Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

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Watching Shiller pile up the furnace, Strange couldn't help but say, "It's a loss for the game to let you play for free."

About half an hour ago, Shiller opened all the boxes, sorted the materials, and then dismantled the existing fireplace with the help of Wanda.

The structure of the fireplace is: flames at the bottom, and a long chimney above. The smoke that the flames produce from burning wood can be expelled outside the house through the chimney.

As is well known, the most primitive method of refining minerals is by using fire. However, there is a method to this fire-based approach. In the absence of modern machine tools, the most efficient method is the primitive blast furnace.

The so-called primitive blast furnace is essentially stacking up a tall chimney. The specific principle need not be elaborated in detail, but in essence, it looks similar to a fireplace, which can be slightly modified for use.

Because the ward is quite old, using a relatively ancient brick-built fireplace, it's actually very easy to dismantle. Basically, once a few bricks are loosened, the rest is not a concern.

Together, they broke apart the exterior of the fireplace, and Shiller, using the materials bought, transformed it into a crude-looking primitive blast furnace.

But in fact, the exterior is not important; the most critical factor in a blast furnace for iron-making is the temperature. As long as the temperature is adequate, and the purity of the ore being inserted is sufficient, then metals can be refined.

Actually, Shiller suspected that even without a blast furnace, the temperature of the flames should be enough to refine metals directly. His big fuss was essentially a warning to the monster behind the fireplace wall: Our surgery room is about to undergo its first industrial revolution, so if you know what's good for you, keep quiet, or you're done for.

After everything was more or less set up, Shiller built a bellows next to it, and Wanda directly set up an automatic pressing magic to make the flames in the fireplace burn even more fiercely.

Having completed the iron-making equipment, the next problem was naturally the raw materials. However, coincidentally, there is a disease in this world called Ore Disease, which simply put, is characterized by the growth of minerals in various parts of the body.

The type of ore is not fixed; some are crystals, but others are metallic ores. Shiller has encountered both types of Ore Disease patients. Among them, those with metallic ores growing inside them have a metal similar to brass, which is the raw material for test tubes and some tools in the laboratory.

Shiller had already experimented before and found that the brass in this world is very strong; using brass pliers to hit a person on the head is almost like striking a watermelon. The test tubes are also long-lasting and resistant to corrosion.

Shiller kept the ore seeds, which are small clusters of minerals that grow inside the patients, and these can be considered as the pathogens of Ore Disease. And the warm organs of carbon-based life forms are their optimal growth environment.

The evolution rate of Acute Ore Disease is very rapid; within 12 hours, the patient will die due to full-body mineralization, where clusters of minerals will have grown all over the body.

It is just because this world has magic, and mining ores underneath the ground is too simple, that no one has bothered to create carbon-based life form ore farms.

However, trapped here, Shiller could only take this approach. Although not highly efficient, this is precisely the kind of zero-cost business Shiller likes most.

Strange has no objections to this, as these patients are bound to die sooner or later anyway. Wanda has a slight complaint, but only because she doesn't want so many people to die on her first day at work.

Shiller assured her that he would only use those patients who really couldn't be saved as ore culture mediums. But actually, the earlier the patient dies, the sooner mineralization is complete, thus the higher the efficiency.

When the break time ended, the three of them resumed their work. Strange was busy saving lives, Shiller busy taking them, Wanda busy cleaning tools, preparing potions, maintaining hygiene, comforting patients...

It can only be said that in Battleworld, every player has their own business to attend to.

Approaching evening, their efforts had borne fruitful results. They had treated a total of 11 patients that afternoon, successfully saving 8, with the three who died becoming Shiller's vessels for cultivating ores.

Because the ores needed to be cultivated, the bodies couldn't be disposed of. Though the temperature inside the room wasn't high, parts of the bodies that hadn't mineralized were gradually decaying. Before Strange and Wanda could raise an objection, Shiller himself couldn't stand it anymore.

The smell wasn't too bad, but space was a bigger issue. The operating room was already small, and with three bodies laid out there, one could almost say there was no room left to step. Expanding the surgery facilities was urgently needed.

Although Shiller knew that in the normal progression of the game, the operating room should be expanded to treat more patients. His current goal is not to say it aligns with this, but rather, it's completely opposite.

But let's not worry about what drives the game progression; just say if it has been advanced or not.

After the evening bell rang, Shiller called over the nurse coming for the inspection and handed over the completed report, then said with feigned dissatisfaction, "What's up with the triage? Why do they always send us these difficult patients?"

"You have offended Wood." The nurse said, "I warned you, don't listen to those patients' crazy talk..."

"It's not us who offended him; it's him who insisted on offending us," Shiller persisted, "We just took a few extra minutes of rest, and he sends a monster trying to kill us. I only hammered that guy's head a few times; I've already given him plenty of face..."

