Grand Commander Aoniu stood at the end of the long table, both hands braced against its surface, his back slightly hunched. His dark face, so often praised by the media for its "steady, dignified bearing," now showed a turmoil of emotions.
His lips flew open, then snapped shut. His Adam's apple bobbed as restlessly as his thoughts.
The good news: Vibranium Ultron had been defeated!
The bad news: Yongye had defeated him!
From the start, they had been deeply wary of Yongye, an Easterner whose origins were unknown.
After that, Yongye had threatened to wipe out their entire families through Nick Fury. They saw Yongye as an even greater threat!
General Lane stood on the other side of the table, hands clasped behind his back, spine straight. But the faint tremor deep in his eyes betrayed a shock he had yet to fully absorb.
He had watched the entire process of Yongye sealing Ultron through a live satellite feed. A hundred dragons unleashed at once, unfathomable spatial portals, the Mother Box seal—he understood none of the technical details, but every result was clear enough to send a chill down his spine.
The young Easterner he had once plotted to frame possessed power far beyond anything he had estimated.
What General Lane found even harder to accept was that his eldest daughter, Lois, had crawled under that brat's desk in broad daylight!
It was outrageous!
Grand Commander Aoniu took a deep breath, pushed aside his distracting thoughts, and asked:
"How are things in Wakanda? What did they say?"
General Lane pulled his gaze back, his voice regaining a soldier's steadiness.
"Black Panther is gathering the survivors and dealing with the aftermath. Ultron's robot army has shut down completely. Without a central consciousness controlling them, they're just scrap metal."
"They rejected our