Chapter 279: Serum Therapy and the Syringe

“We used Magic Potions with blood containing the Newborn Blessing added to accelerate the life process, but at present the symptoms on all the Demonic Wolves used for the experiments still haven't completely subsided. According to the hypothesis you proposed before, I'm afraid we still can't say it's completely safe.” Weiss said.

Dorothy, who had been listening from the side, spoke up to remind them:

“You want to use Demonic Wolf serum to deal with the plague Arachne created? I'm afraid it won't be that easy. Demonic Wolf serum really can be used to make antidotes for many Magical Beast Poisons, which may make you think this thing is useful against diseases.

But unfortunately, the Pathogens of infectious diseases like this aren't some kind of poisonous miasma. They're usually microorganisms invisible to the naked eye, and some can't even be observed with a microscope. The Empire's research in this field may not be very thorough, but in Moiland, this has already been confirmed.”

In most fields of technology, the Empire was ahead of Moiland, but in medicine, it was probably still inferior to the Witches of Moiland.

In the Empire, optical microscopes could already be used to observe some parasites discovered on animals, as well as some common bacteria, but in the medical field, these microorganisms had not yet been linked to infectious diseases.

But in Moiland, the Witches had long since discovered the connection between plagues and these microorganisms, and Arachne had also developed her plague weapons based on these theories.

It was precisely because Moiland possessed a certain advantage over the Empire in medical knowledge and technology that Queen Alice had selected plague weapons as one of the strategic options for dealing with war against the Empire.

“I know.” Leon nodded.

If one had to say, some of his knowledge in this area might even exceed that of the Witches.

Parasites existed in this world, as did bacteria, chlamydia, viruses, and all kinds of microorganisms capable of becoming Pathogens, as well as even some pathogenic agents that strictly speaking could not even be considered living organisms.

Judging from the current transmission routes and efficiency of this plague, the Pathogen of the Red Death should not be a parasite. Leon had also had people observe patients' blood samples and bodily fluids under microscopes, but they had not discovered any organisms resembling parasites.

If it was a microorganism with a relatively simple biological structure, such as bacteria, mycoplasma, or viruses, serum therapy might possibly work. Not long after discovering the plague, Leon had already tried using captured Magical Insects to infect other organisms for observation.

The plague weapon Arachne had developed was extremely lethal to humans and ordinary organisms, but its effectiveness was somewhat reduced against Magical Beasts.

Judging from the current experimental results, although smaller Magical Beasts displayed somewhat milder symptoms, their mortality rate was still very high. Only Demonic Wolves, which were renowned for their powerful constitutions, had withstood the disease's erosion. Although they exhibited obvious symptoms, there were basically no deaths.

Demonic Wolf serum was originally commonly used to make antidotal Magic Potions, so Leon decided to try extracting serum from the Demonic Wolves.

“You know that and you're still using it?” Dorothy asked.

“What I plan to use is serum from Magical Beasts that were infected with the disease and then recovered. Humans and animals have the ability to recover from diseases on their own, and after recovering from the same disease, they won't become infected with that same disease again for a period of time, or even for life. I believe that after an organism has been infected with a disease for some time, a substance specifically capable of resisting that disease will be produced in its blood. If serum containing that substance can be extracted from an organism that has recovered, it should have a certain therapeutic effect.” Leon explained it to Dorothy.

If Demonic Wolves could recover after being infected with the Red Death, their bodies should produce the corresponding antibodies. By extracting serum containing those antibodies and injecting it into humans, people could temporarily gain immunity against the Red Death, which was what was known as passive immunotherapy.

The immunity gained through passive immunotherapy was short-lived, but it took effect rapidly.

The time from onset of the Red Death to death was extremely short. If a vaccine could be successfully developed, perhaps ordinary people could gain immunity to the Red Death, but for those who were already infected, using vaccine antigens to generate active immunity would probably be too late. Passive immunotherapy had to be used to save their lives, so Leon still chose to prioritize developing antibody serum.

Moreover, with current technology, it was still impossible to precisely inactivate Pathogens, making vaccine development very difficult as well. For a deadly Biological Weapon like the Red Death, if the vaccine was not thoroughly inactivated, inoculation could instead cause infection.

If the serum was proven useful, it would also help with subsequent vaccine development. In the event that the vaccine failed or even caused infection, treatment could still be administered.

When Weiss first heard this theory of his that seemingly came from nowhere, she had appeared extremely astonished, but she still took it seriously and very quickly began developing serum according to what Leon had said.

“Have you studied medicine before?”

After hearing this, Dorothy showed the same astonished expression as Weiss. Even in Moiland, where medicine was more advanced than in the Empire, no one had ever proposed such a theory, but logically speaking, it really did make sense.

“I used to be a little interested and taught myself a bit. Given the situation now, we might as well treat a dead horse as though it were alive.” Leon casually made something up.

Dorothy immediately felt that this sounded rather dubious and knew that Leon was most likely brushing her off. But at present, she did not want to press the matter and merely reminded him: “Then are you planning to have the patients take it orally? Something that works in the bloodstream may not necessarily be effective when taken orally.”

“I plan to inject it into the patients.” Leon said.

