Ever since Bobo, the "fully automatic cleaning robot," joined them, Victor's obsessive-compulsive disorder had finally been greatly alleviated.
The entire clinic castle, from the ceilings to the cracks in the floor tiles, was licked clean by that industrious little slime, polished so brightly it could reflect a person's shadow.
This allowed Victor to finally devote all his energy to his favorite cause: "medical research."
"Elizabeth, how are the vital signs of Subject No. 1?"
In the underground laboratory, Victor, dressed in a sterile protective suit, was pointing at a massive glass culture tank.
Inside the tank, half of an ogre's torso was soaking, still twitching slightly.
"Heart rate 60, blood pressure stable, nerve reflexes normal."
Elizabeth pinched her nose, standing five meters away from the culture tank with a look of utter disgust as she recorded the data.
"Director, can I apply for a job change? Like being a greeter at the door? The smell of this place... it's about to overpower my newly bought perfume."
"Denied."
Victor rejected her without even looking up.
"You're the only literate one in the clinic. If I don't have you record the data, who will?"
"..."
Elizabeth decided to add some laxatives to his blood plasma tonight.
"Alright, that's enough for today's experiment."
Victor recorded the last set of data, took off his protective suit, and stretched.
After several days of research, he had gained a preliminary understanding of the biological structures of this world.
He had to admit, the creatures here had truly tenacious vitality.
If it were a human from Earth, being cut in half and soaked in formalin would have killed them long ago. Yet this ogre could still maintain basic vital signs and even twitch occasionally, attempting to bite through the fixed chains.
"By the way, how much basic anesthetic do we have left in stock?"
Victor suddenly remembered this important question.
Elizabeth flipped through the ledger, her beautiful brows furrowing slightly.
"If we're frugal, it's probably enough to anesthetize three trolls."
"If a dragon shows up..."
She glanced at Victor. "Then you might still need to use that beloved hammer of yours."
"Used up that quickly?"
Victor was somewhat surprised.
"Of course!" Elizabeth said crossly. "Do you think anesthetizing an S-rank magic boar and drilling into the Bone Sovereign's brain doesn't consume anything? Especially that blood transfusion for Mia last time; she used up a third of our reserves all by herself!"
"Well, looks like we need to restock."
Victor opened the system mall and found the recipe for 【basic anesthetic】.
【Recipe: Tranquilflower x3, Toxic Vine Juice x1, Dragon Blood Grass x1.】
"Tranquilflowers and toxic vines are in the backyard, but this Dragon Blood Grass... is a bit troublesome."
Victor looked at the description on the recipe.
【Dragon Blood Grass: A rare herb that only grows near dragon habitats or sub-dragon nests. It usually grows on steep cliffs and is guarded by powerful magic beasts.】
"Dragon habitat..."
Victor rubbed his chin.
"Are there any dragons nearby?"
"I know where there is one."
Mia, who had been dozing on the rug by the door, suddenly lifted her head, her furry wolf ears twitching.
Though her IQ wasn't high, as a former forest overlord, she knew the "neighbors" within her territory like the back of her paw.
"Go east, over the highest 'Broken Finger Peak.' There's a very annoying guy there who smells like that grass."
"Oh?" Victor's eyes lit up. "Is he strong?"
Mia tilted her head, thinking for a moment, then extended her claws to gesture.
"Before... he could fight me to a draw."
"But now..."
She bared those sharp teeth, a smile both innocent and brutal appearing on her face.
"He shouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between my teeth."
"Excellent."
Victor made an immediate decision.
"Everyone, fall in!"
He clapped his hands, gathering everyone together.
"The weather is nice today. I've decided to organize an 'outdoor excursion' and 'team-building' activity."
"Target: Broken Finger Peak."
"Mission: Gather herbs, and while we're at it... see if we can pick up a few rare 'experimental materials.'"
...
Half an hour later.
A team with an extremely bizarre aesthetic set out in a grand manner.
Walking at the very front was Victor, wearing a set of casual hunting gear (system-produced) and carrying a massive hiking backpack.
To his left followed Alice, clutching her great scissors, curiously "trimming" the hairstyles of the roadside wildflowers.
To his right was Elizabeth, wearing a tight leather outfit that outlined her hot figure to the fullest, though her face was written all over with the words "I don't want to go out."
Behind them.
Mia, petite in stature yet carrying a giant axe taller than herself (made from magic boar fangs), was running around excitedly like a husky out for its first spring outing.
Further back.
Six low-level skeleton soldiers dressed in black security uniforms marched in unison, serving as the most loyal guards and luggage racks.
As for Bobo...
It had turned directly into a puddle of green liquid, attached to Victor's boots, responsible for clearing obstacles along the way (such as venomous insects and swamps).
This team was simply the definition of a "nightmare."
Wherever they passed, all sounds fell silent.
The forest, which was usually quite lively, instantly became quieter than a graveyard.
An owl dozing in a tree saw the team and was so terrified it fell right off its branch, performing a "death on the spot."
A group of wyverns drinking by the river took one look from Elizabeth and were so scared they lost control of their bowels; they even forgot how to fly, scrambling away on all fours.
There was even a blind ogre who jumped out from the bushes, preparing to shout, "I opened this mountain road!"
