Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

178 – Major Surgery

 

Seung-ho had arrived in Myung-jun’s subspace ahead of him and was waiting. Around him lay numerous test tubes and empty flasks, evidence of his efforts to prepare the necessary reagents.

Myung-jun glanced at the five flasks on the table behind Seung-ho and asked, “Are those the prepared reagents?”

“Yes. There’s no guarantee that the parasite will only release highly acidic fluids. These five reagents can produce entirely different properties depending on the order and ratio in which they are combined. From antidotes to artificial blood, the combinations yield completely different substances.”

“That sounds promising. If we set the recipes in advance, we could use them like the Philosopher’s Stone, couldn’t we?”

“Unfortunately, that’s not possible. Combining these reagents requires the awakening ability of an alchemist ranked 5 or higher. Plus, considering the grade of the materials used to make them…”

“You’re saying it’s not cost-effective?”

“It’s like using a liquid that can create anything to make dish soap—it’s madness.”

“Still, we can store them in your specialized suit. We’ll think of ways to utilize them later.”

With that, Myung-jun carried the frozen female officer’s body closer to the medical pod. He opened the pod and placed her inside.

[Injured individual detected. Scanning physical condition. Initiating emergency thawing process. Injecting cell activation fluid.]

As the ominous system message played and a viscous green liquid began to fill the pod, Myung-jun started manipulating the control panel beside it.

“I’m activating the real-time biological attack response system, ‘Hedgehog,’ now. Seung-ho, are you ready?”

Seung-ho picked up the five flasks from the table and placed them in the containment unit next to Myung-jun. He then used a hose to connect the containment unit to the equipment Myung-jun had prepared. After connecting all five containers, Seung-ho nodded at Myung-jun and moved to another control panel beside him.

“Ready.”

“Let’s begin. Medical pod, initiate treatment process.”

[Command confirmed. Starting treatment process. Increasing injection fluid temperature. Beginning restoration of frozen tissues.]

At that moment, the female officer’s body, which had been so cold that it froze the surrounding injection fluid, began to thaw gradually. Simultaneously, the billions of nanobots within the treatment fluid started repairing her thawed cells.

Watching the entire process in real-time, Myung-jun deftly manipulated the joystick on the control panel. His goal was to insert the hundreds of needles into her body at a pace that matched the thawing process. Even with the assistance of the system, this task required intense concentration.

‘Forcing needles into partially thawed tissue could damage the needles.’

[Warning. Foreign substance detected inside the body. Unable to proceed with treatment unless the foreign object is removed.]

“Disregard the needles and continue the treatment. Prioritize the restoration of frozen cells.”

[Confirmed. Proceeding with the treatment process while ignoring the foreign substance.]

Naturally, the human body varies in strength and texture depending on the area. Muscles are tougher than skin, bones are harder than muscles, some tissues are surrounded by mucous membranes and blood vessels, and others contain powerful digestive fluids.

Therefore, the equipment Myung-jun designed had needles of varying lengths to inject the reagents at different depths. The hundreds of needles that needed to be inserted all over the body each had to be controlled individually, with different insertion depths. Myung-jun’s nerves were as sharp as the tips of the needles he was inserting.

[Needle 145 in left lobe positioned correctly.]

[Needle 252 in upper left kidney positioned correctly. Needle 254 in upper right kidney positioned correctly.]

[Needle 752 in upper pancreas positioned correctly. Needle 753 in lower pancreas positioned correctly.]

As he watched the hundreds of red dots on the monitor, representing the needles, turn green one by one, Myung-jun continued his meticulous work. However, before he could position all the needles correctly, an anomaly began to occur in the thawing female officer’s body.

[Warning. Severe chemical contamination detected in central esophageal tissue. Body damage rate increasing. Initiating emergency restoration process. Failure. Contamination level exceeds medical pod neutralization capacity.]

[Warning. Severe chemical contamination detected in right lobe of liver, C section. Body damage rate increasing. Initiating emergency restoration process. Failure. Contamination level exceeds medical pod neutralization capacity.]

[Warning. Severe chemical contamination detected in central right thigh. Body damage rate increasing. Initiating emergency restoration process. Failure. Contamination level exceeds medical pod neutralization capacity.]

“There wasn’t just one!?” Myung-jun urgently checked the needle positions at the warning sites. He quickly manipulated the needle in the thigh area, which hadn’t yet been positioned correctly.

“Seung-ho!”

“I’m on it!”

As Myung-jun tried to position the needle correctly, Seung-ho hurriedly injected the reagent into the contaminated areas. Despite his rapid response, almost simultaneous with the warning messages, the inside of the medical pod was already turning red with the blood of the melting officer.

[Confirmation of tissue dissolution. Injecting new nanobots to replace damaged ones. Increasing viscosity of treatment fluid. Solidifying the surrounding area into a gel to prevent further damage.]

The medical pod was indeed a miraculous piece of equipment. However, it was designed to treat predetermined injuries, not to handle real-time chemical bombs exploding inside the body. Moreover, the reagent Seung-ho injected to neutralize the acidic solution caused a significant chemical reaction, generating enough heat to make the viscous treatment fluid bubble.

