Demand for Medical Alcohol

The Great Elevator doors opened, and Li Qinwu arrived in the Middle Hive. This time, he set foot here as a Middle Hive citizen, with enough time and authority to move through every district. He intended to explore properly.

But he had not decided where to go yet. As he looked around, a distinctive red symbol caught his attention: the Two-Snake School.

The Two-Snake School was the local planet's medical industry. Supposedly a private medical enterprise, it had a Two-Snake Doctor stationed inside who could handle most treatments within the community.

Warhammer 40,000 was a world both advanced and backward, filled with all sorts of bizarre medical organizations. One of the more famous was the Rejuvenation School.

The most incredible thing about that school was that it could genuinely make people younger and extend their lifespans. Living three or four hundred years was easy; one or two thousand was no big deal either.

The level of medical advancement in Warhammer 40,000 was unimaginable to people from the 3K era. Even a back-alley medical organization like the Two-Snake School, which had never appeared in Warhammer 40,000 canon, could not be underestimated.

As far as Li Qinwu knew, Second Lieutenant Rudosen's mechanical arm had been modified at the Two-Snake School, with the military footing the bill.

For those who could not charge it to the military, like Little Joel, whose spine had been broken, the Two-Snake School could indeed treat him. It was just a matter of replacing it with a mechanical spine.

But Little Joel was only a soldier. The military offered him no protection at all.

Soldiers wounded in battle like him could not afford the Two-Snake School's medical fees, so they were reported to the Arbites and stripped of their entire family's Middle Hive citizenship. It once again reflected the fact that Warhammer 40,000 was one massive shithole.

Li Qinwu became deeply interested in the Two-Snake School and headed straight for its clinic.

Before he even entered, the notice posted outside the Two-Snake School's doors stopped him cold.

Warning: Should a doctor-patient relationship be established with a doctor of this school, any patient who is unable to pay medical fees after treatment shall be stripped of citizenship by the Arbites and exiled to the Lower Hive.

The debt shall be inherited by the patient's family. Should the family likewise be unable to repay the debt, they shall also be stripped of citizenship and exiled.

This was a fucking hospital, and it had openly posted a policy of collective punishment right at the entrance. Was that really okay?

He desperately wanted to see what the so-called Two-Snake School was like, so he pushed the door open and walked in.

The moment he entered, Li Qinwu took a step back. It was a tiny clinic of barely over thirty square meters, with shelves along the walls filled with all sorts of miscellaneous medicines.

The entire clinic was crammed with assorted examination equipment. An operating table stood in the middle, with a heap of knives scattered carelessly beside it. Bright red blood stained both the tools and the floor, clearly left behind from a surgery that had not yet been cleaned up.

In front of the operating table stood a desk and chair. A man in a filthy white lab coat sat in the chair.

The man had both feet propped up on the chair, a cigarette in his mouth, lazily reading a newspaper.

Li Qinwu was stunned by the filthy mess. This was a fucking hospital? If nobody told him, he would have thought it was a slaughterhouse!

The doctor's eyes left the newspaper and swept over Li Qinwu from head to toe before returning to the paper.

"Did you bring money? What's wrong with you?"

His first question was whether Li Qinwu had brought money. Li Qinwu rolled his eyes.

He pointed at a machine in the corner about the size of a rice cooker. "How much for that?"

The doctor glanced at the equipment Li Qinwu had indicated, then lowered his gaze to look at him.

"Are you here to amuse yourself? Get the hell out of my clinic right now, or I'll call the Arbites."

Li Qinwu pulled out the 100,000 Fertilizer Vouchers Reno had given him, waved them in the air, then held them beneath his nose and took a sniff. Mm, the scent of ink.

That sequence of movements immediately caught the doctor's attention. His eyes fixed greedily on that stack of Fertilizer Vouchers. Every one was a high-denomination 100 note, and the stack contained at least 100,000.

The man's face instantly broke into a smile. He rose, came around the desk, pulled out a chair, and invited Li Qinwu to sit.

"Oh, a quality customer! Come, come, please sit. May I ask what you need a Mixing Precipitator for?"

Li Qinwu sat down and shot the man a glance at his dog-like face.

"What I need it for is none of your business. Just tell me whether you're selling it."

The doctor rubbed his hands together, his eyes spinning as calculations filled his mind.

The founder of the Two-Snake School had once said that as long as the price was right, anything in this world could be bought and sold, including life itself.

The man assessed Li Qinwu's clothes. He was not extravagantly wealthy, but he carried an uncommon air about him. This guy definitely had some money, so the doctor named an outrageous price.

