456: Chapter 456 All citizens of Great Xia can receive free youth-preserving pills

The storm in the Middle East had not yet subsided when the official website of the State Advisory Council of Great Xia updated with an announcement.

The time was exactly 9:00 AM Beijing time.

The announcement was posted in the most prominent position on the homepage, with red text and a black border—a standard government announcement format.

The entire text was less than two hundred words.

"The scientific research team of Great Xia has successfully developed the 'youth-preserving pill'. Clinical verification confirms that users can extend their healthy lifespan by at least thirty years and maintain their physiological age at the time of consumption indefinitely. Starting today, this medication is included in the national medical insurance system of Great Xia, and Great Xia citizens can receive it for free. The purchase price for foreign citizens is one billion daxia currency per pill; transactions are restricted to within Great Xia, and only daxia currency is accepted."

No press conference.

No media briefing.

No live demonstration.

No background information or technical specifications.

Just two hundred dry words posted on the official government website, and that was it.

But within ten minutes, these two hundred words spread to every corner of the global internet.

The first to notice was the duty editor at the Reuters Beijing bureau.

He was eating breakfast when he saw the announcement, with half a breakfast crepe in his mouth.

After reading it the first time, he thought he had misread it.

After reading it the second time, the crepe dropped onto the table.

After reading it the third time, he took a screenshot of the announcement and sent it to the London headquarters.

He attached a note: "This is not fake news; it is the original text from the official website of the State Advisory Council of Great Xia."

Five minutes later, London replied with two words: "Confirmed?"

The editor opened the announcement link and read it again; the URL was indeed the official domain of the State Advisory Council. "Confirmed."

Ten minutes later, Reuters issued a global news flash.

The headline was just one line: "Great Xia announces the development of a drug that can extend lifespan by thirty years."

BBC followed up.

CNN followed up.

Al Jazeera followed up.

AFP followed up.

NHK followed up.

Within half an hour, all major global media outlets had reposted this news.

But it wasn't the media that truly ignited this matter; it was social networks.

On Twitter, the term "youth-preserving pill" climbed to the number one spot on the global trending list within twenty minutes.

And it wasn't just in the English-speaking world; the term appeared on trending lists in Arabic, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Russian as well.

Netizens' reactions fell into three categories.

The first category was the shocked group.

"Live thirty years longer? Did I read that right?"

"What does thirty years mean? Does it mean if I'm thirty now, I can eat one and live to at least ninety, while maintaining my thirty-year-old physical state?"

"So if a sixty-year-old eats it, their body stays in a sixty-year-old state?"

"Did you not read it carefully? It says maintain the physiological age at the time of consumption, not go back to being young. So the earlier you take it, the better."

"So if I'm eighteen now and take one, I'll be eighteen forever?"

"This is fucking becoming an immortal; where did Great Xia get alien technology?"

The second category was the foreign calculation group.

"One billion daxia currency per pill, at the current exchange rate... wait, what is the current exchange rate for eagle dollar to daxia currency?"

"Don't calculate it; you'll cry when you're done."

"I calculated it; it's roughly equivalent to 2.4 billion eagle dollars. One pill is 2.4 billion eagle dollars."

"In other words, there are probably no more than three thousand people in the world who can afford this thing."

"Wrong, it's no more than three thousand foreigners. Great Xia citizens get it for free."

"Free???"

"The people of Great Xia have won completely."

The third category was the venting group.

The content was varied, but the core meaning was one thing: Why do Great Xia citizens get it for free, while we have to spend one billion daxia currency?

The answer to this question is actually very simple. Why? Because this medicine was made by the people of Great Xia.

It's Great Xia's own product; they can sell it however they want, make it free if they want, and no one can stop them even if they price it at ten billion.

Whether you want to give the apples you grew to your neighbor or sell them to a passerby is your freedom.

However, despite the online venting, not a single government questioned the authenticity of this announcement. The reason is also very simple. The rejuvenation pill had already set the precedent.

At that press conference, twelve terminal cancer patients took the medicine and saw immediate results, broadcast globally, with billions of people watching.

With that precedent, no one dared to say that Great Xia's Medicinal Pill was fake.

Last time, a senator from the USA posted on Twitter that the "rejuvenation pill is an Eastern scam," and ended up being forced to delete the tweet after being berated by voters in his own district.

Because there was a cancer center in that district, housing over two thousand cancer patients.

These people didn't care about political stances; they only cared about one thing: Can I survive?

This time it was the same. Just one hour after the announcement of the youth-preserving pill was released, the phones at the embassies of various countries in Great Xia were overwhelmed with calls.

The people calling were not ordinary people. Ordinary people couldn't afford one billion daxia currency at all; they wouldn't even think about it.

The callers were all people from various governments. Diplomats, government advisors, presidential secretaries, liaisons from the Prime Minister's office.

The questions they asked were all the same. "How can we buy it?" "Is there a discount for bulk purchases?" "Can we sign a long-term supply agreement?"

The answer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Great Xia was also the same. "It is written very clearly in the announcement: come to Great Xia, bring daxia currency, and pay upon delivery."

It was that simple. But the meaning behind the words "come to Great Xia" was not simple. Because the youth-preserving pill is restricted to transactions within Great Xia.

If you want to buy it, you have to come to Great Xia in person. Whether you are a king, a president, or the richest person, you have to buy a plane ticket and fly to Great Xia.

You cannot have someone buy it for you, you cannot have the embassy help, and you cannot use diplomatic channels. You must be present yourself, bring your daxia currency, pay, and take the medicine.

This rule completely blocked anyone in the world who wanted to take a shortcut. At the same time, it created an unprecedented situation.

The most powerful people in the world had to line up to come to Great Xia to buy medicine. Just imagine this scene.

Tech giants from the USA, members of European royalty, oil tycoons from the Middle East, Russian oligarchs, Latin American drug lords, African warlords.

These people commanded wind and rain in their own territories, their word was law. But in front of Great Xia's youth-preserving pill, they all had to obediently line up.

No cutting in line. No privileges. No special treatment.

Whether you are the richest person in the world or the president of a nuclear power, it's one billion daxia currency, pay and take the medicine, and then it's the next person.

This feeling, for many who are used to throwing money around to create VIP channels, was probably a first-time experience.

That afternoon, the number of international flight arrivals at Beijing Capital Airport was three times higher than usual. The private jet tarmac was filled with various models of business jets.

Gulfstream, Dassault, Bombardier, one after another. A few of the planes had national emblems painted on their tail fins.

The airport security staff had never seen such a scene. One of the veteran security guards looked at those national emblems and the logos on the tail fins of the planes again, and was silent for a few seconds.

"They've bankrupted themselves, flying over in private jets, just to buy one pill."

"And what about us?"

"We just wait. The announcement said that within three years, all Great Xia citizens will be able to receive a free youth-preserving pill."