Kidney Transplant Plan

The scattered starlight stones on the ceiling gave off faint points of light, shining onto the large round ** ahead and forming a string of peach-heart patterns that slowly revolved, like love quietly flowing on.

If not for the few rats squeaking wildly in the corner as they fought, this would absolutely have been a warm, sweet world for two.

With no outside interference, Li Ziran completely cast aside his good-man disguise and directly tossed Nicole onto the large round **.

"That hurt!" Nicole deliberately said in a coquettish voice.

Li Ziran would not bother with anything else now. Nicole's sudden visit had completely disrupted all his plans. He had to deal with this mess as quickly as possible and head for the Undead Nest.

Serving VIPs was certainly important, but improving his own ability to survive was the top priority.

Even now, Li Ziran was not confident he could trade the necromancer for the Corpse Witch summoning spell and Soul Replacement technique. Before heading to the Undead Nest, he needed to secure more bargaining chips for himself.

Fortunately, Nicole's surgery was not difficult. From preparation to completion, three days would be enough.

Li Ziran did not waste time. He put on protective gloves and reached directly for the Life Tree Leaf.

Unexpectedly, Nicole suddenly dodged aside. Gazing at Li Ziran with tender affection, she pouted, "With such a beautiful atmosphere, aren't you planning to do something?"

Li Ziran smiled. This little girl was actually using this kind of man-controlling tactic on him.

Although her petite figure had developed exceptionally perfectly, Li Ziran would never lay a hand on his clients.

"Hurry up. It's the Elven Tide now. I can't guarantee your absolute safety. Ancient Elves are no ordinary beings, and I still need to weigh things carefully. You should understand that this isn't child's play."

Li Ziran's rigidly serious attitude left Nicole speechless. She shot him a fierce glare. "You really have no sense of romance at all. Hmph, even if you wanted me, I still wouldn't give myself to you." Though she muttered under her breath, she still took out the Life Tree Leaf and placed it in Li Ziran's hand.

Li Ziran turned the white side of his wizard robe over and carefully spread it across the round **. He took out a thumb-sized bottle of dark green liquid, gently shook it evenly, then used a brush to carefully coat the surface of the white gown.

This was Alforin Solution, refined from the blood of Alforin Giant Frogs from the abyss. The solution contained trace toxins capable of completely killing the Elemental Bugs within the Elemental Tide.

Its function was similar to a Volcanic Potion's, but its effects were much better.

However, it was rather expensive and scarce, requiring trade with abyss merchants.

There were pitifully few abyss merchants on the Wasteland. Li Ziran had been fortunate enough to get acquainted with one, who was also one of his high-level VIPs.

Li Ziran worked with great care. He had to ensure that this precious Alforin Solution could kill the Elemental Bugs and prevent infection by those invisible little things.

Once the Alforin Solution had been applied, it was equivalent to creating a relatively clean surgical space.

The conditions were crude now, but the space on this gown was enough for Li Ziran to complete the kidney transplant.

Li Ziran carefully placed the Life Tree Leaf at the very center of the white gown, put on protective gloves, peeled back the outer layer, and took out the magic-isolating Mithril paper.

He had seen it once on the street, but seeing it again still stirred him.

Its skin was sapphire blue, completely transparent, soft and sticky, like a piece of softened blue glass. Through the skin, he could clearly see the bones and organs within.

Li Ziran glanced at Nicole. She was lying.

Even if Elves had special constitutions and were protected by the Life Tree Leaf, their skin could not possibly still remain transparent by now.

On the Red Soil Continent, every living creature came into contact with the Elemental Tide. Likewise, in an instant, the Elemental Tide would begin changing a living being's structure.

The skin would rapidly harden, then form the distinctive color of Elves.

Li Ziran could infer even more specifically.

There were obvious stretching marks on the Elf's body, as though it had been unnaturally pulled long like a rubber band.

Although the Witch Doctor who had handled the blade was highly skilled, Li Ziran still caught the details.

The situation must have been extremely urgent at the time.

That also explained why, after so long, the Elf's skin still retained its fresh transparent state.

But the sapphire-blue skin was no longer pure. Upon close observation, tiny crystal-like particles the size of mites could be found within the skin layer.

These were impurities formed as the Elf naturally absorbed the Elemental Tide. It was precisely these impurities combining with the Elf's own skin that produced normal Elven skin.

If he brought over someone of the same size at this time, Li Ziran could transplant this untransformed hide onto them, granting them the Elf's keen elemental perception.

The opportunity was only this brief.

An Elf's original skin would not last long. At most, after half a quarter-hour, the optimal time for transplantation would be missed.

This was wasteful, because there was no suitable recipient.

