He compressed the air with his resonance waves to block the blood vessels and prevent bleeding. It was hard to control and stop bleeding during surgery, even with modern medicine. Although blood vessels were tied with forceps or hemostatic agents and compression methods were used, blood transfusion was required to complete the procedure. Black Mambaâs approach of blocking blood vessels with compressed air would usher in a new era of surgical operations.
Black Mambaâs hands got busy. A lot of mental power was consumed to compress the air with resonance waves, to the point that his head started buzzing. He wouldnât be able to last five minutes.
The surgery proceeded rather roughly. He shoved his fingers into the opening of the manâs muscles and raised the broken rib to connect the fractured segments. With a dislocated bone segment, applying a sudden sharp force could accidentally damage the veins, nerves, muscles, and surrounding soft tissues.
Ugh, why is this happening? Now, Iâm acting like a quack on top of a cult leader.
His specialty was murder, not to rescue people. Black Mamba grew nervous despite the assistance of his dimensional sight. His rough and inexperienced movements irritated the dislocated bones.
Grrrkâ
Crack crackâ
Professor Orifice and Professor Shernion trembled at the sound of bones joining.
âShernion, can I believe what Iâm seeing? Thereâs not a single drop of blood.â
âI canât believe it even when Iâm witnessing it myself. No wonder manager Ariba forced us to sign the confidentiality documentsâŠâ
âGod, Professor Eco from the Cardiothoracic surgery department should see this.â
âHe would be frothing at the mouth, what else?â
Two broken ribs returned to their original positions while Professor Orifice and Professor Shernion whispered away.
âSuture!â
Aishe pulled out a needle and thread from her first-aid bag. He had learned how to sew since he was nine years old. Suturing a wound was no different than sewing clothes. The only difference was the type of needles usedâstraight or curved. He sprinkled the zeolite powder well over the sutured wound and released his resonance waves. The blood that flowed out of the manâs wound turned into gel. The patientâs irregular breathing stabilized. Black Mamba sighed in relief, as one emergency had passed.
âAishe, is there anything that can replace casts?â
âCanât we support his chest and back using the gun barrel and wrap it with bandages?â
Aishe recalled her experiences as a former guerilla while bandaging the manâs injured shoulder.
âWhat? Even a healthy rib wonât be able to stand the weight of a gun barrel.â
Black Mamba stood up. There were rocks and sand, but not a single tree around. The Jeep entered his sight.
âWell, something should work.â
He sliced out the rear fender with his Vajra. Taking out the front fender would allow sand to enter the carâs engine. When he pressed down the metal plate with his billionâs water armor, the bent wrinkles smoothed out. He measured the metal plate against his chest before cutting out the measurements. He tapped the sliced metal plate several times to thin it out. He started adding intricate curves and edges.
Professor Orifice and Professor Shernion looked on at the extraordinary work in progress. Black Mamba held the improvised metal plate that was modeled after his chest and rushed toward the patient.
âHuh. Should I believe what I just saw? Is he even human?â Professor Orificeâs mouth dropped wide open. It was fortunate that there werenât any flies or bugs around at dawn.
âHeâll have to survive with one arm. How unfortunate.â Aishe worried for the patient.
Shoulder bones were thinner than what people expected. Compound fractures occurred with the impact of a large-caliber bullet. If it wasnât treated in time, the shoulder would never recover.
âItâs not that bad. The bullet is lodged in his bone, fortunately,â Black Mamba spoke as though it was not a big deal after checking the bullet wound with his dimensional sight.
By removing the foreign cavitations and bullet, the wound could heal naturally. Of course, the injury was not considered a big deal by his own standards. Black Mamba put pressure on the blood vessels with his resonance waves and went immediately to work.
âForceps!â
The forceps dug right into the wound. Professor Orifice flinched at the rough handling. The forceps pulled out a bullet with a burnt black tip. Aishe sprayed the disinfectant, sprinkled a lot more zeolite powder, then bandaged the wound.
âAishe, inject him with a tetanus shot.â
Sweat was dripping down Black Mambaâs forehead. Aishe immediately wiped off the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
âUgh, look at all this sweat. This manâs alive because he met you, Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa. Maybe he saved a village in his past life,â Aishe babbled on.
She thought it was pitiful that Ddu-bai-buru-pa was sweating because of a stranger.
âPhewâŠâ
The group whoâd been holding their breaths exhaled in unison.
âWhat do you think? The stitching could be better, but this much should be enough for him to feed himself, right?â Black Mamba rambled on as the uneasiness began to fade out.
