"Robin, describe to me the ritual Khonshu passed on to you."
Above a wildly overgrown African forest, the Batwing zipped past soundlessly. Inside the cockpit, Batman spoke to Venom-Robin.
"Use the methods I taught you."
Hearing this, Venom-Robin couldn't help but scratch his head. "I might as well just draw it out for you."
"Is this so-called ritual some kind of magic circle?" Batman grew instantly alert. "Don't draw it. We aren't prepared to handle that yet. Besides, we are about to arrive in Wakanda—we can't afford any complications."
Seeing he couldn't dodge the question, Venom-Robin had no choice but to scratch his head and haltingly describe it.
"It's less of a magic circle and actually more like a circular maze. The lines that form it don't correspond to any religious or mythological elements I know, but some parts in the middle faintly form a symbol..."
"What kind of symbol?" Batman asked.
"A short-handled hammer."
"We have arrived in Wakanda," T'Challa suddenly spoke up, standing up and pointing toward a patch of forest to the left of the Batwing. "Over there."
Batman pulled the control stick, and the Batwing immediately carved a curve through the air, flying without hesitation in the direction T'Challa indicated.
Venom-Robin craned his neck to look. There was nothing but forest ahead, and the same went for the direction T'Challa was pointing.
But soon, though the Batwing clearly hadn't hit anything, the hull shuddered violently, and Venom-Robin saw the scenery outside change abruptly.
One second it was a forest, and the next, it had transformed into a vast, rolling range of extremely rugged mountains.
Far across the mountains, skyscrapers hundreds of meters tall rose from the ground, forming a massive, sci-fi-infused metropolis.
In the dark of the night, the entire city was brightly lit, and aircraft could faintly be seen weaving between the high-rises.
On one side of the city lay a vast, boundless expanse of farmland. It should have been a lush green, but with his sharp eyes, Venom-Robin clearly spotted crater after crater scattered throughout, throwing the sea of green into a chaotic mess.
Those were distinctly craters left by artillery shells.
"Activate cloaking mode," Batman said.
Under Batman's command, the Batwing rapidly shifted colors, quickly blending into the background of the sky.
"Cloaking alone won't work. Wakanda has a sophisticated radar system and an identification system built on Vibranium. Conventional cloaking will definitely be detected," T'Challa said.
Batman turned his head to look at T'Challa, only to see the former Prince of Wakanda point to the Batwing's control console. "Do you mind if I make some modifications to it?"
Batman shook his head.
Receiving approval, T'Challa immediately tore open the Batwing's console with his claws, exposing countless complex wires beneath.
Venom-Robin quickly turned his head away; to him, this kind of stuff was still far too complicated.
"You mentioned that your Batwing comes with sonic weaponry. I need you to activate it, Batman," T'Challa said as he worked.
Batman complied, giving no thought to how drastically the Batwing's cloaking capability would drop once the sonic weaponry was turned on.
T'Challa's hands moved with incredible speed, reconnecting wire after wire and adjusting a long string of complex parameters. After a dozen or so seconds, he spoke.
"I've modified the sonic frequency, tuning it to match Wakanda's identification system exactly. It can't be directly detected by radar now."
"I doubt that's all you modified," Batman said.
"Correct. I've re-routed the sonic weapon's wiring... or rather, sabotaged it," T'Challa did not deny it. "This is to counter Shuri."
"Shuri?" Batman asked, puzzled. This was the first time he had heard the name.
"She is my sister," T'Challa said, offering no further elaboration.
Batman didn't press further, instead shifting the conversation to their current situation. "We need to take them down one by one."
T'Challa chimed in: "Klaue wants the Vibranium, M'Baku wants the throne. Neither of them will succeed... Batman, pull up the Batwing. We need a general overview of the distribution of Klaue's international mercenaries."
"When I escaped Wakanda, I had absolutely no time to gather detailed intelligence."
Batman nodded and pulled the control stick.
Ten minutes later, they were still in the same mountain range, but this time the Batwing was no longer hovering in the air. Instead, it sat quietly in a concealed clearing.
Inside the cockpit, Batman, T'Challa, and Venom-Robin gathered around. Placed in the center was the distribution map of the international mercenaries they had observed from high above.
"Thousands of Wakandans are mining Vibranium using primitive methods," Batman said in a low, grim voice. "I believe mining is only one aspect of it. The reality is that they are using the Wakandans as hostages."
"Klaue knows very well that as long as these miners are in his hands, the Wakandan warriors won't dare to act rashly... That's why M'Baku won't mobilize the Wakandan army to attack them anytime soon."
"The reason M'Baku didn't kill you but instead imprisoned you was to turn you, the future 'Black Panther,' into his puppet, using you to command the Wakandan people."
T'Challa crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze locked onto the locations of the international mercenaries.
"Right now, Klaue controls the mining district while M'Baku controls the Golden City. This matches what we anticipated before setting out," T'Challa said. "They are jointly ruling a fractured Wakanda. I need to slip into the Golden City first and find an opportunity to announce my return. At the very least, that will stop the Wakandans from attacking us."
"Ulysses and M'Baku are bound to clash sooner or later," Venom-Robin sneered.
"They will," Batman said. "No alliance built on betrayal survives the day the spoils are divided. I suggest implementing Plan 12."
T'Challa nodded.
Batman had prepared as many as thirty comprehensive plans for this operation, but regardless of which one they chose, the first step was always the same:
Helping T'Challa become the "Black Panther"—this was the prerequisite for all operations.
But at this moment, T'Challa had a doubt. He pointed at Venom-Robin.
"Are you sure we should bring this kid along? You know we aren't just facing Klaue and M'Baku, but also the weaponry they command."
"The Wakandans might not kill me, but in their ignorance, they absolutely won't show mercy to outsiders."
Venom-Robin chuckled and reached up to touch his own neck.
He clawed with his fingers, found the edge of a human face mask, and ripped it off with a hard tug, peeling away the visage of a blonde, blue-eyed young boy to reveal his true face underneath.
"Allow me to formally introduce my right-hand man: Robin, the 'Eclipse Knight,'" Batman said.
T'Challa silently digested the meaning behind the title 'Eclipse Knight,' then quietly pulled his Vibranium mask over his face.
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