The eccentric doctor never makes a misdiagnosis!

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Chapter 89 Blood Plague and Beasts

Upon hearing Fran's words, Jude narrowed his blood-red eyes and carefully examined the guest before him.

His hair was light gray, and he wore a well-fitting doctor's uniform. He looked young, but he possessed the composed and scholarly air of a scholar who would refute falsehoods.

His every move was relaxed and composed, without any sense of awkwardness; both his speech and demeanor were so natural. It was as if meeting a vampire marquis was a perfectly ordinary matter, not worth any emotional fluctuation.

Once, someone from the White Cup Order gave him this feeling... It was over two hundred years ago, when Grantham was young.

At that time, Grantham was just a professor, but he was calm and astute, with an almost burning thirst for knowledge burning within him. From the moment they met, Jude knew that the man was a mythical creature in human skin, born to be associated with madness and taboo.

It was precisely because Jude witnessed Grantham's terrifying potential that he became a staunch supporter of the Moonlit Oath on behalf of the Noralia family. Otherwise, once the facade crumbled, those freaks in the White Cup, obsessed with arcane research, would have no more scruples.

The woman before him, Ms. Flamel, was even more enigmatic than Grantham had been back then. Her amber eyes, though clear and bright, were also dark and unfathomable.

"Welcome to Mordway, Ms. Flamel. Please give my regards to Grantham."

“Your Gorgormouth is very good, it even makes me feel at home, as if I have returned to the old days of three hundred years ago... but Mordway was not a good place back then.”

Jude gave Fran a slight bow, responding to her previous standard bud-moon ritual.

As one of the few members of the Moon Clan to hold an ancient title, and the de facto ruler of the Noralia family, he had no need to treat a professor with the same courtesy. His actions were primarily a gesture of respect and consideration.

"Just some hobbies. Studying esoteric rituals inevitably involves delving into some less common ancient languages."

Fran remained remarkably modest in response to Jude's praise.

Jude didn't engage in much pointless small talk. He knew the nature of the refutators well; these guys always sought efficiency and abhorred wasting energy on meaningless social niceties.

After glancing a few more times at the container holding the heart, he steered the conversation to the main topic.

“Professor Flamel, what you brought this time… is no ordinary souvenir. Please tell me, how exactly did you remove the blood plague from the remaining organs while preserving their biological activity?” Liu

"This is of great significance to the entire Moon Familia."

Fran nodded slightly, and then began to explain the specific principles.

"The first approach involves using extracted lunar phase essence to destroy the original body and soul, and then rebuilding it. The heart in Mr. Jude's hand is a product of this therapy."

Upon hearing Fran's words, Jude's excitement and fervor cooled slightly.

He slowly exhaled, lost in thought.

In fact, the Moon Familia had tried a similar method hundreds of years ago. After all, the gods they worshipped had changed, so it was only natural that they would look for new breakthroughs in this area.

But the Moon of Rebirth is a broken and harsh deity, and her mercy is equally sharp.

While pure lunar essence can indeed cleanse the bloodline of chronic and stubborn ailments, this process will also utterly destroy the patient. Even for vampires, whose vitality is extremely tenacious, this is still an extreme form of torture with a slim chance of survival.

Fran quickly interrupted his heavy thoughts.

“Mr. Jude, I understand your concerns. For your church, the spirit of the moon is not difficult to find, but those afflicted with the blood plague almost never survive this treatment, is that right?”

Jude was surprised by the keenness of the person in front of him, but he did not feel embarrassed by having his thoughts exposed.

Grantham, that fellow, also liked to casually utter what others were thinking, and often he was right on the mark. He had long since experienced the refutants' skill in reading minds.

"Indeed."

His candor surprised Fran; he hadn't expected someone nearly a thousand years old to communicate so openly. He didn't have the bad habit of playing cryptic games or hiding secrets...

“If I were to handle this program, I could keep the mortality rate around 50%. If individuals are resilient enough, this probability would decrease further.”

Fran explained it lightly.

A 50% chance... Jude's expression was somewhat solemn, but at the same time he felt a strange sense of relief.

At least now the Moon Clan won't be helpless against the Blood Plague anymore. The existence of a solution means there's a theoretical possibility for further technological optimization. In the past, some powerful ancient vampires, after contracting the Blood Plague, either completely lost control and became walking scourges, or chose to remain in a deep, unawakened slumber.

Soon, Fran's next sentence made Jude unable to suppress his feelings of being "moved".

"After undergoing the Moon Essence Therapy, the newly born Moon Descendants will no longer become carriers or infected individuals of the blood plague."

