"Five more seconds, that's about right."
After Kinoe left, Li Chuan looked at the return countdown on the panel, quickly opened the box in front of him, threw a black pill inside into his mouth, and swallowed it at the last second.
When the countdown ended, after a moment of disorientation, he opened his eyes again and found himself back in his company office in Sokovia.
"Spit it out!"
The first thing he did upon waking was not to daze off, but to strike his stomach with his palm, causing the black pill he had just swallowed to come back out of his mouth.
"I didn't expect it to actually work."
Looking at the black pill on his desk, still covered in his saliva, Li Chuan's face showed an expression of "just as I thought."
According to the panel's instructions, when traveling between the Main World and the Small World, nothing can be carried, and even clothes will be different.
When he was in Marvel, he wore a suit, but when he went to Hokage, his clothes changed to the attire of a prince of the Land of Fire.
It seemed there were no loopholes to exploit, but Li Chuan still had a sudden inspiration, a small idea.
If he had just eaten something and was in the process of digesting it when he traveled between Worlds, then surely the food in his stomach couldn't be isolated from his body, right?
With this thought, he had Kinoe buy a soldier pills in advance, and then ate it before returning.
To deceive the panel, he also intentionally ate a lot of other normal food before eating the soldier pills.
Sure enough, things were as he expected; the panel did not forcibly remove the food he had already eaten, allowing him to spit it out again after returning.
The soldier pills is a special food and medicine commonly carried by Ninja during missions and battles.
It can not only quickly restore Chakra and stamina but also serves as an excellent hunger suppressant.
Li Chuan brought the soldier pills to Marvel because he wanted his company's scientists to study it, analyze its components, and, like the previous research on the strengthening paste, create imitations and simplified versions suitable for sale to ordinary people.
With imitations, even if the effect is not as good as the soldier pills, he would effectively have an additional temporary supplement for Chakra and stamina when fighting in this World.
And a simplified version, removing the Chakra restoration effect and only retaining the stamina restoration and hunger-suppressing effects, could even be operated as two new products.
If done well, it might help him open up the market during his trip to New York.
How to specifically operate and promote it would be up to the company's professionals to handle; he was not good at such things.
"Xiao Liu, have Dr. Smith come to the office."
After wiping the soldier pills with a tissue and putting it away, Li Chuan pressed the phone on his desk and instructed Xiao Liu outside the office.
Xiao Liu is one of the subordinates Li Chuan has trained over the past few years; his public identity is his male secretary, but in reality, he secretly protects Li Chuan's safety.
Although he is a powerful martial artist, he cannot withstand modern thermal weapons head-on, and when facing professional assassins, especially if there are many of them, he also needs his subordinates' help.
And Dr. Smith is a somewhat famous biologist Li Chuan hired at a high price from Britain.
Currently, the company's best-selling and most profitable health supplement, the Great Strength Pill, is a product that Smith researched, analyzed, and imitated based on the strengthening paste provided by Li Chuan.
The strengthening paste works by being applied all over the body to increase physical strength, with better results when combined with standing meditation and breathing techniques.
Li Chuan's ability to return to the peak physical condition of his previous life within three years was greatly aided by the strengthening paste.
The Great Strength Pill cannot achieve such good results, but with long-term use, it can slightly increase physical strength and make the body stronger.
Of course, compared to the Great Strength Pill's long-term health benefits, it also has an immediate short-term effect after consumption.
It is precisely this effect that made it sell so well, even being exported overseas, earning significant profits for the company.
That is, within half an hour of taking it, even if you are an impotent patient, even if you are over fifty, you can transform into a fierce man in bed and conquer all.
However, only one pill can be taken per day at most, otherwise, the body will not be able to handle it afterward.
"Boss, Dr. Smith called and said he's not feeling well today and has taken three days off."
Xiao Liu replied over the phone.
Li Chuan frowned upon hearing this:
"Send a few people to Dr. Smith's house to check."
Taking three days off at once, this wasn't like something old man Smith would do; that guy wished he could stay in the lab twenty-four hours a day without rest.
As the company grew, it inevitably affected the interests of some people, and although he had dealt with them with swift and decisive action, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Half an hour later, a strong young man respectfully reported to Li Chuan:
"Boss, Third Brother just took people to Dr. Smith's house. The Dr. wasn't there, and there were signs of outsiders entering and leaving the house. We can initially conclude that the Dr. might have been kidnapped."
"Someone dares to touch my people in Sokovia!"
Li Chuan's eyes narrowed, and he instructed the young man in front of him:
"Xiao Liu, inform Uncle Li to use all his connections to investigate. We must find Dr. Smith and find out who was behind this."
In the eyes of ordinary people outside, Li Chuan was Sokovia's greatest philanthropist, but in the eyes of some high-ranking officials in Sokovia, everyone knew that he was a true man-eating lion.
Especially those who dared to set their sights on the Great Strength Pill product, their bones can no longer be found.
"Yes, Boss!"
Xiao Liu nodded, then respectfully exited.
Putting the soldier pills away in his pocket, Li Chuan stroked his chin and muttered to himself:
"It couldn't be you guys, could it?"
"Ding-dong, a new side quest has appeared nearby, please check!"
Just as Li Chuan was pondering, a panel notification sound suddenly appeared in his ear. He quickly opened the panel to check the newly appeared side quests.
"Quest: Rescue Dr. Smith, who was kidnapped by HYDRA.
Reward: Five Exploding Tags.
Quest: Kill Baron Strucker at the HYDRA Base.
Reward: C-rank Ninjutsu – Fire Release: Great Fireball.
Quest: Eradicate the Sokovia HYDRA Base.
Reward: B-rank Ninjutsu – Shadow Clone Technique."
"It really was those HYDRA guys!"
Looking at the newly appeared side quests, Li Chuan's expression turned cold.
He had always known that there was a hidden HYDRA Base in the mountains outside Sokovia, and he also knew that there were many HYDRA Agents among the high-ranking officials of the Sokovia government.
It was just that before, they kept to themselves, and he didn't want to provoke them, so he always pretended not to know.
Now it seems that the long-term effects of the Great Strength Pill have gradually become apparent, attracting their interest, which led to the kidnapping of the company's chief scientist, Dr. Smith.
The organization HYDRA has always been dedicated to researching super soldiers and espers.