Medical Alcohol Demand

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

However, he had no idea where to go at first. As he looked around, a special red symbol caught his eye: the Two-Snake School.

The Two-Snake School was the local planet's medical industry. It was said to be a private medical enterprise with a Two-Snake Doctor stationed within, capable of handling most treatments in the community.

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

The most amazing thing about that school was that it could truly make people younger and extend their lifespans. Living three or four hundred years was easy; one or two thousand years was nothing special.

The level of medical advancement in Warhammer 40,000 was beyond the imagination of people from the 3K Era. Even some backwater medical institution like the Two-Snake School, which had never appeared in Warhammer 40,000 canon, possessed technology not to be underestimated.

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

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

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

Soldiers wounded in battle could not even afford the Two-Snake School's medical fees. They would be reported to the Arbites, stripped of their entire family's Middle Hive citizenship, and sent into exile in the Lower Hive. It once again reflected the fact that Warhammer 40,000 was one enormous shithole.

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

Before he even entered, the public notice posted outside the Two-Snake School's door stopped him in his tracks.

Warning: If a doctor-patient relationship is established with a physician of this school, and the patient is unable to pay medical fees after receiving treatment, the Arbites will revoke their citizenship and exile them to the Lower Hive.

The debt will be inherited by the patient's family. If the family is likewise unable to repay the debt, their citizenship will also be revoked, and they will be 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 truly wanted to see what the so-called Two-Snake School looked like, so he pushed the door open and walked in.

The moment he entered the shop, Li Qinwu took a step back. It was a tiny clinic of barely thirty square meters. Shelves lined the walls, filled with all kinds of miscellaneous medicine.

The entire clinic was crammed with all kinds of testing equipment. An operating table stood in the center, with a pile of surgical tools tossed carelessly beside it. Bright red blood stained both the tools and the floor. Clearly, someone had finished surgery and had not had time to clean up.

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

The man had both feet propped on the chair and a cigarette in his mouth, his lazy eyes fixed on the newspaper in his hands.

Li Qinwu was stunned by the filth and mess. This was a fucking hospital? If no one told him, he would have thought it was a slaughterhouse!

The doctor lifted his eyes from the newspaper, looked Li Qinwu up and down, then returned his gaze to the paper.

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

His first sentence was asking whether he had money. Li Qinwu rolled his eyes.

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

The doctor glanced at the device Li Qinwu was pointing at, then lowered his eyes 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 sniffed. Mm, the fragrance of printer's ink.

That motion immediately caught the doctor's attention. His eyes stared straight at the stack of Fertilizer Vouchers. They were all high-denomination 100s. That stack had to be worth at least 100,000.

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

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

Li Qinwu sat down and gave the man's doglike face a sidelong glance.

"What I need it for is none of your business. I'm just asking whether you're selling it or not."

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

The founder of their 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.

The man looked Li Qinwu's clothes over. He was not extravagantly dressed, but he carried an uncommon air. This fellow clearly had some money, so the doctor opened with an outrageous price.

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

Li Qinwu got up and left. Although the Mixing Precipitator was the final item needed to upgrade the Medical Station, he did not want to be taken for a sucker. This bastard was clearly trying to butcher him like an idiot.

The Two-Snake Doctor saw Li Qinwu turn and leave, and immediately grew anxious. He jumped up from his chair and chased 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 it for less than 160,000! Hey, hey, hey..."

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

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

He figured this device was not especially advanced. After all, even that slaughterhouse-like clinic had one. If he looked carefully, he might find the manufacturer and buy a new one at the original price.

In fact, it was much as Li Qinwu had thought. This thing was one of the many civilian products manufactured by the Adeptus Mechanicus in Hive City Factories. It was not expensive at all; even after taxes, a new one cost just over 90,000.

This Two-Snake Doctor was treating Li Qinwu like a Japanese tourist, seeing if he could swindle him for a fortune.

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

"You think I'm some rich sucker you can fleece? What the fuck is 160,000? Do you think I don't know what this thing sells for?

"If I hadn't seen that machine gathering dust in your corner, and happened to want a cheap used one, would I have ever gone to your clinic, the kind of place that would make even a dog shake its head?

