The Surgery
5000 years later.
There is no more Alex kingdom.
The world has merged into one big entity, the Mountains and Rivers Alliance. As of today, only the vampires remember that a day existed when Alex III wasn't the king of all.
For ordinary people, it's common sense that Alex III is the lord of all, has always been, and will always remain.
The Mountains and Rivers Alliance is a behemoth that covers the entire world. Its government has two layers: vampire officials and mortal officials.
In total, there are 20,000 vampires in the world; they are exempt from all mortal rules but still bound by the laws of the vampire government.
The mortal government is led by a prime minister and other ministers.
The prime minister is selected by the leader of vampires, Alex IV.
Royal families and noble families have all disappeared.
The ranking system has also undergone a lot of changes over the years.
The prime minister is rank 1, other ministers rank 2, leaders of smaller agencies, and deputy ministers rank 3.
From rank 4 to 9 are other government officials, depending on seniority.
Ordinary people would receive ranks 10 to 14.
Rank 15 are prisoners, and rank 16 are traitors.
Slavery has been abolished three thousand years ago by Alex III himself.
Promotions from ranks 16 to 4 can be done by orders of the prime minister alone, but for ranks 1 to 3, the leader of vampires, Alex IV, must approve.
The society did advance to the peak of what a medieval society can achieve, but modern technologies never appeared.
The world was stable and stale. Thousands of years could pass, but nothing fundamental changed.
Even though there is no official nobility, in practice, rich people may as well be nobility.
…
Alex III was in a dim room, with his eyes closed.
The room was full of dust, as if nobody walked in it for years.
After a few hours, he opened his eyes.
"Time to eat!" Alex III stood up with a sigh.
Even though he is the vampire ancestor, he still needs to eat. Fortunately, eating once a decade is enough for him.
He stretched a bit and walked out of the cave.
With his calculations, he finally found how long it would take for the world to be realized.
12 million years!
At first, Alex III thought being immortal means time doesn't matter anymore. But, after a thousand years, he got so bored that he decided to sleep most of his time.
Even though he became immortal, his brain remained nearly unchanged from his human times. Humans are not created to live beyond a century.
Alex III, with all of his ruthlessness, felt fright at what was ahead.
Millions of years more to wait.
And, what then? What is the endgame? When the world became real, what happens then?
As he sees it, for an immortal, with endless time, there is nothing interesting to do. He could try different foods, have sex, read books, rule the country, do different jobs, experience different lifestyles, but in the end, he would do all he possibly could, and there will be nothing left to do.
He conquered the entire world, but he wished he didn't. With nothing more to conquer, his life became extremely pointless; just endless waiting.
Maybe, after the world becomes realized, he would have other interesting things to do, but for now, he has nothing.
So, he just gave everything to his son and went into a cave and slept.
"Even sleeping is now getting repetitive!" he sighed.
Only after a few thousand years, he is starting to have suicidal thoughts. Still, he will continue to persist. …
Star World, year 3307.
Rob was in a hospital, getting ready for brain rejuvenation surgery.
Brain rejuvenation surgery can make existing brain cells grow and fill the space left by the dead brain cells. But, there is a limit to it.
Scientists have calculated and say, at the best-case scenario, one can live up to 100,000 years.
After that, the remaining brain cells would not be enough to fill the space left by dead ones.
He, of course, pushed the scientists to look for a way to make new brain cells.
But, it was a step too far.
They couldn't do it, as that will cross into the territory of an advanced civilization.
But, they could do something else.
As of today, the concept of countries has disappeared on this dream world as well. The world is a giant country, called the World Alliance.
Rob kept his power over the years.
He is still the leader of the World Council.
The World Council is filled with fossils. All members are thousands of years old.
Powerful positions are all filled with the same people who refuse to die.
The society is extremely unequal. The difference between rich and poor is wider than ever.
Before, at least, billionaires died once in a while. When they died, some of their wealth would be lost to taxes, and the rest would be distributed among heirs. That, at least, would have helped lessen wealth inequality.
Now, with all billionaires thousands of years old, there is little chance for anyone else to become a billionaire.
The latest billionaire to appear was 100 years ago.
In general, young billionaires appearing in a country is a sign of success; it shows that it's possible to get rich, even if born poor.
But the concentration of wealth is a bad thing.
Today, 99.9% of all money is in the hands of the top 0.1%.
The bottom 50% has less than 0.1 percent of all money.
That is so terrifyingly disastrous; it's a miracle the society still hasn't fallen apart.
Any rational government would think of a solution, but the World Alliance was not led by a rational government.
The World Council was comprised of 7 people, all of whom were billionaires.
Decisions of the World Council were final, and binding on all; no court has the power to overturn its decisions.
The ordinary people had no remedy in any level of government. There was no way to protest.
Surveillance cameras were everywhere, and with all the media in the hands of a few giant corporations, most people were unaware of even existence of billionaires.
Information on the internet was severely limited, and social media was tightly under control. It was a nightmare for anyone who liked freedom.
…
Rob looked at the team of doctors who came to prepare him.
He slowly lay on a table and lost consciousness.
...
Doctor Smith was not a youngster.
He was the best in the field of brain rejuvenation.
Generally speaking, the field of brain transplant and brain rejuvenation is full. There are around 1000 doctors specialized in brain rejuvenation in the whole world, and all of them are more than 3000 years old.
Their customers are all billionaires and extremely rich people.
Brain transplants are cheaper, so even millionaires can do it.
There are 10,000 people specialized in body transplants.
But, as none of these doctors die, there is no need for new doctors; therefore, becoming a doctor is nearly impossible. At best, one can become a general physician.
Only if someone is exceptionally talented, with talent so amazing that it can't be ignored, can they break through the monopoly and become a new brain transplant or brain rejuvenation doctor.
After Rob completely lost consciousness, they took him to the operation room.
This room was the most advanced in the whole world, with the best doctors present.
After all, Rob is the most powerful person in the world; he has so many friends and allies. If something happens to him, they will be over.
Soon, they brought advanced equipment for cutting the skull.
Doctor Smith, with flawless precision worthy of the best in the world, cut the skull.
With very delicate medical equipment, they separated the brain, preserving all the blood flow, and then put it in a container filled with a green liquid.
This liquid is what makes brain rejuvenation possible.
Rejuvenation elixir!
It was a miracle in medicine.
It could help brain cells grow, remove all dangerous metals, and optimize the brain to the best possible.
After placing Rob's brain in the container, it was carefully, with robotic hands, carried to a special room with a specific temperature.
The rejuvenation liquid must be changed every 6 hours, and the brain must remain in the liquid for 3 months.
The container is special and is connected to a large pool of rejuvenation elixir, so it's not needed to be changed manually.
The doctor nodded. Everything went well.
…
3 months later.
Doctor Smith is getting ready for a brain transplant surgery.
Rob's previous body has been burned to ashes. They already have prepared a new body for him.
The body is around the age of 14.
It's not taken from anyone; it has been cultivated in labs.
Rob will use this body for 50 years, so the younger the body, the better.
14 is appropriate.
Younger than 14, and the physical body is not fully developed.
Why is the age of consent in many countries 14? It's not because of the body; the body is mostly developed by 14. It's because young people's minds are not fully developed, and so they can't rationally decide for themselves.
It has nothing to do with the body or appearance. That's why Rob will not have any problem with laws; even though his body will look young, his mind is thousands of years old.
Soon, they brought the container his brain was in, and began the surgery.
They cut the skull carefully, transplanted the brain without disrupting anything, and after making sure everything is fine, they closed the skull.
The surgery took 12 hours.
The healing process will take 3 months.
In the next three months, Rob will remain unconscious. When the brain is getting adopted to the new body, it's best to remain motionless.
…
For the next three months, nurses have to be careful, and at least one doctor must be present 24/7.
The total cost of the surgery is 1 billion.
There are some doctors and hospitals that do it cheaper, but Rob wants to make sure nothing goes wrong. All in all, the success rate of this surgery is remarkably high. It's 99.97%!
…
During the next 3 months, Doctor Smith checked on Rob every few hours. Finally, the time passed, and Rob began showing signs of waking up.
…
Rob opened his eyes with difficulty.
Looking around, he saw Doctor Smith. He sighed with relief.
The surgery was successful!
Every time doing this, there is a tiny risk of failure.
"Rob! The surgery went perfectly! The your new body is of the best quality! Only after a month of physiotherapy, you could go home!" Doctor Smith said.
A month in a coma will weaken the body, so physiotherapy is necessary.
As for those movies when one wakes up from a coma and walks the next day, that is obviously false.
Even Rob, with the best care and the best body, needs physiotherapy after a month of coma.
Rob nodded and said, "Thank you!"
Doctor Smith nodded with a smile.