Li Ziran smiled and slowly drew back his thoughts, looking toward Nicole.

She was lying, but there was no need to dig to the roots and pry into every detail.

That was the professional conduct a service provider ought to have.

Lowering his head, he refocused on the Elf.

He was fortunate. The preservation method was absolutely master-level, allowing him, even now, to see the workings of every organ within through the skin.

This avoided all kinds of side effects caused by dissection.

Li Ziran turned his attention to the main subject of this operation: the kidneys.

They were the same sapphire blue as the skin, shaped like crescent moons. A thin blood vessel carried sapphire-blue blood into them, forming layers of wind-blade-like magic power that slowly settled over the kidneys' surface. When the blood flowed out, it had already become pale blue.

Clearly, the kidneys had refined the wind element carried within the blood.

This was remarkable.

Li Ziran could not understand at all what kind of structure existed within this tiny organ that could transform invisible elements into magic power that could be sensed.

It was fascinating, but Li Ziran knew he was not cut out for it.

This was profound magic.

Although studying the internal structure of organs was part of a Witch Doctor's work, he was still far from touching that field.

What he needed to do now was simple: take it out and put it in.

Elves and humans were broadly built alike. Both possessed two kidneys, distributed around the lower back.

Any surgeon knew that a living being could survive perfectly well with one kidney.

Li Ziran had no intention of draining the pond to catch every fish. This was a treasure of nature; without exaggeration, it might be the only one of its kind in the world.

Without absolute certainty, he would not wipe it out root and branch.

Rarity was forever one of the finest qualities.

Protecting the transplant subject while also completing the task was the service principle Li Ziran pursued.

After gathering his focus, he began excluding the interference of magical factors and entered the familiar realm of organs.

The main blood artery and the basic organs could carry the absorbed power of the tide into the kidneys.

The first step of the surgery had to be dealing with this main artery.

Around the liver, however, there spread a dense neural network like tree roots. These neural networks extended into flesh and blood, dispersing throughout the body.

Removing the neural network was an indispensable second step.

These nerves looked like a tangled mess, but the neural network originated in the brain. The brain extended a main nerve; after reaching each organ, this main nerve branched into secondary nerves. Once these secondary nerves officially entered the organs, they formed a tangled terminal neural network.

He only needed to find the main nerves and secondary nerves to control the tangled terminal nerves.

One hundred and seventy-six.

There were rather a lot of nerves, which meant Li Ziran had to be more patient.

That was not much of a problem.

The extraction plan gradually took shape. It would probably take three hours, most of which would be spent cutting the neural network. But as long as no accidents occurred, he could basically pull it off.

Afterward, he would need a great deal of time to connect these nerves with Nicole's nerves.

Altogether, one day would be enough.

As for replacing the blood, that required greater precision.

He had two plans. The first was the simplest: draw out Nicole's blood in batches, then transfuse Ancient Elf blood into her, replacing the blood on the surface.

But it was crude, and because the two kinds of blood were incompatible, varying degrees of rejection would occur.

Even if he could resolve the rejection, the blood would be replaced and diluted by the endless newly generated blood in Nicole's body. Once the Elven blood's energy was exhausted, it would become ordinary blood again.

To outsiders, a blood transfusion seemed simple, but in a Witch Doctor's eyes, a true blood-replacement operation was a bone marrow transplant.

By fundamentally changing a living being's blood-producing conditions, it allowed their own body to produce special blood, achieving perfect blood replacement.

This was Li Ziran's second plan, and also the more thorough blood-replacement surgery.

But it was very complicated, requiring even more skill and special potions.

At the very least, all the Sacred Potions he currently had on hand would be used up. Transplanting bone marrow also required a special potion called Carnivorous Flower Allure Fluid.

This potion was produced at the roots and stems of carnivorous flowers and could only be obtained through an apothecary's careful refinement. Since it was an unconventional potion with few applicable conditions, it was rarely seen on the market.

For precisely that reason, it was very expensive.

However, this potion could perfectly clear away all bone marrow within the bones, ensuring that once new bone marrow entered, it could achieve perfect replacement.

Li Ziran knew where to find Carnivorous Flower Allure Fluid, but obtaining it would be somewhat troublesome.

Necromancers often used this potion to help undead clear accumulated fluid from within their bones, so they could inject special magic medicine into the skeletons and produce undead with particular abilities.

Corpse Witches also liked to use it. It was a necessity for them.

Their fully corpse-ified bodies produced a beetle called a Rotbone Beetle every moment, causing them unbearable pain. Carnivorous Flower Allure Fluid happened to be able to help them greatly.

Neither necromancers nor Corpse Witches were easy to find.

Both methods had their pros and cons. He had to ask the person concerned for her opinion.