Wakanda's outrageous stunt disgusted Kraft.
If they had merely hidden away in some remote valley, claiming their own little patch of land and building an isolated paradise, that would have been one thing. After all, possessing a treasure invited trouble, so keeping secrets was only natural. Just as Kraft did not want the American government to know how advanced his technology was, there was nothing to criticize about doing so for self-protection.
But not only had they hidden their own good stuff away tightly, they had also pretended to be a disadvantaged nation on the international stage and accepted aid from other countries. They watched their fellow Africans in neighboring nations suffer without lifting a finger. In that case, they could not blame Kraft for exposing them.
Of course, Kraft would never expose them himself. Having the reputation of a genius boy gifted in mechanics was already enough for him; he did not want to reveal his skill with networks as well.
Thus, after taking a few twists and turns, the intelligence on Wakanda found its way into the hands of the Rising Tide Organization through Kraft's arrangements.
Sending it to them directly would not do. Their slogans sounded pretty enough, but Kraft did not buy any of that. Besides, if he handed it over so openly, the Rising Tide Organization, with its habit of questioning everything, might even see it as deliberate provocation.
So Kraft had Angela select several members from the Rising Tide Organization, then feed them information about Wakanda bit by bit in inconspicuous ways. Once their interest had been piqued and they started investigating on their own, he would simply give them a little help from the shadows.
But that required time to ferment, so Kraft did not sit idle. He had Angela continue roaming the internet, gathering information that interested him.
Such as the databases he had failed to breach before, as well as the true identities of those mysterious factions.
This time, Kraft did not choose a frontal assault. Instead, he sneaked into the village and kept the guns quiet.
Like ghosts, Angela and Haro made the rounds through the databases of every major faction. Most of the intelligence they found was nothing special. The records stored in the databases of major powers, especially spy agencies like the FBI, were largely outdated. Aside from plans and arrangements that had to be connected to the network, truly important information was probably stored separately and physically isolated.
However, Kraft found information about Martin Lee in the database of an agency called the Homeland Strategic Defense, Attack, and Logistics Agency.
Mr. Negative. Real name: Martin Lee. Recipient of the Medal of Freedom. Renowned Chinatown philanthropist. Boss of the Demon Gang. Suspected dissociative identity disorder. Possesses special abilities. Mortal enemy of the Maggia, cause unknown...
Kraft gave it a rough scan. The file was quite detailed; it even mentioned his own name. Then he looked at the final line—threat level low, continued monitoring recommended.
Apparently, Martin's past actions, which Kraft had never quite understood, were paying off now.
"Fine," Kraft said, rubbing his nose. "I really am still too green."
But... had Martin known about this Homeland-whatever Agency all along? Or had he just happened to run into it?
Kraft recalled Martin's clumsy fumbling when he had first encountered a smartphone. He did not think Martin or the Demon Gang possessed any formidable intelligence-gathering capabilities, so coincidence was more likely. All he could say was that Martin was indeed a seasoned schemer. Without anyone noticing, he had eliminated a threat.
But the name Demon Gang... it really was hard to describe.
Kraft once again mocked Martin's naming sense. The Yaksha Gang or the Yama Gang would have suited Chinatown's underground emperor far better!
While silently criticizing his adoptive father, Kraft did not forget to instruct Angela, "Keep a close eye on information about Mr. Negative. If he faces any danger, notify me immediately."
Kraft pointed at the figure in the Homeland-whatever Agency's database, wearing a demon mask and an ostentatious white suit.
Besides Martin Lee, Kraft had Angela keep an eye on people close to him, such as Fatty Liao's family and Aunt May's family. After all, dangerous things like the Hulk had already appeared, and America had a whole bunch of fools secretly conducting human experiments every day. It was always better to be prepared.
Since he had not dreamed anything new lately, and the Rising Tide Organization still needed time to slowly uncover the truth themselves, Kraft spent his spare time outside of research browsing through the databases of these major powers.
It had to be said that the struggles between these major forces were complicated enough. Not only had they planted spies within one another, their own internal affairs were far from peaceful. Members from different factions fought endlessly within the same organization. Sometimes, if he did not have Haro help him sort out the logic, Kraft could not even understand what they were up to!
Just as Kraft was happily feasting on gossip in his laboratory, the Rising Tide Organization finally uncovered the truth about Wakanda.
Two Rising Tide Organization members dug up Wakanda's secrets. They had almost simultaneously discovered what was really going on inside that "poor little African country," but their choices could not have been more different.
One of them treated the Rising Tide Organization's principles and slogans as sacred doctrine. The moment he obtained the intelligence, he exposed every piece of evidence he had. Not only online, but to major media outlets, the presidential inbox, the United Nations, and even several African countries, he sent copies everywhere.
But his actions utterly screwed over the other guy. That man had chosen to sell the information to the American military. They had barely completed the transaction when the relevant documents spread across the world, and the distributor, seemingly afraid people would not know, had explicitly labeled them with the name of the Rising Tide Organization.
Never mind how the military would hunt down that unlucky bastard afterward. In any case, all of America—or rather, the entire world—was set ablaze by the information.
The material was simply too comprehensive. From suspicious details and speculation to data comparisons, photographs, and video evidence, Wakanda, the nation that held a golden rice bowl while begging internationally, was exposed down to its very foundations.
Now everyone was furious. It was one thing for those bastards not to share such good things, but they were also taking a share from the mouths of countries that were genuinely impoverished. Was that even something a human being would do?
The most outraged were probably the Black people in Africa who were also waiting for international aid. Among the poor brothers sharing watery gruel, there had been a rich landlord in hiding. How could they not spit in Wakanda's face and slap it around?
Thus, Wakanda was surrounded by a crowd of Black people with the same skin color as themselves. Fortunately, their energy shield was strong enough to stop the mob from rushing in and venting their anger through destruction. Still, the land outside the shield had long been covered in foul-smelling garbage dumped there by furious Africans.
In addition, Wakandan prince T'Challa, who was studying at Oxford University, was dug up by the Rising Tide Organization. He then suffered a series of incidents of campus violence. England's intelligence agency, MI6, acted decisively and placed T'Challa under house arrest in the name of protecting a foreign dignitary.
Meanwhile, the instigator behind all this had long since withdrawn, hiding his achievements and reputation away.
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