Chapter 4771

Although so, the mutants did not open their mouths wide like lions. Mainly because the other side really had nothing to offer, aside from lifting sanctions and formally establishing diplomatic relations, they only asked for some resources, not even daring to take people, fearing they would be adulterated.

However, being able to make the world hegemon bow down did indeed relieve the mutants and boost morale. After Charles cleared out the internal traitor, the entire Clark Asylum Island became even more united.

Nearly unlimited maritime power brought many benefits. Besides sea trade, more merchant ships were willing to pass through them. Because the waters near Clark Asylum Island were absolutely safe zones, mutants themselves did not become pirates, and naturally would not allow other pirates to come here and cause trouble. Merchant ships had no risk of being robbed, and even due to the mutants' neutral tendency, warships could also come here to resupply.

Clark Asylum Island itself was scenic, and Erik led the mutants in building a series of supporting service facilities, including large amounts of accommodation, bars, and casinos. Indeed, just as they had previously planned, this place became a paradise for sailors.

No one would dare cause trouble on mutant territory, even if someone got drunk, they could easily be suppressed. And as expected, this place became a safe zone for some gray-market transactions.

This gray-market trade naturally did not include drugs or human trafficking, which were not allowed on the island. It mainly involved mercenaries and intermediaries discussing matters, as well as various countries' and stateless commercial spies, artifact dealers, and fugitives from all nations.

This actually had its pros and cons. Although these people seemed unsavory, once on the island they could not escape. Clark Asylum had no obligation to shelter them, but could use them as bargaining chips in negotiations with various countries. For example, earlier two Chinese fugitives had come over, and Charles exchanged them with the Divine Spear Bureau for many good things.

These people were not necessarily forced to come here; most were already being hunted with nowhere to go, and if they did not find a sufficiently remote place, they would surely be caught, so they could only come here to gamble. Those with value would be sold by Clark Asylum, those without value could be left alone, as their bodies would eventually give out and they would leave on their own.

Additionally, the tax-free policy was well implemented, making this place Earth's largest tax-free trading hub. Many companies were willing to come here to trade, and some even flew in specifically to shop. Although they could not reside permanently, making one or two trips a year could still yield considerable profit.

Another major breakthrough was that the extract of Clark Asylum Flower had finally been successfully researched. This substance was no longer in its most basic herbal form, but had become a medicinal ingredient that could be formulated into a drug, called Clark Asylum Glycoside.

Drug testing was completed faster than imagined. When the first batch of products came out, Stark had not yet left Clark Asylum Island. Thus he became the first to enjoy this drug, after all, although he had not relapsed during this period, he had always felt somewhat weak, proving the island still had some effect on him.

Stark looked at the small medicine bottle in Shiler's hand with some doubt, saying: "Why is it an oral liquid?"

"The substance most compatible with this ingredient is alcohol," Shiler said, "various experiments show that alcohol solutions work better. Of course there is also an alcohol-free anti-allergy version, but it's a pediatric powder. Do you want that?"

"No." Stark waved his hand, "I'm not unable to drink alcohol. Come on."

Shiler handed over the brown small bottle to Stark, who took it and looked at it, but since everything on it was in Chinese and were all drug ingredients, he couldn't understand much, opened the cap and prepared to drink.

Shiler's hand holding the straw froze in midair, because Stark had already directly pulled off the rubber cap on top, opened his mouth and poured it in. The liquid in the bottle was not much, and it all went into his mouth in one second.

"Ptoo!!!!!!"

The half-second after it entered his mouth, it was sprayed out.

Stark's expression looked as if he had been punched, or as if he had been kicked in the groin, his facial features moving with remarkable agility, the composition quite splendid, after bouncing around like billiard balls, it completely coalesced together.

"Ugh——!!!!"

Stark really vomited, even his lunch came out. He staggered to the bathroom, first rinsed his mouth then washed his face, not even caring if it was raw water, he gulped down a bellyful of water.

When he came out again, Shiler had just finished cleaning the floor outside. Stark weakly collapsed onto the sofa: "How can this stuff be……how can it be so hard to drink……"

"You're making a fuss over nothing," Shiler said, "it's just traditional Chinese medicine taste."

Stark no longer had the energy to argue with him, his whole person seemed to have suffered a mental shock, causing his mind to go blank, and only after a while did he come to and wave his hand.

Shiler brought over a board of oral liquids, then took another one from inside, intending to give it to Stark. Stark seriously asked him: "Have you drunk it yourself?"

Shiler shook his head: "I'm not affected by the island, why would I drink it?"

"You drink." Stark said concisely.

Shiler let out a cold snort. However, seeing this, he knew Stark wouldn't drink if he didn't. So he took a bottle, first removed the metal cap, then inserted the straw into the rubber soft cap, and took a strong suck.

"Ptoo!!!! Cough cough cough cough!!!!"

Shiler also sprayed the medicine out. Fortunately he didn't vomit, probably because the gray mist suppressed his vomiting reflex, but his mind went blank for a moment, manifested as the entire Gao Ta jumping up and down in place.

"What the hell?" came complaints from inside Gao Ta, "Greedy, what are you doing again, can't you stop challenging the mental limits?!"

They thought Greedy was up to something big again, the mental world had hit something. The superego rushed out, but after looking through the memories, somewhat helplessly said: "He just drank a bottle of medicine."

