Su Muqing carefully read the instruction manual for the prosthetic eye before returning to the operating bed. It was already close to one in the morning outside the space. Lu Yuzhi, seeing that she had been in the room the entire time, went to the kitchen to make her something to eat.
After the two had finished their late-night snack, Su Muqing asked Lu Yuzhi to assist her, as she intended to perform the prosthetic eye surgery on Su Tang. They began by undergoing full body sterilization and changing into sterile surgical gowns, followed by anesthetizing and disinfecting Su Tang.
Once all preparations were complete, Su Muqing followed the prompts from the detector and cut open Su Tang's eye socket.
With a tearing sound, the scalpel sliced through the tender granulation tissue, and a small spurt of blood splashed onto Su Muqing's forehead. Lu Yuzhi quickly wiped the blood away for her.
Su Muqing remained focused, concentrating on the task at hand. After the detector accurately measured the size of the prosthetic eye, she picked up the scalpel and began to excise the excess new flesh that had grown within Su Tang's eye socket.
This step was crucial; neither too much nor too little would suffice. It required extreme care and precision, steady hands, and ample patience.
Fortunately, with the detector's assistance, Su Muqing only needed to follow its guidance, avoiding delicate nerves and blood vessels, to meticulously scrape away the newly grown tender flesh.
Su Muqing held an ultra-thin scalpel in one hand and small tweezers in the other, her gaze intently fixed on Su Tang's bloody eye socket. The space maintained a constant temperature, yet her brow would still sweat when she was nervous. At such times, Lu Yuzhi would help her wipe away the perspiration.
After more than forty minutes, the excess new flesh in Su Tang's eye socket was finally cleared away. Su Muqing rinsed away the surplus blood from the socket, washed her hands, and used the eye extractor to retrieve the activated prosthetic eye.
At this stage, the prosthetic eye still had a mechanical appearance, resembling a titanium steel eyeball. Su Muqing carefully inserted it into Su Tang's eye socket. This high-tech prosthetic eye was not a simple matter of placement.
All of its tiny nerves and blood vessels needed to be connected correctly. Su Muqing held the eye extractor in one hand and her instruments in the other, meticulously focusing on each nerve connection.
Although Lu Yuzhi was present in the space, he couldn't see the detector. From his perspective, he couldn't see the extremely fine nerves at all. He could only marvel at Su Muqing's superb medical skills, deeming her nothing short of a divine physician.
Another hour passed before the delicate nerve connections of the prosthetic eye and the eye socket were finally completed. At this point, Su Muqing's work was essentially done.
The next stage involved the prosthetic eye automatically adjusting and integrating with the recipient's own physiology.
Su Muqing and Lu Yuzhi stared intently at the eye. They watched as the tiny blood vessels connecting to the eye socket gradually shortened. During the adjustment process, the eye also rotated slightly to prevent any deviations.
A few minutes later, the prosthetic eye was perfectly embedded in Su Tang's left eye socket. The silvery-gray titanium steel eyeball initially flickered with faint blue light, followed by the appearance of multiple layers of transparent black film that gradually enveloped the blue light, ultimately forming a black-blue pupil.
After the pupil formed, the color of the appearing film changed, becoming lighter with each subsequent layer until a white film finally enveloped the pupil, creating the sclera.
At this point, Su Tang's left eye looked nearly normal. After a while longer, the color of the left eye adjusted further until the screen displayed "Installation Complete." The original blue light within the eyeball gradually faded, forming the natural luminescence found in a living eye.
Su Muqing gazed at the completed left eye for a long time, finding it increasingly lifelike. She gently pulled back Su Tang's right eyelid for comparison. Aside from a dark spot below the right eye, the two were almost identical.
Lu Yuzhi, having witnessed this miraculous event firsthand, couldn't help but lean closer to Su Tang to examine his eyeball. He looked up at Su Muqing, unsure how to articulate his thoughts.
Everything he saw seemed utterly unbelievable. He had never imagined that such medical expertise existed, capable of healing something as intricate as an eyeball. This implied that individuals who had lost limbs could potentially have them regenerated.
Although Su Tang couldn't undergo the molding surgery immediately, having his left eye fitted was a significant comfort, and Su Muqing could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
She released the hand holding Su Tang's right eyelid and noticed a new issue. Once the left eyelid was lowered, it could only cover half of the eyeball, preventing it from closing completely.
Furthermore, beneath the injured eyelid, scar-like granulation tissue had formed, creating a raised bump. If this were the case, it might be impossible for the eye to close, and it would look rather unsettling.
Su Muqing frowned and re-entered the future mall within the space, proceeding to checkout the new simulation human skin she had previously selected.
Skin, unlike bone, possesses elasticity. Provided the surgical sutures were well done, as Su Tang grew, the artificial eyelid could stretch and adapt with his growth, preventing asymmetry.
Su Muqing cut a small piece of the purchased human skin and suspended it in the void, allowing the detector to measure the shape of a normal eyelid. Once measured, she trimmed it to the required shape.
What followed was another meticulous and time-consuming eyelid suturing procedure.
The next morning, as little Su Tang opened his eyes from sleep, he saw Su Muqing and Lu Yuzhi sitting by his bedside. His left eye felt a stinging pain, and as he raised his hand to rub it, his fingers brushed against a cold, smooth surface.
Su Muqing gently removed his hand from the mask and said with a warm smile, "Tang Tang, I treated your eye last night. You might feel a bit of pain. If you want your left eye to see like your right one, no matter how much it hurts, you mustn't touch it with your hands, understand?"
Su Tang, still groggy from sleep, listened to her words with a bewildered expression, offering no response. However, Su Muqing knew he had absorbed her instructions.
She observed him closely throughout the day. Regardless of how painful or uncomfortable his eye was, Su Tang steadfastly remembered her words, enduring the discomfort without reaching out to touch it.
From this day forward, until his wound scabbed over, Su Tang would be restricted from any strenuous activity, both to prevent accidental contact with his wound by unsuspecting individuals and to avoid sweat causing infection.