"I can sell it, but I want 200,000 Fertilizer Vouchers!"

Li Qinwu stood and turned to leave. Though the Mixing Precipitator was the last item needed to upgrade the Medical Station, he had no intention of being taken for a sucker. This bastard was obviously trying to butcher him.

When the Two-Snake Doctor saw Li Qinwu turn and leave, he became anxious and sprang from his chair to chase after him.

"We can negotiate! We can negotiate!

How about 190,000? Don't go! Then 180,000? Hey, hey, hey, 170,000! 170,000 is my absolute bottom line!

160,000, I'm telling you! I won't sell for less than 160,000! Hey, hey, hey..."

Li Qinwu pushed open the clinic door and planned to ask someone where the Imperial Cult church was so he could deliver Little Joel's letter to his sister. The Two-Snake Doctor kept babbling in his ear.

This bastard was clearly a space squid. Li Qinwu could not be bothered to keep tangling with him. Now that he had gained Middle Hive citizenship and unlocked so many districts, he could surely find another Mixing Precipitator if he searched around.

He guessed this equipment was nothing particularly advanced. After all, even that slaughterhouse-like clinic had one. If he looked carefully, he might even find the manufacturer and buy a new one at the original price.

His guess was not far off. This thing was one of the many civilian products manufactured by the Adeptus Mechanicus in Hive City factories. It was not expensive; after tax, one cost only a little over 90,000.

This Two-Snake Doctor had simply treated Li Qinwu like a Japanese tourist to see whether he could scam him for a fortune.

The guy followed Li Qinwu for nearly two streets. Li Qinwu was so annoyed that he finally cursed at him.

"Are you fucking trying to fleece me like some rich idiot? What the fuck is 160,000? Do you think I don't know what this thing sells for?

If I hadn't seen your machine gathering dust in the corner and happened to want a cheap secondhand unit, would I have ever come to that clinic of yours that even dogs would shake their heads at?

And you've got the nerve not to sell it to me as used equipment, but to charge me double instead. Do you think I'm some clueless outsider? Go fuck yourself!"

Li Qinwu flicked his hand and knocked away the man who had tried to grab him.

The Two-Snake Doctor clutched his struck arm and grimaced. "Then... then name your price!"

The Mixing Precipitator had sat in his clinic for two years. He had no use for it. Everyone in this district was dirt poor. At most, they came to buy cheap pills, and nobody needed the high-grade medicines synthesized by that thing.

Li Qinwu's eyes shifted as he raised three fingers.

"30,000. I'll give you 30,000 at most."

"What! Only 30,000! Absolutely not! At least 80,000!"

The moment Li Qinwu heard that, he knew the real price had been exposed. It was roughly what he had expected, so he stopped and haggled with the man right there on the street.

The two traded barbs. Li Qinwu pretended to leave, forcing the Two-Snake Doctor to back down. In the end, they settled on 70,000.

They returned to the clinic. The Two-Snake Doctor pulled the Mixing Precipitator out from a pile of equipment and placed it before Li Qinwu, wearing a pained expression.

"My honored customer, how about adding a little more? Even just a tiny bit?

This machine hasn't been used more than ten times since I bought it. The patients in this district are all sickly paupers who deserve to die poor. They can't afford the high-grade medicines it synthesizes. Since the day it entered my clinic, it hasn't earned me even a single credit!"

Li Qinwu could not be bothered with him. After paying, he snatched the machine away.

He turned the rice-cooker-sized device over and inspected it from every angle. Once he confirmed there was nothing wrong with it, he stuffed it into his backpack.

Having obtained the final upgrade item for the Medical Station, Li Qinwu let out a breath. He looked around the clinic and asked, "What do you sell here?"

The Two-Snake Doctor was counting the money bill by bill without even looking up. He pointed toward the cabinets by the wall.

"There are labels on them. See for yourself."

Li Qinwu looked over and saw all kinds of medicines displayed in the cabinets, with prices listed below them. The prices were absurdly high.

Small medical kit: 300 Fertilizer Vouchers. Tourniquet: 150 Fertilizer Vouchers. Disinfectant: 50 Fertilizer Vouchers. Vitamins...

At prices like these, in the Middle Hive where the monthly salary was 2,000 Fertilizer Vouchers, one serious illness could truly destroy an entire family.

As Li Qinwu examined the goods, a system notification sounded in his mind.

