Chapter 223: Artificial Organs (12)

Young-Joon was holding a press conference. He was announcing some important information about the organ transplant scandal in the medical community. Many prominent figures have spoken out about the scandal, but it was different because it was Young-Joon. The world’s attention was immediately drawn to the name value of the presenter. They all wondered what he would be talking about.

Within a day, everybody knew about Young-Joon’s whereabouts: the fact that he went to Guangdong almost immediately after returning to Korea and then spent a few weeks in Xinjiang.

‘He knows something.’

Tensions didn’t rise to this level even when the CIA and the U.S. president made their announcements.

‘What bomb was Ryu Young-Joon going to set off?’

Young-Joon appeared at the press conference, which was surrounded by foreign reporters, in front of a large screen. Then, he plugged a USB into his computer.

“Today, I’m going to talk about the virus in Xinjiang, subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy, and artificial organs,” Young-Joon said.

The three keywords were all strange, and everyone looked curious as they didn’t know how they were connected to the Xinjiang scandal.

Young-Joon presented the data that was on the USB on the screen.

“The terrorist group that attacked the GSC International Conference recently released a virus in the labor camps in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is a modified version of the lentivirus, and it was transmitted through drinking water.”

The screen showed the virus’ infection route and the molecular biology of its cellular entry. The reporters began to write down the presentation.

“The virus does not cause any symptoms in the body of an infected person. It works rapidly on dividing cells, causing an increase in lactic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid. This results in paralysis, respiratory distress, loss of heart function, and ultimately, death. This disease only occurs in infants undergoing rapid development; it doesn’t even affect children because cells aren’t dividing at a rapid rate. However...” Young-Joon said. “This virus causes subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy in one case.”

Young-Joon went to the next slide.

[Organ transplant.]

A schematic of how the virus amplified in transplanted organs appeared.

“When an infected person’s organs are transplanted into another person, cell division occurs at a very high rate to fill the small gaps where the organ was anastomosed, and eventually subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy develops in the recipient’s body. Here’s the animal experiment data on that. Please take a look.”

Young-Joon showed the experimental data on the screen. The beagles that received virus-infected heart transplants developed subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy, and they all died in two weeks.

“I went to the Xinjiang Region of China to study the virus. It is believed that all the people in the Xinjiang Uygur labor camps are infected,” Young-Joon said. “I developed a cure for subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy. This is being administered to Chinese leadership right now, and we have treated a lot of the symptoms by removing the lactic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid. But there’s still a problem.”

Young-Joon went on to the next slide. Data on the immune response of the transplanted organ and secondary transplantation appeared. Basically, it was saying that retransplantation wasn’t possible after treatment.

“The treatment I made can treat encephalomyelopathy, but it will cause problems with the originally transplanted organ. You have to transplant it again, but rejection will be very severe because the immune response is heightened. There are very few donors who are one hundred percent histocompatible,” Young-Joon said. “Fortunately, A-GenBio has been developing artificial organs for a long time, and we expect to be able to transplant some of them and cure one hundred patients. But...”

Young-Joon then added a condition.

“The transplant surgery must be performed at A-GenBio’s Next Generation Hospital.”

“...”

The reporters’ eyes widened.

“There are two reasons. The first is that it is very difficult to store the artificial organs outside of the body, so it’s almost impossible to bring them to China. The second is that the doctors who know the most about artificial organs are in A-GenBio’s Next Generation Hospital, so it’s safest to be transplanted in their hands.”

They were trying to bring in people who received transplants in Xinjiang to A-GenBio. The reporters got chills when they read Young-Joon’s intentions.

“Unlike some places, we adhere to medical ethics. We do not disclose the identity of patients undergoing surgery... At least not within the hospital,” Young-Joon said in a subtle voice.

The reporter’s eyes shone.

“...”

As he studied the reporters’ expressions, he said, “So for the high-ranking officials who are visiting A-GenBio, please consider the current scandal in Xinjiang and be mindful about reporters at the airport along the transportation route.”

Young-Joon was basically telling the reporters to check that the list of visiting Chinese dignitaries matched the list released by the CIA. The location of the surgery was even revealed: the A-GenBio Next Generation Hospital. All they had to do was camp outside the building.

There were murmurs of admiration among the reporters.

Now, there was one key question: did the president, the recipient of the Han Chinese man’s heart, develop subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy?

“There is one more thing I must report about the virus,” Young-Joon said. “The virus that the terrorists synthesized is very stable in the air and cannot be destroyed by UV light. I looked at the layout of the illegal operating room in the basement of the research institute that the CIA released.”

Young-Joon opened the blueprint of the operating room and the structure that was published by the CIA.

“Despite being a place where many high-risk surgeries are performed, the number of air circulation cycles of the HEPA filter seems to be insufficient. As the daily volume of surgeries seems to be large, if my estimation is correct...” Young-Joon said. “If the organ was harvested and transplanted in that illegal operating room right away, those in the room could have been infected and cause illness even if the donor was not infected.”

