Bear School Astartes

Lann left behind the dragon scale sample for Berengar to research, standing up easily as he waited for the blueprints.

”Do you have time tonight?”

The young Demon Hunter casually asked.

”Why? Do you have something planned?”

Berengar, who stood up alongside Lann, was puzzled.

”It’s nothing much.” Lann shrugged with a smile, ”Rita wants to go out for dinner at the Silver Swan Tavern. If you have time, you can join us.”

Berengar didn’t mind this kind of social gathering with friends, as everyone at the table was an old acquaintance.

So he nodded, giving a response to Lann.

Lann, putting on his hood again, walked out of the office and headed towards the workshop.

The Valyrian Steel business had been ongoing for several years, but the market demand continued to rise, becoming more intense.

During the last war between the North and South, Valyrian steel weapons were still rare items, even senior officers rarely equipped them.

But as the tension increased, everyone knew that the end of the last war was not a true conclusion.

It wasn’t even the beginning of the end, but rather the end of the beginning.

Factories everywhere were busy producing equipment, new soldiers were being recruited in masses, and mercenary groups were being established one by one, signing long-term contracts with employers.

Before being pushed to this point by the situation, not even the kings of various countries could have imagined they could muster such a huge force.

In the last battle at Sodden Mountain, the combined forces of the Niflgaard Empire and the Northern countries amounted to around one hundred and ten thousand men.

And that was already the largest scale battle in this world ever seen.

Yet merely two years later now, just the Northern countries alone would definitely not have less than one hundred and ten thousand troops.

War is a propeller, a catalyst.

Contrary to common sense: chaotic times do result in a lot of deaths, but as the war progresses, the forces of all sides continually expand.

Lann’s understanding of history made him well aware of this fact.

In history books depicting chaotic eras, many deaths are often mentioned, with large areas desolate due to the high mortality, bones randomly piled on the ground.

However, if one also focuses on descriptions of wars from the same period, they will find those battle scenes increasingly larger.

No matter how many die, no matter how miserable and difficult the life of civilians becomes, the army always seems to expand.

In the early chaos, notable and respected figures might only gather a few thousand men, which was already impressive.

But as the chaos went on, an army of tens of thousands seemed like nothing, rising and disappearing like waves.

Dubbed ’village wars’, the early Sengoku Period in Japan was indeed ’village war’, with the participating numbers really pitiful.

Even with exaggerated reports to intimidate the enemy, the numbers were still pathetic.

But after continued bloodshed, flooded cities, and exhaustive plundering of resources, all seemingly exterminative military actions...

By the end, the Sengoku battles expanded to tens of thousands of participants!

Because the number of deaths never exceeded the living, and those alive would strain every nerve to survive.

Wars drove everyone insane, originally honest farmers being plundered or killed, their wives and daughters raped and then murdered.

Once surviving this time means there will be another.

Raging troops, bandits... none would spare them.

Thus, to survive, one could only become part of the military force.

Even wanting a stable life or production required being within the army’s protection, following the army’s planning.

So as the times became more chaotic, military power grew larger, the force of violence increased.

Now, Valyrian steel weapons and equipment rapidly spread through various national armies.

Though still considered luxuries and valuable items, at least they were no longer unseen.

Valyrian steel’s business grew more flourishing under the tightening situation, but as a beneficiary, Lann’s heart felt no relief.

The lively and expanding sound of forging from the workshop, like the footsteps of war.

Every clanging sound brought many closer to death.

-----------------

After returning from the workshop to Airetusa, Lann went straight to the Crystal Cultivation Laboratory.

By that time, the laboratory was empty. Tishaya and Philixia had completed the daily tasks of the lab, and after inputting the experimental data Lann provided into the equipment, there was no need for them to wait around.

After multiple improvements, the crystal cultivation project had matured into a routine process. They only needed to record the experimental results at the end.

In the dim laboratory, only in the container on the crystal plate, a tiny tissue floated in the nutrient solution.

This rice-sized tissue, if not looked at carefully, might be mistaken for an impurity in the nutrient solution.

Lann extracted the [Blood Regeneration Organ] from the culture medium, observing it in front of his eyes.

Mentos used the subject’s eyes to observe this tiny super organ and compare it with the normal form in the database.

”Confirmation: The manufactured [Blood Regeneration Organ] is qualified and meets implantation standards.”

