The Systemic Lands

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.

“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.”

“What about damaging the energy signature of the tumor? Like using an energy based attack or piece of equipment?” I asked.

“That is very high risk. I have no idea how such a thing would function or even work. I only know it is part of your energy signature that the restoration process uses. It gets damaged, it could spread through your body, or any number of effects. I have no idea. The fact that these things can be triggered by vocal commands, is beyond me.”

I frowned at this. “I see. So what exactly are you proposing?” I asked. Doctor Katz let out a long sigh.

“I will do a surgery and get the bomb out of you. I will then take a look at it. You get a restoration, but honestly your best hope is the Astrologer. Since he seems to have a way to remove it.”

“That…that feels like a very bad outcome,” I replied, and the good doctor shrugged a bit.

“I can’t operate on your energy signature. But it is only going to get worse. Using the healing potion might offset the issue for a bit, but after 10 days, the bomb will begin impacting your energy. Which will make the bomb grow faster, which will in turn impact your energy signature more. It would be a cascading effect that would quickly become exponential.”

I sat there in silence for over a minute getting the bad news. This was really bad news. The Astrologer had truly backed me into a corner. While he probably estimated a timeframe based on my grinding speed, he didn’t think I would pull off a heist from the Divine Empress.

What I thought would protect me from the bomb, was actually hurting me. Just another bad judgement or mistake to add onto the list. It was aggravating to be put into this situation. The only option was to climb the tower now.

I would get the surgery, to see if the good doctor came up with anything, then I would get my last skill upgraded before heading into the tower to free the Astrologer. “How long do I have if I don’t get a restoration or use a healing potion?” I asked.

“No idea. Don’t give me that look, I really have no idea. If I had to guess, mind you this is a complete guess from what you have told me, 10 days after a restoration you would have serious pain possibly impacting digestive function. In 20 days you would probably begin excreting blood in your stool.”

“After that, I would give you 10 more days at most and it would be agony once you start excreting blood. But it could be sooner, or much later. There are too many variables and unknowns.” That was no time at all. I would have to clear two floors per day at the very least in the tower.

I had originally wanted a day per floor, but two days per floor was the bare minimum now. Realistically, I would have to aim for three or four floors per day. It would take about a day of travel to get to the tower with the Astrologer from Heaven.

That would leave me 19 days to climb the tower while giving myself some leeway. That was 2.6 floors per day I would need to average.

“Alright, let’s get this surgery over with to see if you can figure something else out.” I would be at a huge disadvantage when facing the Astrologer at the top of the tower. Screaming or crying wouldn’t change anything at this point. I just had to accept reality and keep moving forward.

With the decision made, we went out to the plaza. The good doctor had two guards with him who hung back but this would be all him. He told me to purchase a table I could lie on while reaching behind my head to touch the pillar with both hands.

I purchased the table and a pillow for my head. I positioned it so I could reach behind me and touch the pillar. It would be interesting to see how much the cost of regeneration went up while this surgery happened.

Also gripping the pillar would make sure I did move my arms. I planned to force myself to keep the force generated by my Body stat to nothing. Then I wouldn’t break the pillar and could just keep gripping it through the pain.

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.