21st Century Necromancer

Patients in a persistent vegetative state are a term we often hear mentioned in various films or literary works, and even frequently encountered in real life, but the vast majority of people do not have a clear understanding of what this state actually is. In fact, many people only know the term "vegetative state" without knowing what it really means.

To put it simply, a vegetative state refers to a condition of existence akin to that of a plant.

These patients can open their eyes, and sometimes their gaze can move.

They can smile, cry, and even grab a loved one's hand or mutter groans.

However, all these actions are just purposeless reflex movements.

Just like a plant, they breathe, and their pulse, blood pressure, and body temperature are all normal.

Moreover, if you "water and fertilize" them, they can still grow robustly.

But patients in a vegetative state no longer have consciousness, perception, thinking, or other higher neural activities unique to humans.

Apart from retaining some instinctual neural reflexes and the ability to metabolize substances and energy, the cognitive abilities of vegetative patients (including the recognition of their own existence) are completely lost, and they will not engage in any voluntary activities.

Hence, the vegetative state is also known as plant-like state or irreversible coma.

The brainstem of a vegetative patient still functions, and they can digest and absorb nutrients when fed, using these energies to maintain bodily metabolism, including respiration, heartbeat, blood pressure, etc. They can also produce some instinctual reflexes to external stimuli, such as coughing, sneezing, yawning, etc.

The main causes of a vegetative state are usually due to acute injuries, degenerative and metabolic diseases, and abnormalities that lead to brain function damage and loss.

Currently, there is no particularly effective treatment for vegetative states in the medical community. Usually, external stimuli are used in an attempt to reawaken the neural activity of the brain in vegetative patients, in hopes of restoring consciousness.

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However, once a vegetative state lasts for several months, there are seldom cases of improvement. Awakening from a vegetative state that has lasted over six months is enough to be considered a medical miracle.

Adults who are in a prolonged vegetative state have about a 50% chance of regaining some level of consciousness during the first 6 months after head injury and being able to respond to their environment. Permanent brain dysfunction is usually the outcome, and after half a year, fewer and fewer patients are able to sense their surroundings in any systematic way.

Scientists also generally believe that after twelve months of continuous coma, there is no longer any possibility of awakening.

Although scientists in France have stimulated a vegetative patient who had been in a coma for fifteen years with a neurostimulation device, enabling them to reach a minimum state of consciousness and produce distinct conscious responses to environmental stimuli, there is still a long way to go before truly healing and awakening such patients.

After all, the brain is the most complex organ in the human body, and there is still much unknown in the research of the brain.

However, for Necromancers, a person in a vegetative state is not just about brain function damage, sometimes the state of being comatose could also be related to the soul.

The proposal from Kyuuzai Ryousen was a new challenge for Chen Yu, because even he did not have complete certainty that he could heal a person in a vegetative state.

If the comatose state was caused by brain damage, then by repairing the brain and the nervous system, it is indeed possible to restore the person to a normal state and then awaken their consciousness.

But if the problem was with the soul, that would be much more troublesome.

For a mere soul injury, it just requires some mending. Although it might result in some memory loss, or even in some cases turn into a blank slate, a blank slate can also be rewritten. Although this might be more troublesome, generally speaking, it is still possible to awaken the consciousness of a person in a vegetative state.

However, if the soul of the person in a vegetative state is no longer in their body, or perhaps has already returned to the Nether River, then even for a Necromancer who expertly understands the soul, this is a very difficult matter to deal with.

Because nobody knows where the disembodied soul has gone. Even if there are ways to call back the soul, if the soul has returned to the Nether River or entered some restricted area, then even a Necromancer would be helpless.

The Nether River is the final destination of all things in the world; nothing can return once it has gone back to the Nether River.

Chen Yu is not someone who likes to challenge the limits, but when faced with a new challenge, he does not shy away, especially with matters like healing and saving people, he does not refuse.

So, when Kyuuzai Ryousen made the suggestion to have Keiko's father accept Healing under the guise of Regenerative Medicine research, Chen Yu did not object. The only thing he cared about was why Kyuuzai Ryousen made such a suggestion and whether he could actually heal Keiko's father.

"Actually, my mother is also in a vegetative state. She had an accident when she was giving birth to me, resulting in her becoming comatose," Kyuuzai Ryousen replied with an indifferent and almost cold tone when questioned by Chen Yu, "At first, my father tried very hard to awaken her, thinking of many ways, but as time went by, the chances of my mother waking up became slimmer and slimmer..."

"I'm sorry to bring up such a painful memory," upon hearing Kyuuzai Ryousen's words, Chen Yu naturally understood it was a past he preferred not to mention, and he quickly apologized.

"No, it's okay. After all, my mother was still 'alive' at that time; she didn't die." A smile appeared on Kyuuzai Ryousen's face, but this smile deeply made Chen Yu feel that only his face was smiling, "She could breathe, she could eat, her eyes could look at me, she was still alive, what's wrong with that? Moreover, she has been like that since I was born; in my memory, my mother is just the person lying on the bed, all memories and impressions of my mother come from my father's narratives."

"Then, how did you...?" Chen Yu didn't know how to describe it, as Kyuuzai Ryousen's attitude seemed strange at that moment.

If as he said, his mother had been in a vegetative state since his birth, then there shouldn't be any emotional bond between him and his mother, not this kind of indifferent and odd demeanor.

"When I was three years old, thanks to my father's relentless effort and the calling from me and my brother, my mother finally woke up," Kyuuzai Ryousen said as a glint of reminiscence flashed in his eyes and a genuine smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, but this was quickly replaced by coldness, "However, that was the beginning of a nightmare, because my mother needed care for everything. She couldn't speak, dress, walk, use the bathroom, even eating required feeding her.

In the beginning, my father employed a maid to take care of my mother and fed her personally every day, talking to her. But as time passed, my mother remained unchanged, and was even worse than when she was unconscious; my father's patience gradually wore thin, he became more and more indifferent to my mother, and then she just died like that."

As he reached this point, Kyuuzai Ryousen took a deep breath to steady his emotions before looking at Chen Yu, "That's why I don't want that little girl to endure the same experience I had. Please, professor, help her!"