As the chieftain of one of Wakanda's five great tribes, M'Baku possessed the authority to mobilize the War Dogs within certain limits, let alone simply gather intelligence.
After meticulously studying all the information on Chen Mo, M'Baku grew even more convinced that Chen Mo was no ordinary mortal.
He possessed a multitude of extraordinary traits.
According to War Dogs intelligence, even before being injected with the Super Soldier Serum developed by the Allied Strategic Scientific Reserve, Chen Mo's strength and physical prowess far surpassed that of the enhanced Captain America, Steve Rogers.
Furthermore, one piece of intelligence mentioned a rumor circulating in the Brooklyn underworld: when Chen Mo unified the borough's criminal factions, he had allegedly dodged a hail of pistol bullets with his bare hands.
Bullets travel faster than sound. Dodging them requires not only immense physical strength, speed, and explosive power, but most critically, extraordinary dynamic vision and reaction speed.
While strength can be significantly increased through training—even to several times that of a normal human—dynamic vision and reaction speed involve neural capabilities at the brain level and cannot be simply trained to such superhuman levels.
Though seemingly simple, these abilities transcend human limits, resembling the divine powers of mythical beings, much like the Fiery Eyes and Golden Vision of legend.
Chen Mo's performance on the World War II battlefields was even more superhuman. Single-handedly, he stormed heavily fortified Hydra bases guarded by powerful armies.
Amidst a storm of bullets, he annihilated entire armored units and heavy weapon emplacements. Even massive war tanks, towering like multi-story steel fortresses, were powerless against him, posing no threat and being effortlessly destroyed.
Beyond his superhuman capabilities, Chen Mo's origins were also shrouded in mystery. He was said to hail from a vast, secretive Chinese clan, possessing wealth comparable to a nation's treasury. Seventy years ago, he had casually parted with hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire Howard Stark's shares in Stark Industries. Clearly, his wealth far exceeded that sum.
Moreover, his actions showed a complete disregard for this fortune, enough to drive most people mad. After acquiring the Stark Industries shares, he had handed over management and profits directly to Howard. More recently, he had given his entire stake, now worth tens of billions, to his godson, Tony Stark, demonstrating his utter indifference to wealth.
To possess such staggering riches yet remain completely detached from them—this attitude toward wealth, along with the source of such immense funds, seemed to point toward only one plausible explanation.
Even if ordinary people noticed these unusual traits, they would simply consider him remarkable and think little more of it. His unique qualities were self-evident: his immense strength was attributed to practicing powerful martial arts manuals passed down from ancient China since childhood, and his wealth was the product of centuries of family accumulation.
While some doubted this explanation, no better alternative existed, so they accepted this seemingly reasonable narrative.
M'Baku, however, viewed Chen Mo's life through a wildly speculative lens. Aspects that once seemed independently explicable now appeared problematic. Instead, his own improbable hypothesis felt more plausible and acceptable.
The intricate connections and numerous similarities between the Ape God Hanuman worshipped by the Jabari Tribe, the Indian Monkey God Hanuman, and the Chinese Monkey God Sun Wukong essentially confirmed the existence of the same great deity.
From thousands to hundreds of years ago, this being had left his legends across the vast lands of Africa, India, and even China. Based on the timelines of these legends, his final destination was most likely China.
And Chen Mo was a powerful being from China, possessing superhuman strength and numerous miraculous abilities.
If Chen Mo *was* Hanuman, then everything made perfect sense.
For an eternal being who had lived for millennia, possessing divine power and immortality, amassing wealth comparable to a nation's treasury was trivial. So trivial that he had lost all concept of money, where even the most astronomical sums were mere numbers to him.
His strength, his speed, his inhuman dynamic vision and reflexes, his steel-like bones, his seemingly indestructible body—all aligned perfectly with the legends, explaining every one of his extraordinary traits.
Holding this initial conclusion, M'Baku hurried to the royal meeting hall, his heart in turmoil.
He wanted to conduct a final verification with Chen Mo himself, to fully resolve his doubts and obtain a definitive answer.
Besides M'Baku, only Erik Killmonger and Chen Mo were in the meeting hall. Even the Dora Milaje who should have been standing guard were absent.
Just before entering, M'Baku had noticed they had all been posted outside. Once the doors were closed, no one outside could hear what was said within except the three of them.
He looked at Chen Mo with a complex expression, a storm of emotions raging within him. He wanted to ask the burning question, but the words stuck in his throat. If Chen Mo truly was their Ape God Hanuman, wouldn't it be the height of disrespect to directly question him and demand proof of his identity?
Just as M'Baku wrestled with this dilemma, Chen Mo suddenly rose from his seat.
Erik Killmonger and M'Baku both turned their gazes toward him simultaneously.
As they watched, Chen Mo stood still, motionless, but a startling transformation began to occur upon his body.
His already imposing frame slowly grew taller—two meters, two and a half meters—until he reached a height nearly matching Erik Killmonger's, a full head taller than before.
Simultaneously, his body continued to expand. Though originally powerful, his build had been streamlined for speed and explosive power. Now, as his height increased, Chen Mo's muscles swelled rapidly, as if infinite power lay hidden within, ready to unleash a devastating, earth-shattering blow at any moment.