When Venom Robin learned that in order to deal with the noise, Batman had actually used up the Pym Particles—a trump card originally reserved for dealing with the Hulk—he wanted nothing more than to swing the massive axe on his back and give Batman a good whack.
"Let's just carry away Wakanda's Vibranium mine," Venom Robin suggested.
"I considered that before," Batman said. "But now that the Pym Particles have been used up, that idea is obviously impossible to execute."
"...I was just speaking off the cuff, and you actually considered it?" Venom Robin stared at Batman as if looking at a monster.
"That was a contingency plan for the worst-case scenario," Batman replied without offering further explanation.
"Things are already pretty bad right now," Venom Robin muttered.
Batman studied Robin. He felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if a similar situation had happened before.
"The last few times I left you on Nanxiongdi Island, were you always hanging around with Professor Lizard?"
"And the Hulk," Venom Robin replied, scratching his head, confused by Batman's sudden question.
Batman let out a slow breath. He knew exactly where this sense of familiarity came from.
It was highly likely Professor Lizard's influence. That guy had done something similar: after the most crucial Omni-Wave Projector from the dinosaur invasion incident fell into Batman's hands, he was still contemplating whether to scam Reed Richards out of a sum of money to build a private zoo just to house the Devil Dinosaur.
That petty, refuse-to-lose mindset was an exact replica of Venom Robin's current way of thinking.
For once, an amused thought surfaced in Batman's mind. He reached out, patted the back of Robin's head, and led him out of the underground space, returning to the surface of the Wakandan capital.
Just two minutes after Batman and Robin returned to the roof of a tall building far from the plaza, a wave of deafening cheers erupted from the central square like a roaring tsunami:
"T'Challa! T'Challa! T'Challa!"
Venom Robin, who had been cradling his axe and examining the inscriptions Batman had mentioned earlier, immediately craned his neck to look over upon hearing the shouting.
In the center of the plaza, M'Baku the Man-Ape, draped in white gorilla fur, crashed heavily to the ground. Beside him stood T'Challa, the Black Panther, raising both arms high to the surrounding Wakandans.
Clearly, the battle for the Wakandan throne had concluded. T'Challa had successfully defeated M'Baku, becoming the reigning King of Wakanda.
As the shouting grew louder, their chants shifted from T'Challa's name to "Wakanda Forever!"
"Wakanda Forever!"
"Wakanda Forever!"
The waves of sound rose higher and higher. Fighter jets streaked across the sky, leaving behind trails of colored ribbons, followed by fireworks and airships ascending into the air. Then, the massive screens mounted on the buildings of the Wakandan capital switched to the broadcast of T'Challa holding his hands high.
The central plaza, where T'Challa had just bested M'Baku, had now become the stage for the new king's coronation.
Yet, despite being at the literal epicenter of the Wakandan people, T'Challa did not immerse himself in the joy of ascending the throne. Instead, he quickly retrieved the clothes he had stripped off for the ritual combat and pulled out an encrypted communicator from them.
"Batman, Robin, where are you?"
"Seven o'clock direction, five kilometers away," Batman replied.
In the next second, T'Challa's gaze locked onto Batman's direction, his voice transmitting simultaneously to Batman's device:
"I'll be right there."
With that, T'Challa ducked low, weaving through the crowd of singing and dancing Wakandans before leaping onto the rooftops, bounding across the high buildings toward Batman's location.
"Batman, Robin." The moment T'Challa reached them, he crossed his fists over his chest in a deep bow. "With my utmost sincerity, I invite you to witness my coronation ceremony."
"Don't call me unless it's a fight," Robin said, shaking his head vehemently. The moment he heard the word "ceremony," he thought of etiquette, and etiquette reminded him of the time Batman had sternly reprimanded him for picking his teeth.
"I am not rejecting your kindness, but we will not attend in person. We will witness you becoming the King of Wakanda from right here," Batman likewise declined T'Challa's invitation.
T'Challa didn't force Batman to attend. Instead, he shifted the topic.
"I just received intelligence. I already know what happened at the Vibranium mine, but why did your mech grow so massive?"
Batman remained silent, but Venom Robin spoke up first:
"He used up a Pym Particle—something worth tens of billions on the black market, if not more."
T'Challa froze.
Although Wakanda was physically isolated from the outside world, both its intelligence network and its societal development kept perfect pace with the modern era—in fact, its technology was leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the world.
Figures and concepts unknown to ordinary people—like Ant-Man, Pym Particles, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Hulk—were no secrets in Wakanda, at least not to the royal family.
T'Challa knew better than anyone just how valuable Pym Particles were. If used correctly, they were no different from a strategic weapon—essentially a nuclear bomb.
—During World War II, Wakanda had even attempted to contact Hank Pym, the Ant-Man, as an anonymous buyer to purchase a vial of Pym Particles. Naturally, the result was that no matter how much Wakanda offered, Pym adamantly refused to sell.
Now, learning that Batman had thrown away such a priceless asset without a second thought just to deal with the noise monster for a friend he had only met twice including this trip, hit T'Challa hard.
T'Challa clenched his fists. He knew that if he were in Batman's shoes, he probably would never have been able to act with such casual indifference.
"It's just a tool," Batman said, acting as if the loss of a Pym Particle meant absolutely nothing to him. "A tool's value depends on how it is used. Even if I had to do it all over again to trade it for Wakanda's peace, I would still make the same choice."
