Chapter 249: Very Expensive Medicine

Chapter 249: Chapter 249: Very Expensive Medicine

"Brother San, I’m a Strength Evolver. I’m always carrying or hauling several hundred pounds of supplies, which has led to muscle strain in my shoulders, legs, and lower back. The web of my hand also splits open when I exert too much force. They’ve all become chronic injuries. Brother San, do you have any medicine that can treat my condition?"

After being ravaged by violent tectonic shifts, nuclear radiation, and cosmic gamma-ray bursts, Blue Star entered the Natural Disaster era. Under the influence of two suddenly appearing elements, Qiang and Yi, all life on Blue Star underwent a massive, rapid evolution.

However, humanity, once at the apex of the Blue Star Pyramid, evolved the slowest and most unevenly. As a result, Blue Star’s food chain was repeatedly reshuffled, and humans could no longer hold their place at the top.

The broadcast once offered a vivid metaphor for this imbalanced human evolution: a wooden barrel.

After the great evolution of life on Blue Star, the average person’s physical functions universally doubled. This is like every plank of a wooden barrel doubling in length, thus doubling the barrel’s capacity. This level of evolution is balanced.

About 0.15% of humanity received more energy during the evolutionary process, and their physical functions continued to grow beyond the initial doubling. However, this continued growth manifested as one or two abilities—or for a very small few, three abilities—developing at a rate significantly faster than the individual’s other functions.

This is like lengthening only one or two planks of a wooden barrel. On the surface, the barrel looks dramatically different, but its actual water capacity hasn’t increased by much.

For example, after her Strength Evolution, Xiaqing could carry objects weighing six or seven hundred pounds over long distances, but she couldn’t use her explosive power at will. This was because her bones, muscles, and skin hadn’t evolved to the same degree and couldn’t withstand the reactive force of immense explosive power without causing her body damage. Therefore, Xiaqing often used her Strength Evolution Ability, but rarely her explosive power.

Another example is Yang Jin. He is a Top Level Speed Evolver. At full sprint, he can run 100 meters in just three seconds. Before the great evolution, this was the speed of a Cheetah, a velocity the human body was simply not built to achieve. But due to the limitations of imbalanced evolution, if a Speed Evolver runs at full speed for too long, they will also cause damage to their body.

Metaphysical or religious circles claimed this imbalanced evolution was Blue Star’s severe punishment for humanity. They said Blue Star had lost all hope in humans and was trying to exterminate them.

Researchers, on the other hand, termed this imbalanced evolution "incomplete evolution." As for why it was incomplete and how to achieve completion, scientists had yet to figure it out.

As a High Level Strength Evolver, Xiaqing deeply felt the damage this "incomplete evolution" inflicted on her body. And of all the people she knew, if anyone could treat or alleviate this damage, it had to be Zhang San.

Now that Xiaqing had essentially solved the most pressing problems for her survival, and with over a thousand pounds of high-quality, edible Chestnuts in her possession, she finally had enough confidence to propose a trade with the picky Zhang San to fix her physical damage.

Zhang San didn’t answer immediately.

Xiaqing heard his voice turn low and slow. After a few seconds, the sound of footsteps came through the phone, echoing as if in a long, narrow corridor. Xiaqing’s heart throbbed in time with his steps.

’I have to smooth this over,’ she thought. ’He’s a master in his field, and I’m counting on trading with him for high-quality medicine in the future.’

"Brother San, if you don’t have that kind of medicine, I’ll trade for trauma medicine, Anti-inflammatory medicine, insect repellent, and that medicine you mix with the spinach juice."

After Zhang San had been walking for half a minute, Xiaqing heard a BEEP from the other end of the phone, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing. The mechanical sound after the door shut was likely a lock engaging. Relying on her keen hearing, Xiaqing determined that Zhang San had entered a very quiet room. She subconsciously held her breath.

Only after entering the top-security research lab, which he alone could access, did Zhang San speak again, his voice lazy. "The medicine you want is extremely expensive. Are you sure you want to trade for it?"

For the extravagant Zhang San to say "extremely expensive," the medicine clearly couldn’t be had for a mere one or two hundred thousand. But Xiaqing’s determination to trade for it didn’t waver in the slightest.

In the ten years of the Natural Disaster, although she had never suffered a severe external injury, the long-term overuse of her strength had caused hidden damage to her joints and muscles that couldn’t be healed just by eating nutritious food now.

Now that she had an opportunity, she would of course get her body into peak condition. That way, the next time she faced a desperate situation, her chances of survival would be higher.

"I’m sure. Brother San, tell me, how many pounds of Green Light Chestnuts does this medicine cost?"

Zhang San replied with the meticulousness of Li Si, "I’ll need to examine the strain on your muscles, skin, and joints before I can determine the formula and price. It will be at least two thousand pounds."

Based on the price Zhang San had just quoted for Green Light chestnuts, two thousand pounds was equivalent to 800,000 points. In other words, treating her body’s damage would cost as many points as buying Mountain No. 49!

It sounded outrageous, but when she changed her frame of reference, it was just a month’s output of Pollution-free Spring Water from her territory, four hundred high-efficiency nutrient liquids, or four pigeon-egg-sized Yi Stones.

That’s all.

Xiaqing was full of confidence. "Brother San, I need this medicine, but I don’t have that many Green Light chestnuts this year—only 290 pounds. Do you think I could use Green Light Spinach Seeds, other Green Light plants, or prey to pay for the remaining points?"

Zhang San reminded her listlessly, "Xiaqing, the spinach I grew from the Green Light Spinach Seeds I got from you is better quality than yours."

’I get it.’ Her spinach was worthless in her idol’s eyes now. He wasn’t very interested in Green Light prey either. It seemed the only thing he wanted was Green Light Chestnuts.

Xiaqing played her last card. "If you only want Green Light chestnuts, I can probably give you another three hundred pounds or so around this time next year. To increase my combat power, I made a deal with Yang Jin to take control of a patch of Evolution Forest on Mountain No. 49, near my territory. These Green Light chestnuts came from that contracted forest. This year, I harvested a total of 330 pounds of Green Light Chestnuts and 1,200 pounds of Yellow Light Chestnuts. Do you want the Yellow Light ones? If you don’t want them, can I pay you on credit and continue paying with Green Light chestnuts over the next year or two?"

’At this rate,’ she calculated, ’I can definitely pay back two thousand pounds in six years.’

Xiaqing flinched, not daring to finish her thought. The Natural Disaster had only been going on for ten years, and Blue Star’s population had already plummeted from over eight billion to less than two. Forget six years from now—who could even guarantee they’d be alive next year?

Xiaqing’s answer piqued Zhang San’s interest. "Are you saying these chestnut trees are all growing in the same Evolution Forest?"

Xiaqing’s eyes lit up as an idea struck her. "That’s right, they grow together. The chestnut leaves have evolved to be sticky, allowing them to trap Evolved Insects and form a symbiotic relationship with Evolved Bees. The stickiness is even stronger than a Qiang Evolution pumpkin’s. If a leaf gets on your Protective Suit, you have to wait for it to dry out completely, otherwise you can’t even wash it off."