But before the words could leave its mouth, it saw Victor walking at the front.
"It's you! That Pale Demon!"
The ogre was scared out of its wits, turning and running faster than a rabbit.
"Hey! Don't run! I just wanted to ask for directions!"
Victor waved enthusiastically from behind.
As a result, the ogre ran even faster, crying out as it fled:
"Help! The demon is coming down the mountain to press-gang people!"
"..."
Victor lowered his hand helplessly.
"Is my reputation... really that bad?"
He asked Elizabeth beside him.
Elizabeth gave him a look that said, "Don't you have even a bit of self-awareness?"
And so.
Amidst a harmonious atmosphere of chaos, they finally reached the "Broken Finger Peak" Mia had mentioned.
It was a solitary peak piercing the clouds like a sharp sword, the terrain so steep there were almost no climbable paths.
"Director, look!"
The sharp-eyed Alice pointed to a cliff halfway up the mountain.
On that nearly vertical rock wall, several plants grew tenaciously, their bodies blood-red with leaves as strange as dragon scales.
They swayed in the mountain wind, emitting a faint scent of blood and massive fluctuations of magic.
"Found it, Dragon Blood Grass."
Victor took out his binoculars and confirmed the target.
But immediately after, his brow furrowed.
Next to those stalks of Dragon Blood Grass was a massive nest built of dried bones and rubble.
Inside the nest, a giant beast over ten meters long, covered in dark red scales, was coiled up and dozing.
It had a slender body and claws similar to a dragon, but its head looked more like a hideous lizard, and it had no wings on its back.
【Species: Abyss Drake (Elite)】
【Danger Level: A+】
【Description: A reptilian magic beast possessing thin dragon bloodline. It is naturally violent, extremely territorial, and loves to collect everything shiny as well as rare herbs.】
"Roar..."
It seemed to have sensed the presence of strangers.
The Abyss Drake in the nest slowly opened those lava-like vertical pupils, looking down at Victor's group at the foot of the mountain with hostility.
It opened its bloody maw, revealing a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, as scorching flames began to gather deep in its throat.
"Just a watchdog."
Elizabeth curled her lip in disdain, just about to make a move.
"Wait."
Victor stopped her.
"We are civilized people, we are doctors. We can't always be about fighting and killing."
"We must convince others with virtue. Try to... communicate with it."
Saying that, he cleared his throat and shouted loudly toward the mountaintop:
"Friend on the mountain, listen up! We are the medical team from below! We currently suspect you of illegal cultivation and possession of rare controlled medicinal materials! Please put down your weapons... uh, no, put down your herbs and surrender!"
"..."
Elizabeth and Alice facepalmed simultaneously.
You call this "communication"?
"ROAR—!!!"
The Abyss Drake was clearly enraged by this arrogant "method of communication."
It let out a deafening roar, and its dragon breath swept down like a flamethrower, instantly incinerating a patch of forest at the foot of the mountain into charcoal.
"It seems it refuses to communicate."
Victor calmly patted down his clothes, which had been ruffled by the heatwave.
"Since it refuses the easy way, then we can only... proceed with forced treatment."
He turned his head to look at Mia, who was already itching to go.
"Mia."
"Present!"
"Go up. Don't kill it; leave it with a breath of life."
"You got it!"
Mia responded excitedly, slamming the giant axe into the ground.
She didn't even take a running start.
She simply bent her legs slightly.
In the next second.
BOOM!!!
The ground shattered.
Her petite body soared into the sky like a cannonball, trailing a silver afterimage. In a gravity-defying posture, she headed straight for the drake's nest on the cliff!
At the mountaintop.
The Abyss Drake had just finished its dragon breath and was about to admire its masterpiece.
Suddenly, it felt the sky go dark above its head.
It subconsciously looked up.
Then, it saw a petite girl with beast ears, wearing a black nurse uniform, descending from the heavens.
The girl's face bore an innocent and romantic smile.
But in the Abyss Drake's eyes, which could see through the flow of magic...
What it saw was the phantom of a silver giant wolf standing between heaven and earth, howling at the moon!
That was...
An absolute, irresistible... kingly pressure from the depths of its bloodline!
"Whimper... (Wolf... King?)"
The Abyss Drake's arrogant air was instantly extinguished.
Its massive body froze in place, even forgetting to breathe fire, its lava-like vertical pupils filled with terror and disbelief.
Before it could figure out why the legendary King of the Forest would appear here...
Another even colder, more noble pressure radiated from the foot of the mountain.
Elizabeth merely gave it a casual glance.
That gaze was like a queen looking at a disobedient pet lizard.
The Abyss Drake shuddered violently.
A vampire! And royalty at that!
A Wolf King, a vampire queen...
How did these two calamities end up together?!
Thud.
The Abyss Drake's massive body could no longer support itself; its legs went weak, and it collapsed directly onto the ground.
It buried its hideous head deep into its claws, trembling all over like a little gecko that had done something wrong.
It even proactively used its tail to coil around the few stalks of Dragon Blood Grass it had guarded for centuries, tremblingly offering them up.
That look in its eyes was as well-behaved as could be, as fawning as could be.
As if to say:
"Great ones... have mercy!"
"The grass is yours, the nest is yours, just please don't eat me, okay?"
Rate on N.U.
