Chapter 833
An hour later, Shen Lang stood at the gate of the pyramid city. Standing so close, he was even more awestruck by the magnificent sight. It truly looked like a towering mountain. No matter how much Shen Lang wracked his brain, he could not think of any way to conquer this city. There was a reason why, in all of history, the Seilun Dynasty had conquered every other race and city on this continent but had never managed to subdue this Amazon Queendom.
The city gates slowly opened, and Shen Lang entered the pyramid city. There were no markets here, no shops, not even currency. This was because the Amazon Queendom distributed everything fairly according to need, and everyone wore the same clothes. Every person here was a female warrior. Farming, brewing wine, raising horses—it was all done by female warriors. Not a single man was in sight. This was because every generation of Amazon warriors gave birth only to daughters. It was truly a strange phenomenon.
The magnificent dress Shen Lang wore was considered bizarre attire here. The female warriors were dressed very lightly, wearing metal and leather armor over their clothes. Their arms and legs were bare, but they wore helmets.
Princess Dora led Shen Lang straight up the pyramid. The Amazon Queendom also had a hierarchy. The stronger your combat prowess, the higher up you lived. If your combat ability was too weak, you were exiled. There was a system for culling those at the very bottom, which was why the population of the Amazon Queendom had not changed much in a thousand years.
When they finally arrived at the eighth floor of the pyramid city, Shen Lang was inwardly surprised. It was so spartan that he doubted whether this was truly a royal palace. There were no gold decorations; it was adorned only with stone and animal hides, with very little wood used. The entire palace was massive yet empty. All the furniture here was crude; the cups were made of wood, the bowls of stone. Silverware was rare, let alone gold or porcelain.
"Your Majesty the Queen, this is Miss Yongnana. She claims she can cure our Amazonian nation's cursed, incurable disease."
Princess Dora knelt on one knee as she spoke. Shen Lang raised his head and looked forward.
*Is that the Amazon Queen?*
With hair as dazzling as the sun, she was a true blonde beauty. She bore a slight resemblance to Princess Dora. While Princess Dora was a peerless beauty herself, this queen's beauty was even more radiant. She exuded a mature charm and the kind of beauty that comes from great strength. Princess Dora possessed a delicate beauty, whereas this Amazon Queen had a domineering and cold beauty. Her temperament was somewhat similar to Queen Medusa's, possessing an overwhelmingly powerful charisma. The two were likely sisters. In the Amazon Queendom, only the strongest warrior could become queen.
When Shen Lang scanned her with his X-ray vision, he saw she possessed a golden bloodline so bright it nearly blinded him. Her golden bloodline was on the same level as Big Dummy's and Qiu Yao'er's.
"You say you can cure our Amazonian incurable disease?"
Her voice was penetrating. Though it was a woman's voice, it had a husky, metallic quality.
"That is correct."
"Perhaps you already know, but the Amazonian incurable disease drives a third of our warriors to despair, forcing them to choose death and bid farewell to this world when they become half-paralyzed before they even turn forty. If you can cure this disease, our Amazon Queendom will owe you a great debt. We are a tribe that always repays its favors. Within the bounds of what we can accept, and as long as it does not violate the will of our ancestors, I can grant any of your requests. However, if you cannot cure it, it means you have lied. Anyone who dares to lie to the Amazonian nation will have their tongue torn out and be thrown into the outer sea to die."
"No problem. If I may ask, where are the patients?"
The queen clapped her hands, and a dozen Amazonian female warriors were brought in. All of them suffered from gout, with varying degrees of severity. The one with the most severe symptoms was already half-paralyzed, her joints severely deformed. Her entire body was covered in gouty tophi, making her look grotesque at a glance. Those with the mildest symptoms were in excruciating pain from an acute attack. They were all in the midst of a gout flare-up.
Shen Lang approached one of the warriors with relatively mild symptoms. Even so, her reaction was extreme; the pain made her want to die. What was the miracle drug for treating early-stage gout? Colchicine. It was a crystalline substance extracted from colchicum, and it was toxic. But for treating early-stage gout, it was an absolute wonder drug. It took effect almost immediately upon ingestion, something unheard of in this world.
Shen Lang took out a vial of medicine. It contained not only colchicine but also other drugs mixed in appropriate dosages.
"Drink this."
The Amazonian royals were very straightforward and didn't even think to check for poison. The warrior, who was in so much pain she no longer wanted to live, took Shen Lang's medicine and drank it in one gulp. Gout was incurable anyway, and it would only get worse until she was eventually paralyzed. So, she drank the medicine with the mindset that she would drink it even if it were poison.
Then, everyone quietly waited for the results. Gout was known as the cursed, incurable disease of the Amazonian royals. Countless famous doctors from the Seilun Dynasty had been helpless against it for a thousand years. Could this stranger truly cure it? It would be nothing short of a miracle, one that could save countless lives in the Amazon Queendom. But in less than an hour, an incredible miracle occurred.
