Chapter 16

"Baron."

Dr. List looked at Baron Strucker, whose smile was growing larger on his face, and revealed a hint of confusion.

He didn't understand why, after putting so much effort and years into running the base, it was bombed, yet the Baron was not angry or sad, but instead seemed so happy.

"Dr. List, no need to be sad, you will soon have a bigger laboratory, better equipment, everything will be better than before."

Juan comforted the confused Dr. List by patting him on the shoulder.

Upon hearing this, Dr. List's eyes lit up; it turned out the Baron had secretly prepared a way out long ago.

"Land there, on that mountain top."

Juan looked down to check the terrain and pointed at the top of a small hill slope, ordering the Hydra pilot flying the helicopter.

The Hydra pilot hurriedly nodded and began to maneuver the helicopter towards the top of that distant small hill slope for landing.

After the helicopter stabilized, Juan got off with Dr. List and Dr. Smith, and under their horrified and astonished gazes, swiftly broke the neck of the Hydra pilot.

Following that, he also dispelled the transformation spell to reveal his original appearance.

"Mr. Juan!"

"Who are you? Where is the Baron!"

Seeing Juan, Dr. Smith's face immediately changed from horror to joy, whereas Dr. List's expression turned to fright.

"Dr. Smith, congratulations, you're saved."

Juan comforted Smith and then turned his head to look at the frightened Dr. List:

"Sorry, your Baron was blown to pieces right after you pressed the self-destruct button. Let me introduce myself again, Juan Lee, President of the Lee Corporation, and also your future boss."

"This...this..."

Dr. List looked at Juan, his mouth moved as if he wanted to object, but recalling the pilot whose neck Juan had just twisted, he ultimately swallowed his words.

In this situation of being at someone's mercy, wanting to live meant he had no choice but to agree.

Seeing that Dr. List was sensible, Juan didn't scare him further. Instead, he stepped forward politely and said:

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

Although he wasn't very familiar with the Marvel universe, he knew that scientists in this world were no pushovers. If used properly, they could be an enormous asset.

Captain America's super-soldier serum was created by Dr. Abraham Erskine. Dr. Banner's gamma radiation research turned him into the Hulk. Doctor Octopus nearly made an artificial sun, and there were other things like the Extremis virus too.

Marvel's world is full of advanced, cutting-edge technology, most of which are the handiwork of scientists.

So, if he could establish a team of top-tier scientists, it would benefit for future research and product development, expand the company, and improve certain genetic serums to enhance his own strength. That was why he had kept Dr. List alive all along.

To be honest, if he could develop a serum that would transform him into the Hulk while retaining his consciousness, he would even dare to hunt down Kage-level characters in the Naruto world.

"Young master!"

At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out from ahead.

Next, a group of a dozen young men dressed in camouflage and armed with various guns, led by an elder, appeared in front of Juan.

It was Uncle Li, who had been ordered by Juan to await orders at the foot of the mountain with his men.

"Uncle Li, handle the rest. I'm going home first; Wanda is waiting for me to have dinner."

"Yes, young master!"

Seeing that Uncle Li and his men had arrived as planned, Juan checked the time and, without worrying about what was left to do, drove off.

Cleaning up was something Uncle Li was better at.

...

"Five explosive tags, one Fireball Jutsu scroll, one Shadow Clone Jutsu scroll, a sharp longsword, a valuable jade Buddha, and a box of 999 Cold Remedy..."

As he drove towards his villa, Juan opened his Task Items Space.

The Task Items Space was a storage field on his panel where rewards from completed side quests were stored.

He could take out the rewards anytime or place them back in. It was very convenient.

The downside was that it could only store task-related items and nothing else. Even if he wrapped the long sword in tape, the tape would automatically be left outside.

If it weren't for this limitation, he wouldn't have had to swallow the military ration pills to bring them back.

The top three items in the Task Items Space now were rewards from his recently completed tasks.

"The explosive tags are pretty decent."

Of the three rewarded items, the best was naturally the Fireball Jutsu scroll. This was a secret ninjutsu of the Uchiha clan, difficult to come by for anyone outside the clan.

While the Shadow Clone Jutsu was very useful, it was easier to obtain once he returned to the Naruto world.

Although it was a B-rank ninjutsu created by the Second Hokage, its utility had led to widespread dissemination and modification, spawning techniques like Water Clone, Earth Clone, and Lightning Clone.

The truly rare technique in Konoha was the Second Hokage's advanced A-rank Forbidden Jutsu, the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, capable of creating many clones at once.

However, it consumed a vast amount of chakra, and if used by someone with insufficient chakra, it could dangerously drain their life force.

Lastly, the five explosive tags weren't particularly valuable. With his status in the Naruto world, he could easily buy many.

In the Marvel world, their explosion power only matched that of a hand grenade.

Their only advantage was their paper form, which made them inconspicuous and hard for people and modern detection devices to notice. They could prove useful for stealth attacks on enemies.

Before 6 PM, Juan finally arrived at his villa and noticed another familiar car parked there.

"Is Pietro here?"

Pietro Maximoff, his brother-in-law, is also Wanda's twin brother, born twelve minutes before Wanda. This black car belongs to Pietro.

With a thought, Juan smiled helplessly. He roughly guessed why Pietro would come.

It might be because of the Spanish delicacy, Asturias stew, which proved too challenging for his wife, who isn't great at cooking. So, she asked for help from her brother, who is proficient in cooking.

"It seems we can enjoy a nice dinner tonight."

With Pietro's help, at least the food won't be as salty as it was one morning three months ago, which is a good thing.

And taking the opportunity of Pietro's visit to discuss settling in New York makes it even better.