Chapter 63: Chapter 61 Greatly Shocked
Ash lifted the towel covering his face and propped himself up to sit.
His first instinct was to check his neck, but he didn’t find any scars.
“That’s weird, you actually didn’t use as an experint subject for surgery.”
“It’s already done.”
The dical Practitioner, labeled [222], sitting at the foot of the bed, didn’t even lift her head, still looking down at the book in her hands, the beak of her crow mask twitching.
“The surgery is completed, and it was a success. You’ve turned into a handso guy now.”
“What!”
Ash hurriedly looked around for a mirror, but there were none nearby. The dical Practitioner snickered, “Just kidding. Actually, repairing your throat was too simple and didn’t take much ti, so I went ahead and perford a few minor surgeries on you while you were still asleep.”
Ash breathed a sigh of relief.
“So what surgeries did you do on ?”
“The Dafi technique to open up the eye corners, the Elas technique to adjust the eyebrows, the Rocha technique to adjust the chin, the Elas technique to make eyelashes naturally curled…”
The more Ash heard, the more confused he beca.
“How similar do I look to my forr self now?”
“You should look quite similar, after all, both have two eyes, a mouth, and a nose.”
“Is this what you call ‘not a major change’? Would a ‘major change’ involve swapping out my head?”
“Not necessarily, swapping heads is still quite dangerous.” The dical Practitioner gestured, “The popular big surgeries among mages involve exchanging all your features, like changing your eyes for an eagle’s, your teeth for a transforming shark’s, your nose for a fanged wolf’s, and your ears for those of a bat demon… It’s quite common to swap limbs and internal organs too. Recently, chanical prosthetics are a very trendy enhancent direction.”
Geez, so mages have already tapped into the bio-augntation tech tree, huh?
No wonder Ash saw soone in the prison with rabbit ears and wild boar fangs—back then, he thought that rabbits and wild boars could cross species barriers to mate?
Turns out it wasn’t beasts going wild but mages playing gods.
Ash curiously looked at the dical Practitioner, “Have you undergone such extensive modifications?”
The dical Practitioner hesitated for a mont, “Sort of.”
“Oh~” Ash stared at the dical Practitioner’s crow mask, “I see…”
The dical Practitioner knew well what Ash was thinking, and with hands on her hips, she said, “I’m not as ugly as you are, my face has always been perfect, no need for changes.”
“Oh, so you changed sothing other than your face.” Ash scanned the dical Practitioner’s body, but unfortunately, she was wearing a loose robe that revealed no contours or traces.
“What are you looking at?”
“I’m wondering if your fingers could extend a Phillips screwdriver.”
“There’s no screwdriver, only an ear scoop. Do you want to try it?”
“Yes.”
“Enough chatter, here.”
The dical Practitioner pulled out ten silver coins from her purse and placed them on the bedside table, then waved her hand.
Ash pointed at the silver coins, “Why?”
“Didn’t we agree? You let operate, and I’ll pay you. I practiced ten techniques, so I give you ten silver coins, which is reasonable.”
“No, I ant, wasn’t it paid with gold coins before?”
“I went and asked other dical Practitioners, and they said they don’t pay anyone for practicing techniques, at most people are given silver coins. Nobody pays with gold coins!”
“You’re just indecisive, you know. One should stand firm in their beliefs and not blindly follow others; otherwise, if others eat shit, would you eat it too?”
“You’re making a good point. I didn’t really want to give you money in my heart, I can’t fall for your enchantnt again—”
“But occasionally taking advice from others is also a good quality.” Ash quickly scooped up the silver coins.
The dical Practitioner almost laughed, but quickly suppressed the smile, “You’ve really beco famous this ti. You are the only criminal in the history of Kaimon City who was injured during the Blood Moon Judgent but survived.”
“The only one? Weren’t there any convicts who got accidentally injured during the Judgent before?”
“There were, but they couldn’t be saved and were imdiately torn to shreds by the Executioner. Cases like yours, where you were killed by another convict but the wound was too superficial not to save, thus violating the Life Rescue Law, are truly one of a kind.”
Ash still couldn’t get used to this world’s categorization of injuries; his near decapitation was seen as a minor injury that could be treated with just a band-aid.
“Once you’re out, rember to figure out a way to earn more contribution points, lest you be chosen for the next Blood Moon Judgent. There won’t be an elf to shield you next ti.”
Ash looked at the dical Practitioner with curiosity, “So concerned about ? Did you develop feelings while treating ?”
“You almost co in for treatnt every day. If the prison had a few more exemplary prisoners like you, I might be able to leave this place after another month or two of hard work.”
The dical Practitioner shrugged, “Thanks to you, I’ve beco very proficient in quite a few techniques.”
“When you leave, can you take with you? I’ll agree to be your experintal subject for three years—pretty good deal, right?”
“Sure.”
“Really?”
“If you don’t mind being carried away in three different boxes, I have no problem, and the prison would agree to let you go.”
Ash smacked his lips. “After you take it out, can you put it back together?”
“If I were a Four-winged Legendary Mage, I probably could, and I might even install so upgrades for you.”
“So, are you?”
