Chapter 2058 – Silicosis
“You all, come and take some medicine. I have some here that might be useful for you,” I said with compassion. Given their silicosis, they probably wouldn’t last more than three to five years.
However, there was no way I could convince them to stop working. These young, able-bodied men were likely the sole breadwinners in their families, and their wages were their only hope for survival. Asking them not to work might as well be asking them to commit suicide.
“Ah? Eldest Miss, what are you joking about? We’re not sick, why would we take medicine?” several dockworkers stopped shoveling and looked at me, laughing.
“You are already sick with silicosis. If you don’t take medicine for treatment, your condition will worsen and threaten your lives,” I explained.
“Ha, ha ha ha, what is silicosis? Eldest Miss, you really know how to joke. Look at us, we’re strong and healthy, how could we have silicosis?” several dockworkers said with hearty laughter.
“I’m not joking. I am a doctor, and I can tell you are sick. If you don’t heed my advice, your condition will worsen, and even a god couldn’t save you then,” I declared my identity.
“A doctor? Don’t come near us, we never see doctors,” the dockworkers did not show any signs of belief. Instead, their eyes revealed terror, suspicion, and rejection.
It was just as Amelia had said: doctors were seen as terrifying figures by ordinary commoners, like emissaries who made pacts with demons. Many commoners believed that they only got sick after a doctor declared them ill, and that as long as they didn’t associate with doctors, they wouldn’t get sick.
Anyone with a basic understanding of science would know how absurd this notion was. People still got sick, and would definitely get sick even without seeing a doctor; this was simply a law of nature.
But theories were theories, and people’s fear was unavoidable. Even in my previous life, with such advanced science and widespread medical knowledge, some people were still afraid of seeking medical attention or undergoing check-ups. What’s more, this was a world where supernatural powers and spirits truly existed!
To be honest, cursing people to get sick was a real thing, and there were many ways to do it – I could even do it myself. Their fear of doctors wasn’t entirely without reason.
“Do you often cough, sometimes feel chest tightness, chest pain, and have difficulty breathing? Have any of your former colleagues died from coughing up blood?” I asked in one breath.
“How did you know?!” The dockworkers looked utterly shocked. They experienced all of these, and they often saw fellow dockworkers die from coughing up blood. Some said it was a curse of the dockworker profession.
“These are the symptoms of silicosis. When you were experiencing these symptoms, I didn’t know you, and we had no grudges. It’s impossible for me to have cursed you, right?” I reasoned with them, bit by bit.
“This, this is really a sickness? Do we have to take medicine to survive?” Many dockworkers began to believe. In fact, these obvious physical discomforts clearly indicated sickness, but they had previously believed there was no cure.
“If you don’t believe my medicine, then burns are something very obvious that can be seen, right? Try my medicine, apply it to your skin. If it heals, you’ll see that my medicine is effective.” I took out my versatile Life Elixir.
“Uh, okay, I’ll try it.” The person who had been scalded earlier took my medicine. He dared to try it, just by smearing it on instead of drinking it.
However, even when applying the medicine, he was still very cautious. He first dipped a tiny bit onto his finger, then carefully applied it to the scalded area, not daring to use too much, as if it were sulfuric acid.
But something magical happened. He suddenly felt no more pain. The wound felt a burst of coolness, and the scalded area healed rapidly. There wasn’t even a scar. The dead skin from the burn came back to life.
And something amusing happened too. The area of his burn was quite large, but he only applied the medicine to a small part of it. The center healed, but a ring around it remained scalded.
“It really works! It really works!” the scalded worker exclaimed excitedly. He then applied the medicine to the un-treated parts, and the burns indeed healed completely.
“Quick, give me some!” “I want to try too!” Over a dozen dockworkers immediately rushed forward, clamoring to use the Life Elixir as a burn ointment on themselves.
In reality, most of their burns were old ones that had already healed. Applying the medicine only helped with lingering old injuries. When they saw that even their old scars were being removed, they all exclaimed “Magical!”
Furthermore, their past burn injuries had formed a thick callus on their skin, which protected them from further burns. These calluses had grown together with their skin. The Life Elixir didn’t cause them to fall off, but rather healed the skin underneath.
“Now, do you believe me?” I held out the medicine. The medicine for treating silicosis, especially pulmonary fibrosis, was something I had obtained from Amelia.
I was amazed myself. This world actually had a drug that could treat fibrosis. My modern medicine in my previous life had no drugs that could reverse fibrosis; this was truly magical.
And this medicine wasn’t invented by Amelia. I had seen many citizens and workers suffering from silicosis in a factory in the Holy Roman Empire. When I asked Amelia for a treatment method, she just threw it at me.
The medicine had a trademark, an ingredient list, dosage, and treatment course. It was a drug with a very mature production technology and had already entered mass production. I had carried it with me all along without using it.
According to Amelia, it was invented by a Senior Alchemist she knew, and it was perfected and manufactured by the Pharmacist Association.
Knowing it was invented by an alchemist, I was no longer that surprised. Matter transmutation was their specialty. Reversing fibrotic human tissue should fall within that scope.
“We believe you, we believe you, but we don’t have any money to pay you.” The dockworkers finally came to their senses. They had no money, and it was common knowledge that a young lady dressed so well wouldn’t help them for free.
“Well, you help me with one thing, and this medicine is yours.” I tossed the potion bottle over and said, “You know many other sailors, right? Help me keep an eye on what Gaspar is doing, or if he has any past intelligence. Then, tell me.”
“Mr. Gaspar, the slave merchant?” the dockworkers hesitated. Gaspar had also been on this yacht several times, and they all knew him. He was a big shot, and they couldn’t afford to offend him.
But thinking of the life-saving medicine in their hands, they gritted their teeth and nodded, “Okay, we’ll help you keep an eye out.”
Actually, this was just an excuse. I wasn’t really counting on these boiler workers to gather intelligence on Gaspar for me. After all, they were the lowest-level crew members. My real purpose was to let them take the medicine with peace of mind.
