Chapter 16 Progress

Dmitri observed Ana for the next few days and saw that her condition was gradually improving. The coughing became less frequent and she was able to get out of bed and walk around.

On the seventh day, Dmitri went to Ana’s room to check on her one last time. He was amazed at what he saw.

Ana was completely cured! Like there was no trace of the disease in her body.

Dmitri couldn’t believe it. He had seen many patients with tuberculosis, but he had never seen anyone recover so quickly.

He knew that this medicine was going to be a game-changer if the drug worked. Not only would it save lives, but it would also change the way people thought about tuberculosis.

Dmitri went to Alexander’s office to give him the news.

“Your Majesty, I am happy to report that Ana is completely cured!”

Despite his joyous announcement, Alexander wasn’t impressed at all.

“I wouldn’t say she’s completely cured, there are still streptomyces bacteria in her system. It will take at least 6 months of medication until she’s cured. Still, thanks for letting me know, I feel relieved.”

Upon hearing Alexander’s response, Dmitri’s facial expression turned gloomy. Nevertheless, the cure is working and it’s a huge achievement for the prince.

As an imperial prince whose task is to inherit the throne, he didn’t expect the would-be-soon emperor to create such a sophisticated medicine that could potentially eradicate the threat of tuberculosis.

If the medical world were to hear about this, they would certainly award him a Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology.

He’s impressed at the medical knowledge of the emperor so much that he suddenly felt so small.

As a man who dedicated his whole life to medicine, curing patients and saving them from their diseases, and wanting to make a name for himself in the medicine world, he felt ashamed that a prince who don’t have a medical degree best him.-.

He too was investing so much effort to create developing a cure after getting inspired by a physician who concocted penicillin. Yet the most powerful man in front of him claimed that he developed a cure for tuberculosis in two weeks.

Only a genius could do that. A man like him whose only power is hard work is no match against a genius.

Alexander quickly noticed Dmitri’s depressing face and got him concerned.

“Dmitri, are you okay?”

“Yeah…Yeah…” Dmitri smiled and shook his head, trying to shake off his thoughts. “I’m fine, Your Majesty. I’m just so happy that Ana is showing progress in recovery.”

Alexander stood up from his seat and leaned against a table.

“Oh, since you’re here I actually have an idea to speed up her recovery.”

“Pardon?”

“In order to make her recover faster, we should try a combined therapy.”

“Combined…Therapy?” Dmitri gave a questioning look. He didn’t understand where Alexander was getting at.

“Yes, we’ll administer her with another type of drug.”

“Another drug?” Dmitri repeated as his head start to pin, dizzying him. Is he saying that he created another type of medicine? Not only that, He still has questions about the mechanism of the streptomycin that was unanswered.

“Uhm…before we do that Your Majesty, may I know how streptomycin works?”

Alexander cocked his head to the side. He already gave him the full documentation of how he synthesized the streptomycin. Still, for the sake of decency, he answered.

“Streptomycin is a protein synthesis inhibitor that binds to the small 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid of the Streptomyces griseus ribosome, interfering with the binding of formyl-methionyl-transfer ribonucleic acid leading to complete inhibition of protein synthesis which eventually leads to the death of the bacteria. If you’re wondering if it affects the human cell, it won’t. Since our RNA is structurally different from bacteria.”

As Alexander concluded, Dmitri was stunned by his explanation. He didn’t know what to say. The answer Alexander gave was beyond complicated as he couldn’t picture what was going on on a microscopic scale.

To keep up with the conversation, Dmitri asked another question. “So what kind of drug did you produce this time? Would it be similar to the streptomycin?”

“Actually yes, it’s also an anti-tubercular drug. I called it isoniazid.”

“Isoniazid?” He repeated incredulously. It’s the first time he heard that word.

In Alexander’s original world, Isoniazid is used combined with streptomycin in tuberculosis treatments. Isoniazid was synthesized from an organic compound known as 4-methylpyridine or 4-picoline. It was oxidized to obtain isonicotinic acid which is then heated up with anhydrous hydrazine to form isonicotinic acid hydrazide aka isoniazid.

It’s simple to make than the streptomycin and with enough effort and knowledge, Dmitri could learn it too.

In his world, this medicine won’t be used for another thirty years.

A futuristic medicine. If he were sent back in time rather than reincarnating in another world, he wouldn’t carelessly introduce modern medicine as it could alter the timeline, assuming the time works linearly. But since this is not his world and the future is unknown, then he won’t be affecting or altering this world’s timeline.

