"Would such a monster truly exist?"
T'Challa asked doubtfully. Wakanda might be inferior to SHIELD in intelligence gathering, but it wouldn't be unable to collect anything.
Especially given their long heritage; SHIELD had been founded less than a hundred years ago, while Wakanda was probably the first civilization on Earth. Something even they didn't know about certainly wouldn't be a creature from Earth.
"Since they manufactured it, it must exist. A few years ago, these factories were still Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing divisions. Tony Stark sold them to the other party because he needed to treat his chest injury."
After hearing Steve's words, T'Chaka nodded, then signaled to the captain of the Dora Milaje beside him.
Receiving the order, Wakanda's Dora Milaje began investigating matters concerning Future Biopharmaceutical Company.
They had also paid attention before, because of those special drugs, but since Wakanda could also produce those they hadn't taken it seriously. But now it seemed they had overlooked the importance of the matter.
Steve said solemnly, "Your Majesty, regardless, Wakanda is a part of Earth. If Earth truly falls into crisis one day, I hope Wakanda will lend a helping hand."
The Ten-Tails armor just now had indeed greatly impacted T'Chaka. A behemoth over a thousand meters tall, with advanced modular assembly mech armor. Although no specific data had been gathered, everyone could see that monster's destructive power was certainly not small.
Hum!
The lights in the room suddenly dimmed, as if the power had been abruptly cut. T'Chaka frowned slightly and tilted his head, saying, "Get it fixed immediately."
For Wakanda's technological level to experience a power outage? What a joke. T'Chaka felt he was being humiliated in front of outsiders.
"It doesn't seem to be a problem with the energy supply, Your Majesty. Now even the network has been cut off. We can't contact anyone outside."
Wakanda's Dora Milaje said loudly. Not only the network, but even their energy systems had issues. Backup communications couldn't reach their own people.
Ding ding!
Natasha's microcomputer suddenly received a message. She felt a sense of foreboding, then opened it and saw a strange dialog box pop up.
"Hand the microcomputer in your hand to T'Chaka of Wakanda."
"Your Majesty..."
After Natasha showed the message on her microcomputer to T'Chaka, his expression also gradually became grave.
Had they been under surveillance all along? Otherwise, how would the other party know Natasha was in the same room as him? And Wakanda could detect any signal within its borders.
After T'Chaka took the device, another line of text appeared: 'Do not attempt to gather information on us, otherwise Wakanda will be erased from the map. Cutting off energy for one month serves as a warning.'
After T'Chaka finished reading, the dialog box disappeared, and Natasha's computer returned to normal.
Just then, someone came in to report. It was the person in charge of Wakanda's central energy.
"Your Majesty, our energy supply device suddenly self-destructed. It should have been an overload explosion caused by conflicting supply commands. Even the backup energy supply was destroyed as well. Because a new batch of energy supply pipes needs to be manufactured, it will take at least a month to repair..."
After hearing this subordinate's report, T'Chaka and his son T'Challa both looked grave. However, their faces were naturally dark, so Steve couldn't tell how serious the impact was. They hadn't seen the sentence on the computer.
"Father..."
T'Challa began to ask, but before he could finish, T'Chaka waved him off.
"Gentlemen, Wakanda has encountered a minor accident, so we cannot help you. Please forgive us. We will only communicate and cooperate with official channels. If you need Wakanda, you should find a way through Fury."
After saying this, T'Chaka signaled to the Dora Milaje beside him to escort Steve and his group out of Wakanda.
"Your Majesty..."
Steve wanted to say more, but was immediately stopped by the Dora Milaje holding their spears. Seeing this, Natasha stepped forward and tugged at Steve, and then the group was put on an aircraft.
After Steve was sent away, T'Challa asked T'Chaka, "Father, are we going to do nothing?"
"Wakanda's most relied-upon technological means have been breached by the other side. There's nothing we can do. If the other side wants to deal with us, Wakanda's energy weapons will become completely useless. Then only the Dora Milaje and the Black Panther will be able to fight..."
