Wakanda’s New King

"I’m here!"

T’Challa said no more. Holding up his shield, he thrust his sword at Erik’s shoulder. Erik knocked aside T’Challa’s longsword with his curved blade, then swept his left leg out. T’Challa crashed into the water with a splash!

"Your attacks are too obvious!"

Erik said. He possessed a tenth of Wang Bert’s soul power, and his senses far surpassed those of ordinary people.

T’Challa did not give up. He climbed to his feet and continued fighting. Erik snorted coldly and launched a fierce assault. After only a few exchanges, T’Challa’s shield was knocked into the water.

"Do you know?" Erik shouted. "I’ve spent my whole life preparing for this battle!"

"I don’t know. I only know that I must protect Wakanda!"

T’Challa roared and charged again. Erik blocked several strikes, then discovered that T’Challa was growing stronger. That old man cheated!

Erik cursed irritably and attacked with all his strength, his blade savage beyond compare, driving T’Challa back again and again.

Above them, T’Chaka could not help sighing. Though he had long known T’Challa was no match for Erik, he had not expected the gap to be so great! Fortunately, he had prepared for this. The antidote Zuri had given T’Challa was incomplete. As the battle continued, T’Challa would gradually recover the Black Panther’s power! An ordinary man might not be able to defeat Erik, but the Black Panther certainly could! Erik hates us to the bone. He’ll definitely torture T’Challa, giving him enough time to regain his strength!

T’Chaka thought to himself. At that moment, Erik knocked T’Challa into the water, then held his curved blade across his throat and shouted, "Surrender, or die!"

T’Chaka’s eyes nearly popped out. Where was the promised torture? Why had it suddenly ended? "Damn it."

T’Chaka cursed and fiercely clenched the bead in his hand. This meant the operation had begun! "Blood God, I’m sorry."

Shuri gritted her teeth and pressed a button. The stone behind Wang Bert instantly transformed into a precise machine—the stone had merely been camouflage. Then powerful sound waves enveloped Wang Bert, rendering him unable to move!

This machine had functions somewhat similar to a Sonic Cannon, but it was even more powerful! That was not all. Four spacecraft suddenly appeared in the sky and fired energy cannons at Wang Bert. Boom, boom, boom! Flames and black smoke erupted from where the Blood God stood, and the whole mountain shook! Everyone fled in terror. What was happening?

"It worked!"

T’Chaka was overjoyed. Even the Blood God could not withstand the bombardment of energy cannons. He was merely fast!

"Father!"

T’Challa cried out in disbelief. Erik sneered. "Your family really is shameless!"

T’Challa had no response. Thinking of something, he could not help asking Erik, "Aren’t you worried about your Master?"

"A few energy cannons think they can deal with my Master?"

Erik scoffed. "You should be thinking about how to calm my Master’s anger!"

Before Erik had even finished speaking, Wang Bert appeared beside the sonic device. He casually slapped it, and with a bang, the machine exploded, its parts flying everywhere.

Then Wang Bert turned into a streak of blood-red light and shot toward T’Chaka! "Stop him!"

T’Chaka was both furious and alarmed. As he put on his Black Panther helmet, he shouted loudly. Okoye immediately led the Dora Milaje in raising their spears and firing wildly at the charging Wang Bert!

Unfortunately, Wang Bert effortlessly evaded every energy blast. With a sweep of his hand, all the Dora Milaje cried out as they were sent flying backward.

T’Chaka tried to run, but in a flash of blood-red light, Wang Bert appeared before him and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him high into the air!

T’Chaka immediately slashed at Wang Bert’s arm with both claws. Wang Bert snorted coldly and viciously slammed him into the ground with a heavy bang.

Then Wang Bert planted his foot on T’Chaka’s chest and forcibly tore off his helmet—Princess Shuri had not yet developed the Nano Black Panther Suit!

"King T’Chaka, you have truly enraged me!"

Looking at the still-struggling T’Chaka, Wang Bert said coldly, "Since you want to die, since Wakanda wants to die, then I’ll grant your wish!"

"No!"

T’Challa and Shuri hurriedly cried out, but Wang Bert ignored them. Just then, Erik shouted as well, "Master, please wait!"

Wang Bert turned and asked, "Erik, do you want to kill him yourself?"

"Master, I am Wakanda’s new king. Please leave this matter to me!"

T’Challa dropped to one knee before Erik and shouted, "Erik, as long as you spare my father, I am willing to acknowledge you as king!"

"I am already king. I won this challenge!"

