Chapter Fourteen: Inspection

Brushing teeth—a task that seems simple enough—became a colossal undertaking when applied to a dragon, stretching nearly three hours from start to finish! There was simply no way around it; the black dragon’s sheer size made the job monumental. The longest of its fangs reached almost a full meter, with a base diameter exceeding ten centimeters. The stains encrusting them had accumulated over countless years, rendering ordinary toothbrushes and toothpaste utterly useless. Only iron brushes, potent acids and alkalis, high-pressure water jets, and even impact drills could begin to make a difference.

The remaining teeth, though not as massive, were far more numerous—over three hundred in all—and sharper, with more filth clinging to them, making them even harder to clean than the great fangs. A dozen workers toiled inside the dragon’s mouth for three whole hours, employing every conceivable tool, before finally achieving a semblance of cleanliness.

“Thank you, everyone, truly, thank you for your hard work!” Huang Ze smacked his lips, feeling an immense sense of relief. He mused that if he were to start a dental clinic for dragons, business would surely be brisk—after all, most dragons would surely have similar needs.

“Mr. Huang, your teeth are actually in pretty good condition, no real signs of cavities,” reported the chief dental expert, sweat pouring down his face as he caught his breath. “But you should pay more attention to oral hygiene in the future. If you ever develop an infection, it could be quite a hassle.”

“I will, I promise,” Huang Ze replied earnestly. Noticing Liu Weihan nearby with a group of new faces, all waiting patiently, he quickly called out with enthusiasm, “Brother Liu, these must be the experts from the Institute of Science, right? It’s an honor to meet you all!”

The dragon instinctively extended a claw for a handshake, but swiftly realized that even a single talon dwarfed their entire arms. Embarrassed, he withdrew it quietly.

“You’re too kind, Mr. Huang,” responded the leader of the group, an academy member in his sixties named Ding Xuewen. He came forward excitedly and grasped the dragon’s claw, saying, “I’m Ding Xuewen, currently the principal investigator of our dragon research team. Starting today, we’ll likely be imposing on you for some time. If there’s ever any offense, I hope you’ll forgive us.”

“No trouble at all, not in the slightest!” Huang Ze replied immediately. “To be honest, I’m a fervent believer in the Church of Grand Physics. I’ve always had a passion for science and the utmost faith in it. Being able to contribute, even in some small way, is a great honor for me.”

“Besides, I’m quite concerned and curious about my own body. It’s actually very unfamiliar to me. The more you understand it, the more at ease—and delighted—I’ll be!”

“That’s wonderful to hear, truly wonderful!” Ding Xuewen was visibly moved. “Rest assured, we’ll proceed with utmost caution. Your safety is our highest priority.”

“No need to be that careful. I’m tough—I can take it! You can be a bit bolder; it’s not easy to research a dragon to death,” Huang Ze said heartily. “So, shall we begin? What’s the first item on the agenda?”

“Well, Mr. Huang,” Ding Xuewen began.

“We’d like to start with a thorough understanding of your anatomy,” explained Ding Xuewen.

“Do you mean dissection?” the dragon perked up. “That’s fine by me! Could you record the whole thing on camera? I’d love to see what my own heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys look like.”

Ding Xuewen fell silent for a moment, taken aback by Huang Ze’s unexpected eagerness—what dragon ever looked forward to being dissected?

“I’m sorry, Mr. Huang,” Ding Xuewen replied eventually. “We have no plans to dissect you, not now nor in the foreseeable future. You may not realize how important your existence is to our nation. Unless we have absolute certainty and the experience of dissecting dozens of dragons, we would never risk such a high-danger operation.”

“Oh…” The dragon’s voice fell, almost regretful.

“And with modern technology, dissection isn’t the only way to understand the body,” Ding Xuewen said with a smile. “You haven’t eaten yet today, have you? We’d like to start with a capsule endoscopy, followed by X-rays and an MRI. That way we can get a general idea of your internal organs and skeletal structure.”

“All right, whatever you say. I’ll cooperate fully.”

…

Huang Ze, back when he was human, had undergone a capsule endoscopy before—swallowing a small capsule with a miniature camera so doctors could examine the stomach and intestines. The capsule would eventually exit the body on its own, posing minimal risk—a practical and useful technology.

But for a dragon, this was impossible; the intestines were simply too vast for a tiny capsule to capture anything meaningful. Only more advanced equipment would suffice.

Fortunately, the dragon’s esophagus was more than wide enough. The Institute’s team decided on a state-of-the-art remote-controlled robot equipped with a high-definition camera and other diagnostic devices. They guided it straight into the dragon’s mouth.

“Four meters!”

“Stop! Begin data collection.”

“Stable at 56 degrees Celsius, humidity 36%, pressure 2.8 atmospheres, radiation 4.8 roentgens per minute!”

“Take photos and samples for two minutes, then proceed.”

…

“Eight meters!”

“Stop, take samples, record the data.”

“Temperature 58 degrees Celsius, humidity 32%, pressure 3.2 atmospheres, radiation 5.3 roentgens per minute!”

“Huh, that’s strange—the further in we go, the lower the humidity. Why is that?”

…

“Sixteen meters!”

“Stable at 126 degrees Celsius, humidity 24%, pressure 5.8 atmospheres, radiation 13.8 roentgens per minute!”

“Wait, why did the readings spike so suddenly? Are we approaching the digestive tract?”

“Not quite yet. I’d say we’re near Mr. Huang’s heart. The blood pressure here is higher… By the way, have we ever recorded Mr. Huang’s heartbeat?”

“…No, come to think of it, we haven’t. Now that you mention it, it’s odd. Our robot is equipped with audio sensors, but in all this time, we’ve never picked up any heartbeat from Mr. Huang.”

“That’s right! I always felt something was off.”

“Let me try a stethoscope… Strange, there really isn’t one!”

…

The entire research team was stunned. A massive, lively dragon—yet not a trace of a heartbeat. Who could possibly believe such a thing?