"This..." Jude was speechless for a moment, and his expression became increasingly solemn.

For a race with long lifespans, nothing is more tempting than a "one-size-fits-all" solution. Yet, he found it difficult to readily agree to this potentially callous plan.

According to Professor Flamel, to completely eradicate this calamity curse... it would probably require all members of the Moon Clan to undergo Moon Elemental Healing.

They sacrificed half the lives of their people to free the entire race from this bloodline disease.

If viewed simply as a business, it's probably a sure-fire way to make money. The blood plague could potentially lead the Moon Familia to extinction, but even with half the vampires dead, they can still continue to reproduce. However… no one wants to be one of those sacrificed.

"Thank you for your gift and proposal, Professor Flamel. I will reciprocate with a gift of my own... Now, please hand over this technology to me, and I will try to use it on my compatriots who have lost control."

After some consideration, Jude decided to accept the gift of the white cup first.

Large-scale implementation will inevitably cause chaos, but we can use it subtly and gradually. We can start by experimenting on those incurable plague patients—after all, they were destined to be disposed of anyway…

“That might be difficult, as I don’t have the necessary equipment with me. Moreover, given Modway’s current level of industrialization, even if I gave the blueprints to the local mechanics… they probably wouldn’t be able to reproduce them.”

Fran waved his hand with a hint of regret.

In fact, her 50% chance of survival was artificially inflated by the medical equipment at the Fog Street Clinic, and these devices could not be transferred or replicated.

Before Jude could speak again, she quickly introduced Option Two.

"Actually, I have a safer and simpler medical method. It involves extracting material from the shellfish and using pure moth-like pheromones to antagonize and reverse the bloodline incantation. This method has a survival rate of over 70%."

Upon hearing this, Jude's expression became somewhat strange. He narrowed his blood-red eyes, his expression shifting unpredictably.

Since there are better options to choose from, why spend so much time introducing the previous one?

Oh, that's probably some strange hobby of researchers. As Grantham once said, if they don't boast about their research findings, all their hard work is wasted…

Despite the complex and profound thoughts in his mind, Jude, as an ancient being with great seniority, did not show any unusual expression on his face.

"A 70% survival rate, using shell-based materials... Ms. Flamel, if I were to provide a patient now, could you attempt a cure?"

Fran readily agreed to Jude's request, his eyes even showing a hint of excitement.

"of course."

“Live testing is an essential step in proving the feasibility of a therapy, and I am happy to demonstrate it to you.”

The confidence she displayed must have influenced Jude to some extent; it was an extremely confident demeanor, without revealing even the slightest bit of embarrassment.

"Okay, then I'll take you to see him."

As he spoke, he slowly walked towards the mansion in the courtyard, not forgetting to call Rosalie, who was standing beside him, along with him.

"Rosalie, you've brought guests from the White Cup, so you deserve a reward. Come and see... the inescapable fate of the Moon Familia, and their repulsive ugliness after being tainted by the blood plague."

"Okay, okay..."

Rosalie quickly agreed and silently followed behind the two of them.

In fact, she was still somewhat confused about the situation... her thoughts were in complete disarray, and she couldn't make heads or tails of it, so she could only cautiously remain silent.

Isn't Dr. Fran the coroner of the Hunters? Why is she now calling herself Flamel and becoming an honorary professor of the White Cup Order? Besides, she also seemed to have worn a Moth Cult robe at the Mirror of Enlightenment Club before...

Unable to find a solution after much thought, Rosalie quickly gave up on dwelling on the problem.

Dr. Fran was her guest, and she was now the person primarily responsible. Therefore, no matter what the doctor said, she had to find a way to smoothly navigate the conversation...

Jude did not lead the two into his mansion through the main gate, but instead opened a secret passage in the flower garden of the side hall leading to an underground chamber.

The three of them descended the stairs one step at a time and soon entered a cell with a few candles lit.

Everything in the cell was made of cast metal, and the bars were three-tiered, with sun-casting inscriptions etched on the woven railings. It seemed to be designed to prevent prisoners from escaping through the gaps.

"Edros Noralia".

After a long, nostalgic silence, Jude uttered a name.

"The Moon's Kin have shed their old undead skin, so we no longer need to rely on 'infection' to reproduce as we did before. Since that budding moon, matings between our own kind have also been able to produce live babies."

“And Edros was my first child. He was an enviable pureblood, gifted from birth. If nothing unexpected happened, he would also be my only heir… Later, when he was one hundred and fifty years old, he was found to be infected with the blood plague.”

