Su Xiao took a medical record form from the drawer, uncapped the pen, and asked:
"Your name?"
"Augut."
Augut answered truthfully. Su Xiao began recording on the form. This was crucial.
"Gender?"
"Male... do you even need to ask?"
"Of course I do. Yesterday, I treated a patient whose gender changed once a day."
Su Xiao wrote 'Male' on the form and noted beside it, 'No specific changes.'
"The church really is full of talented people."
Augut's mood relaxed considerably. Watching Su Xiao record his information, Augut felt a pang of guilt. This pharmacist was so easygoing and friendly; he had actually suspected the man had ill intentions earlier. What a shameful act.
"Augut, are you ready for surgery?"
"Right now?"
Augut looked around. Even though he was barely literate, he felt the environment here was too crude.
"I'm considering..."
"Since you agree, let's start as soon as possible."
Su Xiao stood up and extended his left hand. Usually, handshakes were done with the right hand, but he deliberately offered his left.
"Pharmacist, I actually haven't..."
Augut stopped mid-sentence, finding that Su Xiao had already raised his hand to shake. Augut could only raise his hand, after all, he was here for treatment and couldn't be rude to the physician.
Augut raised his right hand, only to find Su Xiao had raised his left, making it impossible to shake. Plus, Su Xiao's left hand, made of crystal, caught Augut's attention for a moment before he raised his right hand.
The more things one does simultaneously, the more attention is divided. Augut was responding to Su Xiao's words + looking at Su Xiao's left hand + raising his right hand. Plus, in this safe environment, he couldn't help but let his guard down.
Su Xiao's right hand rose from under the table. Unbeknownst to Augut, he now held a small hand crossbow. The bolt on this crossbow was a silver-white metal syringe, streamlined in shape.
Snap~
The crossbow string vibrated. Augut was momentarily stunned. He felt a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw a small silver-white metal syringe embedded in his chest. The door was welded shut; wanting to get off? Dream on.
Augut felt a wave of heat spread from his chest, then throughout his body. As this heat spread, he began to lose control of his body. He could feel everything but couldn't move freely. It was an unpleasant sensation.
"Pharmacist, what are you doing?"
Augut sat rigidly in his chair. He felt his right hand being lifted. Turning his head, he saw a dark blue-feathered demon hawk lifting his right hand, pressing his thumb onto a red ink pad, then pressing it onto a medical record form. On it was written: 'Surgery Consent Form.'
What worried Augut was that the five characters 'Surgery Consent Form' weren't typed by a machine but were handwritten. Judging by the ink color, it had clearly just been written.
Augut's mind began to go numb. To put it aptly, his brain felt like it was wrapped in a plastic bag, with high latency. Converted to network lag, it was at least 300 Ping or more.
"Praise the Sun."
Augut smiled unusually happily, as if he had returned to childhood. He was carried onto the operating table by Baha. Su Xiao, now in surgical scrubs, stepped forward. He flexed the fingers of his disposable medical rubber gloves. With a click, he activated a small particle cutting saw.
Five minutes later, a knock came at the door. After just two knocks, the door was pushed open. Su Xiao turned his head, seeing only the slowly opening door panel, no one. A few seconds later, a shout came from the corridor outside: "Someone, come quickly!"
Half a minute later, under Su Xiao's expressionless gaze, the few believers who had rushed in slunk away, closing the door behind them as they left.
The surgery was completed in just half an hour. Su Xiao consumed 50 points of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy to form a micron-level energy thread, suturing Augut's fully opened chest.
The energy thread sutured more finely. After completion, the energy thread would last about five days before dissipating on its own. For transcendents, five days was enough time for their wounds to heal, and it also eliminated the need for later suture removal.
Su Xiao had discovered the wonderful use of micron-level energy threads. When treating a patient's organ damage, manipulating three to four energy threads was the best method. For example, when treating Augut's liver, which was covered in cracks, the fact that he was still alive was mainly due to his strong physique.
Su Xiao first removed the accumulated blood in the organ, then used micron-level energy threads to suture these cracks, followed by supplementary medicinal means to complete the treatment.
The method was a bit rough, but absolutely effective. However, due to its roughness, the recovery period would be longer.
This was exactly what Su Xiao wanted to see. Having more believers in a recovery phase would help his subsequent plans.
After the wound on Augut's body surface was sutured, the ends of the energy thread fused together. The surgery was complete. Su Xiao signaled Baha to inject Augut with a neutralizing agent to speed up the reversal of the anesthesia.
Five minutes later, Augut's cheek twitched. His senses quickly returned.
"Ah!!!"
A scream echoed from the room. From this wail, one could imagine what Augut had experienced in the past half hour.
Soon, Augut was lying on a stretcher, carried out by two kind-hearted believers. He had limped in and was carried out horizontally.
[Tip: You have completed the treatment of Augut. Augut's expected recovery rate is 95.72%. This treatment is judged as Excellent.]
[You have gained 7620 points of Sun Church Reputation (Due to initial evil faction, this reputation gain has been increased by an additional 40%).]
Seeing these prompts, Su Xiao made up his mind. Cases as severe as Augut's probably wouldn't be too common. Treatment could be more efficient, and reputation would come faster.
Thinking of this, Su Xiao suddenly realized that every member of the Sun Church was now a walking source of reputation.
The situation now was: Time = Reputation = Resources = Stronger. He needed to hurry up and farm reputation.
Su Xiao tossed aside the blood-stained disposable gloves, his gaze fixed on the back of a female believer. He said, "Miss, please hold on."
"?"
The female believer turned around warily. A pair of dark purple eyes inside her helmet looked at Su Xiao cautiously.
"What is it?"
Perhaps intimidated by Su Xiao's inexplicable pressure, the female believer was very polite.
Su Xiao sat behind the wooden table, a smile on his face, and said, "Miss, you are sick and need urgent treatment."
"???"
The female believer was bewildered. Her beautiful dark purple eyes were filled with huge question marks.
Bang! The door was closed by Baha. The female believer instinctively reached for the saw-spear on her back but grabbed nothing. Entering the treatment room meant no weapons. She could only lean against the door, threatening with a bluster that masked her fear: "You... don't come any closer. If you do, I'll scream."
A moment later, the female believer, whose helmet had been forcibly removed, lay on the cleaned operating table. Tears welled up in her eyes. At that moment, she just wanted to go home.