The Legendary Mechanic in Marvel Universe

Chapter 227 Black Panther’s Senses

TL: Kyous

The middle-aged female supervisor named Tamama was the head of the entire lab. The term “lab” was just Leo’s nickname for it. According to Wakanda’s official name, the massive research institution built in the Vibranium mine was called the Wakanda Institute of Vibranium Research and Tamama was its current director.

Generally, Wakanda could be described as an extremely unusual country.

In the eyes of the world, Wakanda was a country located in East Africa, where poverty and underdevelopment were prevalent. It was ruled by a monarchical dictatorship that went against the direction of civilized development, retaining outdated tribal concepts and aesthetic views that involved lip plates and strange facial paint. And the leaders were even chosen based on their muscles rather than their intellectual abilities!

In theory, a country as culturally backward as Wakanda should have been living in poverty and struggling to feed its people, just like many other African nations. 

But a stroke of luck changed everything when a meteorite containing the rare and powerful metal, Vibranium, fell in Wakanda, altering the fate of its people forever. With the help of Vibranium, the seemingly insurmountable poverty, and underdevelopment of Wakanda were overcome, and the country’s overall technological advancement surpassed the rest of the world by several decades.

One could say that Vibranium was the key to all Wakanda’s success because, without it, the country wouldn’t exist in its current state.

Naturally, the institute located within the Vibranium mines known as Wakanda Institute of Vibranium Research, rose to great importance in Wakanda’s society. The institute’s significance in Wakanda was second only to that of the Elders.

As the current director of the Wakanda Institute of Vibranium Research, Tamama held a high political position in Wakanda.

T’Challa also served as a prominent member of the Wakandan Tribal Council and was a crucial figure in the country’s affairs. However, since Wakanda was a monarchy, the king’s word carried great weight throughout the nation. Thus, T’Challa showed utmost respect for his father, T’Chaka.

The reverence had reached the point of worship, as the Wakandans had always marched forward under the leadership of the Black Panther. The king wasn’t just their ruler, but also their spiritual pillar as the Wakandans worshiped the goddess Bast, who designated the Black Panther as her chosen champion by presenting him with the heart-shaped herb.

Otherwise, why did for thousands of years, no Wakandan had dared to challenge this tradition by consuming the heart-shaped herb and claiming the Black Panther mantle for themselves? 

After all, the concept of the divine right of kings was deeply ingrained in their society!

At that moment, Tamama led her respected king, prince, and two members of Dora Milaje to a security door made of alloy. Lifting her right hand, the Kimoyo Beads bracelet on her wrist glimmered, causing the door to open automatically.

Beyond the door was a long hallway, which Tamama and the group immediately stepped into before the door shut.

But as the door began to shut, Leo, who fell behind them by a few steps, fly through the door.

All of a sudden, T’Chaka, who was two meters ahead of Leo, halted his tracks and turned his head with a look of confusion.

“Your Majesty, is there anything?” Tamama asked.

“Father, what’s wrong?” Prince T’Challa asked.

The two members of Dora Milaje reacted differently. Without saying a word, they immediately took up fighting stances, guarding their king and showing how well-trained they were.

Leo was also startled by T’Chaka’s abrupt action, as T’Chaka stared straight at his position. Fortunately, Leo was quick on his feet as he flew to the ventilation shaft on the ceiling of the hallway and remained motionless, to not be detected by T’Chaka.

Scanning the surrounding area, T’Chaka felt someone had been spying on him momentarily, but the feeling had vanished and there was no one in the hallway. With a frown, he believed that he might have been too sensitive lately, as he had been dealing with a lot of matters on his mind.

He waved his hand to signal the other tensed four to relax, saying, “It’s nothing, let’s continue.”

The others didn’t sense anything strange and naturally trusted him. They immediately followed the king’s footsteps and moved forward.

Meanwhile, in the ceiling’s ventilation shaft, Leo heard them walking away and cautiously poked his head out. He glanced at the backs of the group, who were more than ten meters away, and pondered quietly.

‘Did the Black Panther sense me? Black Panther’s perception is quite acute!’

Although he had shrunk in size, he wasn’t completely invisible, and the risk of being discovered by others still existed. When facing ordinary people, he could act without any worries, but when facing an enhanced human like T’Chaka, the risk of exposure was greatly increased.

Just a moment ago, he almost got caught!

It wasn’t just the Black Panther. When Leo fell on Natasha’s head at S.H.I.E.L.D., she sensed him and slapped him. And Daredevil, Matt, had super-hearing, so his flight wasn’t silent enough to fool Matt. As for whether he could quietly approach Peter, he hadn’t tried yet. But Peter had Spidey-sense, so it was probably impossible.

Even if it was someone like Bucky with weaker perception and mental strength, if Leo blatantly flew in front of him, he could still see him!

It seemed that in Wakanda, Leo must be extra cautious if T’Chaka was present.

At the front of the hallway, T’Chaka and the others had already disappeared around the corner. Pondering for a bit, Leo continued to follow them, except that this time, he stuck close to the ceiling and was extremely careful, not daring to get too close to the group.

Before long, the group arrived at a cylindrical laboratory.

The laboratory was built on the northernmost side of the whole research facility, with half of its range exposed in the Vibranium mine, from where one could witness the fantastic colors of the maglev trains and the Vibranium veins.

Raising her hand, Tamama shook his Kimoyo Beads and the lights inside the lab went from dim to bright, illuminating everything inside.

The instruments and devices in the lab weren’t fewer than the other labs, but what set it apart was the three human mannequins placed in the center. The two mannequins on the left were wearing identical black suits with panther heads. It was the Black Panther suit made by Vibranium, exclusive to the King of Wakanda.

Tamama quickly walked over to the leftmost suit and removed the Black Panther suit before folding it neatly and carrying it over to T’Chaka.

“Your Majesty, the Black Panther suit has been repaired. Please change into it,” she said.

“Thank you for your hard work, Director Tamama.” T’Chaka received the suit with a smile and gestured to the captain of Dora Milaje behind him.

The Dora Milaje captain, Makaba, understood the king’s silent command and stepped forward with a medium-sized suitcase. She opened it to reveal a nearly folded Black Panther suit.

Tamama carefully dressed the rightmost mannequin in the Black Panther suit that had been used for three months. For the next month, her team would be responsible for repairing any minor damages to the suit and restoring it to its original state, so that the king could have a fresh suit to don in three months.