Watching the syringe plunge into the vein in his arm, Todd slowly pushed the wooden plunger. His X-ray vision combined with his Eagle Eye allowed him to see the liquid, teeming with Sutherland archaea, flowing into his veins.
For the next few days, he had to have blood drawn twice a day, morning and evening. To his relief, there were no signs of any archaea mutation in his body. In addition, there was an unexpected bonus: the reproduction rate of other foreign bacteria in his body actually slowed down and eventually stopped.
By examining the blood samples under a microscope, he also found the reason. The influx of a large number of Sutherland archaea had locked and imprisoned all the foreign bacteria, naturally preventing them from continuing to reproduce.
After confirming the effectiveness of the 'Sutherland Archaea', Todd collected data and designed a plan, intending to fulfill his promise: to help Hudgens and Edgar solve the problem of the toxicity caused by the alien bacteria.
As he was leaving the lab and heading out, a large group of people gathered at the church entrance caught his attention.
Someone spotted him and shouted, "The priest is here!"
People swarmed around him and surrounded him.
Todd looked at the anxious expressions on everyone's faces and wondered what was going on. Although he hadn't been to church for nearly three weeks, if he wanted to confess or pray, he could have asked the deacons or catechumens. Why were they in such a hurry to find him?
After asking a few questions, he understood what had happened.
These people came to him to register the trade of sacred relics.
Just as he had said, the relics worth one silver moon could be freely bought and sold, but they had to be registered at the church. But when he actually opened the register and started registering, he realized something was wrong.
The price of these people's sacred relics has dropped from 1 silver moon to 95 bronze stars, with the lowest price even dropping to 92 bronze stars.
When Todd asked why the relics were being sold at such a low price, the seller looked embarrassed and stammered, refusing to answer.
Todd, who was quite adept at reading people, suddenly understood what was happening. It turned out that these people, seeing that three weeks had passed and the "Twilight Mutual Aid Fund" hadn't yielded any returns, were getting anxious, regretting their decision, and eager to get rid of the Holy Relic.
The priest said nothing in front of everyone, calmly completing the registration procedures for all of them. Then he left the church and headed to the large warehouse in town where the 'rose grafting' was being carried out.
To his surprise, the town's guards treated the warehouse like a fortified camp. The perimeter was surrounded by barricades, with bell traps set at the entrances and exits, and wooden watchtowers built at the four corners. Anyone who approached was reprimanded and ordered to leave.
Besides the farmers and the guards, only he himself was allowed to enter.
Thirty-two grafted rose bushes were placed in the square outside the warehouse, basking in the sunlight and enjoying the breeze.
Thirty-two farmers, along with their wives and children, stood or squatted beside each potted plant, tending to them with utmost care. Fertilizing, weeding, preserving, pest control, watering—their meticulous movements and attentive expressions made it seem as if they were treating these flowers like royalty…
Todd found Huggins here. It seemed that this former knight of the Silver Ring Kingdom had been faithfully fulfilling his duties these past few days, not leaving the warehouse for a moment. Moved, Todd gestured for Huggins to come to the laboratory later to discuss something very important.
Putting aside the matter of Huggins for the moment, Todd went to each rose bush to observe the grafting process. The survival rate of the cuttings was about 75%, which was neither good nor bad for a first attempt. Most of the rose cuttings had begun to sprout, and a small number had already shown signs of budding. He believed that in another three weeks, they would see the first bloom of the roses.
Todd then directed the farmers to prune away all the failed grafts, repeating his instructions several times, but no one did it. Left with no other option, he had to do it himself. The farmers responsible for tending the roses, seeing the priest's actions, wept bitterly, some even using their bodies to protect the flowerpots.
Todd really didn't understand. He repeatedly explained that only by pruning away the withered branches could the remaining flower buds grow better.
No one listened to him. In the end, he had no choice but to have the guards lift up the farmer so he could do the pruning himself.
Ignoring the heartbroken farmers and their wives, Todd and Huggins returned to the laboratory.
Upon entering the laboratory, the former first removed the latter's gloves to observe the toxicity of the "Weakness" ability. Compared to last time, the physical poisoning and atrophy were more severe, with some bacteria even invading the area near the shoulder joint.
There's no doubt that the 'Sutherland Archaea' can heal Hudgens' arm and stop the spread of the poison. But Todd is still hesitant for two reasons.
First, once the archaea are injected into Harkins, it means that he will officially transform from an alien into a member of the "Inheritors." Todd doesn't know whether this will cause a change in Harkins' values.
Second, the 'Sutherland archaea' possesses lethal and mutating properties in humans. Although injection experiments have been conducted on mice, this is the first attempt at dosage testing on humans. If too much archaea is injected, it may cause Huggins to be unable to withstand it and die immediately; however, if too little archaea is injected, it may disrupt the balance between the 'Sutherland archaea' and 'weakened' bacteria in Huggins' body, causing mutations.
After these concerns were shared with the man, he seemed unconcerned. He simply rolled up his sleeves and said something to Todd, who was holding a syringe.
"I've already died once; even if I die again, it would only be fulfilling a contract with the Grim Reaper."
Seeing the other person's resolute eyes, Todd nodded and inserted the syringe needle into Hudgens' skin.
The first batch of Sutherland archaea was injected into Huggins' body. Although the dosage had been reduced, his agonizing struggles and wailing screams resembled those of someone suffering eternal torment in hell. Todd thought he was about to fail. However, the man ultimately pulled through.
Over the next few days, Todd observed Huggins' blood count while injecting him with 'Sutherland Archaea' several more times. In less than four days, the black aura on his palm gradually faded, and the withered flesh slowly showed signs of revival.
Three days later, Huggins' blood test results showed that his vital signs were all normal, and Todd finally told him, "You're safe."
On this day, in the long river of history, Huggins became the first alien species to be saved by the artificial "Sutherland Archaea".
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