Ceobe's somatic cell-Originium fusion rate was 9%.
Her Blood Originium Crystal Density was 0.31u/L.
Honestly, if you just looked at these metrics on paper, it was quite severe. If it were a normal Feline, Perro, or Vulpo, they probably wouldn't live more than two or three years. If they were unlucky and didn't receive effective control and treatment, they might be dead in just over a year.
But Oripathy often couldn't be judged by data on paper. No illness can be judged solely on rigid, documented data; it all needs to be based on the specific clinical situation.
The indicators for Oripathy weren't just cell fusion rate and density.
There was also the location of the lesion core, and most importantly, personal constitution.
On Earth, people's constitutions are more or less the same, so constitution often isn't that important. After all, no matter how much you work out, you still can't stop a virus.
But Terra is different.
The difference in constitution between people on Terra can be described as heaven and earth.
The most typical example.
A pure-blooded Wendigo and a common Feline.
Both are races of Terra, but their constitutions are worlds apart.
Ceobe's Oripathy was severe, yes, the report on paper was indeed severe, but Ceobe's lesion core was on her thigh. Compared to the chest or heart, these locations were much safer. And, needless to say, Ceobe's constitution was absurd.
At least.
In the year or so since Lucas brought Ceobe back, Lucas had never seen Ceobe have an Oripathy outbreak. She was like a perfectly healthy person every day.
It was precisely because of these considerations.
Lucas chose Ceobe for the experiment.
Looking at Ceobe's mournful face, Jessica stroked her head and said softly.
"Be a good girl, Ceobe, and I'll give you five extra honey cakes tonight. The kind custom-made by the best pastry chef in Columbia, you know. Completely different from the ones you buy on the street."
*Splurt~*
Drool trickled from the corner of Ceobe's mouth.
In the end.
After a wave of mental struggle.
The temptation of food overcame the reluctance in her heart, and she nodded repeatedly.
Everyone gathered around.
Even the shut-in Dusk rarely came out of her room. She stood side-by-side with Nian, ready to witness the 'Rule' Lucas had awakened.
As for Miss Nine-Colored Deer, she was on standby, ready to intervene at the first sign of an accident.
Franka, Liskarm, Surtr, Saga, and the others also gathered around.
Franka's gaze was the most serious.
Because she knew this was about whether her own Oripathy could be cured. Actually, Franka's request wasn't that high. Surviving to forty-five would be a success. After all, past that age, no matter how much she took care of her skin, wrinkles would most likely start to appear and she'd begin to age.
Franka wasn't a long-lived race; aging was normal.
The other children also all crowded around.
Lucas had Ceobe sit on the sofa, then asked.
"Ceobe, when was the last time it hurt?"
Lucas didn't use professional terms, afraid Ceobe wouldn't understand.
"Hurt?"
Ceobe fell into deep thought.
The dog ears on her head drooped slightly.
"Ceobe remembers!"
Then she counted on her fingers.
"About ten days ago!"
"Ten days?"
Lucas was stunned, his eyebrows raised high. Her Oripathy had flared up ten days ago and he didn't even know?
"Mhm! My tummy hurt a bit then...."
"Tummy hurt?"
Lucas was even more confused. Does an Oripathy outbreak cause a stomach-ache?
Suddenly.
Jessica seemed to remember something, her face flushed red as she quickly explained: "Um, Mr. Reeve, you must have misunderstood. What Ceobe is talking about isn't Oripathy, it's *that*!!"
"That?"
Jessica's face turned even redder: "That thing... that only girls have...."
"Fuck..."
Lucas suddenly understood.
"Ceobe, big brother is asking when that crystal-like place on your thigh hurt."
Ceobe fell into deep thought again. This time, she thought for even longer than before. Lucas could even feel Ceobe's not-so-bright brain working desperately, like a ten-year-old computer trying to run a modern game.
"I think... two years ago..."
"Ceobe remembers it hurting once two years ago."
Two years ago...
Lucas could only say, that's Ceobe for you.
Her last outbreak was actually two years ago. A normal person would have had several outbreaks in two years without treatment.
"Lift your skirt a little, big brother wants to see your lesion area."