T'Chaka fell silent. How could human strength compare to that monster? If they agreed to Steve's request, Wakanda would probably be completely destroyed within a year.
"Prepare the succession ceremony, T'Challa. The identity of Wakanda's king must ultimately be inherited by you."
At the very least, Wakanda's heritage could not be lost on his watch, T'Chaka thought to himself. That was precisely why he did not intend to cooperate with Steve. The other side was above it all, probably out of pity not stooping to their level. But Steve and his group did not seem to realize this.
Continuing to oppose them would only lead to death.
While the Ten-Tails armor was being hotly debated online, Thanos' vanguard forces finally arrived on Earth.
Queens, New York City.
A hundreds-of-meters-tall spaceship shaped like a wheel. The moment it landed in Queens, the impact destroyed two streets.
At the same time the spaceship arrived, Future Biopharmaceutical Company also received the news.
"Peter, Wanda, Pietro, and Rumlow, Thanos' vanguard forces have arrived. This high-profile mission is yours. With your strength, you should easily handle them."
Hyuga Mirai was broadcast in the room via a virtual projection by 18. Peter and the others now knew about Thanos's vanguard forces and their intelligence.
On the spaceship that landed in Queens were three of Thanos' subordinates: Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, and Proxima Midnight.
Knowing there were three Infinity Stones on Earth, Thanos had sent three subordinates to scout, while he followed behind with his army.
Among them, Ebony Maw was a sorcerer with powerful telekinetic abilities and linguistic mind influence, which highly overlapped with Wanda's abilities. Therefore, having Wanda deal with him was the best choice.
Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight were also very strong. Being valued by Thanos, their strength was certainly not to be underestimated. However, Peter, Pietro, and Rumlow had all been enhanced by Hyuga Mirai using methods derived from Celestial creations, so dealing with Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight would be no problem.
Their mission was to eliminate Thanos's three vanguard forces and then become thoroughly famous.
"Let's go. If we're any later, someone might beat us to it."
Peter pointed to the Iron Legion appearing on the screen. Tony Stark's rescue robots had arrived first. He himself might be a bit later.
Pietro looked at the distance, then said to the others, "It's not far. I'll run. Don't worry about me."
"I'll swing on webs. What about you, Rumlow?"
Peter didn't ask Wanda. She would ride her staff. As for Rumlow, he could run fast, but not as fast as Pietro and Peter Parker. After thinking, he said, "I'll use a flier."
Then the four immediately headed toward Thanos' spaceship.
And Hyuga Mirai and the others had left Earth not long before.
18 had located Thanos' position. After all the Ten-Tails armor pieces arrived, Hyuga Mirai stored them in the Initial Ball Space and put them on the Gedo Statue.
This Gedo Statue was the one missing the One-Tail and Nine-Tail. After putting on the Ten-Tails armor, Hyuga Mirai gave it some chakra, fully turning it into a complete Ten-Tails.
"This time, be sure to be careful. You both have experienced the Mind Stone's power. The Soul Stone and Reality Stone's abilities are no less than the Mind Stone's. If you are controlled by the Soul Stone, I will immediately put you into the gravity space."
Hyuga Mirai gave pre-battle instructions. He had perfected the gravity space significantly, enough to restrain even Tsunade and Kurenai Yuhi's movements. He had considered teleporting Thanos and his subordinates into the lava space or gravity space to fight.
But he considered that Thanos had the Reality Stone. If his power was strong enough, he could twist the reality of the entire space. And if one of Hyuga Mirai's six spaces collapsed, it would cause a chain reaction. So he didn't intend to move the Stone wielder into his own spaces.
Tsunade waved her hand and said, "Got it. It seems not sparring for a while has made you forget my strength. Just watch." She had never used her strongest technique. She would definitely try it out on Thanos.
"Tsunade has sparred many times, but she always begs for mercy, and each time she's asked to put on new clothes."
Kurenai Yuhi said with a smile. She loved watching Tsunade and Kiyo Hyuga's arrogant, stubborn attitudes; when they turned to begging for mercy, it was truly delightful.
"Kurenai!"
Tsunade shouted in shame and anger, then reached out to pull Kurenai into her embrace. But when she reached out, she found it was an illusion projection. She looked around with the Rinnegan but couldn't find Kurenai's real body.
"Ahem, we'll talk about that after we get back. Anyway, be cautious. I'll handle Thanos. You two assist me."
Hyuga Mirai looked at his Truth-Seeking Ball and nano-material combination gem gauntlet. Though not very sturdy, it was sufficient.
"I understand, Mirai-kun."
Kurenai Yuhi smiled.
"I'll come to save you when the time comes," Tsunade said, crossing her arms. After being teased by Kurenai, she decided never to wear those strange costumes again.
"Then let's go."
As Hyuga Mirai spoke, he slightly clenched the hand wearing the gauntlet. The Space Stone glowed blue. The next moment, a spatial mist appeared behind the three, directly transporting them near Titan.
Very far from Earth. Hyuga Mirai didn't know how many light-years they had crossed. Sensing with the Space Stone, it might not even be one percent of the universe.
Thanos had not yet left Titan. He was waiting for Ebony Maw to send him a message, but 18 had bypassed Ebony Maw's spaceship system and sent Thanos a deceptive message, so he hadn't set out yet.
But given Thanos's nature, he couldn't wait long. He was already preparing his army, dozens of spaceships of various shapes. It seemed he had gathered all his soldiers, ready to go to Earth in one move and seize the Stones.
"Perfect, let me give him a welcome gift."
As Hyuga Mirai spoke, he released the Ten-Tails from the Initial Ball Space. The Ten-Tails armor allowed it to move on the cosmic space as if on solid ground, though it required energy support.
Given Titan's current state, one full-power Tailed Beast Ball from the Ten-Tails could destroy most of Titan, and few of Thanos's subordinates would survive.
Since both sides were now inherently opposed over the Infinity Stones, Hyuga Mirai saw no need to be polite to Thanos.
"Wait a moment. If the Ten-Tails does everything, there'll be nothing left for us."
Tsunade stopped Hyuga Mirai and said to him, "Two minutes. Let the Ten-Tails act after two minutes."
"Make it four minutes. I want to try out the Rinnegan's ocular techniques too."
After Kurenai Yuhi spoke, her attire changed into Six Paths-level Sage robes. Nine black Truth-Seeking Balls appeared behind her back. A Rinnegan with nine tomoe emerged on her forehead, the nine tomoe slowly rotating.
The same was true for Tsunade. Although she could normally use Rinnegan techniques, at full power, it was best to manifest the nine-tomoe Rinnegan.
Titan
Thanos's army was orderly boarding the spaceships. Each ship could carry many, and Thanos's army included many bestial alien soldiers. These soldiers, not even humanoid, all had sharp fangs and claws and were bloodthirsty.
But they all obeyed Thanos's commands because of his strength.
"Roar!"
"Howl!"
Suddenly, all the soldiers on Titan began fighting each other, with no warning whatsoever. In an instant, tens of thousands of howls rumbled like thunder. Those alien soldiers struck lethally, and within minutes, thousands were dead.
"What's that noise?"
Inside the largest spaceship, Thanos, seated on his throne, asked. Behind him, Cull Obsidian leaned slightly and said to Thanos, "Father, perhaps your time of death has come!"
Before he finished speaking, Cull Obsidian swung his giant axe at Thanos's head.
But after destroying the throne, Cull Obsidian's axe was stopped by Thanos's armor, not cutting in at all.
"Strange. With this body's strength, one piece of armor shouldn't be unbreakable... Oh, so he used the Reality Stone."
Cull Obsidian's mouth spoke words completely inconsistent with his style. Seeing this, how could Thanos not know that Cull Obsidian was being controlled by an enemy?
"Mind control..."
As Thanos spoke, he used the Soul Stone, attempting to twist Cull Obsidian's soul. But as he activated the Stone's power, a dull thud came from Cull Obsidian's body, and he dropped dead on the spot.
(End of chapter)