He closed his eyes and sighed, then reached out and tapped the twisted steel bars of the cell with his knuckles.

"Peng!"

The next moment, a deathly pale face slammed into the fence. Edros's eyes were sunken, saliva and blood dripped from the corners of his mouth, and his gaze was devoid of any reason. He looked like a wild beast driven mad by hunger.

He arched his face forward with all his might, completely disregarding the branding marks left on his distorted face by the radiant Sun-Forging Prayer.

The horrifying scene made Rosalie instinctively shrink back behind Fran.

Fran, however, paid no attention to Edros's ferocious appearance and instead observed his condition with great interest.

“Be careful, Ms. Flamel. He goes berserk when he smells humans, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Jude offered a reminder, then inquired about specific treatment needs.

“I can suppress Edros first and keep him in a docile state. As for the shell material I need, I will ask the servant to fetch it later. Although the remains of the Dust Order Era are rare, I have more than one in my inventory.”

Fran blinked slightly, somewhat admiring the vampire marquis's straightforwardness and efficiency.

"What an enlightened attitude towards medical treatment, Mr. Jude! You are a respectable family member of a patient. If all parents were as open-minded as you in seeking medical help, our work would be much less troublesome..."

"However, aren't you worried that he might be among the 30% who fail?"

Upon hearing this, Jude lowered his eyes, and a hint of old age finally appeared in his gaze—weary, deep, and helpless.

"That's just how Edros was destined to be."

“He should have died the day he was completely consumed by his insatiable lust. I forcibly kept him alive for so many years, and now that I think about it... it was probably just adding to my suffering. It’s time to let go.”

"However, if he dies, I will bring 10 more patients with the blood plague. At that time, please make sure that your treatment plan really has a 70% cure rate."

His words carried a subtle, almost imperceptible warning.

It wasn't exactly a threat, but it was certainly a chilling warning. Jude was willing to believe that the doctor before him possessed the ability to cure the blood plague, but at the same time, he had to be wary of the worst-case scenario.

"What? You can bring 10 more patients? You're so generous..."

However, Fran's focus was clearly different from Jude's. She was even somewhat excited upon hearing that there were still ten experimental subjects.

She quickly took out a bottle of extract from the remains of a shellfish, a delicate circular saw, and medical instruments such as syringes from the medicine box...

“Mr. Jude, I have already prepared the extract of the shellfish; you don’t need to provide any additional materials. As for assistance with the suppression…”

"There's probably no need for that."

As he spoke, Edros fell heavily to the ground, letting out a rough, snoring sound as he fell asleep. Fran slowly tucked the brass pocket watch back into his sleeve.

The three spiritual clusters of the oscillating heart bell are fired simultaneously, and even a high priest would have to sleep for half an hour.

when?

Even with Jude's nearly thousand years of experience, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised upon seeing this scene.

After being afflicted with the blood plague, Edros was no different from an evil creature, a completely crazed beast. How could he have fallen into such a deep slumber so completely unguarded?

Flamel just seemed to have taken out a pocket watch, perhaps some kind of relic with the ability to interfere with the mind... The speed at which White Cup is developing is still as daunting as ever.

“Ms. Flamel, please wait a moment. Let me put a few more restraints on Edros before opening the cell door…”

As they were talking, Jude suddenly realized that the doctor beside him had opened the exquisitely crafted prison door built by the Sunforge Order at some point, and was now squatting down next to Edros, examining his physical condition.

Jude glanced at the gilded cell key in his hand, then subtly put it away.

I think I know why Grantham awarded Ms. Flamel an honorary professorship; she's far more eccentric than that old man…

eight--

Perfect attendance record achieved (1/2)!

Chapter 90 Great Corpse

Inside Edrose's cell, Fran was carefully conducting an examination.

Although the clinic has more advanced testing and life support equipment, and can conduct more accurate pathological examinations... it is obviously not realistic to bring Edros back to Fog Street now.

Therefore, she could only use relatively simple methods to observe the condition.

"The filth of flesh and blood has overflowed, and reason has been completely lost. But it is still able to maintain a human form, without collapsing into writhing pulp, and there is no large-scale abnormal proliferation on the skin."

"The blood plague has eroded more than 60% of the body, and is at the end of the second stage, slowly transitioning to the third stage..."

As she spoke, she used the bone scalpel to shave off a piece of Edros's facial skin, examining the state and vitality of the flesh with almost immersive concentration.

"Although he is a severe case of the blood plague, all his abnormalities have been significantly suppressed. It seems that Mr. Jude has indeed put in a lot of effort for your son..."