CHAPTER 626: CHAPTER 617: A SOLDIER MUST HAVE BACKBONE!

"Your Excellency Marshal, do you wish to proceed with the subcutaneous injection now, or would you prefer to wait a while?"

Vilnia, who had just returned three glass syringes to the tray, looked up at Marshal Saint Arno.

"Let’s do the injection now!" Marshal Saint Arno extended his hand and responded to Mr. Saint Arno.

Vilnia picked up the tray and placed it by the window, then opened the alcohol bottle and used forceps that had been sterilized with high heat to extract a small tuft of cotton from the bottle.

The alcohol-soaked cotton emitted a pungent odor, slightly heavier by a few grams than regular cotton.

Then Vilnia gently pinched the alcohol cotton with one hand and held Marshal Saint Arno’s wrist with the other, softly swabbing the forearm. The cool sensation of the alcohol flowed into Marshal Saint Arno’s mind.

After a simple swab, Vilnia continued to grasp Marshal Saint Arno’s wrist with one hand, placed the forceps and alcohol cotton back on the tray with the other, and then took a glass syringe from the tray.

"Thank you!" A faint smile appeared on the slightly pale face of Marshal Saint Arno, who was in pain.

With a serious expression, Vilnia searched for the vein on Marshal Saint Arno’s arm and soon found its location.

Next, Vilnia performed a subcutaneous injection for Marshal Saint Arno, as the colorless and transparent liquid was injected into his body through the vein and began to take effect.

In less than a minute, a look of ecstasy appeared on Saint Arno’s face. He now felt as if his soul was about to reach where God resides, with every pore in his body seeming to shout. Though the pain from his abdomen hadn’t been completely alleviated, there was a marked improvement.

"Marshal, how do you feel?" Vilnia’s voice reached Marshal Saint Arno’s ears.

Marshal Saint Arno slowly opened his eyes, nodded, and responded to Vilnia, "Very well! Please continue!"

Not hearing any major issues in Saint Arno’s words, Vilnia continued to administer the injection for Marshal Saint Arno.

After the liquid from the three glass syringes was injected into Marshal Saint Arno’s body, the pain "disappeared". He opened his eyes and thanked Vilnia again, "Lady Vilnia, thank you for your hard work!"

Vilnia, while tidying up the tools used for the injection on the tray, complained to Marshal Saint Arno, "Your Excellency Marshal! If you truly appreciate us, then please stop thinking about leaving the hospital! Staying here quietly is your task now!"

"Lady Vilnia, have you ever seen a wolf that stays quietly in a cage? The best end for any wolf is to die in battle when they grow old!" Marshal Saint Arno retorted to Vilnia.

"Your Excellency Marshal, you are not a wolf! This is not a cage! We merely have your health in mind, so please try to understand us!" Vilnia corrected.

"In my view, the hospital is a cage for imprisoning warriors! Every warrior who enters here inevitably loses something on the operating table!" Marshal Saint Arno replied to Vilnia in a low tone.

"Winning on the operating table is always better than losing your life on the battlefield!" Vilnia softly refuted, unable to comprehend why anyone would find glory in dying in battle!

"For some people, that’s true!" Marshal Saint Arno first agreed with Vilnia, then continued, "But for others, it’s better to die spectacularly on the battlefield rather than await fate’s verdict in the hospital."

"Your Excellency Marshal! If everyone held your view, our generation of medical staff would turn into corpse collectors!" Vilnia responded to Marshal Saint Arno, "In fact, the vast majority do not wish to die in battle; they desperately plead for us to save their lives!"

Marshal Saint Arno remained silent, knowing that there were few in the military who shared his sentiments, as many soldiers drifted through life without contemplating martyrdom for war like Marshal Saint Arno.

"Alright! Your Excellency Marshal, I need to do my rounds!" Vilnia said, lifting the tray and pointing to the kerosene lamp on the table.

"No trouble for you!" Marshal Saint Arno shook his head, refusing Vilnia’s offer to extinguish the kerosene lamp, as he had just awoken and did not wish to rest immediately.

"Very well then!" Vilnia nodded, then reminded, "Don’t stay up too late; I’ll return in two hours. If you’re not resting by then..."

