Appendix: The Bullet or the Blade

Appendix ① The Bullet or the Blade · The Blade or the Bullet

Youth is the finest part of life.

—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

"[Platina Jazz]!"

A gale surged through the temporary camp, scattering the miasmal poison fog over the southeastern mountains—

—the Gem Knight manifested its true spirit form from Doctor Maquire's shoulder and neck, then punched Billy Horn square in the head!

In an instant, Billy the Kid's head split open and bled. His cranial pressure went haywire, and his eyes rolled back. Old Maquire's skill at using an electric scalpel to operate on brains was astonishing. In the blink of an eye, layers of spiritual threads stitched the wound shut, sealing it with the thick, sticky Universal Elixir.

The entire craniotomy took only two or three seconds. It took less time than Handsome's splash of dishwater, and Old Ma had already checked most of the hidden injuries in Billy the Kid's head.

"Huh? Wh-what?" Billy came to. After taking a punch from [Platina Jazz], his body felt like it had been electrocuted. His brain had run a little firmware-upgrade program, shut down for a few seconds, and immediately rebooted.

Maquire kicked open a backpack. A few comic books, modeling clay and pencils spilled out, along with a dice cup and an ID card used for betting on drinks.

Rummaging through the clutter, the surgeon found a medical record book buried under a pile of Saladin's tung leaves and opened a separate page for Billy the Kid.

"Anything else bothering you?"

Maquire chewed on the end of a pencil. The dependable older man, with his rugged features and full lips, gave him a sharp look.

"For example, stiffness in your hands or feet, numbness in your limbs, tingling skin, or anything with your spine—"

Billy immediately replied, "My