T'Challa pursed his lips. He didn't say a single word about compensating Batman for his loss. Instead, he simply stated:
"No matter what happens in the future, Wakanda will forever owe you an unpayable debt of gratitude. If there comes a day when you are in peril, no matter where you are, and no matter who your enemy is, Wakanda will come."
As he spoke, T'Challa pulled out a string of Kimoyo beads. This time, it wasn't a limited version, but a fully functional set.
"Take it. From now on, we are no longer friends."
Hearing this, Venom Robin immediately reached for the double-bladed greataxe on his back.
T'Challa's expression was dead serious as he placed the Kimoyo beads into Batman's hand.
"...We are brothers. Friends keep score, but brothers can never truly repay each other."
Batman accepted the Kimoyo beads and firmly grasped T'Challa's hand in a tight squeeze.
"Until next time."
"Until next time."
Venom Robin rolled his eyes from the side. He felt like he and the old Bat had gone through all that trouble just to help an ungrateful bastard.
Even an hour later, as Batman and Venom Robin leisurely made their way back into the jungles bordering Wakanda, Venom Robin was still seething with resentment:
"If you ask me, we shouldn't have come at all! Calling you 'brother' left and right—he's treating you like an idiot, old Bat! Are you listening to me?"
Batman patted the back of Robin's head.
"We came to help, not to do business."
True to form, Venom Robin was exactly like Professor Lizard, refusing to take even the slightest loss. He continued to grumble until the two of them arrived in front of the Batwing.
"Someone's been here!" Batman and Venom Robin exchanged a look the moment they spotted the footprints around the Batwing, the same thought flashing across both their minds.
Swoosh!
Both of them dashed toward the Batwing simultaneously, conducting a swift inspection.
The Batwing hadn't sustained any damage, but there were a few extra items inside the cockpit:
A massive chunk of Vibranium—nearly the size of the Rogue Mech before it had been enlarged—along with several sheets of parchment.
Venom Robin lunged forward to grab the parchment, reading it aloud word for word:
"Royal Wakandan Mining Concession... The holder, during their lifetime, is permitted to mine Vibranium equal to their own body weight within the borders of Wakanda, once per year."
"My father once told me that the worth of some people cannot be measured in Vibranium. I always thought he was speaking in platitudes until I met you, Batman. This Vibranium is gifted to you in the name of Wakanda, not as a personal compensation."
"Additionally, I apologize for tampering with the Batwing's systems earlier when I was modifying the sonic weapons. I believe you must have noticed this long ago. It was merely to make it easier for me to deposit the Vibranium inside afterward."
"May our friendship endure forever."
Venom Robin tossed the parchment back to Batman, then walked over to the Vibranium and hefted it slightly, quickly estimating its weight.
"Five hundred kilograms of refined Vibranium... T'Challa is for real?"
Venom Robin had only talked a big game about carrying away the entire Vibranium mine, but he could never actually bring himself to do such a thing. Five hundred kilograms of Vibranium far exceeded what Robin had previously hoped to get.
Batman didn't say a word. He simply reached out to touch the Vibranium, then pulled Venom Robin back into the cockpit.
A few seconds later, the Batwing soared into the sky, shrinking into a black speck as it sped toward New York.
"Old Bat, I'm a bit confused... did we just gain an entire nation as an ally?" Venom Robin felt a twinge of regret for cursing out T'Challa during their entire walk back.
"Hmph," Batman grunted in response.
Meanwhile, back in the Golden City of Wakanda, the coronation ceremony officially commenced.
Standing before the throne, T'Challa looked out over the citizens gathered across most of the capital, as well as the hundreds of thousands of Wakandans watching through the cameras. His voice was deep and powerful:
"People of Wakanda, as you know, we have just endured a war."
"But we won. Not because of Vibranium, not because of the legend of the Black Panther, but because someone stood by our side."
The Wakandans exchanged bewildered glances, unable to understand what their king meant. Only a few seemed to grasp the meaning, whispering explanations to those around them.
"His name is Batman," T'Challa's voice resonated across the plaza. "While his name signifies fear in other places, in Wakanda, his name will mean something else entirely."
Some Wakandans showed signs of impatience, but T'Challa maintained a solemn expression as he held up a Kimoyo bead:
"This was a token I gave him before he came to Wakanda. At the time, I thought it was merely a favor I owed him, a small marker to help him find me if he ever needed to."
"But in the end, this Kimoyo bead became the tool I used to cry out for help when I was at the end of my rope."
"Wizards, monsters, an axe-wielding warrior of immense strength... he and his allies helped me clear away almost every obstacle, even expending a Pym Particle—something that would drive any other nation mad with desire."
"More precious than Vibranium?" someone shouted loudly.
"Tens of thousands of times more expensive than Vibranium," T'Challa bellowed back.
The questioner fell silent.
"Therefore, today, witnessed by the ancestral kings of Wakanda, before the elders of the five tribes, and in front of my people," T'Challa proclaimed loudly, "I, T'Challa, King of Wakanda, the Black Panther, declare!"
T'Challa paused briefly, contemplating how to refer to Batman and his Robin, before roaring out once more:
"Wakanda's Vibranium shall never be used against the Bat-Family! Wakanda's warriors shall never refuse the Bat-Family's call for aid! The gates of Wakanda shall forever remain open to the Bat-Family!"
"From this day forth, the Bat-Family and the Royal Family of Wakanda are bound in a brotherly alliance!"
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze