บท 136: Tourist
The story rewinds to a few hours earlier.
As expected, Hawkeye reached the same conclusion as Blake. After carefully considering the balance of power, he decisively decided to take Dr. Selvig and the device that activates the Tesseract and head straight for Africa. Loki was right: the best approach was to summon the Chitauri army and then rescue him when their defenses were spread thin.
Thus, Hawkeye headed to Africa with Dr. Selvig.
Eastern Africa's Wakanda became the ideal location. It's impoverished and underdeveloped, lacking major urban centers, which made it convenient for rapid troop mobilization.
Additionally, there were a few small neighboring countries that could easily be conquered to serve as temporary bases, and it wasn't far from the coastline.
The story now returns to three hours ago.
At 2:10 a.m. New York time, or 9:10 a.m. Wakanda time (a time difference based on that between New York and Ethiopia in East Africa; though Wakanda is fictional, it's located in East Africa within the Marvel Universe), Hawkeye drove a pickup truck across the Wakandan savanna.
Dr. Selvig sat beside him, and the Tesseract was stored in a box made from a special material.
During the journey, Dr. Selvig asked Hawkeye why he chose Africa.
Hawkeye replied, "A powerful weapon can destroy a planet instantly, but conquering it requires a long campaign. Africa is poor and underdeveloped but rich in resources. Is there a better choice than taking over here first?"
Dr. Selvig nodded repeatedly in agreement.
In fact, as they entered Wakanda, they were inevitably noticed.
Though Wakanda appeared underdeveloped, it was also an open nation. There weren't many famous tourist spots, but occasionally, tourists or backpackers would come to the savanna to watch the sunrise and sunset.
Moreover, the special box hid the Tesseract from detection.
Thus, they arrived at the depths of the Wakandan savanna unimpeded.
They were now less than two kilometers away from the real Wakanda.
While they assembled the equipment, the royal guards watching in secret mistook them for people setting up a telescope to stargaze.
Then, an hour later, the Tesseract was removed from its box.
Alarms blared in the guard room of the royal palace.
The boundless energy contained within the Tesseract appeared on Wakanda's detectors like a massive energy source comparable to the sun.
The automated security system immediately classified it as a crisis of the highest level.
Devices buried beneath the savanna began operating automatically.
Blue energy surged between vibranium devices underground.
Quickly, an energy shield covering a two-kilometer radius rose into the sky, isolating this area from both the outside world and from the savanna and the royal city.
After a flash of blue light, the energy shield fully formed and began to fade. It became almost transparent unless attacked.
From dozens of meters underground to thousands of meters in the sky, the entire area was enveloped by Wakanda's energy shield.
"What is this? What's happening? Is this some kind of high-density energy shield? Are you sure we're in Africa? Is this an alien relic?" Dr. Selvig looked around at the suddenly risen shield in disbelief.
Hawkeye also looked stunned, but he remained much calmer than Dr. Selvig.
He only paused for a moment before saying, "Whatever this is, we'd better hurry up!"
In the Wakandan palace, the elder King T'Chaka was speaking with his son, the new Black Panther.
"T'Challa, I am so proud that you've become Wakanda's greatest warrior and inherited the title of Black Panther!
"But if you want to be a good king, just bearing the title of Black Panther is far from enough…"
The old king was getting on in years and was preparing to gradually hand over power. Under his guidance, he planned to train his son for a few more years before fully stepping back.
Every morning, the old king would invite the Black Panther to join him for breakfast, using the time to discuss various matters concerning Wakanda.
Today was no exception. After talking about some official business, the old king decided to switch to a more personal conversation between father and son.
Unfortunately, they were interrupted by the captain of the royal guard who walked in hastily.
"Your Majesty, Prince!"
The guard captain, Okoye, gave a slight bow in greeting.
"Okoye, it's rare to see you so unsettled. What's happening outside?"
The old king asked with a smile.
"Two outsiders have entered the Wakandan savanna. We initially thought they were just regular tourists, but they set up some equipment and brought out an extraordinary energy source that our detection devices cannot measure!"
After speaking, Okoye pressed a few beads on her vibranium bracelet, revealing footage from a hidden camera.
It showed Hawkeye and Dr. Selvig installing the Tesseract.
"The system has automatically classified it as a high-level security event and activated the energy shield over the savanna to isolate that area."
"I'm not sure what they're planning, but I believe we should stop them immediately or eliminate them on the spot," Okoye said, expressionless.
Having been king for so many years and faced countless crises, T'Chaka didn't feel particularly tense about Okoye's report. Instead, he saw this incident as an opportunity to test his son.
"T'Challa, what do you think we should do in the face of such an unknown threat?"
"The energy shield has already been exposed, so there's no need to hide it. However, we don't know what their intentions are. Perhaps I could lead a team to capture them, question them, and then decide our next steps."
Black Panther looked to his father with a tone of inquiry.
The old king nodded approvingly.
"Very good, my child. As a king, you should never take someone's life lightly. But remember, a king can't handle everything personally. The safety of all Wakandans rests on your shoulders, so you must learn to delegate tasks to the right people. No matter what situation you face, remember this!"
Seeing Black Panther nod in agreement, the old king turned to Okoye.
"Bring them and their equipment back here so we can question them…"
Before he could finish, they saw on the screen that the Tesseract had started emitting blue energy, followed by a blue beam shooting skyward.
A massive wormhole opened up hundreds of meters above.
Quickly adapting, Okoye switched to another camera, pointing it straight at the wormhole in the sky.
On the other side of the wormhole was the cosmic void — and an army of soldiers on single-pilot spacecraft, eager to invade!
"An alien invasion?"
The old king lost his previous calm. "Okoye, assemble all the warriors from every unit. Deploy them all to find out what's happening."
"T'Challa, get to the scene immediately and wait outside the shield for Okoye to join you. Actually, I'll come with you!"
The old king hurriedly stood up.
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