Drug Trial

Xiao Wang left after training at the gym for just an hour.

Now, he not only had to improve his martial arts cultivation, but also make money.

It was already May. There were less than four months until school started at the end of August. To be safe, before taking the Martial Arts Academy entrance exam, he needed to find a private martial arts gym for extra training.

This was also the usual approach for many martial arts examinees.

Naturally, that would be another considerable expense.

After leaving the training hall, Xiao Wang went next door to the firearms range to greet Guan Chaoyang, who was training there. Then he left the school and headed toward Happy Sky Road.

According to the news on the radio that morning, Fusheng Group was looking for drug trial participants at No. 42 Happy Sky Road.

Drug trials usually paid money, with different phases offering different amounts.

Of course, the risks were not low either.

Xiao Wang had often heard of people suffering chronic poisoning, blood clots that led to amputations, blindness in both eyes, and so on because of drug trials.

Deaths were not uncommon, either.

If they happened to test the wrong experimental drug, the mortality rate could be quite high.

Of course, if a trial participant died, their family could receive compensation.

As one of the Federation's three major corporations, Fusheng Group primarily dealt in pharmaceutical production and development. Drug trials like this were common.

Though disability and death occurred from time to time, people volunteering for drug trials still came in an endless stream.

As he walked, Xiao Wang glanced at the bead in his mind.

If the drug is harmful, I hope you can withstand it.

After being fine from drinking disinfectant alcohol that morning, he had gained much more confidence in the bead's detoxifying effects.

Twenty minutes later, Xiao Wang finally found No. 43 Happy Sky Road.

It was a six-story building that looked recently renovated. Two large characters, Fusheng, were embedded at the top.

At that moment, two storefronts on the first floor were open.

One of them was around seven or eight meters wide and ten or so meters deep. Inside, seven or eight people in matching uniforms were handling box after box of reagents. Xiao Wang took a look and saw the words "Fusheng" on their uniforms. He guessed they were Fusheng Group employees, and the reagents they were handling were likely the drugs for this human trial.

A long line had already formed outside the storefront. Xiao Wang estimated there were at least seventy or eighty people, and the number kept growing.

Xiao Wang hurried to join the end of the line. Before long, another long line had formed behind him.

There was also a line outside the other storefront beside them, though it only had around a dozen people.

As Xiao Wang stood in line, the person behind him suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around and saw a forty-year-old man in worn, shabby clothes looking at him.

"Young man, you're a student, right?"

"Yes." Xiao Wang nodded.

"Why is a student like you trying to make money this way? This isn't meant for someone like you. You're still so young."

Xiao Wang looked the middle-aged man over. He was very thin, with sunken cheeks and deep-set eyes. His body was practically skin and bones.

He did not answer the man's question, instead asking, "Then why are you here to make money through drug trials, sir?"

The middle-aged man gave a bitter smile. "I have no choice. My daughter got sick and had to have her leg amputated. I don't have the money to get her a good prosthetic. I bought the cheapest one, but she has to take anti-rejection medicine every day. One pill costs fifty Federation credits, and she needs two a day."

"One pill costs fifty Federation credits?!" Xiao Wang was genuinely shocked by the price. He knew his adoptive father, Zhou Zhengxiong, worked at an underground factory for a monthly salary of five thousand Federation credits, with two days off each month.

"Is that medicine made of gold?"

The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and pointed at the building in front of them. "It's made by Fusheng Group too."

Xiao Wang fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Don't tell me your daughter's prosthetic is made by them too?"

"That one isn't. It's from Boao Group. You know, the company that makes military augmentations? The military-grade ones are great, but I can't afford them."

For a moment, Xiao Wang did not know what to say, so he changed the subject. "What are the people in the line next door here for?"

"To collect compensation."

"What?" Xiao Wang was stunned. "You mean they're collecting compensation for drug trial deaths?"

"Mm. They're all family members. The last batch of drugs wasn't very good. One hundred and twenty of us took part in the trial, and I heard thirteen died."

Xiao Wang was too shocked to speak. After taking a moment to recover, he noticed the information hidden in the man's words. "You said you were here for the last drug trial too?"

The middle-aged man looked at him and smiled bitterly without saying anything.

"Is the compensation high?" Xiao Wang looked at the dozen or so family members in the other line. There was even a mother in her thirties holding a child's hand.

"You'll find out soon enough."

As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, a person in a Fusheng uniform came out of the storefront holding a stack of papers and handed them to the first person in line. "Pass these down."

Then she loudly told the people in line, "These are the agreements for this drug trial. Read them carefully yourselves. If you agree, sign your name. If you don't, leave on your own."

The agreement soon reached Xiao Wang. He took one and passed the rest down the line.

Xiao Wang held the agreement and was about to read it closely when the middle-aged man behind him suddenly said, "You're carrying a backpack, so you should have a pen, right? Can I borrow it?"

As Xiao Wang took out a pen, he asked, "You're not even going to read it?"

"They're pretty much the same every time. The terms this time are even a little better than last time. They're giving an extra five thousand Federation credits for the second phase."

After handing him the pen, Xiao Wang began carefully reading the agreement.

The agreement was very simple, containing only a dozen or so brief clauses. In summary, they came down to two points: first, all consequences were the participant's own responsibility; second, all rights of interpretation belonged to Fusheng Group.

Besides those clauses, it also stated the payment for this drug trial.

The trial was divided into two phases. The first phase paid twenty thousand Federation credits. If the participant went on to the second phase, it paid fifteen thousand Federation credits.

If a participant died, their family would receive ten thousand Federation credits in compensation.

Looking at the amount of compensation, Xiao Wang turned to the middle-aged man and asked, "Is this compensation amount a mistake?"

The middle-aged man smiled. "No."

Seeing Xiao Wang's disbelieving expression, he added, "Their explanation is that if someone dies, their experimental data becomes invalid, so Fusheng Group suffers an even greater loss. They say giving ten thousand Federation credits is already very considerate of the family. Little brother, I have no choice, but you're still young. I'd advise you not to earn money this way."

Xiao Wang could no longer find words to describe it, yet he still signed his name with the pen.

"Come on, line up properly and move forward one at a time."

At the uniformed worker's call, the entire line began moving forward.

When it was Xiao Wang's turn, the staff member froze for a moment, likely because he looked too young. Nearly everyone in the line was over thirty, and there were barely any people in their twenties.

The sudden sight of an eighteen-year-old student clearly caught her off guard.

But she quickly returned to normal.

"Roll up your sleeve."

Xiao Wang rolled up his sleeve as instructed. Then she directly jabbed a needle into his shoulder and injected the trial drug into his body.

She stamped the agreement he had signed. "Come back in three days for a sample collection, payment, and the second phase of the trial. If you die, have your family collect the compensation from the window next door. Next."

Like a recording machine, the worker repeated those words to every drug trial participant.

Holding the stamped agreement, Xiao Wang stood up and was about to put it into his backpack.

The middle-aged man who had stood behind him had finished his injection as well. He walked over to Xiao Wang and patted his shoulder. "Little brother, see you in three days."

"See you in three days."