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East Africa.
Within a dense primeval forest, behind what appeared to be a poor and backward agricultural nation, there was actually hidden one of the most technologically advanced nations on Earth.
That's right, this was the origin of Vibranium—Wakanda.
And at this moment, in the King's bedchamber.
King T'Chaka, with white hair and beard, breathing steadily, was in a deep sleep when he suddenly had a miraculous dream.
In the dream, after several decades, he once again entered the 'Ancestral Plane' he had visited when he first became the Black Panther.
It was a vast, endless grassland.
The dim sky, shrouded in night, was filled with brilliant and mesmerizing purple auroras.
T'Chaka, with his hands crossed over his chest like a 'dead man', slowly rose from the soil, his original silk pajamas having inexplicably transformed into pure white ceremonial robes.
But he was not surprised by this, as everything was exactly the same as his first time in the 'Ancestral Plane'.
What puzzled him, however, was why, after several decades, he had been 'summoned' here again?
With the confusion in his heart, he slowly stood up and looked at the tall, strong 'Sacred Tree' before him.
On the tree trunk were several Black Panthers, completely black but with eyes constantly flickering with bright light.
"My Lord Father, did you summon me here?"
One of the Black Panthers gracefully leaped down from the tree trunk.
The moment it landed, the Black Panther instantly transformed into an elderly Pirate man.
Although he appeared to be of similar age to T'Chaka, who was nearing seventy, he was T'Chaka's father, the previous King of Wakanda and the Black Panther!
The old man embraced T'Chaka, patted his shoulder gently, and said, "No, my child, it is the Black Panther Goddess Bast who is summoning you..."
"The Black Panther Goddess?"
T'Chaka's face showed a hint of shock, but before he could ask anything, a Black Panther as large as a small mountain suddenly appeared before him.
Upon seeing this, T'Chaka immediately knelt devoutly, "My Lord Panther God, T'Chaka has answered your summons..."
"T'Chaka, I have abruptly summoned you here because there is an urgent matter I need you to attend to."
Although the Black Panther Goddess Bast did not speak, her voice clearly and directly entered T'Chaka's mind.
"Please command me, My Lord Panther God."
"Very well, I need you to send someone to the Khufu Pyramid in Egypt to investigate what happened in the Hall of Gods."
"The Hall of Gods?"
"That's right, that is where the Egyptian Nine Pillars Gods judge their agents in the lower realm, and it is also the only connection between Celestial Heliopolis and Earth, known as the Golden Bridge of the Path of the Gods... I have a bad feeling that something terrible has happened there!"
The Black Panther Goddess Bast did not intentionally conceal the existence of the Egyptian Pantheon from T'Chaka; although she was the deity worshiped by Wakanda, she was actually a member of the Egyptian Pantheon.
However, because she had previously been stationed in the Hall of All Gods for many years (her status can be imagined as a representative of various countries permanently stationed at the UN General Assembly), and by chance, she gained her own exclusive 'Soul Dimension (Pocket Dimension)' through the faith of Wakanda, she rarely returned to Celestial Heliopolis.
But as a member of the Egyptian Pantheon, Bast's soul maintained a close connection with Celestial Heliopolis, unaffected by time, distance, or dimension.
Yet, not long ago, this innate connection was completely severed?
Bast, who was in the Hall of All Gods, immediately consulted other deities, and the answer she ultimately received was—either the dimensional space where Celestial Heliopolis was located had been destroyed, or there had been a succession of the King of the Gods of the Egyptian Pantheon.
However, not long ago, the new King of the Gods, Osiris, had just arrived at the Hall of All Gods to report the mysterious death of the Scarab God Khepri to the King of the Gods Zeus.
Although this matter did not attract Zeus's attention at all, he merely uttered a few perfunctory words and sent Osiris back.
But combining this with the current situation, it was enough for Bast to conclude that something had happened in Celestial Heliopolis... and it seemed to be an extremely serious major event!
Thus, this scene of suddenly summoning her agent, T'Chaka, to the 'Soul Dimension' came to be.
(Note: The Black Panther Goddess Bast was originally a war goddess with a lion's head in Egypt, but later, due to some similarities with the Lioness Goddess Sekhmet, her divine duties and image gradually transformed from a war god to a guardian of the family, a cat goddess symbolizing family warmth and joy. In the later period of Greek rule, she was further transformed into a deity representing the moon.)
"I understand. When I return, I will send my son T'Challa to investigate thoroughly."
T'Chaka did not hesitate or raise any questions; for him, the Black Panther Goddess Bast's command was an unalterable divine decree!
However, as a father, he did not forget to give his son a little 'warm-up' in front of his deity!
"Very good, my loyal warrior, I will always be with you!"
The Black Panther Goddess Bast nodded in satisfaction, then used her divine power to send T'Chaka's 'soul consciousness' back to the real World.
"Whoosh..."
T'Chaka, who had been in a deep sleep, suddenly sat up abruptly. Such a violent movement startled his queen, Ramonda, beside him. "Your Majesty, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
"No, the Black Panther Goddess entrusted me with a task in a dream."
As he spoke, T'Chaka had already tidied his clothes and, without explaining much to his wife, walked directly towards his study.
A few minutes later, a powerfully built Pirate man entered the study, his eyes still heavy with sleep, and asked, "My Lord Father, is there something you called me for so late?"
"Yes, my child."
T'Chaka said with an extremely serious expression, "I have a difficult task to entrust to you. This concerns whether you can successfully succeed me as the next Black Panther, so I hope you can give it your utmost attention..."
...
...
New York.