“If I were, I wouldn’t have the ti to talk such nonsense with you.”
The dical Practitioner crossed her arms. “And you’re still thinking about breaking out of prison, tsk tsk tsk, after undergoing a Blood Moon Judgent, have you not given up such childish thoughts?”
“As a spirited young man, who wouldn’t think about breaking out every night? And who could stay here after witnessing the Blood Moon Judgent with their own eyes?” Ash clenched his fists. “I’m determined to break out of this prison!”
“Good luck, and rember to be safe when you escape. Try to keep your body intact, if possible.”
Ash moved closer to the dical Practitioner. “Do you have any good ideas for breaking out?”
The dical Practitioner glared at him with a beak-like grimace. “Don’t think that just because I made you a bit more handso, I won’t report you.”
“Don’t be so tense, after what you’ve done to , let’s just chat as if it’s post-surgery downti.” Ash was unconcerned. “Treat it as a puzzle ga, if you were falsely accused and locked up in Shattered Lake Prison, how would you plan to escape?”
“But I wouldn’t be falsely accused.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“Because there’s the mory Master, right? A check of my mories would show that I’m innocent.”
Ash also recalled this and couldn’t help asking, “Don’t you find that sowhat… unpleasant?”
“What’s unpleasant about it?” The dical Practitioner seed perplexed.
“I an, having soone search your mories. Don’t you think mories are a very important private matter that shouldn’t be subjected to searches?”
“And you still claim you’re innocent? Isn’t that just freedom terrorism?”
“Ah?”
“Only terrorists harboring ill intentions and nefarious plots would wish to abolish the mory review system. They even have more outrageous demands, like unbinding the Miracle Chip, granting pregnant won the right to choose abortion, even publicizing records of reproductive pairing… You seem very nervous?”
Ash swallowed hard. “Won can’t choose to have an abortion?”
“Of course not, if the fetus is found to have any congenital disease or hereditary defects, abortion is mandatory.”
“Mandatory?”
“Mandatory.”
“What if the fetus is healthy?”
“Then you must give birth.”
“Without asking for the woman’s opinion?”
“Why would you ask?” The dical Practitioner found it odd. “Would a pregnant woman refuse? Each childbirth subsidy is roughly equivalent to three years’ salary of a dium profession, varying slightly with race. If you’re a Mage, you even get a bigger subsidy, a 100% bonus for the first childbirth and an additional 50% bonus for having children at the recomnded age.”
“Unless she is a talented Female Mage who doesn’t want to waste a mont, most won will have their first childbirth during the guided period, and whether there are second or third ones depends on personal nightlife. Anyway, it’s only a bit inconvenient during pregnancy. After giving birth, the infant is sent to a nursery, and the woman can receive the birth fund on the sa day.”
Ash was shocked and suddenly looked at the dical Practitioner with a strange gaze. “What about you?”
“What about ?”
“Did you… receive the birth fund?”
The dical Practitioner hesitated slightly. “I can’t give birth.”
Ash quickly apologized. “I’m sorry.”
The dical Practitioner waved it off. “There’s nothing to apologize for; I don’t need that money. But, are you actually one of those who support the right for won to have authority over their abortion? That puts you on the more radical side of freedom terrorists.”
Ash wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Is that considered radical?”
“Of course, supporting abortion rights is the sa as promoting a reduction in birth rates. Races like humans and Beastn might be okay, but races like Elves and iwas, who struggle with low birth rates, despise such rhetoric the most. A councilor who suggested this was promptly embroiled in scandals and removed from office.”
“Advocating for the abolition of the mory inspection system is the sa as increasing the difficulty of criminal investigations and creating a favorable environnt for law-breaking. Only those intending to commit cris would support such rhetoric, not even councilors would propose such populism.”
“Likewise, supporting the unbinding of Miracle Chips is akin to advocating for removing Chains from the necks of criminals, complicating their capture and heightening the likelihood of them recommitting cris…”
“But all of you have Miracle Chips, so aren’t you all wearing Chains? Aren’t you afraid?” Ash asked.
“You say that as if you’re not one of us.”
The dical Practitioner gave Ash a strange look.
“Besides, we’re not breaking the law, so why should we be afraid? Only those who disrupt public order and commit cris would be.”
It made sense, and Ash had no reply.
He realized that in the Kingdom of Blood Moon, the dical Practitioner’s view was the common view. Since they all accepted this social control system, it ant this approach was relatively correct. The incorrect ones were convicts facing the death penalty in prison, like Ash himself.
I never thought I would beco a freedom terrorist here, considering I was a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen who supported surveillance in my past life…
“Let’s get back to the point as if you were like , accused of being the leader of The Gods of Four Pillars cult, with the Cri Hunting Hall too afraid to search your mories, locked up in Shattered Lake Prison. How would you think of escaping?”
“Are you really falsely accused…?”
“It’s just a ga, think of it as a brain teaser! Though I heard dical Practitioners generally don’t excel in logical thinking, is this ga too difficult for you?”
“You think I’d fall for such a childish trick? Do I look like a child to you!” The dical Practitioner turned her head away and snorted. “But isn’t the way out of prison obvious? It’s only you who couldn’t see it.”
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