Ball of Nothing

The name of Hua Tuo and Zero's rustic temporary clinic was simple. Since they were giving free treatments, they named it Hope Clinic for the poor who couldn't afford proper medical treatment. Hope Clinic didn't discriminate between species when it came to treatment. The house rule was simple. They only asked the patient to pay what they could and did what they could to help.

Mammon sponsored the cost of medicine although most of the medicinal plants came from either Hua Tuo's private garden or Half Moon Village's herb garden. Zero managed to borrow a plot of land from Beelzebub to start planting the common herbs he needed.

The word spread far and wide for many demons living outside of domains. It didn't matter if they were old or crippled, many of them did their best to crawl over to the Garden of Roth. Due to the heavy influx of demons, Ruth found himself roped into handling the accommodations for these people. Temporary living quarters sprung up like mushrooms. The domain was beginning to look less like a town or cultivation heaven and more like a slum with the number of patients increasing by the day. Zero and Hua Tuo found it incredibly hard to keep up with the surge in patients. Still, neither of them complained.

The word about Hope Clinic even reached the ears of those in Heaven. One by one, minor Sage Gods and angels started to visit the clinic. Even the lesser-known supernaturals dropped by from time to time, surprising Zero. The first time Zero saw a Kelpie, he mistakenly identified it as a Hippocampus.

The success of such a clinic surprised even Mammon who wasn't expecting it. The Demon Lords were once more gathered for a meeting because of Zero.

"I'm sure you've all heard about the problem in the Garden of Roth. We're facing a huge number of tourists and the newly created domain cannot house them all," Mammon reported.

Lucifer nodded. "I have vacant spaces in the dormitory that can accommodate some mana sensitive foreign guests."

Mammon decided to allocate all the angels to Lucifer's domain seeing how the angels were rather sensitive towards the miasma and dark magic present in every other domain. Beelzebub opened his domain up to those who were alright to live without luxury.

"I don't have buildings or many citizens. However, I have a vast land space that can house the poor if they build their own houses."

Mammon thought that it was a brilliant idea. By throwing out the word that Lord Beelzebub was hiring architects, builders and giving free citizenship rights for his domain, that would take the burden off his shoulders about housing the poor. It was killing three birds with one stone and even Lucifer agreed.

Shittomi offered to take care of the supernatural guests. There was nobody more familiar with the creatures from other dimensions so nobody fought with her for the right. Lilith opened her domain up to the more disagreeable lot.

"It'll make them obedient and stop all the ruckus we hear daily," she said matter-of-factly. Nobody doubted the succubus queen. With so many incubi and succubi at her beck and call, she could easily create an obedient army to feed off from. Lucifer didn't disagree with the plan. Without the troublemakers, it would be a huge load off his shoulders.

"Someone still has to help Zero and Hua Tuo," the ex-archangel pointed out. "They can't tend to the fields, make medicine and see patients all by themselves. They see hundreds of patients every day and some of them require following up. Mammon is intending to expand the clinic into a hospital with how many patients they required to keep with them for prolonged treatments. An operation theatre, a treatment room, a medicine store, a dispensary... they wouldn't be able to manage everything by themselves."

Amon offered to have some of his students tend to medical crops.

"My girls under training can help with the cleaning and handing out of medicine. They can also tend to the needs of patients, I've taught them how to act as caregivers for their cover jobs. However, they don't have any actual knowledge about medicine," Shittomi offered.

Mammon waved his hand. "That's not a problem. If we have the manpower to offer help, I'm sure Hua Tuo and Zero won't mind taking a day off to train them. This would give them more time to perform surgeries, see patients and prescribe medicine."

As the meeting came to an end, Lucifer and Mammon remained behind to finalise the details of their plans. Zero and Hua Tuo were going to have a lunch break in two hours. That was when they wanted to catch them.

Lunchtime came for Hope Clinic and Zero felt slightly apologetic for closing the clinic even for a while. Hua Tuo was exhausted. He looked over to his student who was becoming a better doctor by the day. Even without the Sage God's medical eye, Zero's diagnosis was on point even if he wasn't as fast as Hua Tuo. The teenager was becoming more familiar with common ailments and symptoms but he never became complacent with any diagnosis, taking Hua Tuo's advice to heart. With every case he reviewed, Zero kept his mind clear from assumptions.

The clinic might be small and cramped but the master and apprentice worked without stopping. There was always something to be done. Some of the recovered demons offered to be volunteers at the clinic. They took turns cleaning, cooking and brewing medicine. Zero had started teaching some of the stronger volunteers how to grind medicine, dry herbs and make pills.

Mammon and Lucifer came by during their simple lunch, scaring the volunteers badly.

"Zero, Hua Tuo. I know it is lunchtime now but this is of importance. Could you spare us fifteen minutes? We have a proposal to make," Mammon told them.

Hua Tuo dismissed the volunteers and told them they would reopen at the same time before attending to the two Demon Lords.

"I see that you have some help?" Lucifer commented. Zero smiled.

"They are volunteers who offered to help us with the clinic. I must say, some of them are really quick to pick up things. I've started teaching two of them how to make pills and they are doing a good job. After I leave the clinic, I think it'll be nice to have it continue. Some of them have the potential to be doctors."

Mammon smiled. It was typical of Zero to want to continue helping others even after he has left. His presence can never be forgotten. Lucifer sighed.

"We actually came up with a plan to help you cope with all the patients you are receiving. The nearby inns are full of patients who are still recovering from the operation. The slums are not good places for recovery so this is our proposal. Hope Clinic is becoming Hope Hospital. It will be jointly run by the Demon Lords. Amon will offer labour for the fieldwork that you require. Lilith and Shittomi will offer some of the girls to act as caregivers."

