Chapter 338 - 338: The Shentu Family's Reaction

"What!"

A look of shock flashed in Shentu Shan's eyes, and his body trembled slightly. "This poison... it's that stubborn? Does this mean... does this mean everyone is doomed to die, their bodies rotting away?!"

"Patriarch, I'm afraid... that outcome is truly unavoidable..." The chief physician's face was deathly pale, his eyes betraying a deep anxiety.

He had practiced medicine for over thirty years, but he had never encountered such a difficult allergic reaction!

Shentu Shan was deeply unsettled. He slowly raised a hand to light a cigarette. 'Do I really have to go to Jishan Hall in Jizhou,' he thought, 'and spend five hundred thousand on a single packet of antidote just to see if it works?'

Right now, the only known people who had used the Anti-aging Gel, aside from the few in the operating rooms, were the two hundred models from the recent event.

Two hundred people meant two hundred families.

He considered the worst-case scenario.

If those two hundred people also ended up dying from the rot, the Shentu family would have to go to each family, one by one, to offer condolences and deal with the aftermath.

Two hundred families, and each would surely react differently.

Maybe some families would take the compensation money and not cause any trouble.

But he couldn't guarantee that all two hundred families would be so easily placated.

Moreover, it was unlikely that all two hundred families lived in Central State. They were probably scattered across various provinces and cities throughout the country.

This introduced a great deal of uncertainty.

Could the Shentu family bear such a consequence?

As for the money, paying a million in compensation to each family—a total of two hundred million—wouldn't even make the Shentu family flinch.

But the public outcry... that would inevitably spiral out of control.

"When will the test results for those models and university students be ready? I need to know as soon as possible if they're showing signs of poisoning," Shentu Shan said with a wave of his hand, turning to the chief physician.

"Patriarch, they've all been tested. The lab results should be back in half an hour at the latest."

The chief physician's face was still ghostly pale, completely devoid of color.

It seemed he already had a premonition. "To prevent the poison from setting in too deeply, I've had them all go to the showers. They're all bathing now. If we just lock the doors, they'll have no way out. They don't have their communication devices, so no one will ever know..."

"Doctor Fang, are you suggesting I should... dispose of them all, without a trace?" Shentu Shan asked, turning to look at the chief physician.

Doctor Fang nodded grimly. "I'm afraid it's the only way for the Shentu Group to survive this crisis."

Shentu Shan fell silent.

Make two hundred people just... disappear?

Without a doubt, the Shentu family had the power to do it.

But!

The press conference for the Anti-aging Gel had been live-streamed across the entire internet. Those two hundred people were now in the public eye.

For them to vanish without a trace now was simply not a viable option!

Based on the first victims, the poison took about fifteen hours to take full effect.

Which meant those two hundred people had about ten hours left...

"Big Brother! We're here!"

At that moment, the key figures of the Shentu family arrived at the hospital.

"Since everyone's here, let's close the door and discuss this properly."

Shentu Shan looked at his two brothers and gestured them inside as he pushed open the door to a conference room.

"Patriarch..." Doctor Fang looked at Shentu Shan again.

"You come in too. We'll discuss this together," Shentu Shan said, his face grim as he sat down.

The door swung shut behind them.

The four of them, including Shentu Shan, sat in silence.

"Doctor Fang, please brief them on the situation," Shentu Shan said, unwilling to repeat the vexing details himself.

Doctor Fang quickly brought Shentu Shan's two brothers up to speed.

"Big Brother, if that's the case, I say we go with Doctor Fang's suggestion. Just make them all disappear," Shentu Di, the third and most ruthless of the brothers, declared decisively.

"I disagree." Shentu Lin, the fourth brother, shook his head firmly. "Putting aside whether all two hundred will even develop symptoms, think about the consequences if they all go missing. First, there's the public outcry. Second, can we really handle all their families at the same time?"

His question raised a significant problem.

Just as Shentu Shan had considered earlier, the two hundred families didn't all live in the same city.

Even if they dispatched two hundred of their own people to negotiate simultaneously, there was no guarantee every family would cooperate.

The Shentu family would be left in a reactive and vulnerable position.

"Ultimately, to protect the family's reputation, we must cure those two hundred people, no matter the cost. Then, we compensate them for their pain and suffering. That's the only way to ensure the Shentu family's stability," Shentu Lin concluded. He was a very wise man.

If he hadn't been so dedicated to his studies back then, the title of Patriarch might very well have been his.

"I disagree!"

The third brother, Shentu Di, shook his head. "We still have ten hours, don't we? That's enough time to send people to negotiate. If that fails, well, we just eliminate their entire families. And public opinion? That's easy. Anything that money can solve isn't a real problem. Everything can be handled!"