Do you deserve to be my compatriot?

The transport plane hovering above the abandoned factory remained cloaked. Inside, T'Chaka watched the mercenaries' performance with deep disappointment.

He finally realized he had underestimated the Black Panther. Arrogance had prevented T'Chaka from truly confronting the other, refusing to acknowledge that he possessed strength comparable to his own.

"Father, S.H.I.E.L.D. is approaching," Shuri reminded him.

Abandoning all hope, T'Chaka stood and walked to the cabin door. He was clad in a Vibranium suit painted to resemble a tiger, and he held a tiger-head helmet in his hands.

This was his preparation, intended to deceive himself and the gods.

He wanted to eliminate Will, this heretical Black Panther, yet he also feared being discovered by his own Black Panther god. Thus, he devised this self-deceptive maneuver.

As long as the Black Panther god didn't mention it, he would pretend nothing had happened. From now on, his son would handle all domestic rituals and prayers.

That way, he wouldn't be deceiving the gods!

"Open the door, I'll handle this personally," T'Chaka said, donning the tiger-head helmet.

"Father, be careful," Shuri said, opening the cabin door for him.

To avoid detection by those below, the blue tractor beam was not activated. Fortunately, the plane was not far from the factory's rooftop, so T'Chaka simply jumped.

Utilizing Vibranium's impact-absorbing properties and his years of imitating felines, he flexed his joints the moment he landed, easily dissipating the force of the fall.

Seeing her father land safely, Shuri was about to close the cabin door when a dark shadow suddenly burst in. Though the shadow did nothing, Shuri felt a violent energy surge impact her brain, causing her to foam at the mouth and lose consciousness almost instantly.

Lin Hao, who had been lying in wait, finally seized the opportunity while the parent was away to infiltrate the girl's territory. As soon as he entered, he unleashed his Haoshoku Haki, knocking her out and making her foam at the mouth.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, truly worthy of being officially recognized as a genius not inferior to Tony Stark..."

Lin Hao's hands moved swiftly, his face filled with obsession as he examined the plane's control system: "This system is not bad!"

It took him a full two minutes to finally crack it.

This was the culmination of the cutting-edge intellect of two "unreasonable scientists," Beica Pangke and Bulma!

After cracking the plane's control system, Lin Hao immediately piloted the aircraft, heading towards Los Angeles.

Wakanda truly lived up to its name as the "Lighthouse of Africa"; its technology far surpassed the global average. Its maximum speed had long since broken Mach 3. In less than ten minutes, Lin Hao arrived above the Los Angeles S.H.I.E.L.D. branch.

With the diversion in place, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents left behind were no longer a threat. He could even use the mercenaries and T'Chaka to eliminate some of the agents heading to San Francisco.

Yesterday morning, when Lin Hao was flying back to San Francisco from Los Angeles, he "coincidentally" encountered the Wakandan aircraft. He knew then that the artificial Devil Fruit in the Black Panther form had attracted Wakanda's attention.

This was one of the ideas Lin Hao had conceived after seeing Will Fortson's high level of transformation. He hadn't expected T'Chaka to be so impatient.

As soon as Lin Hao returned to San Francisco, he went to Will Fortson's neighborhood to wait by the tree. As expected, he soon discovered the Wakandan aircraft. He thought T'Chaka would act immediately but found that the other party had hired a group of White Gloves.

Lin Hao waited for dozens of hours before they made their move. Finally, he took the opportunity to infiltrate the aircraft while T'Chaka was engaged in combat.

Next, Lin Hao's schedule was tight.

Upon arriving at the Los Angeles S.H.I.E.L.D. branch, Lin Hao, having changed his appearance and physique, leaped from the plane wearing a metal mask.

Before the guarding agents could raise an alarm, his Haoshoku Haki swept out.

All the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents foamed at the mouth and collapsed to the ground.

Lin Hao activated his Kenbunshoku Haki, directly pinpointing Ivan's interrogation room. However, he first went to the main computer room, using pre-developed equipment to breach S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system firewall, stealing all the data within. Only then did he rush to the interrogation room and rescue Ivan.

Carrying Ivan back to the plane, Lin Hao stood at the edge of the cabin door, extending his right hand and gathering all his Ki into his palm.

A ball of white light, the size of a basketball, shone brightly in the night.

Lin Hao shook his hand, flinging the ball of Ki towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. branch below.

Lacking specific techniques, Lin Hao could only use this crude method to throw the Ki ball. Fortunately, the Ki from the Dragon Ball world was incredibly powerful. It first easily penetrated the building and then exploded with a roar.

