Chapter 324: Cutting Intestines, Necromancers Fear Nothing!
The cleric of the Spring Goddess demonstrated an astounding ability to perceive the direction of blood flow—or rather, the flow of any life-carrying liquid within the human body—that left Garrett in awe.
Initially, the cleric was somewhat hesitant, his water stream wavering, taking its time before making a cut. Soon, however, his movements became swift. The luminescent water stream, almost alive at his fingertips, twisted and turned, marking:
"There’s one here."
"Correct," Garrett nodded, "the ileocolic artery."
"There’s another here, thinner." Following the cleric’s water stream, Garrett continued to nod:
"Indeed, a branch of the colic artery."
"What are they talking about?" Bishop Sullivan stepped back, bumping into Andrew Lynn beside him. He had encountered Andrew Lynn once before at a healing session and didn’t mind pairing up with him during the surgery, even though Andrew Lynn was the lowest-ranked mage present. Andrew Lynn, intently watching the screen and recalling the anatomy charts Garrett had shown him, shook his head slightly:
"No matter what the cleric is saying, I feel like Garrett is talking past him..."
The exchange by the operating table continued. The young cleric frowned deeply, sweat beading brightly on his forehead:
"There’s one here, vertical, quite thick... Hmm... no, there are two, one going up, one coming down!"The young cleric extended both hands forward. From the tips of his index fingers, two water streams emerged, indeed one flowing up and the other down. Garrett was impressed by the fact that the stream from the left hand, circling from below to above, was slightly dimmer than the one from the right hand:
"The one coming up carries more vitality, and the one going down," he twitched his fingertips, the slightly dimmer stream rippling confidently, "carries less vitality."
Garrett gave him a thumbs up. The arterial and venous mesenteric vessels, represented by two faintly floating water streams, were spot on!
With this companion’s sensing and reminders, Garrett’s procedures sped up. When he started to lift the intestines out, Bishop Sullivan suddenly stepped forward two steps, calling out:
"Wait a minute."
"What’s up?" Garrett halted. Bishop Sullivan hurried to the other side of the operating table to sense again, then opened his eyes:
"This segment of the intestine is gone. And here, something’s not right..."
Following his directions, Garrett checked section by section. Intestinal obstruction, ischemic necrosis, gangrene... Bishop Sullivan, with his eyes half-closed, even pointed out a difficult-to-detect perforation pressed underneath!
"That’s right, these spots!"
Garrett’s eyes lit up too.
A cleric of the Spring Goddess proficient in sensing the direction of blood flow, a priest of the War God adept at sensing life essence, and a leading necromancer surgeon. This trio, working together, could complete a surgery.
Most importantly, this combination boasted an incredibly high margin for error!
Imagine, accidentally severing a blood vessel, but being able to locate the bleeding point and stop the bleeding promptly; accidentally tearing the intestine, but a healing spell fixes it...
This is what every surgeon dreams of for a safeguard, right?
If this model could be replicated—if even three or four of the eight operating rooms could independently conduct surgeries, the speed could be doubled!
"Why not try working together? Don’t worry, I’ll be overseeing!"
The two healers exchanged glances, both somewhat hesitant. It was Andrew Lynn who stepped forward, his Mage’s Hands flying up, hovering over the patient’s abdominal cavity.
"I’ll give it a try, but if anything goes wrong, you two must help out!"
Garrett swiftly moved aside. From the patient’s right side to the head side, he kept directing:
"Lift the intestines with Mage’s Hand."
"Cut the mesenteric vessels in a fan shape according to the intestinal resection range. First, use Mage’s Hand to pinch the vessel, cut it, ah, wrong cutting position! Cut from the distal end!... Alright, apply a healing spell to heal the vessel, suction the bleeding, and continue..."
"Two Mage’s Hands, each holding one end of the intestines, move outwards ten centimeters from the resection site."
"Use another Mage’s Hand to push the intestinal contents inward, move slowly, gently, the inflammation in this section of the intestine is already very severe, be careful not to squeeze it until it bursts—oh no!"
It burst just as he said it might...
"Uh, it’s hard to control the force with Mage’s Hand..."
Andrew Lynn was very embarrassed. Watching Garrett operate was like watching water flow effortlessly, but once he took over, it was a disaster. The feel of a patient’s intestines compared to that of a dead body’s was vastly different...
Garrett quickly summoned two Mage’s Hands. Between the translucent hands, holding a copper plate, they precisely caught all the spilled contents without a drop missing.
Andrew Lynn also quickly reacted. With a swift sweep of magical tricks, he cleared the patient’s abdominal cavity of all waste:
"Let’s continue!"
The surgery proceeded with hitches and glitches. Now the intestines were torn, now the Mage’s Hands exerted too much or too little force, now the intestines were cut off, the mesentery and its folds not cleanly removed... Thankfully, various spells were always on hand to save the day. After cutting and healing, it wasn’t just about putting things back:
"Organize the intestines! Arrange the intestines in order! Heal the mesentery! Otherwise, after closing the abdomen, adhesions, intussusception, obstructions, all sorts of problems might arise!"
The arcane eyes clung to the surgical lamps, continuously shifting their positions to capture every action of the three spellcasters. The War God’s temple’s archbishop quietly watched the entire surgery and then turned to the high cleric:
"Hey, old buddy, can you sense the position of vessels like that?"
"Of course—no problem!"
"Then—" He looked towards Archmage Edgar. Before he could speak, the archmage preempted him:
"Cutting intestines, right? You point out the location, and I dare to cut! In the Black Crow Swamp, whose minions haven’t dissected dozens or hundreds of corpses—Little Garrett, is it right that by removing the damaged intestines and reconnecting them, we can treat it?"
"Can delay the disease, buy some time!" Garrett’s voice echoed from afar. The three high-level healers exchanged a glance:
"Let’s begin!"
Behind the scenes, away from Garrett’s view, the native inhabitants began their surgery independently, stumbling through the process. Amidst the flurry of Mage’s Hands, exclamations occasionally erupted:
"Oops! The intestine is torn!"
"Cleanse spell! Follow up with a cleanse spell! Quick!"
"Bleeding! Quick, a healing spell!"
"Where exactly is this blood vessel hiding?!"
"Didn’t you say you could feel the direction of blood flow?!"
"Everything inside is bloody! Blood everywhere!"
Had it not been for two high-level healers constantly at the ready with healing spells, the patient would have died ten times over. Even with healing spells, if not for the calming spell restraining the patient, it’s likely the patient would have rolled off the operating table and fled with their intestines in hand...
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