America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 353 Withdrawal Drugs

After speaking with Dr. Jerry, Zhang Ailun put away his phone, put on his coat, and went out to prepare for his journey to the Kilimanjaro Mountains.

After saying hello to Old Jack and the others, and also asking Sig to assist Zorro and the others with their preparations, he went out, drove his Wrangler, and left Newport Villa and Los Angeles.

After some time, the vehicle arrived at the Kilimanjaro Mountains in the suburbs. As soon as they reached the foot of the mountain, Zhang Ailun saw Beggar Clan disciples patrolling intensively.

After inquiring, they learned that many unruly gangs from outside the area had recently appeared, and the Beggars' Sect disciples had caught two groups of people involved in human trafficking and sent them to the mountains to work as laborers.

The smugglers who were delivered yesterday resisted and some even tried to escape, but they were caught. We had no choice but to increase security.

After learning about the situation, Zhang Ailun didn't pay much attention to it and drove straight to the mountain camp. The road was clear all the way, and he parked his car in the yard.

After getting off the car, the Beggars' Sect disciples who had stayed behind greeted their leader warmly. Zhang Ailun responded by asking, "Where is Dr. Jerry?"

"He's still conducting research in the lab. He also mentioned beforehand that the research process and privacy are very important, and unauthorized personnel are not allowed to approach unless it's absolutely necessary," the Beggar Clan disciple replied. "Boss, should I take you there?"

"No need, take me to see those laborers who tried to escape yesterday," Zhang Ailun said. "They failed to escape, didn't Dr. Jerry give them acupuncture?"

"Not yet. We caught them yesterday and gave them a good beating. They're all injured now and not really fit for experiments," the Beggars' Sect disciple replied, then turned and led the sect leader to the labor camp.

Upon arriving here and opening the door, the leader saw several people lying on the bed, their faces bruised and swollen, bandaged like mummies.

Seeing them like this, the Grand Master was relieved.

The Beggars' Sect disciple said, "Boss, they've all been given sedatives. Some of them broke their legs while climbing over the wall, so they definitely can't escape."

"Are you sure they broke their legs on their own?" Zhang Ailun asked.

"Confirmed!" The Beggar Clan disciple replied without changing his expression.

"Very good." Zhang Ailun nodded in satisfaction.

He turned and walked to the smugglers' bed, looking at one of the conscious individuals, and asked, "You came to provoke me. I didn't kill you outright when I was at sea; I chose to spare your lives, transferred you here, paid you wages, provided food and lodging—the treatment was so good, yet you don't know how to be grateful and actually thought of running away? What were you thinking?"

When the smugglers saw their leader approaching, they felt a chill run down their spines and hurriedly pleaded, "Mr. Jin, we were wrong, we will never run away again."

"Save those words for God. It seems gentle methods won't get you to obey." Zhang Ailun mentally sentenced them, counted five or six in total, turned and led the Beggars' Sect disciples out the door, asking, "How many of them like to smoke lice?"

"Boss, there's no one who doesn't smoke," the Beggar Clan disciple replied.

Zhang Ailun nodded and instructed, "After their injuries heal, send them to Dr. Jerry for a diagnosis. They can't work anyway, and once they've escaped, they'll try again. Even if they fail once, they'll still think about a second chance. They won't give up."

"Understood," the Beggars' Sect disciple immediately replied.

"Is the construction of our camp almost finished?" Zhang Ailun asked again. On the way here, he saw that the gate had been repaired and many new buildings had been rebuilt.

"We've completed 90% of the project so far, and even the drainage pipes have been repaired," the Beggar Clan disciple replied.

"Those who were sent here before, if they behave well, let them go. Tell them to behave themselves from now on, find a job, and not engage in illicit activities anymore." The Grand Master was quite generous and had already decided to release a group of people after they had served their sentences.

"Aren't we going to send them to prison? They're all human traffickers," a Beggar Clan disciple asked in surprise.

They thought that once the leader had used these people, he would send them to prison to rot in jail.

"There's no need for that. They've already been punished here. They're all young people. After this profound lesson, they'll understand what to do in the future," Zhang Ailun waved his hand.

Because the most heinous criminals had already been given Dr. Jerry's injections and were now bedridden and eating liquid food like the priest; the rest were accomplices with less serious crimes.

