Chapter 1357: A Dentist That Feels Rather Fantastical

"Lao Si, this is Tenth Sister, the human doctor who'll be treating your teeth. She used to extract teeth, fill cavities, and treat dental diseases for humans in the human safe zone. She's a dentist standing at the very top of Blue Star's pyramid…"

Hearing Xia Qing's words, Zhang Shi, who had been called to the laboratory door, could barely keep her smile from collapsing. She wasn't a chief physician, let alone a specialist—just an utterly ordinary resident doctor. But she couldn't contradict her boss in front of the patient and the patient's family…

After Xia Qing rattled off her introduction of the doctor to the patient who had paid over a million in treatment fees, Zhang Shi struck what she considered her most imposing posture and aura, gave Lao Si a slight nod, and called out, "Fourth Brother."

This wolf looked far more steady than the brownish-gray one beside it that kept baring its teeth at every little thing. Its energy field was stable too, which gave Zhang Shi some confidence.

Lao Si stared at Zhang Shi seriously for over ten seconds, then slowly nodded.

Xia Qing brought up the reason she'd brought Lao Si over. "After the Qiang Snow, Lao Si came over for treatment. Does Tenth Sister need to do an examination first today?"

Extracting seven teeth and treating five would cause fairly significant trauma to the mouth and physical burden, so careful assessment and planning are required.

Zhang Shi already had the physical exam report and dental X-rays from this old wolf's check-up at Territory Seven, but a few more items still needed to be examined. "Based on the last X-ray, the roots of Fourth Brother's two upper molars are very close to the maxillary sinus cavity. I need to take another X-ray for you to clearly determine the distance between the roots of these two teeth and the sinus floor before I can decide on the extraction method."

Lao Si's calm gray eyes turned to Xia Qing. It didn't quite understand what Zhang Shi was saying and needed Xia Qing to translate before it could make a decision.

Xia Qing immediately explained, "Tenth Sister says the X-ray we took at Third Brother's Territory Seven last time wasn't clear. We need to go into that room now and use the Broken-Waist's CT machine to take another one."

Broken-Waist Wolf immediately grinned, baring its teeth—Blue Star's most beautiful set—at Lao Si and Xia Qing.

Broken-Waist Wolf's… CT machine?! Zhang Shi stared at Xia Qing in shock, then looked at Broken-Waist Wolf.

Lao Si understood and gave a solemn nod of agreement.

Xia Qing asked, "Lao Si says it's okay to take the X-ray. I'll take Lao Si to rinse its mouth and wash its paws first before going in. Does Lao Si need to go down for the examination later? Yiyi is in the basement—is that okay, or do we need to bring her out first?"

"No need to bring her out, just keep the door closed." Before coming up, Zhang Shi had handed her phone to Yiyi so she could watch what was happening on screen. The child loved observing animals, and as long as nothing unexpected happened, she wouldn't be triggered into an episode.

After saying this, Zhang Shi walked to prepare with slightly unsteady steps. She felt the flat floor beneath her feet had gone uneven.

Of the four wolves Xia Qing had brought back, only Broken-Waist Wolf was wearing protective gear. The other three had very dirty paws and needed to be washed before entering the lab.

Why wasn't Little Wolf Sister wearing any? Because she'd grown and could no longer fit into the snake-skin protective suit Broken-Waist Wolf had custom-made for her.

Xia Qing left Broken-Face Little Wolf and Little Wolf Sister with Wolf Lao Er and the eldest to guard the territory, while she and Broken-Waist Wolf and Lao Si entered the lab. After completing the disinfection procedure, they took the X-ray first.

Zhang Shi, in her white coat and mask, put on two layers of gloves—the inner layer being the high-hardness evolved snake-skin gloves Xia Qing had equipped her with, reportedly impossible for wolves to bite through, and the outer layer being sterile rubber gloves. She was officially on duty.

She summoned her courage and reached her fingers toward the old wolf's mouth, directing it to bite down on the bite-wing, then adjusted the equipment. She instructed Xia Qing to hold the old wolf steady and keep it from moving, walked out of the CT room and shut the lead door, and hurried to the adjacent operating control room.

After pushing the door open, the breath Zhang Shi had just released caught in her throat again.

