Chapter 317: Is That How You Perform the Operation?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Hao Ren heard the call of the MDT and ran towards it. The MDT projected a set of holographic projections in the air, which showed scanned images of Hesperides' wound. They could see a very clear silvery-white, triangular object in the depths of the horrifying, piercing wound. Hao Ren was stunned for a moment before realising what it was. "...The heck, the arrow from thousands of years ago is still stuck inside?"
"It's impossible to heal the wound directly with the dormant chamber. We must perform a small operation," The MDT opened the dormant chamber to wake Hesperides up as he spoke to Hao Ren. "The self-regulating machine can handle a simple task like this, I just don't know if Hesperides is aware that there's something stuck inside her head."
At this point, the alloy hatch of the dormant chamber was completely opened. Hesperides took a deep breath and slowly awoke. She sat up and rubbed her forehead, feeling a little muddled. She then asked, "Done? Is there any way to heal the wound?"
"Do you know there's something stuck in your head?" Hao Ren looked at the goddess, who came from almost the same era as Vivian in a bizarre manner. He found that the things he faced were getting more and more extreme by the day. "We found an arrowhead... I wonder how you survived!"
Hesperides was not surprised. She already knew about it a long time ago. "Oh, you mean this, I thought you were going to tell me something serious... I've known about it. It's the one-eyed man's arrow. With the power of exorcism, this thing's been coated with my tissue and it's become part of the wound. It can't be taken out. If it wasn't stuck in the wound, the wound would have healed."
Stunned, Hao Ren asked, "You have a grudge against Darwin, eh?"
"No, I had a good relationship with Darwin. He's an interesting human being. The year he died, we still contacted each other through letters." Hesperides looked at Hao Ren with a strange expression and asked, "And what does the vitality of the otherworldlings have to do with the theory of evolution?"
"…"
Hao Ren realised that it was not wise to make such jokes in front of an unusual creature. He had learned his lesson from Vivian.
"Ehem, it's like this, I'm going to take that arrowhead out." Hao Ren coughed and waved to the self-regulating machine to come over. It was bored and had begun to its tentacles into a bow. "You see, I have professional equipment here…"
Hesperides was shocked when she saw the self-regulating machine, and asked, "What is this?!"
Hao Ren kept a straight face and said, "My assistant."
Hesperides turned her head and looked around the basement, then she looked back at Hao Ren with a "you're teasing me" look as she asked, "You made it in this place? In the Mythological Age, it took at least one factory to make such a fine magical puppet, and Hephaestus' studio was at least 20 times bigger than yours—plus, I reckon he couldn't make such a complicated thing either. Are you an elder as well?"
Hao Ren spread his hands and said, "Since there were also magical puppets in the Mythological Age, it's easier for you to grasp the concept. Anyway, you can try understanding it in your way. There are a lot of things that's hard for me to explain to you. And one more thing, do you want an operation?"
Hesperides touched her wound and looked at the robotic squid with a weird expression. Although the squid's tentacles looked very flexible, the equipment at the tip of tentacles looked very fine, and the various devices in the basement looked amazing... it did not stop her from feeling unconvinced! She looked at Hao Ren and said solemnly, "If you think you can heal my wound simply by pulling the arrowhead out, you're wrong. If it was that easy, I can even grab a human doctor to do the surgery; my own vitality will guarantee a 100% success rate for any operation. But this arrowhead is special, and taking it out will only cause more trouble."
After Hesperides explained the special condition of her wound, Hao Ren finally understood some of the more formidable abilities of the senior demon hunter: The arrowhead had an "Endless Pursuit" attribute. It was going to be very hard to take it out.
The arrowhead had merged into the tissues around the wound. Not to mention, the mystical powers of exorcism on the arrowhead had also infected and altered the physical form of her tissue through a gradual transition of alienation. The arrowhead was now almost part of Hesperides' body so, first and foremost, cutting it down would be a problem. Second, even if you removed the arrowhead, it would try to return to its original position—and they could not find a solution for that.
"When you take it out, it will fly back in again," Hesperides pointed to her forehead and told him the horrifying story indifferently, "and it can possibly be stuck a little bit deeper at a different angle when it flies back in—it could kill me. Many years ago I tried to pull it out by myself, and I almost lost my life."
"Such a crazy ability…" Hao Ren's mouth was agape and he was tongue-tied. "They're born to kill people, right?"
"Unless you can remove the mark on my body, don't touch the arrowhead. Taking it out will only bring me more damage." Hesperides sighed. "In fact, I didn't hold much hope in the first place. It's just that you were so highly praised by Vivian, and I thought you knew some secret skills that only wizards would know... Look like it's just surgery. Then, I'll tell you frankly that surgery doesn't work."
