Quadruple split.

Chapter 2443: No Hope and No Treatment

"……Eh?"

When Wen Qiu heard the words 'happiness loss', his eyes widened, revealing a rare look of surprise, and he exclaimed, "Sister Jia Wen, how did you know that Wen Qiu has this disease?"

Gaherez, who was standing next to him, turned pale instantly. Although he had made a vague guess long ago, this was the first time he heard Qiu admit his illness in person.

"Grandpa Merlin told my sister."

Jia Wen half-knelt in front of Wen Qiu, raised his right hand and gently stroked the girl's cheek, smiling and said, "Grandpa has been smart since he was young, so he could see the little problem with Wen Qiu at a glance."

Although he was a little unhappy with the description of 'smart since childhood', Merlin, who was sitting on the high chair, did not say much. He gave Garwen a light look and continued to read the research reports in the magic crystal board at an incomprehensible speed.

"Grandpa Shorty is really amazing."

While enjoying Jiawen's touch, Wenqiu looked at Merlin with admiration on his face: "Wenqiu's parents consulted many people before, took Wenqiu to many places, and did a lot of examinations, only to find out that Wenqiu seemed to have accidentally contracted aphrodisiac disease!"

"careless……"

Gajeres smiled bitterly, shook his head, and sighed silently.

Although he was not a medical student, after suspecting that Wen Qiu might have this disease, this top student who wanted to get involved in the field of genetics and genomics immediately began to investigate, and within just a few days he had a considerable understanding of [Ahedonia].

As far as Gahres knows, [Anhedonia] is an incurable disease that has not been conquered by humans until today in 2049, and even the specific cause cannot be determined. Even the top medical research institutions today can only guarantee the patient's quality of life in the early and middle stages of the disease as much as possible. Let alone a cure, experts can't even find a way to delay the disease from entering the late stage. After [Anhedonia] enters the late stage, although there are some means to force the patient to prolong his life, because the quality of life is almost completely lost and he is in extreme pain every day, in most cases patients and their families will choose to give up treatment.

"I see. Xiao Wenqiu is really a strong and good kid."

Jia Wen smiled and pinched the girl's cheek, then whispered in her ear: "Sister came here this time to bring you a gift, it's hidden in the largest house in this city, I'll ask someone to take you to find it, okay?"

Wen Qiu blinked and asked curiously, "So, you want to talk about something that is inconvenient for Wen Qiu to hear?"

Jia Wen still maintained a gentle smile and said bluntly: "There is also this reason."

"What about Brother Lei?"

Wen Qiu tugged at the corner of Gaheres's clothes, raised his little face and asked Gawen who had stood up, "Brother Lei, can you go with me?"

"No."

Merlin, sitting on a high chair, quickly swiped the magic crystal board in front of him and said without looking up, "Gahres is the core researcher of this workshop. He has been away for long enough today. It's all work time from now on."

"Oh……"

Wen Qiu let go of the corner of Gaheres's clothes with some disappointment, pouted and said to him, "Brother Lei, you are successful now, will you slowly ignore Wen Qiu?"

Gajeres was stunned at first, then he shook his head and said, "Why don't I feel that I have achieved anything?"

"So will you ignore Qiu?"

"Definitely not, no matter how successful I am."

"Hehe, then Wenqiu should cooperate with Sister Jiawen and deliberately let herself be deceived by the gift?"

"Be careful on the road and don't cause trouble to others."

"Got it! Goodbye Brother Lei, goodbye Grandpa Shorty, goodbye Sister Jiawen!"

Just like that, the girl waved goodbye to the three men happily, and then ran to find Yintian who was waiting outside. Although this all-purpose female secretary, who was only responsible for Gawen in principle, had no experience in taking care of children, as the only super craftsman in the entire game who had trained more than fifteen secondary professions such as alchemy, tailoring, and casting to level 40, Yintian was indeed the best person to coax the child at the moment.

Thus, a minute later, only Merlin, Gawen and Gaheres were left in the workshop hall.

"Um, mentor..."

Gaheres looked at Merlin nervously, who had just turned off the magic crystal board, and asked in a low voice, "When did you find out that Xiao Wenqiu might be suffering from [Amusia]?"

"Probably the day after you decided to stay here."

Merlin glanced at Gaheres and said casually, "I once did some research on [Amusement Loss] when I was working on a certain project, and Xiao Wenqiu didn't deliberately hide her physical condition, so when I found out that she was feeling unwell repeatedly without any in-game factors, I asked her a few questions, and I guessed it as soon as she said it."

Jia Wen raised her eyebrows in surprise and sighed, "I didn't expect that you, Short Grandpa, have also studied [Amusia]. Sigh... As expected, even someone of your level can't do anything about this terminal illness."

"First of all, if you call me 'short grandpa' like that little girl again, I will use this thing to turn you into a pile of slime with a net height of less than 30 centimeters."

Merlin took out a black bottle with a strange green label from his bag, shook it gently at Garven, and then continued after Garven immediately bowed solemnly at a 90-degree angle, "Secondly, who said I can't do anything about [Amusia]?"

"What!?"

Upon hearing this, Gaherez and Gavin, who both had a good understanding of [Amusia], widened their eyes at the same time and screamed in unison, almost out of tune.

It's no wonder that the two reacted so strongly. After all, [Amusia Syndrome] is a huge problem that countless medical research institutions have been tackling for decades and have been unable to shake. So, knowing that Merlin doesn't like to joke or brag, even though Gaheres and Gawen have almost nothing in common, they still made the same inappropriate reaction.

"I have a solution to [loss of happiness]."

Merlin glanced at the two of them and said expressionlessly, "In fact, after I studied this so-called terminal illness more seriously ten years ago, I knew that it can be completely cured."

"Old man!"