The biochemical smart brain stamped a ’qualified’ mark on this rice-grain-sized organ on the retina.

Lann nodded and immediately began to undress.

A complete set of surgical instruments was taken out from his Alchemy Pouch.

This was already familiar to both Lann and Mentos.

The biochemical smart brain provided precise surgical instructions, designating the surgical site as a major blood vessel on the side of the neck.

Under Mentos’s planning, Lann needed to make a lateral incision on his arterial blood vessel to reduce blood flow.

At the same time, within a short time frame, the [Blood Regeneration Organ] would be fused to the inner wall of the blood vessel.

He couldn’t restrict blood flow on both sides of the surgical site on his aorta, as this would affect his mental clarity.

This was a very delicate and dangerous technique.

The blood flow in the aorta was significant, especially with Lann’s resilient body.

The powerful self-healing ability provided by the [Belisarius Furnace] might even become an obstacle during the surgery.

However, both Mentos and Lann were already accustomed to this.

Although the biochemical smart brain always advocated caution, Mentos had long learned to face life’s troubles calmly after watching the subject previously sever and reconnect his cardiac vessels, connecting the [Genetic Seed].

Makes an incision in the aorta? Small matter.

Mentos wondered if other smart brains of the same model could understand what it meant to feel ’numb’.

With precise swordsmanship, Lann’s technique was impeccable, and his calm mind greatly slowed the blood flow.

Although maintaining a calm mind while cutting the neck and the underlying aorta is terrifying in itself.

However, the fusion of the super organ to the blood vessel wall required no concern, as the organ was designed to automatically adhere and bond to the vessel wall.

This was indeed a very routine surgery for Lann’s skills.

After the surgery, Lann, looking slightly pale, held his bleeding neck and drank a bottle of [High Pure White Rafad].

As the healing power of the magic potion combined with the self-healing power of the [Belisarius Furnace], Lann’s side neck emitted a sizzling sound like burning oil.

And within this sound, the incision on the aorta quickly healed. Lann began wiping the blood off himself.

However, quite clearly, his breathing was much heavier compared to its prior steady state.

And it kept growing louder.

The sound of his breathing was almost akin to panting, though Lann did not feel any discomfort.

He pressed on his neck and used the clothes he had taken off to clean up the blood splatter on the floor.

Mentos timely projected the body’s status onto the upper left corner of Lann’s retina.

On his aorta, the [Blood Regeneration Organ] had begun to activate and operate due to its integration into the body’s system.

Blood flows, marked with different colors by the biochemical smart brain, began to appear from the surgical site and dispersed into the entire blood system.

These are the ’high-efficiency blood’ revamped by the [Blood Regeneration Organ], carrying more oxygen and nutrients to sustain the consumption of many super organs.

Providing a suitable high-energy environment for the physiological activities of these super organs.

However, while the maximum capacity of oxygen and nutrients in the blood increased, these substances would not appear out of thin air in the body.

So Lann now unconsciously gasped for air, seeking more oxygen from the air to fill the increasingly energetic blood in his body.

However, this process was controllable, and if Lann deliberately maintained his previous respiratory state, it would only slightly slow the oxygen replenishment process in the high-energy blood.

Unforeseen situations were unlikely to occur, as even in low-oxygen environments, Interstellar Warriors could still operate normally.

Ruggedness and durability were its greatest traits.

After slightly suppressing his body’s spontaneous gasping, Lann moved his body around a bit.

He clenched and unclenched his fist, with Mentos reflecting his bodily changes on the retina, while his [Spiritual Vision] peered through flesh and viewed his internal body activities directly.

”[Second Heart], [Bone Enhancement Organ]... Hmm, the activity of the super organs has indeed increased.”

Mentos timely provided additional explanation: ”If the blood transformation is completely finished, the activity of these super organs will further enhance.”

”Only then will your body truly suit the physiological activities of these super organs, sir.”

”How long is estimated to complete the blood transformation?”

Lann inquired, having cleaned and stored his surgical instruments, leaving no bloodstains on the floor.

As for bacterial infection from surgery not conducted in a sterile environment... when the [High Pure White Rafad] was ingested, the potion’s toxicity had already obliterated the bacteria invading the wound.

This was even stronger than pouring antiseptic directly onto a wound.

”The complete transformation of blood will take approximately three days, sir.”