"You fucking bastard, not only are you refusing to sell it to me as used equipment, you're trying to sell it to me at double the price. Do I look like some stinking outsider who doesn't know the market? Fuck you!"

Li Qinwu flung out his hand and knocked away the guy reaching for him.

The Two-Snake Doctor clutched his struck arm, baring his teeth as he said, "Then... then name your price!"

The Mixing Precipitator had been sitting in his place for two years. He had no use for it at all. Everyone in this neighborhood was dirt poor. At most, they came to buy some low-grade pills. They had no need for the high-grade medicine synthesized by this thing.

Li Qinwu's eyes rolled, and he held up 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 man had blurted out the real price. It was also close to what he had expected, so he stopped and began haggling with him in the street.

The two sparred fiercely with words. Li Qinwu pretended to leave, forcing the Two-Snake Doctor to back down. In the end, they settled on a price of 70,000.

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

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

"This machine has been used fewer than ten times since I bought it. The patients in this neighborhood are all sickly bastards who deserve to die poor. They can't afford the high-grade medicine synthesized by this machine. Since it came to my clinic, it hasn't earned me even a single credit!"

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

He turned the rice-cooker-sized device over and inspected it carefully. Once he confirmed there was no problem, he stuffed it into his backpack.

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

The Two-Snake Doctor was counting the money bill by bill without even raising his head. He pointed toward the cabinets along the wall.

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

Li Qinwu looked over and saw all kinds of medicine displayed in the cabinets. Prices were marked beneath every item, and they were absurdly expensive.

Small Medical Kit: 300 Fertilizer Vouchers. Tourniquet: 150 Fertilizer Vouchers. Disinfectant: 50 Fertilizer Vouchers. Vitamins...

With such terrifying prices, 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 looked over the goods, a system prompt sounded in his mind.

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

Hemostatic Bandage (150 Fertilizer Vouchers), Small Medical Kit (300 Fertilizer Vouchers), Painkiller (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! Quest available. Quest description: Due to the war on the planet, the Hive City has begun implementing food rationing. Alcohol has become extremely scarce in the Hive City, affecting the supply of medical alcohol.

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

Seeing that he had unlocked a contact, Li Qinwu was delighted, though he kept his expression calm.

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

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

"This is the only bottle I have left. The poor bastards around here can't afford medicine from me. 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 poor bastards. From now on, one alcohol wipe here will cost 40!"

Li Qinwu leaned closer and whispered, "If, and I mean if, I can get medical alcohol, would you buy it?"

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

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

Li Qinwu looked skeptically around the shabby clinic.

"As much as I have? With a rundown clinic your size, could you take fifty tons if I gave them to you?"

The Two-Snake Doctor slammed the table.

"What do you mean, rundown clinic? This is a harbor that heals bodies and souls!"

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

Li Qinwu clicked his tongue. Was the Middle Hive's demand for alcohol really that high?

What he did not know was that because the farmers on the planet 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.

Hive City food was about to suffer a drastic collapse. People could barely get natural food anymore, and they still wanted to brew alcohol?

The Brewing Plants had all fucking shut down. Naturally, medical alcohol had no source.

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

At that moment, Li Qinwu wanted to brew moonshine even more. There was such a massive opening in the medical alcohol market alone. If he built a Brewing Plant, it would practically be like scooping gold into sacks!

He told the Two-Snake Doctor that he would come find him after some time, asked where the Imperial Cult Cathedral was, then left the clinic with a head full of thoughts.

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 rather enormous square did he come back to his senses. He had arrived at the Imperial Cult Cathedral.

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

What its cathedrals worshipped was the God-Emperor, the Lord of Mankind, humanity's eternal beacon in the dark universe.

To most humans, the God-Emperor was a deity from mythological tales. But to the powerful who knew the truth of history, the God-Emperor was real: a mighty Perpetual and Psyker who had ruled the Imperium of Man for tens of thousands of years, a true monarch.

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

Li Qinwu stood in the large square before the cathedral. Devout people came and went around him, holding candles or censers in their hands and murmuring various prayers beneath their breaths.

At the very center of the square stood a God-Emperor Statue over forty meters tall. He wore golden power armor, holding a massive Power Klaw in one hand and the God-Emperor's sword in the other. He looked heroic and extraordinary, like a warrior who would never admit defeat.

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

"Praise the Space King!"