The streams of fire around Zed engulfed the snakes rushing at him with a sizzling sound. The snakes might have powerful toxic but otherwise, they were weak. Their bodies couldn’t even handle attacks from a level I mutant.
This was perhaps nature’s way of balancing things and giving other lifeforms a chance...
That might be, but the snakes were almost uncountable. In just a minute, the entire land has turned into a war zone full of snakes.
Zed now guessed on how these snaked arrived from the core region even though it hasn’t yet opened.
"Count Viper and that gigantic snake!"
The snake was one of the ten slave beasts of Princess Scarlet Leila De Rose. It was named Kuraokami but no human actually knew its name, including Zed.
Count Viper was a mid-rank revolutionary, and he was responsible for the ’liberation’ attack in Delta City.
Around ten days ago, Kuraokami protected the revolutionary Count Viper from Kiba’s wrath. At the end of conflict, Kuraokami transferred Count Viper to the core region through the use of a space gate.
Count Viper thought he was rescued, but just as the space gate was closing, Kiba ’returned’ a lost item. It was actually a glass container filled with nanites, and he tossed it on Count Viper. The moment the container arrived close to him, its protective covering melted...
Kiba didn’t know what happened next as by then the space gate has disappeared.
"There are two possibilities...
"1. Some part of the core region’s seal was broken when that snake opened the space gate. Given its power, it is possible, and it seems most likely as the snake defied the laws by which it was restricted inside the core region...
"2. Some unexpected development has taken place inside the core region... creating a temporary disturbance."
Zed sighed for he wasn’t sure if there wasn’t another plausible reason. He just hoped nothing unexpected was happening otherwise it would affect his plans.
"Ahhh!"
A soft, feminine scream brought his attention back. Some fifty meters ahead, Verna was bitten by a snake on her leg, and her skin instantly paled.
She was strong, and this wouldn’t have happened if she didn’t risk her life protecting Jenina and other women. A snake found an opportunity when she least expected, attacking her from blindspot when she dimmed her charm power to protect others... and it was now taking her life.
TRINGGGG
A disc swept past and chopped through the body of that snake. The disc then whistled forward to slice other snakes.
Ashlyn always repaid favors. Verna and others have cooked breakfast for her and Zed with no obligation, and as such, she helped them in their time of need. Of course, it wasn’t some true favor but she considered it as an obligation, and preferred to pay back.
At the same time, Sophia rushed ahead and quickly stuffed a pill into Verna’s mouth. It was a high-grade pill, serving as an antidote.
She has given her the pill in less than 20 seconds after being bitten...
Yet much to her horror, the energy from the pill was only able to block the venom. The pill prevented the venom from affecting Verna’s heart and upper body, but the rest of her body has turned sickly white.
What’s more, the pill energy was attacked by the venom, corroding the medicinal properties, and it was only a matter of minutes before the venom resurfaced throughout the body.
The first thing the venom then would do is bind on the surface of muscle cells and prevent muscle contraction... the moment this happened, her heart would stop beating, and she would die.
"What’s going on?" Sophia was worried.
She has a warm relationship with Verna though they might not be truly friends. Verna was one of the very few who didn’t remark anything offensive when Jenina made a rude statement.
"Her body cells are restricting the antidote pill you gave," Zed said as he crouched alongside her. "Mainly because, by the time you gave her the pill, most of the blood cells had already degenerated. This also resulted in slight blood clotting which is restricting the flow of medicinal energy."
The stream of fire around his body disappeared as he grabbed Verna’s leg and focused on her ankle where she had the fang marks.
He has an idea of how she got injured despite her defenses.
"Risking life for others... what a stupid thing to do," Zed thought to himself.
It wasn’t something he was capable of; at least not for acquaintances or friends. He believed it was dumb to sacrifice life for the sake of others.
People like to believe sacrifices are remembered but what’s the use. And in today’s world, no one remembers anything, much less favors.
What good would glorification once a year serve any purpose?
But then again, he was conflicted as he wasn’t sure if he wasn’t stupid like her. A part of him knew there existed two individuals for whom he could go to any extent... even risk life.
For one he was in the forest while the other has yet to be born...
He cleared his thoughts and brought his attention back on the fang marks.
"In snakes, there are generally two types of toxic, neurotoxin and cytotoxins. Sadly, Demonic White Phantom Snake carries a mixture of the two. This means it would affect both heart and mind."
"What do we do?" Jenina asked, her eyes filled with tears locked on him.
Sophia also looked at him.
"Operate on her," Zed answered with a sigh.
Aileen and others were shocked.
They wanted to remind him that was not something possible here. Even if they had medical equipment, there was no professional doctor!
Tears streamed down Jenina’s face. She knew this, and could understand what fate awaited Verna.
Verna might be what people called a man-hater, but for Jenina and other women, she was perfect. Her age was only twenty-seven and this was not the age where people died. They knew death was a possibility in the forest, but only facing it closely, they felt the helplessness and dread.
As Verna’s friend started weeping, Zed waved a hand, and the storage ring on his right hand flashed. Rays of light swept out and transformed into five orange orbs.
Each orb was the size of a baby’s fist and on its surface, there were three circular dots. The dots were connected in an inverse triangle formation.
"This...!" Aileen’s eyes turned wide. She has lived for close to five decades and experienced a lot of things.
She instantly identified the orbs as high-tech medicinal units. Such orbs were used by top scientists, and they were not something that were readily available in the market. Not only they required precious resources to built, but the formations inside them were also very complex, and something that could be designed in an advanced lab.
"Why the hell he would have them?! Don’t tell me...! No! That would be impossible!"
Aileen refused to believe the possibility.
In the meantime, Zed retrieved a digital tablet to control the orbs. This was not the first time he was using medicinal units. He has also used them on Felicity, but those medicinal units were of a different category.
Under the shocked looks of everyone, the orbs flew above Verna’s body. One orb floated above her head, two above her chests, one above her bellybutton, and the last above her feet.
From the reverse triangles, crimson light emitted out, covering her entire body with a crimson layer. On the digital tablet, the body structure of Verna appeared along with venom toxicity chart. The tablet further displayed chemical synapses and affected cell membranes.
He zoomed into the cell images to study the toxic effects.
"Haah~" Zed once again sighed and thought of Claudia. He wondered if there was any scenario she hasn’t prepared for.
These orbs were for him if a situation arises, but as per Claudia, he might need it for a specific scenario.
She has given this scenario a strange title - ’Save a beauty’s life and get free warmth in a cold night."
As he recalled the title and its implied meaning, his cheeks twitched. She knew him the best, and whenever she got the chance, she wouldn’t forget to add sarcastic remarks.
"Does she really think I’m incapable of saving a woman out of sheer goodwill?"Chapter 173