Chapter 130: Autopilot Surgery
“Clank… clank…”
In Kun City, the fire still raged, but in an untouched area, vines, stretching between the building-trees, were transporting a young woman with long black hair.
Soon, she reached the burning zone, where a massive fungal carpet was withering and shrinking under the intense heat, its tendrils curling and blackening.
“Yibai…”
The fire stopped here; the battle was over; Huayibai and her sister had stopped the fire-wielding Awakened.
The girl’s gaze shifted from the burning fungal mass, scanning the area.
She had to find her sister and Huayibai.
Her sister was her main concern.
Huayibai had spores within her, and more in Chongyu City and America, ready to be revived.
But her sister… she was just an ordinary Awakened; death was permanent for her.
She quickly spotted her sister, lying on the ground in an open area, a small, white figure beside her.
Found them…
Lin Jiayao controlled the vines, lifting her sister and Huayibai, carrying them through the interconnected network, deeper into the city.
After crossing a firebreak of dead trees, they were gently placed on the ground.
The inferno raged on the other side, but the firebreak held.
“Hoo…”
Lin Jiayao breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at her sister and Huayibai, lying motionless.
She had sensed her sister’s heartbeat earlier, confirming she was alive.
But seeing her sister’s injuries now made her breath catch in her throat.
Large portions of her sister’s body were burned, her hair singed.
Her right hand and arm were the worst, the flesh and muscle melted away, revealing charred bone, covered in soot and ash.
And her sister’s tightly furrowed brow, even in her unconscious state, showed she was in agony.
“Whimper…”
A soft cry from beside her caught Lin Jiayao’s attention.
Huayibai’s small body trembled, also clearly in pain.
The fungal carpet…
She gently lifted Huayibai, stroked its head, and whispered, “You did well…”
Although she didn’t know the details of the battle, she knew that without her sister and Huayibai stopping that fire-wielding man, Wu Hejun might have burned down the entire city.
Holding Huayibai with her left hand, she pricked her right index finger with a bone spike, a drop of blood welling up.
She brought her finger to Huayibai’s lips.
Huayibai was in pain; her blood, with its numbing properties, would offer some relief.
As Huayibai swallowed the few drops of blood, its furrowed brow relaxed, its trembling ceased, and it fell asleep.
Gently placing Huayibai on the ground, Lin Jiayao turned her attention back to her sister.
How… how do I heal her hand and the burns?
Awakened weren’t like fungal zombies, able to regenerate with just blood crystals.
Such severe burns… even if they healed, there would likely be permanent scarring and possibly even disability.
She quickly reviewed her abilities, her lips pursed in thought.
Suddenly, she remembered something and quickly opened the system interface, navigating to the Medical Station in the Hideout.
Her gaze fixed on the fourth option.
「4、【Autopilot Surgery 1000g】: System-assisted surgery, allowing the host to perform a perfect operation, including but not limited to limb reattachment, bone setting, internal organ repair, and intracranial hemorrhage treatment…」
“System, what exactly does ‘Autopilot Surgery’ mean? How effective is it? Explain in detail.”
「The system will utilize all available resources and the host’s abilities to restore the patient to the best possible condition given the current circumstances.」
“And it only costs two blood crystal stones?”
「Two crystals are just the activation fee. Any additional resources consumed during the surgery will be deducted from the host’s reserves.」
Lin Jiayao didn’t hesitate. She transferred two blood crystal stones.
This was the best option.
If her sister was left with any permanent damage, even if she didn’t mind, it would pain Lin Jiayao every time she saw it.
She would spare no expense to heal her.
A prompt appeared.
「Commence Autopilot Surgery?」
“Yes.”
A strange sensation, her consciousness rising, observing her body from a third-person perspective.
And her body, no longer under her direct control, began to move, the sensations still transmitted to her.
She watched as her body took a deep breath and, amidst the smoke and ash, slowly raised its hands.
Several vines connected to her arms, supplying energy.
And bone spikes, erupting from the back of her neck, extended down her spine, reaching her waist, then her thighs, finally touching the ground.
The bone spikes, forming a sort of exoskeleton, secured her hips and legs.
And then, supported by this exoskeleton, she stood up.
It wasn’t her legs moving, but the bone spikes.
She could create a similar structure herself.
