Seraina pouted unhappily, casting antidote spells one after another.
Elder Elwin sat cross-legged by the water, his fingers resting on some long grass, his eyes closed in meditation. The grass beside him swayed slightly, as if communicating with the surrounding nature.
Bernard, having nothing better to do, had already squatted down to help the miners break stones.
Iâm sorry, but Garrettâs ability to read expressions wasnât advanced enough to decipher what Apaâs facial expression meant.
However, the glow on the Silver Moon Deer as it cast antidote spells was unmistakable. The miners, treated by it, were full of gratitude, some with tears in their eyes, had already kneeled before the giant deer.
Clearly, Apa was the MVP this time, outshining even Garrett as the most effective healer.
Then, the most challenging task was left to Garrett:
How to teach the targeted antidote spell for cadmium to Seraina and his teacher?
In other words, how could their antidote spells identify cadmium?
âGarrett, so this cadmium you mentioned, what does it look like? Can you show me? I canât figure it out just from the papers!â
After Seraina had thrown a round of antidote spells, she hopped over to ask. Garrett grimaced, propping his left arm with his right elbow, his right hand rubbing his temple:
âDonât rush me, let me thinkâŠâ
The simplest way, of course, would be to give them a piece of metallic cadmium, even a pinch of powder would do. Unfortunately, Garrett didnât have any on hand.
Buy it from the council? Write to the mage who discovered cadmium?... Itâs not that he couldnât afford it, but the back and forth would take at least a couple of weeks, delaying things for so longâŠ
Seraina was going to explode!
So, synthesize it himself? Extract the cadmium element from the waste mines in front of him?
How to extract it?
High school chemistry was too hard, they didnât teach it, and college inorganic chemistry considered it too simple, so it wasnât discussedâŠ
Glancing sideways, Miss Silver Dragon hadnât exploded yet. The silver-haired girlâs cheeks were puffed, looking a bit wronged as she stared at him:
âGarrett, so that cadmium⊠what does it look like in blood? Can it be removed together?â
The appearance in blood⊠Garrett pondered for a moment, finally understanding what Seraina was asking. Wait, was the antidote spell removing cadmium as an element, or the molecules it formed inside the body?
Ah, he remembered. If itâs the molecules formed inside the body, cadmium combines with substances within the human body to form metallothionein, commonly referred to as MTâŠ
As an emergency surgeon, Garrett remembered this internal medicine stuff because a student had filled a song with lyrics about metallothionein. It was popular in the department for a while, everyone was singing it.
But the molecular structure of metallothionein was something⊠forgive Garrett, he wasnât one of those big-shot molecular biologists, he really had no idea.
âWait, when he targeted cadmium for detoxification, he directly locked onto the cadmium element! He hadnât even considered dismantling the cadmium element, wondering what would happen to the remaining parts of the metallothioneinâŠ
Hmm, theoretically, that protein molecule should denature and then be expelled naturally. Considering the low amount of cadmium in the human body, measured in micrograms in blood and urine, the denatured protein molecules shouldnât pose much of a threat to the human body.
So the question came back to the original point. How to target the cadmium element?
âEven a bit of cadmium oxide or cadmium sulfide would be helpful!
Garrett frowned and racked his brain. A gust of wind blew, and Apa suddenly snorted loudly, nudging him unexpectedly. Caught off guard, Garrett nearly rolled into the creek:
âApa! What are you doing?â
The Silver Moon Deer grunted and pawed at the ground. Garrett, supporting himself with one hand on a rock and grasping the deerâs antler with the other, finally climbed up. What was this about? Work done? Or was it angry?
He followed Apaâs gaze to the side, only to see a puff of yellow smoke rising from the distant workshop roof, drifting and spreading throughout the valley.
One could imagine, on rainy days or when the air was still, this dust would settle to the ground, contaminating the soil and water sourcesâŠ
No wonder Apa was angry. High-level magical beasts of the wastelands, with healing abilities, were innately sensitive to the natural environment. To see the natural environment spoiled like this, Apa probably wanted to dismantle the workshopâ
Provided it clearly recognized that
the workshop was the chief polluter.
What did this workshop produce again?
Such questions, Garrett decisively called the foreman to inquire. Though the foreman knew only the basics, it could still point Garrett in the right direction:
âIt seems, it seems they make ingots⊠lead ores, zinc ores, something like that. Oh, and dyes too? A few times coming back from there, I saw white and yellow powders on the roadâŠâ
Hmm⊠Garrett rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Lead seemed to be a famous dye, previously known as âlead powderâ, regardless of which compound of lead it was, it definitely contained lead;
For zinc, zinc oxide was white, which he had previously messed with for sunscreen magic, one of the powders used was zinc oxide;
Yellow⊠what dye is yellow? Sulfur? Anything else?
