Scientists Are Wealth

"Baron."

Dr. List looked at the increasingly broad smile on Baron Strucker's face, a trace of confusion appearing in his eyes.

He did not understand why the Baron was not angry or saddened that the base he had spent so much effort building over so many years had been blown up. Instead, he seemed so happy.

"Dr. List, there's no need to be upset. Soon, you'll have a larger laboratory, better equipment, and everything will be better than before."

Li Chuan looked at the confused Dr. List and reached out to pat him on the shoulder reassuringly.

Dr. List's eyes immediately lit up. So the Baron had secretly prepared an escape route long ago.

"Land over there, on that hilltop."

Li Chuan lowered his head to survey the terrain, then pointed at the top of a small hill and gave the Hydra pilot an order.

The Hydra pilot hurriedly nodded and began guiding the helicopter toward the hilltop in the distance.

Once the helicopter had landed steadily, Li Chuan led Dr. List and Dr. Smith off the aircraft. Then, before their horrified and astonished eyes, he swiftly snapped the Hydra pilot's neck.

Afterward, he dispelled the Transformation Technique and revealed his original appearance.

"Mr. Li Chuan!"

"Who are you? Where is the Baron?"

When Dr. Smith saw Li Chuan, his terrified expression immediately turned to delight. Dr. List, on the other hand, became even more frightened.

"Dr. Smith, congratulations. You've been saved."

Li Chuan reassured Smith, then turned to the terrified Dr. List.

"My apologies, but your Baron was blown to pieces after you activated the self-destruct device. Let me introduce myself again. I'm Li Chuan, president of the Li Group, and your future employer."

"Th-this..."

Dr. List looked at Li Chuan, his lips moving as if he wanted to object. But when he remembered the pilot whose neck Li Chuan had just snapped, he swallowed his words.

He was at Li Chuan's mercy. If he did not want to die, he could only agree.

Seeing that Dr. List knew better, Li Chuan stopped trying to frighten him and instead stepped forward politely.

"Dr. List, rest assured. As long as you work diligently for me, whatever Hydra could give you, I can give you as well—and more."

Although he did not know the Marvel World that well, he knew that the scientists in this world were no ordinary people. Used properly, they were tremendous assets.

Captain America's Super Soldier Serum had been created by Dr. Abraham Erskine. Dr. Banner had researched Gamma rays and turned himself into the Hulk. Doctor Octopus had nearly created an artificial sun. Then there was the Extremis virus, and far too many others to count.

The Marvel World's black technologies emerged one after another, and most of them had been created by scientists.

So if he could build a top-tier team of scientists, whether it was for researching future products and expanding the company or perfecting genetic drugs to inject himself and increase his strength, it would all be immensely beneficial.

That was also why he had kept Dr. List alive all this time.

Honestly, if he could develop a drug that would let him transform into the Hulk while retaining his own consciousness, then in the Naruto World, he would dare chase after even Kage-level powerhouses and beat them senseless.

"Young Master!"

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out from ahead.

Immediately afterward, more than a dozen young men in camouflage uniforms and armed with various firearms appeared before Li Chuan, led by an elderly man.

It was Uncle Li, who had received Li Chuan's orders in advance and had been waiting at the foot of the mountain with his men.

"Uncle Li, I'll leave the rest to you. I'm heading home first. Wanda is still waiting for me to eat."

"Yes, Young Master!"

Seeing Uncle Li and the others appear as planned, Li Chuan checked the time and stopped worrying about what came next. He drove away first.

Uncle Li was far better at this sort of cleanup work than he was.

"Five Explosive Tags, one Great Fireball Technique scroll, one Shadow Clone Technique scroll, one sharp longsword, one valuable jade Buddha statue, and one box of 999 Cold Remedy."

As he drove toward his villa, Li Chuan opened his task item storage space.

The task item storage space was a storage space on the panel. Every time he completed a side mission, the rewards he received would be deposited into this storage space.

He could take out the reward items obtained from missions at any time, or put them back in. It was extremely convenient.

Its drawback, however, was that it could only store mission reward items. Other non-mission items could not be placed inside. Even if he wrapped that longsword in tape and put it in, the tape would automatically fall off outside.

If not for that, he would not have needed to swallow the Ration Pills and bring them back in his stomach.

The first three items in the task item storage space were precisely the rewards from the three missions he had just completed.

"This... Explosive Tag is still usable, I suppose."

Of these three mission reward items, the best was naturally the Great Fireball Technique. It was a Secret Ninjutsu of the Uchiha Clan, and aside from the Uchiha Clan, it was difficult for anyone else to obtain its inheritance.

The Shadow Clone Technique was more useful, but once he returned to the Naruto World, it would actually be easy for him to acquire.

Although it was a B-Rank Ninjutsu created by the Second Hokage, it had spread everywhere because it was so practical. Many ninja villages had even improved upon it.

Water Clones, Earth Clones, Lightning Clones, and the like were all roughly the same.

What was truly difficult to obtain from Konoha was the A-Rank forbidden technique that the Second Hokage later upgraded: the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, which could produce a large number of Shadow Clones at once.

However, it consumed too much Chakra. If an ordinary ninja with insufficient Chakra used it, it could easily cost them their life.

As for the final mission reward, five Explosive Tags, they truly had little value. With his wealth in the Naruto World, he could casually buy plenty of them.

In the Marvel World, their explosive power was at most comparable to a grenade.

Their only advantage was that they looked like ordinary pieces of paper. Most people would not be wary when holding one, making them useful for unexpectedly ambushing enemies.

Modern detection equipment could hardly detect them, either.

Before six in the evening, Li Chuan finally drove back to his villa. However, as he parked, he spotted another familiar car.

"Pietro came over?"

Pietro Maximoff was his brother-in-law and Wanda's twin brother. He had been born twelve minutes before Wanda, and the black sedan belonged to him.

After thinking it over, Li Chuan smiled helplessly. He could more or less guess why Pietro had come.

The Spanish dish Asturian Stew had probably proven a little too difficult for his wife, whose cooking skills were still lacking, so she had invited her brother over to help, since he was skilled in cooking.

"Looks like I can have a decent dinner tonight."

With Pietro's help, at least the dishes would not be as salty as they had been that morning three months ago. That was a good thing.

And since Pietro was here, he could take the opportunity to discuss moving to New York with him.