Erik shouted, "Dora Milaje, in my capacity as the new king, I order you to stand down!"

Okoye and the others hesitated. At that moment, an elder roared, "Stand down! Do you also wish to defy tradition like T’Chaka?"

Another elder shouted furiously, "T’Chaka, you are guilty!"

Okoye sighed and led the Dora Milaje away. The elder of the Merchant Tribe said to Erik, "N’Jadaka, deal with this matter."

"Fine!"

Erik nodded and called to Wang Bert, "Master!"

Wang Bert snorted, grabbed T’Chaka, and threw him at Erik’s feet. Erik looked down at T’Chaka and slowly said, "Ever since I was young, I have hated you. To be honest, I really want to kill you right now. But I cannot, because I am king. Wakanda must come first!"

T’Chaka looked at Erik in surprise. He was completely different from the murderous madman described in the reports! "T’Chaka, you murdered your brother, violated tradition, and committed many grave crimes. In the name of the King of Wakanda, I now banish you from Wakanda!"

Erik shouted, "Your name will be completely erased from Wakanda. You will never be allowed to return to Wakanda for all eternity!"

T’Challa and Shuri both let out tremendous sighs of relief. This was the lightest punishment possible! T’Chaka climbed to his feet, looking at Erik with complicated eyes, then lowered his head. "I was wrong. I am willing to accept my punishment!"

"N’Jadaka, you are a merciful king. Wakanda is fortunate to have you!"

The elders were also very satisfied. They bowed and said, "Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty!"

The Wakandans cheered one after another. Powerful and merciful—this perfectly matched the image of a king in their hearts!

"Your Majesty!"

Okoye led the Dora Milaje in kneeling before Erik. The Dora Milaje served only the king!

Erik raised his curved blade high and shouted, "Wakanda forever!"

Though it was plainly an English phrase, for some reason, every Wakandan’s blood began to boil when they heard it. They could not help shouting along with him, "Wakanda forever!"

From that day onward, Wakanda had a new ruler!

At the palace, T’Challa and Shuri came to say farewell. "Your Majesty, thank you for your mercy. We will leave with our father!"

"I have not banished either of you."

Erik said, "T’Challa, Shuri, I hope you will stay. Wakanda needs you!"

More precisely, Wakanda needed Shuri, the super genius. More than half the reason Wang Bert had shown T’Chaka mercy was because of Shuri!

T’Challa hesitated, then shook his head. "I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I need to take care of my father!"

"That won’t be a problem!"

Erik waved his hand. "We will soon hold peace talks with America. When that happens, Wakanda will establish an embassy in New York. I want you to serve as ambassador—on one hand, to gather intelligence on America, and on the other, to help other Black people!"

"Ambassador to New York?"

T’Challa’s eyes lit up. He liked New York very much, because there were battles there every day—Abomination, Lizardmen, aliens. It was incredibly exciting!

T’Challa nodded. "Your Majesty, I am willing to accept this post!"

"What about you, Shuri?"

Erik turned to Shuri. "Wakanda cannot do without you. Without you, when it comes time for technological exchanges, Wakanda will definitely be outclassed by people like Tony Stark and Ivan Vanko!"

"Tony Stark, Ivan Vanko?"

Shuri’s eyes lit up. She immediately said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to stay and continue developing technology. I… Wakanda is the best!"

"You mean you’re the best, right?"

Erik laughed. T’Challa merely gave Shuri a speechless look. Their father had spoiled her for nothing!

"Of course I’m amazing!"

Shuri said proudly. "I’ve recently been researching the Nano Black Panther Suit. Once it’s complete, the Black Panther Suit will no longer have the weakness of requiring a helmet!"

"Keep researching."

Erik nodded. Thinking of something, he said to T’Challa, "By the way, T’Challa, I authorize you to take the Heart-Shaped Herb. New York is far too dangerous for ordinary people!"

T’Challa hesitantly asked, "Would that really be okay?"

"There’s nothing wrong with it. Times have changed, and many things need to change as well!"

Erik said, "Wakanda’s next goal is to become the sixth permanent member of the United Nations. Only then can we better help Black people!"

"A sixth permanent member? Your Majesty, that’s a good idea!"

T’Challa relaxed upon hearing this. It seemed Erik had no intention of starting a war.

"It won’t be easy, but I will work hard to achieve it!"

"We will support you!"

T’Challa nodded respectfully. Thinking of something, he said to Erik, "Your Majesty, I would like to see the Blood God and apologize to him!"

"Master is resting in the back. You can see him whenever you want."

