Chapter 88
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Chapter 88: All About the Miracle Drug
At that moment, the two people who had been standing by the steam pump also walked over. They were Asahara Naruko and Tyler, who had missed the previous round of game. On the third day after the train robbery, they were invited back into the game one by one. After that they were given the new mission of strategizing for the establishment of the pharmaceutical company.
“How’s it going? Can this equipment meet the production requirements?” Chaoyang asked.
“Well… As we don’t have any electronic control equipment, it is indeed inconvenient, but we can make do with purely mechanical methods for now. As for the fermenter, pressure relief valves, and stainless steel pipes, as long as we have them, quality isn’t much of an issue. Since this company has no competition.” Tyler said with a smile. “But I never thought I’d get back into production work after being away from it for so long.”
“Let’s be serious here. What we’re doing is actually quite limited,” Asahara Naruko said, sounding more businesslike. “The pumps and pipelines came pre-assembled, and the fermenter was modified from high-pressure gas tanks. They even offered us expert installation services. if we couldn’t do it with those resources, we’d really be belittling our abilities.”
On the side, Dunn listened in bewilderment. He had no idea what the Divine Messenger’s plan was, but from what he could see, it didn’t seem to rely on divine power. Instead, it relied on natural principles that were accessible to all mankind. The most expensive equipment in the entire workshop was that steam-powered wondrous construct, except that, everything that was available in the workshop consisted of ordinary, everyday items. However, they appeared intent on using these mundane steel objects to produce groundbreaking new medicines. It sounded incredibly unbelievable to him.
What amazed him even more was how casually these two believers acted around these constructs that no one else had ever heard of!
If one wanted to become a follower of the Lord of Paradise, did they need such a high level of knowledge?!
Although Dunn was feeling extremely excited, he was also worrying a little. He and Zhu Di had agreed to wait until they could accomplish an important task for the Divine Messenger before bringing up the subject of joining the religion. Their involvement in the train robbery and rescue missions had served as proof of their alignment with Mr. Chao. Now, however, it seemed that their achievement might not be as… impressive as they had originally thought.
“Mr. Chao,” Taylor added, “I’ll need some extra budget for this project.” He explained, “The old mechanical control unit is like a spinning wheel of balance. After doing some research, I couldn’t able to find any premade options. We’ll have to hire craftsmen to make a custom one, which will undoubtedly be costly.”
Chaoyang looked at him in surprise. “You understand mechanics too?”
“I know a little, but if necessary … I can consult experts.” Tyler glanced briefly at Dunn and the others before making a meaningful reply.
“Got it. I want you to prepare a detailed list for me later.” Chaoyang paused momentarily before continuing, “By the way, where is the prototype sample of penicillin? I’d like Miss Jeanne to see the pharmaceutical company’s progress first.”
“Just a moment, I’ll go get one right away.”
Tyler turned and walked over to a cupboard, removed a small bottle from inside and handed it to Jeanne.
With great care, the nun held the bottle up, partially lifting it in front of her face. Inside, she saw a white powder, which at first glance looked somewhat like flour at first glance. But upon closer inspection, she noticed that it was actually made up of tiny crystal-like particles.
“How… are we supposed to use this?” she asked.
“You just need to dissolve it and inject it into your body,” Chaoyang replied.
“Ah?” Jeanne was startled. “We have to inject this stuff into our bodies?”
“That’s right,” Chaoyang continued in a light tone. “Do you remember what Mr. Zhang said about microorganisms? Even though boiling water can get rid of dirt on objects, it can’t get rid of bacteria that have already entered the human body, because we can’t boil ourselves,” Chaoyang explained casually. “However, this medicine can do just that. In other words, most diseases caused by microorganisms can be cured with it.”
