Chapter 256: Chapter 255: If you can kill yourself at will and actually die, count it as my loss Chapter 256: Chapter 255: If you can kill yourself at will and actually die, count it as my loss Gutas was tightly bound to a chair and had long since lost track of how many days he had spent here. His sleep had no pattern—sometimes he was not allowed to close his eyes for several days, and other times he could be left unattended, dozing off for an entire day. In such a state, his sense of time became incredibly blurred.
Previously, he had tried to estimate time by counting the number of meals he had, but he gradually realized that even meals were not consistent. Sometimes there would be an extravagant five meals a day, while other times, there was just one, a meal of thin soup with noodles, as if to test his physical condition under various circumstances.
The only constant was the bloodletting through needle pricks; before meals, after meals, before sleep, and after sleep, blood was always drawn.
Gutas couldn’t help but wonder where all this blood came from, to be extracted for that demon alchemist.
That demon alchemist seemed to have explained it to him, saying something along the lines of… the human body can produce its own fresh blood, and as long as the quantity of blood drawn is within the rate of the body’s blood production, there’s no need to worry about being drained dry.
Gutas neither understood nor believed a word the demon alchemist said, thinking it was all a lie. In his mind, each time his blood was drawn, his body grew weaker, and his spirit diminished. Now, he felt like a dairy cow being milked to insanity; once the milk ran out, death wouldn’t be far behind.
Gutas cursed inwardly, and suddenly, in a shiver he could not suppress, he felt a chill run through his body. Turning his head, he saw the very demon alchemist he was cursing in his heart, staring straight at him with a bizarre look that involuntarily made his skin crawl.
What… what was he planning to do to him now?
Damn, it’ll definitely not be anything good!
He couldn’t let the other party continue to act so brazenly; he had to find a way to stop it. Yes, he had to come up with a plan to change his situation. Otherwise, he would lose not only his life but his spirit as well.
Richard watched Gutas with a rapidly churning mind, considering how to conduct experiments to verify his slew of theoretical conjectures.
Generally speaking, science, especially frontier science such as physics, can be divided into two categories—theoretical science and experimental science—which also divides scientists into theoretical and experimental scientists.
The primary task of theoretical scientists is to build possible theories relying on logical reasoning and imagination. Experimental scientists, on the other hand, are responsible for designing a series of experiments to prove the theories posited by theoretical scientists.
There is no superiority between the two roles, as the advancement of a branch of science cannot do without either.
However, for Richard, thinking through a problem often involved intuitive leaps that would bring forth bizarre yet logical ideas. After reasoning through and ensuring their practicality, he would then consider designing experiments to prove them.
In short, Richard belonged to the type that prioritized theories and followed up with verification. Should he adopt the identity of a scientist, he felt he would lean towards being a theoretical scientist.
Of course, he was also capable of experimental design, although it would take a bit more time.
So, how should he design the experiment to prove the theory before him?
After some thought, Richard had a preliminary experimental outline. The next moment, he picked up a syringe from the experimental table and walked towards Gutas—regardless of how the verification experiment was to proceed, drawing a bit of blood from Gutas was certainly not a mistake.
As Richard thought this, he approached Gutas and was about to plunge the syringe when he saw Gutas struggle violently, looking at him with fierce eyes.
Richard’s eyebrows twitched as he looked at Gutas and spoke, “What are you trying to do? You haven’t been here for just a day; don’t you understand that resistance is futile? No matter how fiercely you resist, it’s only you who will suffer, and it won’t change the outcome in the slightest.
“So, cooperate a little. It’s better for you, and for me. How about this—if you behave, I’ll improve the standard of your meals tomorrow—add a chicken leg, how about that?”
“Mmmph mmph!” Gutas made a sound with his mouth gagged by a rag, as if trying to say something.
Richard blinked, reached out, and pulled the rag out, looking at Gutas and asking, “What are you trying to say?!”
Gutas first swallowed hard to moisten his painfully dry throat and then spoke fiercely, “Kid, release me!”
