Guessing Chain

After spending several hours fabricating the day’s experimental records, Shuri’s mind finally settled down.

Scientific research was the best way to calm oneself.

But soon, the calm lake of her mind was shattered.

Erik had come again.

Erik usually came only once a day, but this time he had made an exception and come a second time—and at such a sensitive juncture, too. This was certainly not a good sign.

Shuri forced herself to remain calm as she stood before the workbench, pretending to conduct adjustment tests on the magnetic field circuit while stealing glances at Erik’s expression. He was grinning cheerfully, showing no sign of anger.

Shuri secretly relaxed a little. It seemed her plan had not been exposed yet.

"Is there something else? I’m very busy here!" she asked, feigning indifference.

"Oh, it’s nothing." Erik seemed to be in an excellent mood as he chuckled. "I just came to share my experience using the latest product with you."

"The latest product?" Shuri asked doubtfully.

"That’s right!" Erik pressed a spot on the broad necklace around his neck. A swarm of nanoparticles spread outward from it, rapidly enveloping his body and forming a silver-white White Panther Armor.

Both White Panther Armors had been developed under Shuri’s direction, so she could tell the difference at a glance.

This was the latest version of the White Panther Armor!

Shuri’s mind buzzed, going completely blank. She blurted out, "Impossible! How did you get it?"

Erik burst into laughter and said smugly:

"You’re all so naive. Did you really think anyone would continue swearing loyalty to T’Chaka after he was no longer king? This is the tragedy of a monarchy! When T’Chaka was king, people were naturally loyal to him. But once he was driven from the throne, he became a drowning dog! People would scramble to curry favor with the new king!"

Erik did not tell Shuri that after reaching the Tenth Heaven of Magnetic Field Rotation, he could read minds. He wanted to establish a chain of suspicion in Shuri and the others’ minds, making them doubt everyone they could trust! That way, the next time they tried to cause trouble, they would realize that no one could be trusted and no one was available to them.

Shuri’s face turned livid. Her body trembled, and her lips quivered, but she could not utter a word.

"Oh, right. Let me tell you another piece of bad news!"

Erik looked at Shuri with amusement and continued:

"I just went to T’Chaka and tried it out. I discovered that although the Vibranium Magnetic Armor can grant the wearer combat power comparable to the strength of the Fifty Heavens, it suffers a significant weakening when it comes to the supernatural abilities one should possess at the Fifty Heavens. In other words, even if I wear the White Panther Armor, I still can’t perform Cellular Reconstruction on your father and rescue him from the statue of the ‘Vibranium King.’"

"So if you want to relieve your father’s suffering, you’ll have to continue your research. I estimate that once you reach the Seventy-Five Heavens, it should be enough to perform Cellular Reconstruction even with the weakening."

"Ah… go to hell!" This news crushed Shuri. She charged forward like a madwoman and began punching and kicking Erik. In the end, however, she was the only one who suffered.

"I won’t do anything for you anymore!"

"Just kill us!"

Shuri screamed and wailed.

Erik simply stood there, watching without the slightest change in expression. Only after Shuri had finished venting her emotions did he clap his hands. A guard outside opened the door and pushed in a small cart.

The cart looked like an ordinary garbage cart. A black cloth covered its top, and something seemed to be moving beneath it.

Shuri sobbed, not caring what was inside the cart anymore. She had already made up her mind: she would rather die than submit.

Erik reached out and yanked away the black cloth, revealing the chunks of flesh writhing beneath it.

Shuri stared in shock. Only after a moment did she come to her senses. With a scream, she suddenly lunged forward and collapsed beside the cart, reaching out with a trembling hand toward T’Challa, who had been tortured beyond all recognition.

T’Challa had no limbs left. He lay naked inside the cart. To prevent him from killing himself, the guards had pulled out all his teeth. Because they did not want to hear him curse, they had stuffed a steel ring into his mouth. He was fed only liquid food each day, and his waste was cleared once a day by washing him with high-pressure water.

Aside from his eyes, which shed bloody tears as they glared furiously at Erik, T’Challa showed no other sign of life.

"Brother!"

"How did you become like this?!"

Her eyes red, she turned and lunged at Erik again, kicking and clawing at him, even ramming her head into him.

"Beast!"

"Scum!"

"You’ll die a terrible death!"

Erik was afraid that Shuri’s clever little head might hit the Vibranium and affect its use, so he deliberately used magnetic fields to support it, forming a flexible protective film to prevent her from being injured.

After Shuri had clawed and scratched for a while, he snapped his fingers. T’Challa gave a muffled roar from inside the cart, and one of his eyeballs exploded like a crushed persimmon.

Shuri screamed and hurriedly turned to examine her brother’s wound. Once the eyeball had been crushed into pulp, even the finest medical skills could no longer heal it.

She stood beside the cart in panic and helplessness, not knowing what to do.

"Well, Shuri, if you want to treat your brother now, only Cellular Reconstruction can do it," Erik said indifferently.

"Don’t even dream of it! I won’t continue working for you! Never!" Shuri screamed and cursed, tears streaming down her face.

"Don’t rush to make a declaration…" Erik snapped his fingers again, and T’Challa’s other eye exploded on cue.

"Ah…" Shuri collapsed onto the floor and screamed, "Just kill me! I don’t want to live anymore!"

"You’re so young. Why speak so lightly of life and death?" Erik smiled as he pulled her up from the floor, then brushed off the nonexistent dust on her clothes. "Think about your mother, Queen Ramonda. What would happen if she became like your brother?"

Shuri shuddered and screamed:

"Beast!"

"You should go to hell!"

Erik snapped his fingers again. T’Challa spat out a mouthful of blood, followed by half of his shattered tongue.

Shuri finally broke down. She collapsed onto the floor and wailed:

"Stop!"

"I agree!"

"I’ll continue my research!"

"Let them go!"

Erik burst out laughing. "Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d said that sooner?"

"Don’t worry, Shuri. Once the Vibranium Magnetic Armor reaches the Seventy-Five Heavens, it will definitely allow me to perform Cellular Reconstruction. When that time comes, your father and brother will both be saved."

"Nietzsche once said, ‘That which does not kill me makes me stronger.’ After experiencing this ordeal, your father and brother will surely benefit greatly. Perhaps they may even become my aides in the future!"

Shuri ignored his false compassion. Slumped on the floor, she sobbed, "But I can’t continue the research. I don’t understand Magnetic Field Rotation at all. The reason I managed to develop it this far was entirely because I used the structure of the previous Strong Magnetic Armor as a foundation. Reaching the Fifty Heavens is already the limit. I can’t understand anything beyond that."

"Tsk!" Erik frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "That’s simple. I’ll pass the Ultimate Limit Qigong on to you. After you study it carefully, you can continue your research."

He immediately explained all the essential formulas of the Ultimate Limit Qigong to Shuri in detail.

"I’ll come by every day. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me anytime."

After saying that, Erik rose and left, while the guards who had entered again pushed the cart containing T’Challa away.

After they had all left, Shuri, abandoned in the laboratory, lay on the floor and began sobbing bitterly. She was only a young girl, barely of high-school age, yet she had suffered such a terrible tragedy and been burdened with such a heavy responsibility. The fact that she had held on until today before breaking down was already remarkable.

The other researchers in the laboratory had hidden outside from the very beginning, and now no one dared to come in.

After crying bitterly, Shuri wiped away her tears. Carrying pain and hatred in her heart, she began attempting to cultivate the Ultimate Limit Qigong. She had only one thought now: cultivate until she was stronger than that tyrant, then make him taste the agony of wishing he were dead!