"Understood!" Marshal Saint Arno nodded, "I will rest before you return!"

"That’s good!" Vilnia said, opening the door and leaving, leaving Marshal Saint Arno alone once again.

"She truly seems like a white-robed angel!" Marshal Saint Arno mumbled to himself.

After a while, a commotion came from outside the door.

"Is this the place?"

"It’s here!"

"Then knock!"

The three knocks drew Marshal Saint Arno back from admiring the stars.

"Who?" Saint Arno inquired.

"Marshal, it’s Valvesky!" The Valvesky Envoy announced himself from outside the door.

Valvesky? Why would he come at this time, could something have happened in Crimea?

Marshal Saint Arno couldn’t help but become tense. He quickly stood up and adjusted his clothes, then responded to Valvesky outside the door: "Please come in!"

The door opened once more, and only then did the Valvesky Envoy appear at the doorway.

Behind Valvesky, unexpectedly to Marshal Saint Arno, was Jerome Bonaparte.

"Your Majesty!" Marshal Saint Arno showed a hint of surprise on his face, then hurriedly bowed to Jerome Bonaparte in salute.

"No need for formalities!" Jerome Bonaparte, considering Marshal Saint Arno’s health condition, raised his hand slightly and called out to Marshal Saint Arno.

Nevertheless, even though Jerome Bonaparte had allowed Marshal Saint Arno to forgo the formalities, Marshal Saint Arno persisted in saluting.

Afterward, Jerome Bonaparte, Valvesky, and Marshal Saint Arno sat on three chairs to converse.

"Mr. Saint Arno, how are you feeling now?" Jerome Bonaparte glanced at Marshal Saint Arno.

At this moment, Marshal Saint Arno seemed to have no major issues aside from a slightly pale complexion and a thin body.

"Except for occasional unbearable pain, there’s nothing much wrong most of the time!" Marshal Saint Arno lightly answered Jerome Bonaparte by avoiding the main point.

"What medication is the hospital giving you?" Jerome Bonaparte continued to ask, suspecting whether Marshal Saint Arno had been injected with morphine.

But did such a thing really exist in this era? I remember it wasn’t applied until the 20th century, was it?

Jerome Bonaparte, with only a vague understanding of medical advancement, forgot that the invention of the "Dream God" was in 1806, and its true period of action was in the mid-19th century, which was the timeframe that Jerome Bonaparte was in.

The "Dream God" gradually flourished with the development of subcutaneous injections, and it was during this period that it was given the miraculous efficacy of treating opium addiction.

Of course, the "Dream God" indeed had the capability to treat opium addiction, but those who consumed it would become addicted to this substance.

The two were not in the same league at all.

Marshal Saint Arno told Jerome Bonaparte the name of the "Dream God," and Jerome Bonaparte immediately realized that Marshal Saint Arno’s current state was merely sustained by medication.

Moreover, over time, the body would develop a resistance to the medication.

By then, more medication would be needed for injection.

"How much are you injecting every day, and how many times?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Marshal Saint Arno.

"Four times a day, about 9 milliliters each time!" Marshal Saint Arno immediately replied.

Marshal Saint Arno’s answer made Jerome Bonaparte’s heart sink; with this dosage, Marshal Saint Arno might not make it through this winter.

"What’s wrong, Your Majesty!" Marshal Saint Arno noticed Jerome Bonaparte’s odd expression and immediately asked him.

"Nothing...nothing!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and responded to Marshal Saint Arno, then shifted the topic to ask about Marshal Saint Arno’s condition in the hospital.

"Except for restricted movement, there’s nothing else!" Marshal Saint Arno replied.

"You’re indeed not in a condition to go out now!" Jerome Bonaparte told Marshal Saint Arno, "You should stay in the hospital obediently!"

"Your Majesty, if a soldier dies in bed, it’s a humiliation!" Marshal Saint Arno retorted to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Saint Arno, it’s not time for despair yet! We must believe that God will surely look after those who fight in His name!" Jerome Bonaparte comforted Marshal Saint Arno.

"Your Majesty, Russia also has a God!" Marshal Saint Arno replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Russia has already been abandoned by God; they are destined to fall from the throne!"