Get Up and Bow to the Captain, Now

The blond Mage stood motionless, staring at Li Ziran. He had never placed much trust in this Witch Doctor they had met halfway.

Bringing out Medusa at the very first move was a lavish gesture, but Karen had tacitly permitted it.

He could only obey. In the Bauhinia Flower, no one could—and no one dared to—defy Karen.

Just as the blond Mage was baffled, Li Ziran, filthy from head to toe, had already turned his Witch Doctor robe inside out, revealing a spotless, delicate white coat. From the lining of that coat, he laid special blades one after another upon the prepared canvas.

Mithril scalpels, scissors, fine forceps, and over a dozen slender needles of varying lengths.

Once the canvas was spread out, more than a dozen Thumb Bottles were neatly arranged along its edge. Small brushes were placed inside them, with the Frog Sweat in each bottle just covering the ends of the bristles.

"Gentlemen, where is Medusa?"

With everything ready, Li Ziran raised his head and looked at the two young men.

In the field he excelled at, he was fairly confident.

That series of actions made the two look at him in a new light. Though they knew little about Witch Doctors, they could tell from what they had just seen that Li Ziran had some real skill.

The Mage was still hesitant. Medusa was a rare slave, after all, and he could not help looking toward Karen.

Karen nodded without revealing a trace of emotion.

Before long, Fishman and Pigman laborers gathered around.

Organ transplantation was an ability they had only heard of and never witnessed. Now that a Grand Witch Doctor was displaying his skills, even if they were not experiencing it firsthand, watching it would be enough to become bragging material later.

"If he can successfully transplant the Petrifying Eye, the Slave-Catching Group will strike it rich from now on!"

"Is this young man really that impressive? Why does it feel like he's just blowing hot air?"

"The captain really went all out. Medusa aren't easy to come by. If he ruins one, will he kill him? Last time, I..."

Their voices were low, but Li Ziran heard every word clearly. He paid them no mind, merely lowering his head to dip a brush in Frog Sweat and lightly write Tadpole Script upon the canvas.

"Li, can a dead Medusa still be used?" the blond Mage suddenly asked.

Those words made Karen, standing nearby, furrow his brow. He seemed displeased with his subordinate's presumptuous act, yet he still wore a smile and said nothing.

Though he was not a Witch Doctor, he knew a little of the basics. Only the finest Witch Doctors could handle organs from someone on the brink of death, and the difficulty would increase at least tenfold.

"How long has she been dead?" Li Ziran asked calmly.

"Not long. Half a day, perhaps," the Mage answered readily.

"Half a day?" Li Ziran frowned slightly. "I can't be certain. I need to see the body."

"Here?" the blond Mage asked.

Li Ziran nodded. The view here was unobstructed, the lighting was ideal, and Li Ziran also wanted to show off his abilities.

Only ability brought status, and only status brought business.

Judging by their extravagant display just now, this Slave-Catching Group had considerable means. They surely had quite a few corpses on hand. If he could build a relationship with this group, his supply of goods would become far more abundant.

If he could purchase some corpses, he might even earn back all forty silver coins he had paid Barbarona. Then this Medusa would become his personal slave.

He was certain that the Spirit World was inseparably connected to Medusa, though that would have to wait until she woke up.

If this Medusa could allow him to comprehend the Devouring Curse, she would be worth far more than several dozen gold coins.

Moreover, the Petrification Curse on his arm had originated from this woman. Perhaps it would have to be resolved by her as well, just like his Transformation Spell could only be undone by his own blood.

The blond Mage moved with astonishing speed. Within a few breaths, a sturdy Fishman laborer dragged a nylon sack over from the camp behind them.

The nylon sack was a soft, shapeless lump. Blood seeped from its bottom now and then, dragging a long red line across the grass.

The Fishman directly tossed the nylon sack onto the canvas. Li Ziran stepped forward and untied its slipknot. At once, a choking stench of blood rushed into his face. The blood was very fresh.

This thing should not have died long ago. The inside of the nylon sack was nothing but a mass of crimson, and he could not make out what was in it at all.

Li Ziran lifted the bottom of the nylon sack, then suddenly exerted force, dumping all the bloody fluid and its contents onto the canvas in one go.

Ugh!

Instantly, retching broke out. The watching Fishmen and Elves instinctively turned their heads away.

On the ground lay a muddy mass of blood and flesh. Within it, a snake tail could vaguely be seen, though it had been torn off by some sharp weapon. Blood still poured continuously from the clean, sharp wound.

