Cataphracts, surviving in a world full of mods

Chapter 156 Stripping and Toxins

The silver dagger tapped the smooth scalp several times, the blue light washing over it like ripples in water. It seemed to be done, but as the dagger was about to leave, it reached back and tapped again, before hesitatingly moving away.

"So, shall I make my move?"

Tersolius turned his head to inquire. He was wearing a white cloth mask on his face, and his hair was also tightly bound by a headscarf to prevent anything from contaminating his wound.

At first glance, he seems quite like a doctor. But as the saying goes, he knows nothing about medicine. Recently, on a whim, he did some research to see if he had made any progress in this area, and then: 23.2…

That's right, he has successfully grown by 0.2... That's truly commendable. At this rate, he should be able to become a qualified healer in a few decades.

The reason he was here, dressed as a doctor, was not only because he was interested in seeing how the worm actually stayed in the brain, but also because his hands were steady and precise enough that he wouldn't feel any psychological burden from cutting open a person's head, which would prevent him from being decisive and efficient.

Of course, there are some things that need to be clarified beforehand, otherwise it would be troublesome if something that shouldn't have been cut was cut... No matter how powerful Talina is, she can't save someone with brain damage.

"Yes, no problem. Just cut along the dotted line. Be careful not to cut too deep, or you'll hit the bone."

Talina was a little nervous. It was the first time for both of them to do something like this. Although the girl had learned about it from her teacher's book, it was her first time doing it herself, so she naturally didn't perform as well as usual. That's why she handed the job over to Tersolius.

Thesolius nodded slightly, then began to cut without hesitation.

A sharp dagger pierced the scalp, circling the forehead. Blood had just begun to seep out when it slowed down under the bluish-green light, revealing the pale flesh beneath.

The incision begins behind the ear and ends at the other ear. The blade is then inserted into the scalp to separate the scalp from the skull.

His hands remained steady, as if cast in steel, without the slightest tremor. With a calm gaze, he peeled away the scalp and skull before him, letting the entire scalp fall like a curtain, revealing the stark white skull.

At this point, they need to continue confirming the location.

"This is the place, right?"

Tersolius pointed to the center of the skull, where the white bone still showed obvious seams, traces of bone growth.

“That’s right…” Tarina nodded, her cherry-pink lips pressed tightly together, making her fair cheeks appear fuller. She even took off her mask because she was slightly out of breath.

"Based on previous experience, this is the area where the parasite is most likely to hatch."

Tersolius nodded, reached for a hand drill from the side, and after determining the location, drilled into the bone, squinting as he watched the white bone fragments fall down.

Nowadays, it's all about physical strength. The human skull is extremely strong. If you use a long knife or heavy axe, it's not difficult to break it open. But if you use delicate tools like these for surgery, you need some skill, strength, and a certain amount of endurance.

Amidst the creaking and grinding of the drill, he carefully felt the pressure on his hands to prevent drilling too deep and damaging the meninges.

After slowly rotating it a little more, he realized it was about time. He pulled the drill out, and sure enough, it hadn't gone out an inch. It just exposed the meninges with blood vessels, but without leaving any marks on them.

There were more than just the two of them; dozens of assistants helped them. Every so often, a nimble mountain woman would quickly sprinkle a packet of herbal powder on the man's face, keeping their "patient" in a deep sleep.

Unlike herbs that can instantly induce sleep, this powder is much gentler and is generally used to aid sleep. However, with slight modifications to the formula and ingredients, it can induce a prolonged slumber.

Everyone else had their own things to do, and there was even a brown-haired girl next to Tersolius wiping his sweat, even though he was incredibly calm and didn't sweat at all.

After drilling three holes to form a triangle, he picked up a saw from the side and began sawing the curved skull with his precise control.

The sound of the fine-toothed saw cutting through fresh bone was enough to make anyone's teeth ache, but Tersolius remained unfazed, carefully avoiding cutting into the other's delicate meninges until three points connected to form three lines, creating a triangle on the skull. Only then did he use the pliers beside him to remove the bone.

His work is now complete, and it's time to hand it over to the professionals.

"Hurry up, doctor, we might still have time for breakfast."

The man in white wiped the blood from his hands. Without armor, he appeared more gentle, unlike his previous imposing and unapproachable demeanor. He seemed like a handsome scholar, but his inherent ruthlessness and arrogance could not be concealed. He was like the sun, constantly attracting everyone's attention.

"But sir, I'm a little worried..."

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Thesolius interrupted the girl directly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"It's just a small thing. Do it well, and then we'll go eat."

