Plague Doctor

Reading the notifications, Gu Jun was rejuvenated, the rewards were finally here! He immediately clicked on the investigative ability tab and noticed there was a new skill tab under it. The tab was glowing a radiant gold. The symbol was that of a small figurine holding dissecting knives on both hands. "Burning the Midnight Grave Wax."

What… was that name? When Gu Jun saw that name, he could feel his subconscious influence. Everyone else was still waiting for him to make the decision. The time was ticking. He suppressed his curiosity and checked out the skill description.

"Burning the Midnight Grave Wax: A high quality dissection requires high focus. It not only exhausts great mental and physical power, one also has to resist against the sting of Formalin. Prolonged working at the morgue will knock down the strongest man. But you burn away your life to study autopsy. It unleashes the potential in you. Even after a 24 hour of work, you'll be able to push on for another 24 hours after a 15 minutes rest. Warning, this ability will only work on autopsy-related activity. The maximum limit is 10 consecutive days."

Gu Jun was overjoyed, this was something that he desperately needed at the moment! It would help complete his mission without much toll to his body. Before this, his highest work record was 1 week and he had to take 3 hours rest between each day. It affected his efficiency a lot. If Burning the Midnight Grave Wax could help him work 24 hours and then regain his energy after 15 minutes rest… It would be over the human body limit… Gu Jun processed it quickly, the brain, the lungs, and every human system needed to rest.

So what kind of mechanism did this skill operate on? He could only use it for autopsy and nothing else. Probably the foundation could build some kind of connection with him through autopsy work so that he could digest the power from the City of Dusk. This involved science that he did not understand, perhaps it was related to his cellular activity or it was something else entirely. He had no idea what 10 days of endless working would feel like, he would try it out this time, hopefully he won't end up dead.

Then Gu Jun turned his mind over to the level up reward. Instantly a golden light suffused his brain. An instrument that looked like a magnifying glass appeared. Upon closer inspection, there was exquisite inscription around the handle, it reminded him of the graceful architecture at City of Dusk. Attached to the handle was a circular lens, it looked like a crystal or gem.

"Appraisal Glass x1: Can identify a creature's species and their current status through a study of their fur, blood, bones or other tissue sample." Gu Jun looked around and realized he could not take this thing out and he could only use it once. However, this was a powerful object. If they were at an investigative scene or an adventure, and they came across an unknown species, this would come in good use. When facing the unknown, information was the most important. But for now, they confirmed that this was Black Billy Goat, so the effect was more on the latter half. What about the goat's leg current status, was there anything they could do about it? Gu Jun had no idea how much information the appraisal glass could give, but this was a reward provided by the City of Dusk, so it should be able to help.

"Ah Jun? Ah Jun?" Uncle Dan called.

"He's not ready yet… Hmm…" Wu Siyu sensed something. She reached out to touch Gu Jun's shoulders and frowned. "Big boon to the liver? What's up with that?"

'Big boon to the liver?' The medical staff looked at each other, what did that mean? An increase in liver size? Hepatitis? Why would the liver suddenly grow big? It was just her synaesthesia talking, right?

"…It's a good thing." Gu Jun finally recovered. He explained to the confused people around him and used his left palm to press on the skin of the giant goat's leg. "I just obtained a new power from City of Dusk. I can work longer without exhaustion to the liver and… wait a moment." He focused his attention on the appraisal glass. It felt like he was holding the scalpel in his right hand and the magnifying glass in his left as he examined the leg. The green liquid appeared to channel into his mind.

Suddenly Gu Jun's eyes widened. His many organs like heart, spleen were hit. Information blasted at him from an unknown source. He could see the x-ray of this goat's leg, the skin, the muscle, the bone…

Several notifications arrived, "This creature is Black Billy Goat, the sample is one of its broken limbs. The broken limb can regenerate into another Black Billy Goat! The sample is liquefying. One must not come into direct contact with the liquid or else it'll cause mutation. The regenerative organ is inside the Black Billy Goat's bones!"

Gu Jun staggered back a few steps until he knocked into the wall of the cabin like he was shot into by a cannon. The scalpel fell from his unsteady hands.

"Ah Jun?!" Uncle Dan was worried but seeing how calm Wu Siyu was, he knew this was not a big deal. Wang Ruoxiang, Zhang Huohuo understood this as well. So no one went over to help Gu Jun. But the Zoogs were scared witless. Seeing this, their anxiety grew. This was definitely some kind of conspiracy…

"The bones…" Gu Jun picked up the scalpel, leaped up from the ground and pounced at the liquifying leg. 'The regenerative organ is the bones?' This statement sounded weird but he was reminded of the x-ray that he saw. The bone inside the goat's leg had not turned into liquid!

For a cut worm to regenerate into 2 worms, it had to fit many environment factors. For one, the cut had to be made vertically and not horizontally. In the Black Billy Goat's case, since it has a regenerative organ, theoretically if they destroy that, then the creature wouldn't be able to regenerate anymore.

"We need to split open its bone." Gu Jun said hurriedly. He studied the goat's leg and everyone else turned to it as well. From the cut surface of the leg, it could be discerned that the bone was deeply embedded into the tissue. If the surface skin and flesh did not dissolve, then they had to go through a lot before they could hit bone. Experts like Xiao Huiwen knew Gu Jun had his reason to give such an order, but they couldn't help themselves from commenting on how difficult that surgery was going to be. They would have to saw through the skin and then remove the tissue from around the bone.

"Where's the electrical saw? Give me the saw!" Gu Jun looked at Uncle Dan, Wang Ruoxiang and the rest.

"Hmm." Wu Siyu pointed at the corner where all the equipment was placed, "It's over there."