“Similar to the mechanism of streptomycin, this isoniazid works by inhibiting the synthesis of mycolic acid. You know mycolic acid right?”

“Yes,” Dmitri snapped back to his senses. “It’s what is composed of the Streptomyces griseus cell wall.”

“You’re right.”

Those words confirmed the fact that Alexander is the one who synthesized the streptomycin.

To be honest, Dmitri is confused about his feelings about this matter. He’s glad for his sister’s recovery, but he can’t help but feel a little jealous of Alexander.

He can’t bear the fact that someone else can create medicine that is beyond his cognitive capacity. Despite knowing that Alexander is a man who didn’t study medicine, he still can’t accept the fact that he’s leagues above him in terms of medical knowledge.

However, reality would slap him in the face if he were to know that Alexander was possessed by a man named Thomas Harrier who not only excel in engineering but in medicine as well. His company started as a biomedical firm so this made Thomas invest in studying biochemistry and earning him a Ph.D. in Biochemistry.

It’s not only the CEO’s job to know how to run his company, he also should know how his products work to innovate so that he can keep his company up competitively. That’s his principle.

If not for his action, the Harrier Industries would’ve fallen.

“Okay, I’ll be teaching you how to administer it…”

Before Alexander could finish his sentence, a knock on the door interrupted him.

“What is it?” Alexander demanded, looking behind Dmitri. It was a man wearing a black suit.

“Your Majesty, you got a call from Yamato Empire.”

“Who is it?”

“The Prime Minister, Sergei Grigorivich.”

“Okay patch him through.”

The man nodded and went out to carry out his duty.

“I have to take care of something. Perhaps we can continue this later.”

“Sure. I shall excuse myself, Your Majesty.” Dmitri bowed and excused himself from Alexander’s office.

When Alexander was alone in his room, his phone rang, producing a buzzing sound. He picked up his phone to answer the call.

“Hello, Your Majesty,” A man spoke on the other line.

“Hello, Prime Minister. I was expecting to hear from you soon as you arrive at the Yamato Empire. So what’s the news?”

“The first session of the peace treaty was held at the Ruthenia’s embassy in Ruthenia. They already started their demands and I think it would be prudent to tell you about it.”

“So what’re their demands?”

“They want us to pull out our forces in the Kingdom of Choson, war reparations, and a territorial concession of the island of Sakhalin.”

Hearing that, Alexander’s slammed the table with his hand.

“WHAT?! That’s ridiculous! I know I wanted to end the war but their demands would make us appear weak.”

“I know Your Majesty, but we are on a losing side here…”

“Yes we did lose a significant force in the Kingdom of Choson and they shattered the Pacific Fleet but you said to yourself, right? What if we send our Baltic Fleet to the Pacific, we would win the war right?”

“Wait your majesty, are you taking back your order to recall the Baltic Fleet?”

“No I don’t, those sailors are going home but we can use them as a bluff.”

“Oh…I see where you’re getting into, Your Majesty.”

“Since the Yamato Empire doesn’t know yet about our Baltic Fleet, we can use it as our card to force the Yamato Empire into agreeing to our terms.”

The Yamato Empire is a rising regional power in Asia but despite their victories on land against the Ruthenia Empire, they can’t afford to go to an all-out war with the Ruthenia. They knew that the Eastern military was poorly funded and supplied and the morale there is low. So technically, what they defeated they are a bunch of inexperienced troops with outdated technologies.

“They should be the one paying reparations to us since they attacked us before the declaration of war even arrived in the palace. You do your job, prime minister. Assert our dominance, we are a western power for god’s sake. We won’t give them a penny or an inch of land. Is either they accept an antebellum or risk continuing the war.”

“Yes Your Majesty. I won’t fail you.”

“See that you don’t.”

Alexander hung up the phone and sighed loudly. It’s not like he wanted to continue a war with the Yamato as it will go against his promise to the people. But if they were to agree to that demands, it’ll be humiliating to the Ruthenian people and would certainly affect their morale. It’s the last thing Alexander wanted to happen but considering the geopolitics, the Yamato Empire would be a force to agree to their demands.

Alexander leaned back in his seat, hoping that it’ll go according to his plan.

Just as he was staring at the ceiling, a knock on the door was heard.

He jolted up and straightened his posture.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me…brother!”