Gavin, who had full faith in Merlin's ability, took a deep breath, clenched his fists and said, "This is a landmark discovery. If you can really solve the [Appreciation Syndrome], I will find a way to help you with both financial and material resources. Even if my personal strength is far from enough, I can help you contact several foundations that value [Appreciation Syndrome] very much and let them..." "Manpower."

Merlin interrupted Jiawen calmly and sneered, "Financial resources and material resources are all secondary. What I need is manpower, a considerable amount of manpower."

"Manpower? Manpower is even simpler."

Jia Wen waved her hand and said seriously, "As long as you nod, I can help you find a large number of people with good qualities in all aspects... Wait, the 'manpower' you mentioned is..."

Garven suddenly stopped talking halfway when he realized what the man in front of him had done and what he was doing in the [Realm of Innocence]. His eyes, which had been unusually bright because he had discovered a huge benefit, flashed with a hint of surprise, and he just stared at Merlin blankly.

"That's right, Miss Gavin. When I say 'manpower', I don't mean cheap or expensive labor."

Merlin chuckled and said leisurely, "What I need are experimental subjects, a large number of experimental subjects that can provide me with research samples, such as dozens or hundreds of [Amusia] patients, such as thousands of healthy samples that I can replicate clinical manifestations on. These... can you provide me with them as well?"

Garven, who had already raised his hands with a wry smile halfway through the conversation, shook his head and said helplessly, "To be honest, if you want a patient with Alethenia and a few healthy volunteers, I might be able to think of a solution, but as far as I know, there are less than a thousand children with Alethenia in the world. You want me to find dozens or hundreds of them as experimental subjects, and tens of thousands of healthy people... It would be easier for you to let me die."

"Ah."

Merlin nodded, picked up the grape-flavored soda on the table and took a sip: "I think so."

"so……"

Garwen walked to Merlin and sat down. She crossed her legs elegantly and asked without hope, "Apart from this method, is there no other possibility?"

"At least for me, no."

Merlin put down his soda and sneered, "In my opinion, if we don't solve the many problems of [Amusia], including but not limited to the 'genetic code', 'treatment' is a pure false proposition. With our current level of technology, if we want to make progress, we must conduct a lot of experiments, or more accurately, live experiments."

Gavin sighed and shook her head, "But that's impossible."

“So [loss of happiness] can only be a terminal illness.”

Merlin shrugged and spread his hands. "At least in my opinion, according to the current rate of technological development, within five centuries, [Appreciation Syndrome] will be in an absolutely incurable state. And I think that the total number of people who will lose their lives due to [Appreciation Syndrome] within five centuries will not be much different from the number of experimental living bodies I need to conquer [Appreciation Syndrome]. And if [Appreciation Syndrome] will plague humans for more than ten centuries, then the cost-effectiveness of letting me conquer it will become very high."

Jia Wen also spread her hands and said helplessly: "But no one would calculate like you. People's cognition of ethics and morality would not allow such an experiment to happen."

"Yes, after all, most people are unlikely to suffer from [loss of happiness], so they are naturally in the mood to pursue ethics and morality."

Merlin chuckled and said mischievously, "Why don't you ask the child who is about to enter the late stage of [Appreciation Syndrome] whether she cares about the ethical and moral issues that need to be faced in overcoming [Appreciation Syndrome]?"

Jia Wen leaned back in her chair and said very obediently, "No, no, after all, I personally follow the lead of Master Merlin, but I am not good enough to solve those practical problems."

"so……"

At this moment, Gaherez, who had been listening to the two people quietly, finally stopped being silent and said hesitantly: "Ask Qiu that child... Is there no other way?"

"no way."

Merlin shook his head and said without hesitation: "And even if you really give me enough conditions to tackle [Appreciation Disorder], it will take at least ten years to develop a specific medicine. And given Xiao Wenqiu's current situation, let alone ten years, even holding on for another half a year would be a miracle for her, and the end of the miracle is just another one or two half years."

When Gaheres heard Merlin personally sentence Wen Qiu to death, his face turned pale and he stood there in a daze like a wooden stake.

However, Jiawen did not stay still. She just turned her head to look at the cloudy and bad weather outside the workshop and said in a light tone: "But if possible, I still want the child to hold on for as long as possible. After all, she is smart and likable, and most importantly..."

Gaherez looked at Gawen, who was laughing and stopped talking, in a daze, and couldn't help asking, "What's the most important thing?"

“More than anything, her talent is vital to us.”

Jia Wen snapped her fingers and said with a slight smile, "So, although the information we have now is limited, if nothing unexpected happens, I will know which hospital Qiu is currently receiving treatment in by tomorrow afternoon, and then things will be easier."

Gaherez immediately understood what Gawen meant and asked in surprise, "You want to help her?"

"To be precise, it is to support her family."

Garwen smiled and said softly, "Although those foundations can ensure that every child with [Ahedonia] can receive treatment, there is still a gap between 'treatment' and 'treatment', and even a slightly better quality 'relief plan' is an astronomical figure for most families."

"Then you..."

"I'm just an ordinary rich man."

"Thank you very much—"

"Not really. After all, I am not willing to do business at a loss. The reason I want to sell that child a favor is not only because she is really cute, but also because we need a powerful [Evil Plague Lord] right now."

"Uh……"

"Although Xiao Wenqiu's weight and value are far less than yours, Xiao Jia, if she is willing to cooperate, hehe, don't you think that things like [Mobile Natural Disaster] are very compatible with people like us?"

"That's what you said, but I'm afraid Wen Qiu won't agree so easily, right?"

"It doesn't matter. From what I know, our boss is very good at bewitching people. Even some heartless people are willing to stay with him and refuse to leave. And he happens to be free right now. Since he's free anyway, why not let him coax the girl?"

Chapter 2434: End