A Hospital in Another World? Chapter 1004: Virus Research, Garrett's Best Experimental Assistant

"Molly, what method do you use to keep mosquitoes from biting you when you go into the jungle?"

Before Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorn left for the port to open their shop, Garrett had asked this question. Mosquito prevention and vaccines are two different technological approaches that cannot replace each other:

A successful vaccine can provide 100%, or at least 95% protection against yellow fever. Additionally, it is cost-effective. According to Garrett's estimate, after mass production, the cost could be reduced to below one gold coin per person, possibly even below one silver coin.

Mosquito prevention, if 100% effective, could protect against not only yellow fever but also malaria, encephalitis, dengue fever, Zika virus, and more. This is something vaccines cannot match.

However, it is expensive. Magical repellents are too costly, and ordinary methods are unreliable. Garrett hoped to find other racial methods, perhaps something unique from the elves—

"Mosquitoes certainly don't bite me!"

The half-elf innkeeper, holding a plate of roasted rabbit, smiled charmingly. She set down the plate, and Mr. Hawthorn immediately took over, slicing the rabbit legs and serving them to the guests.

Molly leaned on her husband's chair, smiling at his broad back:

"He's the one with the problem. During our missions, mosquitoes ignore me but swarm around him like a black cloud, scaring him into my tent. Otherwise, why would I use an ice spike on him?"

Mr. Hawthorn finished cutting four rabbit legs, distributing them to Garrett, Cirilla, Lynn, and Bernard. The legs from the second rabbit were given to Baronessimo, Molly, and himself. He then poured the rabbit torsos into Bernard's plate.

Returning the plate and watching Molly lightly leave the table to fetch the next dish, the former mercenary known as "Firestone" shrugged and looked lovingly at his wife, his ears turning a bit red:

"Usually, the further south you go, the hotter and wetter it gets, with more swamps and mosquitoes. Who knew there would be so many mosquitoes in the north!"

He gestured dramatically to illustrate his point:

"Usually, mosquitoes buzz around, but you can't see them, right? One mosquito can buzz all day, and two can buzz all night."

Garrett nodded. Mr. Hawthorn's voice suddenly rose, but he remembered to turn his head slightly to avoid spitting on the plates:

"But not in that place! Seeing the swarm, I took off my wide-brimmed hat and covered my face. The sound on the hat was like hailstones! Wiping my hand across it, it was thick with mosquitoes, like mud."

Garrett felt his head buzz. He had traveled through the Black Gate Peninsula and the Wastelands but had never seen such a spectacle. However, Bernard and Baronessimo nodded in agreement:

"Some places are like that."

"The north has areas with no mosquitoes and areas with many large, dense mosquitoes."

Garrett shuddered at the thought, grateful he hadn't encountered such a scene. Curiously, he asked:

"And then?"

"Then I panicked," Mr. Hawthorn sighed:

"My hand hurt and felt numb—pain was tolerable, but numbness was a bad sign. With my hat covering my face, I couldn't see anything. I just kept fanning the mosquitoes away and rushed toward the mosquito-free area I glimpsed."

"And that area was my tent," Mrs. Hawthorn said, setting a large, deep ceramic pot on the long table with a thud:

"This place doesn't even have pigs or sheep... We need to tell the caravan to bring more piglets and lambs. And cattle. How can we go without steaks! Are we supposed to eat crocodile tails every day?"

Lifting the lid, the pot revealed a large crocodile tail and several well-cooked crocodile claws. Molly personally served Garrett a full bowl, pushing it in front of him:

"Back to the question, mosquitoes don't bite me, but they bite him. So in the wild, I collect flowers and herbs to rub on him... Which flowers and herbs? Different places have different ones!"

The half-elf, a master of plants and nature's favored, smiled as if it were obvious:

"I don't know their names... Just walk around, see which plants mosquitoes avoid, and which ones animals roll on to avoid mosquitoes. It's simple!"

"Uh... this..."

Garrett sweated. Cirilla on his left and Baronessimo on his right turned their heads, glancing at him out of the corner of their eyes:

Someone seems to be a level ten Nature Priest?

Someone should also be nature's favored?

Someone should walk through the forest, talk to flowers and trees, and naturally know which plants repel mosquitoes?