“That’s impossible,” Richard said. “You should understand clearly that I cannot release you.”
“No!” Gutas shouted, “The one who doesn’t understand is you! I’m telling you, if you don’t release me, I will make you regret it.”
“Oh, and how will you make me regret it? What can you possibly do to harm me?” Richard asked.
“No, I naturally can’t harm you now,” Gutas admitted. “But I can harm myself.”
“I can commit suicide!” Gutas said with a hint of madness. “You trap me here, feed me every day, just because you want to study me, to gain something from me. Hmm, although I don’t know what specifically you’re researching, I’m certain that I’m only valuable alive, aren’t I? Dead, I’m of no use to you. So, release me quickly, or else I’ll commit suicide and you’ll get nothing.”
Richard looked at Gutas calmly: “Let’s not start with whether your threat makes any logical sense. Just a simple question you can’t answer—how do you plan to commit suicide?”
Gutas stuck out his tongue, wagging it somewhat provocatively: “I’ll use this method to kill myself!”
“Bite your tongue to death?” Richard’s eyes flickered, showing no sign of nervousness as he slowly spoke, “Well, now would be a good time to bite your tongue while I have your mouth free, but out of kindness, I advise you not to do it. Although many rumors claim that biting one’s tongue can lead to death, in reality, it’s simply not possible.”
“For starters, you must have seen or heard of people who’ve had their tongues cut off, haven’t you? Aren’t they still living well?
Do you think you would die from the pain? Impossible. Although the tongue is rich in pain-sensing nerve endings, they aren’t greater than those in fingers—perhaps you’ve seen or heard of people with tongue piercings, but when have you ever seen someone drill a hole through their finger and wear a ring? People don’t die from pain even if they lose a finger, let alone from biting their tongue.
Blood loss leading to death? Also, not possible. The part of the tongue you can bite off mostly consists of capillaries, which would not cause significant blood loss. Moreover, it would be a waste—after all, the main reason you resist me is that you don’t want me to draw your blood, but you’ll bleed if you bite your tongue. If you’re going to bleed either way, why not give it to me? At least then, you could contribute to science.
Besides, if you really attempt to bite your tongue, the most likely outcome is that you won’t manage it. Humans do have a significant bite force, though not as strong as wild beasts that can bite with hundreds of pounds of force. Under the full influence of the jaw muscles, your front teeth can exert about 50 pounds of force, and your molars nearly 200 pounds.
In theory, you could bite your tongue off with that kind of force, but don’t forget, humans possess a self-protective instinct. Just as people can’t suffocate themselves by holding their breath, the continual pain you’d feel when trying to bite your tongue will act against you.
So, the most likely result of you trying to commit suicide by biting your tongue is that you’ll give up halfway through due to the unbearable pain. There’s no shame in that; after all, most successful cases of tongue-biting are a result of involuntary or accidental injuries.
The only truly effective way to commit suicide by biting your tongue would be to cause oneself to faint from the pain and then to have the base of the tongue contract and block the trachea, leading to asphyxiation. But even this, with prompt treatment, can be completely prevented.”
Richard looked at Gutas seriously, “I don’t consider myself an outstanding doctor, but dealing with issues like tongue-biting asphyxiation is still within my capability. So, no matter how you intend to bite, I can guarantee you won’t die. Yes, I mean what I say.”
After listening to Richard, Gutas stared at him as if he had seen a demon. He couldn’t understand much of what Richard said, but that didn’t prevent him from deducing a fact from Richard’s calm demeanor—suicide by biting the tongue didn’t seem to be a real threat to Richard.
Gutas gritted his teeth secretly. After a while, he said in a somewhat exasperated manner: “Even if I can’t bite my tongue, I can still kill myself.”
“Hmm? Not by biting the tongue? What other method then?”
“I won’t tell you!” Gutas said defiantly. “In any case, if you don’t release me now, I’ll just kill myself without telling you how!”
“Alright, then let’s wait and see what kind of assured suicide method you’ve got up your sleeve.”