Inside the core royal laboratory of Wakanda, Lin Rui had taken the opportunity to familiarize himself with Wakanda’s nanotechnology. Combining his impressive memory with his own scientific knowledge, Lin Rui was confident that given access to an advanced laboratory and the required materials, he could replicate the nanomaterials.
Although Lin Rui’s main objective in coming to Wakanda wasn’t nanotechnology, he considered the knowledge he gained in such a short time to be quite valuable.
As for Shuri, she paid no attention to how much her “little brother” had learned within the system. Her entire focus was now on Bucky’s Antman suit, which had the incredible ability to change size. In Shuri’s eyes, the technology within Bucky’s suit was on par with or even exceeded Wakanda’s nanotechnology.
“The origin of these two is highly suspicious! Let’s not forget that Bucky, aside from having strength rivaling T’Challa and his special suit, is not something an ordinary mercenary team possesses. Then there’s Jackson… A mercenary’s son couldn’t possibly have such a high level of knowledge and technological expertise, let alone the ability to hack into Wakanda’s systems.”
After witnessing Bucky’s incredible abilities firsthand, Shuri’s suspicions about their identities only grew stronger. However, up to this point, neither Lin Rui nor Bucky had engaged in any activities that posed a threat to Wakanda.
This left Shuri uncertain about their true intentions. Of course, if Shuri had known that Lin Rui had already absorbed all of Wakanda’s nanotechnology in such a short time, her thoughts might have taken a different direction.
“Isn’t it quite simple? Without Bucky, wouldn’t your mission this time have faced various unexpected complications?” Lin Rui suddenly looked up and said to Shuri.
In addition to the Wakanda communication system connected to T’Challa and his team, Bucky also carried a special communication device provided by Lin Rui. Unknown to Shuri, Lin Rui had been communicating with Bucky covertly.
When Bucky had dealt with the N’Jadaka trio, Lin Rui reminded him to take the ring that N’Jadaka was wearing around his neck.
N’Jadaka’s true identity was that of a member of the Wakandan royal family, being T’Challa’s cousin, the son of T’Challa’s father’s brother. The ring was a symbol of N’Jadaka’s lineage, which was why T’Challa felt a strange sense of familiarity when he saw it. They bore a resemblance to each other.
After Bucky took the ring from N’Jadaka, even if he managed to recover from his severe injuries, he would have no way to prove his identity without it. This meant he couldn’t continue his disruptive activities in Wakanda.
With both Ulysses and N’Jadaka captured, Lin Rui believed they had lost any chance of causing trouble. When T’Challa eventually avenged Ulysses, N’Jadaka would likely be taken into CIA custody, and his fate remained uncertain.
“Hmph! Fine, you’re right! But since you’ve seen so much of our Wakandan technology, when my brother returns, you’ll have to let me study your uncle’s suit!” Shuri didn’t continue to argue but instead proposed another condition.
“Well, it’s not that I can’t agree, but…”
“But what?”
“You have to give me a piece of vibranium, not a large one, about the size of the one Ulysses stole from London.”
“No way!”
Upon hearing Lin Rui’s request for vibranium, Shuri firmly rejected it. Vibranium was the heart and soul of Wakanda, and all of their advanced technology was built on it. Granting Lin Rui access to some information within Wakanda’s systems was one thing, but vibranium was absolutely off-limits.
With the current level of technology in the outside world, they could easily develop many black-market weapons using vibranium. That was not something Wakanda wanted to see.
“Well, if you say no, you say no. No need to be so harsh…”
Being ruthlessly rejected, Lin Rui wasn’t particularly surprised. His request for a piece of vibranium was merely a test to gauge Wakanda’s level of concern for the precious resource. It appeared that obtaining vibranium from Wakanda wouldn’t be as easy as he had hoped. Perhaps it was time to move on to the next step of his plan.
“Hmph! Don’t even think about vibranium! If you think letting me study your uncle’s suit is a raw deal, I’ll show you some of Wakanda’s other advanced technology that you won’t find outside,” Shuri said, unfazed by Lin Rui’s stern words.
“Alright, I’ll show you around. As for vibranium, you can keep it hidden. Anyway, it probably won’t stay hidden for long.”
Lin Rui had come to Wakanda voluntarily and become involved in the Black Panther’s storyline. He had also taken the initiative to help Bucky deal with N’Jadaka, who was causing turmoil within Wakanda.
Lin Rui’s objective wasn’t to ensure a smooth transition of power in Wakanda or to assist T’Challa during this time. He had a much clearer purpose: to reveal the true Wakanda to the outside world, making Earth’s inhabitants aware of this extraordinary, technologically advanced nation.
Now, thanks to Lin Rui and Bucky’s actions, T’Challa, or rather Wakanda, owed them a considerable favor. Regardless of T’Challa’s integrity or his inner turmoil upon learning N’Jadaka’s true identity, it wouldn’t change the fact that N’Jadaka had betrayed Wakanda.
Furthermore, now that N’Jadaka was in CIA custody, with Lin Rui’s background, he had plenty of ways to manipulate this troublemaker.
“What did you say?” Shuri asked, somewhat puzzled by Lin Rui’s words.
Wakanda had remained hidden on Earth for centuries, and as their technology advanced, the chances of them being discovered by outsiders became even slimmer. Unless Wakanda chose to reveal itself, which wasn’t likely to happen at this stage, as most tribal leaders preferred to maintain the status quo.
“Nothing much, where’s the restroom? My stomach isn’t feeling well, probably due to a change in diet,” Lin Rui asked, feeling somewhat embarrassed as he rubbed his stomach.
“It’s over there.”
“Thank you.”
Once Lin Rui briskly entered the restroom, Shuri’s expression quickly turned composed, and she began operating the console.
This time, Shuri personally started investigating Lin Rui’s identity, completely disregarding the information Lin Rui had provided and instead focusing on his appearance and knowledge. Shuri simply couldn’t believe that she couldn’t find any traces of a spider web, so to speak.
…
Support me on Patreon for extra chapters