21st Century Necromancer

Through Jounouchi Hiromi's explanation, Chen Yu finally understood the course of events and developed a keen interest in her idea of employing a spell like Flesh Z Palace to replace the mother's womb for the gestation period to nurture the fetus.

Such ideas of an artificial Z Palace and extra-uterine pregnancy are not without precedent. In April 2017, a research team led by Annan Freck at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, USA, published an article in Nature Communications announcing that their "artificial womb" had successfully passed animal testing.

The researchers created a polyethylene membrane bag filled with artificial amniotic fluid (warm water containing salts and other electrolytes) to simulate a sheep's Z Palace, connecting oxygen through an umbilical cord interface to form a closed fluidic artificial environment.

Outside the polyethylene bag, they fitted a machine placenta whose "vessels" were connected to the umbilical cord of the premature lambs.

The experiment involved testing 8 lamb fetuses that were 110 days old, which is equivalent to 23-24 weeks of gestation in humans, the earliest point at which human babies can be born. After being nurtured in the artificial womb for four weeks, the lambs were born. Multiple physiological indicator tests showed that the lambs developed normally. They could swallow and breathe normally.

Aside from mild lung inflammation in some lambs, the others were very healthy.

Of course, this experiment only showed that humans have already begun such relevant research and have made pleasing progress; it's not to say that this technology can already be applied to clinical practice.

Furthermore, the gap between premature birth and gestation from an embryo is quite significant, and to date, the techniques studied and mastered by humans have not been able to replace the mother's womb in the earliest stages of pregnancy.

However, this isn't necessarily an impossible problem for a Necromancer, especially for a Blood Knight from the Blood School adept at flesh and blood spells. Creating various biological creatures using a Flesh Womb is already a very skilled and mature technique. Even without resorting to magic but relying on human technology, it's not very difficult to accomplish.

"So, you're saying Hiromi that you've taken on a patient who has mucinous cystadenocarcinoma of the ovaries and is eight weeks pregnant, and now the patient refuses chemotherapy in order to save the fetus, and you also want to cure her, right?" Chen Yu integrated the situation described by Jounouchi Hiromi and confirmed with her summarily.

Jounouchi Hiromi nodded, leaning on Chen Yu's shoulder as she flipped through the "Crimson Hymn" in her hands and replied, "Yes, that patient's name is Egawa Sae. It's her first pregnancy, and if she can't give birth this time, the following treatments will likely require the complete removal of her Z Palace, so I can understand why she doesn't want to give up on the child."

"Replace the mother with a Flesh Z Palace spell, take the child out of her belly, and allow it to grow externally, then let her receive treatment? Your idea has no problem, Hiromi. However, the Flesh Z Palace spell…" Chen Yu said and shook his head.

The Flesh Z Palace isn't exactly an aesthetically pleasing spell, and given that the spell itself requires a substantial amount of flesh and blood, one could imagine what kind of a B-grade plasma movie scene it would be at the site.

"My idea isn't to use the Flesh Z Palace spell directly, but to make a vessel to replace the Flesh Z Palace, using the principles of this spell for the gestation of the fetus," Jounouchi Hiromi also understood this point.

Therefore, obviously, she wouldn't be directly employing the Flesh Z Palace spell but merely drawing upon its concept, just as Chen Yu developed broad-spectrum anti-cancer agents, borrowing only the ideas and not copying them exactly. Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire

Chen Yu recalled the details of the Flesh Z Palace spell in his mind, nodded slightly, and did not object to Jounouchi Hiromi's idea, gesturing for her to continue.

"The critical aspect of the Artificial Z Palace is still the issue of blood circulation, which can be substituted with ECMO artificial placenta. However, this technology can only solve the blood circulation issue, it can't provide the nutrients needed for fetal development.

That's why I was looking for inspiration in the Flesh Z Palace spell," Jounouchi Hiromi explained her thought process to Chen Yu, but it was clear that the problems she faced were far from simple.

"Aside from simulating the developmental environment of an embryo, the Flesh Z Palace also plays the role of the placenta. Thus, this spell still retains the umbilical cord used in embryonic development.

Hiromi, can you draw inspiration from this aspect?" Chen Yu took a great interest in Jounouchi Hiromi's ideas, helping her think of solutions, "Provide blood circulation through an artificial placenta, and inject the nutrients needed for fetal development...

No, perhaps we could use a nutrient solution to replace the amniotic fluid, submerge the fetus in the nutrient solution instead of amniotic fluid, and at the same time, supply ample nutrition to the fetus through the umbilical cord?"

"If that's the case, the fetus cannot be removed from the mother too early, we must wait until the fetus is fully formed before doing so..." Jounouchi Hiromi pondered the suggestions Chen Yu had made, her fingers tracing circles on "Crimson Hymn," "This would require first controlling the mother's condition with medication, fortunately, her tumor has not become malignant, and the situation is quite optimistic, giving us enough time for the fetus to develop."

Hearing Jounouchi Hiromi's somewhat optimistic thoughts, Chen Yu couldn't help but smile bitterly, "That's easy to say, but apart from an experiment with polyethylene film done by the Americans in 2017, there's no mature technology for an Artificial Z Palace yet. Hiromi, how do you plan to proceed? You might be able to wait, but the patient cannot!"

Also, I've heard the name Egawa Sae before, she's a very famous female anchor. When I was at the University of Tokyo, she came to the school for an interview, a very impressive woman. Although she's now asking for your help for the sake of her fetus and her own health, if you can't save the fetus or treat her, there will still be a lot of trouble later on."

"Whatever the case, as a doctor, how can I avoid saving lives over fear of trouble?" Jounouchi Hiromi countered, not paying heed to Chen Yu's concerns, instead thinking about how to use artificial materials to create an Artificial Z Palace, as a substitute for the vessel formed of flesh in the Flesh Z Palace spell which houses embryonic development.

"The vessel itself isn't a problem, if it can be sealed and sterilized, even a glass jar could work.

But the key is nutrient delivery and the blood circulation of the embryo, it's just an embryo, not a fully developed premature infant, so we must wait until the fetus is developed to a certain extent before taking it out from the mother's body." Seeing Jounouchi Hiromi's determined attitude, Chen Yu could only offer his own advice, "And for the mother, the earlier the fetus is removed for treatment, the greater the chance of healing, so a balance between the two must be found."

"I'm aware of that, and I will discuss it with Ms. Egawa Sae. For now, let's think about how to complete the design of this Artificial Z Palace!" Jounouchi Hiromi nodded and returned her focus to the "Crimson Hymn" in her hands.