So why ask others, follow their directions, and still can't replicate it?

"Uh, uh..."

Garrett lowered his head, took a spoonful of crocodile soup to block his mouth, and then coughed violently. After coughing, his eyes were teary, and he accused Molly:

"Molly, what did you add to the soup!"

"A bit of seasoning!" Molly answered confidently:

"Crocodile meat has a strong flavor, it needs seasoning to taste good!"

Garrett obediently lowered his head, picking out the spice seeds from the soup. Molly sighed, turned, and poured him a glass of iced water:

"Alright, I know you want to find a cheap method to protect adventurers from mosquitoes. When we get to the port, we’ll issue a task to bring back some jungle plants for you to identify, okay?"

"Then... I’ll post a bounty at the Mage Tower!" Garrett rubbed his hands excitedly:

"My senior came by and updated my badge! I have more funds now!"

"No need..." Molly waved her hand with a smile:

"We're already working with the council on mosquito repellent plant identification. We also want to have something ready for the first batch of adventurers, so they can help us make money and bring back good things!"

With the council handling mosquito repellent, that was the best news. Garrett sent off the Hawthorns and dived into his work. He needed to work on mosquito repellent and the vaccine!

"Ah—what should the vaccine be made from—"

Garrett walked through the experimental zone of the research institute—specifically, the containment area for test subjects—into the research area. Unlike the experimental zone, the research area was strictly built to P4 laboratory standards, with three zones and two passages, and airtight doors.

Unlike the makeshift monkey labs Garrett had in his previous world and when he first arrived, this P4 lab had every wall, ceiling, and inch of space under anti-teleportation magic:

To leave, one had to pass through the contaminated zone, semi-contaminated zone, and clean zone, with thorough disinfection at each stage. Not even a mosquito could escape!

Teleportation spells, phase walking, fire jumping, lightning jumping—none would work!

The previous incident where someone shadow-jumped into the core of the lab and caused chaos would never happen again...

Garrett bathed, changed clothes, donned protective gear, cast a bubble spell for fresh air, and a resist heat and cold spell to avoid sweating profusely. Phew, without spells, this suit was unbearable...

He took a deep breath, sealed the protective suit, and quickly entered. He sat at the lab bench, facing a fridge of blood preservation spell-imbued test tubes, and pondered with his chin in his hand:

"First, how to isolate the virus... Can't just inject human blood into animals... Which part of the blood contains the virus? Blood cells? Serum?"

The answer was simple. A quick spin in the centrifuge would separate the blood cells and serum of a yellow fever patient. Injecting blood cells into one healthy person and serum into another would reveal the carrier of the virus.

However, Garrett hadn't considered this during initial transmission verification. Now, he hesitated to go back and find two more healthy individuals for testing...

Garrett felt a twinge of conscience. He couldn't push it that far. Time to take the long route!

"Oknjinn!" he called:

"Start the centrifuge, 3000 RPM for 3 minutes, to separate blood cells and serum! Dilute each with saline 10 times!"

Oknjinn clicked and clacked as it worked. Garrett envied it:

No need for a protective suit, no foul air, no sweating in protective gear, how fortunate!

"Skeleton No. 1! Inject 0.5 ml of blood cell dilution intraperitoneally into 20 mice!"

"Skeleton No. 2! Inject 0.5 ml of blood cell dilution subcutaneously into 20 mice!"

"Skeleton No. 3... Intraperitoneal injection of serum dilution..."

"Skeleton No. 4... Subcutaneous injection of serum dilution..."

"Skeleton No. 5! Take 20 rabbits..."

After completing all injections and transferring the test animals to a designated area for observation, Garrett waved:

"Done! Oknjinn, lead everyone out!"

The skeletons turned, lined up, and left the contaminated zone. Garrett worked a bit more before stepping out to rest, wash, and remove his protective suit.

Emerging from the soaked rubber suit, he turned and saw a large bucket of disinfectant in the corner, the water rippling, filled with a dozen skulls...

"Oknjinn!" Garrett held his forehead in frustration:

"If there aren't enough buckets, tell me, and I'll have new ones made! No need to disassemble the bones and pile all the skeletons into one bucket!"

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