Colchicine had an immediate effect on gout, so its results could be felt almost instantly. However, such medicine typically caused diarrhea after being taken, especially in people with weaker constitutions. But the Amazonian warriors had such strong stomachs and intestines that they didn't get diarrhea, which prevented an awkward scene from unfolding.
"I... I don't feel any pain. I think I'm all better. This is amazing. I feel like I could fly. It's so comfortable. Am I completely cured? This person is truly incredible."
This was because Shen Lang had added some unspeakable drugs to the medicine to enhance the effect. These drugs had been used as a panacea among people for a very long time. They were effective for everything from colds to pain relief and were not addictive, so they had been used as medicine in China for a very long time. The warrior, who had been suffering from gout, leaped to her feet and joyfully performed a sword dance.
"This is amazing. I'm really all better."
The people around them were all shocked.
*Does this beautiful stranger really possess such incredible abilities? Everyone has been helpless against our Amazonian tribe's incurable disease, yet not only did she cure it, but it worked the moment the medicine was taken. This is truly a miracle.*
So, was the Amazonian warrior really cured? Of course not. Colchicine was only an emergency remedy; it couldn't stop or cure gout. To prevent gout from recurring long-term, one had to fundamentally control uric acid levels and maintain a strict diet. One also needed to take long-term medication to suppress uric acid, such as allopurinol, but Shen Lang couldn't produce this drug. However, there were other medicines, especially some Chinese herbal remedies, that Shen Lang could create to some extent. Although their effects were not the same as allopurinol, they could still suppress uric acid to a degree. Of course, what he was demonstrating now was merely a way to stop the pain and suppress the inflammation. This was to make it seem as if Shen Lang possessed miraculous skills.
The reason gout caused pain so unbearable that one would rather die was due to the intense inflammatory reaction during a flare-up. And that was Shen Lang's area of greatest expertise. By adding an extract from poppies to the colchicine, he could suppress the symptoms instantly.
The Amazon Queen pointed to a second warrior and said.
"This is General Casey. She is one of the strongest warriors in our Amazonian tribe. She was once my right hand, but now she too has fallen under the curse."
Shen Lang's gaze fell on General Casey. Her gout was extremely advanced. Her joints were thickly deformed, and numerous gouty tophi had formed inside her body. Her legs had long lost their ability to walk, and the severe inflammatory reaction would have caused her unbearable pain for a long time. She even had a high fever, and some parts of her skin were festering. It was rare for gout patients to develop a high fever; General Casey's condition was clearly critical.
Although the pain was enough to make her want to die, her eyes didn't show much of it. They were simply filled with the despair of someone waiting for death. Shen Lang noticed rope marks on her body, clear signs that she had tried to commit suicide and been restrained.
Princess Dora said, "She is not only Her Majesty's right hand but also my teacher. Please, I beg you, save her."
Shen Lang observed General Casey closely. If she wasn't treated in time, even if she didn't kill herself, she would likely die soon. This was because a series of complications would continue to appear: coronary artery disease, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, and so on. Such diseases were difficult to treat.
"I will do my best."
Shen Lang adjusted the dosage, first having her take colchicine, then the poppy extract, and finally various anti-inflammatory drugs. In fact, the most effective drug for this type of joint inflammation was aspirin. But Shen Lang couldn't produce it. Aspirin was acetylsalicylic acid. Salicylic acid could be extracted from willow trees, so obtaining it wasn't too difficult.
However, Shen Lang couldn't create the acetyl group with the materials he had. It wasn't because the difficulty was too high; he simply hadn't had the energy to spare. The acetyl group was part of a drug created in the 19th century, so its production didn't require very high technology. It was just that Shen Lang had been too busy carrying out various plans simultaneously to have the time to make it.
In any case, salicylic acid alone would have some therapeutic effect, but it would be very irritating to the stomach. Penicillin also had to be administered. Fortunately, there was a special type of melon in the Western world from which it could be made, so Shen Lang had been able to extract a certain amount of primitive penicillin.
Penicillin was like a miracle drug for inflammation. After several hours of taking these miracle drugs, the effect became clear. General Casey, whose illness had been critical, improved immediately. First, the pain was gone, and her body temperature dropped right away. Furthermore, she recovered enough to be able to move her arms and legs slightly.
*Truly a divine doctor.*
The people there looked at Shen Lang in disbelief. This was no different from pulling someone back from the brink of death. Shen Lang said.
"This patient, General Casey, also requires surgical treatment. The gout stones in her body are seriously threatening her life."
Following that, Shen Lang displayed his miraculous skills, treating the dozen or so gout patients present. Although they couldn't be said to be completely cured, the effects were remarkable, and at the very least, the patients were freed from their unbearable pain.
With the Amazon Queen's assistance, Shen Lang performed surgery on General Casey, removing the gouty tophi from her body one by one. In everyone's eyes, Shen Lang was like a magician, performing one miracle after another.