Chapter 166 - Your Life, Like a Candle in the Wind

"We preliminarily determine that the nodules in your lungs here and here are not abnormal alveolar tissues but tumors."

In the treatment room, a surgeon pointed at several small spots on the film.

"Besides the lungs, your stomach, intestines, and even the lymphatic system contain such abnormal tissues. If they are all tumors, there might be over thirty primary tumors throughout your body."

"And this might not be all, as so many primary tumors indicate a systemic problem in your body."

Murphy glanced at the other experts in the conference room. This was already the tenth joint consultation this month. "So, have you come to a conclusion? What's wrong with me?"

The head of the joint diagnostic team, a white male with graying hair named Solance Bartman, looked at the others before finally speaking, "Director, although we still don't fully understand half of the reports, we have come to a preliminary conclusion about your condition."

"Oh?" Murphy sat up straight, "Let's hear it."

"We suspect," Solance said with a peculiar expression, "that you might have aged."

"What?"

"We found varying degrees of aging in many cells throughout your body, and it's unevenly distributed," Solance explained. "These aged cells are more prone to replication errors and cancerous mutations..."

"This part is likely due to the effect of Baisen Promoter, which significantly increased the number of cell divisions throughout your body in a short period."

Murphy frowned.

This conclusion was not unexpected.

At the time, to heal the injuries throughout his body and counteract the threat of death, he had consumed Baisen Promoter.

However, Baisen Promoter reacted unpredictably with Mandela grass juice, causing his body's cells to undergo drastic mutations and rapid proliferation.

In those short ten minutes, he swelled into a giant, with tons of cells proliferating.

His body's cellular division count had likely approached the theoretical limit.

"Besides cellular lifespan, you also have many defects at the genetic level."

"We extracted many toxic proteins from your body, resulting from genetic disorders. These are due to the imperfect combination of multiple magical creature genes with your own during the multiple Animagus transformations."

"Genetic defects plus aging... Your body is collapsing... Although currently, thanks to your superior physical structure, this collapse isn't proceeding very quickly, every time you transform into an Animagus, it exacerbates this collapse..."

"In general, your life is like a candle in the wind, prone to major issues at any time."

Murphy frowned, "How long do I have?"

"If you avoid high-intensity transformations and pursue active treatment, we estimate you might have one to two years..."

One to two years?

My life is reduced to just over a year? He was silent for a while before asking, "Any suggestions?"

"First, you need to actively undergo cancer treatment. Some in situ cancers can be directly surgically removed, but cancers like lymphoma might require radiation or chemotherapy to suppress the proliferation of cancer cells."

"Second, please try to maintain a positive mindset and mood, avoiding emotions like anxiety and anger. Don't be under too much stress, as this will help provide a better recovery environment for your body."

"Lastly, we are collaborating with the Potion Research Team and the Spell and Transfiguration Research Team to find ways to delay aging."

Murphy frowned, "So, there's no concrete plan?"

"Indeed, experts from the Transfiguration Research Team have proposed various methods, such as transferring the longevity genes of vampires to your body via viruses."

"But firstly, the effectiveness of these plans needs to be verified. Secondly, your body is currently in a fragile balance, and introducing foreign genetic material might disrupt this balance, leading to more severe consequences. Thus, safety is also a concern."

"We need more research to assess."

...

After undergoing over a dozen surgeries in more than half a month, Murphy's numerous in situ cancers were controlled.

However, to avoid stimulating the body, these surgeries did not use Baisen essence for wound healing, so he needed to recover like an ordinary person through rest.

Even without transforming, his natural healing ability meant ordinary wounds would heal within two to three days.

But this healing ability was not seen as beneficial by the doctors.

It indicated that his body's cells could still proliferate at a rate far beyond normal, naturally reaching their theoretical lifespan limit faster.

Surgery was urgently halted because too many operations on a specific part might cause that organ's tissue to age and die earlier than other body parts.

Murphy's overall lifespan clearly depended on the shortest lifespan among his critical organ tissues.

Therefore, treatments like chemotherapy and radiation, which greatly burden the body, had to be used cautiously, leaving the doctors feeling helpless about Murphy's condition.

Fortunately, Murphy was fighting for his life.

Current technology isn't enough?

Then turn to the future.

Through "Total Recall" and collaboration with several cell immunology experts, Murphy introduced over a dozen Nobel Prize-level key technologies, including CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, successfully replicating the Car-T cell therapy that would only appear over thirty years in the future.

After another half-month of treatment, the level of cancer cells in his body finally decreased to a level that wouldn't affect daily life.

But this was merely a temporary suppression of the tumors.

Without solving the aging problem, cancer would continuously reappear.

Scientists had no clue how to solve the aging issue, but Murphy thought of something from the original story.

The Elixir of Life.

Nicolas Flamel lived for six hundred years with it, and although he didn't seem in great shape, it should be enough to save a life.

Checking the calendar, it was now the end of July. Perhaps the Philosopher's Stone was still in vault number 713.

Should he try to get his hands on the Philosopher's Stone?

The Philosopher's Stone's capabilities weren't limited to producing the Elixir of Life; it could also transmute gold. Moreover, it was said that many powerful potions, when prepared with the Philosopher's Stone, could forego their extremely rare ingredients.

It was the greatest alchemical product and the most powerful potion enhancer.

If it were to be easily destroyed by Dumbledore later, it would be a waste.

With this in mind, Murphy made up his mind.

Protecting cultural relics is everyone's responsibility!

A precious historical relic like the Philosopher's Stone, with irreplaceable research value, must be saved from destruction!

Now seems to be double monthly ticket time, asking for monthly votes, wondering if reaching a thousand could trigger a draw.

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