Meanwhile, a large number of Plaga parasite infected, following the scent, arrived at the location where Javier and his group were battling the Iron Maiden Regenerator.
The entire corridor was a mess, with shelves and trash scattered everywhere. Seeing the situation before him, Sadler, the leader of The Illuminados, who was at the very back, revealed a sinister smile.
It seemed those few pesky rats weren't far from their location, and they had just experienced a major battle here, so they couldn't have gone far.
"My Lord's devout followers…"
"The Lord's guidance is ahead; the sinful ones who dared to fool and insult our Lord's sacred body are at the front. Capture them, and we shall receive grace and be freed from our suffering…!"
With a wave of his large hand, his purple robe swayed.
Sadler, with his pale pupils, gazed forward, muttering a prayer in a low voice, and then ordered the large number of Exploding Bug infected to speed up, intent on capturing Leon and Ashley, those pesky rats, first.
"Roar, roar, roar—!!!"
Hearing the command, the Exploding Bug infected became even more frenzied, letting out low roars, and then, ignoring the scattered cabinets and trash on the ground, they charged forward fiercely.
But because of this reckless action, Sadler's infected army suffered unprecedented losses; bright iron wires were strung across the path.
Any normal person would notice something was wrong, but unfortunately, most of these infected had already transformed into their Exploding Bug state, their entire heads having exploded, without even eyes, making it impossible for them to see the way.
Only their grotesque tentacle scythes, their gaping mawed turbellarians, and their steel-jawed ant heads—they all locked onto targets by scent, and naturally, they couldn't notice the traps underfoot.
And so—
"Click…!"
The crisp sound of a pull-ring being pulled echoed.
The pull-rings of the High-explosive grenades on both sides of the corridor were pulled and dropped to the ground, and at the same time, a huge explosion erupted, and a strong shockwave swept through the surroundings.
The scorching fireball expanded in an instant, and heated high-temperature shrapnel steel beads shot out wildly in all directions.
The extremely lethal High-explosive grenades continuously destroyed the Exploding Bug infected attempting to pass through.
"Bang!"
"Boom—!!!!"
Two High-explosive grenades exploded simultaneously.
The corridor was not wide, but not narrow either; within this distance, about seven or eight Exploding Bug infected suffered damage.
The scalding explosion flames and shockwaves were not the most direct fatal damage; the splashing high-temperature shrapnel, however, could shoot up to thirty meters away, and the energy generated in an instant could penetrate a large amount of flesh.
Even the hardest ant heads were no exception; several of the Exploding Bug infected, even with their extremely hard ant heads for defense, had their brains quickly penetrated, and their bodies were covered in dense holes, causing them to collapse to the ground and die.
In just an instant, after the aftershocks of the explosion, seven or eight corpses lay on the ground.
This made Sadler, who had just been smug, instantly dumbfounded.
He knew it was a High-explosive grenade explosion, but the question was, which bastard designed the trap?
"Damn pesky rats—!!!"
"To block the pursuit, you actually set up traps and ambushes on the road? Are you trying to buy time? But one explosion trap isn't enough… Wait, there might be other traps further ahead! Cunning rats wouldn't miss such a good opportunity!"
Seeing some of his subordinates lost, Sadler cursed in exasperation, but soon… he realized something was wrong.
There might be more than one trap. If they continued to foolishly advance, they would likely lose more subordinates.
Thinking of this, Sadler's eyes darted around, and he immediately waved his hand, using his Plaga staff to control two Exploding Bug infected to advance alone, while the main force he led kept a certain distance, specifically using two subordinates to scout ahead, one in front and one behind.
This way, even if there were traps ahead, his subordinates wouldn't suffer too many losses, at most two or three.
After all, Sadler didn't believe Javier and his group would have so much time and energy to set up so many traps.
And Sadler's guess was indeed correct; Javier had only set up three traps.
Actually, Javier wanted to set up more complex and deceptive traps, similar to nesting dolls, but both time and the length of the corridor were insufficient, so he could only hastily finish.
And Sadler's current approach was indeed the most correct; using subordinates to scout ahead while maintaining a certain distance could avoid massive losses.
Therefore, having an excellent mind among a group of brutal monsters is extremely important.
As the leader of The Illuminados, Sadler indeed possessed his own cleverness in terms of wisdom and reacted very quickly, no wonder he managed to wipe out everyone in Salazar Castle.
With Sadler's approach, Javier's trap strategy was rendered ineffective.
After two more subsequent explosions, the main force led by Sadler proceeded unimpeded, frantically chasing towards Luis's operating room…!
Inside the operating room—
The large operating room was not as well-equipped as imagined; on the contrary, it was somewhat rudimentary.
It was empty inside, with only the operating chair used to remove the Plaga parasite and a few computers remaining.
It didn't look like an operating room; it looked more like a single computer desk in an internet cafe.
As for why the environment was so simple, Luis himself couldn't help it, because the Plaga parasite removal device was something Sadler strictly forbade research on.
If Luis were discovered, he would die, so Luis could only secretly conduct research.
It was already very difficult to secure an operating room, so naturally, he couldn't ask for anything more now.
"No problem,"
"The device data hasn't been tampered with, but there might be a little pain during the surgery later.
Leon, help me hold Ashley down a bit, don't let her struggle off the operating chair, or all our efforts will be in vain."
After restarting his equipment and checking that the data was fine, Luis immediately prepared to start the surgery, while also instructing Leon beside him.
Actually, Leon was also infected with the Plaga parasite; he was injected by the village chief, Mendes, back at the lake cabin.
However, because he had swallowed pills and received injections, the effects were minimal.
He wasn't like Ashley, who was repeatedly awakened by Sadler using the Plaga staff; otherwise, Leon's condition might not have been much better than Ashley's.
Similarly, the Merchant in the distance was in the same situation.
Hearing Luis's words, Leon took a deep breath and pressed down on Ashley's shoulders in the chair, nodding to indicate that Luis could begin.
The entire operating chair appeared very bulky and large, with dense mechanical arms beside it, much like the chair you sit in when visiting a dentist.
Ashley sat slumped in it, unconscious, her waist tightly restrained, making it highly unlikely she would break free, but it was still necessary to hold her down just in case.
After all, if she really struggled free during the operation and the Plaga parasite inside her wasn't killed completely in time, then the Plaga parasite, sensing death, would indeed decisively cut and tear through Ashley's spinal flesh to escape…
"Clatter—!"
"Buzz, buzz, buzz…!!!"
"The surgery has begun…"
Luis didn't hesitate; he decisively pressed the confirm button on the computer, starting the ultraviolet laser surgery device program.
With the power input, the dense mechanical arms on the operating chair began to operate, and the circular device on top started to flash with purple light points—and that was the ultraviolet laser—!
The principle of this surgical device is very simple.
As is well known, Plaga parasites, like Mutated Leeches, possess photophobia, meaning they are extremely afraid of light, and compared to Mutated Leeches, Plaga parasites are even more afraid of light.
When Mutated Leeches encounter a flashbang, most will die, but a small portion will experience convulsions and shock.
However, when Plaga parasites encounter a flashbang, they will burst into a bloody mess; the light resistance of the two is worlds apart.
Therefore, Luis thought of using light to kill the Plaga parasite, and the most lethal light was undoubtedly ultraviolet light.
Since ancient times, humans have prevented diseases by sunbathing, so ultraviolet light has bactericidal and disinfecting properties.
However, excessive ultraviolet radiation entering the skin can also cause skin cancer; for example, in areas with a thin ozone layer, ultraviolet rays are exceptionally harsh, capable of tanning or even burning the skin.
And how to control the "degree" of it is the most important factor, but fortunately, ultraviolet laser treatment technology has already appeared on the market, specifically using ultraviolet lasers for treating skin blemishes, enhancing cell recovery, and revitalizing the complexion in cosmetic procedures.
Luis only needed to adjust the "degree" of the ultraviolet laser according to the data above, and hard work paid off.
After dozens of attempts, Luis successfully tested out the ultraviolet laser intensity that could kill the Plaga parasite without causing skin cancer in humans.
Research completed.
