A Super Soldier Who Took the Heart-shaped Herb Was Bitten by a Mutant Spider

"Yelena..."

Russell walked over with a dark expression and grabbed her wrist.

"What's wrong, BOSS?" Yelena asked innocently, her pulse steady, her pupils not dilated, and her palms not sweaty.

All the characteristics indicate that she was not lying, was not feigning composure, and was an innocent bystander. However, considering that she is a trained agent and has the potential to become the Black Widow, these details cannot be used as direct evidence.

Besides, there's no use in arguing. Everyone is not blind; they all saw her swallow the fruit of the Heart-shaped herb.

"Get your stuff out right now! You're not a child anymore, how could you do something so ridiculous!" Natasha leaned forward and punched Yelena in the stomach.

In a typical knockout technique, the stomach receives a violent impact, and the stomach muscles will instinctively contract to protect themselves, expelling the contents of the stomach.

Yelena was punched and immediately lost control of her body, collapsing to the ground with her knees bent.

Without vomiting, Yelena clutched her stomach, her face pale. "It's so hot... it's spreading all over my body... it's so hot..."

Her body became somewhat transparent, and her neck and the palms outside her sleeves emitted a purple glow, with the veins under her skin clearly visible.

It was obvious that Natasha's punch, though delivered through a distance, shattered the fruit directly in Yelena's stomach, releasing its energy and allowing it to take effect.

"Quickly, proceed with the ceremony and bury her!" Azzuri urged the crowd.

He was the most anxious person here. Although he had already made it clear beforehand, if Yelena had an accident in the cave, it would be difficult for Russell not to hold a grudge against him.

The group laid Yelena flat in the central pit and covered her with soil until a mound was formed. This was a traditional Wakanda custom, possibly symbolizing rebirth, which every Inheritors to the throne must undergo.

A few minutes later, Yelena sat up as if she had risen from the dead, her chest heaving violently, her face flushed red, and she couldn't breathe.

Just as Russell was about to offer his first kiss of the day, Natasha beat him to it, laying Yelena flat on her back and giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, quickly calming her down.

"Cough cough..."

After coughing a few times, Yelena stood up slowly, her breathing steady. She looked at her palm, her fist clenched tightly, and her eyes flashed with extreme excitement.

"A successful case: the Heart-shaped herb is not restricted to members of the royal family." Russell breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but tease Azzuri: "Your Majesty, don't tell me that Yelena is a member of the royal family who has been living abroad."

Azzuri chuckled twice. The royals could blend perfectly into the night, but Yelena clearly couldn't.

"Your Majesty, if there are no objections, I will pick some herbs to take back for photographs."

"How many are you planning to film..." Azzuri couldn't help but show a pained expression as he said, "The cultivation of Heart-shaped herb has very high environmental requirements. Taking them out rashly will only cause them to wither and eventually lose their medicinal effects."

These words made Russell hesitate. Wakanda only had two acres of medicinal gardens over the years, and there were no other cases of people using Heart-shaped herb for enhancement in other parts of the country, indicating that Heart-shaped herb were indeed very difficult to cultivate. He didn't want to waste such a valuable resource before he was fully prepared.

Since we can't take it with us, let's eat it now!

Russell had a sudden inspiration and muttered to himself, "I wonder if someone who has been injected with the Super Soldier Serum can be further enhanced with the Heart-shaped herb?"

Bucky immediately stepped forward, indicating his willingness to test the drug on himself, but Russell pushed him back.

Just kidding. There are only a few truly capable fighters under his command. What if they die from drug interactions? Where are we going to find another Bucky? What will Steve do then?

Russell pointed and randomly picked one of the Winter Soldier: "You, Winter Soldier -13, eat a Heart-shaped herb fruit."

"Yes, sir!"

Without hesitation, Winter Soldier -13 strode towards the herb garden, plucked a fruit, chewed it, and swallowed it. A visible purple light emanated from his esophagus, and just like Yelena before him, he clutched his neck, his face contorted in pain.

The crowd buried him and waited to see how things would develop.

Russell, seeing a glimmer of hope, couldn't help but feel excited. Super Soldier Serum + Heart-shaped herb —it seemed like a promising approach. Then, his mind started to wander, recalling other well-known enhancement cases in the Marvel Universe and connecting them one by one.

Super Soldier who ingested Heart-shaped herb was bitten by Mutant Spider and subsequently sought out the Sorcerer Supreme to learn magic. Upon returning, he switched to researching Iron Man Suit, but due to an experimental accident, he was accidentally exposed to leaked Gamma Radiation and turned green. During his escape, he encountered a demon who wanted to make a pact with him, and finally, in the wilderness, he found a hammer...

The story wasn't over yet when a ball suddenly jumped out and shouted, "Son, I'm your dad!"

Damn, just thinking about it is exciting enough to write a novel!

Russell had a hunch. He knew the possibility was extremely low, but science is all about making bold assumptions; an extremely low possibility means there is a possibility.

Bang!

