"'Spirit of the Bear' Grahame!
You are the Incarnation of the War God, the forest is your fur, the mountains your limbs, the plateau your skull...
The Great Shaman Cihuateteo placed the youth on a bed of palm leaves, and behind her, a ghostly bear larger than a house materialized.
Chanting a desolate song, she cast her Divine Light downwards, and the black pottery shells encasing the body of the young Prince of Michoacán shattered piece by piece.
Unlike Chichen Itza, which mainly followed the path of the 'Eagle Spirit Warrior,' the city of Uxmal, where they were from, primarily followed the path of the 'Bear Spirit Warrior.'
Especially these shamans, who possessed far more forbidden knowledge than the warriors and had a wider variety of methods at their disposal.
At the Third Order, they could use their life-bound Guardian Spirits to command the various Animal and plant Spiritual Bodies around them, achieving dazzling witchcraft effects.
Of course, the price was heavy, randomly activating three conditions from being widowed, isolated, lonely, solitary, crippled, or sick.
Therefore, most of them did not have their own partners or offspring, and though their status was exalted, their thirst for power was not strong.
She was now unraveling the 'Black Sorcery: Bear's Slumber Burrow.'
"Imitating the hibernation of a great bear to lower the body's vitality and keep any illnesses or injuries from worsening, awaiting the opportunity for treatment. The longest duration is one winter, three months."
But clearly, not everyone could enjoy such treatment. The use of Black Sorcery for healing, for instance, could not be extended to every citizen of the city-state.
It was only after exposing all of Prince Michoacán's body that she stood up and stepped aside, saying seriously to Byron, "His Royal Highness the Prince was about to undergo his coronation ceremony but accidentally came into contact with the clothes of a smallpox patient among the guards.
It's only been two days since then, and he hasn't fallen ill yet, but the Bear Spirit has already smelled the Plague aura within him.
I immediately sealed off the news and left the city to seek help.
'Bear's Slumber Burrow' has kept his body in that state, and according to your word, there should still be time.
His illness concerns not only his own life and death but also the survival of the entire city of Uxmal.
I don't have the authority of Great Shaman Ye'ek K'at'el of Chichen Itza to stabilize the situation even if we lose our Monarch. If the Prince cannot be crowned on time, Uxmal, already plagued by the epidemic, might first undergo internal strife and could entirely dissipate."
With that, she gave him a deep bow.
"If the Prince survives, you will have the friendship of the 'Twin Moon Clan' and even power second only to the King within the city-state."
Byron looked at her intently.
The 'Echoes of History' had already read this hidden information from the Prince's body. It revealed that this female Great Shaman was not only the city-state's representative of divine authority but also the Prince's paternal aunt.
Naturally, her words carried weight when speaking on behalf of the city-state.
Byron first sterilized the young man's upper left arm with high-proof alcohol.
He spread his palm. The invisible wind was constrained in his hand to resemble a surgical knife, its Divine Light blooming with a cold radiance.
'Flow State' had already helped him break free from the rigid framework of Sequence abilities.
The Storm Battle Axe could naturally take the form of a surgical knife, a curved blade, a longsword, a spear...
With a flick of his finger, a razor-sharp surgical knife automatically made a small cross-shaped incision on the youth's arm.
With another gesture, wind carried a small amount of fresh cowpox pus from a cow's body and applied it to the cross-shaped cut.
And with that, the cowpox entered his flesh.
"From my previous observations, the inoculation site typically develops red papules in about 3 days. Around the 5th day, these papules turn into vesicles.
"By the 8th day, they will become pustules. Around the 12th day, a brown crust will form. This crust will fall off after about 18 days, leaving a small pockmark.
"Then, this Nightmare will come to an end, and there will be no more fear of that Bizarre beak-masked plague doctor.
"However, I have never conducted inoculation experiments on Tenor People—actually, anyone in this world—and individual constitutions differ, so there may be variations.
"If we wait for another two days, we will know..."
Byron's words were not yet finished when suddenly his ear caught the sound of a distant bell, as if from Heaven.
Just like when the 'Golden Deer' had its successful sea trial.
A ring of brilliant golden light tore through the sky, cloaking him in a layer of extraordinary holy radiance, making others unable to help but bow in worship.
At the same time, the Sailing Logbook updated automatically with a patch of deep blue ink:
"Captain, you have earned a unique title worthy of the annals of History: 'Father of Immunology'!