Was it her brain or her vision that was malfunctioning? Why was she seeing an evolved wolf wearing rubber gloves on its front paws, standing on its hind paws in front of the operating console, staring intently at the screen?!

Zhang Shi closed her eyes and sensed with her magnetic field for a few seconds. Confirming a large biological magnetic field inside, she opened her eyes again and looked at the rubber-gloved evolved wolf. "Brother Duan?"

Broken-Waist Wolf turned its head and flashed Zhang Shi a brilliant smile.

Seeing this wolf ferociously bare its full set of teeth, Zhang Shi confirmed her eyes were fine. She turned to look at the old wolf on the other side of the leaded glass, already drooling, and didn't have time to think about why Broken-Waist Wolf was standing there. Mustering her courage, she walked over, quickly operated the equipment, took an X-ray of the old wolf, then quickly retreated and opened the lead door of the scanning room. "Sister Qing, you can take the bite-wing out of Fourth Brother's mouth now."

When Xia Qing came out, Zhang Shi lowered her voice to report, "Sister Qing, Brother Duan is in the control room next door."

Xia Qing explained calmly, "Broken-Waist is very interested in medical knowledge, especially CT imaging, and is currently studying with Third Brother and Song Ge. If it doesn't interfere with Tenth Sister's work, can Broken-Waist stand beside you and learn while you work? Don't worry, Tenth Sister—I'll stand by to protect your safety."

A wolf… studying medicine?!!!

Fortunately, the mask hid Zhang Shi's gaping mouth, keeping her from looking too unsophisticated. After a few seconds of composure, she finally managed to speak. "I… I guess that's… fine."

Knowing Zhang Shi might have a hard time accepting this for a while, Xia Qing helped her adjust her mindset. "After the Great Evolution of Blue Star, many brain-evolved animals' IQs are no longer lower than humans'. They can control their killing instincts, begin cooperating with other species, and think about and learn useful knowledge. Broken-Waist Wolf has strong learning ability. Third Brother is currently guiding it, hoping it can become a qualified evolved forest ecology researcher and maintainer."

Hearing Xia Qing say this, Zhang Shi, who had been floating in the air, finally felt her feet touch the ground.

As a representative figure of the moderate faction, Zhang San strongly advocated and practiced maintaining the existing ecological balance. Strengthening communication with brain-evolved animals in the evolved forest and letting them play an active role in this balance was indeed the kind of attempt Zhang San would make and dare to make.

Therefore, as Zhang San's collaborator, Xia Qing was able to establish such close ties with the brain-evolved animals.

Looking at Broken-Waist Wolf again, Zhang Shi no longer felt it was so out of place. Because it wasn't an ordinary brain-evolved beast—it was an evolved wolf personally guided and taught by Zhang San, so of course it should stand at the top of the pyramid!

Zhang Shi steadied herself and walked into the control room, opening the X-ray she'd just taken to examine it carefully. When Broken-Waist Wolf brought its large mouth full of sharp teeth close, Zhang Shi wasn't as afraid anymore.

When Broken-Waist Wolf accurately pointed its large paw at the root of a molar, Xia Qing proactively asked on its behalf, "Tenth Sister, the root of this tooth is necrotic, right?"

Not only Broken-Waist Wolf—Xia Qing had also taken imaging courses and could spot obvious lesions.

Zhang Shi explained, "Yes, it's this white high-density root canal. Most of it is necrotic, but here at the apical foramen…"

After explaining the abnormalities on the X-ray to Broken-Waist Wolf, Zhang Shi began explaining why this X-ray was needed. "If we lever here when extracting this tooth, it could easily cause the extraction socket to communicate with the sinus, leading to sinus infection…"

Seeing Broken-Waist Wolf hadn't quite understood, Xia Qing asked, "Tenth Sister, what is an extraction socket, and which part is the sinus? Broken-Waist hasn't learned this and doesn't really get it."

After Zhang Shi's explanation and Xia Qing's translation, the thoughtful Broken-Waist Wolf finally bared its fangs, indicating it understood.

Xia Qing asked, "Tenth Sister, do you need to do any other examinations on Lao Si?"

Zhang Shi looked at the patient beside her that had been very quiet the whole time, its magnetic field equally calm. "If possible, I'd like to go to the basement and give Fourth Brother an oral examination."