The intense flames tore apart the S.H.I.E.L.D. branch, and a small mushroom cloud appeared in the Los Angeles night sky.

The building and all its occupants were annihilated, leaving behind a crater several meters deep.

"This is just the interest."

From the distant, departing plane, Lin Hao murmured coldly, "Nick Fury, I will settle the score for the sacrifice of your colleagues, slowly."

While Lin Hao was flying to Los Angeles to rescue someone, the battle inside the abandoned factory on the outskirts of San Francisco had entered a white-hot state.

The mercenaries T'Chaka had hired were veterans with years of combat experience, each having survived countless battles.

Hearing their comrades' screams, they were not intimidated but instead became more ferocious.

"Bastards, if you have the guts, stand out and duel me, Baba Sa, face to face!"

Coulson, May, and Grant, each leading a team of agents, arrived outside the abandoned factory. Hearing the intense gunfire within, Grant shouted into his communicator, "Coulson, these are not ordinary kidnappers!"

"Yes, that's right," Coulson said solemnly. "But this is San Francisco, and we cannot retreat."

Although this operation was not their assigned task, having discovered a group of unidentified armed personnel within the country and being on-site, they had no choice but to stand their ground. Otherwise, how could they live up to the name "Homeland Defense"?

If they retreated now, Nick Fury would surely discipline them afterward.

"Stop the chatter, I'm going in!"

Melinda, true to her title "The Cavalry," might have felt a sliver of hesitation towards Chinese opponents, but she showed no mercy to other enemies.

As S.H.I.E.L.D. agents charged in from the rear, Will Fortson, who was in the midst of his assault, felt the pressure lessen. After venting his rage, his reason returned, and he rushed into the factory building.

Even though his family had likely already perished, Will would not give up until he saw their bodies with his own eyes.

The Black Panther sprinted up the dilapidated stairs, quickly finding three bodies lying in pools of blood in the most spacious factory workshop on the top floor.

"No!!!"

Overwhelmed by grief, Will suddenly felt all his strength drain away. The damage sustained earlier in the hail of bullets finally registered as pain.

The moment his mental defenses faltered, several sharp claws tore at his exposed neck.

The battles he had endured these past few days, coupled with the targeted training tailored for him by the military, had at least heightened Will's vigilance.

His body reacted reflexively. He tilted his head, metal wings suddenly deployed from the side of his backpack, and sharp metal blades slashed towards the attacker's neck.

Ordinary alloys couldn't breach Vibranium's defenses, but this strike landed precisely on the connection point between the helmet and the armor.

The Black Panther armor, designed by Shuri for Wakanda, hadn't yet incorporated ten years' worth of nanite technology. It wasn't a single, seamless piece yet, and the joints could still be forcibly pried apart.

The instant the helmet separated from the suit, Will Fortson caught a fleeting glimpse of black.

Clutching the wound on his neck, Will rolled away to create distance. He stared at the yellow tiger, his eyes filled with shock, "You... you're Black?"

T'Chaka didn't bother to answer. Instead, he accelerated his attack, launching a killing blow and relentlessly striking at Will's vital points.

The Vibranium claws easily shredded the armor Tony had made for Will. In no time, Will's body was covered in wounds.

"Why? Why did you kill me?" Will Fortson's mind was filled with confusion. "I could understand if a white person wanted to kill me, but you're Black!"

"Aren't we countrymen?" he cried out.

T'Chaka, who had initially intended to ignore him, seemed provoked by this statement. He let out a cold laugh, "Countrymen? You dare?"

We noble Wakandans are a chosen people. How dare you, a lowly serf, claim to be our countrymen?

It's because of scum like you, who deserve to be eliminated, that Black people are discriminated against by white people, and even noble Wakandans have to suffer this insult.

And you still have the audacity to speak of 'countrymen'?

His sensitive point struck, T'Chaka crossed his arms, releasing a shockwave from the collision – all the kinetic energy absorbed by the Vibranium armor.

The shockwave sent Will Fortson flying, and a mouthful of blood sprayed from him.

T'Chaka lunged forward with incredible speed, forming his hand into a blade and plunging it into Will's chest. He forcefully ripped out his heart, retracted his claws, and crushed the still-beating organ.

With intense unwillingness and rage, Will Fortson took his last breath.

Due to the contract he had signed, his soul returned to the contract book of the little devil.

Lin Hao, who had just reaped a large amount of "resentment of living beings," happened to return above the abandoned factory. Although it was just a tool that had died, T'Chaka's "How dare you claim kinship?" attitude still greatly displeased Lin Hao.

"Very good, Vibranium ore has always belonged to S.P.E.A.R.!"