Emotion-Suppressing Drug
"Bohemian Potion, that's the name of the potion Reginald released that night. Its function is to suppress human emotional nerves, affecting the secretion of various hormones in the body so that people are no longer controlled by various emotions."
"Imagine a person who has no sense of taste or pain, who is indifferent and calm, who ignores the torment of suffering and the fear of death. How terrifying would that be? Only the Ultimate Nullifier robot in the movies could achieve such a level."
Upon learning that Bruce Banner had awakened, Wei Xiuming took the newly created device to an S.H.I.E.L.D.. affiliated hospital and explained it to Nick Fury and Bruce Banner in their hospital room.
The Bohemian Potion comes from the movie "Equilibrium," and is a symbolic element in this Utopia film. After deciphering the formula for this potion from the USB Drive, Wei Xiuming conducted numerous experiments and finally determined a version suitable for humans in this world.
Nick Fury stared intently at Wei Xiuming, his one eye fixed on him. "Are humans who no longer possess emotions still human? They're just living corpses."
Instead of addressing Nick Fury's questions, Wei Xiuming turned to Bruce Banner, who seemed unrelated to him, and asked, "Dr. Banner, I know your ex-girlfriend is General Ross's daughter, Betty Thaddeus Ross. Reflecting on your past with her, do you have any feelings about it?"
Bruce Banner thought for a moment and said, "I really don't understand why I would develop feelings for someone of the opposite sex. It's really just the combined effect of several hormones in the brain."
"Is she pretty? Is Betty Thaddeus Ross pretty...? To put it another way, does her appearance and style of dress match your aesthetic and criteria for choosing a partner?"
Wei Xiuming continued to ask.
After carefully recalling his past self, Bruce Banner found it very difficult to understand. In addition to losing all kinds of emotions, his aesthetic sense had also disappeared. For example, he could not judge whether the French flag or Van Gogh's painting had higher artistic value, nor could he feel beauty from music, fine art, or even the vast nature itself.
The more unusual Bruce Banner's answer was, the more reassured Wei Xiuming became.
But Bruce Banner wasn't surprised by the strange thing that was happening to him. Instead, he said to Nick Fury, "Could I have another bowl of oatmeal with milk? Extra sugar, please. My body needs a lot of carbs."
"Dr. Banner, can you taste the sweetness?" Nick Fury turned to look at Bruce Banner, his face full of vigilance.
If the effects of the Bohemian Potion were truly as Wei Xiuming claimed, then Bruce Banner shouldn't have any sense of taste or desire for food. On the contrary, Bruce Banner's demands in this regard indicate that the effects of the Bohemian Potion are waning, and this emaciated man could be triggered by something at any moment and transform into the Hulk.
Before discussing the Bohemian Potion's trampling on human freedom and human rights, it is the only way to suppress the Hulk. As the serum's effects wear off, Bruce Banner needs to be given a boost first, even with Wei Xiuming, a future warrior stronger than the Hulk, present.
Bruce Banner gave a formulaic smile, "I just need to replenish my sugar levels to keep my body going. The taste of the food doesn't affect me much. Of course, my digestive system hasn't finished the previous bowl yet, but I'm not in a hurry."
Nick Fury then continued to stare at Wei Xiuming, trying to argue against the dangers of the Bohemian Potion based on the values he had been raised in the United States environment since childhood. However, considering his behavior just now, no matter what questions he asked, they were not convincing.
"Your worries about the Bohemian Potion are unnecessary. Its price means it's not universally applicable." Wei Xiuming put down the briefcase he was carrying and said, "Leaving aside the high research and development costs, the cost of producing one Bohemian Potion is more expensive than the price of high-purity tetrodotoxin crystals. Would you use a drug costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to save an ordinary person who can't create equivalent value in their entire life? Besides, the effects of this drug are not permanent; it requires regular injections."
"Although the Bohemian Potion released that night was diluted, in terms of cost, it was worth about the same as gold equal to the Hulk's weight, and that doesn't even include the research and development expenses."
Wei Xiuming's explanation relieved Nick Fury. He no longer needed to worry about some ruthless supervillain using the Bohemian Potion to build a drug empire. From a cost perspective, that was simply not something that could be done. It was like the United States using a million-dollar missile to bomb a bamboo house that might not even be worth a thousand dollars during the Vietnam War—it was a losing proposition no matter how you looked at it.
Recalling Wei Xiuming's earlier mention of research on the human brain, I couldn't help but think of someone, but I didn't say it aloud. Instead, I asked, "So what were the initial reasons for initiating that research project?"
Given the efficacy and cost of Bohemian Potion, it's clear that it falls outside the scope of prescription drugs; it's more like a personal toy for the wealthy—similar to how some powerful and influential people, suffering from a disease that current medicine cannot cure, would typically commission a pharmaceutical laboratory to conduct specialized research to develop a targeted drug.
Just like Norman Osborn, who hired the Parker couple to conduct bioengineering research in order to treat his family's genetic disease, spending countless billions of dollars and even bringing the company to the brink of bankruptcy.
"Hypothetically speaking, just hypothetically speaking, it could be a supervillain whose predecessor was a mad scientist, or it could be an evil god from mythology, or it could be aliens who technologically surpass humanity. They suddenly had some unknown thoughts about humanity, developed magic or technology that could destroy humanity in an instant, and then successfully wiped out half of humanity."
"With half of their social roles missing, modern society, as precise as a machine, is like a machine missing half its parts. The political systems of most countries on Earth come to a standstill, and social productivity suddenly regresses by fifty years. Imagine if half the truck drivers in a city stopped working, and no one could immediately fill their positions. Then the vast majority of citizens would not be able to afford fresh meat and vegetables. Expanding this to a global scale, one can imagine the scene."
"For the future of humanity, some of the most outstanding talents among mankind, like Tony Stark, gathered together to form a secret group. Relying on the Bohemian Potion to avoid letting emotions cloud their judgment and to prevent the lazy and cowardly parts of human nature from holding them back, they explored the path forward for humanity at the cost of almost burning their lives, and protected humanity."
"This was the original purpose of developing the Bohemian Potion."