Chapter 51 - Before and After Coma

“Breath—in—”Richard took a deep breath, stretched out his hand to massage the outside of his carotid artery on the neck, and stimulated the surrounding nerves to slow down his heartbeat. Then he moved slowly toward the corner of the room at a crawling pace and grabbed a barrel placed there, tipping it over with force. Water from the barrel surged out, soaking his whole body, causing his body temperature to begin to drop, metabolism to slow down, and his heart rate to decrease—though not back to normal levels yet.

Richard had no choice but to move toward another corner where his luggage was placed. There were some medications in the luggage that could reduce his heart rate.

“Breath—in—”

“Breath—in—”

Richard struggled to keep his emotions stable, controlling the acceleration of his heartbeat, inch by inch.

Just then, footsteps sounded at the door. It was Pandora, who had heard unusual noises from the room and rushed in, staring wide-eyed at Richard.

Richard had no strength left to explain and simply pointed at the suitcase.

Pandora’s eyes flickered momentarily, then she dashed to the suitcase, snatched it open, and pulled out a test tube, handing it to Richard.

Their eyes met, and Richard felt truly awful, then shook his head.

Pandora immediately tossed the test tube aside, rummaged through the suitcase, and handed a beaker to Richard.

Richard felt even worse and shook his head again.

Pandora searched a third time, this time pulling out a bottle of sulfuric acid.

Richard knew that drinking it would only end his life faster, firmly shaking his head.

Pandora searched a fourth time, found a bottle of baking soda, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh time…

It was unclear how many times she searched before finally finding what Richard needed.

“This?” Pandora asked with her gaze.

“Yes.” Richard could no longer speak, only nodding vigorously in response.

Pandora immediately handed the item over.

Richard caught it, poured a bag of medicine powder into his mouth, then swallowed with effort. He lay flat on the ground, taking deep breaths continuously.

Pandora stood by, watching, her face still cold, but her eyes somewhat uneasy, uncertain if she was truly helping Richard.

Meanwhile, Richard could no longer pay attention to Pandora, focusing all his energy on keeping his heart rate from rising, waiting for the swallowed medicine powder to take effect.

During this process, Richard couldn’t help but think about the overwhelming power that had suddenly descended in the mountain, bringing his consciousness back. This force had not only protected his consciousness and robustly counteracted the mental waves of the Crystal Skull but also caused damage to the Crystal Skull itself.

No matter how one looked at it, it was incredibly powerful, almost like the protagonist of an action manga bursting forth with cosmic energy in a critical moment. But as it seems, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. To achieve this, it cost a significant price: the overdraw of his body’s life energy. If there were another time, he truly didn’t know if he might suddenly die.

“Breath—in—”

“Breath—in—”

His heartbeat was slowly slowing down, but it would still take some time for the medicine to be fully effective. Richard felt his consciousness uncontrollably beginning to blur; he became somewhat wary, knowing he could not pass out.

He must not lose consciousness!

Richard internally declared, but just as he finished the thought, everything before him went black.

Darkness, endless darkness.

His consciousness seemed to float in an endless universe.

With no up or down left or right, no compass points, no passage of time, his consciousness drifted within the darkness.

A light appeared, illuminating the entire space, followed by a bright burst.

Richard felt his consciousness awaken, gradually regaining sensation and control over his body, only to find his heart rate had slowed down to normal levels. His body still ached faintly, but it was much better than at the beginning.

He slowly opened his eyes.

The scene before him appeared, followed by Richard catching his breath, seeing a pair of large, round eyes almost touching his face.

His eyes flickered, so did the other’s.

His eyes flickered again, and the other’s followed.

Just as Richard was about to ask why the closeness, Pandora had already pulled back her head and spoke first, “Boo!”

Who scared whom here?!

Richard struggled to stand up, only to find himself still lying on the floor, a bucket overturned, a suitcase open in the corner, and various instruments strewn about in total disarray — just as before he passed out.

“How long was I out?” Richard asked Pandora, frowning.

Pandora held up a finger.

What kind of answer was that? One minute, one hour?

The next moment, Richard knew the answer. As he walked out of the room and looked towards the castle exterior, he saw that it was already broad daylight. Clearly, Pandora meant he had been out for the night.

Well, that required some figuring out.

Afterward, through some discussion, Richard learned more about what had happened.

For instance, shortly after he had passed out, the Beast Tide had suddenly dispersed. Gregory thought he had scared the frenzied animals away by exerting too much force, but it now appeared that it was caused by a crack Richard had made on the Crystal Skull.

It was unclear, however, what the extent of the impact would be. Whether it had temporarily pushed back the Beast Tide or it would never occur again, or perhaps, other unforeseen changes might emerge.

Considering this, Richard thought it would be best to extract the Crystal Skull from the mountain — whether for study or any other use, it would put him in an invincible position. After all, if anything adverse arose, he could simply smash the Crystal Skull with a hammer.

However, retrieving the Crystal Skull from the mountain was not an easy task.

Richard thought for a moment, took the Magic Tools he had made from Silver Rabbit Internal Organs, and walked out of the castle, down the small hill, with Pandora following behind.

As they reached the base of the mountain and passed by a pond, Richard saw a troop of animals drinking water.

Because of his blackout, Pandora hadn’t maintained order that morning, but still, most of the animals conscientiously lined up.

Well, most, except for… a stubborn wild boar.

Today, seeing no sign of Pandora, the wild boar was particularly excited. Though it arrived a bit late and was at the end of the line, that didn’t matter — it just kept pushing forward.

Rabbits? Can beat, push!

Coyotes? Can beat, push!

Squirrels? Can beat, push!

Cheetahs? Hmm, a bit tough to beat, no matter, go around and continue pushing!

The wild boar was pushing gleefully, getting closer to the pond, its mouth wide open, tongue already sticking out in anticipation. It didn’t care that it had thrown most of the line into chaos, just kept its head low and continued shoving forward.

Rock Mountain Goats? Push! White Deer? Push! Mountain Marmots? Push!

Leopards, weasels, foxes? Push, push, push!

Closer now, even closer — almost at the water’s edge.

Oh, what’s this purple thing? A Purple Mink? Or…