Chapter 96
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Chapter 96: Infusion Begins!
“Miss Jeanne, can we really do that, too?” Chaoyang whispered, surprised.
After all, Jeanne despite her petite frame, appeared unflinchingly focused.
“Don’t underestimate her,” Zhu Di smiled. “It takes real strength to be a doctor, after all. If Jeanne hadn’t stayed at Yeni, she could’ve been one of the great adventurers.”
After finishing the skin test, Jeanne exhaled a quiet sigh of relief. She removed her mask, turning to the sisters gathered around. “Everyone, come take a look. This step is essential.” She gestured toward Zhang Zhiyuan. “Mr. Zhang… could you explain the details to everyone?”
“Sure…” Zhang Zhiyuan stepped forward, addressing the crowd as he outlined the possible skin reactions to penicillin and explained how to assess whether they were safe to proceed with the injection.
In one corner of the Great Hall, Choi Jeon-eun looked on in awe. “If everyone here were just NPCs, it’d be too unreal,” she murmured. “I’m starting to think this place is actually… real.”
“So you still had doubts when you came?” Xue Quan asked, watching the “public medical lesson” before him with curiosity. The country would never joke about something like this.”
“I wanted to see it all with my own eyes,” she admitted, a hint of wonder in her expression. “A few days ago, I felt like life was empty, like everything I’d learned was a joke. But now I see… none of it was meaningless. I’m not a joke, either. It’s the vastness of this universe that’s terrifying. And to cope, we convince ourselves otherwise.”
“That’s an intriguing thought,” Xue Quan noted.
“What about you? You’ve been calm since the beginning.”
“I was shocked too, initially. But it also made sense why the government was tight-lipped until I reached the Sentinel Department. They said nothing until then. Still, unlike you, I don’t ponder it much. No matter how strange a place is, it doesn’t change much for me.”
“Really?” Choi Jeon-eun glanced at him, curious. “What does this Paradise world mean to you?”
“A new frontier—like a New America for our era.” Xue Quan paused, a determined glint in his eyes. “This time, we’re the pioneers.”
***
“No reaction from the skin test!”
“Same here, no swelling or redness at the site of injection!”
Half an hour later, the nuns confirmed their results one by one.
The most critical phase of treatment was about to begin. An almost reverent silence spread across the hall as both the chosen one performing the procedure and the onlookers held their breaths.
Jeanne glanced around and nodded. “Let’s start the intravenous infusion.”
Although she hadn’t personally asked Mr. Chao and Zhu Di, she wasn’t naive. Whether it was renovating the Cathedral or producing such a vast quantity of drug and equipment in such a short time, all of this required enormous amounts of money. Everything that they had done would require sums far beyond what ordinary people could earn in a lifetime. She didn’t know exactly how much effort and resources the Divine Messenger had invested for this ‘wish contract’ of her, but what she knew well enough was that it would be a debt she could never repay.
Yet, it wasn’t the cost that concerned her most—it was the thought of failing. Failing the opportunity they’d worked so hard for, failing her sisters, their hopes, and the joy she saw in their faces.
Just then, someone handed her a medicine bottle. “Take it slow. Don’t fear mistakes. Even if it happens, you can always try again.”
Jeanne looked up to see Zhang Zhiyuan’s reassuring smile. Instead of observing from the sidelines, he had chosen to stand directly at the center of the main hall.
After hearing Mr Zhang,the stiffness in her hands began to fade and her hands steadied as she nodded. She picked up a needle with a rubber tube, carefully inserted it into the medication bottle’s cork, and connected the other end to another needle.
Though she’d practiced countless times, intravenous infusion on a living, breathing patient was vastly different from any model. Securing the arm, disinfecting, inserting the needle, opening the drip clamp—it should’ve been second nature by now. In theory, intravenous infusions were simpler than subcutaneous injections. But when she started doing them herself, she realized things were more complicated than she’d thought.
For example, the bodies they used for practice didn’t move, the veins were prominent and stationary, but here even though she had tied the patient’s arm tightly, the veins were as fine as threads, barely visible beneath the skin.
No matter the difficulty, She thought. So many sisters are watching me. I can’t show weakness or everyone will get even more nervous.
Steeling herself, Jeanne focused, recalling Zhang’s words. If there’s an error, one can simply try again.
Taking a breath, she aimed at the vein, as thin as a thread, and inserted the needle.
The patient shuddered slightly, but no blood appeared in the tube.
Quickly, she withdrew the needle, adjusted the angle, and tried once more.
“Blood!” her assistant exclaimed excitedly. This time, the shout was clearly more joyful than during the skin test earlier.
Jeanne also let out a long sigh of relief. She secured the needle, carefully unclamped the drip tube, and watched the medication flow into the patient’s bloodstream.
“Did we do it?” She looked at Zhang, seeking his approval.
He nodded, satisfied. “Yes, now go assist the others.”
“On it!” Jeanne beamed.
In the following twenty minutes, the hall was filled with bustling activity as the infusion proceeded smoothly. Given that this was their first antibiotic treatment, they had to be very careful with the doses. They also extended the infusion over two hours—a regimen designed by experts on Earth on request of Tyler and Asahara Naruko.
Jeanne removed her cap, brushing back sweat-dampened hair.
“Mr Chao, is there anything left to do but wait?”
“Exactly. If you’re feeling tired, it’s best for you to get some sleep first.” Chaoyang patted her on the shoulder. “This medicine works very quickly, especially for people who are using it for the first time. If we’re lucky, we should see results by tomorrow morning.”
“So all we need is one night of waiting?” Jeanne clenched her fists, resolve evident in her eyes. “Then I’ll wait! Staying up all night isn’t a big deal for us sisters, not when tonight is too crucial.”
“Don’t try to talk her out of it,” Zhu Di advised with a chuckle. “Let her stay and watch over things here. I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight either if I were in her shoes.”
“Well then, best of luck to everyone. I’ll excuse myself for now.” Chaoyang waved, heading towards the cellar and sending a notification to the players to accelerate time.
If the quest didn’t require nighttime activities, detaching players’ consciousnesses from their bodies to ‘freeze’ them was the most efficient way to conserve Willpower. Besides, it minimized the chances of aimless wandering at night, especially Anthony Chekhov.
Recently, the only reason he’d been diligently handling business negotiations lately was because he could secretly pocket kickbacks. He was now the wealthiest among all the players, and whenever he got a chance, he indulged in pleasure at entertainment venues, tossing coins into women’s cleavages.
Chaoyang didn’t object to players having personal indulgences—within reason. But this kind of thing should be a reward, not the norm. If thrills were too easy to come by, players would eventually get bored.
“Your Excellency only you could remain so calm in this situation,” Dunn remarked, admiringly. “I assume the outcome has already been foreseen by the Lord of Paradise.”
“If this penicillin drug works, it’ll be the biggest sensation in Glorious Fortress in years,” Zhu Di murmured. “But I have a bad feeling… will those corporations let the Destiny Gate snatch what they once monopolized without resistance?”
“That’s unlikely. They may not be able to stop it, but they’ll surely try to hinder it.”
“Then why do you sound so relaxed?” Zhu Di’s brows furrowed, clearly discontented.
“What else am I supposed to do?” Dunn gave a slight smile. “Remember who stands behind the Destiny Gate. Frankly, I’m looking forward to their pushback. Only then will people realize that Glorious Fortress has changed—it’s no longer the same as before.”