Despite this, Darius showed no fear or worry. He was not a gambling man by nature, but every merchant knew about risks and rewards. Qualified merchants merely respected them, yet legendary merchants revered those.
He had already calculated the risks beforehand, so he was not going to have cold feet at this juncture.
He would either reap the grandest rewards or end up with nothing. Truthfully, there was also the chance of severe backlash, doing so might directly kill him or at least maim him.
However, he had planned for all three scenarios. If he won, he would adjust his plans accordingly. If he got nothing, he would move on and try to Transmute more True Dragon Blood in the future as well as the hearts once he had enough CP, even if he would have to wait until he had climbed more stages.
And if ended up with physical or mental deficiencies, he was prepared to use the Resurrection Stone to revive himself in perfect shape.
Once the light show and rapid thumping slowed down and came to an end, Darius felt that he had likely won this bet. He gazed at the now chromatic heart that had a bit of all colors within.
[Five Elements Ancestor Dragon Heart - Unique (Semi-complete)
Durability: MAX
Description: A special heart created by Gaia that was split into five separate pieces to empower her Chosen Warriors. It has been infused with the blood of the Dragon Ancestor, creating a unique and never-before-seen organ.
Effect 1: When implanted into any living being, grant them the highest possible affinity with the Five Elements as well as the Elemental King transformation.
Effect 2: When implanted into any living being, grant them 'Ancestor Dragon (Fledgling)' status.
Effect 3: When implanted, the heart can devour other Elemental Hearts to increase its power and affinities.
Note: Only Lighting and Nature element unlocked. Elemental King transformation cannot be activated until completed.]
Even just holding it, Darius felt palpitation grow on his skin. The heart seemed to allude and relate to something bigger than he could ever comprehend, and his entire body instinctively shook in fear of it.
At the same time, it made him all the more excited knowing that his plan had worked. Darius then looked left and right as he walked into the first level of the nearby Wood dungeon.
With this being a unique instance, there was no one to disturb him here. Darius removed 30 Guard Androids and had Solena activate them. They were to patrol the area and prevent any accidents from the horde of Amateur monsters on this floor.
He then brought out a Bag of Holding and released a large metallic pod. This was, unsurprisingly, yet another creation of Gravitas, one that matched Earth's Medipod from Darius' era.
Only this one used mana-infused nanites to treat the body from most known diseases known and was fortunately also able to perform transplants and emergency surgeries if necessary.
Darius opted for this over the older generation Medibots which were like the Critterbots, but for hospitals.
"Solena, activate the Medipod please." Darius requested from his digital firstborn.
"Right away, Father." Solena replied with a bow.
As was the norm for Gravitas, everything was managed by their cloud. The Medipod on its would just be a useless piece of junk until connected to Gravitas' cloud network.
Of course, one not only needed a cloud network to make it work, but also have the necessary medical information and commands. How else were the nanites supposed to know what processes were required to treat you?
Luckily, Darius could beat his chest and claim that his Database was far superior to Gravitas' in every way, minus specific diseases/breakthroughs made that were unique to the continent.
Darius stripped and entered the pod slowly, lying down on his back. Solena and Miranda worked together to operate everything, already knowing what to do thanks to the huge Database of information they had at hand after downloading the non-restricted information from the Great Library of Krona.
One Guard Android stood above the pod and placed the heart into a special compartment by the side, while the pod also filled with a strange blue liquid that looked like slightly diluted jelly.
Once the liquid washed over him, Darius felt a strange feeling infuse his body. It was utterly comfortable and pleasant, and he didn't feel wet at all. Rather, it felt like someone was covering him with cool, soft pillows all over.
He could even keep his eyes open without any issue and did not feel like his sight was blocked, nor did he feel any irritation whatsoever. The HoloBrace was also still on his arm, the nanites not affecting it in any way.
Eventually, Darius felt his eyelids become heavy as the sedation was taking effect and the work began on his body. From outside it looked like an invisible hand was working on Darius, cutting open his chest, revealing his original, beating heart.
Soon, the new heart floated through the liquid and was held firmly above his chest. Then, like some sort of metaphysical scissors were used. The arteries and veins connected to his heart were neatly cut as the organ was slowly ejected while still beating.
It floated away and was preserved in the compartment where the new heart came from, in case Darius ever wanted to go back to his original heart or had some need for it.
As for the new one, it was carefully placed within his chest and aligned with where the cut arteries and veins were. Minus the fact that it looked chromatic and bizarre, it was as if his heart had never been cut in the first place.
The nanites regrew some flesh to firmly connect both the heart and the arteries and veins together. Since it was still beating, the heart continued its work, yet no blood was being sent in or sent out for obvious reasons.
Once the nanites restarted Darius' circulation, the human blood that entered the heart was quickly scalded and replaced by a new form of blood that was ejected into his system.
Out with the old, in with the new. Normally, it was the job of the bone marrow to produce fresh blood, but this strange heart had decided to rewrite this rule and had started taking matters into its own hands.