âLead the way, letâs have a look.â Garrett ordered without hesitation. The foreman grimaced, âPlease donât⊠itâs very dirty over there⊠the smell is awful⊠just call the people over, no need to go there speciallyâŠâ
âIâd rather see for myself. Some things canât be explained clearly.â
It turned out, the combination of high-ranking priest + high-ranking mage + high-ranking magical beast was unbeatable.
Garrett walked to the workshop door under a bubble spell, and before he even settled, the workshop door swiftly opened, and a foreman dressed in a short coat and high boots, his chest buttons gleaming, quickly walked out.
âHonored spellcasters gracing us with their presence, my apologies for not greeting you from afar, forgive me, forgive me. Honored ones, may I ask what brings you here?â
âWeâre here to see your products. If they meet our needs, we might buy a bit.â
The workshop foreman stiffened. He wanted to say âOur workshop deals in bulk, no retail,â but looking at the group before him, he didnât dare. Please, these were high-ranking spellcasters!
Not to mention buying a bit, even if they took a bag, as long as they didnât dismantle the workshop, the boss probably wouldnât do anything⊠Although he was a warrior himself, he hadnât even reached the knight level, let alone beat themâŠ
Garrett easily stepped into the workshopâs goods warehouse. Boxes and bottles of various products were dazzling before his eyes:
Lead ingots;
Zinc ingots;
Zinc oxide (Garrett thought it should be zinc oxide);
Dispersed yellowâŠ
âSo whatâs this stuff?â
Garrett stared at the bottle of yellow powder, straining his brain. The stuff was between lemon yellow and orange-yellow, sometimes tinged with a bit orange-red, looking impure. His intuition told him this was related to cadmium, so what exactly was it?
Cadmium oxide?
No, cadmium sulfide!
It was cadmium sulfide!
Displaying such a light yellow, it should be cadmium sulfide, also known as cadmium yellow, a widely used dye for coloring enamel, glass, and ceramics⊠Yes, that was it!
Garrett pinched a little bit with his fingers. Closing his eyes slightly, he locked his mental power on the powder in his hand, using it as a reference to cast the antidote spell. A light yellow glow gently fell, shining on a young assistant following them:
âHow do you feel?â
The young assistant burped loudly, expelling a foul breath. Then, he moved his shoulders, moved his arms, jumped a few times on the spot, his face full of surprise:
âIt feels much lighter! Sir, what did you do?â
Garrett smiled and remained silent. He handed the bottle of cadmium sulfide to Seraina:
âTry using this as a casting reference?â
Seraina took it half-doubtfully. She left the workshop, found a miner, drew blood, cast an antidote spell, then drew blood again. Two identification spells fell, and her slender eyebrows tightly furrowed:
âGarrett, itâs not very effective! Thereâs some effect, but itâs not good, the cadmium in the blood has only reduced, not completely removed!â
âemmm let me thinkâŠâ
Part of the cadmium element combined into metallothionein, part combined with hemoglobin. So, did they still need to produce a cadmium ingot?
The workshop foreman watched her running in and out, his face tense, his heart aching. Garrett, smiling, tossed him a gold coin:
âWhat, canât bear it? Weâre not leaving without paying⊠Besides, youâre poisoned too, donât you need me to treat you later?â
With the gold coin in hand, the workshop foreman breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately became anxious again. His eyes wide and round, he opened his mouth to inquire, but Garrett had already pointed to the mining foreman beside him:
âExplain the poisoning to him. Hmm, let me think, how
to get this stuff outâŠâ
Cadmium yellow⊠cadmium yellow⊠cadmium sulfide⊠cadmium sulfide should dissolve in⊠dissolve inâŠ
Thatâs right, according to its properties, it should dissolve in acid! Then the properties of cadmium are more stable than zinc, maybe try replacing it with zinc to seeâŠ
âBernard! Help me drag a table over here! âBring some dilute sulfuric acid, and some zinc too!â
Fortunately, the workshop had all these items. At Garrettâs command, the workshop foreman, confirming his own poisoning, had already driven the assistants into a frenzy:
âDid you hear that? Hurry up and get the items for the mage sir! Dilute sulfuric acid! Zinc ingots! Move quickly! If you dawdle any longer Iâll fire you! âMage sir, is this big zinc ingot enough?... Just a small piece will do? Someone! Quick, bring the scissors over!â
Cadmium yellow dissolved in the dilute sulfuric acid, forming a beaker of pale yellow solution. Garrett carefully snipped the zinc into small grains, tossing them into the beaker, constantly stirring. Amitabha, God bless, God of Nature bless, God of War blessâŠ
Please give me some cadmium!
The pale yellow in the beaker gradually lightened. After a long time, among the zinc grains, extremely fine silver-white particles fell.
Next came what was a supremely boring task in inorganic chemistry: filtering, drying, pressing into pellets. After a long while, Garrett pinched a small pinch of dust-like powder, handing it to Seraina:
âTry this?â
âAlright!â
The Silver Dragon girl cheerfully ran out. Elder Elwin silently watched, speechless for a moment:
Hey, got a girl and forgot your teacher, huh?
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