Chapter 906
Chapter 906 - 892 - : A Small Shock in the New Era
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8 min read
"...such a big sun, uh, so scorching."
Lu Ping’an finally woke up at two in the afternoon, and upon opening his eyes, he was greeted with the glaring sun outside the window.
The inexplicable fatigue accumulated during the journey was one reason, and another was the leisure brought about by the vacation.
"...I’m back, huh."
As he looked at the somewhat unfamiliar sunshine and the afternoon scenery, Lu Ping’an blankly stared for a moment before he realized.
He was no longer in the Outside the Domain, where he needed to stay alert at all times, but on Earth, where he could sleep soundly until daylight.
He yawned and got out of bed to dress and simply took an apple and some milk from his food bag for breakfast... he was too lazy to cook or go out, since he wouldn’t starve to death if he didn’t eat for a few days.
".....pfft, delivery will still take a few years." While grumbling, he opened the door to his room and stepped into the living room.
[You missed breakfast but don’t be lazy for lunch, eat well. Dinner is in the lower part of the fridge, remember to heat it up, I probably won’t come back tonight because of overtime work.]
However, there was already a boxed lunch and a note on the living room table.
Lu Ping’an scratched his belly and yawned again.
"....Just got back and already working overtime, tough."
Thus, completely oblivious that he too needed to report back to work, he heartlessly enjoyed his two-hour-late lunch.
".....Improvement, not bad."
It wasn’t particularly delicious, nor was it bad; after all, reality isn’t like a comic where anything goes as long as you don’t just toss in random ingredients or attempt ’innovative cooking.’ If you follow the procedure and recipe, it should be edible and taste about right.
Compared to when Xia Qin first started living with him, clearly inexperienced in cooking and lacking even basic culinary skills, she had come a long way.
After eating, Lu Ping’an still felt somewhat sluggish... so he took some pills.
A black one, a Zero-order magic pill "24-hour pill", could adjust an outsider’s biological clock to the local environment based on basic conditions like the sun and atmosphere.
Therefore, in Lu Ping’an’s perception, it was no longer the groggy state of just getting out of bed, but rather the lethargy of two hours into the afternoon..... Although it seemed a bit foolish, based on past experience, it was a good thing for life.
A white one, a Zero-order magic pill "Coffee Mixture"... literally what it sounds like, God knows how the Magic Alchemist did it, but they made a super energizing drug using a type of demonized coffee powder as the main ingredient.
And so, Lu Ping’an immediately perked up.
"Not bad, not bad."
He tried moving his hand and deciphered the magic incantation..... his condition wasn’t bad, the pharmacy owner downstairs hadn’t deceived him.
Yes, the pharmacy, an ordinary retail pharmacy, now also sold these low-level magic pills.
In a sense, this was the dividend of the era: supernatural items that even ordinary people could use (in extremely low doses) were starting to enter millions of households.
And this black and white combo was the best-selling product of the pharmacy....
".....college entrance examination pack? Uh, 24 hours of cramming without fear of jet lag reducing efficiency? Students are really blessed."
Lu Ping’an flipped through the manual with interest; these people were indeed good at doing business. This product had such a good effect for ordinary people, yet it also meant that one dosage could be diluted and used dozens of times, enough for some poor souls to cram for a month or two.
"...Uh, since the effects are so good, it won’t mean that all students will have to engage in a 24-hour study marathon in the future, right? That would be a real sin....."
After pondering for a bit, Lu Ping’an was startled to realize that such a prediction was almost certain to become a reality.
Lu Ping’an observed a moment of silence for the lovely juniors and juniorettes... for one second, and then he laughed out loud.
"Tsk, lucky for me, I’m past that."
Calculating the time, it was almost the college entrance examination season again, and he had been in this world for nearly a year now. The changes this world had gone through in this one year were probably more than what would be seen in a normal century of evolution.
After a smile, Lu Ping’an continued flipping through the instruction manual below.
As a senior professional in the Life system, he had considerable insight into life forms... The effects of the Magic Potion were excellent, but the body’s resources would still deplete with 24-hours non-stop use, and after everything settled down, the wear and tear on an Ordinary Person’s body would be immense.
"...There are instructions, so it can’t be banned outright."
Lu Ping’an’s scant conscience reminded him that while the substance might not significantly impact professionals, for Ordinary People, long-term use was akin to chronic suicide. Going non-stop for 24 hours would rapidly destroy your body.
If one were to continue this as the norm for half a year, they’d probably end up collecting corpses.
But the drug dealers aren’t stupid; they had written many disclaimers, such as not to use it for more than three days at a time, and to ensure a two-day interval between uses.
However, Lu Ping’an thought of the reality facing the students, as well as the frantic parents outside the pharmacies...
"...Ugh, it really should be banned."
Such disclaimers, aside from serving as a pathetic excuse in court, were even more ignored than the "Smoking is harmful to health" warnings.
But Lu Ping’an’s motion to make a phone call stopped.
He had been through the college entrance examination himself, twice. If a Magic Potion could greatly improve efficiency and extend study time, even at a cost to health...
"...Banning it, and the Special Service Team... no, the Great Gate of the government would be smashed by furious parents, right?"
He wasn’t afraid of trouble; in fact, he was somewhat looking forward to such a spectacle, but it would be unfair to those who took the potion, those afraid to take it, and those who couldn’t take it if it were banned.
With one phone call, he could easily get the relevant departments to act, but if someone could have relied on the potion to get into a good university and then was undercut by others who had secretly hoarded it, wouldn’t that mean he was screwing people over?
"...This is too difficult."
At this moment, Lu Ping’an realized the many pains of a law enforcer in the New Era.
New laws and regulations hadn’t caught up, and the variety of new contrivances brought a plethora of social problems. These outrageous items, labeled as health products or Snacks, were unceasing, yet didn’t even register among the numerous new troubles of the New Era.
Xia Qin’s non-stop overtime work was one thing, and the lack of Human Resources was another, but what was more troublesome was "decision-making."
If they were to ban it, they would have to do so on a massive scale before widespread abuse... but now, that was clearly not achievable. Parents had already considered this possibility and were crazily stocking up.
And even if it were all banned, then smuggling and counterfeit drug dealers would appear, leading to unfairness multiplied by safety hazards (counterfeit dangers doubled).
How to make a decision? There was no way to make a decision, or at least, Lu Ping’an couldn’t think of a complete solution.
"...Forget it, what’s it got to do with me? Let those who should be worried deal with it."
Lu Ping’an tossed the problem aside without hesitation, and a phone call was made, but it was just a report of the situation. He gave no opinions and left the Bureau of Anomaly Management to shoulder the blame... to make the decisions.
This was just a tiny snapshot of the New Era. Perhaps the designers of the Magic Potion only wanted to provide some help to professionals working day and night or perhaps the Magic Alchemist who introduced it to the public just felt it really could benefit Ordinary People. However, the societal impacts of new inventions require time and outcomes for digestion and appraisal.
After finishing the call and having a lunch that arrived two hours late... and inconveniently eating an early dinner three hours ahead to avoid eating later, Lu Ping’an, who still felt fantastic with no adverse effects, couldn’t help but marvel at how senior professionals were indeed no longer quite human, as he started to get some real work done for a change.
— End of Chapter 906 —