Graytail Hall's thugs were highly skilled in their line of work.
Their clubs swung so fast they left afterimages.
"You really don't know what a gang is, huh?" A hulking thug lifted the man who had been acting so arrogantly just moments ago with one hand and slapped him hard across the face. "You dare cause trouble in Graytail Hall's territory?"
Slap! Slap! Slap!
The slaps landed one after another.
Seeing this, someone from the nearby LGD team subconsciously stepped forward to stop it.
But in the next second, a veteran beside him kicked him in the calf.
"What are you doing?" The Captain shot a meaningful glance to his left and right. The surrounding operators tacitly stepped forward to block everyone else's view. Then, he grabbed the rookie by the collar, really wanting to slap him across the face too.
But he had to hold back. They were out in public right now; it wasn't suitable to make a scene.
"Captain, they are..." The rookie had just graduated from the Academy, right at the age of being hotheaded and reckless.
"What, if they don't beat them, are we supposed to do it?" The Captain glared at him fiercely. "If we really went over there and gang up to kick people, what would happen to the LGD's reputation?"
"We don't have to use violence..." The rookie wanted to say something else, but then he saw the Captain sigh.
"You... forget it," the Captain really wanted to hit someone upon hearing this. "No violence? Then what do we use? Inspire them with love?"
"We still shouldn't just watch a gang bully people like this," the rookie's voice gradually quieted under the gazes of his teammates.
"Heh, why didn't they think they were bullying people when they were pushing their luck?" The Captain sneered. "The Miracle Doctor has been exhausted all day, isn't it bullying when they force her to continue treating patients?"
Because Xia Yu stayed inside the small room, most people didn't know that the so-called Miracle Doctor was entirely in the appearance of a young child.
However, because of her miraculous medical skills, everyone generally believed that she must be a grey-haired, kindly old Miracle Doctor. This could be considered a stereotype.
After all, only about a thousand people had seen Xia Yu with their own eyes, while she had treated thirteen thousand people just today...
"Let me tell you, if the Miracle Doctor gets angered and just leaves Lungmen, do you believe the untreated Infected will turn this place upside down!"
"That's a hundred thousand Infected. If they really riot, wouldn't it be our LGD that has to pacify them? By then, we'll be facing Originium Bombs that are so desperate they're ready to explode. How many of our brothers will die? How many guys will get an infection? Have you thought about that?"
"Once they riot, have you thought about how many innocent civilians in Lungmen will suffer?"
The more they heard this, the more unfriendly the gazes of the surrounding LGD officers became toward the rookie.
After all, if the Infected really rioted, they would be the ones forced to step up to the front lines. If they accidentally contracted an infection... and the Doctor had been driven away in anger, didn't they already know how the Infected were treated in Lungmen?
The Captain whispered viciously, "These people deserve it! Put away that overflowing sympathy of yours!"
"Right now, they're just taking a beating. If the Miracle Doctor is dissatisfied because of their words today, never mind leaving Lungmen, just pausing the free clinic for a single day would be enough for all the Infected in Lungmen to tear them to shreds."
"Those Infected have worthless lives; they couldn't see a sliver of hope before. Now that they've finally seen the possibility of a cure, if someone cuts off that hope, how crazy do you think they'll get?"
"You'd better stand here obediently and don't make a single move, or else when this mission is over, take the initiative to write your resignation letter!"
Hearing this, the rookie shrank his neck and didn't dare speak anymore.
It was only because he had just thought about it and hadn't actually done it that the Captain could raise the issue strictly but let it go lightly, settling it with a scolding.
If this hothead had really rushed out to stop the people from Graytail Hall, regardless of the circumstances, he was currently part of the LGD and would have undoubtedly put his brothers in an awkward position.
When that happened, he could forget about continuing to work at the LGD.
Obviously, the other squads maintaining order were well aware of these truths.
Everyone kept their eyes focused straight ahead, acting like they couldn't see a thing.
Nobody wanted to face a riot by all the Infected in Lungmen.
And the thugs of Graytail Hall were extremely delighted.
After all, when in the past did they ever have the chance to be so arrogant right in front of the LGD cops?
Thinking about how so many cops around them could only watch as they beat people, the hands swinging their clubs gained even more strength.
"You're dead meat. Do you know who I am?"
Some people with a bit of status and background were still clamoring, "I am..."
Unfortunately, the thugs of Graytail Hall didn't care about any of that. With one strike of a club, they knocked out a mouthful of teeth.
It had to be said that the constitution of Terrans was quite durable. On Earth, such a forceful 'conflict' would have long resulted in rivers of blood, but on Terra, it would result in serious injuries at most.