This also fully shows that this oral liquid has become so hard to drink that it can impact Gao Ta's mental barrier, this thing seems to have dissolved a Superman inside!

Shiler sat opposite Stark, he caught his breath before beginning to judge the taste. When he was young, summers were very hot, and some children would get heatstroke, at which time nurses would distribute a medicine called Huoxiang Zhengqi Water, used to relieve heatstroke or prevent it.

Shiler only learned later that Huoxiang Zhengqi Water had two versions. In some regions it was called Huoxiang Zhengqi Liquid, in others there was no distinction, all called Huoxiang Zhengqi Water. The difference between the two versions was that the old version contained alcohol.

And Huoxiang itself tastes bitter, adding alcohol makes it both bitter and spicy, that taste is simply indescribable. Shiler once curiously tried a bottle, and from then on he kept away from any oral liquid, his fear almost as great as for broccoli.

And this medicine is probably more than twenty times as hard to drink as the old version of Huoxiang Zhengqi Water. Somehow, the alcohol's kick was completely removed, so it couldn't numb the brain, but the spiciness was perfectly retained, just enough to stimulate nerves and make people more alert.

Then came the main act, indescribable bitterness. This has already surpassed the human limit for perceiving bitterness, giving a feeling that drinking one sip clears the sins of a lifetime, even for the greedy.

What's more terrifying is that this taste also contains a hint of sweetness, but it serves no good purpose, more like the industrial alcohol taste of high-concentration vodka. It is precisely this sweetness that triggers the vomiting reflex and activates the brain's protective mechanism.

Shiler sat on the chair feeling utterly hopeless, he could read Chinese. When he saw the character "苷" on it, he should have been wary—Chinese people like to imbue beautiful wishes when naming things. Generally if a medicine is named "fragrant," "sweet," or "delicious," its taste is basically hopeless.

Obviously, this character also embodies the Chinese nation's romantic sentiment, placing great hopes in it. As for why hope is needed, you don't need to worry about it.

"I won't advise you to drink it," Shiler said, "anyway, the island construction is almost done, we're also about to leave, so if you don't drink, just don't drink."

"Advising me won't help," Stark said weakly, "it's not that I don't want to drink, it's that I fundamentally can't swallow it. This stuff triggered my whole-body rejection reaction, the energy flow in the Ark Reactor is a bit disordered."

At this moment, Strange arrived. He had been following the progress on China's side, so upon seeing that row of oral liquids, he knew medicine had been delivered. He took out a bottle and prepared to drink.

"Wait!" Stark called out to him. This might also be the words of a person near death, which are kind. Normally something that is hard to drink can easily be used to prank brothers; but something so hard to drink that the sun and moon lose light will only make one worry whether a good brother will die here.

But Strange was quick-handed, inserted the straw, put it in his mouth and drank. Then, as expected, he also vomited.

After a while, Strange also collapsed onto the sofa. He is also very image-conscious, usually standing with posture, sitting with posture, even when sitting on a soft sofa he tries to remain dignified. This time he looked truly as if he were about to die.

Next came Steve. Steve looked and thought they were just putting on an act again. He also took a bottle of oral liquid, and the three people hurried to stop him.

"Don't drink, really don't drink!" Stark said, "Uncle Rogers, I'm begging you!"

Steve was somewhat surprised, he looked at that small bottle of oral liquid, then said: "Tony, I know your taste buds are more sensitive, and you don't often take medicine, but it really isn't that exaggerated……Ptoo!!!!"

Two minutes later, Steve sat on the sofa utterly bewildered. His hand holding the medicine bottle was no different from holding a grenade; in fact, from his expression it could be seen that he thought this stuff was more powerful than a grenade.

Soon after, Bucky also came over, he also took medicine wanting to drink. This time Stark even stepped forward to stop him, Bucky was startled: just how hard to drink can this stuff be, to make Stark set aside past grudges and face to block him? He wouldn't really want to die here, would he?

Bucky wisely did not drink, Natasha also did not. The two successfully avoided disaster. Then came the main universe Spider-Man to say goodbye, because they were leaving, hearing the new medicine was completed, he wanted to take a bottle to try.

However, this time no one stopped him, because Spider-Man has a very powerful ability called "Spider-Sense." Sure enough, when he picked up the medicine bottle there was no reaction, but just as he was about to pour it into his mouth, Spider-Sense gave a "buzz," and Spider-Man instinctively threw the bottle away.

Instantly the hall erupted in applause. Others had never envied Spider-Man's superpower so much.

"Is this poison?" Spider-Man asked doubtfully.

"No, it's just too hard to drink," Shiler said, "I advise you not to try it."

"No," Spider-Man said, "I have to bring it to my aunt, I must try it."

After saying that, he gathered courage and took a sip—he actually turned out to be the only person among everyone who did not spit out the medicine, and he even swallowed it. Everyone was shocked.

"It's really hard to drink……cough cough cough!" Spider-Man's tone sounded somewhat choked, "but actually, it's also okay, cough cough cough……better than……better than going to the hospital……"

Everyone fell silent. Stark squeezed the bottle, and like the others, he realized that while the flavor might not have been deliberately blended, it was highly likely left unaltered on purpose, preserved intentionally so the medicine could reach those who truly needed it.

"Take it all." Stark shoved the entire board of medicine into his hands, then said, "Wishing you all good health."

"Thank you, and you too."