Plague Doctor - Chapter 531: Foot Cavity

Chapter 531: Foot Cavity

After the abnormal cords in the feet cavity had been severed, the goat's leg stopped liquifying. However, its abnormal state remained. Its skin was still incredibly hard and a normal instrument could not cut through it. Other than the Carlot Instruments, none of the normal instruments came in useful. What was the explanation behind this? Even the top scientists from the field of physics, biology and chemistry from both worlds could not come up with an answer. There were still matters in this world which human machines could not identify.

In any case, these were not Gu Jun's concerns anymore. Understanding the layer construct of the goat's leg was his primary goal. Even though his body had only recovered for 50 percent, Gu Jun entered the flow easily once he returned to the autopsy table. Over the past few days, as the autopsy went further, the more the team realized how different the Black Billy Goat was from a normal creature. There were many organs that should not be found in the lower limbs were discovered, the reason behind their presence was unknown. One of the clearest examples was the foot cavity, it had the structure of a brain cavity. There were 3 whorls near the end of the toes. The abnormal cords extended through the holes in the middle of the whorls to connect to the nervous system of the entire leg. Perhaps the abnormal cords used this network to send out signals for the leg to dissolve. 

They also discovered a gland that was spread all over the goat's leg. It was unclear the purpose of these glands, temporarily Gu Jun named them abnormal glands because he felt they had something to do with the dissolution process. Of course, this was just a hypothesis. Further experiments were needed to prove or disprove it. 

By now, only 10 hours were left for the mission. Gu Jun cut off another abnormal gland along the calf. The mission completion rate rose to 96.2 percent. The ending was near but so was Gu Jun's limit. In the past 20 hours, he only took 1 rest and it lasted only for an hour. When he just woke up, his energy was at 50 percent, now he was at around 10 percent. 

The last 3.8 percent might not look like much but at the start of the autopsy, Gu Jun spent the whole day working endlessly and the progress only increased by 8 percent. Back then, there were still many things to be discovered about the goat's leg. Now, finding a new breakthrough was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Incidentally, Gu Jun felt that the abnormal gland that he was dissecting was different from the rest. A gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Exocrine glands secrete their products through a duct onto an outer or inner surface of the body, such as the skin or the gastrointestinal tract. Endocrine glands secrete substances that circulate through the bloodstream. Examples include the pineal gland, thymus gland, pituitary gland, and thyroid gland. 

Theoretically, the abnormal gland was an endocrine gland because they could not find any duct. The abnormal gland was shaped like a goat's horn, tapered at the top. It had a leathery surface and contained modular substances. The gland was connected to many surrounding tissues via blood vessels. Other than the strange greyish color and shape, the abnormal gland was similar in structure to adrenal gland. Thus came the hypothesis that this was the Black Billy Goat's adrenal gland. The unknown power wielded by the goat's leg, could it have come from the chemical substance secreted by the abnormal glands? For now, no one could tell because the team had not discovered the gland secretion, just the regenerative liquid. 

"Come, take a look at this…" Gu Jun called over Uncle Dan and Wang Ruoxiang. On the screen, experts like Xiao Huiwen also widened their eyes to look. Gu Jun asked, "Does that look like a duct to you?" 

Wang Ruoxiang focused to look. The gland was about the size of an adult palm. It was black and shaped like a goat's horn. It was covered in blood vessels. At first glance, it was no different from the abnormal glands found at the thigh and calf. But where Gu Jun was pointing, there was something different. Gu Jun pulled out a dark-red tube from the gland. It had the same reddish color as the other vessels, just slightly thicker. 

However, Wang Ruoxiang noticed the difference immediately. She noted, "This tube is not connected to the other blood vessels." Gu Jun nodded and everyone else saw it immediately. The thicker the blood oxygen, the more often they would form a net-like structure. It was such with the human veins. It was so that the blood could be circulated throughout the blood swiftly. The surface of these abnormal glands was netted with blood vessels but this thick gland was an exception. Gu Jun used the tweezer to pull out a few other similar glands. They were not connected to any blood vessel but instead were directly connected to the foot cavity. 

"I don't think these are blood vessels but ducts." There was no telling if Gu Jun was right with this hypothesis or not. After some observation, the group agreed with him. This was a different gland, an exocrine gland, it was confirmed that it was related to the regenerative function. With a new discovery, there was a need for a new name. Xiao Huiwen was instinctually worried.

"We'll call it Foot Adrenal." Gu Jun decided quickly like he was naming the child of his neighbour but not his own. "Let us try to find its secretion." 

At the same time, he could see the flimsy network of a flowing liquid. It moved from the abnormal cord, to the adrenal gland and then the entire nervous network and the blood stream…

His tired body teetered. Before he put down the scalpel, a new system message arrived, "You've gained a new breakthrough in the autopsy of the Black Billy Goat. Autopsy quest completion rate plus 8 percent, current progress 99.2 percent. Remaining time: 9:35:17." 

This rejuvenated Gu Jun like he had just chugged down 3 red bulls. There was 0.8 percent left. He shared the good news with the rest, to inspire them and himself. "Just a little bit more!" 

But the next 5 hours proved that he was overly optimistic. Originally they could manage a 0.8 percent increase every 24 hours but since Gu Jun's body was overly tired, the progress became glacially slow. The hours passed by and it finally reached 99.9 percent. But the 0.1 percent refused to come. Gu Jun's vision was swimming, his brain felt like it was exploding. He could not think anymore. He was working mechanically. He separated the blood vessels on the back of the calf. One strand after another, he was slowly crawling towards the end. 

"Autopsy quest completion rate increases by 0.1 percent. Your autopsy quest has been completed! Quest remaining time: 4:07:53, Rating: 9/ 10.

"Quest reward: 1 instance of communication with the City of Dusk; 1 medical skill; unknown.

"Your autopsy experience has increased! Currently it is 7500/15000 (Level 2/9)"

'Is it finally over…' Gu Jun's mind paused. He could not tell the notification was real or just his imagination. At that moment, the final string snapped. His eyes closed and his body tumbled forward. 

"Ah Jun!" "Gu Jun!" The gasps of the people around him followed him into the darkness.