This unwavering determination seemed contagious, putting Talina, who had been somewhat nervous and apprehensive, at ease. She put on her mask, picked up the silver knife, and prepared to continue the process.

Tersolius took two steps back and began to wait patiently—once he started doing something, he would no longer hesitate, nor would he allow his men and soldiers to hesitate or panic.

Carefully avoiding important blood vessels, any accidentally punctured were quickly stopped with a gentle touch of the knife. After separating the meninges, a very conspicuous "vesicle" appeared before their eyes.

This oval-shaped object has dozens of blood vessels of varying thickness extending into the surrounding brain tissue. The overall color is a dull red, like the color of congealed blood. It has a soft, skirt-like edge around it, with unique patterns like the body of a snail.

If there are no surprises, this is the insect egg they are looking for... but they didn't expect it to be so huge, it looks like it has squeezed the brain tissue to the side and occupied a space the size of an egg on the top of the head.

According to the testimony of the Iris merchant, they must have been infected with the parasite after drinking the red wine. The fact that it could be ingested by people only proves that the parasite eggs were extremely small and difficult to detect with the naked eye, even if they were floating in the wine.

Tarina turned her head and met his gaze. Both of them were somewhat surprised, because logically, having something like this growing in the brain should cause physical abnormalities. Why were those who had been implanted with the parasite completely unaware until the symptoms actually appeared?

After a slight hesitation, they decided to take action immediately to remove the object... After all, if they delayed any longer, the egg might hatch, and then it would be too late.

Tarina reached for a small silver tweezer from the plate beside her. The brown-haired girl wiped the sweat from her forehead with a clean white cloth. After making all the preparations, the girl took a deep breath and began to work.

The pointed silver tweezers began to try to pick up a relatively thin blood vessel and separate it from the brain tissue. This step was smooth and easy, just like picking up a hair from the skin.

To avoid irritating it, Tarina didn't cut it off. Instead, she used small tweezers to peel away the blood vessels one by one, lifting the hem and slightly, like a sea anemone about to be pulled out. Dozens of tiny blood vessels were wriggling in the air.

Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly, Tarina, who was working meticulously, suddenly froze. Attorney Teso approached curiously, and then a look of surprise and helplessness appeared on his face.

This follicle-like thing actually grew dense roots, just like some kind of plant!

What they had just seen was only a small part; when they tried to move it, they saw that there was a thick, segmented tentacle underneath, from which countless tiny roots extended, deeply penetrating the surrounding brain tissue...

Just like pulling up a plant from the ground, which will inevitably bring up some soil, the insect eggs were in such close contact with the brain tissue, and there were so many of them, that it was impossible to separate them without damaging the brain. The dense and full brain tissue also made it impossible to do anything about it.

Tarina tentatively poked the thickest tentacle with the tip of her knife. This was like stirring up a hornet's nest. The follicles, which had been motionless just moments before, suddenly began to tremble. The fine blood vessels seemed to come alive and began to writhe, causing the blood vessels in the surrounding brain tissue to rupture and ooze a faint amount of blood.

Tarina dared not make another move and hurriedly put the knife away. Everyone in the room looked at each other, unsure of what to do next.

Tersolius sighed... It seemed that under the current conditions, it would still be difficult to separate the parasite intact. This "big fish" that he had finally caught would ultimately be of little use.

This follicle has developed quite well, and the parasite might crawl out at any moment and start destroying the host's brain tissue immediately... In any case, this guy is doomed.

"It seems we weren't fully prepared, but it's okay. At least we've gained valuable experience, which will make next time much easier..."

"My lord, I have another way!"

Just as Thesolius was offering words of comfort, Thalina turned her head with a resolute look in her eyes:

"This is the rarest opportunity. If we miss it this time, it will be much harder to catch them next time... I don't want to give up."

Thesolius was initially surprised, then suddenly smiled, and his expression immediately calmed down.

"Then let's do it your way."

"Okay... If we want to remove it from the head without damaging other parts, we can only kill the egg first, turn it into a dead thing, and then slowly peel it off. After all, what we need is not this parasite, it was an unnecessary product to begin with."

"To achieve this goal, we cannot use brutal and direct methods, because that would allow it to remain vigorous enough before it dies... The best way is to use poison."

Tersolius was slightly curious:

"Won't using poison affect this guy?"

"No matter how strong the poison is, it needs a certain dosage to be effective, and the dosage varies greatly for organisms of different sizes. Moreover, during the initial peeling process, I discovered that the insect eggs were not directly connected to the brain tissue. In other words, they did not actually invade the brain. Those blood vessels can be easily peeled off, and only a small amount of toxin is needed to kill it, and it is difficult to cause damage to the surrounding brain tissue."

