A Hospital in Another World? Chapter 994: I am the Plague Lord, Do You Believe Me?
Previously on A Hospital in Another World?...
Garrett threw down the video box and ran out. In the center of the small square surrounded by mages, several rows of people were lying in various positions:
The first row consisted of young mages and warriors from the Kent Kingdom. One was a level five mage, the grand-disciple of Archmage Mansfield, and a direct disciple of the mage scheduled to preside over the Mage Tower;
There were two warriors, judging by their armor and the weapons placed beside them, likely level six or seven. Garrett guessed they were the guards of the level five mage, possibly temporarily assigned.
The second row included three or four low-level mages and seven or eight low-level warriors, all below level five, dressed as adventurers. These were not brought by Nevis but were gathered by the Archmages in Walsingham—
Adventurers trying to make a living in the colonies often risked their lives. It was rare to have a chance to follow Archmages, who were likely to bring wealth, so many adventurers were willing to come along.
What?
The airship couldn’t bring everyone?
When the airship departed, the number of people was controlled to ensure fewer people shared the spoils and to maintain the living conditions of the Archmages.
From the west coast of the New World to the Eagle God's Kingdom, it was just a few days' journey. The adventurers who came along curled up on the cargo hold floor with a blanket each!
As for the third, fourth, and fifth rows, all were local native warriors. They lay on the ground with their limbs spread out, eyes closed, and groaning incessantly. Some had just been placed down and were vomiting blood in large mouthfuls—“What’s going on?” Cirilla also ran out from her room, looking around. Seeing the row of people vomiting blood on the ground, she frowned and immediately cast a healing spell. After a pause, she cast another, and another...
Under the healing spell, the people vomiting blood slowed down a bit, and the blood at the corners of their mouths slightly stopped, but they did not recover immediately. Cirilla frowned, squatted down to examine the patients, and white light flashed in her raised palm again.
Seeing Cirilla taking over the most serious patients, Garrett breathed a sigh of relief and squatted in front of the nearest mage. On inspection, he saw the mage’s face was flushed, and there were traces of blood in his gums;
Feeling the mage’s forehead, it was burning hot, clearly with a high fever, and his eyes showed obvious jaundice;
“When did the illness start? How many days? What are the symptoms?”
“Fever, chills, headache...” The mage shrank under a thick blanket, with the spell [Resist Cold and Heat] on him, but still shivering uncontrollably. As he spoke, he frowned involuntarily:
“My head hurts... nauseous, want to vomit... it’s only been a day, how did I get so sick...”
“Do you have urine?” Garrett asked while using an electrocardiogram and blood pressure spell set. Hmm, the heart rate was a bit fast, but blood pressure was normal, not too high or low...
Seeing the situation, Garrett quickly had a conclusion—he had aided in Africa before, and these symptoms were familiar. But to be cautious, he needed to check each patient:
Most patients on the ground had high fever, chills, and jaundice. Some had conjunctival bleeding, some had gum bleeding, and some even started vomiting blood...
It was most likely yellow fever, but it needed to be differentiated from hemorrhagic fever, dengue fever, viral hepatitis, and malaria. However, the most important thing now was—
“Cirilla!” he shouted:
“Remove disease!”
“Got it!” Cirilla responded crisply. She raised her hand, white light flashed, and she cast the spell one by one. [Remove Disease] was evidently more effective than [Healing], as the vomiting blood stopped immediately for several people. Another cast, another cast...
“Everyone spread out! Move away!” Garrett continued to shout. While shouting, he waved his hand, creating a ring of wind that gently pushed people away:
“Set up a magic array here! Drive away all mosquitoes! Hurry!”
Theoretically, this disease was spread by Aedes mosquitoes, but distinguishing Aedes from other mosquitoes was beyond Garrett. Killing all mosquitoes was simpler and more efficient!
Driving away mosquitoes, flies, fleas, and rats was basic conjuration magic, used in Mage Tower libraries, typically costing under 1,000 gold coins—so cheap it was often a freebie when building a Mage Tower.
Even here, mages' rooms had mosquito-repelling magic, and some variants of [Mage's Mansion] even included anti-mosquito magic...
Just that the square didn't have this setup, requiring an Archmage to intervene.
At Garrett’s command, a conjuration mage stepped forward. Without asking, he flicked his fingers, and ethereal light spread out. A faint magical ripple swept through...
Garrett exhaled softly. Yellow fever, dengue fever, malaria, and a host of tropical diseases were spread by mosquitoes. Effective mosquito control meant no epidemic worries.
In his past life, soldiers in tropical jungles wore mosquito-proof clothing, masks, long boots, gloves, and constantly updated mosquito repellent. Here, a single spell solved everything!
Sigh, it seemed setting up magic arrays in rooms was not enough. He needed to inform Senior Brother Byerbo to equip everyone with magic items. In the jungle, this was life-saving!