"Mhm!"
Ceobe nodded.
Without any shyness, she lifted her skirt straight up to her waist.
"!!!"
Jessica immediately covered Lucas's eyes, and then Franka quickly pulled Ceobe's skirt back down, revealing only the dark Originium crystal at the base of her thigh.
In Ceobe's eyes, there was no distinction between male and female, nor did she have the concept of herself as a girl. Jessica hadn't thought much of it before, since besides Lucas, everyone around was a girl. Plus, Jessica wasn't old herself and had never been a parent, so she didn't understand these things. Thus, when Ceobe would run naked out of the bathroom, she never strictly said much, at most just saying, "Girls can't do that."
However.
With Ceobe's personality, such a mild comment basically went in one ear and out the other. It probably didn't even go in.
Lucas sighed.
He tapped Ceobe lightly on the head.
"You can't do this next time. It's not proper. And I'm a boy, and Ceobe is a girl. Girls can't just lift their skirts in front of boys."
"But..."
Ceobe didn't think it was a big deal and grinned.
"But... I don't think it matters in front of big brother."
"It's not allowed in front of me either..."
Lucas occupied Jessica's body, controlling Jessica's slender, small hand and pressing it on the skin of Ceobe's thigh where the Originium crystal was.
As he channeled his power.
Instantly.
A power belonging only to a god burst forth from 'Jessica's' body. In the center of 'Jessica's' eyes, a crimson four-pointed diamond pattern appeared, a burning gold deep within her pupils.
On the surface of her skin.
Golden runes formed chains that coiled around Lucas's palm.
In Lucas's vision.
He could clearly see the flow of any Originium energy.
The reserves of Originium energy inside Ceobe's body were astonishing. She had clearly never undergone any professional training, yet she possessed such terrifying energy. It could only be described as a racial talent. The energy of Nian, Dusk, and the others nearby was different.
A normal person's Originium energy was deep red, with some faint blackness within it.
Nian's energy was a flame-like fiery red, similar to Surtr's. Dusk's was a mist-like cyan. Nine-Colored Deer's was a holy pure white, with a trace of gold within the white.
And Lucas's was crimson mixed with a large amount of gold.
Oripathy would spread.
In his vision.
Ceobe's Oripathy was centered on the lesion on her thigh, following her blood vessels and nerves, expanding towards her internal organs, bones, muscles, and even her nerves. In particular, some Originium crystals had already spread to Ceobe's internal organs.
He glanced at Franka.
Franka's was much lighter.
Apart from the lesion deep in her injured calf, she didn't even have Originium crystals on her skin, and it hadn't spread much throughout her body.
*Hooo...*
Lucas took a deep breath.
As he poured in his power.
Lucas was trying, bit by bit, to modify the crystals inside Ceobe's body.
However.
Besides the main lesion, these crystals had countless smaller lesion sites.
After a while.
Sweat began to form on Lucas's forehead.
And the people nearby, especially Franka, were so shocked they couldn't speak.
Because.
From an onlooker's perspective.
The ugly Originium crystals on Ceobe's skin were actually shrinking at a visible rate. From the size of a fingernail at the beginning, they gradually shrank to the size of a grain of rice. Finally, the Originium crystals on Ceobe's thigh disappeared completely. Although there were several ugly pits where the crystals had been, with subsequent recovery, it would be perfectly fine.
"!!!"
Franka's eyes widened, her voice trembling with excitement.
"It... It really healed!!!"
"Lucas! Lucas! Do me too."
Lucas was a bit weak. Liskarm yanked Franka's hair, covered her mouth, and signaled her to be quiet.
"One piece of good news, and one piece of bad news."
After a few minutes.
Lucas left Jessica's body, floating in the air, and spoke to Franka.
"The good news!"
"....."
"Fine, let's start with the bad news."
Lucas said: "The bad news is, the Originium crystals look smaller, but it's just treating the symptom, not the root cause."
"And the good news?"
"The good news is, I can't cure it right now, but I can in the future. My 'Rule' was confirmed in the experiment just now to be able to cure Oripathy, but the requirements are extremely high."
