Chapter 394: Day 824 – Surgical Plan

Chapter 394: Day 824 – Surgical Plan

“You...Champion Michael, let me put it bluntly. It probably won’t work,” Doctor Katz said while we talked in a building in East Bastion. I had checked his worksite, but he had gone into the city, so I had managed to intercept him here. It had taken six days to clear four dungeons and get here.

I had finished upgrading Force Wave. It now cost 2,000 energy but it was silent and gestureless. I had gotten the next three upgrades for Aqua Sphere, power, size, and minor effect death. Just seven more to go to get all my skills fully maxed out at their current level.

“What is the problem?” I asked the good doctor.

“The problem is. That the issue is energy based. That is probably where whatever the Astrologer did something is located.” I frowned at that, trying to wrap my head around the concept.

“The bomb is coming back when I get a restoration?” I asked.

“Yes. Since it keeps coming back. That means it is curse damage.” I felt like an idiot. “Even if I cut off half your body and you get a restoration it will come back. The pain you are experiencing is the continual damage the bomb is doing to you. But it is growing somehow in your energy. Like curse damage that is getting stronger.”

“Well, it is probably embedded into your energy signature. And then grows physically. So the progression becomes more rapid as you go longer periods without a restoration. Since it comes into your body as curse damage leaking through, and then it grows physically, which reinforces the energy signature.”

“And a restoration only fixes your physical body,” I said with a sigh.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.

“Exactly. It isn’t simple. The best option would be to physically remove it, let your body heal with no restorations, then get a restoration as far into the future as possible with more physical surgeries. Basically, restorations are resetting the clock, but it will keep getting shorter and shorter,” Doctor Katz explained.

“You sound quite confident about this?” I asked him.

“The United City States carried out a lot of testing. Human testing with energy, curse damage, and various ways energy is expressed, used, and manipulated. While most of it is useless or just ruling things out, the stuff they worked out is quite clever. This kind of energy tumor, or bomb, is a kind of exponential curse damage that will slowly propagate.”

“But why is it speeding up now?” I asked.

“Your stats. When you pulled off the heist, and purchased all your stats, it also impacted the bomb inside of you, making it stronger as well. I can’t say what stat is the root cause or if there are multiple. But that is most likely why your time frame is being cut short,” the good doctor explained.

It made sense. A terrible kind of sense. “So, a surgery, but no restoration?” I asked.

“Yes. You will also need to get a restoration at least once every 10 days or it will probably get worse if you don’t have a surgery. Also, a surgery after every restoration is critical. Then another one every 10 to 20 days as the bomb reforms. This way we can slow the growth and reduce its presence on your energy signature.”

“What about getting healed?” I asked.

“And that is the hard part. There is no good way to heal your body without healing the tumor. I am more than willing to do an exploratory surgery, but I don’t believe I can patch you up.”

I then waited as Doctor Katz set up a table with various medical instruments. “Are you ready for this? It is going to hurt a lot,” he asked me once he was all set up to my side. I wasn’t entirely sure. Having surgery done while I was conscious was not something I was looking forward to.

But it was the only way without enchanted medical tools to melt through my flesh. That was the issue with having at least 1,000 Body stat. The base amount of force and force nullification defaulted to that amount. I had to focus to raise or lower the amount of force the Body stat generated.

That meant I couldn’t be knocked out like Naran had been during his surgery. There was no time to get enchanted tools either, since that would mean going back to Neo Brasilia and there was no way to put me to sleep either.

The Sleep skill wouldn’t work on me with my stats. I just had too many stats. So, I had to stay awake and bear with the pain. “I think I am. I won’t be able to focus, I am putting my trust in you.”

“Here, bite down on this cloth.” Doctor Katz put a thick strip of folded cloth in my mouth. Then put another cloth over my eyes. “If you get a regeneration with my hand or instrument inside of you, they will be pushed out. So, if you can’t take any more get the restoration and I will consider the surgery over. Whatever happens you need to keep your Body stat under control.” I nodded a bit at this to indicate I understood.

The cloth over my eyes was due to the fact I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle seeing myself cut open. The good doctor had suggested this and I had agreed.

“I am going to be performing an exploratory laparotomy in an attempt to locate and remove a foreign growth, possibly a bomb.” We had discussed this as well. If there was an explosion, we were right next to the pillars so he could get a restoration as well.

“Making the first incision.” The good doctor began to cut. Oh my god! It hurt.

“AHHHHH!” I screamed through the cloth I was biting down on. It was all I could do to keep my focus on keeping my Body stat suppressed.

“No abnormality at the target site.” Thank you Doctor Katz for narrating. I didn’t know if he was doing it for my benefit or to help focus himself, but it was good to know what was happening.

“AHHHH!” My muffled screams kept coming as the pain was immense. I had to endure. Once the first surgery was complete he would also have an easier time doing a second surgery and I might not need to get a restoration afterwards.

“Widening the incision to get a better view. Bleeding is heavy. Checking the intestines.” I felt him pulling out my intestines. I couldn’t even begin to describe the horror and pain I was feeling.

“AHHHHHH!” I kept screaming and screaming focused on keeping my body stat suppressed. I had to endure no matter what.

“No unusual growth found. Starting to cut into skin and muscle around target site.” The pain continued as it impacted me in waves.

“AHHHHH!” My muffled screams continued. My vision was getting blurry. The good doctor needed to hurry up. I didn’t know how much longer I could last. I had last track of time. It felt like forever since the surgery had started. I just wanted it to be over as quickly as possible.

“Located a foreign object. Hard to tell what it is. It is integrated into the blood supply. Attempting to separate it now. Almost done Michael. Hang in there.” Please hurry.

“How interesting. Your pain tolerance is quite impressive. I will have to think quite hard about how to get around it.” My heart froze at that voice.