Chapter 380: Chapter 379: Surgery
Without delay, Princess Anna’s subordinates immediately set out to collect the various extraordinary materials as per Li Ang’s provided list.
Collection was, in fact, a matter of dispatching resources. The royal warehouse was already filled with the treasures and rarities of the entire Rune Kingdom, lacking nothing. After the Snow Queen conquered the Rune Kingdom, the royal warehouse became responsible for storing tributes from other kingdoms, causing its stockpile to grow ever larger.
However, to increase the challenge, Li Ang deliberately concocted some nonexistent materials on the list. This was mainly to ensure that John Joyce and others would take the initiative, leading the Rune Kingdom’s security team to make several rounds in the capital. Their goal was to hit up hidden organization strongholds, auction houses, apothecaries, and the like to sweep up resources.
However, the entire process had to remain under strict surveillance.
Li Ang wasn’t idle either. The apartment building next to his residence had been converted into a temporary clinic, housing ten patients with various serious illnesses whom many doctors had refused to treat.
Among these patients, four also had heart disease, with two exhibiting symptoms similar to Princess Anna’s.
Clearly, Princess Anna’s medical team wanted to assess Li Ang’s level of medical skill. At the very least, they wouldn’t let him treat Princess Anna without having witnessed him perform a successful treatment first-hand.
Li Ang showed no anger or indignation, calmly monitoring all the patients in the temporary clinic.
Once the security team delivered the first batch, Li Ang made minor modifications to the extraordinary materials and prepared to begin the first surgery immediately.
He had John Joyce and the others wait outside, brought a tumor patient into the operating room, and began preparations.
Previously in Mori City, when performing surgery on patients, Li Ang was usually alone. The patients were administered a strong anesthetic before being wheeled into the operating room and remained unconscious throughout the process. This made it convenient for Li Ang to directly take out the Origin of Life for modifications.
Now, behind the one-way glass of the operating room, stood the full medical and security team of Princess Anna. They were closely monitoring Li Ang’s every move. It wasn’t possible to be as at ease as during the surgeries in Mori City.
The only solution was to make the medical procedure as mystifying as possible, rendering it utterly incomprehensible, and thus allowing the players to carry out their operations.
"Draw the patterns according to the blueprint, place the items there, right," Li Ang instructed his apprentices. They began to draw intricate and complicated patterns on the floor of the operating room and placed the extraordinary materials at various points on the pattern.
Such items as Dahlia Bat Moth Larvae Grease Candle, Withered Bag Wolf’s Foreclaw, Irises Plants, Silver-tongued Spider Placenta...
These haphazard items clearly did not comply with aseptic operating room regulations, but what was even more outrageous came next—
Li Ang had his apprentices bring in a long table. They covered it with yellow silk and arranged fruits and vegetables, grains, a sound system disguised as a wooden box, and a memorial tablet he had carved himself.
Then he donned a Red Silk Long Robe provided by the Rune Kingdom. He held a slender wooden sword in one hand and a cinnabar Talisman in the other, wearing a crown, presenting an image of mystical elegance.
Several apprentices, all wearing formal surgical attire, masks, and caps, stood solemnly at the back of the operating room.
The tumor patient wheeled in was a young man whose appearance and physique suggested he might be a well-off rich heir.
Li Ang had not followed procedure in administering an anesthetic beforehand, so this young man was completely speechless with fear at the preposterous scene in the operating room.
After preparations were made, Li Ang opened his eyes and bellowed, "Om, mani, padme, hum!"
This sudden roar startled Carly and the other physicians behind the one-way glass.
Before they could settle their nerves, Li Ang started waving a wooden sword. With the pure instrumental accompaniment of "The Second Set of Primary and Middle School Students’ Radio Calisthenics: Soaring Eagle" playing from the speakers, he earnestly performed the broadcast calisthenics, all the while muttering, "All knowledge in one, one in all knowledge. Equal contemplation of the Tathagata, characteristics of all dharmas across the three times. Immeasurable Heavenly Lord, Immortal places their hand upon my crown, vowing for eternal life. God said, ’Let there be light,’ and there was light. Feudal superstitions are not to be followed; science heals and maintains health..."
This hotchpotch of loose prayers was truly indecent. It possessed a kind of post-modern magical realism and black humor, reminiscent of a Mount Wudang native with an office in the Shaolin Temple who also had the vibe of a grand bishop lama.
The natives behind the one-way mirror couldn’t understand what was happening at all. Watching Li Ang draw his sword and dance, they only felt an inexplicable sense of awe.
Once Li Ang felt he had danced enough with his sword, he struck the wooden box with it to turn off the speakers. Then, he put down the wooden sword and picked up the Scalpel placed in front of the memorial tablet. He poked at the fruit bowl, tossing the fruits into the air and slicing them into countless pieces. Immediately afterward, he picked up some rice, scattered it on the table, and after close examination, his expression became mysteriously solemn.
At that moment, a few teammates behind him started following the previous plan and began to sing the famous "Hallelujah."
Amidst swirling smoke, echoing song, and the scent of fruit, Li Ang hopped to the operating table. He looked at the young tumor patient, who had a terrified expression, and said with a smile, "Scared? Brother, if you’re scared, type ’scared’ in the chat."
The young patient was utterly bemused, his mind forming a silent question mark as he stared at the Scalpel in Li Ang’s hand, still dripping with various fruit juices. His facial expression was uglier than crying.
"Master, shouldn’t you clean the Scalpel? Won’t I get an infection if you operate like this?"
"How can I clean it? It’s got good fruit juice on it," replied Li Ang.
"Then, Master, can you give me some anesthesia?"
Li Ang shook his head. "No, I never use anesthesia for surgeries. I’m afraid of pain."
It’s me who’ll be in pain, you fool! What pain are *you* afraid of?!
"Master, I have a feeling that this surgery isn’t very professional..."
"You can question me, but you can’t question my medical skills. When I was learning medicine, to ensure the success rate of surgeries, I used to perform dissections on patients to study their body and pathological structures. I only dared to practice after dissecting three hundred critical patients. Sadly, it seems those patients didn’t make it," Li Ang explained.
The young patient wanted to roar in complaint, but Li Ang placed the Scalpel on his lips.
"Here, have some good fruit juice."
With the cold blade against him, the young patient fearfully tasted the "good fruit juice." Before he could swallow, Li Ang’s hand moved, and the Scalpel came down, chopping into his left leg.
"AAAAAAAH!"
The patient screamed in agony, sweating profusely from the pain. He tried to struggle but was firmly restrained on the operating table. "Doctor, the tumor is in my right leg! AHHHHH!"
"I know," Li Ang nodded seriously. "But it’s ’men left, women right.’ I need to carve a design on your left leg first, to get a feel for it."