The grave mound suddenly exploded, waking Russell from his dream. Looking down, he saw Winter Soldier -13 jump up, the purple light on his chest rapidly diminishing. He bent over and vomited, spewing purple crystalline liquid all over the ground.

"What happened? What happened? Why did it suddenly stop?" Azzuri looked at the dimly lit liquid on the ground, his heart aching with pain.

Winter Soldier -13: ￣□￣

"Soldier, how are you feeling?"

"Sir, I need to use the restroom, I can't hold it in anymore!"

"..."

It has been confirmed that the Heart-shaped herb cannot enhance soldiers injected with the Super Soldier Serum; according to the established rules, this is the will of the universe. From a scientific perspective, those injected with the Super Soldier Serum undergo genetic sequence recombination, rendering the Heart-shaped herb ineffective.

The specific reasons still need to be studied. Russell and the others followed Azzuri down the mountain. The two agreed that Russell's Heart-shaped herb would be temporarily stored in the Royal Secret Garden, Azzuri would be notified when needed.

Azzuri's reclaiming of the throne should have been a cause for celebration, but with the people devastated by the Civil War and numerous urgent government affairs to attend to, he simply wasn't in the mood for it.

The two most pressing issues at present are dealing with the White Ape Tribe and defending against foreign invasion.

In chaotic times, severe punishments are necessary to deter villains and appease the people.

Under Azzuri's personal supervision, the White Ape Tribe was thoroughly cleaned up from top to bottom. Anyone who had any connection with the White Ape Cult, or who had raised a butcher's knife against their own people in the war, was all gathered together to await their fate.

The rest were scattered and integrated into other tribes, officially removing the White Ape Tribe from the list of the five major tribes. As for the original land of the White Ape Tribe, part of it was allocated to those who had made contributions, and part of it was isolated and left for the 'Black Panther God' to take walks, digest his food, and walk his birds.

Saying it was for the Black Panther God was actually a disguised way of giving Russell a piece of land. This was the safest reason Azzuri could think of, which was that the elders of other tribes had died in the war. Otherwise, he could have easily covered it up.

Getting back to the main point, the invasion of foreign enemies was a matter of utmost urgency. Azzuri strengthened border defenses, and the daily intelligence reports kept him extremely worried.

The surrounding tribal nations are serious this time; they have joined forces to divide Wakanda, and according to rough estimates, the number of soldiers has already reached tens of thousands.

A war involving tens of thousands of people... This was unprecedented in Wakanda's history, and it just so happened to coincide with the country's most vulnerable moment.

Azzuri considered using the group of criminals from the White Ape Tribe awaiting their fate as cannon fodder, but even so, the disparity in troop strength was extremely large, making this battle very difficult!

As mentioned before, wars between tribes are brutal. Resources and land are always fought over, but the most terrifying thing is the loss of people. On the losing side, all the women are taken away, and the men are Carnage, leaving only a group of helpless children.

Whether these children will survive depends on God's will!

Rumble—

Azzuri was sitting at his desk, frowning and pondering how to deal with the approaching army, when he heard a series of loud rumbling sounds in the sky. He went outside and immediately female guards came running to him.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Those people have caused quite a commotion. You'd better go and see for yourself."

Azzuri's heart skipped a beat, realizing that the most troublesome thing was about to happen. He immediately took the female guards and headed towards the original site of the White Ape Tribe.

Rumble!!!

Transport helicopters dropped building materials from the sky, and a group of workers quickly built platforms on the ground. More helicopters continued to transport engineering vehicles, filling the designated land completely.

From afar, Azzuri could see the busy helicopters, and he felt a mix of envy and admiration. He wanted to do the same kind of construction, but he didn't have the money. He could make money by selling Vibranium, but he didn't dare to.

Azzuri pushed aside the onlookers and found Russell relaxing under a shaded area. Russell was sitting on a beach chair with sunglasses on, while Yelena massaged his shoulders and back and occasionally offered him juice.

This was too humiliating for Azzuri. Yelena, who had also taken the Heart-shaped herb, was treated like a mere errand boy by Russell.

Upon seeing Azzuri, Russell greeted him warmly, "Your Majesty, what brings you here? Would you like some juice? No, thank you!"

Azzuri opened his mouth, lowered his raised arm, and instructed the female guards to disperse the crowd and prevent everyone from gathering there. He stayed behind alone.

Azzuri pointed at the construction site. "Mr. Russell, what are you doing?"

"Building a toilet for Black Panther God was a bit too noisy, sorry!" Russell tilted his head back, and Yelena handed him a glass of juice. He sipped it through the straw, looking incredibly irritating.

Azzuri: "..."

"What, Your Majesty, with all your busy schedules, you've come here just for this?"

"No, I'm here to ask you for a favor!" Azzuri looked pained, knowing that saying this would get him ripped off, but he was truly out of options.

"What can you give me?" Russell didn't ask what it was about, but he could roughly guess that Azzuri was suffering from being besieged by other tribes. However, with helicopters flying all over the sky, he didn't think these people would really dare to invade.

What do you want?

"No, I got everything I wanted."

"..."