There were only about two or three hundred people surrounded. Soon, the sounds of begging for mercy and crying spread throughout the small plaza.
Seeing this, the other Infected all lowered their heads.
Right, this was the gang they were familiar with.
These outsiders from beyond the slums were used to being arrogant, as if they felt everything should go their way.
There were also some muddleheaded Infected from the slums who echoed them, so they were dragged out and beaten alongside them by the Graytail Hall thugs who had been keeping an eye out.
After the beating was over, Lin Yühsia looked at Chen Huijie.
"Superintendent Chen, it's time to come out and clean up the mess," she raised her head, revealing a smooth neck. "These people will be handed over to your LGD for detention. You heard it too, Doctor Bailu doesn't want to treat them, so please don't let them out to cause more trouble, alright?"
"Phew, the LGD will do its job properly," Chen Huijie frowned upon hearing this.
Under normal circumstances, she definitely would have intervened, but she also had a brain. In this situation, if Bailu was dissatisfied, all the Infected in Lungmen would mobilize.
It could be said that with just today's treatments alone, the hearts of these hundred thousand people were already with her. Chen Huijie suspected that with just a single rallying cry, these Infected with worthless lives would probably dare to charge the LGD headquarters with her.
In the face of major rights and wrongs, she didn't say anything; after all, they hadn't beaten these people to death, had they?
As for Xia Yu, she didn't even look at them, directly getting into the car to go home.
The people from the LGD could only put on bitter faces as they detained those people one by one.
Speaking of which, it was easy to understand why these people were making a fuss. After all, most of them were people with some status, and when Graytail Hall tallied the Infected in the slums, they naturally didn't include them in the statistics.
So they waited for a whole day and didn't even get a chance to line up, leading to their natural dissatisfaction. On top of that, the hospitals outside always catered to them, so they were used to being arrogant.
But Xia Yu didn't care about this. It wasn't that she said she wouldn't treat these people, but compared to them who could afford to stay in hospitals, the homeless and starving Infected in the slums simply needed timely treatment more.
Isn't it just waiting a few days? Can't they even wait for that?
"Xiao Chen," Xia Yu said while sitting in the car, rubbing her chin in thought, "What kind of factories are there in Lungmen?"
"Uh, Doctor Bailu is interested in factories?"
"It's not that I'm interested," Xia Yu shook her head. "It's about these Infected. I really don't think Wei Yenwu will properly settle them."
"Although I have some connections in the Snowfield, it's not good to send these people directly over there, so I can only find some local factories to settle them."
"After all, once these hundred thousand or so Infected are cured, they will be a hundred thousand prime laborers. It also means there will be a hundred thousand people without jobs, homes, or food."
"For the sake of Lungmen's public security, it's better to find them a way to make a living. But with Lungmen's nasty habits, the factories willing to take in the Infected are few and far between, so I can only go and set up a factory myself."
Hearing this, Chen Huijie also felt a headache coming on. "Regarding this... it's really hard for me to say. I don't know much about this area. How about I call Swire over? She's much more adept at this."
"Mm, I'll talk to her tomorrow," Xia Yu pondered. "Although I do have some ideas, they just aren't very mature yet."
They went all the way back to rest, but Lungmen had truly exploded into an uproar.
The news that a Miracle Doctor capable of curing Oripathy had arrived in Lungmen was initially viewed as a joke by everyone. Most people thought it was just another scammer.
Those reporters from various newspaper agencies also went at first with the idea of digging up some gossip to meet their performance quotas.
But when they watched with their own eyes as, bathed in that Golden Light, the Infected gained a new lease on life one by one. Even in cases where severely ill Infected had half their bodies crystallized and had to be carried over, the moment the Golden Light shone on them, the Originium Crystals all over their bodies would come crashing down.
If this wasn't a Miracle Doctor, then what was a Miracle Doctor?
As on-site photos and videos spread across Lungmen, the court of public opinion completely blew up.
As an international metropolis, many Lungmen residents had a decent business acumen. Just thinking about how having such a Miracle Doctor in Lungmen would bring so much revenue to the city made them excited.
On the stock market, the stock prices of various pharmaceutical companies skyrocketed, even though this cure had absolutely nothing to do with them.
Everyone excitedly discussed how that Miracle Doctor had cured the Infected.
One particular post had unexpectedly high popularity.
'That isn't medicine! I am a graduate student at a medical university, and I refuse to acknowledge that as medicine!'
'There's no diagnosis, no pharmaceutical treatment, no surgery. Just a flash of Golden Light, and the patient is cured. This is bullshit medicine! Of course, I don't mean to slander the venerable Miracle Doctor.'