For the first time, he had saved a life on the brink of death with his abilities. He felt proud of himself.
âMay Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa be praised! It is amazing. All the well-known surgeons of Shamu will starve at this rate.â
âYouâll earn a lot of money if you decide to practice medicine.â
âHire me as your nurse. I feel like Iâll do nothing but play around.â
The five Syriansâ faces beamed. Of course, that made sense. With no medical tools, Black Mamba had provided necessary treatment instead of temporary relief. Jamal and the rest, who had witnessed a real miracle, were bound to be ecstatic.
Professor Orifice and Professor Shernion stared at one another.
âShernion, such a person exists in this world. I doubted my own eyes when he made a cast out of the rear fender he tore off.â
âNot only is he talented, but heâs also a person with a warm heart. Letâs pretend the things we saw never happened. Thatâs what he would want too.â
âWhat else? Itâs a world where even scholars use their abilities to cheat people of their money and then make it public. That guyâs the real deal here.â
âIâm starting to like this Ddu-bai-buru-pa. The name just rolls off the tongue.â
Professor Orifice felt his heart warm. The manâs unexplained mysterious ability was secondary. However, the manâs consideration for other peopleâs lives and sincerity was what moved his heart. There was a reason why the man received absolute trust and loyalty despite his young age.
The Ombuti virus had instantly and unknowingly influenced Professor Orifice and Professor Shernion. They slapped Black Mambaâs shoulder and pounded his back as though they had been friends for a decade.
âAmazing. Ariba calls you the Angel of Death, but it seems like youâre the Angel of Blessings instead.â
âDdu-bai-buru-pa, letâs remain friends. I want to see what other miracles my friend has up his sleeves.â
âOkay. No idiot would refuse to be friends with PhD holders from the Grande Ăcole. Itâd be an honor.â Black Mamba smiled.
He liked these middle-aged men who were laid-back and unpretentious.
âLook at that, these friends are punishing master,â Aishe whispered into Ahmadâs ear.
âKekeke! Letâs just say theyâre platonic friends.â Ahmad laughed softly.
âPunishâ was a hilarious word to describe their masterâs situation. Who could punish Ddu-bai-buru-pa! It was impossible. As a servant, he felt proud to serve a just master.
âIbrahim, this person was attacked by robbers. We should raise our guard.â
âIs there a need? Sir Ddu-bai-buru-paâs with us,â Jamal drawled at Aisheâs suggestion.
âWe should do our jobs ourselves. I heard that the caravans in the Sahara were attacked by many robbers for a while. The remnants of the FROLINATs who Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa destroyed would have become robbers by now. Itâs obvious what those b*stards would do since theyâre accustomed to shooting.â Ibrahim agreed with Aishe.
âAccording to sir Ombuti, there are over 100,000 FROLINATs. Chad will be loud for a while.â
âWait, the robbers are coming over themselves.â
An eerie smile appeared on Black Mambaâs face. The wind carried over the sound of running camels, the smell of gunpowder, and the foul odor coming from the people living in the desert.
âHow many are there?â
âTheyâre three kilometers away from the north-west. About 40 to 50 people are heading over here.â
âItâs too late to avoid them then.â
âRight. Theyâre probably tracking this man down.â
âThese unlucky b*stards!â Ibrahim clicked his tongue.
Most likely, the robbers couldnât give up the 10 camels. Their greed had ultimately given them a ticket straight to Hell.
âWeâll take care of them, sir,â Jamal said as he jammed a magazine into his Barrett.
âI trust all of you, but the difference in number may result in an unexpected casualty. I donât want to piece back my familyâs bones and stitch back their skin.â
Black Mamba took out a Dragunov from his backpack.
Clackâ
Clack clackâ
He assembled the gun barrel, body, scope, and magazine in a single breath.
âHuâŠâ A strange groan was heard from Jamal as he slung the Barrett over his shoulder.
Jamal had witnessed Black Mambaâs god-level sniping several times. Ddu-bai-buru-pa was someone who had wiped out 1,000s of people in Kaparja Valley. Once he held the Dragunov, be it 40 or 400 people, they were all bound to go to Hell.
âWe should greet our guests upon their arrival.â
Whooshâ
Black Mamba disappeared. Five seconds later, he appeared at a sniping point 100 meters away.
âYou donât need to help him?â Professor Orifice asked, worried.
Professor Shernionâs expression grew stiff too. The group of Sahara robbers heâd only heard of made their appearance. He found the guard leadersâ composure rather unsettling.
