Common Cold Pill
While Lucius was busy scanning people, Delilah and Johnny were faced with the task of curing the sick people that Lucius had sent over before converting them to their cause. This wasn't an ideal task for the two as out of the trio, Lucius had the best medical knowledge as he was the resident pill refiner so instead of thinking about it from a cultivation stand point. They thought of it in a scientific stand point and thus brought Maria out of her labs to help them.
Maria was somewhat aloof compared to her twin sister and was quite similar to Lucius in a way and since they got along the best the other two hadn't really connected with her much. Delilah was more accustomed to Julia and Johnny was actually more accustomed to their mother, Jessica. Johnny had lost his mother only recently and since they were working together on the restructuring and expansion of Liberation city, they had become quite close, Jessica even began to think of Johnny as the son she never got. Anyway, Maria brought over a group of researchers that performed tests and scans on the ill people. After a half hour of testing they where able to figure out that it was a strengthened form of the common cold. As a tier 5 world the common cold in this world was far stronger and more dangerous than the common cold of Hazmit so it would take them a while to calculate the right dosage for the patients. Maria suggested that they clean the bodies of the ill and keep them warm while they waited. They couldn't cure them yet but they could still alleviate their pain.
Johnny and Delilah waited for the news while cleaning up the ill with water and wind techniques, before laying them down on beds, keeping sure the room was well ventilated. They then prepared IV drips and started inserting fluids and nutrients back into their bodies. The ill people were all skinny and malnourished, apart from their obvious cold symptoms, they were also undergrown and bruised. They were pumped full of a highly effective nutrient solution and soon enough their temperatures began to drop to a more reasonable state for a cold. Their beginning temperatures where far higher than it should have been but Maria and the researchers considered this as the norm for the tier 5 worlds' colds but in reality, it was merely because of the peoples' weak immune systems.
After a few hours the dosage was calculated and the medicine administered. The effects were gradual as their temperatures began to drop further and their conditions stabilised. They would still need to rest for at least a week while continuously consuming their medicine, however, it was a good start. By the time everything had been settled, Lucius returned to the Garden after his sweep of the kingdom. He gave out some orders and sent a few people to wait in the ill peoples' houses and bring them into the Garden without letting anyone notice. Lucius then looked over the cold medicine recipe that Maria had prescribed and he checked a few patients before heading back into the Garden's Alchemy room. He began to deliberate and formulate before showing his mother in case of mistakes. Acacia wasn't an expert on this cold but she was able to easily notice the flaws in his pill recipe because of her wide spanning knowledge and experiences.
Lucius had already memorised everything there was to know about the herbs he was going to use but that didn't mean he knew how to use them in conjunction with each other. Most often, an effect far from the intended effect would come about likewhen a pharmaceutical company wanted to create a drug to help high blood pressure but instead made Viagra. It took him a few hours of trial and error and actual concocting but he was soon able to create a healing pill that was able to be used on weak mortals without damaging their bodies or potential. It would be easy for Lucius to give them a tier 1 or 2 healing pill but for malnourished, weak and ill people, such a pill would be too violent to actually help them. Lucius named the pill the common cold pill and began a pill refining session.
The number of ill was around 200 so Lucius would have to make enough for all of them and probably some extra for the workers that were probably suffering from early symptoms. The 200 ill were clearly far gone cases that were left for dead by the guards as they were believed to be useless, just like the homeless and orphans. Lucius was a tier 2 alchemist so creating a tier 0 pill, that too his own formula, was an easy feat that required minimal effort and minimal time. In one batch he was able to create 10 pills and that took him 5 minutes so within the hour he was done with his concocting.
Soon enough the ill were treated and were rapidly healing. They wouldn't need to stay in bed for a few weeks now and could probably get up tomorrow or the day after. In this time though, the family of those 200 ill had appeared, escorted by the men that Lucius had sent. There were men and woman, old and young and even some that were lightly disabled. Their gazes darted around in awe as they admired the towering buildings and the serene atmosphere. They had been working in the mines and were thus covered in soot and grime. It made them uncomfortable as they felt out of place. Like a pile of shit sitting at the gates of heaven!
"Welcome, welcome. Come, sit! My name is Lucius, I was the one that took your family members. However, I mean no harm and promise you that they are all fine. Before I continue further, let me show you to them so we can begin our discussions with your trust and cooperation." Lucius said with a clear voice and confident smile. It subconsciously alleviated the anxiety and worry in their hearts as they admired the bright young man's smile.