"As long as they don't go out and talk nonsense, we'll send people to keep an eye on them for a while. If we find that anyone is repeating the same mistakes and going back to their old ways, we'll arrest them again. We won't be able to rely on them for labor anymore. We'll just give them a good scolding to teach them a lesson," Zhang Ailun said.

"Understood." The Beggars' Sect disciple nodded, and some immediately went to do as he was told.

The laborers, who were diligently working and tightening screws, were somewhat incredulous when they suddenly heard this good news. They never imagined that one day they would be released from prison.

Some were overjoyed and were extremely grateful to the Grand Master.

The Beggars' Sect members urged them to pack their things quickly, as they would arrange transportation to take them away from Mount Kilimanjaro, including home and, if they had no home, to the nearest shelter.

They were repeatedly warned not to talk nonsense outside, to forget what happened on the mountain, to pretend they had never been there, and not to engage in shady work after leaving. Otherwise, if the people on the mountain found out, they would be arrested again, and at best sent to prison for life, at worst subjected to needles!

The workers naturally dared not do so, and repeatedly assured that they would engage in legitimate work after they were released.

After all, they had been involved in human trafficking as a gang, and the ringleaders had all been taken away by Dr. Jerry and given injections, which had made them mentally impaired. Their crimes were relatively minor, so they escaped this time and didn't want to be caught and given injections again.

This is no place for humans to live, because they have no freedom!

Zhang Ailun turned and left the labor camp, then went to the laboratory. When he arrived, he saw Dr. Jerry giving acupuncture to a new researcher. He waited outside for a while until the researcher finished his work, then came out with Tom and Dr. Snoopy.

"Mr. Jin, you've arrived!" Dr. Jerry took off his white coat and gloves, removed his mask, and was about to give the leader a warm hug.

"No need for a hug. Where is the potion you're researching?" Zhang Ailun politely declined his hug and went straight to the point, inquiring about their research findings.

"This is our newly developed drug for treating addiction." Dr. Jerry turned around, took out a silver safe, unlocked it with the password, and took out several vials of blue medicine.

"It is a drug that we have improved and optimized based on the original effective drug. While reducing side effects and complications, it can also greatly reduce the user's dependence on addictive drugs, and treat the symptoms from the perspective of the whole body and multiple aspects."

He explained eloquently, "Common medications on the market only have a single effect. For example, medications that help people quit smoking work by causing the user's body to produce special enzymes that reject nicotine intake, thus producing nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. Over time, they will naturally quit smoking. But they can only quit smoking, not the tobacco itself, let alone drugs. Moreover, the process of quitting smoking is very painful! It's like forcing you to reject addictive substances."

"The special drug we're researching is effective against all characteristics of drug dependence, addressing the root cause of people's dependence on drugs and helping patients' bodies transition to the characteristics of a normal person who hasn't ingested drugs. This includes painkillers!"

"Once this drug is injected, the body will temporarily stop needing it. This withdrawal process is very long and requires several courses of treatment to completely quit. However, the damage to the body can only heal over time. It is not recommended to use this drug if the person is too old, because they do not have enough physical strength to support the body's transformation. It is also not very effective for addicts who have developed pathological characteristics in the later stages of addiction, because their bodies are already damaged."

"Is this considered a finished product?"

Looking at the medicine, Zhang Ailun, who knew nothing about pharmaceutical research and couldn't understand its principles, asked, "Does this mean that besides quitting drugs, it can also quit smoking and sex addiction? It's effective for all addictive behaviors?"

"That's right. It's like a powerful tranquilizer, making people forget the pleasure of adrenaline and dopamine," Dr. Jerry explained. "It's also like the brief emptiness you feel after masturbating, when you can't lift your head. If you can prolong that time so that masturbation doesn't bring pleasure, you'll naturally reduce your dependence, or even quit."

"It sounds more like it makes people lose their emotions..." Zhang Ailun exclaimed in surprise.

"There is still a big difference." Dr. Jerry didn't explain much, only saying, "Anyone suffering from heart disease, nephrotic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, severe depression, or congenital infectious diseases should not use this drug."

Dr. Jerry stated, "While this effective drug is useful, it also depends on the patient's cooperation and determination to overcome their addiction. We previously used a combination of physical and pharmacological methods to get people to quit using the leaves."

What you call physical therapy is probably just electrotherapy combined with physical punishment.