You have filled a significant void in the field of medicine.
Guns, germs, and steel—your knowledge and benevolence will change the course of medical History, and even the development of Human civilization as a whole.
It will certainly leave a bold and vivid mark among the various Human populations that span the Old Continent and the Bantaan Archipelago.
Title Special Effect: Blood of Immunity
In the field of immunology, if you consume just one drop of blood from any related patient, you can produce antibodies in your own blood within twenty-four hours.
This includes, but is not limited to, influenza, measles, rubella, smallpox, chickenpox, rabies... You will absolutely not succumb to illness due to lowered immunity.
At the same time, others who consume your blood or flesh can also gain immunity to various difficult and complicated diseases.
Warning: Be careful! Don't let anyone with malicious intentions discover the special effect of your title."
Byron was happy when he read the previous content, as it cleared away the gloom brought by the previously insane "Entry: Invulnerable to All Diseases."
But upon reading the following warning, his head spun. An image of a fat, white figure inexplicably appeared before his eyes, and he seemed to hear a hallucination:
"Great King, shall we steam this meat, boil it, or fry it in sesame oil?"
He suddenly shivered.
"This is outrageous! The illustrious 'Father of Immunology' has turned himself into a Panacea? I'm not that noble."
Seeing the anomaly on Byron, all the extraordinary masters present understood what it meant.
Without the need to wait for several days to specifically validate the efficacy, they immediately confirmed that cowpox had saved the young boy's life, and they were overjoyed.
However, after the surprise, they immediately thought of another problem.
The Great Shaman of Chichen Itza City, Ye'ek K'at'el, hurriedly pleaded, "Mr. Byron, what about the other people in our city-state?
"There are countless Tenor People in our city-state, and even throughout Yucatan Island. Can you help us?
"We can discuss the reward! Gold and silver? Spices? Foreign slaves? Or beautiful maidens?"
The Plague had begun to spread across the entire world of the Tenor People.
Even Chichen Itza City, which still retained its full strength, would struggle to cope alone.
If they did not find a way to stop it, the consequences would be dire. It wouldn't just be a problem of a break in the lineage of warriors. Rather, tens of thousands of Tenor People would die untimely deaths every day. If the re-energized People of Castilia launched a major invasion, the extinction of their nation would be imminent.
Moreover, they had heard that a precedent of total extinction of a city had already occurred in the northern Aztec City-State. Newest update provided by novel•fire.net
The bloody reality left them with no room for reserve.
The most critical difficulty lay in the sheer numbers. The populations of the Aztec and Taya Empires alone reached thirteen million. Additionally, there were many smaller city-states and tribes not part of these two major powers.
If they relied only on their manpower to vaccinate each person one by one, it would become a protracted and massive project, by which time it might be too late.
Byron looked at the Crystal Skull atop the Great Shaman's staff and nodded decisively.
In his role as Bill, Byron possessed Nobility status in the Taya Empire and enjoyed the rights to participate in the political affairs of the city-states and allocate public revenues.
He also had the authority to ask the eighth Crystal Skull—the Feathered Serpent God Kukulkan—for knowledge.
This God abhorred live sacrifices and Blood Sacrifice rituals and symbolized the light of civilization of the Taya People.
He governed the Morning Star, wind and rain, knowledge, books, and legislation, and represented Death and Rebirth.
Having originally ascended from the union of an Animal spirit and a hero, he possessed knowledge and Authority even greater than the Corn God.
The most core ability of Kukulkan was called 'Morningstar Light of Knowledge,' which was another key to eliminating the Plague.
However, before getting started with solving the Taya People's problem, there is another key issue to resolve first.
Given that Byron was playing the role of a highly skilled and immensely good and upright physician, it was left to Catherine to play the villain.
Seeing the eager expression on the faces of the indigenous leaders, she quickly stepped forward and took over the conversation, "I know you're all anxious, but don't be hasty.
"This project cannot be completed in a day or two.
"As for the compensation, we don't want gold or silver, nor do we want Spices; our Pioneer Guiding Colonial Trading Company only wants trading rights."
The two Great Shamans breathed a sigh of relief. "That's easy," Cihuateteo replied. "We do business with other outsiders too. Without needing other city-states to agree, I can directly promise this on their behalf."
At this moment, Catherine continued with a smile, "But there's a precondition, and that is exclusivity!
"The Pioneer Guiding Colonial Trading Company wants a monopoly on trade."