The small bottle contained powdered penicillin, which was artificially produced in this world. This showed that fermentation technology could be used here. In reality, the most difficult step in the entire process was to grow stable and potent strains of Penicillium mold. If they had tried to tackle this challenge directly, it would have taken a long time just to collect different molds from different parts of the world. But Chaoyang skipped this step by buying and bringing premade mycelia from Earth, thereby eliminating any major difficulties in full-scale production of penicillin.
What was even better was that they could use Wondrous Constructs to power everything that was needed for production. Whether it’s injecting sterile, dry air into the fermenter or controlling the fermentation temperature with running water, all of these tasks can be powered by wondrous constructs. Even though there was no wondrous construct manufacturing company within Glorious Fortress, Chaoyang was still able to buy used equipment at high prices. As long as it provided energy, everything worked out.
This was also the second time Chaoyang had a close encounter with a wondrous constructs.
According to the categorization provided by the Ten Thousand Worlds Machine, any wondrous construct which was capable of large-scale production was classified as fourth-tier, also known as an artificial wondrous constructs. Based on its appearance alone, it did indeed appeared to be a man-made object. But perhaps it would be more accurate to describe it as a boiler pump that didn’t need heating water. It’s core components were cast from special minerals. If it weren’t for the scarcity of supplies at hand, he would have like to take one apart to better understand its inner workings.
“Most diseases can be treated with this? You mean… even the scarlet curse?” Jeanne asked in shock. “Does it even work on those who are already infected?”
Using boiling water as a disinfectant can only reduce the infection rates but it does almost nothing for those who are seriously ill. And as for the scarlet curse, it was also the most common cause of death.
“Of course,” Chaoyang nodded firmly. “Its applications will be much broader than you can imagine. If you don’t believe me, we’ll start using it in in two days, as soon as the syringes are ready.”
The first production batch from the Destiny Gate wasn’t limited to just penicillin.
The medical supplies currently included in their plan were diverse, such as sterile bandages, suture needles and thread, surgical instruments of stainless steel, syringes, allicin (garlic) extract, disinfectants, and other commonly used equipment and medications. Apart from the flagship product ‘antibiotic’, which required a high level of secrecy, most of these items didn’t require a high level of secrecy. This meant that the production of other items could be outsourced to different factories—for example, bandage production was closely related to textile production, and only required an additional sterilization process.
Naturally, starting several production lines at once would mean higher upfront costs. And the money they had earned from raid on Gaotian Mining Corporation, it had already been spent by 80%. And projects such as the renovation of the cathedral and the construction of new hospital wards had only received initial payments so far.
However, Chaoyang was not at all concerned about finances at all. He fully understood the immense potential of the healthcare market, especially in this pure blue ocean market where there were hardly any decent competitors.
As long as the Destiny Gate operated smoothly, it would undoubtedly revolutionize the perception of all medical practitioners in the future.
“Mr. Chao, if I may ask, is this drug expensive to produce?” Dunn asked, unable to resist his curiosity. “And how much can you produce in a day?”
The journalist knew very well that the Scarlet Curse didn’t just affect miners and vagrants but also soldiers, adventurers, mercenaries… even some nobles who had earned their status through military honors could get infected after being injured. If they didn’t get medical treatment in time, they might end up losing limbs or even die.
If there really was such a miraculous drug that could prevent such tragic consequences of curses, people would undoubtedly pay hefty sums However, as a result, the low-income people, who were under the Cathedral’s care would be left without any medicine to use.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Chaoyang reassured him, fully understanding his concern. “The production and pricing of antibiotics will remain within reasonable limits. Moreover, all products will be prioritized for supply as per the need of Cathedral first. After all, helping Yeni Cathedral to overcome its challenges was the primary reason for creating the Destiny Gate.”
He deliberately gave such an ambiguous answer because even if he had explained his true intentions, the reporter wouldn’t have understand it. The point was, one can get rich just by selling medicine alone, but to become a real powerhouse, you need another treasure: insurance. Medicine and insurance are naturally complementary to each other, and their benefits are mutually reinforcing. Only when you combine health care and insurance can you really get healthy people to spend money on their health.