Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Bear Caregiver swallowed hard.

As the saying goes, Shiller said, "Out with the old, in with the new. How do you feel about that?"

Bear Caregiver really wanted to say "not very good," but he restrained himself, stepped back a little, and then said, "What kind of goods do you want? Perhaps I can ask Wood for you..."

"You can meet him?"

Bear Caregiver shook his head and said, "The hospital is divided into two parts, one for treatment and one for reception, the treatment area and reception area do not communicate with each other."

"Where do your goods come from then?"

"The hospital owner orders the supplies, and I'm responsible for delivering them to the various operating rooms. Some of the supplies are free, but some are charged. Although I make a bit of money, it's not a lot."

Shiller was skeptical of his words, but after all, given Wood's precedent, he didn't argue with Bear Caregiver.

"Do you deliver to other operating rooms too?"

"Of course, I go to each operating room every day."

"Who else is in the other operating rooms?"

"I don't know," said Bear Caregiver, shaking his head. "They all wear masks like you, I can't tell their Race. However, most of the doctors in the operating rooms change quite frequently. You two have lasted relatively longer."

"So we're not the ones who've lasted the longest?"

"No. There was a pair that came two days earlier than you and is still alive." Bear Caregiver thought for a moment and added, "The doctor I deal with isn't easy to talk to, it's like he can always sense what I'm thinking. By the way, he also wanted me to buy some other things for him."

Shiller paused his hand on the door, and asked, "What did he ask you to buy?"

"Some herbs," Bear Caregiver said, "like Dragon Saliva Flower, Mandela Herb, Moon Nightshade, and so on..."

Shiller quickly reviewed the effects of these herbs in his mind, most of which could affect human sanity, causing madness or hallucinations.

"Can you get these for me?" Shiller slid a piece of parchment through the door gap.

Upon receiving the parchment, Bear Caregiver opened his eyes wide in surprise and said, "They can say the herbs are for treating patients, but why do you need so many tools? And clay and sand. Are you serious?"

"Of course. As long as you can get them, I'll take the whole list. And the sooner the better, if you can bring them today, I can give you a bigger tip."

Bear Caregiver was evidently tempted, as the things Shiller wanted were not hard to get—mostly metal tools or building materials. These items were inexpensive, only transportation was somewhat troublesome.

"Alright, I'll do my best. Part of it will be delivered by noon today," Bear Caregiver said. "The rest should arrive by tomorrow morning, but I need half of the deposit first. The other half after you've received all the goods..."

The two then bargained back and forth. The box that Shiller had just passed through contained some valuable items, which exchanged for a good amount of money. Shiller paid the deposit, and waited for Bear Caregiver to deliver the goods.

During the waiting period, he started wondering about the other pair of doctors mentioned by Bear Caregiver. Since it was possible that there might be other players in this game, he had to consider this possibility. After all, players' survival abilities are much stronger than the natives'.

Bear Caregiver mentioned the doctor he dealt with was tough and always seemed to be able to see what he was thinking. There were many players with such a trait, like various Batmans, or Professor X who, even without using Mind Reading Technique, were skilled in this respect, and of course, Arrogant.

Shiller didn't know who Arrogant was teamed up with, but after all, there was just one Arrogant, but many Batmans, and Shiller was more inclined to think if the other pair of doctors were players, then the one Bear Caregiver dealt with might be Batman.

Batman could choose from many allies, such as Superman, Wonder Woman, or others in the Justice League, or it might be Robin, or possibly even Catwoman.

Since he wasn't clear about the other party's stance, Shiller didn't rush to communicate with them. He also didn't care what Batman intended to do. His current primary objective was to find a way to deal with that damned wooden dummy."

Shiller and Strange stood in front of the operating table again, pulled a lever, and the next patient dropped down. This one looked somewhat like a Human race, but was covered in Crystal Clusters filled with crystal stones.

"Liquid crystal cluster type of Ore Disease," Strange said, glancing only briefly, then stated, "Put on gloves, do not let your skin come into contact with the liquid inside the crystals, otherwise you might get infected."

Both fully armed, Strange began the surgery. He made a small incision at the junction of the skin and the crystals with a scalpel, and then drained the liquid from the crystals with a drainage tube.

Shiller, holding a glass flask, collected the liquid. Although this disease was not lethal, and not the pandemic agent he was looking for, the disease was quite contagious, spreadable through skin contact, which might also be useful for causing trouble later on.

The patient had forty to fifty crystal clusters of various sizes, each needing to be incised and drained. All the liquid had to be drained before starting excision.

The drainage process wasn't very painful, thus sparing anesthetics. Later, when making cuts, Shiller prepared an anesthetic and injected it into the patient who soon lost consciousness.