âSir Ddu-bai-buru-pa is the Mahdi,â Jamal said as though it was an obvious fact, like how there were four legs to a table.
âHuh, there seems to be a lot in number. Do you think he will be okay?â
âYouâll know, professor. Just keep watching.â Ibrahim smiled widely.
The clouds hanging over the eastern horizon turned light orange. The cold left, and the howling wind calmed down. Black Mamba buried his body halfway into the sniping point and glared at whatâs ahead of him.
Like a bunch of hay thrown across a threshing yard, there was an endless field of reflective sand with sparse grass. He could see a herd of camels moving along a red-brown sandstone column, which looked like the colonnades of a temple. At a distance of 1,000 meters, Black Mamba stared coldly at the group of robbers who were closing in. Litham covered the robbersâ faces, and they were armed with rifles and RPG-7s.
The group of robbers was referred to as the fear of the desert. Black Mamba couldnât find a reason to let them live. A dry gunshot rang as soon as he saw the camelsâ eyelashes. The person on the last camel had his head blown apart.
Clang clang clangâ
Clang clang clangâ
Three consecutive shots rang. It was the three-tap firing sequence skill that only Black Mamba was capable of.
Black Mamba could clear one and a half exposed moving targets per second with his sniping ability. From the back, the robbers falling off their camels looked like dominos. By the time those at the front realized they were being targeted, over half of them had been wiped out.
âThereâs a sniper!â
âScatter!â
The robbers shouted, but they couldnât see Black Mamba firing away from 600 meters beyond. Several remaining robbers had scattered and fled. The unforgiving bullets chased after and shattered their heads from the back like watermelons exploding. The last surviving robber dropped his gun. With cavitation on his wrist, he couldnât hold onto the gun any longer. Soon, blood splattered from both of his ankles. The gunshots stopped in 40 seconds.
âHow simple! Those pitiful b*stards, kekeke.â Jamal laughed once the gunshots stopped.
âWasnât that too fast? There wasnât even a single counterattack.â
Ibrahim worried about close combat. It would take too long to fight if the enemy chose to hide instead.
âAt least 50 shots were heard. Master is someone who doesnât waste a single bullet. Ahmad, take care of those who are still alive. Master must have left at least one around.â
âIâll administer first aid before they die.â Ahmad disappeared immediately.
âJamal, what happened?â Professor Orifice asked Jamal. He looked very nervous.
âMaster treats humans like humans, and animals like animals,â Jamal spoke in riddles.
âHa, well, I see thereâs nothing more but a cult leader here. I shall not interfere at all.â Professor Orifice clicked his tongue and stopped talking.
âSir Ddu-bai-buru-pa is coming.â
Ibrahim pointed to his right. Black Mamba was walking over with the Dragunov slung over his shoulder.
âHe doesnât look that happy.â Aishe frowned, leaving creases on her forehead.
That swagger only appeared when he wasnât happy. Black Mamba was definitely unhappy. Although he was used to killing, he was never emotionally detached.
âThere were 42. I left one alive.â
âAhmad went to get him.â
âGet ready to depart. This guyâs still not awake. Do you think we gave him too much morphine?â Black Mamba looked down at the patient.
Jamal checked the patientâs pulse and breathing.
âItâs because of the bleeding. His condition isnât serious. Heâll wake up by the time we reach Navar.â
âSergeant, how much time do we have left until we reach Navar?â Black Mamba asked the mercenary.
âAround 35 kilometers, sir.â
âWeâre almost there. Leave the patient on my seat.â
âNo, sir! Iâll get down. I need to drag the camels over anyway.â Jamal jumped from his seat.
He couldnât let a stranger take his masterâs seat.
âIf weâre going to help, we should help until the end. Buddha said those who want to help should help with everything they have.â Black Mamba jumped onto the leading camelâs back.
âStart!â
Dududuâ
Once the leading camel started running, the rest of the camels followed.
âUgh, what should I do about this?â Jamal hovered around him like an ant without antennae.
âWhoo, he cleans up well too,â Ahmad whispered.
All of them had their heads shattered. Dozens of people with white fluids leaking from their brains were scattered here and there.
Over 40 camels, which the robbers had ridden on, wandered around the scene. This meant that the robbers couldnât shoot a single bullet or let out a scream. Although camels were sensitive to sound and light, it wasnât the case for smell and shock.
Ahmad found the target easily. The b*stard whose head was still intact was the only survivor.
âOi, you between the corpses, come out!â
There was only silence.
âIf you donât come out, Iâll have your head smashed too.â