District 13 rarely saw such a hopeful morning.

  The rain had stopped. Although the sky remained a sullen grey, the large cauldron at the door of the "Grant All Requests Clinic" was steaming, releasing a bitter yet reassuring herbal aroma. The line was long. Harry the veteran leaned on his cane, chatting with Mrs. Evelyn ahead of him about how the swelling in his legs had gone down. Uncle George, the hot dog vendor, held his feverish grandson, looking at the clinic doors with anxiety but also trust.

  Hua Tuo seemed to be in a decent mood today. Although he was still cursing about how the patients' constitutions were getting worse by the generation, his needlework was three times faster than usual.

  John Doe stood at the cabinet grabbing herbs, Bone maintained order at the door, and Grace was AFK (Away From Keyboard) in the corner of the iPad screen, tallying up today's registration fees (most of which were on credit).

  Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction. Until the ear-piercing siren—the sound of "Official Intervention"—tore through the tranquility.

  Woo— Woo—

  Three hover-enforcement vehicles, painted a ghastly, corpse-like white, descended arrogantly at the mouth of the muddy alley like three mobile coffins. Dirty water splashed all over Harry.

  The doors opened, and a squad of men in fully enclosed white hazmat suits stepped out. They didn't carry weapons, but things far more despair-inducing—scanners, electronic seals, and thick stacks of enforcement paperwork.

  Leading them was a gaunt middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses. Pinned to his chest was the badge of the "Health and Safety Committee (HSC)." Codename: Agent K.

  "Halt all activities."

  Agent K’s voice was projected through an amplifier, carrying a tooth-aching, emotionless mechanical quality.

  "Pursuant to Article 404 of the 'New Babylon Bio-Safety Act' and the 'Medical Practitioner Qualification Management Measures' amendment, we have received reports of high-risk, non-compliant operations at this location. We are conducting a surprise inspection in accordance with the law."

  The crowd stirred.

  "What violation? Dr. Hua saved our lives!" Mrs. Evelyn waved her woven bag in protest.

  "Silence."

  Agent K didn't even glance at her. He simply waved his hand, and the enforcement team behind him moved forward, stringing up bright yellow caution tape, isolating the queuing patients from the clinic.

  "This is for your safety," Agent K stated coldly. "Illegal medical practices often carry unknown viral transmission risks. We are protecting you."

  John set down the medicine scale and walked out.

  He looked at Agent K, looked at the enforcers scanning the herbal cauldron with their devices, and felt a deep sense of powerlessness. This wasn't a gang shaking him down; this wasn't thugs collecting protection money. This was the crushing weight of "Compliance."

  "Sir," John tried to reason, "we aren't spreading viruses. We are treating diseases. All the herbs here have been..."

  "Do you have a permit?" Agent K cut him off.

  He pulled an electronic spreadsheet from his briefcase, his fingers tapping rapidly. Every checkmark felt like a nail in the clinic's coffin.

  "'Magic Potion Brewing Permit'? No. 'Special Creature (referring to Bone) Rearing License'? No. 'Non-Registered Mage Practice Qualification'? No."

  Agent K pushed up his glasses, the reflection obscuring his eyes.

  "Mr. Doe, you don't even have the basic 'Air Circulation Filtration Compliance Certificate.' According to regulations, this constitutes a Level 1 Bio-Hazard Source. Immediate closure is mandatory. All liquids must be dumped, all equipment destroyed."

  "That's unreasonable!" John clenched his fists. "Those licenses cost hundreds of thousands of credits and have a three-year waiting list! By the time I get them, these people will be dead!"

  "That is a procedural issue, not one I can decide," Agent K’s tone remained flat, like a repeater. "I am only responsible for executing standards. No license means violation. Violation means closure."

  John looked at the man.

  At this moment, Holmes's teachings surfaced in his mind again.

  Observe... Deduce... Essence.

  Stolen story; please report.

  John took a deep breath, forcing himself not to look at the despairing eyes of the neighbors who hadn't even been seen yet. instead, he stared dead at Agent K.

  Observation:

  Sweat beaded on Agent K’s forehead, but he didn't wipe it because he was wearing gloves and dared not touch his face.

  His gaze drifted to the body cam on his chest every 10 seconds to ensure the green light was on.

  When reading the statutes, he spoke extremely fast, using only written language, offering no colloquial explanations.

  When Mrs. Evelyn tried to rush him, he instinctively took a step back. The flash in his eyes wasn't anger, but... fear.

  Deduction:

  He wasn't enjoying power. He was afraid.

  Afraid of what? Of John resisting? No, he brought armed robots.

  He was afraid of "making a mistake."

  Daoist Singularity’s voice echoed timely in John’s mind:

  "Disciple, do you see it? This is the upgraded version of the 'Banality of Evil'—the 'Evil of Liability Avoidance'."

  "In this massive, rigid system, mid-to-low-level executors like him have long lost the judgment of a 'human.' They are sandwiched between two fears: on one side, if he doesn't shut you down and a medical accident happens, he takes the blame; on the other, if he shuts you down and patients die, it's 'due to force majeure,' and he takes no blame."

  "Do more, mistake more. Do less, mistake less. Follow the procedure—even if the procedure kills people—and you can never be wrong."

  Looking at Agent K, John suddenly understood everything.