Zero and Hua Tuo looked through the amazingly detailed proposal. Hua Tuo had a tear in his eye and Zero smiled. Even though Hua Tuo was a travelling doctor, it might have always been his teacher's dream to own a clinic. With this, Zero suspected that Hua Tuo may choose to reside in Hell a little longer even after he graduated.

"Is it possible to add a few more rooms here?" Hua Tuo asked.

Zero listened to his teacher talk about the layout of the hospital. He wanted to include more facilities to aid in recuperation and note just treatment. Zero suspected that this was the closest to Hua Tuo's ideal hospital and remained silent. Honestly, a recuperation centre wasn't very necessary in a hospital. A physiotherapy room wasn't really needed and a garden was considered a luxury. Still, the Demon Lords agreed to everything his teacher requested for and included them to the revised version of the proposal.

Once the details were hammered out, Zero asked if he could have a special house made for Hua Tuo in the Garden of Roth.

"I don't need a house here, I have a hut in Endow Hill," Hua Tuo told his meddlesome student.

Zero deadpanned. Who was his master trying to fool? "Shifu... you intend to take on more disciples here and you have a farm here. If you don't have a house here to take in disciples and do your research, you won't have any time to sleep. Time in Hell flows a lot faster than on Earth. If you sleep for eight hours on Earth, you'd be gone for a few weeks here. Think about all the patients."

With that logical explanation, Zero successfully shut down all of Hua Tuo's protests. Both Mammon and Lucifer were impressed by Zero's power in negotiation. He had definitely matured into someone who could hold his ground. He had keen observations, was quick-witted and had a sharp tongue. While Zero's kind and caring nature remained, he was no pushover. He could recognise a genuine case who needed help and a person who was trying to rip the clinic off.

If Baal was present he would be very proud to see Zero send his patients away empty-handed after making a fuss at the dispensary.

"We don't treat illnesses such as arrogance and greed. Please look for a different clinic."

Those words were like slaps to the arrogant noble's face who was sent back home. Lucifer received the demon's complaints and simply sent a reply telling him to seek someone else out as he had a lot of money. The Demon Lord even scolded the arrogant noble for wasting the precious time of the doctors and other patients who had more important business than them. Needless to say, Zero's bold statement made a mark in everybody's hearts.

In less than two weeks after the proposal, Hope Hospital was established in the central district of the busy Garden of Roth. Hua Tuo relocated to the hospital to tend to the more critical cases and left Zero took care of the more common cases in Hope Clinic. Hua Tuo even started conducting talks for the public's education about prevention and hygiene. Every afternoon, Zero would leave the medicine making and dispensing to the capable volunteers as he rushed over to the hospital to aid Hua Tuo with the numerous surgery cases.

Zero learnt a lot and became more proficient with surgery. Although his stitching skills were still horrible, Zero was a lot faster now. Hua Tuo also had faith in Zero's acupuncture abilities. It didn't matter what species the patient was, Zero would be able to figure it out after learning a trick from Hua Tuo to pump qi into their patient's body to study the flow of energy to determine the meridian points.

Zero was thrilled whenever a complicated surgery case came out. He was also thinking of a way to cure the mutation disease called cancer. It happened in every species and was not an uncommon thing. If detected early, the best way to cure it was to remove the affected part with surgery. If it advanced too much, the patient was beyond saving.

"Steve Jobs died from cancer when he was still a human," Hua Tuo revealed, shocking Zero.

Of the many illnesses with no known cure, cancer was at the top of that list. Hua Tuo shook his head when Zero asked if something could be done.

"Cancer is not a virus, poison or illness. It's the body's mutation process. Not even my medicine eye can find a way to deal with it. If a person has cancer, most times it will continue to reoccur until the person dies. It's fate."

Zero wasn't happy with his teacher's answer but he could understand why Hua Tuo would think so. Like genders and transgenders, these things beyond the control of Gods were classified as fate. However, for Zero, it was no coincidence. Everything happens for a reason, he just didn't know it yet.

Knowing Solo, it wouldn't be anything as simple as fate. His past self created such a system knowingly. Zero just needed to discover the reason.

Still, as close to a month passed by in the abyss, Zero found himself gaining more confidence in his skills as a doctor. He had developed a liking for certain prescriptions and methods of treatment that differed from his teacher. the master and student would talk about their day over dinner in Hua Tuo's humble hut. They would debate over Zero's choices and methods. If Zero could convince Hua Tuo, the Sage God would approve of his student's methods.

Zero often tried to include the use of magic to aid in his treatments. Hua Tuo didn't like the idea initially but after Zero explained that not all species can be cured without magic, he relented. Hua Tuo envied Zero's ability to perform treatments without the use of complex medical equipment infused with mana. Lucifer and Wiser had included several expensive machines for Hua Tuo's use in the hospital to compensate for the Sage God's lack of magical capabilities.

"Remember that magic is only the last resort," Hua Tuo told Zero for the countless time. "The body needs to build immunity naturally. Spoiling the body too much makes it prone to a second attack."

Zero nodded. "Don't worry, I will only use minimal magic. I won't overdo it."

Assured, Hua Tuo told Zero to clean up before they headed to bed. There weren't many reasons left for Hua Tuo to drag on Zero's training. As the date of the meeting in Heaven drew nearer, Hua Tuo felt the weight of Zero's graduation gift grow heavier and heavier.