The manor lay silent. Erik remained unconscious on the bed while Big Head loomed over him in a white lab coat, surrounded by bizarre instruments. With his wild hair and manic expression, Big Head looked every bit the mad scientist—living proof of unethical experimentation on an unwilling Black subject.
Erik's bare torso revealed his right arm covered in scars, each mark reportedly representing a life he'd taken. Hong Fei observed from the sidelines as Big Head fiddled with his equipment. After several minutes of this, Hong Fei finally spoke up.
"Can you actually do this?"
Big Head didn't look up from his work.
"Feel free to take over."
"My apologies, Master. I'll work faster."
Erik's eyelids suddenly fluttered. Hong Fei pointed.
"Look—he's waking up."
"Needs more time."
"But his eyes—"
"That's just a reflex. Be patient."
A tense silence followed until Big Head abruptly stepped back, peeling off his gloves with a satisfied exhale.
"Master, he'll regain consciousness now."
Hong Fei moved closer, studying Erik's prone form.
"What's his condition?"
Big Head's expression turned grave.
"Not good. Cervical spine fracture, missed the critical treatment window. Most likely outcome is complete paralysis from the neck down."
He adjusted his glasses.
"Surgical options exist, but the procedure would be extremely difficult with less than thirty percent success—"
"Who asked about that?"
Hong Fei's voice turned icy.
"Are you actually playing doctor now? Is this a hospital?"
Big Head blinked before catching himself.
"Ah—right. My mistake, Master. The important thing is he won't die."
Hong Fei gave a satisfied nod. Whether Erik ended up paralyzed hardly mattered—the man was no tragic hero whose disability would spark public outrage. Just another villain. Even without his Wakandan rebellion, Erik's international thief status alone made him fair game. Eliminating him would only burnish the Dragon King's reputation.
More importantly, Erik represented a bargaining chip for upcoming negotiations with Wakanda. If they still claimed him as their own, their advanced vibranium medical technology—courtesy of that genius princess—could undoubtedly repair his spine. Though Hong Fei suspected they might regret reviving him afterward.
As they spoke, Erik's eyes fluttered open. His gaze sharpened the moment he recognized his surroundings, locking onto Hong Fei and Big Head with naked fury. For three heartbeats, raw hatred burned in his eyes—then his entire face contorted.
His eyeballs rolled wildly, jaw muscles bulging as ragged breaths tore from his throat. Big Head observed clinically.
"Stop fighting it. You already know, don't you?"
Erik's voice came out strangled.
"What... did you do to me?"
"Saved your life. You'd be dead otherwise. But—"
"But what? Spit it out!"
Big Head's lips curled in a grotesque smile.
"You're paralyzed."
Erik's breathing stopped. His pupils dilated, unfocusing. Hong Fei shot Big Head a look. That was cruel.
The scientist had the decency to look sheepish. But Erik, ever the hardened soldier, quickly mastered himself. When his eyes found Hong Fei again, they held nothing but lethal intent.
"You."
The word dripped venom.
Hong Fei crossed his arms and said nonchalantly: "Don't look at me like that. I only returned one strike. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being too weak."
Erik's face quickly flushed red. The sudden bad news made his heart churn, unable to find peace. Years of hard work were lost in an instant, and all his future plans and schemes vanished into thin air along with his paralysis.
Although he was still staring at Hong Fei, his gaze had already lost its focus.
"Actually, this is a good thing for you," Hong Fei suddenly added. Erik's gaze slowly refocused. Hong Fei: "I plan to send you back to Wakanda. Haven't you always wanted to go back? If you were in your prime, T'Chaka might not necessarily want you. But now that you are paralyzed, I think that old man will probably take you back to Wakanda for the sake of your late father. They might even cure you; you have a rough idea of Wakanda's technological level."
Erik's pupils constricted: "How do you know all this? Who are you?"
Hong Fei did not answer, continuing to speak to himself: "I will send you back to Wakanda, which satisfies your wish. As for you, just obediently cooperate with me the whole time, and don't let them see your intention to go back for revenge. Of course, if Wakanda doesn't want you, then I will have no choice but to reveal your true identity in front of them and kill you."
"You want Vibranium?"
Erik quickly understood.
"Of course. There aren't many people on this planet who don't want Vibranium. Even if you don't use it yourself, you can sell it. By the way, didn't you contact Ulysses Klaue? It's perfect that you two meet."
Hearing this, Big Head walked to the wall behind him and pressed it lightly. The wall opened to both sides, and Ulysses slowly walked in, hunched over with a fawning smile on his face.
Erik recognized him at a glance, and thus felt even more mystified by the identity of Hong Fei and his group. After approaching the bed, Ulysses looked Erik over, and after a while, he couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect you to be N'Jobu's son."