'But rather, in my view, compared to medicine, it would be better to call it the legendary Arts of the Arnasas Masters used to heal the wounded and rescue the dying!'
'A flash of Golden Light, and all illnesses are eradicated. It's so convenient and fast. From my professors to my classmates, our worldviews are shattered right now. If curing illnesses is this easy, what's the point of us studying medicine for so many years?'
The post was very long, and it was obvious the author had indeed suffered a massive shock.
And the most popular reply beneath it was also one comforting him.
'Studying medicine is still very useful. There is only one Miracle Doctor—well, let's just call her the Miracle Doctor for now, since I don't think that's medicine either.'
'But no matter how merciful she is, it's impossible for her to cure all the illnesses in the world alone. It's not a question of whether the Miracle Doctor wants to, but just taking Yan alone, there are three hundred million commoners. How could everyone receive the Miracle Doctor's treatment in time?'
'An incurable disease like Oripathy alone is enough to tie up the vast majority of the Miracle Doctor's energy. Medicine is still very useful. At least thousands upon thousands of doctors allow most commoners to be able to afford medical treatment, and that is very good.'
'After all, you can't just go to the Miracle Doctor for every random cold and fever, right?'
Such remarks were actually quite common on the internet.
As for those hundred or so people who were viciously beaten and then locked up in the LGD, everyone expressed that they got what they deserved.
Because an unknown bigshot had already analyzed it: what is the most chilling thing for a doctor? Of course, it's when the patients they treat turn out to be ungrateful wretches who bite the hand that feeds them.
If the Miracle Doctor's heart grew cold because of this, then with the remaining hundred thousand Infected seeing hope only to fall back into despair, Lungmen wouldn't be able to handle their fury.
Therefore, even though many newspapers reported on how the LGD turned a blind eye when Graytail Hall was beating those people, the vast majority of the public remained very clear-headed.
They criticized those people, saying they deserved it one after another. Many doctors also stepped forward to give examples, recounting cases of ungrateful backstabbers that had chilled their own hearts.
All in all, it failed to stir up much of a storm.
Lungmen was very lively tonight.
But Wei Yenwu had a massive headache.
He held the bill in front of him with trembling hands.
"Thirteen thousand refined Originium Ingots?" Wei Yenwu looked at Lin Yühsia. "Why doesn't she just go rob a bank?"
Back in the Snowfield, Xia Yu's asking price for the Guerrillas was three Originium Ingots per person. It wasn't that she had lowered her prices in Lungmen, but rather the Originium Ingots obtained from those mines in the Snowfield were all crude. Only after they were transported to the factories in the southern part of the Empire and refined did they become the refined Originium Ingots she asked for.
After all, you couldn't expect there to be large-scale mineral refining factories in the Snowfield. The region was barren, difficult to develop, and there was also the Infected Guerrilla glaring like tigers eyeing their prey.
Most of Ursus's industrial zones were also located in the south.
And if one really did the math, it took about four or five crude Originium Ingots to refine a single standard refined Originium Ingot.
So, truthfully speaking, Xia Yu had actually raised the price. Who asked Wei Yenwu to be so wealthy?
Although Wei Yenwu had a vast family fortune, this many Originium Ingots...
"I'll give her cash, converting it all into an equivalent amount of Lungmen Dollars!" He said without hesitation.
With a hundred thousand Infected in Lungmen, converting that meant a hundred thousand refined Originium Ingots... The entire city's reserve warehouses only held around two hundred thousand of them.
The so-called reserve warehouses were specifically used to start the Mobile City and relocate it after discovering a Catastrophe. It wasn't that Wei Yenwu couldn't bring them out, but he really didn't dare to give them away.
He was mainly afraid that Bailu would use these Originium Ingots to cause trouble. After all, for someone who could cure Oripathy, how could it be possible that she had no research on Originium?
As for why he was so afraid... Wei Yenwu had just received a secret letter from Baizao this afternoon.
There was no such person named Bailu in Yan at all! Every member of the True Dragon Race was accounted for. With an already sparse population, how could an extra person appear out of thin air, and with such great capabilities too.
Right, capabilities. She was far too capable! She could even cure Oripathy!
Added to the fact that her sister had supposedly transformed into a Giant Dragon and annihilated a fleet in Ursus... the Department of Sui Affairs believed that this so-called Bailu was nine times out of ten an avatar of a Feranmut.
After reaching this conclusion, the Department of Sui Affairs went numb. If this was truly a Feranmut, it would not be easy to resolve.
After all, she was genuinely capable of curing illnesses!