Luo An, at some point, had already stood at the periphery of the crowd, wearing an ill-fitting raincoat and holding his small cloth bag.
The wind and rain seemed to have no effect on him; his gaze was terrifyingly calm.
“Luo An?”
Rayleigh looked at him: “Are you confident?”
“Not completely confident,”
Luo An said truthfully, “but if we delay any longer, he’ll have to spend the rest of his life in bed.”
Roger walked over, gave Luo An a deep look, then waved his hand: “Listen to him!”
Several crew members immediately and carefully carried Joy into the infirmary.
Inside the infirmary, Luo An made everyone leave, only keeping Crocus as his assistant.
“Cut open his clothes.”
Luo An’s instructions were clear and swift.
Crocus picked up the scissors and neatly cut open Joy’s soaked clothes from his back, revealing the highly swollen spine.
Luo An put on a pair of special gloves as thin as cicada wings, and his fingers lightly glided over Joy’s spine.
His movements were very light, yet they made Joy, who was in a haze, twitch with pain.
“There’s a severe dislocation between the seventh and eighth thoracic vertebrae, accompanied by a bone fracture, and a fragment of bone about the size of a fingernail has embedded itself in the spinal canal, less than two millimeters from the main nerve bundle.”
Luo An closed his eyes, as if performing a CT scan in his mind, and accurately described the injury.
Crocus listened in astonishment; how was this possible?
To understand to such an extent just by touch, without using any instruments?
“Prepare for Surgery.”
Luo An opened his eyes, a glimmer of excitement flashing within them.
Finally, it was here, that longed-for bit of experience!
“Surgery? Here?”
Crocus was greatly alarmed: “The ship is still swaying! And spinal Surgery, this…”
“That’s why I need your help.”
Luo An took out a set of unheard-of surgical tools from his cloth bag and meticulously sterilized them over an alcohol lamp.
“Hold his shoulders down; no matter how much the ship sways, you must ensure his upper body remains absolutely stable.”
Crocus looked at Luo An’s unbelievably steady hands, and his doubts vanished.
He nodded solemnly and pressed down on Joy with all his might.
Luo An picked up a special surgical blade as thin as a willow leaf.
Outside the window, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and the wind howled.
The ship swayed violently again and again, in rhythm with the giant waves.
And in this bumpy infirmary, Luo An’s blade was as steady as a rock.
The blade sliced through the skin, precisely avoiding major blood vessels and nerves.
Every one of his movements was full of rhythm, as if he wasn’t performing a dangerous Surgery, but rather carving a perfect work of art.
Separating muscles, exposing vertebrae, searching for bone fragments…
Crocus watched from the side, his mind utterly shaken.
He swore he had never seen such a crazy yet precise Surgery in his life.
Performing the world’s most delicate spinal Surgery on a constantly swaying ship in the stormy sea!
This kid, his medical skills are terrifying!
Time passed minute by minute, and fine beads of sweat appeared on Luo An’s forehead.
This Surgery was a huge drain on his mental energy.
Finally, Luo An carefully clamped the fatal bone fragment with a special bone forceps.
Just then, an unprecedented giant wave struck, and the Oro Jackson was thrown high, then slammed down!
Everything in the infirmary flew around; Crocus held the patient down tightly but was himself bruised and bleeding from hitting his head.
As for Luo An, amidst the dizzying weightlessness and super-gravity, his wrist flicked gently at an incredible angle, dissipating all the impact.
His hand remained steadily suspended over the patient’s back.
The bone fragment was successfully removed without damaging the nerve in the slightest.
Next came reduction, bone setting, and suturing.
When the last stitch was made, Luo An let out a long sigh of relief.
He put down his tools, swayed, and almost fell.
【Ding!】
【Congratulations, Host, for successfully treating a patient with severe spinal injury! Experience +100!】
【Experience: 100099 / 100000】
【Medical skill level increased! Current level: Master!】
A warm current surged through his body, and Luo An felt his understanding of life instantly elevate to a whole new dimension.
The moment his medical skill level broke through to Master, Luo An felt as if the entire world had changed.
No longer just simple sight, hearing, touch, Luo An seemed to have gained a completely new sense of perception.
Luo An seemed to be able to see the flow of life, an indescribable energy that operated in different forms within every living organism.
For healthy crew members, life energy was like a steadily burning flame, vigorous and pure.
But for Joy, whom Luo An had just pulled back from the brink of paralysis, his life energy was like a flickering candle in the wind; although he had stabilized the flame, it was still extremely weak.
“Luo An, are you alright?”
Crocus, ignoring the injury on his own head, asked with concern.
Luo An shook his head; he looked up at Crocus, and in his vision, a faint gray mist surrounded the old ship doctor’s life fire, especially in the liver and lung areas.
“Mr. Crocus, you drink too much alcohol, and you’ve been smoking for over forty years.”
Luo An spoke calmly: “Your liver has already begun to harden, and there are signs of fibrosis in your lungs. If you don’t quit smoking and drinking, your life fire will extinguish in less than ten years.”
Crocus was stunned; he opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a single word.
These were old ailments he had accumulated over many years, and he knew it himself, but no one had ever been able to point them out so incisively, even giving a deadline of ten years.
Luo An didn’t say anything more; this new life vision gave him a revolutionary understanding of medical skills.
Before, he treated illnesses; now, perhaps he could treat lives.
Luo An pushed open the infirmary door, and outside, Roger, Rayleigh, and a group of core crew members were anxiously waiting.
Seeing Luo An come out, everyone’s eyes focused on him.
“How is he?”
Roger’s voice was unusually tense.
“His life was saved, and his legs were saved too.”
Luo An’s tone remained calm: “After three months of recuperation, he can recover to 70% of his previous level. If the subsequent rehabilitation is done well, 90% is not impossible.”
“That’s great!”
“Luo An, you’re truly a genius!”
The crew members erupted in thunderous cheers, their previous worries and suppressions swept away.
Their gazes towards Luo An had completely shifted from initial surprise and doubt to heartfelt reverence and trust.
In this unpredictable sea, a divine doctor who could pull people back from the brink of death was invaluable.
Rayleigh stepped forward, handed Luo An a clean towel, and looked at the child with complex emotions: “You’ve worked hard.”
Luo An took the towel and wiped the sweat and rain from his face.
His gaze passed over Rayleigh and landed on Captain Roger.