Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 240 - 9: Bang-Bang Two Punches!

Afterward.

Mother and child were safe.

Roman washed his hands with water.

He said to Galin, "I need to speak with you."

"I also have something to ask you, but you go first."

"Do you know the technical steps of forging Fine Gold and Mithril in Divine Mystery? The Church Court’s will do."

Galin looked at him wordlessly.

"I think you know," Roman said seriously.

"But I really don’t. You’re a Black Iron Noble, a scion of Riptide, but do you have any connection to the Conqueror’s Treasure Vault?

"This is confidential; I can only tell you that their technology is incredibly advanced and powerful.

"Divine Mystery is the oldest kingdom on this land, not even the Church Court can compare, and it is said that the Divine Mystery Artisans of the past could forge dozens of inconceivable, exotic metals—some with excellent defense, some that could stretch with elasticity, some that could return to their original shape after being deformed, some extremely sharp, some incredibly hard...

"But no one knows those techniques and formulas; they’re now severely fragmented. Divine Mystery treats them as forbidden lore; those coveting the technologies never live to see the next day’s sun... and I’m no exception."

Roman asked, "Is Ao Steel one of them too?"

Galin nodded. "Yes, its practicality ranks about average among the many exotic metals, and Ao Steel forged the great reputation of the Shield Guard Army, because that extraordinary metal could be mass-produced... But the techniques for Ao Steel have long been lost, and Divine Mystery has lost the ability to manufacture it."

Roman pondered in silence.

The Shield Guard Army of Divine Mystery never appeared before the common folk.

Only the King of Divine Mystery had the authority to command them.

They were a legendary army, said to comprise Third Rank combatants.

The standard equipment from hundreds of years ago was still usable today, a testament to its unimaginable durability.

If the ancient empire of the past was real, then it must have developed a highly advanced civilization, at the very least its metallurgy would have been exceptional.

"This is troublesome."

He had been planning on developing for ten years, leading his army to sweep across this land, to kill them all.

But now, it seemed like it might take twenty years.

"What’s your question?" Roman asked.

Galin mimicked Roman’s earlier actions, "Your technique just now..."

"It was a Caesarean section."

Galin immediately glared at Roman, "I know it was a Caesarean section, I’m asking how you managed to do it!"

By the All Gods!

Given her condition at the time, death seemed inevitable.

He had thought Roman was trying to save the infant.

Yet, he miraculously saved both.

The mortality rate for a Caesarean section was ninety-nine percent, but judging by the actions of this young Lord, it did not seem like a reckless hack job.

On the contrary, the precision of his incisions was meticulous, and afterward, he methodically stitched up the wounds with cotton thread and a fine needle.

Life Gem Powder and Divine Arts prevented the wound from infection and worsening.

But he would have to come back after some time to replace the cotton thread with absorbable catgut to reduce the likelihood of rejection reactions.

"It’s the lower segment Caesarean section," he said, "If you want to learn, I’ll teach you."

This was the most common Caesarean section technique.

But for the current era, it was still a bit too advanced.

Of course, Roman thought he was quite awesome himself, having performed surgery for the first time without a tremor in his hand.

Due to caring for too many wounded soldiers, his Medicine skill was close to reaching level 3, receiving more and more knowledge.

He now had level 3 skills in Construction and Planting.

While skills like Gathering, Breeding, Hunting, Forging, Medicine, and Manufacturing were all close to level 3.

Only Cooking was still spinning around at level 2.

But at the moment, the elevation of living standards was of little use to Roman.

Because the intrinsic conditions of Origin City were too poor to meet the technical prerequisites.

...

The two men had just performed a surgery racing against death.

Roman was exhausted, and so was Galin.

Not physically tired, but mentally drained, having been on edge for too long.

"Great Lord, I thank you for your mercy in saving Shana," the pregnant woman’s husband approached, bowing deeply.

"Hmph," Roman snorted softly, "I’m giving you three months of maternity leave, go to the Breeding grounds every day and take ten eggs, four pounds of milk, just say it’s by my order. Your wife has lost a lot of blood, let her rest well."

He stepped into the stirrups and mounted his horse, leaving the dwelling with Galin.

Shana’s husband bowed deeply from behind.

Galin complained as he followed beside Roman,

"This is the thirty-second pregnant woman with complications. You can’t expect me to do everything alone."

"How many died?"

"Twenty-seven, ten pregnant women and seventeen babies. Among them, five unfortunate girls met the All Gods together with their children before I could even get there."

Roman bit his finger, feeling extremely irritated.

Childbirth was a very dangerous affair in this age,

especially for women pregnant for the first time.

But he had provided plenty of benefits.

Women stopped all labor after seven months of pregnancy, and their husbands got two months of paternity leave during the childbirth period. They could directly receive three meals a day from the large kitchen and an extra allowance of two eggs and a pound of milk to prevent malnutrition.

The residents’ department had a relatively complete household registration system. All newborns were registered and could receive a set of free clothes during summer and winter based on the household register.

Roman also learned that, so far this year, there had been around three hundred babies born in Origin City.

And more were to follow.

If nothing was done, pregnant women in Origin City would continue to face a one-in-ten complication rate...

That’s super high, okay!

Because complications had levels, if it was a common one, with a midwife, a pregnant woman just needed to put in more effort and bite through the pain to give birth, at worst ending up half-dead.

In the eyes of people of this era, that wasn’t even considered complicated; it counted as normal childbirth.

The kind of complications that required Galin’s presence meant facing the doors of life and death.

When necessary, the baby had to be sacrificed to save the mother, or the mother sacrificed to save the child—sometimes it was a two-for-one death.

So the death rate was outrageously high.

Roman placed extreme importance on various production tasks.

He needed to cultivate the fields, to refine iron, to pan for gold, to build houses.

All these were production.

But in the end, what is production?

Having babies is production!

That’s the original production!

Damn it!

Unbearable!

A couple of punches for the baby!

After returning to Origin Manor, he immediately called over Seth and Jimmy and said, "I want to build a hospital!"

Hygienic conditions up to standard, readily available hot water, clean cotton and linen cloths—these were the basics of the basics.

Forceps, scalpels, suture needles, and threads also had to be made.

More importantly, it was essential to train qualified medical staff.

...

Half a month later.

The first public hospital of this era neared completion.

The knowledge of [Architecture] combined with [Medicine] was exemplified in the construction of the hospital.

It was tall and spacious, bright and airy, not made of rough bricks.

All the walls were scraped with a white and clean plaster, making it stand out against the backdrop of red bricks and green tiles.

Just the environment and measures like forceps should greatly reduce the mortality rate of pregnant women with complications.

The medical staff came from various dwellings, female Angel Envoys with experience in midwifery.

Professionals couldn’t be trained due to a lack of resources.

Understanding the basics was enough.

For instance, washing hands with soap and hot water before delivering, keeping oneself clean, having patience in prenatal care... these were all basic requirements.

They were salaried workers, with a monthly wage of three copper coins.

Any incompetent fools were kicked out.

Roman personally screened for application; he didn’t believe he couldn’t find a dozen medical staff who were sharp, had good memory, and were quick with their hands and eyes.

Now that the hospital was established,

he had to start considering the issue of disinfection.

Alcohol was the best choice.

The distillation steps were not complicated; perhaps it wasn’t possible to produce in large quantities, but it would certainly be sufficient to supply the hospital.