Erik said, "Don’t worry, his anger has subsided. I promised to compensate him with Vibranium. Speaking of which, T’Challa, you actually have more than ten thousand tons of Vibranium? And you’ve kept it sitting unused in warehouses?"

T’Challa smiled bitterly. "That is Wakanda’s tradition!"

"What a waste!"

Erik shook his head and gestured for T’Challa and Shuri to go find the Blood God in the back. A while later, after dealing with T’Challa and Shuri, Wang Bert walked in and said, "Everything went smoothly. Wakanda is ours."

"My personality has changed too much. T’Chaka will be suspicious."

"Let him be suspicious. At worst, we can do a DNA test!"

Wang Bert sneered. He rubbed his chin and asked, "Come to think of it, I’m Marvel’s richest man now, aren’t I?"

"Definitely on Earth. That’s over ten thousand tons of Vibranium!"

Erik said, "But there is still one hurdle we must overcome: Panther God Bast!"

"Since he has not appeared, there should not be a problem!"

Wang Bert thought for a moment, then said, "Still, just in case, you should not take the Heart-Shaped Herb!"

Erik nodded. "Fine. There are plenty of ways to grow stronger anyway!"

The next day, Erik "took" the Heart-Shaped Herb, then was buried. To be safe, Wang Bert personally came to watch.

There shouldn’t be any problem.

Just as Wang Bert thought this, his soul suddenly flew out of his body against his will. Then his surroundings changed, transforming from a room into vast grasslands!

Wang Bert looked utterly bewildered. "Are you kidding me? I didn’t even take the Heart-Shaped Herb!"

"In Wakanda, I can take away anyone’s soul, because Wakanda is my divine domain!"

An elegant black panther appeared before Wang Bert and slowly spoke. It was Wakanda’s god, Panther God Bast!

Wang Bert asked warily, "Are you here to deal with me?"

"If I wanted to deal with you, I would have acted long ago. Why would I wait until now?"

Bast said, "But Blood God, you truly have a lot of nerve. You actually had Cuckoo Takes Over the Nest, turning Erik into your avatar and taking Wakanda’s throne?"

"Everything is for the greater good!"

Wang Bert said, "Panther God, I have been very restrained. Everything was done according to your traditions. As for Erik, I believe a fake Erik is ten thousand times better than the real one. The real one would only doom Wakanda beyond redemption!"

"You have indeed been very restrained. You did not even make things difficult for T’Chaka!"

Bast did not deny it. "If that were not the case, I would not have stood by and done nothing. Hmph! If you had truly dared to start slaughtering people in Wakanda, then even if you belonged to Ancient One, I would not have let you leave Wakanda alive!"

Wang Bert asked curiously, "You know Master Ancient One?"

Bast lazily lay down on the grass and said, "Of course I know her. Back then, she also planned to drive me away, but I refused to leave no matter what. She could only give up!"

Wang Bert was astonished. "You can do that?"

"Of course!"

Bast looked quite pleased with itself, but did not explain exactly how it had refused to leave. It yawned and said, "Enough nonsense. I permit you to be Wakanda’s king, but I have several conditions!"

Wang Bert extended a hand. "Please, go ahead!"

"First, you must return this throne to T’Chaka’s descendants in the future!"

Bast said, "In other words, you cannot pass the throne to your own descendants, or Erik’s descendants!"

"Fine. Erik will not have descendants!"

Wang Bert agreed immediately. What would an avatar need descendants for? Not to mention that there was the issue of being cuckolded!

"Second, use Vibranium sparingly. Do not think that all the Vibranium belongs to you just because you are king."

Bast said, "A few tons can be discussed. Any more than that is out of the question!"

Wang Bert was speechless. From Panther God to commoners, every Wakandan was a miser. He said, "Don’t worry, I won’t use too much. In fact, my original goal was merely to have T’Chaka sell a few hundred kilograms of Vibranium abroad each year!"

This time, Bast was speechless. A few hundred kilograms? Even if it were sold for decades, it would only be a drop in the bucket for Wakanda! He really lost his throne for nothing!

Bast shook its head. "I won’t say much else. You belong to Ancient One, so you know your limits. The final condition is that you must settle the anger of Wakanda’s previous kings!"

Wang Bert was stunned. "The anger of Wakanda’s previous kings?"

"That’s right. You stole the throne from our descendants, so naturally you must get past us!"

As that voice rang out, hundreds of Black Panthers clad in Black Panther Suits appeared before Wang Bert at once. They were Wakanda’s previous kings!