[Warning. Excessive temperature rise in treatment fluid. Initiating emergency cooling process.]

In this chaotic situation, where highly corrosive chemicals were being released on one side and maximum efforts were being made to prevent bodily damage on the other, the medical pod was doing its utmost to replace the contaminated treatment fluid with fresh fluid and swap out the millions of nanobots dissolved by the chemicals to save the patient’s life.

At that moment, the medical pod, having learned the state of the ‘disease’ inside the patient, issued a new warning.

[Additional activated foreign substance detected in upper left arm. Further bodily damage expected if left untreated. Initiating emergency excision of the foreign substance. Would you like to isolate the removed foreign substance?]

“What!? Is that even possible? No, do it if you can!”

Suddenly, a mechanical arm, unlike anything Myung-jun had seen before, emerged from within the medical pod. Instead of a hand, it had a laser-like device that swiftly emitted a thin beam, making an incision in the patient’s upper left arm. Other mechanical arms quickly followed, extracting a writhing, slug-like parasite from within.

[Detected hazardous elements in the removed foreign substance. Administering anesthetic for stabilization. Unable to confirm neural transmission system. Anesthesia failed. Initiating emergency freezing process.]

The parasite, which had been swelling as if about to explode, was instantly frozen solid. Simultaneously, the treatment fluid, which had been endlessly circulating within the medical pod, began to normalize. The highly acidic fluid released by the parasite, the reagent Seung-ho had injected to neutralize it, and the blood and tissue from the melted blood vessels were all expelled. The viscosity of the treatment fluid increased, turning it into a gel-like substance that began to stabilize the internal environment.

Myung-jun and Seung-ho, who had been engaged in what felt like a war-like treatment process, watched in real-time as the murky interior of the medical pod gradually cleared. Finally, when all the purification processes were complete, they could see the woman inside the medical pod.

“Ughhh!!!” Seung-ho immediately began vomiting on the floor.

The damage to her body was far worse than he had imagined. Her body inside the medical pod looked as if it had been hit by concentrated fire, with parts hanging in tatters. Despite their swift actions, more than half of her liver had melted away, her left arm was split open to the bone from the emergency incision, and her thigh looked like it had been melted with a soldering iron, exposing the damaged muscles within.

The most severe injury, however, was the esophagus, which had not only melted and severed but also exposed the spine behind it. It was the kind of injury that would make an emergency room doctor question why a corpse had been brought in.

Despite these horrific injuries, the medical pod indicated that she was still alive.

“Medical pod, report the patient’s condition.”

[No additional active foreign substances detected. Severe bodily damage. 80% liver function loss. 70% esophagus tissue loss. Partial rib dissolution. Muscle function loss in the right thigh. Severe skin and muscle damage in the upper left arm due to emergency incision.]

“Is treatment possible?”

[Resuscitation and restoration of bodily functions in progress. Estimated time for full recovery: 24 days.]

“Wha… What? Did it just say full recovery?”

“Yes, it did.”

“You’re telling me it can save her? Not just save her, but fully restore her?”

Myung-jun placed a reassuring hand on Seung-ho’s shoulder and smiled. “I told you, as long as she’s not dead, we can save her.”

However, Myung-jun’s hand was trembling slightly, a sign of the immense pressure he felt. This treatment was a gamble, even for him.

“So, what do we do now? We can’t keep a South Korean soldier in the subspace indefinitely.”

“For now, we’ll have to insist that she can’t be moved during treatment. We’ll say we’re taking her to Liberty City for recovery. Although the medical pod estimated 24 days for complete recovery, she should regain consciousness within about 15 days. Once she’s stable enough to be moved, we’ll transfer her from the medical pod in the subspace to the one in Liberty City.”

With that, Myung-jun pulled out a large cloth and covered the front of the medical pod. This was to ensure that if she woke up during treatment, she wouldn’t see the numerous pieces of equipment and the room’s interior.

After taking these precautionary measures, Myung-jun and Seung-ho returned to the Shadow Hawk. There, they found Soo-jeong waiting for them beside a new piece of equipment that looked like an airport metal detector.

“Took you long enough.”

“Is that the new inspection equipment? You finished it so quickly?”

“No, it actually took longer than the promised time. But you guys didn’t come back.”

Myung-jun felt a sense of unease in their conversation. He had entered the subspace with nearly five hours left of the ten hours Soo-jeong had promised. Checking his wristwatch, Myung-jun was shocked and looked at Seung-ho. Seung-ho also checked his watch and stared back at Myung-jun with wide eyes.

While the two of them were battling the creatures inside the frozen body, an astonishing seven hours had passed.

“I thought it only felt like an hour…”

“No wonder I’m so exhausted.”

Observing the tired expressions they exchanged, Soo-jeong commented, “From the way you’re talking, I take it the treatment was a success?”

“Yes, it was. And we’ve brought back a gift for you, senior. Actually, this is partly why we were delayed.”

With that, Myung-jun handed a small box to Soo-jeong. Inside the box, which was equipped with a miniature cooling device, was the parasite they had removed and frozen just before it could self-destruct, miraculously still alive and wriggling.