"Can it pass the drug regulatory authority's review and be listed on the market to make money?" Zhang Ailun asked.

"Sure," Dr. Jerry nodded in response, saying confidently, "This is a supplementary drug. The raw materials and effects are beneficial. If we partner with a pharmaceutical company, it can be marketed. As for whether anyone will be willing to buy it, I have no idea."

After all, he was only responsible for research, not sales.

Good medicines may not necessarily have a market, but those that are ineffective and expensive will have a large market, since they are easy to make money from. If you can make money, people will be willing to cooperate and dominate the market.

In addition, many people become addicted to drugs simply to seek thrills and feel that life has no meaning; it is their own choice.

Even if someone suddenly decides to quit drugs, one second they might be regretting why they became like this, and the next second they're looking for needles to prick themselves.

Even if this drug has a pharmaceutical patent and finds partners to sell it, it will be difficult to sell it worldwide, and even cross-border sales will be difficult, since this would inevitably affect the sales of the drug industry.

But the leader was not afraid of their retaliation.

"It's okay. We just need to sell it in pharmacies and mainly target the drug rehabilitation center market. As long as we cooperate with pharmaceutical companies, they will handle these things for us, unless they don't want to make money. What is the production cost of this drug?" Zhang Ailun asked.

"The cost price is about $60-80 per vial. It can only be injected, not taken orally. A course of treatment costs several thousand dollars, but that's still affordable for ordinary families," Dr. Jerry replied.

"You did a good deed!"

Zhang Ailun acknowledged their research capabilities. He immediately took out his phone, found Maurice Dis's private number, contacted him, and informed him that he had a new drug and wanted to collaborate on its sales.

Upon receiving the message, Mori was also quite surprised and asked, "Mr. Jin, as far as I know, aren't you in the scrap metal recycling industry? You also do some military trade on the side. When did you switch to the medical industry?"

Zhang Ailun: I have a friend who has been researching withdrawal reactions of addictive drugs and has made significant breakthroughs in pharmaceutical research. I have also come here to test it myself and feel that this drug has a great market. So I thought I would like to cooperate with you to sell it. After all, your Miracle Pharmaceuticals has a lot of influence and sales channels in the pharmaceutical market.

Morrie immediately became interested and replied, "Mr. Jin, our Miracle Pharmaceuticals company is indeed currently holding an event, and many private medical teams are competing for bids, wanting to reach a cooperation agreement with us. However, regarding the specific details of the drug, I still need to have a professional research team conduct tests and studies. What is this addiction withdrawal drug you mentioned primarily for?"

Zhang Ailun: This medication can help patients quit smoking, sex addiction, drug addiction, and any other addictive behavior. The effectiveness depends primarily on the individual's dosage and lifestyle.

The leader sent Dr. Jerry's introduction to the other party, along with pictures of the items.

Morrie: I'm very interested in it. You know, more than half of American families are addicted to drugs, with painkillers making up the majority; almost every family relies on painkillers. But I'm a little worried about its effectiveness!

Zhang Ailun: Are you worried that it's not good enough?

Morrie: I'm worried it's too effective! The market for painkillers is enormous. Our company's research team has conducted related research and even developed some results, but that withdrawal medication was pulled from the market the day before it was scheduled to launch, and even the research team was taken away for questioning. Therefore, if your drug primarily targets painkillers and opioids, it might not perform very well in the market!

Zhang Ailun: It only targets drugs like leaves and cocoa. It has absolutely no effect on the addictive reactions to painkillers and opioids.

Morrie: Then there's no problem. Mr. Kim, I happen to have some time now, and I can bring some people over to test your drugs.

Zhang Ailun immediately sent the coordinates of the Kilimanjaro Mountains to the other party.

Zhang Ailun: I'm here waiting for you to arrive.

Mori: OK.

Putting away his phone, Zhang Ailun turned to Dr. Jerry and the others, shrugging, "I guess you'd better delete the part about the painkiller effects, otherwise this drug won't pass drug testing, let alone be marketed."

"Those damn capitalists," Dr. Jerry cursed, spitting out his contempt. "This won't stump us; we just need to improve the formula. It's just that the patients will have to continue suffering."

"They're used to it. They can endure hardship for hundreds more years without any problem."

The Grand Master doesn't want to be a saint.