There were around 600 or so people that entered into the hospital block and were guided by the men that had brought them here to their family members. As these men were soldiers their entire lives before this, they were adept in memorising faces and were able to extrapolate who was family with who. Soon enough the 600 people were appeased of their worries as they saw the clean hospital block and the clearly luxurious conditions. They had all worked as miners all their lives and had never seen such a clean building or such clean beds and sheets. They also saw how their ill family members were much better now and actually looked slightly more full. They all turned to Lucius and immediately got on their knees, crying out in joy while banging their heads on the floor.
"W-woah, you don't need to kneel for me. Haha, please get up!" Lucius said with an embarrassed smile on his face. "Listen, we don't have much time and we need to do this quickly. Don't worry about repaying me or such and such. I've already thought this all through! If you can follow my instructions and cooperate smoothly, within a month we will be able to take over the Black Rock Kingdom! At that time, none of you will need to live in such conditions again! Firstly though, all of you who have symptoms of the same disease as your family members, please step forward now." Lucius explained.
Around 200 out of the 600 stepped forward and were then guided to Johnny to be given the cold medicine that Maria had concocted. It wasn't as effective as Lucius' pill but time was short and Lucius would have to concoct more later. For now it was better for them to be giving medicine to alleviate some of their symptoms. While they were doing that, Lucius pointed to a few dozen people and told them to go over too since they had gotten the cold too, they just didn't know it yet. Lucius then escorted the rest out into the main square and had them sit in neat rows. Soon enough, a slurry of men and woman came over and placed plates and cups in front of them. On the plates were some potatoes, chicken, eggs, some herbs and a small bar that smelled of apples. The cup was filled with water that was clearer than any water they had ever seen.
"Everyone, don't hold back! Eat as you like, if you finish, there's still seconds and even thirds if you're that hungry. Water will be provided if you ask someone near you. However, the one thing you need to do is eat the apple bar at the end of your meal. Make sure to leave enough room to eat it and don't eat extra instead of it. Even if you don't like apples, please eat the bar! It has a very special effect which will be key in what we do next!" Lucius said with a stern tone, emphasising the parts about the apple.
The people all nodded widely as they began to wolf done the food in front of them. Instantly they felt as if they were in heaven, the tender chicken, the crispy potatoes, the freshness of the herbs and the water that cleared their mind and opened their pores. They hadn't had meat in months and they mostly ate hard rye bread with stale water. The Black Rock King had banned fishing so the only food imports where from the City of Oswock in exchange for the black iron that they mined daily. Even though they were the ones that laboured all day, the food and supplies all went to the king, his military and the nobles. Even the west side workers were only able to eat a little better since they at least ate white bread and had clean water to drink. The people were in ecstasy as soon enough they had all finished 2 plates of food, filling up their bellies enough that there was a visible bulge. They were all malnourished enough that you could see their bones, so 2 plates worth of food was enough to show. The people that had gone to get the medicine from Johnny had also returned and eaten.
"Well then, now that you all have eaten I will begin to explain our plan to you. This here is Delilah and this is Johnny! We come from a far away place and have been given the mission of world domination! So, we thought it best to start at the lowest end of this planet and work up from there. To be frank, we wish to recruit you all as our workforce! Don't worry though, the jobs you will do won't be like your current jobs, we will provide food, dorm and bathing facilities. Under our tutelage, you will also begin your cultivation journey! Any questions?" Lucius explained as the entire crowd went silent.
World domination! Three kids that wished to rule the entire world! Most of the crowd stared blankly at the three kids and couldn't think of anything to say but some where able to think up some questions.
"U-u-um your excellency, don't we need talent to cultivate?" asked a meek girl at the front, she had brown hair and freckles. She wasn't that pleasant on the eye, especially with her rugged clothing and soot covered face.
"Haha, first of all, you don't need to call me your excellency. You can call me Lucius, and if that is too much you can just call me sir. Your excellency is too much, haha. And to answer your question, no! You don't need talent to cultivate! You only need time and resources! We have the necessary resources and time to spare so don't worry about it." Lucius explained.
The crowd stared at him in complete shock as the things that Lucius had said went counter to everything they had ever learned! The Black Rock King had a device called the talent crystal that he used to test the cultivation talent of all those in the kingdom, those with good talents would be forced into the military, those who opposed would be executed! They had been told all their lives that they were in their powerless situation because they were talentless trash!