At this point, Luis only needed to confirm the location of the Plaga parasite residing within the human body through X-ray examination to complete the final surgical removal, which was very simple, yet very difficult, because not everyone could think of using ultraviolet laser to remove the Plaga parasite.
Simple surgical dissection could also achieve removal, but that carried a high risk.
Especially with a fully developed Plaga parasite, it's very easy for the residing Plaga parasite to not be fully anesthetized during the surgical dissection process, thus waking up and harming the host!
Conversely, ultraviolet laser surgery is relatively much safer…!
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!!!"
At this moment, Ashley's abdomen on the chair had already been X-rayed, revealing the Plaga parasite struggling in her spinal area.
Without hesitation… controlling the mechanical arms, Luis directed three or four ultraviolet lasers towards the Plaga parasite inside.
Immediately, the instrument hummed loudly.
"Ugh… Ah ah ah ah ah—!!!!"
At this moment, Ashley's painful screams also followed.
Unconscious, she couldn't bear the pain in her body and began to struggle violently.
Fortunately, Leon beside her was pressing down firmly on her shoulders, otherwise, she might really have broken free from the chair.
The ultraviolet laser continuously entered Ashley's body from the outside.
The extremely light-sensitive Plaga parasite was instantly struck as if by lightning, suffering extremely powerful damage, and began to struggle madly.
But at this point, it was useless; its escape speed couldn't keep up with the output speed of the ultraviolet laser.
Ultraviolet Laser: "Kid, have you ever been kicked at light speed—?"
After a highly impactful phrase, the Plaga parasite, attempting to tear open Ashley's spinal flesh and escape, instantly turned into dust and died…
Chapter 92: Surgery Ends
"…"
"Ugh… Ah ah ah…!!!!"
Waves of heart-wrenching screams came again.
Ashley at this moment was as if a pregnant woman experiencing childbirth; it was believed that after this experience, she would be somewhat prepared when she had children in the future.
However, under the frantic torment of the ultraviolet laser, the Plaga parasite inside Ashley quickly turned into powder fragments.
And Ashley slumped back onto the chair, her chest heaving, gasping for air, and a trickle of darkened blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.
"Luis!"
"What's going on? Ashley's spitting blood from her mouth, has something gone wrong with the surgery?"
Upon seeing this, Leon also showed a panicked expression.
He quickly reached out to wipe away the black blood from the corner of Ashley's mouth and anxiously asked Luis, who was busy operating the computer for the surgery.
At this crucial moment, Leon didn't want anything to happen to Ashley.
However, Luis, facing this situation, showed no surprise at all.
Instead, he waved his hand, telling Leon to calm down, because spitting blood was a very normal occurrence.
During the Plaga parasite removal process, it is inevitable that it will struggle and affect the host's organs, just as when the Plaga parasite developed before, it would absorb the host's blood to grow, and the host would feel uncomfortable and cough up blood from the lungs.
So, spitting blood is a normal situation.
The previously contaminated blood from the Plaga parasite was all coughed out from the lungs; this is the body's own regulatory ability, not a problem with the surgery.
"Don't worry, this is normal…"
"Coughing up blood indicates that the Plaga parasite has been safely removed, because those black blood are all the blood that the Plaga parasite previously swallowed and absorbed.
Since it has been contaminated, the human body just spits it out on its own."
"Have you read Chinese wuxia novels? When a peerless master detoxifies a friend, they will inject internal energy into the poisoned body.
With the expulsion of the internal energy, the poisoned and contaminated blood will be forced out from the lungs and then flow out from the corner of the mouth—the same principle!"
To reassure Leon, Luis, busy operating the computer, looked up, raised an eyebrow with a playful look, and explained with an interesting example.
Don't let his appearance fool you; in reality, besides being very interested in Don Quixote's novels, Luis is also interested in many novels from other cultures, and wuxia novels are just one of his hobbies.
After hearing Luis's explanation, Leon's expression indeed eased a bit; he hadn't expected there to be so many intricacies involved.
However, as soon as he thought of this situation, another important question came to Leon's mind, and his expression instantly became troubled as he tentatively asked Luis:
"Wait…"