Chapter 401: Let's Look at the Electricity in the Heart!
Chapter 401: Let's Look at the Electricity in the Heart!
Chapter 401: Let's Look at the Electricity in the Heart!
New
Apr 4, 2024
"Please, let me go with you! I beg you!"
"I can hire a carriage for us! — I'll drive it!"
"I'll cover all the expenses along the way!"
"I can be a guide! I've spent ten years on the Black Gate Peninsula! I know every road there!"
Ever since Garrett, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, sliced open the teratoma to reveal the tangled mass of hair, a few pieces of bone, and teeth, the necromancer, Leon Clayton, shamelessly clung to them.
Bringing his own provisions and taking responsibility for all expenses, he was willing to help with driving, booking inns, ordering meals, guiding, and managing all tasks on the road...
All he asked was for Garrett to occasionally, when in a good mood, share a word or two with him.
...Garrett couldn't actually throw him out. The Silver Dragon Maiden, however, was somewhat displeased by him, but after all, one does not strike the smiling face:
He immediately purchased a large covered wagon, made the carriage comfortable, and respectfully invited you to sit; even when rejected, he still followed with a smile; at crossroads, he actively came to give directions; upon arrival at accommodations, you didn’t have to look for the innkeeper, for he had already ordered dinner…
If they didn’t send him away on the first day, it became even less likely on the second day.
Not to mention, it started to drizzle on the morning of the second day.
"Master Nordmark, Miss Elf, please come sit in the carriage!" Leon jumped down from the carriage pole, lifting the curtain with a smile on his face:
"Even though you both have spells to keep off the rain, it's more comfortable in the carriage, isn't it?"
Riding in the carriage might not be more comfortable, but it allowed for more free time. The carriage bought by Leon was a barbarian’s large covered wagon, with ample interior space where three or four people could stretch their legs without feeling cramped. Moreover, without needing to control a mount, one could focus on research.
Garrett and the Silver Dragon Maiden boarded the carriage, and the first thing they did was to ask Bernard to bring up the rabbit:
"Seraina, didn't you say you wanted to know why there's electricity in the heart? I've thought of a new method, take a look!"
What?
Proving the heart has electricity?
Leon quietly leaned back, sticking half an ear through the gap in the door curtain. A round bulge appeared on the curtain at the front of the wagon, looking quite comical. Seraina spotted it with one glance, pulled on Garrett, and pointed at the half ear.
"......"
Garrett shook his head at her. Why bother? The man was trying hard to learn something, and had come this far, why drive him away now?
The Silver Dragon Maiden shrugged, her eyes darting around, then suddenly grabbed the rabbit, folding its ear and extending it outside. The fine, fluffy rabbit ear grazed Leon's ear, causing the necromancer to exclaim softly and instantly retract.
Inside the carriage, Seraina covered her mouth, shaking with laughter.
Garrett sighed helplessly. He had no choice but to take out the assembled ammeter—essentially just two magnets, a coil, and a spring-loaded pointer—and redirected the Silver Dragon Maiden's attention to the matter at hand:
"Look, here's a pointer connected to a rotating shaft. As long as there's a current passing through, the needle will move. Let's insert the needle into the rabbit's heart and see—"
With a snap, the Silver Dragon Maiden's fingertips sparked a cluster of electric sparks, falling directly onto the wire. The spring-loaded pointer turned sharply, smashing into the nearby magnet, and a wisp of blue smoke rose from the coil...
"......"
"......"
In physics class, the student breaks the experimental equipment on the first try, what to do?
Oh, and you can't beat her. Nor can you scold her.
Teaching is indeed a difficult task. Garrett, who had gone from a resident doctor to an attending physician, and then from an attending physician to a deputy director in his past life, had mentored hundreds of interns, residents, and attending physicians, never finding teaching so challenging.
"Cough, Seraina, the electrical current of the heart, or rather the electrical current of the human body cells, is very small. If you release such a large electricity, the ammeter will burn out... Let's start with a simpler proof. Take this silk, and rub the glass rod vigorously..."
Letting Seraina mess around with static electricity, Garrett took out a new wire, silently starting to rewind the coil. This wire, made from silver mixed with mithril and crafted by the royal jeweler, had to be specially insulated. He wasn't skilled enough to
make it himself, and using a bit meant having less of it...
"Done rubbing? Now try, place the glass rod in your hand, see if your fingers will twitch?"
"It didn't!"
...Miscalculation. The Silver Dragon's magic resistance is high, mere static electricity is nothing to her...
"Well... why don't you try it with the rabbit? But first, you need to shave its fur off, otherwise, it might not work..."
"What, shave its fur? That's annoying!"
"I'll do it! I'll try!" Outside the carriage, the necromancer Leon's head popped in.
By volunteering for electric shock, Leon finally found a spot inside the carriage. After trying friction to generate electricity and getting shocked to the satisfaction of the Silver Dragon Maiden, he was able to summon several skeletal hands to fix the rabbit on the carriage. Following Garrett's instructions, he performed a sequence of actions:
"Start with a hypnotism spell! ?Alleviate Pain?! Shave the fur! Make an incision in the skin…"
Anesthesia, fixation, fur trimming, skin incision. Soon, Garrett extended his hand to the necromancer:
"Knife, please!"
"I, I can do it! You don't have to bother!"
"…No, if you open the chest, there will be too much bleeding."
Surgical knives and hemostats moved adeptly in Garrett's hands. Leon watched as Garrett cut through the muscles, isolated and ligated vessels, cut open the sternum, separated tissues, and exposed the rabbit's heart without causing any bleeding or damaging other organs, soaking not even two pieces of gauze...
"Your Excellency, I forgot to ask yesterday, which master from the Black Crow Swamp do you hail from?"
"…I'm from the School of Transmutation…"
…You don't have to answer if you don't want to, really…
Garrett, facing Leon's disbelief and the snickering glances of the Silver Dragon Maiden, explained for the thousand and first time. He coughed pretentiously, turned to Seraina, and pointed to the two silver needles on either end of the ammeter:
"Okay, now insert these two needles into the heart and see if the ammeter's needle will move—Don't!"
Obviously, Garrett's warning was not as quick as the Silver Dragon Maiden's actions. Seraina moved her hands, and the two electrode needles were deeply inserted into the rabbit's heart, all the way to the base.
...With that insertion, the septum between the atria and ventricles was directly pierced, right?
Then, hearing Garrett's warning, the Silver Dragon Maiden casually pulled out the electrode needles...
"Eh? Why isn't it bleeding?"
Of course, it might not bleed. The heart muscle is incredibly strong; even if pierced, it could still tightly contract. Moreover, there's the pericardium outside the heart, which could also potentially keep the blood inside, right?
Before these words could be explained, the Silver Dragon Maiden flicked her fingers, and the two electrode needles were inserted into the rabbit's heart in another direction...
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