On the bustling streets with pedestrians and vehicles flowing endlessly.
A middle-aged man with a scraggly beard, wearing faded sportswear stained with large patches of yellowish-brown dirt, stood blankly at the intersection, observing the passing pedestrians and vehicles, his eyes filled with confusion.
This man had two names.
One was Benjamin, but it was little known!
The other was Soldier Boy. Once upon a time, during World War II, he was a household name as a superhero in America, personally leading the Blood Debt Repayment Squad to achieve great military feats... His reputation even once approached that of Captain America!
Originally, even Soldier Boy himself believed that one day he could surpass Captain America, who was full of benevolence and morality and acted 'hypocritically', and become the symbol of the American spirit!
But during a military operation in Nicaragua, he was betrayed by his own team members, and after being drugged with chemicals, he was inexplicably sold to the Soviets.
So, from 1984 until now, he had been frozen in a 'freezer' by the Soviets for nearly 30 years.
It wasn't until a few days ago that he was accidentally released by Billy Butcher and several of his subordinates from a secret laboratory belonging to General Ross, thus escaping!
Now, he had returned to New York... but he wasn't looking to start a new life!
Or rather, for Soldier Boy at the moment, his primary goal was not to rush into a new life, but to seek revenge!
That's right, Soldier Boy always repays his debts, and most importantly, he wants those who betrayed him to 'Payback'!
But before that, he had to figure out what exactly happened before, why his loyal team would suddenly betray him, and who sold him to the Soviets?
However, fortunately, he had already decided on his first target to visit... his former superior, a vice president who was previously responsible for managing superheroes at Vought Corporation, Legend.
He was confident he could get the whereabouts of the Blood Debt Repayment Squad members and everything he wanted to know from him... provided, of course, that the person wasn't dead!
Thinking of this, the confusion in Soldier Boy's eyes gradually receded, and he then walked towards one side of the street according to the location information in his memory.
"The epic masterpiece 'The Seven: A New Era' is about to be screened in major cinemas..."
Before taking two steps, Soldier Boy saw a promotional advertisement for Homelander and The Seven from a passing propaganda vehicle, feeling a surge of disgust.
"Damn it, it's been so long, and those idiots in Vought Corporation's senior management are still doing such low-level stuff, what a bunch of morons..."
He then continued forward with a disdainful look, but after walking not far, he saw promotional posters for the Avengers in front of shops on both sides of the street.
Looking at Captain America, who was in the C position, Soldier Boy's face suddenly became a little strange.
"Well, well, Steve Rogers, you with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, you've also fallen to this state now... I knew you were a hypocrite all along. Look, aren't you also doing advertisements for money now?"
"And 'Avengers'? Such a low name, even dogs wouldn't use it in the past, far worse than my Payback..."
However, just as he was about to continue forward, as if suddenly sensing something unusual, his right foot, which had just stepped out, suddenly hovered in mid-air.
Then, with a look of astonishment, he rushed to the giant poster, staring wide-eyed at Captain America on it, and exclaimed in a lost voice:
"Wait a minute, what's going on? Isn't he dead? How did he come back to life... And it's been 70 years since he died, why hasn't his face shown any signs of aging? What the hell is going on?!"
The sudden roar startled the pedestrians passing by.
Seeing his frenzied appearance, pedestrians quickened their pace or chose to walk around him.
They were afraid that if they weren't careful, this madman would pull out his 'Equalizer' from his backpack and send them to meet God.
Only a homeless man leaning against a wall, trying to make a living, saw his 'pitiable' state and, after hesitating for a moment, shouted a reminder:
"Hey, buddy, you didn't smoke too much, did you? Captain America was frozen at the bottom of the sea for 70 years until S.H.I.E.L.D. rescued him from the sea last year..."
Don't doubt why even a homeless man begging on the streets of New York knows about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s existence; this is, of course, thanks to The Daily Bugle's powerful promotional capabilities!
Besides S.H.I.E.L.D., organizations like the Monarch Organization and the Pan Pacific Defense Corps... none of them could escape.
"What, he... he was frozen at the bottom of the sea for 70 years?"
Soldier Boy's face couldn't help but show a look of disbelief. "I didn't expect his fate to be even more miserable than mine... Sigh, let's just let bygones be bygones!"
Thinking of his own experience, Soldier Boy, feeling a sense of empathy, instantly let go of all his old grudges against Captain America at that moment.
As for S.H.I.E.L.D., which rescued Captain America from the sea, he didn't care at all, because in his opinion, it was probably just another organization as profit-driven as Vought Corporation.
"The apple and pear trees were blooming, and the mists floated over the river..."
After turning another corner, a melodious E Ross song came from the speakers of a van parked by the roadside.
Upon hearing this music, Soldier Boy's mind uncontrollably recalled a series of bad memories.
After he was sold to the Soviets, they did not immediately freeze him. Instead, they used powerful chemical anesthetics to prevent him from using his superpowers, while subjecting him to various tortures... including chainsaws cutting vital parts like limbs, throat, and genitals, continuous heavy machine gun fire into the mouth, and electric welding to the temples, among many other cruel methods, attempting to find a way to kill him for easier subsequent brainwashing and control.
It was only after discovering that these tortures were all ineffective against Soldier Boy that they reluctantly used powerful anesthetics and continuous ultra-low temperature freezing to seal him.
However, although this process of abuse did not cause any substantial physical harm to Soldier Boy's body, it caused indelible and permanent psychological trauma to his mind.
And this E Ross song was like a switch that opened that nightmare memory, instantly activating Soldier Boy's PTSD.
So...
The next second.