The nurse seemed to have never seen such a brazen person and was at a loss for words for a moment. Shiller seized the opportunity and said, "Well, I don't want to hold a grudge against him either. But he's making it so difficult with all these patients coming our way that our operating tables are simply not enough. What should we do about this?"

"Do you want a larger operating room?"

"No, we'll keep this room. But we have to figure out a way to fit more operating tables in here. Otherwise, how can we continue working?"

After several interactions with the nurse, Shiller had discovered that the nurse was quite diligent and responsible. Though her presence was somewhat frightening, she was willing to help as long as it could make the hospital run better.

"I will notify them to expand for you," the nurse said, "but I must remind you that after having the advanced surgery room, you must cure a certain number of patients every day, and there will be new rules. Otherwise, the one coming to find you won't be that useless Wood..."

"Don't worry," Shiller nodded and said, "Everything is for the sake of treating and saving people."

After the nurse left, the three of them prepared for a short nap. They wanted to see if the outsiders could enter dreams.

However, the awakening tea concocted by Wanda was too effective. The three of them stayed up until dawn with their eyes wide open, unable to fall asleep.

Shiller sighed and said, "Now there's no need for the prop provided by the fireplace to delay the plot; just staying up works."

"Haven't you noticed that the lights in the room have gotten dimmer?" Strange said, "Lack of sleep has penalties, it's better not to make a habit of this."

Just then, the room's lights flickered a few times. Wanda stepped back in alarm, and Shiller reached out a hand to steady her, signaling her to stay calm.

With a "crackle," the light bulbs and candles went out one after the other, and the ward instantly became pitch dark.

The three of them did not move, quietly waiting in the darkness. After about several seconds, the lights in the surgery room came back on.

This time it was very different.

The entire surgery room's area had doubled in size. The wall directly opposite the door neatly accommodated six surgical tables, and there were also four simple stretcher beds hanging on the wall, with an additional door on both the left and the right sides.

At the same time, the room's decoration style had changed; it no longer resembled that of a Middle Ages plague doctor. The era had clearly advanced quite a bit, roughly to the 16th or 17th century.

The operational table, equipment stand, and shelves with bottles and jars had all turned to metal. The original parchment had been replaced with normal paper, albeit somewhat yellowed. At the same time, some more advanced medical equipment appeared.

The three of them walked over to the door on the right, opened it, and found a rest room with a bunk bed and a reclining chair, plus a wardrobe and a full-length mirror.

The furnace that was transformed from the fireplace had not been restored, which gave Shiller a sigh of relief.

Opening the door on the left side, they found several hospital beds with simple infusion stands next to them. This looked like an inpatient section, probably for placing those temporarily incurable patients.

All three were very satisfied with the results of the upgrade. Work could finally be segmented, and they could take turns to rest without disturbing each other.

On the desk in the rest room, Shiller found new papers, still filled with Latin. This should be the new rules the nurse mentioned.

He read through them a bit and found that the requirements for attire had changed. Although a dark robe was still mandatory, the bird beak mask was no longer needed. Instead, glasses and a Cross were to be worn, which fit the characteristic of the time where doctors and clergy were closely linked.

Also, the rules required that doctors must recite a prayer to help the patient's Soul ascend to Heaven after death. The consequences of not doing so were one's own to bear.

Moreover, a number now appeared on the clock in the center of the wall. This seemed to be the required number of patients they must cure each day. However, the number was currently at 5.

Shiller laughed when he saw this number. It was somehow a bit dismissive of the Hand of God. They had cured at least twice this number yesterday. As long as they didn't care about how many died, they were the most powerful Divine Doctors in this world.

In addition, there was a new passage above the operator's desk. After opening the door of the passage, Shiller found that it was possible to use glass bottles and test tubes. Although the quantity seemed limited, it was still more than before, and it seemed to be one of the benefits of the upgrade.

Also, on the wall with the door on the right, hung a huge portrait. It was a man dressed as a Father. There was a line of small text at the lower right corner of the portrait: "May there be no more sickness in this world — Dr. Foster."

"It seems this is their world's Hippocrates," Shiller said, "I just don't know when Nightingale will appear."

Wanda was about to say something but suddenly took a step backward. Strange saw her reaction and asked, "What's wrong?"

Wanda pointed at the portrait and said, "Just now, his eyes seemed to move."

"What?"

Shiller and Strange both leaned in to take a closer look but didn't notice anything unusual. Wanda was also somewhat doubtful, saying: "Maybe I'm seeing things, a side effect of the awakening potion."

"You can go take a rest, madam. I mean, go sleep over there," Shiller pointed to the left, where the inpatient department was located.

Then he rubbed his hands together eagerly and said, "The ore has already grown out, I'm going to the rest room to smelt metal. If all goes well, we'll have guns soon."