Chapter 62 - Blood Typing

Richard extracted several drops of blood from Gelo’s wound and dripped them onto a clean silver plate. Looking up at the nobles, he spoke, “Next, I need to take a drop of blood from each of you to mix with Gelo’s. This is because Gelo currently has very little blood in his body, so we must find someone who can give him a blood transfusion. By injecting some blood into his body, we can restore his health and save him. Each of you will need to undergo this test.”Blood transfusion?

Not only is letting blood not sufficient, but a transfusion is also needed?

Surely this is heresy, surely the work of a wizard’s spell!

However, this was the time to show loyalty.

“Every one of us can give blood to the prince!” someone in the crowd exclaimed, followed by many others in agreement, “Wizard, if you can save Prince Gelo, you can use our blood.”

Richard shook his head and said, “It’s not that anyone will do, only those who meet the requirements.”

“Why?” someone in the crowd asked.

“The reason is quite simple,” Richard exhaled, “Blood is not all the same. Generally, blood is not just a simple red liquid; it contains many other substances. If some of these substances don’t match, the blood can produce… well, a toxicity, so blood transfusions cannot be done carelessly.”

This was Richard’s attempt to explain in terms that the laypeople around him could understand, after all, they weren’t the maids, craftsmen, and soldiers once in the Palace.

In the Palace, no matter how complex the explanation Richard gave, the maids, craftsmen, and soldiers would try their best to understand, fostering some basic scientific thought. From this, he could select some of the more promising individuals for specific training.

So, if he were in the Palace, facing some common soldiers or craftsmen, Richard would provide more detail, discussing the components of the blood, explaining things like plasma and blood cells to gauge their reactions.

When addressing maids, he would explain even more, discussing aspects like the antigenic properties of red blood cells (agglutinogens). He would detail the division of blood types like ABO, the agglutinogens present in type A blood, the agglutinins in serum, and which type of blood can be transfused without causing agglutination, thereby avoiding blood vessel occlusion and hemolysis, and so on. Even if the maids didn’t understand, it was fine; remembering the information was still beneficial.

But now, faced with a group of unfamiliar nobles who held no potential for cultivation or utility, Richard couldn’t be bothered to explain the scientific knowledge in depth. Just a superficial explanation was sufficient.

However, even with such a simple explanation, everyone was still stunned and overwhelmed with doubt after hearing Richard’s words.

“Is blood toxic?”

“How can blood be toxic?”

“Isn’t blood just blood? Why would it contain other things?”

“Blood…”

This was the disadvantage of not elaborating in detail. Without the support of a complete system, any concept that exceeded common knowledge immediately aroused more uncertainty and curiosity. In such cases, directly presenting a comprehensive theory, regardless of whether the audience understood, would have undoubtedly silenced their queries.

But at this point, Richard did not wish to waste more time on explanations, and instead said directly, “You don’t need to understand why the blood is toxic, you just need to know that there’s a reason for what I’m doing. If you don’t want Gelo to die, do as I say. Of course, if you wish for his death, then pretend I never said anything.”

“Um…”

The crowd looked at each other uneasily, and eventually, they stepped forward, starting the blood testing.

Suddenly, Richard thought of something and asked aloud, “Right, is there anyone among you who is closely related to Gro? I’m talking about immediate and collateral relatives within three generations, such as siblings, cousins, and the like.”

Everyone was silent for a second before they all turned to look at one person in the crowd.

The focus of everyone’s gaze was a short-statured noble who struggled to maintain a calm exterior as he looked at Richard and said, “I am, what about it?”

“You don’t need to have your blood tested,” Richard said, pausing before adding confidently, “You’re excluded.”

“Ah, but… why?” The noble clearly didn’t understand why he, being a distant cousin, was singled out as an exception.

“Do you really want me to explain?”

“Uh, well…” The noble thought for a moment, realizing that even if Richard did explain, he wouldn’t understand, and finally shook his head, “Never mind.”

“You’re very smart,” Richard acknowledged.

“Uh.”

In truth, even if Richard had explained, the noble indeed wouldn’t have understood; it involved biological knowledge much more complex than blood types.

Due to the misleading nature of many modern Earth movies and TV shows, many people believe that when someone is sick and needs a blood transfusion, they can use blood from a closely related family member with the same blood type, preferably direct relatives like children or parents.

It’s believed that this demonstrates parental love or filial piety. More importantly, through such a story device, it might be revealed that the beloved child from many years past isn’t actually the biological offspring, or that the nurse is the real daughter—creating melodramatic plot twists.

However, those who dare to perform blood transfusions among close relatives demonstrate more bravery than wisdom. Modern Earth medicine has proven that blood transfusions between relatives are extremely risky, particularly between direct relatives transfusing untreated, fresh blood, which can result in graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Once this occurs, the mortality rate is as high as 99.9%, rendering rescue efforts nearly pointless.

This is because the blood usually contains lymphocytes from the donor. Normally, when a patient receives a transfusion, their immune system quickly identifies and eliminates foreign lymphocytes that don’t match their own. However, when the blood comes from a close relative, its genetic similarity renders it difficult to recognize, effectively making it appear harmless—a pseudo form of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

This allows the foreign lymphocytes to survive and proliferate within the patient, attacking various tissues and organs, causing symptoms like fever, rashes, diarrhea, lymph node enlargement, and hemolytic anemia, ultimately leading to death.

Richard didn’t want to take a gamble on Gro’s luck. He preferred not to set everything else up perfectly only to have it all ruined by GVHD caused by a close relative’s blood transfusion; it would be better not to start at all.

Exhaling softly, Richard turned his attention to the silver platter.

By now, the nobles had finished their blood tests, and the results weren’t promising. Gro’s blood type appeared to be the relatively rare AB, which, according to modern Earth statistics, only comprises 7% of the population, meaning there was only one match among those present.

But it wasn’t the worst-case scenario, as there are more complex blood type systems beyond ABO, such as the Rh system, Hh/Mumbai system, Sub-Mumbai system, P system, and Mi Tianbao system.

The rare Ph type is known as “panda blood,” with Rh-negative AB individuals accounting for only a 0.034% prevalence rate. Even rarer is the p blood type within the P system (P1, P2, Pk1, Pk2, and p), which has a prevalence of less than 0.001%, or one in a hundred thousand.

If that were the case, Richard would have to admit Gro was simply unlucky.

Fortunately, Gro wasn’t that unlucky yet—there was still hope.

Next, it was time to begin preparations for the transfusion.