Su led his team and research achievements to deliver hope to Honkai Sickness patients across North America. Although the disease could not yet be completely cured, at least hope had been restored to those afflicted.
Those infected with Honkai Sickness would turn into zombies. Animals infected with Honkai Sickness would become monsters.
They would suddenly attack caregivers and doctors, triggering new waves of large-scale outbreaks.
As a result, medical staff no longer dared approach patients on the brink of death. They could only lock them in isolation rooms and watch as their breathing stopped and their bodies turned cold.
This situation had been unfolding across North America—until the arrival of HoMu Network Technology Co., Ltd.
Relying on a traditional pill officially named HoMu Company Honkai Suppression Dissolution Pellet by HoMu Network Technology Co., Ltd.—and jokingly referred to by North American Honkai Sickness patients as the miraculous Homu Pellet—patients no longer needed to be isolated.
According to Occultist's theory, the pills were divided into nine revolutions, each distinguished by a different color.
Black, white, purple, blue, cyan, green, yellow, orange, red.
The First-Revolution Black Pellet had limited efficacy but could be stored for long periods.
The Second-Revolution Silver Pellet could turn mercury into genuine silver. However, this effect was rather useless, since the materials consumed were far more expensive than the silver produced.
The Third-Revolution Rosy Pellet represented the limit of what current materials could achieve. It could suppress the erosion of Honkai energy within a patient's body and extend their lifespan as much as possible.
That was already the current limit. As for the Fourth Revolution, according to Occultist's estimates, it would require harnessing the power of the quantum domain. Although Occultist herself could accomplish such a feat, doing so required paying a price.
Occultist's method of invoking the quantum domain involved altering unknowable fate. And altering unknowable fate carried a high probability of inviting disaster—like a fortune-teller in a cultivation novel revealing heavenly secrets and suffering divine retribution as a result.
Occultist would happily experiment with it, but Conductor would never allow it. That was one of the reasons Occultist's danger level ranked just below Pure Evil.
If Occultist were allowed to recklessly court death, who knew—one day Vill-V might choke to death on her own saliva.
That scenario was still relatively understandable. To exaggerate further, fate might one day cause every cell in Vill-V's body to suddenly develop its own consciousness and split her apart of its own accord.
Conductor had no desire to turn into countless little Vill-Vs, though Id seemed rather eager at the thought of having endless copies of herself for company.
Id: Hehehe, that would be great! More wives! Half the Vill-Vs work, the other half throw parties!
Originally, most Honkai Sickness patients could not survive more than three days. The Third-Revolution Rosy Pill extended that deadline to five years.
Because the course of the illness was prolonged, even if a patient were to transform into a zombie, there would be warning signs beforehand, allowing preventive measures to be taken—instead of an abrupt, terrifying transformation without any sign at all.
At long last, the relationship between medical staff and patients regained a measure of humanity, rather than being defined entirely by fear and opposition.
Although production capacity for the Third-Revolution pill was limited.
That was fine. Precisely because production was limited, Su was able to make demands of the North American local government.
"Oh? The North American medical regulatory department has approved it? We haven't even finished compiling the clinical trial report yet." A trace of surprise flickered through Vill-V's eyes as she read the message in her hand.
Traditional formulations were inherently complex and difficult for regulatory authorities to accept. After all, some of the ingredients, when isolated, were highly toxic.
Not to mention that this medicine was produced using the alchemical methods of ancient fangshi. There was no way to explain that to modern regulators—modern science simply did not acknowledge such things.
Moreover, given the usual efficiency of North America's regulatory agencies, it typically took at least a month of "red envelopes" before they would even respond. To reply within days—and approve it, no less—was nothing short of a miracle.
Vill-V had originally assumed various factions would obstruct them. Given the sheer scale of Honkai Sickness, it was an enormous cake in the eyes of merchants.
The troublemakers who had gathered at the hospital entrance earlier—Vill-V had already guessed they were backed by those same interests, hoping to coerce the hospital into surrendering its treatment method.
But they would soon discover that even without coercion, Vill-V intended to promote the treatment publicly.
Because what Vill-V planned was not a transaction—but harvesting and coercion.
Once they truly sank their teeth into the cake, they would realize it was laced with poison. By then, they would scramble to make excuses.
But once they had taken a bite, there would be no running away. They would obediently work to resist the Honkai.
"A certain influential figure has a family member suffering from Honkai Sickness. Naturally, he pushed things forward," Su explained.
"Tsk tsk. As expected of the powerful..."
"When it comes to disaster relief, they drag their feet. But when it comes to protecting their own interests, they spare no effort."
"It seems our plan will proceed more smoothly than expected."
The cries of ordinary citizens might be ignored by the North American local government. But under the "petition" of a perfectly ordinary influential figure, the government had no choice but to comply.
Not only did they have to obediently arrange factory facilities for Su, they also had to publicly commend HoMu Network Technology Co., Ltd.—represented by Su—for its outstanding contributions during the disaster relief effort.
Su and his group had not come to North America to clean up the government's mess, nor to do charity or curry favor.
After this disaster relief operation, HoMu Network Technology Co., Ltd. would expand its influence across North America—rolling out its games and animation promotions from the highest levels down to the grassroots, exporting the company's culture in full.
According to Project Bunny's analysis, "Homu Project" would dominate the mainstream entertainment market in North America within three years. More than 80% of North American residents would be aware of the existence of "Homu Project," and 50% would either play related products or consume related cultural works.
By then, Vill-V would have a steady stream of money flowing into her pockets. Hehe.
Vill-V would finally never again have to worry about being strapped for cash! Long live!
In truth, Vill-V had never been a petty money-grubber. Who cared about that filthy money?
Vill-V did not care about money at all. The essence of money was merely various forms of foundational resources.
It was only because Expert lacked even the most basic research resources that she had been forced to devise every possible way to accumulate wealth.
Thinking back on those difficult days, tears welled in Vill-V's eyes. Life had been bitter indeed. Not having to listen to Magician and sell her looks as some kind of internet idol—how wonderful. Thank you, Conductor.
Now, under Conductor's arrangements, the issue of basic resources had finally been resolved. What remained was to find ways to obtain advanced resources.
For example, Herrscher corpses, Emperor-class Honkai Beast corpses, soulium materials, and Honkai research data—these were things that money alone could not buy.