The wilderness fell deathly silent.
The old man's wails caught in his throat as he clutched his sheep and wept. His mouth hung wide enough to fit a fist, and he froze in place, not daring to move.
T'Chaka's face, previously filled with grief and outrage, stiffened inch by inch. Every trace of color drained away, his wooden staff stopped in midair, and he could no longer squeeze out a single word.
With their false facade torn to shreds, a vicious light flared in Okoye's eyes. She shook her spear sharply, shattering its wooden disguise. A ring of high-energy vibranium blades sprang out, pointing straight at Tony's faceplate! Behind her, the nine other members of the Dora Milaje lowered their shoulders and gathered their strength, their murderous intent laid bare.
Before they could take even half a step, however, Chen Xiao raised his eyelids slightly. A deep, dark-gold ripple silently spread through the space around him.
Boom!
An invisible force descended like a divine mountain towering ten thousand fathoms high, completely locking down the airflow within a hundred-meter radius.
The joints of all ten Dora Milaje warriors creaked, their spears shook violently, and their knees buckled uncontrollably under the terrifying pressure. Cold sweat soaked their battle skirts. They could not advance even half an inch!
T'Chaka's pupils contracted sharply. He was just about to shout at his subordinates not to throw their lives away when an earth-shaking mechanical blast suddenly erupted from deep within the wind-eroded mound behind him!
A deeply muffled hiss of hydraulic pressure venting came from underground. Two vibranium blast doors weighing dozens of tons slid open with a thunderous crash, and four heavy assault aircraft rose vertically amid a dazzling eruption of exhaust. Through the underground surveillance feeds, the young crown prince guarding the border had