At this juncture, the MDT suddenly said, "It's not really difficult to remove an exorcism mark."
Hao Ren and Hesperides immediately stared at the MDT. The Mobile Data Terminal deliberately paused for a little while and then, it slowly explained, "The power of God can dispel any magical effect that is inferior to it. Just find a thing with the mark of a true god and let Hesperides hold it. The mark of the demon hunter on her will then fade away. Of course, this dispelling effect works all round. Hesperides' magical abilities will also be temporarily sealed for a while, but this is a small problem."
Hao Ren stomped impatiently and yelled, "You don't say! Where am I going to find an artifact? Don't tell me you want Raven 12345 to come and help us?"
The MDT hit Hao Ren twice and said, "Stupid, go and take your labour contract."
"Huh?"
"Madam Raven's signature is on it!"
Hao Ren looked dazed when he took out a few pieces of poor quality paper from his Dimensional Pocket. This was the labour contract he had signed with the Space Administration, and he kept it well. He unfolded the paper, looked at the crooked handwriting of the "real god" amusingly and said, "Stop joking. This thing…"
"What's wrong with it? There's a god's name on it! And it's written by the goddess herself—do you think lowly of her blessings?" The MDT was feeling much disdain at Hao Ren's rigid thinking. "Who told you the artifact had to be cool and polished? How about those gods who have problems in their aesthetic view, those who have bad handwriting, and live a sloppy life? Do they have to learn fine arts for three years, carving for four years, iron forging for five years and practice signing for two months before they become gods?"
Hao Ren was confused by the MDT's bombardment of words. In the end, he had no choice but to hand over the contract to Hesperides. He said, "Umm… How about you try holding it?"
Hesperides looked at Hao Ren sceptically as she took the low quality pieces of papers from him and said, "You want me to hold these papers and believe that they can erase the demon hunter's mark that's been entrenched in me for thousands of years? Then you'll just cut my skull open and take out the arrowhead?"
Hao Ren sighed and said, "Forget it, I don't believe it too. A long time ago, there used to be an unrestrained surgeon like this and he ended up killed by Cao Cao¹."
"Of course… Wait, I believe it!" Hesperides was about to pass the papers back to Hao Ren when she suddenly had a look of surprise on her face. She took off her lace headband and the silver glow was fading. The wound that had never healed for thousands of years was fading! "I don't care what it is… it works! I can feel the power of the demon hunter subsiding!"
"It really works?!" Hao Ren and Lily looked at each other as they said in unison.
"Of course. When have I ever lied to you?" The MDT hit Hao Ren on the head and said, "Remember, a god's name is a god's name. It doesn't matter how weird he or she is, the power of God itself will not change! What are you waiting for? Go and perform the surgery!"
At this point, Raven 12345's signature had begun to release a light blue glow. Even as an outsider who did not know magic and divine power, Hao Ren could feel the atmosphere in the air changing rapidly. Some kind of heart-throbbing divine pressure, together with the aura of Raven 12345 were gradually filling the basement. Although it was a pity that this powerful aura was coming from a few pieces of A4 printing paper rather than some sort of scripture, no doubt that the goddess' name had come into effect!
Hao Ren and Lily quickly helped Hesperides, who became powerless due to the effect. They got her into the dormant chamber and left the rest to the robotic squid. Both of them observed the operation from afar.
After the robotic squid and dormant chamber were connected, Hesperides' physiological structure and endurance were confirmed, and the surgical plan was quickly developed. The robotic squid said something and two of its tentacles flashed. Then, poof! It entered the dormant chamber.
The basement was immediately filled with splashing gold sparks and noises of the electric saw as well as electric drill. The place sounded like a furniture factory rushing to get work done.
Hao Ren and Lily were speechless.
"The f*ck, this doesn't sound right!" Hao Ren's face turned pale. It did not sound like an operation, but more like opening a hole in a steel plate. Nonetheless, the MDT still comforted him and said, "Don't worry, the thunder giant's body structure is not the same as that of a human being's—you can't open her titanium alloy skull without using the air hammer and electric drill…"
Lily tucked her tail and hid behind Hao Ren as she asked, "Landlord, why do I find it quite scary?"
Hao Ren drew his neck back and said, "Shhh, it's for the sake of Science..."
Translator's Thoughts
Jillyboy Jillyboy
¹Cao Cao was a Chinese warlord and the penultimate Chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty. The surgeon, Hua Tuo was a court physician who temporarily relieved the ruler of his giddiness by acupuncture. When Cao Cao asked him to do something to remove this annoyance permanently, Hua Tuo said he would have to cut into the royal skull. But the king became suspicious that his enemies had bribed Hua Tuo to kill him. In a fit of rage, perhaps triggered by his headaches, the king had the surgeon thrown into jail and executed.