Mixed into the bloody sludge were patches of emerald green. They were some kind of large leaves—more precisely, clothing made from leaves.

Through the gaps in those leaves, one could glimpse a woman's uniquely full curves. A long, slender neck was wedged among them, standing upright like a bamboo pole. At the end of that neck was half of a woman's face, the other half having been sliced away.

"Can it still be used?" the blond Mage asked without changing expression.

Li Ziran bent down and gently moved aside the remaining half of the face. The cut was sharp and carried a trace of Wind Element. It had likely been pierced straight through by an enormous Wind Blade.

Li Ziran only paused briefly before inserting his hand into her skull. He moved it to the area behind the eye, lifted it slightly, and began a careful inspection.

The neural network was intact!

The eyeball had not suffered fatal damage!

The retina was intact!

And there was another half buried within the muddy flesh. Judging from the face, it did not belong to the same person.

He saw it clearly. Especially after opening the Spirit World, he could even perceive the necrotic meridians behind the neural network.

Clearly, this was a mixture of three corpses.

"It should be usable!" Li Ziran gave a definite answer. "Who should this eye be transplanted into?"

That abrupt question immediately caused a commotion among the crowd. The Fishman laborers instinctively stepped back, looking fearfully toward Karen at the center.

Karen casually swept his gaze across the Slave-Catching Group, then settled it on a short Fishman. "Him."

The Fishmen nearby reflexively backed away. They might have been curious about witchcraft, but none of them wanted to become its test subject.

As for the fortunate Fishman selected, he trembled where he stood. Once he learned that one of his right eyes would be dug out during the procedure, he was nearly scared witless.

He was practically carried before Li Ziran by two other Fishmen.

Li Ziran did not care how the Fishman felt. If it succeeded, this Fishman would possess a Petrifying Eye, and his status in the Slave-Catching Group would soar like a rocket. He would not have enough time to thank Li Ziran.

Following the standard surgical procedure, he first turned the Fishman into a frog, then found a crossbar and hung him from it.

Afterward, he carefully cleaned Medusa's eye with disinfectant, then used a scalpel to carefully cut along the Boundary of the eye socket and into the depths of the brow until he touched bone.

Having done this once before, Li Ziran handled it this time with practiced ease.

The blond Mage stared fixedly at Li Ziran's every movement. He watched as Li Ziran drew fine threads out from the bloody flesh one by one, tossed the eyeball into a bottle of dark green solution, then used the Transformation Spell to turn the eyeball into an eye unique to a frog...

His movements were extremely fast. Supported by his immense spiritual power, Li Ziran could even play a few small tricks.

For instance, he used one-third less Revival Potion at the neural junctions, or used the sturdiest T-shaped knot to connect the two neural networks.

"Hogg, you have witnessed organ transplantation before. Was it like this?" Karen asked, looking at his Mage, Hogg.

Hogg blankly shook his head. "It was different. I can't sense any witchcraft."

"So you mean he is a fraud?" Karen's expression did not change, but there was interrogation in his tone, as though Hogg had already committed some grave mistake.

"I don't know either." Mage Hogg's answer remained vague. Sensing the hostility in Karen's tone, he hurriedly added, "Although I can't sense any witchcraft, I still feel this man has ability."

"Why?"

"It should be the potions. Those potions have different effects, and his technique is very skilled. Clearly, this isn't his first time using witchcraft. I think the Goddess of Fortune has blessed us, allowing us to meet such an extraordinary Witch Doctor beside this little pond. In the future..."

His words came to an abrupt halt, frightened off by Karen's sharp gaze.

Li Ziran moved quickly. He lightly twisted his fingers, dipped them into a grayish-brown solution, and repeated the same action over and over.

This step took the longest. Once it was complete, he carefully took out the Sacred Potion.

The blazing holy radiance stimulated everyone's nerves. At that moment, it seemed that even taking a breath of it could dispel the pain in one's body.

Sacred Potion!

The Human Race's most special Healing Potion. With the help of the Sacred Potion, the knife wounds and bloodstains on the Fishman's face rapidly vanished. Vanishing along with them were the black pupils unique to the Fishman race. In their place was a triangular pupil of scarlet and white.

The frog disappeared, and the Fishman gradually returned to his original form. Seeing that he still lay on the ground unconscious, the anxious Mage had long since run out of patience.

With a flick of his finger, a fingernail-sized fireball landed directly on the Fishman's buttocks. He urged, "Get up and bow to the captain, now!"