Ding! Contact unlocked: Two-Snake Doctor. Favorability Lv. 0. Goods unlocked:

Hemostatic Bandage (150 Fertilizer Vouchers), Small Medical Kit (300 Fertilizer Vouchers), Painkillers (300 Fertilizer Vouchers), Large Surgical Kit (1,500 Fertilizer Vouchers), Antidote (800 Fertilizer Vouchers).

Low-grade Medical Synthesis Material (50 Fertilizer Vouchers), High-grade Medical Synthesis Material (500).

Ding! Available quest. Quest description: Due to the war on the planet, the Hive City has begun rationing food. Alcohol has become extremely scarce in the Hive City, affecting the supply of medical alcohol.

The Two-Snake Doctor's reserves of medical alcohol have fallen to a dangerous level. If you can bring him 10 bottles of medical alcohol (500 ml each), you will gain his friendship and 500 Fertilizer Vouchers.

When Li Qinwu saw that he had unlocked a contact, he was delighted, though his expression remained calm.

He pointed at a half-empty bottle of medical alcohol on the shelf and asked, "The Hive City recently started rationing supplies. I heard even the distilleries have shut down. You still have alcohol here?"

The Two-Snake Doctor glanced at the half-empty bottle of medical alcohol and sighed.

"This is the only bottle I have left. The paupers around here can't afford medicine from me, so they only dare ask me to wipe their wounds with cheap medical alcohol.

But now even medical alcohol has become expensive. I have to raise prices for these paupers. From now on, one alcohol wipe will cost 40!"

Li Qinwu leaned closer and lowered his voice. "If, and I mean if, I can get medical alcohol, will you buy it?"

The Two-Snake Doctor's eyes lit up at those words.

"Yes! I'll definitely buy it! As long as it's medical grade, the 500-milliliter kind, I'll give you 50 Fertilizer Vouchers per bottle. I'll take as much as you have!"

Li Qinwu looked skeptically around the dilapidated clinic.

"As much as I have? With the scale of this dump, could you take fifty tons if I gave it to you?"

The Two-Snake Doctor slapped the table.

"What do you mean, dump? This is a harbor that heals people's bodies and souls!"

Then he held a hand beside his mouth and whispered, "I definitely can't take that much by myself, but our Two-Snake School has a station on every street. Forget fifty tons—even five hundred or five thousand tons, we can take it all!"

Li Qinwu sucked in a breath. Was demand for alcohol in the Middle Hive really this high?

What he did not know was that because the planet's farmers had rebelled, food shortages had already appeared in the Hive City.

The planetary governor was having Adeptus Mechanicus personnel build promethium waste conversion equipment to produce Corpse Starch and feed the tens of billions of people.

The Hive City's food quality was about to suffer a world-shaking collapse. People would soon be unable to get even natural food, and they still wanted to make alcohol?

The distilleries had all fucking shut down. Of course medical alcohol no longer had a source.

Though market demand was not as absurd as the Two-Snake Doctor claimed, the monthly shortfall was no less than fifty tons.

Li Qinwu now wanted to brew Moonshine even more. Even the medical alcohol market had such a huge opening. If he built a distillery, he would practically be picking up gold by the sackful!

He told the Two-Snake Doctor that he would come find him after some time, asked where the Imperial Cult church was, and left the clinic with a heavy mind.

He walked along the road, his lowered head and thoughtful expression blending into the gray-toned stream of passing workers. Only when he entered a fairly vast plaza did he come back to himself. He had already reached the Imperial Cult church.

The Imperial Cult was one of the Imperium of Man's largest political and military entities. Its presence could be seen on every one of the million worlds controlled by the Imperium of Man.

Its churches worshipped the God-Emperor, the Lord of Humanity, humanity's eternal beacon in the dark universe.

For most humans, the God-Emperor was a deity from mythological stories. But to the powerful who knew the truth of history, the God-Emperor was real: a powerful immortal, a Psyker, and a true king who had ruled the Imperium of Man for tens of thousands of years.

If not for the great rebellion that had swept across the galaxy, leaving the God-Emperor unable to walk among humanity and imprisoned deep within the Imperial Palace on Terra, humanity might not have suffered such a dark fate.

Li Qinwu stood in the great plaza before the church. Devout people came and went across it, holding candles or censers in their hands and murmuring various prayers.

At the center of the plaza stood a statue of the God-Emperor over forty meters tall. He wore golden Power Armor, with a massive power claw in one hand and the Emperor's sword in the other. He looked exceptionally valiant, like a warrior who would never accept defeat.

Looking at the towering holy statue of the God-Emperor, Li Qinwu raised both hands before him, pressed his index fingers together in an upside-down heart gesture, and murmured softly.

"Praise the Space King!"