But she hadn’t, worried about the structural integrity and comfort, afraid of accidentally breaking her own bones.
So, she’d always used the bone spikes directly for locomotion, never connecting them to her legs.
But now, with this system-generated exoskeleton as a reference, perhaps she could try it.
While she was still studying the exoskeleton, the system began the surgery.
The vines connected to her hands glowed green, and the vines beneath her sister’s body rose, forming a makeshift operating table.
And on the table, a variety of surgical instruments, formed from tendrils and coated with her blood, their numbing properties eliminating the need for anesthesia, materialized.
As if to increase efficiency, the system generated four identical spore clones, each performing a different task simultaneously.
The surgery was gruesome, Lin Jiayao almost having to avert her gaze several times.
It wasn’t her sister’s wounds that disturbed her, but the system’s… methods.
Whenever blood or skin grafts were needed, the system showed no hesitation, directly drawing blood and peeling skin from Lin Jiayao’s body.
But despite the seemingly brutal process, her sister’s body was rapidly healing.
She hadn’t known her own skin had such potent healing properties.
The skin grafts, placed on her sister, seamlessly replaced the burned areas, even matching her skin tone perfectly.
But it wasn’t just a simple skin graft; the system was also injecting tendrils beneath the surface.
A combination treatment.
Then, it started harvesting bone…
If Lin Jiayao hadn’t known she had Bone Regeneration, she would have interrupted the system.
Watching the system work, she learned several new techniques and combinations, a valuable lesson.
She had an abundance of abilities, and more to come; using them effectively, combining them, was key.
With five Lin Jiayos working simultaneously, the surgery was completed in less than half an hour.
The spore clones then dissolved, their essence returning to Lin Jiayao.
The vine-platform lowered, the exoskeleton retracted, and her body collapsed beside her sister.
She regained control.
“Hoo…”
“Hiss…”
She inhaled sharply, the pain from the harvested skin and bone hitting her like a wave.
Especially the missing ribs; that was the worst.
Her fingernails dug into the vines beneath her, cold sweat dripping from her forehead.
Drawing a large amount of sap from the Vascular Network to enhance Bone Regeneration, she sat there for almost half an hour, until most of her skin had healed, then finally relaxed.
It’s done…
She looked at her sister, her expression peaceful from the anesthesia, and felt a wave of relief.
She placed her hand on her sister’s chest, feeling her steady heartbeat and breathing.
She looked at the burning cityscape in the distance, the flames and smoke almost obscuring the sky, but their threat now gone.
It’s finally over… I can finally rest…
Mental and physical exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. The battle and the system’s surgery had drained her.
She moved closer to her sister, lay down beside her on the vines, and gently wrapped her arms around her waist.
The vines, under her control, extended and intertwined above them, forming a protective cocoon, a makeshift room.
Although not completely sealed, it shielded them from the fire’s glow and the falling ash. Using vines for shelter… she had learned that from the system.
Then, several vines lifted the cocoon, suspending it in the air, gently swaying in the breeze.
And Lin Jiayao, cradled in her sister’s arms, the gentle rocking motion lulling her to sleep, drifted into a state of semi-consciousness, her body healing.
Although she knew there were still things to do – like dealing with the Voodoo Cult’s headquarters – she was simply too exhausted.
She would decide later, after resting.
“Yao…” Her sister, still under the influence of the anesthetic, murmured her name in her sleep, her hand reaching out, grasping at the air, before falling still again.
The next morning, when Lin Jiayao woke up, her sister was still asleep.
But her condition was much better than yesterday.
Lin Jiayao could tell from the way her sister’s hand, which had somehow found its way under her shirt, was now resting on her waist.
She felt refreshed and invigorated, her mood light.
Not just because of the morning sun, but also because a major threat had been eliminated.
No more running.
With the Vascular Network ability, she could keep her sister and Huayibai safe in Kun City.
They could settle down here, build a new life.
Lin Jiayao gently parted the vines and looked at the smoldering ruins in the distance.
As expected, the fire hadn’t spread this far; most of Kun City’s building-trees and vines remained intact.
Now, she just had to figure out how to explain her unusual abilities to her sister.
Hopefully, her sister would accept her “ability to control zombies in her dreams and gain their evolutions,” which sounded… like a glitch in the system.
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