Strange operated at a fast pace, essentially removing one crystal cluster with every two cuts. Shiller helped him with the waste tray, disposing of the debris by directly tossing it into the furnace where the white crystals quickly disappeared in the flames.

The surgery took approximately two hours—mainly because Strange was working alone on all the procedures that required cutting, with no one aiding him, not even someone to pass him tools, which greatly slowed down his pace.

After completing the extraction, Strange wiped his sweat and turned to ask Shiller, "When will the patient wake up?"

"In ten minutes," Shiller said, "This should be considered our most successful treatment yet."

"Not bad, his condition wasn't very serious..." Strange began to say, then as if realizing something, he added, "That seems odd, we just offended the doorkeeper, why would he send us such an easily manageable patient?"

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"Easily manageable? That's for the two of us," Shiller said, "You are an exceptionally skilled surgeon, removing such crystals poses no difficulty for you, and you completed it effortlessly."

"But for an ordinary person, it wouldn't be this easy, as some crystals are deeply rooted, even connected to internal organs' blood vessels and nerves. It's very challenging to remove them perfectly while ensuring the patient survives."

"Even if one managed to be extremely careful and succeeded, there's still a likely chance of running out of time." Shiller glanced at the clock above the operating table, noting that they only had half of their time left.

"We still don't know what the consequences are if we exceed the time limit," Strange remarked, "It seems some people want us to experience this."

"There's another issue; although this disease isn't fatal, it's highly contagious. If we hadn't remembered everything from the manual and taken the proper precautions, we'd be in real trouble," Shiller continued.

Strange nodded and said, "It seems our previous high failure rate gave him the impression that we are incompetent doctors, so he decided to use the rules here against us."

"But that just played right into your hands, Mister Hand of God. I'm afraid you'll be quite busy going forward."

As Shiller busied himself at the control panel, he said, "Because we offended him, he'll surely arrange for us to treat many patients that will both threaten our operations and be incredibly challenging. Are you ready?"

Strange quirked a smile and said, "Ancient people are so unenlightened, you call this a large volume of operations? Even the least competent intern in our department wouldn't run out of time performing this surgery."

"We should still be cautious," Shiller quickly prepared various anesthetics and drugs, placing them on a metal tray to bring over, then setting them on the rack as he mentioned, "We still owe some money to Bear Caregiver, we need to work hard."

"Next, we can accommodate three patients simultaneously. I'll handle the anesthesia, pre-surgical preparation, and basic cutting, while you manage the critical part. Let's aim to complete 20 procedures today and show him what we're capable of."

"Wait, you're handling the basic cutting?" Strange looked at him closely, "I must remind you, opening a surgical site isn't just about making an incision. Do you know the difference between various types of incisions? Like which one is used for kidney procedures?"

Shiller leaned over the operating table, picked up the scalpel from beside Strange, raised it, and smiled at him.

Then Strange saw Shiller make a smooth incision on the patient's flank, skillfully and precisely, looking like an experienced surgeon.

"Do you know why I'm so difficult to handle and why those who kidnapped me still had to study me?" Shiller spoke as he cut, "Because in their eyes, I am the closest being to a perfect human, with a super memory, empathy close to mind reading, and unparalleled destructive power..."

Strange watched his movements attentively; Shiller spoke while efficiently opening up the patient's abdomen, perfectly removing the kidney, handling the hemostasis impeccably, and even suturing adeptly.

Every experienced surgeon has some unique operational habits. Strange prefers to press the fat layer near the incision inward while making cuts, and Shiller perfectly adopted this technique, matching the pressure exactly.

"More importantly..." Shiller continued without looking up, "learning ability."

"That mysterious organization used various methods to manipulate me, but I learned all their manipulation techniques and successfully used them to escape."

"Your escape wasn't an accident."

"No. And neither was my arrival at the later institute. Every encounter was deliberately planned."

Strange regarded Shiller's actions in silence for a long time then said, "Do you think by imitating me you can reach my level?"

"I cannot," Shiller said emphatically, "You reached your full potential through extensive practice. Many actions become instinct through years of repetition, and without these instincts developed from experience, I can't perform all your operations."

Strange wasn't surprised and asked, "Other than that, can you manage everything else?"

Shiller nodded.

"You always manage to reset my expectations just when I think you couldn't be more outrageous," Strange said lightly, nodding then shifting the conversation, "Next time neurosurgery is short-staffed, I know who to call."

"You can't afford my consultation fee," Shiller replied as he submerged the kidney in a container, then added, "Plus, without a license, I can only indulge in being a surgeon in this medieval-style hospital."

"Alright then, it's time to end our time as incompetent doctors. We are going to be the greatest divine doctors in the world."