As for the shrinking pill, Luca ultimately left it in Shirley's laboratory.
Although the current scan results only showed it to be a sugar bean, Shirley also said that its composition was extremely complex.
Luca suggested that Shirley could try to research this item when she had free time; perhaps she could really find a way to replicate the shrinking pill or even create an Enlarging Pill?
As for Shirley's reply…
"Do I look like I have a lot of free time right now?!"
In short, Luca had only acquired these two Golden Finger items recently.
It couldn't be said they were completely useless, but at least they were of no use at all.
Luca could only comfort himself.
'The Dragon Ball World is amazing, Gray Wolf's technology is incredible. This is just a warm-up; once I collect 5/5, I'll take off directly!'
Having discussed the item acquisitions during this period, let's return our attention to Luca.
At this moment, Luca was enjoying breakfast in the Villa's dining room.
Unusually, neither Luca nor Shirley had stayed up all night in the laboratory today. While eating, they also discussed the recovery progress of Luca's mother, Gina.
"According to my estimation, Ms. Gina should be able to regain initial consciousness in three or four days."
"However, due to her severe symptoms previously, the special targeted medicine only actively decomposes the cocoons of protein, but it cannot precisely control which part of the nerves' cocoons of protein are prioritized for treatment."
"Therefore, after regaining consciousness, Ms. Gina should temporarily be unable to move, and may even experience symptoms such as sluggish consciousness and temporary amnesia."
"However, with continuous medication, these symptoms will gradually alleviate over time."
Luca merely nodded slightly upon hearing this. In reality, White would report these situations to him every few days.
Two days ago, White had already told him that Gina's body seemed to have regained some perception of the outside World, so Shirley's judgment that she would awaken within three or four days did not surprise Luca too much.
Curing Gina was a significant obsession for Luca. Its imminent success was good news for him.
What he was more curious about now was his mother's reaction once she woke up and learned about the current state of Orange Industries.
Putting that topic aside, Luca asked another question.
"How has the sugar bean research been recently?"
Well, in fact, Luca had been bringing up this question with Shirley from time to time over the past two days.
However, he usually only received a pair of eye-rolls from Shirley, yet Luca always seemed to enjoy it.
It was unclear whether he genuinely wanted to see the shrinking pill successfully replicated, or if he simply wanted to see her eye-rolls.
However, what Luca didn't expect was that today, after Shirley heard Luca ask about this, she hesitated, seemingly unsure how to begin.
Seeing this, Luca himself was somewhat stunned.
"No way? You really deduced the formula for the shrinking pill???"
Seeing Luca's extremely astonished expression, Shirley, who had originally been hesitant, rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"So you kept urging me to research that sugar bean every day, but you yourself didn't believe I could actually achieve any results?!"
That being said, after a brief complaint, Shirley still explained why she had hesitated earlier.
"I did indeed discover something, but there's no theoretical basis for it yet. Hmm, I think this discovery might be applicable to the development of PTX4869."
Upon hearing this, Luca immediately became energized and asked with anticipation.
"Never mind the theoretical basis for now, what is the discovery?"
Shirley pondered her words for a moment and then explained.
"After repeated scanning and observation these past few days, I found that although the main components of the pill you gave me are indeed things like saccharin, sweeteners, and vanilla extract."
"However, the arrangement and composition of these internal components are very peculiar; it's not like ordinary sugar production where all components are simply mixed together, but rather it's more like—"
At this point, Shirley's tone became somewhat hesitant, as if she didn't know how to describe this combination. After hesitating for a long time, she gave a self-deprecating answer.
"It's more like, through the arrangement of these components, they form some kind of magic circle—"
"Huh??"
Luca, full of anticipation, didn't expect Shirley to give such an answer in the end.
"A magic circle?? So you're trying to tell me that the shrinking pill isn't a scientific product, but a magic potion?"
Hearing Luca's skepticism, Shirley's pretty face flushed slightly. She also seemed to feel that as a researcher, she shouldn't give such an answer.
However, after a brief thought, she still forced herself to explain her statement.
"A magic circle is just a description. Different chemical bond combinations, to someone who doesn't understand them, can also be seen as a type of magic circle."
"Perhaps this is just a pharmaceutical technique whose principles we don't quite understand yet."
Luca nodded understandingly upon hearing this.
He wasn't very knowledgeable about biopharmaceuticals, but in fact, his own research also contained similar things.
For example, 'E-carbon', which is currently highly sought after in the aerospace field, essentially relies on the special arrangement of carbon isotopes to enhance its various physical properties.
"Then, you said this arrangement and combination could help with the development of APTX4869. In what aspect?"
Shirley: "Hmm, currently there are two arrangements whose effects I can confirm. One can stabilize the drug's properties, and the other can shield its properties."
"If similar effects can be achieved through other components, I might be able to remove the toxicity from APTX4869, retaining only the part that restores the body to youth."
"However, this still requires continuous experimentation and attempts. I can only say that we currently have a good research direction."
However, upon hearing Shirley's words, Luca was once again stunned.
'By arranging them in a special shape, it can shield the drug's properties? And you say this isn't magic!'
Of course, complaining aside, Luca had no intention of casually interfering in an unfamiliar field.
He simply encouraged Shirley a few more times, telling her to research on her own and not to be too rash in her eagerness to achieve results.
After all, Luca himself was still just a teenager and had no great need for any kind of anti-aging drug.
Even if Shirley truly created this item, like the shrinking pill, if it could only 'shrink' but not 'enlarge,' it wouldn't be of much help to Luca himself in the short term.
He couldn't just, for the sake of pranking Tony, force-feed him APTX4869 and turn him into a child, could he?
'Hmm, it doesn't seem impossible~'
Just as Luca was maliciously imagining what Tony would look like after shrinking.
On the TV news, which Luca and Shirley had been ignoring, the screen suddenly flickered with chaotic static.
Then the screen jolted.
In the center of a row of colorful stripes, a pattern composed of two swords and ten rings suddenly appeared on the TV.