An ambush?
Without the slightest warning?
Soldier One's throat tightened. General Ross wouldn't joke in a situation this serious. But still… his unit was made up of trained professionals. Their reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance abilities were top-tier. Their movements shouldn't have left the faintest trace.
Most importantly, Soldier One couldn't fathom what method the enemy had used to not only detect them but also circle around to their rear in complete silence.
This was far beyond what an "agricultural nation" should be capable of.
Did I… underestimate Wakanda? Is this their so-called primal ferocity?
Drawing a deep breath, Soldier One glanced back at where his men were positioned. They were barely one to two hundred meters away from the Wakandan women. On one hand, he'd wanted to seize captives. On the other, he needed to preserve his force.
After only two breaths of hesitation, Soldier One abandoned the thought of taking prisoners. If every soldier under his command died here, then he would go down as the most disgraceful commander imaginable.
With that decision made, he broke into a sprint, pulling a short blade from the pouch at his waist.
It wasn't out of preference for cold steel. The weapon itself was extraordinary.
Its blade shimmered with a faint light, unmistakably similar to Captain Rogers' shield.
A vibranium weapon.
General Ross had managed to acquire a tiny scrap of vibranium from the black market, a rare prize indeed. Such a precious resource wasn't suited for bullets, and it was nearly impossible to forge into a functional firearm. But shaped into a melee weapon, its properties could be fully unleashed.
—
On the Stannis, General Ross and Maverick stared unblinking at the feed streaming from the pinhole camera mounted on Soldier One. Everything he saw, they saw.
Halfway through his return, the sound of screams erupted in the distance.
As he drew closer, the scene came into horrifying focus.
Round, severed heads arced into the air, hanging six meters high for two full breaths before tumbling down again.
The encampment was in chaos. Fear etched every soldier's face.
They had no idea where these enemies had come from, how they had slipped through their defenses so easily. Though they had been "camping," they were in hostile territory, and their unit had been split into strict operational roles according to standard combat doctrine. Scouting duty was never taken lightly.
And yet—
Not until the enemy burst into their midst, slaughtering without mercy, did anyone even realize they were there.
Gunfire erupted, a cacophony of rattling bursts and deafening cracks blasting toward the sky.
"What… what the hell is going on here?"
Soldier One skidded to a halt. He had made it back before his men were entirely wiped out, but the sight before him was beyond belief.
The attackers were all Black men—Wakandan warriors.
Each one wielded a gleaming spear, its tip glinting with that same unmistakable metallic sheen.
Vibranium.
Every single one of them carried vibranium weapons.
And unlike the crude axe Haruto had seen earlier, these spears were masterfully refined, polished to perfection.
This wasn't some backwards farming nation. This was a people who not only mined vibranium but forged it into tools of war.
At least, to Soldier One's eyes, there was no mistaking it.
But what shocked him most wasn't the spears.
Each Wakandan fighter carried something draped across one arm—a cloak. And when they raised it, the fabric transformed into a luminous barrier, a shimmering shield of energy.
Bullets ricocheted harmlessly away.
Though the Americans outnumbered them, the battle was one-sided. A brutal, crushing slaughter.
Soldier One sucked in a sharp breath. In that instant, he finally understood why entire squads had gone silent, why no one else had reported back.
They had all underestimated Wakanda's level of technology. They had underestimated their strength.
And now they were paying the price.
"Damn it!" Soldier One spat, throwing himself into the fray.
"Everyone, hold steady! Don't panic!"
His roar carried like thunder, filling the ears of the surviving soldiers.
Then he surged forward, closing the gap with a Wakandan warrior. Their eyes met, the Wakandan's expression flickering with surprise.
Soldier One's towering frame, his savage features, and—most of all—the weapon in his grip were unlike anything the warrior had seen.
That glinting short blade—
It was vibranium.
This foreigner… had vibranium in his hands.
But before the warrior could react—before he could even warn his comrades—Soldier One's right arm swept across.
Schhhk!
A head spun away into the air, eyes still wide with shock.
With his cloak-shield active, he had been sure he could block such a strike.
Yet even with his senses sharpened, he hadn't been able to catch Soldier One's movement at all.
It was too fast, beyond the limits of the naked eye.
This was the fusion of super-soldier serum and heart-shaped herb. Soldier One now surpassed even Captain Rogers.
More than raw speed and strength, he carried hard-earned combat experience.
He kicked the headless corpse aside, snatched the fallen vibranium spear and cloak, and slung the latter over his shoulders to bolster his defense.
Now, armed with both spear and blade, he prowled the battlefield, eyes hunting for his next target.
Inwardly, he swore an oath.
These ambushers—every last one of them—would die here.
—
Meanwhile, aboard the Stannis…
Ross and Maverick watched the feed with pale faces.
"D-did you see that?" Maverick stammered, eyes bulging.
The vibranium spears were shocking enough. But the cloaks that turned into energy shields? That was beyond imagination. Straight out of science fiction.
And it wasn't just him. Even Ross, a hardened general, felt his chest tighten with awe and dread.
Wakanda… what kind of nation is this? These people wield vibranium with a level of technology we never dreamed of.
Ross exhaled slowly.
"I think… we've already gotten exactly what we came for."
...
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