Chapter 2799 The Devil in the Ergot (Ⅱ)

"The reason is very simple, Dr. Vader, you wrote clearly in your report that the hallucinogenic effect of ergot is very powerful, equivalent to thousands of times of the current mainstream hallucinogenic drug mescaline. The hallucinations of insanity cannot be escaped, and it is our responsibility to prevent this terrible new drug from entering society and causing more addicts to suffer from it."

Roland eagerly explained.

"What, what Carlin? Your Majesty, what are you talking about?" Joan was bewildered.

"Mescaline..."

"What is this, I haven't heard of it... Ms. Valentina, have you heard of it?" Joan turned to Ms. Jinlong.

Valentina forced a smile: "I can't understand what Roland is saying, it may be his native dialect."

"Please, look at your serious faces, why are you joking again? Where does His Majesty's native dialect refer to? Whether it is the imperial dialect or the Far Eastern dialect, as long as it is spoken by someone in this world, there is no me. I don’t understand, but I really didn’t understand Mescaline, or should I bless the ‘Slick Words’ first, and then we can continue talking?”

Roland and Valentina looked at each other, and they could see that the young mage was really upset.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Vader, the place Varyusha just mentioned...is my spiritual hometown, called Blue Star, not in the Vales Sky, but far away in a crystal wall system called 'Ers Sky' .”

After hearing His Majesty's reserved explanation, Qiao An nodded first, not asking all kinds of puzzling details for the time being, and went straight to the point.

"Your Majesty, is mescaline a widespread hallucinogen in your so-called spiritual home?"

"To be precise, it used to be very popular." Roland added cautiously, "Mescaline is an alkaloid extracted from cactus bulbs. In the world of Vales, it has a more widely known name called 'Phantom Dew'."

"Hey! Why make it so complicated, if you just say it's a phantom dew, I'll understand."

Joan slapped his thigh, secretly amused.

"Dr. Vader, Mescaline... Phantom Dew was once popular in Blue Star and was widely sought after by addicts, but it was soon replaced by another drug with stronger effects. Do you know what that is? ?”

"Could it be..." Joan's face changed slightly, "ergot?"

"That's right, it's the new type of hallucinogen you synthesized with ergot. This thing was once all the rage in Blue Star, fueling the cynical social movements that prevailed at that time. Poisoned, reduced to a pathetic addict, the scars on society as a whole have not healed until that generation gets old."

A look of distress appeared in His Majesty's eyes.

"Dr. Vader, I don't want the social tragedy that happened in my hometown to happen again in the land I live in now, so I have to ask you to immediately stop all research on new drugs!"

"Your Majesty, please allow me to defend myself!"

Joan couldn't help raising his voice.

"From your point of view, it seems that you are accusing me of deliberately synthesizing new drugs? But I never had such an idea!"

"The original intention of my research on ergot was to gain an in-depth understanding of the pathogenic mechanism of 'Holy Fire Syndrome', and by the way, I also wanted to develop some new drugs that would benefit people's health. As for ergot...that was just a by-product on a whim."

"Your Majesty, in good conscience, I am not an addict, and I am also opposed to taking drugs and hallucinogens, sacrificing health in exchange for short-term pleasure, but if someone insists on humiliating himself like that, that is his freedom, and we have no right Interference, right?"

"Dr. Vader, when you emphasize freedom, you must know that unlimited freedom is unlimited unfreedom. Laissez-faire will only cause the entire society to fall apart and push human civilization to the abyss of destruction."

Roland sighed, then said to Joan:

"You are a scientific researcher, I can understand your advocacy of freedom, and you don't need to take more social responsibilities outside the boundaries of academic ethics, but I am different."

"I am the monarch of a country, and the ruler of the people must be responsible to the people. No matter you criticize this as a 'paternal' style, or even call me a tyrant, in my country, I have the right to make laws and demand that the people Let go of some private freedom and compensate with public order and social security, which includes the introduction of laws prohibiting the manufacture, sale and consumption of drugs, Dr. Vida, do you agree or disagree?"

Facing His Majesty's stern questioning, Qiao An felt at a loss and hesitated for a while before expressing his opinion carefully.

"I have no objection, Your Majesty, but I think you are making a fuss out of a molehill. Legislation may not solve the problem, but it may create more problems."

"Dr. Vader, I admit your concerns. For decision makers, the consequences of abusing power are very terrifying, but what is even more terrifying than this is the lack of courage to exercise power and dare not bear the consequences of power."

"Whether my actions are right or wrong, let time tell... If history proves that I am wrong, the people will come to judge me, but I will never be afraid to do what I think is right because of this! "

In Joan's memory, His Majesty the Emperor always gave people the impression of being calm, graceful and unrestrained. Today is the first time seeing him so excited, revealing his true inner emotions, and he can't help being deeply surprised.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to reiterate that we can extract a variety of compounds with medicinal value from ergot, which can be used to make excellent hemostatic agents and midwifery agents to help women relieve the pain of childbirth."

"Every day in the world, countless women and fetuses suffer from illnesses and even die from dystocia."

"I haven't counted them, but I think the number of these unfortunate women and fetuses may not be less than that of drug addicts."

"Now I have the opportunity to do something for these poor people, so that the women and children who should have been killed by dystocia are healthy, and you are preventing me from publishing the research results because I am worried that someone will abuse the drug I invented. , isn’t this just giving up eating because of choking?”

"From another point of view, if you allow me to study ergot further, maybe I can verify that this substance is also effective in treating mental diseases including depression, so that countless people who are born with mental disorders like me be saved."

"Your Majesty, I implore you to consider such a question carefully."

"When you try to save those potential addicts, you are not inadvertently depriving countless pregnant women and their unborn fetuses of the chance to survive, and you are also shattering many mentally ill people to get treatment, recovery, and health. The hope of reintegrating into society?"

Joan's series of questions made His Majesty the Emperor frown, and he broke the silence after a long time of contemplation.