"Then let's use it. There's no better way right now."

"Understood, I need some time to coordinate..."

Tersolius stepped forward:

"Should we put his skull back on first? I have two fishhooks here that can temporarily hold his scalp in place... barbless, of course, to avoid trouble later."

"A fishhook... that should work too, right..."

………………

"30 gerr of Faria powder."

The assistants immediately found a bottle containing purple powder.

"15-gril Spanna oleracea extract".

The brown-haired girl quickly found a small bottle.

"0.25g of Ig's Green Palpitation Snake Venom".

…………

Tarina prepared the required poison with precise and swift movements... This was not something a doctor should be doing, but the girl already had the determination she needed and the right path she believed in, and she would not hesitate or back down because of it.

Only a tiny bit is picked out from each bottle with silver tweezers, and the order in which each ingredient is added is strictly required to ensure that the toxicity of these things is just right so that the difficult prisoner will not be poisoned along with them.

In the end, the condensed product is a drop of crystal-clear liquid, which looks like it was taken from the clearest mountain spring, but it contains a terrible toxin.

The follicle in her brain was exposed once again. Tarina carefully picked up the tiny drop of venom with a silver needle. It looked about the size of a needle tip, and someone with poor eyesight might not even notice it.

A silver needle with a fine groove at its tip was gently inserted into the follicle, and the drop of venom seeped in through the small hole. As the needle was slowly pulled out, the two waited silently.

…………

Time passed minute by minute, and the follicle continued to move vigorously, seemingly unaffected. Just as a look of frustration appeared on the girl's face, things suddenly took a turn for the better!

A faint bluish-gray tinge began to spread across the follicles, slowly but clearly visible, revealing a somber, death-like hue…

Chapter 157 Banquet and Torture

Everything became much easier after that. After all, no matter how strange or troublesome something is, it's already in the past. A lump of dead flesh won't cause any trouble; all you need to do is clean it up.

Tarina's slender fingers were extremely precise and powerful as she carefully separated each blood vessel with silver tweezers until the entire follicle had detached from the brain tissue before she gently removed it.

On the silver plate was something that looked like a sea anemone, with a segmented stem and dense red tentacles, topped with a bulging egg-shaped sac. If one did not know that this was something taken from a human brain, Tersolys might have imagined it swaying in a pool of seawater.

After that, there was nothing to worry about. The meninges were sutured with catgut that had been cleaned with magic, the skull was reattached, and the scalp was sewn back on. As a blue light flashed, medicine was applied, and a clean, breathable gauze was wrapped around the wound. Then, we could wait for it to heal.

It's worth mentioning that the device used to secure the skull was a silver clip. Several small holes were drilled in it before the relatively soft metal clip was installed. After all, the stress requirements here weren't too high, and they had no other choice but to make do.

In this matter, Tersolius did not do much differently from a highly skilled carpenter. On the contrary, he did it better because of his extraordinary courage. At least an ordinary carpenter would not have the courage to crack open a person's head.

Next, we just need to wait for the effects of the anesthetic powder to wear off, let this guy rest for a couple of days, and then we can start interrogating him. Given that he has dozens of Mamluks under his command, what he knows is definitely not on the same level as the previous minor characters. We can look forward to it.

A ray of sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the marble floor. Countless dust particles danced and collided in the light, appearing as if some tiny life form was joyfully twirling.

The city had been bustling since midnight yesterday, but it became calmer after sunrise. Everyone got up early, so the smoke from cooking fires started exceptionally early, and you could see wisps of white smoke rising into the sky from the windows.

The city consumes an astronomical amount of fuel every day. If firewood were burned, even cutting down all the trees in the surrounding mountains wouldn't be enough for so many years. Therefore, most people use straw from the fields and dried cow and sheep manure to cook, and in winter they use coal mined nearby.

Cerisonas has a large number of cattle, sheep and horses. The dried cow dung alone is enough to supply the city's daily fuel. However, these things are hard to store in the city and need to be transported from outside the city every day. So, as soon as the order to close the city gates was issued, many households immediately went out of business.

Only after all the criminals hiding in the city were apprehended was the order to reopen the city gates issued. Farmers and herders who had been waiting outside the city brought fuel, fruits, vegetables, and other necessities into the city using shoulder poles or horse-drawn carts, allowing the city to regain its former vitality.

The city's prosperity exudes a vibrant and thriving atmosphere. From the high mansions above, the people below appear as small as bees, darting about in the streets and alleys, their shouts and noises filling the air.