“The Empire has injection technology?” Dorothy raised an eyebrow.

“No, so I designed a type of syringe. A cylindrical test-tube-shaped container has a hollow needle connected to the bottom, while a plunger rod that can be pushed forward is inserted into the opening.” Leon answered.

Although people in the Empire of this era had proposed and even attempted theories involving administering medicine through injection, they did not possess technology suitable for clinical use. Leon could only find a way to reconstruct a syringe according to the structure he knew.

At first, the craftsmen had suggested making the syringe barrel from silver, which was sufficiently ductile, but Leon still required that glass be used, just like test tubes and other experimental containers. First, this would allow the injection dosage to be controlled intuitively, and second, it would make it possible to observe bubbles in the injected liquid and expel them in time, avoiding an air embolism.

“The hollow needle you're talking about would also need to be capable of entering blood vessels. What are you planning to make it from? Feather shafts? Or thin bird bones?” Dorothy laughed.

Dorothy knew very well that the Empire did not possess the technology to manufacture the sort of hollow needle Leon required. In the past, some people had tried using feather shafts or thin bird bones for injection experiments, but they were not very reliable in practice.

“I plan to use the mouthparts of Bloodsucking Mosquito Bats as a substitute.” Leon answered.

The most difficult part of manufacturing a syringe was the hollow needle capable of piercing a blood vessel and delivering liquid. With the material-processing technology of this era, it simply could not be made. But while focusing on injection therapy and reconstructing a syringe, Leon quickly thought of a possible substitute—the mouthpart of the Magical Beast known as the Bloodsucking Mosquito Bat.

The mouth of a Bloodsucking Mosquito Bat somewhat resembled the piercing-sucking mouthparts of a mosquito, except its overall structure was simpler. It was simply a sharp, hard, hollow spike capable of piercing a person's blood vessel and drawing blood, which could barely substitute for an injection needle.

Most importantly, this material was not difficult to obtain or even mass-produce.

There had once been many Bloodsucking Mosquito Bats in the Labyrinth on Arend Island. Now, with Leon's authority as the Dungeon Lord, he could very easily produce large numbers of this low-rank Magical Beast.

In fact, Leon had already had people rush to make finished syringes that were barely usable. Although they still had many problems, if serum therapy proved effective, they would have no choice but to make do with what they had for now.

“Being able to think of that is quite impressive.” Dorothy showed Leon an expression of sincere admiration, “However, the proboscis needles of Bloodsucking Mosquito Bats become relatively brittle after being removed and break easily. Some people also develop adverse reactions after they're inserted into blood vessels. It's best to put them through certain specific processing procedures before use.”

Leon immediately noticed something after hearing this: “Could it be that Moiland already has injection-based drug administration technology?”

The way Dorothy said it made it sound as though she had long possessed experience using the proboscis needles of Bloodsucking Mosquito Bats, as well as processing procedures that had already been verified.

“We actually do have syringes for administering medicine through blood vessels. That's right, just as you're thinking, Moiland developed blood transfusion medicine and syringes long ago. If you need them, I can provide them for you to use. There aren't many syringes, but if you can provide enough Bloodsucking Mosquito Bat proboscis needles, we can replace the needles and disinfect the syringes for use on the patients.” Dorothy said.

“That couldn't be better!” Leon was delighted.

It was an unexpected pleasant surprise that Moiland already possessed usable injection technology. This gave serum therapy a technical foundation for clinical application!

“We haven't tried the theory and treatment method you're talking about before, and I'm somewhat interested. If you're certain that you want to finish dealing with the problem here before handling Arachne, then I'm willing to lend a hand. Perhaps it could become a worthwhile technical exchange. If we can develop an antidote against plague weapons, Her Majesty the Queen should also give up on developing plague weapons, right?” Dorothy said.

“If you're sincerely willing to help, then naturally you're more than welcome here. I only hope you won't pull any tricks in my territory.” Leon stared at Dorothy and said.

Developing an antidote for the plague could greatly damage Arachne's position in Moiland and reduce her value in the Queen's eyes. In this matter, Dorothy did indeed have a reason to cooperate with him.

If Dorothy and her subordinates helped together, while also providing Moiland's medical technology, then for Leon's side it would undoubtedly be timely assistance in a crisis.

“This is your territory, so I'm the one who should be hoping you won't do anything to me. Don't worry, I won't casually enter your Labyrinth. With a crisis before us, let's cooperate properly.” Dorothy replied seriously.

“Then I'll trouble you. If you need anything, make a list and give it to me. I'll try my best to provide it.” Leon nodded.

Dorothy quickly brought her people and equipment and joined the development of the antidote. Leon selected an area in the Labyrinth Fortress for them to work, then took one of the syringes Dorothy had brought, which had been manufactured using Moiland's technology, studied it briefly, and handed it to the craftsmen with instructions to replicate it.

Three hours passed like this. Leon returned to the Laboratory and discussed the subsequent experimental procedures with Weiss and Rena when a messenger from the Labyrinth Fortress hurried onto the scene and shouted breathlessly at Leon:

“Something's wrong, Mr. Fenrir, Madam…… the Viscountess, something happened to her!”