After bidding farewell to Amiya, Flandre Scarlet walked out of the Command Center, her small hand warmly enclosed in Remilia's.
"You might be a bit tired over the next few days," Remilia said softly, squeezing her fingers. "Remember to only do what you can handle."
Flandre nodded obediently. In truth, the surgical procedures themselves didn't put any mental stress on her; the real source of exhaustion was having to sit under the glaring shadowless lamps for hours on end.
By noon, the finalized surgical schedule was posted, and Flandre was summoned directly to the Medical Department.
Eirin Yagokoro was already waiting for her. Without preamble, she set a thick stack of medical files right in front of the young girl.
"I have prioritized the list of Rhodes Island's critically ill Operators based on the urgency of their conditions," Eirin explained. "Furthermore... I spoke with Closure. According to her joint assessment with the Engineering Department, it will take roughly a week of continuous overtime to construct a mechanical device capable of replicating your precision."
Eirin looked down at her. "So we will remain aboard for one week. During this time, you will spend nearly every waking hour in the operating theater. Do you have any objections?"
Flandre shook her head without hesitation. "No problem! Flandre can do it!"
A subtle curl appeared at the corner of Eirin's lips. She naturally knew the little girl was more than capable. When it came to sheer endurance, who on Terra could compare to her? After all, Flandre had spent centuries tucked away in the basement of the Scarlet Devil Mansion with only books for company—one could say she was even more of a shut-in than Kaguya-hime. If she could maintain her composure through those isolated years, a single week of structured work was nothing.
"Very well. The file on top is today's primary patient," Eirin said, tapping the folder. "Review the condition brief; we enter the surgical suite in half an hour."
Flandre picked up the file and flipped through it. The patient was a critically ill Operator around forty years old—an age that would be considered the prime of youth on Terra, where normal lifespans exceeded a century, were it not for the ravages of late-stage Oripathy. Extensive Originium crystalline structures already covered large areas of the patient's skin, making this a complex joint operation involving external lithotripsy and structural tissue reconstruction.
Half an hour passed in a flash. After undergoing rigorous triple-stage decontamination, Flandre stepped into the prepared theater and comfortably settled onto her high stool.
Eirin took her place directly opposite the operating table, and an array of specialized medical machinery was wheeled into position.
This procedure was significantly more intricate than the first. Flandre needed to meticulously 'grind down' the pre-existing surface crystal formations while simultaneously executing targeted Destruction on newly emerging Originium nodes nearby.
Yet, Flandre adapted with astonishing speed, her movements growing visibly faster and more fluid as the operation progressed.
Two hours later, the maiden surgery concluded in resounding success. The visible Originium clusters on the patient's body surface were halved, and internal blood-crystal density dropped by a full third.
Following a brief thirty-minute break, the second operation commenced.
Around midday, Aya Shameimaru arrived outside the Rhodes Island landship alongside several Tengu representatives from Youkai Mountain.
After clearing identity verification, the Tengu delegation boarded the vessel and met with Remilia. Upon learning of the cooperative agreement reached between the Scarlet Devil Mansion and Rhodes Island, Aya nodded in understanding—waiting a few extra days was no trouble at all.
Curious about the groundbreaking surgeries Eirin and Flandre were performing, Aya secured permission to watch the live feed from the observation monitors alongside Remilia.
"My, my... this scene looks awfully familiar," Aya teased softly, leaning in. "It's exactly like when you used to peep on little Flandre back home!"
Remilia rolled her eyes, giving the Tengu reporter a sharp side-eye. What did she mean, 'peeping'? Flandre was her beloved younger sister and a minor! As her elder sister and legal guardian, keeping a watchful eye on her to ensure she wasn't led astray by bad influences—how could anyone call that peeping?
"Still, Eirin..." Aya began, leaning against the railing. She had originally intended to point out that someone of Eirin's godly medical intellect could surely cure Oripathy directly without going through such elaborate mechanical trouble. But catching the stern, warning glare from Remilia, Aya wisely swallowed her words and dropped the subject.
Inside the surgical suite, Flandre's execution grew increasingly masterful. Her fair, slender hands moved with mesmerizing speed and flawless rhythm.
However, she noted that almost every patient brought into the room presented a completely unique challenge. As the days rolled on, the cases grew progressively more severe. While the initial patients suffered mostly from surface-level lesions, subsequent Operators had dense Originium structures growing deep within their internal organs.
These complex cases required simultaneous interventions from multiple angles, forcing Flandre to coordinate her Destruction seamlessly with the actions of various primary surgeons.
Yet practice made perfect. Over the course of the week, Flandre's surgical synergy reached a level of absolute mastery.
When the final surgery was officially pronounced a success, Flandre let out a long, satisfied breath.
Dr. Kal'tsit, who had observed the entire week-long marathon, was deeply amazed by the young girl's mental fortitude. Even a seasoned adult Operator would find performing repetitive, high-precision tasks under strict medical conditions for seven consecutive days emotionally draining. Yet Flandre had endured the entire week without a single complaint, and her eyes showed no signs of psychological burnout.
By the end of the week, the surrounding medical team was utterly numb with awe.
Stretching her arms high above her head, Flandre stepped out of the operating suite. Down the corridor, she could hear Closure loudly complaining about the sheer volume of diagnostic parameters she had been forced to process, requiring constant, real-time recalibrations of the new machinery.
"It can't be helped," Dr. Atro reasoned, her voice exhausted yet full of vibrant energy. "Normally, collecting these baseline parameters would take months, but since Miss Flandre and her group are leaving, we had to compress the schedule. We couldn't exactly force them to stay!"
Though visibly worn out from the grueling week, Atro's eyes burned with profound hope. Through these surgeries, she had witnessed a monumental leap forward in Oripathy treatment. Even if this method couldn't completely eradicate the disease, it represented a revolutionary breakthrough for late-stage care. Previously, physicians could only watch helplessly as critical patients slowly succumbed to organ failure. Now, reducing a critical case to a manageable, moderate risk meant buying precious time—giving patients a genuine chance to survive until further treatments were developed.
According to Warfarin's theoretical models, provided a critical patient didn't suffer an acute flare-up, three consecutive sessions using this extraction methodology could reduce their condition to a mild status that barely interfered with daily physical activity.
And now, with Closure having finalized the complete dataset from Flandre's performances, Rhodes Island would soon be capable of performing these procedures independently once the mechanical apparatus was completed.
Sensing a gaze upon her, Closure looked up and saw Flandre offering a cute, cheerful wink.
"Little Flandre! Thank you so much for your hard work!" Closure called out, waving energetically.
Flandre responded with a bright smile. "Hello, Closure! I saw you running diagnostic tests outside every day. How is the data collection coming along? Is it enough?"
Her tone held no trace of arrogance, only genuine, earnest care.
Closure felt a wave of warmth. Reaching out, she affectionately ruffled Flandre's hair. "It's more than enough! The data you left us over these past few days will keep my engineering team busy for a long time. You don't have to push yourself anymore!"
"That's great!" Flandre beamed. "If you ever need help with anything else, you can write me a letter! Here is my address in Lungmen—or you can just mail it directly to the Guard Department!"