The reporters quickly began to write down Young-Joon’s speech. His objective words, which were just accurate medical terms, quickly turned into a provocative message.

[President Chen Shui may have subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy if he received illegal surgery.]

[Will Chen SHui come to receive an artificial organ transplant?]

Young-Joon returned to A-GenBio after the press conference.

“I was getting anxious in place of you,” Park Joo-Hyuk said. “You just targeted the Chinese president. Are you going to be okay?”

“It’ll be fine,” Young-Joon said. “Because I’m going to make this scandal even bigger.”

Bzz!

Yoo Song-Mi’s phone rang.

“It’s a call from the secretary’s office,” Yoo Song-Mi said.

She handed the phone to Young-Joon.

“The Hall of Diligence in Zhongnanhai wants to speak to you...” Yoo Song-Mi said in a concerned voice.

“This is Ryu Young-Joon.”

Young-Joon answered the phone bluntly.

—Doctor Ryu, didn’t you say that you would send the artificial organ to China when it was finished?

Peng Kui, the chief of staff, sounded cold and threatening. The interpreter of the Zhongnanhai translated his words in a nervous tone.

“That was the original plan, but plans have changed due to safety concerns. Please have the President come to Korea,” Young-Joon said. “He should have recovered enough to move thanks to my treatment.”

—...

Peng Kui was silent for a moment.

—Doctor Ryu.

Peng Kui’s voice was cold.

—Do you think a mere businessman can go against China and survive?

“I don't know what you’re talking about. I just made the best medical decision.”

—You don’t remember your lousy stunt at the press conference? Not only will everyone be watching the President in Korea, all eyes will be on him in China as well. The President has a lot of enemies right now.

“Do I need to worry about that?”

—... Don’t do anything stupid. Just send the organs quietly.

“I will do so if you would like.”

—What?

“But I can’t guarantee its safety when transplanted. I will send it to you if you confirm that part on the clinical consent form.”

—...

Peng Kui realized that this battle was impossible. The president was being held hostage. Young-Joon was sitting back on his sofa in the A-GenBio office, holding the heart of the President in his hand.

“Mr. Peng, let’s be honest with each other,” Young-Joon said. “I already know that the procedure that the President went through was illegal. If it had been done in a proper operating room at a proper hospital with proper procedures, he wouldn’t have developed the disease.”

—It’s all just speculation. That’s just what you want to believe.

“Science is not about faith,” Young-Joon said.

—...

“It’s about understanding.”

—Doctor Ryu, please stop...

“Please tell the President...” Young-Joon said. “That I’ll spare his life.”

Then, Young-Joon hung up the phone. Next to him, Park Joo-Hyuk looked shocked.

“Are you crazy...”

“Don’t worry. It’s not just the President, but hundreds of his entourage are between life and death right now. A crisis like this is bound to reform the power structure, even in a dictatorial party,” Young-Joon said. “I told you, I’m going to blow this scandal up.”

* * *

Yang Gunyu’s phone rang. Checking the caller, he let out a deep sigh. He took a sip of cold water and answered.

“

Sigh...

This is Yang Gunyu.”

—This is Ryu Young-Joon. It’s been a while, Governor Yang.

“You really are a terrifying person. An ordinary civilian trying to bring down the Chinese president...” Yang Gunyu said.

He had already seen Young-Joon’s announcement and understood what he was trying to do.

—I have never turned a blind eye to the injustices that have occurred in bioethics. If there is one consistent belief in my life, it’s that.

“... I understand. This was definitely a huge wrong done by our party.”

—I called you because I thought it would be better for you to put an end to your superiors than me.

“

Sigh...

”

—You know that I still have all the data you already sent me.

“I know.”

—If it’s too much for you, just say so. I’ll do it.

“No, please allow me to clean up the mess in China within China. Thank you for the opportunity.”

—No, thank

you

.

After hanging up the phone, Mr. Yang massaged his temples. He took a long breath and stood up.

“Prepare a press conference,” Yang Gunyu said to his secretary. “We’re going to release all their records of the Blood Tyrant Agency, and we’ll also release our official documents on Lee Qinqin’s disappearance. We’ll say that the records of Lee Qinqin’s residential relocation that the government released were fabricated.”

“Sir, are you serious?!”

“If I don’t do this now, China will really go under,” Yang Gunyu said. “I am loyal to the party and China, not President Chen Shui. Doctor Ryu is ordering me to replace the Chen Shui regime right now.”

Yang Gunyu clenched his fists.

“And I think that’s the right thing to do.”

* * *

“This is the percentage of missing persons by region in Guangdong,” Yang Gunyu announced at the press conference.

The statistics, which were meticulously compiled at the village level, included comparisons between Jieyang, the blood-selling village, and other poor villages. Even though they were equally poor, the rate of missing persons was thirty times higher in villages that sold blood.

“This abnormal difference suggests the possibility of some sort of connection between the blood-selling organizations and some group of people,” Yang Gunyu said. “As the governor of Guangdong and a citizen of China, I am here to announce important information about Lee Qinqin, a citizen of Guangdong.”