Bear School Astartes

Chapter 78: 78. Surgery begins

Lann replied to the little girl’s doubts without looking up.

”Because you are both brave and kind, loyal and smart, able to rise up against human traffickers and willing to share your food with unfamiliar children... But you didn’t really believe it, did you?”

Now Lann didn’t even turn his head, but he seemed to see Alia’s face blushing fiercely at that moment.

The little girl was getting excited because of the generous praise from a ”Great Knight.”

But then her expression froze in astonishment.

”Not—is that not it?”

Alia asked hesitantly and expectantly.

Lann’s answer was as straightforward as ever.

”The primary reason is still your helpless state, Alia.”

”I can guess how you came here, and I can also guess that this place is vastly different from the world you grew up in.”

In the discussion and busyness, the cat eyes met the little girl’s gray eyes for the first time.

”Both killing and saving people require reasons, but you have no reasons in this world, Alia. Because this world originally had nothing to do with you.”

”Until I built a connection between you and the world. Interpersonal relationships, material foundation... Velen is a dangerous place, and if you act alone, there’s a high chance it won’t end well.”

”On this basis, your kindness in sharing food and bravery in stabbing a trafficker become part of the considerations.”

”Therefore, I believe the work you assist in will be safer than the sprawling but complex Airetusa, and safer than the countryside of Velen, where power structures are simple but peril and discrimination run rampant.”

The little girl, initially panicked by sudden instructions, gradually calmed down in these orderly and trusting words.

Trust is a cheap thing, but analytical trust can be relied upon.

For someone entrusted with such trust, it is also a form of acknowledgment.

”I—I understand, sir!”

Then, Alia opened the door, took a few deep breaths, and walked toward the dining room downstairs.

Lann’s keen hearing could detect her muttering softly as she walked.

”The first kind... the second kind... the third kind...”

It sounded like she was softly reciting some list.

Over and over again.

Alia had once told Lann about her family crest—the characteristics of the Ice Wolf.

The Demon Hunter could sense that this little girl, now completely focused due to encouragement, indeed possessed that tenacious, stubborn ”Blood of the Running Wolf.”

A space had already been cleared in the room.

Lann did not prepare alcohol and fire as he did for Bernie’s surgery.

The Demon Hunter’s physique made them nearly immune to illness; simple bacterial infections couldn’t harm them.

Drinking a bottle of Magic Potion, bacteria would be poisoned faster than Demon Hunter cells.

Lann took off the superior Bear School Armor piece by piece, leaving only the leather riding pants on his lower body.

The surgical instrument set, gleaming under the candlelight, was already laid out in front of him.

Lann knelt down slowly in a pose similar to Meditation.

”We finally have all the conditions, Mentos.”

The Demon Hunter’s meditation technique could adjust the mental state and temporarily enhance the efficiency of Magic Potion absorption and physical control to some extent.

Now Lann drew a surgical scalpel with movements even smoother than his eerily steady Swordsmanship!

The hand reached into the Alchemy Pouch again, touching that extraordinary high-strength jar.

The cat eyes gazed at the active tumor—the gene seed—suspended in the nutrient solution.

Mentos did not respond to Lann’s chit-chat, as it was fully engaged in assisting the surgical process.

”Please open the jar.”

This was the first step of the surgery.

Mentos dared not guarantee that Lann would still have the willpower to perform the complex action of ”opening the jar” if he peeled open his chest while alive.

Thus, it had to be completed in advance.

”Click-”

The hand slowly twisted open the luxurious cap engraved with cursive language, but during the action, it suddenly emitted an unusual sound like freezing.

The meditation-state cat eyes remained calm.

”Mentos... that wasn’t an illusion just now.”

”Phenomenon analyzed, reporting main body: The cap indeed displayed a faint freezing effect, but the ambient temperature hasn’t changed.”

”This situation is unknown territory; should the surgical process continue?”

Freezing with no change in temperature.

Even a Warlock would scratch their head over such absurd phenomenon!

But Lann only looked at the jar in his hand, then placed the surgical instrument on his bare chest.

Only at this moment did Mentos briefly disengage from the assistive state.

”Lann...”

The tone of the biocerebral intelligence was no longer stern rejection.

It knew the determination the main body held and that during this journey, it never really had a chance!

Not even once! To successfully pull the main body onto the path it deemed right!

A decision made by a human out of their own conviction and belief is something a biocerebral intelligence can never control.

So this time, Mentos just asked with a strengthened tone: ”Confirmation for surgical process...?”

Lann did not respond.

Because the tool was already pressing down.

Skin, subcutaneous fat, muscle... The tissues blocking the chest cavity were peeled away one by one by the owner of the body!

The body was tensed, and the pain even made Lann’s body tighten to the point of muscle engorgement!

Under what should have been a stationary and calm meditation pose, every muscle in the Demon Hunter’s body was now surging to support the skin!

Lann didn’t scream because there was no silence magic here, so he wouldn’t shout.

He just bit down in a calm expression and continued the incision!

Mentos projected a mirrored anatomical diagram of the main body onto his retina and provided real-time surgical status feedback.

”A vein was accidentally touched, bleeding worsens, please take the Magic Potion [Swallow].”

The orange Magic Potion slid down the throat, and through the already created chest cavity, even the muscles could be seen wriggling to assist the esophagus in swallowing.

Because only the basic [Swallow] formula was available, to ensure the hemostatic effect, Lann had to down three bottles.

A large amount of toxins climbed up his blood vessels, gathering in the eye sockets. The pain of the magic potion was almost insignificant at this moment.

The continuous effects of healing wounds allowed the blood vessels to heal, now the bleeding caused by the surgery was so little it barely seemed like an open-chest operation.

But at the same time, Lann had to cut again those rapidly growing openings.

Finally, when the cold sweat from the severe pain had already pooled beneath him, the surgical instrument grazed the rib.

Lann’s cat eyes narrowed slightly, beginning to enlarge the contact area with the bone.

The tumor was large, but the tissue was elastic.

The moment Lann fished it out of the jar, this gene seed seemed like a living thing.

It actually started twitching the surrounding blood vessels like bacteria waving their flagella!

Out of the preservation environment, its vitality was plummeting!

Lann somehow inexplicably sensed this, not knowing the principle behind it.

The surgical plan devised with Mentos did not include opening the sternum, as they could directly squeeze the tumor through the gaps in the ribs.

Even though Lann didn’t know if this tumor would be damaged because of this, since it was some kind of super warrior enhancement organ, then conservatively...

At least it should withstand a heavy punch, right?