  This man didn't hate John, nor did he hate the poor. He was simply maintaining his own "Safe Zone." To avoid taking responsibility, he would unhesitatingly cut off the lifeline of these hundreds of people.

  This indifference was more chilling than Moriarty's calculated malice, and harder to fight. Because you couldn't even find a specific object for your anger—he was just a cog.

  "Agent K," John spoke, his voice raspy. "If I tell you now that the old man inside (pointing to Harry), if he doesn't drink this bowl of medicine today, he will die tonight. Would you make an exception?"

  Agent K’s finger stiffened.

  He glanced at the body cam. The green light blinked.

  "According to regulations," Agent K’s voice raised slightly, seemingly for the recording, "any intake of unapproved medication is a high-risk behavior. For the safety of the citizens, we must strictly prohibit it."

  "For safety, so let him die?" John sneered. "Is that your logic?"

  "Please cooperate with law enforcement." Agent K offered no further explanation, waving his hand. "Apply the seals."

  "I dare you!"

  A roar erupted from inside the clinic.

  Hua Tuo was still sitting at the crude consultation desk. Harry the veteran sat before him, the abscess on his leg bleeding.

  Hua Tuo didn't stop his hands; he was cleaning the wound with blinding speed. But the countdown timer above his head had turned a glaring red.

  [Summon Time Remaining: 00:03:00]

  Time was running out.

  Hua Tuo glanced at the "White Impermanences" approaching the door, then at the unfinished patient. A look of tragic resolve flashed in the Divine Doctor's eyes.

  "A bunch of useless trash who only know how to read files!" Hua Tuo cursed. "When this old man was saving lives, your ancestors were still liquid! Now you want to stop me from saving people with a few pieces of scrap paper?!"

  "Get your filthy hands off!" Hua Tuo roared at the enforcer trying to confiscate his medicine chest. The aura honed from mountains of corpses and seas of blood actually stunned the burly men in hazmat suits.

  "Only three minutes left..." John chanted internally, burning with anxiety.

  If he fought them now, not only would he fail to save anyone, but he'd also be slapped with "Violent Resistance against the Law," implicating all the neighbors. And... his Merit Points were zero. He couldn't summon anyone, he didn't even have the confidence to let Bone fight.

  "Kid!" Hua Tuo suddenly shouted. "Bring a pen!"

  John hurriedly handed over paper and pen.

  Hua Tuo ignored the enforcers. He grabbed the pen and wrote furiously on the yellowed straw paper. His hand moved at maximum speed, the nib scratching against the paper with a rustling sound, as if racing against the Grim Reaper.

  "This is the wash prescription for Harry! Remember, boil three bowls of water down to one, for external use!"

  "This is for Evelyn's leg! Use strong liquor as a base!"

  "This is for that feverish child..."

  Agent K frowned. "Stop him! He is illegally issuing prescriptions!"

  Two enforcers rushed forward, trying to snatch the pen from Hua Tuo’s hand.

  "SCRAM!!!"

  Hua Tuo slammed the table, an invisible wave of Qi knocking the two men back.

  "Let this old man... finish writing this last character!"

  [00:00:10]

  Hua Tuo’s hand was shaking. Not from fear, but from unwillingness. There were so many patients, so many unwritten prescriptions.

  [00:00:05]

  He shoved the last piece of paper into John’s hand, the force nearly crushing John’s finger bones.

  "Take it!" Hua Tuo stared at John, the irritability gone from his eyes, replaced by a solemn entrustment. "Medicine is Intent. As long as you want to save people, there is no dead end!"

  [00:00:00]

  The golden light scattered.

  The stubborn, angry, constantly cursing old man vanished out of thin air.

  Leaving behind only the prescription still warm with body heat, and a room full of un-drunk herbal scent.

  "Where's the doctor?" Old Harry looked blankly at the empty chair. That was his only hope. "Where did the Divine Doctor go?"

  John clutched the paper, his eyes rimmed with red.

  "Ran out of credits... The doctor's off duty." John’s voice was so low it sounded like he was talking to himself.

  Agent K watched this scene. He wasn't surprised by Hua Tuo’s disappearance (magic wasn't rare in this city). He just let out a sigh of relief, seemingly glad he didn't have to face that terrifying old man anymore.

  "Clear the scene." Agent K returned to his cold tone, pointing at the boiling cauldron at the door and the jars of herbs John had painstakingly collected on the shelves.

  "Dispose of all these contraband items. Immediately."

  Several enforcers approached the cauldron with chemical neutralizers.

  Mrs. Evelyn tried to rush over to stop them but was pushed into the mud. Harry raised his cane to strike but had a taser pointed at his head.

  John stood in the middle, holding Hua Tuo’s final prescription.

  He watched the white-clad figures representing "Civilization" and "Order" walk toward the pot of life-saving medicine representing "Barbarism" and "Illegality."

  He didn't move.

  Because he had no money. Because he had no power. Because in the face of these unreasonable rules, he was stripped even of the right to be angry.

  "This world..." John closed his eyes. He felt the melody of the Great Compassion Mantra ringing in his head again, but this time, it sounded more like a funeral dirge.

  "...is absolutely fucked."

  [System Status]:

  Physical Realm (Royal Road): Connection Unstable / Paused.

  Spirit Realm (Patreon): 20+ Chapters Online / Stable.

  [Link]