Chapter 834
Chapter 834
For the next few days, Shen Lang returned to his primary profession: saving lives and healing the sick.
He now had a clear idea of the Amazon Queendom’s population. The country had, at most, thirty thousand people, with about fifteen thousand adult female warriors.
Fortunately, the number of gout sufferers in the entire tribe was less than Shen Lang had anticipated, only about a thousand. This was actually quite normal. A one-in-three chance of contracting gout was a lifetime probability.
This tribe was far too proud. When a warrior’s gout became so severe that she lost her combat ability, she would go into self-imposed exile, finding an uninhabited sea region to die in silence. Moreover, if the disease progressed to the point of semi-paralysis, she would invariably take her own life.
Thus, before Shen Lang’s arrival, countless people must have committed suicide.
Spending several days and nights, Shen Lang personally treated the hundred or so most severe cases. He was truly like an angel, saving the masses.
He used up all the medicine he had brought, but Amazon Island was rich in medicinal herbs, which were even more effective than those grown outside. The island even had colchicine.
Under Shen Lang’s guidance, the Amazonian priestesses learned how to extract colchicine. Shen Lang taught them many prescriptions, even personally guiding them through the process.
In just a few days, he became the most noble person in the entire Amazon tribe and Princess Dora's closest friend.
Of course, Princess Dora worried that Shen Lang was a bad influence on her. Under his tutelage, she had learned to apply makeup, care for her skin, and even perm her hair. What would happen if she, who already drank and had a perm, also started smoking? (If there were a stuffy old teacher here, she would have been singled out long ago. —Author's Note)
Princess Dora had never met anyone as interesting as Shen Lang in her life. He seemed capable of anything, knowledgeable about everything.
Unfortunately, every time Princess Dora invited her to the hot springs, Miss Yongnana would politely decline. Soon after, however, she seemed to grow curious and asked Princess Dora to take her to see the great bathhouse and the mountain with the hot springs.
***
Shen Lang had more or less completed the miracle he had performed for the Amazon tribe, leaving the rest of the treatment to the priestesses of the Amazon Queendom.
Had he saved the Amazons from their curse?
Only halfway. The most crucial part of dealing with gout was dietary control, so Shen Lang prescribed a suitable diet for them.
However, the food on this island was too monotonous, with beef and seafood being the most abundant ingredients. Furthermore, they needed to maintain their formidable combat strength, which meant they had to continue consuming beef and seafood.
Nevertheless, Shen Lang listed out low-purine foods for them. Completely severing the Amazon tribe from their suffering would be impossible unless they relocated their entire base.
He had achieved half of his goal. At the very least, Shen Lang had become the benefactor of the Amazon Queendom and had created a great miracle.
So, was Shen Lang’s plan a success?
No, he was only halfway there.
The Amazon Queen now owed him a great debt and had previously declared that she would grant any of Shen Lang’s requests, as long as it was within her power and did not violate the will of her ancestors.
So what did Shen Lang need now?
He intended to conquer the entire Amazon Queen's tribe and obtain this incredibly powerful army.
However, the ancestral will of the Amazon Queendom decreed that all its people must never take a single step off their land, except to procreate, and must protect the pyramid for all eternity.
Shen Lang suspected this pyramid was the source of the Amazon warriors’ power. Why was their bloodline so close to that of ancient humans? The answer likely lay in the fact that this pyramid fortress, the Amazon Queendom itself, was part of some ancient ruins.
In any case, the debt he was owed was not enough to win the loyalty of the entire Amazon Queendom. He probably couldn't even ask the queen to lend him a hundred warriors.
But treating the gout was merely the first step of Shen Lang’s plan. And the goal of that first step was to win the favor and trust of the Amazon tribe.
***
Shen Lang was secretly summoned by the queen. Only then did he learn her name: Eda Liez.
"Miss Yongnana, we owe you a great debt. So, what can I do for you?"
"Your Majesty, saving lives and healing the sick is my calling. If I were to expect a reward for this, it would go against my original intentions."
The way Queen Eda looked at Shen Lang grew even gentler.
"You are truly a noble person. But, Miss Yongnana, I would like to ask you a very personal question."
"Please speak."
"I am thirty-seven years old this year."
Shen Lang was startled by her words. She truly didn't look it. Queen Eda appeared to be twenty-six or twenty-seven at most, but she possessed an elegance far beyond women of that age.
*She still hasn't borne any descendants at that age?*
He knew this because he had seen the red dot on her arm. The Amazon Queendom revered strength, so the queen's throne could only be secured by possessing the strongest martial prowess.
The ultimate determinant of one's martial skill was, of course, their bloodline. Her Majesty the Queen's bloodline was, without question, a golden one, just like Big Dummy and Qiu Yao'er.
In terms of martial arts proficiency, she was astonishingly high, far surpassing Big Dummy and even the original Qiu Yao'er.