Garrett bent down, checking each patient. The mana of an adult silver dragon allowed him to cast [Remove Disease] dozens of times effortlessly. Garrett’s task was to assess the disease's prognosis:
“With yellow fever, the toxic phase can cause liver, kidney, cardiovascular damage, and bleeding... the heart often enlarges, heartbeats slow, heart sounds weaken, blood pressure drops... often accompanied by dehydration and acidosis...”
After casting [Remove Disease], these symptoms wouldn’t necessarily disappear immediately. Another issue was that yellow fever patients often had electrolyte imbalances needing replenishment. [Remove Disease] didn’t cover that...
“Let me check their conditions... heart rate, blood pressure, lift him vertically so I can use [Detection Spell] to check his heart...”
He directed nearby native warriors to lift the vomiting native man upright. Squinting, he saw the enlarged heart hadn’t immediately shrunk back:
“Hmm, if that's the case, liver and kidney damage probably won't heal immediately either? Might need a potent healing spell... hmm...”
Should he give each patient an IV to replenish electrolytes?
Or group patients, giving some IVs and others healing spells, then observe effects and consumption?
Sigh, did they bring back any bodies? If so, great. He hadn’t dissected a yellow fever corpse yet!
While thinking quickly, a large group of footsteps approached. Garrett looked up, seeing a bright golden light, then focused to see a Golden Eagle Warrior leading ten White Eagle Warriors.
Following them, at a distance, were a group of Black Eagle Warriors holding ropes and sticks, looking like laborers. The Golden Eagle Warrior stepped forward and saluted Garrett:
“Honorable Son of God...”
Laughter broke out in bits and pieces. At least thirty or fifty people in the square, rooms, and windows were chuckling. Garrett’s head instantly ached, similar to the yellow fever-stricken mage:
Thunder God’s Youngest Son, Plague Lord, these nicknames were likely spreading in Nevis. He should stay longer in the New World; returning now might lead to instant social death...
“What is it?” He maintained the “If I’m not embarrassed, then it’s not embarrassing” attitude, cast [Mechanized Mind], and asked with a stern face. The Golden Eagle Warrior deeply bowed:
“I’m very sorry to disturb you. We are here to take these people away.”
He pointed to the native warriors on the ground, drawing a semicircle, hesitating near the Kent Kingdom people before retracting. Garrett frowned:
“Why take them away? I’m still treating them, you can’t take them now!”
“They have fallen into the clutches of demons.” The Golden Eagle Warrior bowed deeply again:
“According to tradition, they all must be sacrificed to the gods to ensure the Eagle God's Kingdom’s safety. Missing even one could bring demonic invasion and disaster upon us!”
“Wait...”
Garrett was dumbfounded. What logic was this? These are patients! They need treatment! Sacrificing them to the gods? Not missing even one?
“Of course, we wouldn’t dare touch your compatriots, Son of God.” The Golden Eagle Warrior glanced at Garrett’s grim face and bowed for the third time:
“But these lowland barbarians must be taken to the gods! Including those who came back with them, all must be sacrificed! Only then will the all-powerful Serpent God protect us...”
Garrett blinked, then blinked again, finally understanding. Sacrificing infected patients = killing the infected = cutting off the infection source. This method, while extreme, wasn’t entirely without logic.
But, since they were his patients now, they couldn't be taken!
“They haven’t fallen into the clutches of demons! They’re just sick!” Garrett argued loudly:
“I’m treating them! They’ll be cured soon! Once healed, they’re normal people, won’t spread disease, or bring disaster!”
Um, how high was the virus concentration in patients cured by [Remove Disease]? Could mosquitoes biting them still spread the disease?
He hadn’t studied that!
Should he capture some animals to test? What animals did yellow fever infect? He hadn’t brought white mice—
“Son of God!”
The Golden Eagle Warrior’s face changed
.
He wanted to argue but feared the powerful mages. Torn between defying and fearing disaster, his sense of duty finally won over fear:
“Honorable Son of God, I believe you, but ancient traditions cannot be changed... in the past, those who tried to protect their companions, comrades, lovers, faced swift and terrible disaster...”
“I said this is a disease! Not demons!” Garrett retorted loudly. He tried to look more serious, but his acting skills were lacking, and [Mechanized Mind] restricted his emotional fluctuations, preventing anger or sadness from showing:
“Even the Plague Maiden was defeated, why worry about this?”
“The Plague Maiden never attacked the Eagle God's Kingdom... Honorable Son of God, we have the Serpent God’s protection, we can traverse the jungle untroubled by disease. But these lowland barbarians can’t...”
“I am the Plague Lord! If I say it’s a disease, it’s a disease! Do you believe me or not?!”
Laughter erupted again from all directions.
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