More than a month had passed since the monastery incident.
Lucas had once again returned to a life of sitting in a chair all day, spacing out. He honestly couldn't understand it—other hunters were busy to the point of exhaustion, yet he was so idle he was practically growing mold.
He had registered on that so-called hunter website ages ago, but not a single commission had come his way. He couldn't help but wonder how Skye had signed him up in the first place—maybe she'd accidentally registered him as site maintenance staff.
Skye, on the other hand, was busier than ever. Her reputation online had grown steadily, to the point where even major corporations were hiring her to maintain their networks. She enjoyed it immensely. After all, being able to turn one's hobby into a job was rare, and she happened to be one of the lucky few.
In that entire month, Skye had only taken on one job—but that single job had earned Lucas over a million dollars. She was basically a walking money printer, a little goddess of wealth.
Life continued day by day. Time, after all, was the ultimate heartbreaker—it never stopped for anyone.
Then one day, Lucas received a call from Tony.
That old guy had cooked up a brand-new suit of armor again, but he'd run into a problem: he was short on raw materials. So he wanted to pick Lucas's brain about Wakanda.
When Lucas arrived at Tony's place, the man was busy tweaking parameters on a massive screen. As a first-rate academic underachiever, Lucas couldn't understand a single thing he was looking at.
"Come up with another crazy idea?" Lucas asked, plopping down on the couch.
Burgers and fries had already been set out on the table—clearly, Tony had been waiting for him to eat together.
After finishing the final adjustments, Tony finally wandered over and took a huge bite out of a burger.
"Ever heard of liquid metal?" Tony said. "I'm thinking of trying to turn vibranium into liquid metal."
That made Lucas pause. This guy was already researching liquid metal—and on top of that, he wanted to liquefy vibranium? Was he kidding?
"Then go research it. Don't tell me you're short on vibranium?"
Tony nodded hard, wearing a you guessed it expression.
"Exactly. I'm running out. And I can't get in touch with Ulysses Klaue anymore. Looks like I'll have to make a trip to Wakanda."
For someone like Tony—both a capitalist and a scientist—if there were materials to be had, he would buy them without hesitation. Money? That was never the problem. Tony Stark might lack many things, but cash wasn't one of them.
As Tony's longtime frenemy, how could Lucas not know what he was thinking? But this time, it really wasn't about money.
Wakanda was the global leader in technological advancement. They could completely cure cancer. That alone put them on a different level. Would a nation like that be short on cash? Not to mention, they sat on a unique vibranium mine—one of a kind in the world. Did they really need his money?
"Isn't Wakanda's location marked right on the map?" Lucas said. "They're even a UN member state. It shouldn't be hard to find."
He genuinely didn't understand. Anyone could find Wakanda on a map, and he refused to believe Tony's intelligence network was worse than his.
"Just tell me if you're helping or not," Tony said. "I am Tony Stark—Iron Man—the true hero in the hearts of the people, the defender of Ameri—"
"Alright, alright, enough!" Lucas cut him off. "Just say what you want."
If Tony kept hyping himself up like that, Lucas was going to feel an overwhelming urge to shoot him.
"I want you to come to Wakanda with me," Tony said, swallowing the last bite of his burger.
"Ohhh~ So you don't dare go alone~" Lucas grinned mischievously.
So even the great Iron Man, Tony Stark, had things he was afraid of.
"No! Absolutely not!" Tony denied it immediately, fast and firm. "I'm Iron Man—why would I be scared? I just think going alone would be… rude. Yes, rude! And traveling alone is lonely anyway. I'm taking you so you can broaden your horizons. Otherwise, you'll rot at home and start growing mushrooms."
Lucas laughed so hard he nearly bent over backward. Now it was Tony who looked like he wanted to shoot him.
"Are you going or not?!" Tony crossed his arms, striking a if you don't go, I'll jump off the building pose.
"I'm in. When do we leave?" Lucas asked.
"I'll call you. I need to prep a bit—within the next few days."
Only then did Tony look satisfied. He sat back down, ordered a few more burger combos, and the two of them dug in.
Three days later, they boarded Tony's private jet and headed for Wakanda.
Along the way, Tony showed Lucas his latest research成果—Portable Armor 2.0.
Although it wasn't the vibranium suit, it was built from an ultra-strong alloy. Aside from energy weapons, it carried no physical armaments at all. Tony had begun deliberately moving away from conventional weapons and focusing on energy-based systems.
This suit also came in the form of a briefcase, but it was far more compact than the old bulky one. It supported remote control as well—under JARVIS's management, it could actively locate Tony's position. Sentry mode was still included.
In short, even if Tony lost the case or didn't have it on him, it could locate him on its own.
The flight from New York to Wakanda took over ten hours.
Since Tony and Pepper had made their relationship official, his private jet was no longer staffed with sexy flight attendants. Instead, it was equipped with the latest gaming consoles, along with every game currently on the market—all courtesy of Tony. There was no chance of boredom.
By the time they arrived at Wakanda's airport, both Lucas and Tony had been asleep the entire time. They were woken up by the flight crew.
Still groggy, the two of them went straight to the hotel they had booked in advance.
Although Wakanda claimed to the outside world that it was a backward agricultural nation, its tourism industry was thriving. Tony had directly booked two of the best suites in the best hotel Wakanda had to offer.
After a good night's sleep and a hearty meal, the two of them began their search for the real Wakanda.
They hired a local guide—a man dressed in traditional Wakandan attire, wrapped in a checkered cloth that looked suspiciously like a bedsheet.
But Lucas knew better.
That was no ordinary cloth—it was vibranium-woven, essentially a portable shield. Super bulletproof.
The guide drove them around in a doorless jeep, taking them to Wakanda's famous tourist spots. The vast grasslands in particular stretched endlessly, home to many rare wild animals.
They spent an entire day touring without finding a single clue—no sign whatsoever of Wakandan technology.
"You sure Wakanda is technologically advanced?" Tony said, exhausted. "It's been a whole day, and all I've seen are tents."
He really was tired. A full day of sightseeing, and that jeep was practically falling apart. The seat was so hard it nearly broke his ass.
"Relax," Lucas said calmly. "I've already got a lead. Our guide isn't as simple as he looks."
He voiced his suspicion.
In truth, there was barely any need for suspicion. Every Wakandan knew what their country really was like. The people on the surface were essentially Wakanda's outer sentries—there to put on a show, and more importantly, to monitor tourists and prevent them from accidentally wandering into the real Wakanda.
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