"Because the human body is just too complex. Originium particles float in all the blood in the human body. In a normal person, these Originium particles are in a 'closed' state, but in an Oripathy patient, these particles are in an 'open' state. Therefore, to cure it, I need to 'close' the active state of these particles one by one. But how many of these particles are in a human body? They're countless."
"So, to cure it, the requirement for strength is very, very high. A normal person's body simply doesn't allow me to complete the process. At the very least... it requires the power of a god."
After he said this.
Everyone's gaze simultaneously turned to the three gods present.
Lucas shook his head.
"Not by borrowing a god's body, but by me *possessing* a god's power. A borrowed body cannot perfectly merge with my 'Rule', so I need a divine body that perfectly fits me."
"Another point, a god's own power is too strong. So, even if Miss Nian or Miss Nine-Colored Deer dropped all resistance, I wouldn't dare enter their bodies. Upon entering, my soul would be strangled by the divine body's instinctive power, just like white blood cells attacking bacteria."
"But a human body can't affect my soul, so I can enter and exit freely."
"Of course."
Lucas's tone changed.
"Although I can't cure it for now, I *can* suppress the Oripathy, keeping it from worsening, and even slightly lower the fusion rate."
"!!!!"
Franka was trembling with excitement now. She naturally understood what Lucas meant.
"Lucas, are you saying..."
Lucas smiled slightly.
"As long as I'm around, even if I can't condense a physical body in the short term, your Oripathy will not get worse, and it won't flare up again. You can live a normal life until you die of old age."
Franka's whole body was shaking.
She covered her mouth with her slender hand, her bright eyes glistening with moisture.
"That's great, Lucas!!"
Franka excitedly threw her arms around Lucas.
Jessica didn't think there was anything wrong with it and hugged Franka as well.
"That's wonderful, Senior. We can be friends for a lifetime."
"Mhm!!!"
Franka said excitedly: "Even when we're old, the three of us will be best girlfriends together, and go shopping together."
Suddenly...
Franka seemed to remember something.
She let go of Lucas.
"Gods don't get old... and their lifespan is infinite... doesn't that mean when we're old, you'll still look this young, Lucas?"
"Uh...."
Lucas also hadn't expected Franka to ask such a bizarre question.
"I suppose so...."
"Noooooo!!"
*Phew...*
All done.
Seeing the work was finished.
Nian turned and left, heading to the study to write the script for her second movie. Dusk said goodbye and returned to her room to continue her game. When she came down just now, her game was only half-finished. She had no choice but to use her power to paint a copy of herself to play the game for her.
When she went back to her room and looked, as expected, she had lost.
However.
After checking the match chat log, Dusk was extremely gratified.
At least... the family was defended.
The Nine-Colored Deer also clapped her hands happily and said sweetly.
"I'll make something delicious for everyone tonight."
Saga, however, followed Nine-Colored Deer to learn how to cook, becoming an apprentice chef. But in her eyes, what the Nine-Colored Deer was doing was definitely also a part of cultivation.
After Lucas rested for a while.
He used Jessica's body again to suppress the Oripathy inside Franka.
However.
Another problem now lay before Lucas.
He could indeed suppress Oripathy.
But he was only one person. If it was just the few people around him, it was completely fine.
But don't forget.
The Reunion Movement has several hundred Infected, Rhodes Island also has many, and there are tons of Infected all over the world. Lucas couldn't possibly do them one by one. Besides, suppression is just suppression. It's not a one-time thing. Lucas had calculated, for someone with Ceobe's constitution, suppressing it once a year is no problem. For Franka, maybe every few months. But a normal person might need it once a month.
Was it possible...
To extract his 'Rule' and turn it into a form of power? Although the effect might not be as good as doing it personally, it would definitely be much better than any current medication.
Before returning to Rhodes Island.
Lucas, Jessica, and even Franka and Liskarm, all four of them, cornered Ceobe in the living room and seriously educated her on the most basic knowledge for girls. It was fine at home for now, but Ceobe wasn't a little kid anymore. She couldn't stay at home forever; she'd have to go out eventually.
After educating Ceobe, they gave her a honey melon and a few honey cakes as a reward. Ceobe, who had been crying just a second ago, was happily munching away in the next.