Our Family Has Fallen

Lance couldn’t help feeling quite helpless. He had told her countless times to get some rest.

When he walked in, Paracelsus was bent over her work, her workbench in front of her cluttered with various experimental materials, not to mention the microscope that even Hamlet had only one of.

”Why haven’t you gone home to rest yet?”

Lance walked over and said, waking her from the heavy research she was absorbed in.

When she looked up, Lance was at a loss for words. Those heavy dark circles, the gaunt face, the fatigued expression, it almost looked like Lance had been mistreating her.

”I’ve made a great discovery!” But Paracelsus didn’t care at all. Her exhaustion couldn’t hide her excitement as she spoke.

”No matter how busy you are with research, you have to ensure you get some rest. If you ruin your health, how can you continue your research?”

Lance didn’t seem to care, until she spoke again.

”I think I’ve found a drug to treat leprosy.”

”What?” Lance thought he had misheard, his footsteps quickened as he approached and asked, ”You found a way to treat leprosy?”

”That’s correct.” Paracelsus adjusted her glasses, and her normally indifferent demeanor showed a hint of excitement.

Seeing her reply with such confidence, Lance was also somewhat shocked.

It’s not underestimating her, but if it were really this simple, it wouldn’t have been a millennial plague, even defined as divine punishment.

The treatment for Baldwin involved various aspects; in fact, Grendel alone couldn’t do it. Those toxic therapies only worked effectively in combination with Lance’s ability, otherwise, they were just lethal.

Even so, Baldwin’s treatment results were unstable and non-reproducible, which was why treatment wasn’t extended to other troublesome patients.

But now, Paracelsus, who had been dissecting bodies and studying surgery, claimed to have found a medication, then...

Surprisingly, there was a precedent for this, such as when the witch crafted a cure for withering disease from antifungal drugs extracted from fungi, without involving any supernatural power.

”This isn’t the most amazing part yet, I’ve also discovered a drug that can accelerate wound healing.”

”Ah...” Lance was quite bewildered.

If leprosy affected only a minority, the drug she mentioned to accelerate healing involved a much more extravagant scope.

”Quick, tell me what’s going on!” Lance quickly reacted, he needed to know more because these discoveries would alter his plans significantly, propelling them forward tremendously.

Paracelsus rarely saw Lance so urgent, even anxious.

She couldn’t help but feel a bit smug; in the end, it was all about her!

”The discovery of these two drugs is all about...”

Paracelsus said so confidently because she was certain; these past two days, she had been processing the corpses Lance brought back from the Beast Lair. The bodies of the Pigmen were ordinary, the real significance lay in studying the Flesh Devourer.

Due to Lance’s emphasis, and concerns about the substance deteriorating with the creature’s death, she put aside other matters and worked through the night, extracting secretions from the jaw of a large, severed Flesh Devourer.

She conducted numerous tests on the secretions, discovering that undiluted secretions had intense corrosive properties, sparing neither flesh, bone, nor hair.

Different colors and sizes of gray and pink lumps would form afterward, with a pinker hue from more flesh and a grayer one from more bones, precisely what Lance collected from the Beast Lair battlefield.

Once preliminary tests were complete, live experiments could begin. After some learning and practice with Lance, Paracelsus’ research methodology was now more structured; at least she didn’t start with human trials, as there wouldn’t be any food left in the landlord’s house.

The transition in between had to involve those unfortunate rats.

There weren’t any white mice; these were experimental rats captured from granaries and isolated for three generations.

Subsequently, she fed, soaked, and injected the experimental rats, observing their conditions.

The experimental rats initially died instantly, turning into pus, but with dilution, the corrosion gradually lessened, and they began to survive.

Many died throughout the whole process, but the surviving experimental rats didn’t exhibit any particularly special behavior.

”Because the Lord mentioned that the monster once showed strong self-healing abilities, I left wounds on those experimental rats. Through observation, I didn’t notice anything unusual.

At first, I thought that was it, but overnight, the wounds actually healed!”

At this point, Paracelsus appeared both surprised and excited, as the impact of the new discovery seemed yet to subside.

However, the situation wasn’t that straightforward. Repeated experiments were needed to truly confirm this. During subsequent trials, she didn’t observe similar results, which interrupted her research.

”It wasn’t until later that I discovered that...”

The key lay in noticing that some experimental rats that were also injected with the diluted secretion couldn’t survive. It might have been the insufficient concentration, so there was no crystallization on these experimental rats; instead, dissolution occurred.

The dissolved liquid flowed into the adjacent cage, and after being licked by those experimental rats, they exhibited self-healing capabilities.