Hearing his father's name, Erik's face darkened: "You are not worthy of saying my father's name."
Ulysses grinned: "Hey, you've got quite a temper, kid, but that's exactly what I called N'Jobu back then."
Erik couldn't help but snort coldly. Ulysses turned back, humbly facing Hong Fei: "Sir, I can lead the way for you, but the exit from back then probably can't be used now. I can only try my best to find the approximate coordinates where they are hidden. However, I think if you bring this kid along, the Wakandans will definitely appear on their own initiative. I guess they must have hidden the truth about N'Jobu's death back then; otherwise, they wouldn't have abandoned a child with royal blood."
Hong Fei nodded: "You are right, but that's not enough. If we go directly to their door with Erik, the most likely action they will take is to attack. They might even preemptively strike and accuse us, and we would become the masterminds behind persecuting the Wakandan royal family. That King would use a legitimate excuse to mobilize the various tribes of Wakanda. Who do you think they would believe then?"
Ulysses was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement. Hong Fei's argument was not without merit.
Because they were outsiders, and outsiders who had taken the initiative to show up wanting to trade Vibranium with Wakanda. In the eyes of the vast majority of Wakandans, Vibranium might be even more important than their wives, children, or even their own lives.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have adopted a method of isolation to protect Vibranium and maintained it for so many years, remaining indifferent even when Black people on the African continent were captured and sold into slavery. Of course, this could barely be explained by the concept of different countries.
Wakanda itself was composed of five tribes; other tribes were, in relation to Wakanda, other countries, so it was natural for Wakanda to ignore the affairs of other countries. However, the history of Black enslavement actually transcended national boundaries. The White men who captured them didn't care which tribe they came from; they only looked at their skin color.
With this premise, Hong Fei found it hard to imagine why Black people from the outside world would one day take pride in a powerful Wakanda, and what face or standing Wakanda would have to represent Black people or Africa.
Back to the main topic, as outsiders bringing a paralyzed person with royal blood to Wakanda, the first reaction of the current King, T'Chaka, would definitely not be to save Erik, but to find a way to continue hiding the truth of the past. A paralyzed Erik could not pose a threat, so the threat could only come from Hong Fei.
And with T'Chaka not knowing whether Hong Fei knew the truth, he would inevitably have to make a choice based on the worst-case scenario. The best way would be to eliminate Hong Fei and his group first; if they could accidentally kill Erik in the process, even better. Even if Erik didn't die, T'Chaka would not let anyone else contact him first.
He would take the initiative to test whether Erik knew about what happened back then, and then decide whether to spare his life, though in all likelihood, he would make Erik disappear without a sound. T'Chaka might be a good man, but he was, even more so, a King who had been on the throne for decades. Hong Fei never underestimated the Master of any major power, just like Xu Wenwu.
If not for family ties, Hong Fei would not have dared to easily bring him into his team. The events of that year were undoubtedly a scandal. If T'Chaka had chosen to make them public back then, there would naturally be nothing to say, but since he chose to cover them up, how could he easily let them be revealed after so many years of burial? One lie requires countless lies to cover it up.
Either don't lie, or kill everyone who knows the truth. Because of this, Hong Fei didn't think much of T'Chaka. Since he only killed N'Jobu by accident back then, and the only witness was Zuri, he should either admit it directly or come up with another explanation. If he didn't want to choose either of those, he could just kill Zuri and frame someone else, or simply kill both Zuri and Erik.
It would be ruthless, but at least it wouldn't leave trouble for future generations. No wonder people always say that those who can accomplish great things must have an extreme side—either extremely benevolent and righteous, or extremely self-centered. Liu Bei could cry at any time and any place, and could throw his child without hesitation for the sake of his subordinates.
Regardless of whether there was any pretense involved, at least he did it, and he basically did it until the day he died. Cao Cao could kill Lu Boshe's entire family upon hearing the sound of knife sharpening; he would rather betray the world than let the world betray him. T'Chaka was the type who wasn't good enough to be considered truly good, and wasn't bad enough to be considered truly evil.
For someone in a position of power, being mediocre is equivalent to failure. Big Head listened for a while, and at this point, took the initiative to ask: "Master, what should we do then?"
"Erik won't work, and Ulysses even less so. He is a wanted criminal in Wakanda; bringing him along will only give the other side more excuses. So we have to keep adding to the stakes."
Big Head thought about it, and his eyes lit up in realization: "You mean, capture some more Wakandans?"
"Correct."
"But Wakandans don't come out often." Hong Fei suddenly smiled, "Why do you think I captured Ulysses and Erik first?"
"To lure the snake out of the hole!"
Big Head understood instantly and couldn't help but praise: "Master is truly far-sighted and exceptionally wise!"