Completion of Equipment and Improvement of Poison Effects

Chapter Five: Completion of Equipment and Improvement of Poison Effects

Having completed the task, he took one of the tipped tusks and began inserting it into the desiccated flesh. After much effort, he successfully embedded the fang's base, but his work wasn't done. He still couldn't use the scalpel made of dried flesh and fangs yet, as it would dislodge or break if he applied any force.

Undeterred, he returned to the snake's lifeless corpse and painstakingly opened it, reaching for the airway. Once there, he collected some of the mucus that surrounded it. In most animals, including humans, a protective layer of sutures lines the airways to safeguard the lungs from dust and other contaminants. This sticky mucus held significance for him.

The child retrieved the unfinished scalpel and removed the recently inserted fang, leaving a small hole in the dried flesh. He proceeded to fill the hole with the mucus from the ends before carefully placing the fang back, its base now coated with mucus. However, he didn't stop there. He took the ligaments from the snake's mouth and wrapped them around the decayed flesh, securing them just below the fang.

Surveying his creation, the child muttered, "Good, it suffices." Yet, he didn't employ it immediately, leaving it be for a while. Moving on, he turned his attention to the first dissected snake, extracting its skin. Although challenging at first, the process gradually became easier, allowing him to remove the snake's scales, leaving behind a resilient layer of rubbery fat.

Once done, he retrieved the second canine, shaved and prepared, and inserted it into the canal connecting the glands and the fang. To maintain the fang's penetrating ability, he delicately pressed its tip against the ground, slightly damaging its head. Using the tusk and the canal as makeshift needle and thread, he skillfully sewed the snake's skin together, creating a rough-looking leather bag.

Taking the bag to the blood he had extracted earlier, the child filled it with a quarter of the blood, sealing it shut. He stood in the middle of the room, took a deep breath, and began spinning, holding the leather bag in his hand. This process, known as centrifugation in the scientific community, aimed to separate the components of the blood based on mass, particularly the plasma.

Naturally, blood comprises 45% cells and platelets, with the remaining 55% being plasma, of which 90% is water. By separating the plasma from the cells and platelets, this process addressed his severe fluid deficiency, a pressing issue for his body.

After two hours of continuous spinning, the child stopped, depleted of energy. Severe dehydration prevented even the slightest hint of sweat. Opening a portion of the bag, he began drinking the plasma, but in small quantities at a time. Slowly, he increased the amount to prevent his body from being shocked by a sudden influx of water. Although drinking plasma wasn't a long-term solution, he had no other choice.

Once satiated, the child rose to resume his work with the snake corpses. He extracted what he could, utilizing the scalpel he had crafted to assist him.

Looking at the materials he had gathered, the child marveled at his masterpiece—an apparatus reminiscent of tools found in hospitals and nursing homes: an intravenous contraption. The transparent sack was replaced by a skin pouch, and the needle and tube were substituted with the snake's internal channels and fangs.

To hang the leather bag, he drove one of the tusks into the wall, leaning against it as he positioned the tusk in his left hand vein. He secured it with a strap made of snake and mucus. Inhaling deeply, he lifted a scale on the wall, exerting pressure on the ducts. The poison began seeping weakly, familiarly embracing him with its unsettling effects. However, this time, the sensation was milder than before.

Ensuring the tusk was firmly in place within his vein, he embarked on his daily routine, which had been temporarily interrupted by tools and snakes. The continuous intravenous injection he engaged in involved using a modified poison, a means to enhance his abilities in the darkness and reward his unwavering dedication to the trials.

The primary objective was to develop resistance against toxins and unlock the poison's potential. Snake venom consisted of over 20 toxic chemicals, some of which affected even other snakes insignificantly. Exposure to this legendary venom in this world, by some fortuitous arithmetic mistake, led to immunity-building, unlike other poisons.

Returning to the concept of continuous intravenous injections, the people in this world possessed limited knowledge of the immune system and its workings. Our resilient hero aimed to maximize the exposure time to the poison rather than intensify it, allowing his immune system to develop a more robust memory of the venom and produce antibodies against it.

While this method seemed beneficial in terms of pain relief and efficacy, the reality was vastly different. Despite the pain being less severe, it was persistent and unending. At first, the severity of the pain provided motivation through the knowledge that it would eventually subside. However, the current pain had no foreseeable end.