Having begun her martial arts training at the age of three or four, she was now, at thirty-seven, one of the foremost powerhouses of the New World. In contrast, Qiu Yao'er had spent most of her time in the Great Yan Empire as a homebody, yet she was still surprisingly strong.
With a bloodline like Queen Eda's, it was only natural that she should have procreated earlier. According to the traditions of the Amazon tribe, the daughter she bore would have already been fifteen.
"You must have noticed that I have not procreated. And that I have made Dora the second in line to the throne."
Shen Lang nodded. Although Princess Dora was very strong, she was not quite fit to inherit the throne.
"The Liez family has held the Amazon throne for over three hundred years. If I have no heir, the line will likely end with me. Dora is only ten years younger than I am, so it would be very difficult for her to inherit the throne. I would most likely have to find the girl with the most outstanding bloodline in the entire tribe and name her as my successor. Of course, that is nothing. But finding a woman with a bloodline identical to mine is nearly impossible. At least, I have yet to find one."
Strong bloodlines were mostly inherited; mutations were extremely rare. Therefore, for another person with a golden bloodline to be born in the Amazon Queendom, Queen Eda had to give birth herself.
"But I cannot bear children."
Shen Lang asked in surprise.
"Your Majesty, have you tried?"
"You mean finding an exceptional man to procreate with? No, I have not tried. You are a great physician, so you must know what the most important part of a woman conceiving a child is, correct? One must ovulate to conceive. Among the women of our Amazon Queendom, all those who turn twenty-two travel to the Island of Borrowing Seeds for a month, where they each choose the man they fancy most to procreate. Everyone calculates the timing precisely, and each person stays on the island for ten days."
Shen Lang understood the queen's explanation perfectly. It meant they calculated their ovulation period precisely before seeking a man. It was just like the Amazon warriors in Greek mythology who traveled to a certain place in the Caucasus to continue their lineage.
Queen Eda continued, "Our most outstanding female priestess helps all the women determine their cycles. She also confirms for us whether we are ovulating each time. But to this day, I have never successfully ovulated."
*Huh? An infertile queen?*
For any woman, that was a cruel fate, but for the Amazon Queendom, the queen's infertility was a massive loss. It meant they were likely to lose their next strongest queen.
This country had to be ruled by the strongest queen; otherwise, it would walk the path of decline. This was, therefore, a solemn matter concerning the fate of the Amazon nation.
"Miss Yongnana, are you proficient in that area as well?"
Ugh! Was Shen Lang proficient in matters of infertility? He was decent enough.
But some cases were extremely difficult to treat, leaving him completely helpless. Mulan's case had been like that. Back then, Shen Lang had tried every method on Mulan but couldn't cure her infertility, nor could he find its cause.
But after the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion examined her, her infertility was cured. That was because her case was related to her bloodline.
Of course, there were cases of infertility Shen Lang could treat. Roughly a third of infertility cases were caused by blocked fallopian tubes. If the queen's case was like that, Shen Lang could treat it, but in other cases, he would be helpless.
So, Shen Lang hoped that Queen Eda's infertility was a problem he could solve.
"Your Majesty, let me give it a try. Please lie down."
"Do I need to take off my clothes and armor?"
Shen Lang's heart trembled at her words, but he shook his head.
"That won't be necessary for now."
The attire of the Amazon warriors was all the same. The queen also wore a revealing outfit with a breastplate, armored shorts, greaves that ran from ankle to knee, and vambraces that were slightly longer than the metal bracelets Wonder Woman wore on her arms, as well as shoes. Her thighs, waist, and forearms were all exposed. The only differences from other warriors were the crown she wore and her golden helmet.
As Queen Eda lay down, Shen Lang began to examine her abdomen. First, he used his X-ray vision to scan her abdomen.
The best way to examine the fallopian tubes was, of course, a hysterosalpingo-contrast-sonography. But he didn't have the equipment for such an examination now.
Fortunately, Shen Lang's X-ray eyes were linked to a supercomputer, allowing for clearer magnification, and he could make out the general situation even without contrast dye.
After two detailed examinations, Shen Lang was certain that Queen Eda's fallopian tubes were blocked. It was a case of proximal tubal occlusion.
The treatment for this was the simplest. All he needed to do was perform a procedure using a guidewire to clear the blockage. He didn't even need to make an incision in the abdomen; the procedure could be done by inserting a hand into the cervical canal.
"Can it be treated? Can I procreate?"
"It is possible. However, I need to find suitable materials and use them to perform a procedure to clear the blockage. Moreover, this treatment process is quite unseemly and may compromise Your Majesty's purity to some extent."
"That doesn't matter. Although I have not experienced that act, I do not care for such matters at all."
"Very well, then. I will need two assistants for the treatment. Please prepare them, Your Majesty. I will proceed as soon as I have the materials perfectly prepared."
Queen Eda looked at Shen Lang as he spoke and said, as if making a declaration.
"If you truly cure me, you will have bestowed a great virtue upon the entire Amazon Queendom."