The massive structure in front of Leon stood four or five stories tall and resembled an enormous astronomical telescope.
At its center was a spherical core split along the middle, with six thick cylindrical barrels clustered together like the rotating chamber of a Gatling gun. Those barrels had been responsible for firing the high-energy laser beam earlier.
Clearly, the entire structure was a giant turret.
And it was made completely out of vibranium.
Leon studied the construction carefully. Based on its size alone, the device likely weighed well over a thousand tons. Considering the material it was built from, the value of this machine could not be measured in money.
He remembered that the famous shield used by Steve Rogers had originally been forged from a rare alloy that combined proto-adamantium with a small amount of vibranium. Even that tiny fragment of vibranium had been considered priceless at the time.
Yet now, standing before Leon, was a turret composed entirely of the metal.
Most people had no idea how much vibranium Wakanda truly possessed.
Leon, however, knew the truth.
Vibranium was one of the strongest materials in the entire Marvel universe. While adamantium ranked higher in terms of raw hardness, vibranium was unmatched in defensive capability due to its unique property of absorbing kinetic energy.
The metal was extraordinarily durable, and its unusual molecular structure made it extremely difficult to destroy. Its molecules remained almost perfectly stable, preventing heat and kinetic energy from traveling through the material.
Because of this, vibranium could absorb tremendous amounts of energy without transferring it elsewhere.
That property made it one of the most valuable substances on Earth.
For generations, countless forces had sought to obtain it.
To protect themselves from those threats, Wakanda had hidden their true power from the outside world centuries ago. Using advanced technology, the entire country concealed its real infrastructure and scientific achievements behind a carefully constructed illusion.
To outsiders, Wakanda appeared to be nothing more than a poor, isolated tribal nation with little influence on the global stage.
The deception was perfect.
Almost no one believed that such a backward-looking country was secretly the most technologically advanced civilization on Earth.
But Leon knew the truth.
Deep beneath Wakanda lay an enormous vibranium deposit formed by an ancient meteorite impact. The Wakandan royal family had been mining it for generations, yet even after centuries of extraction, the deposit had never been fully depleted.
That alone revealed how unbelievably vast their supply truly was.
Ironically, while vibranium was almost unimaginably rare elsewhere in the world, within Wakanda it was practically common.
Leon's mental power expanded outward, instantly enveloping the entire turret.
At that moment, the six cannon barrels retracted into the spherical structure. Mechanical panels folded inward as the machine began transforming.
The sphere shifted and separated, its components rearranging with dazzling speed.
Within seconds, the massive turret reshaped itself into a sleek fighter aircraft that looked as though it belonged in a science-fiction film.
Azure flames erupted from the craft's belly and tail as the engines ignited.
The aircraft lifted smoothly into the air and accelerated away from the battlefield. Within moments it reached supersonic speed, continuing to accelerate rapidly.
"Hm?"
Leon raised an eyebrow before smiling faintly.
He turned to the two women beside him.
"You two head back first," he said calmly. "I need to deal with something. I'll return shortly."
Jean nodded in understanding.
Lorna also refrained from asking questions.
Leon opened a spatial portal with a wave of his hand. The swirling gateway shimmered briefly before the two women stepped through and disappeared.
Once they were gone, Leon's figure flashed forward as he pursued the escaping aircraft.
The fighter's speed was already incredible.
By now it had reached Mach 6.
For Leon, however, that speed was no different than watching an ant crawl across the ground.
In the blink of an eye, his figure appeared directly above the aircraft.
His psychic power immediately scanned the interior.
Inside the craft were more than a dozen people. They had clearly detected his presence somehow, because their expressions quickly turned tense.
They began speaking rapidly in a language Leon didn't understand.
Their voices carried obvious anxiety.
Leon paused for only a fraction of a second.
Then his body vanished.
When he reappeared, he was standing inside the aircraft.
The moment he materialized, everyone inside noticed him.
More than a dozen pairs of eyes stared at him in shock.
Within seconds, several advanced energy weapons were raised and aimed directly at his chest.
A towering Black man at the front of the group shouted sharply.
"Don't move! Stay right where you are!"
Leon turned slightly to observe them.
There were both men and women among the group, all clearly Wakandan soldiers. The man giving orders was enormous—nearly two meters tall with a heavily built physique.
Leon barely reacted.
With a casual wave of his hand, an invisible force wrapped around the man's body.
Instantly, the man froze in place.
His companions watched in horror as the invisible pressure began twisting his body.
First his hands and arms rotated unnaturally, bending inch by inch until the bones cracked and twisted like ropes.
Then the same thing happened to his legs.
Finally, the force crushed inward toward his torso.
The man's eyes bulged wide with agony. His face barely changed, but the trembling of his body and the muffled sounds escaping his throat made it clear how much pain he was experiencing.
Seconds later, the invisible force compressed his entire body.
When it finished, nothing remained except a ball of flesh roughly the size of a basketball.
The man was completely dead.
"Ah!"
One of the soldiers finally screamed in terror.
The horrifying scene had shattered their composure. Only now did they fully remember the terrifying reputation of the man standing before them.
"Snap."
Leon casually snapped his fingers.
The compressed ball of flesh exploded in the center of the group.
The blast of blood and bone fragments was more violent than a grenade. Chunks of flesh shot outward like bullets, instantly tearing through the surrounding soldiers.
Within seconds, every remaining person in the cabin lay dead.
Leon looked at the mangled bodies scattered around the interior.
His expression didn't change at all.
With another flick of his finger, a small red flame appeared and landed on the remains. The fire burned like a living creature, consuming every trace of flesh and blood until nothing remained except fine ash.
Leon then walked calmly toward the cockpit.
Inside, he found a control interface resembling the cockpit of a commercial aircraft. However, he immediately recognized that the visible controls were merely part of a holographic display system.
He removed a small device roughly the size of his thumb from his pocket.
After locating a hidden port, he inserted it into the slot.
"Svija," Leon said calmly. "Hack the aircraft's main control system."
"Understood, sir," Svija responded. "I have connected to the aircraft's central program. Beginning brute-force decryption now."
Three seconds later, Svija spoke again.
"Calculation complete. Estimated time required: twenty-six minutes."
Leon nodded.
"Begin."
"Yes, sir. Please wait."
Outside, the fighter continued racing through the sky at incredible speed.
Leon merely glanced forward.
With a single thought, the aircraft's velocity began dropping sharply.
Even though the engines still emitted bright exhaust flames, the craft itself remained suspended in the air as though frozen in place.
Leon looked around the cockpit with interest.
"This is impressive technology," he said quietly.
"We definitely need to take it back and study it."
.....
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