The Vought's underground secret layer.
There are no windows here, only countless server indicator lights shining in the darkness.
This is the physical core of the " Clock Tower," and also Motoko Kusanagi's throne.
She wasn't sitting in a chair, but rather suspended in mid-air, with several thick data cables directly connected to a port on the back of her neck.
To the average person, the world is made up of matter, air, and light.
But for Motoko Kusanagi, the world is a vast and boundless ocean of information.
At this very moment, she is diving into the Deep.
Countless streams of data surged before her eyes.
The viewership for Soldier Boy interviews is rising exponentially.
The Homelander ' psychological assessment report has just been updated to a stable value of three percentage points.
The cleanup of the Siberia ruins is 98% complete.
Tony Stark's vital signs were stable in the medical bay, but his brainwave activity was abnormally intense, indicating extreme anger and resentment.
In her eyes, none of this was emotion, but merely parameters to be processed.
" Motoko."
A voice cut directly into her encrypted channel.
Motoko Kusanagi opened her eyes, and the green data streams dissipated, revealing the metal walls in reality.
She pulled the cable from the back of her neck and landed smoothly.
"Boss."
She responded to the empty room.
"Come to my office."
Not long after, Motoko Kusanagi pushed open the door and entered, standing two meters away from the desk.
" The Siberia drama is over." Lynn toyed with a Vibranium chess piece in his hand. " Tony Stark, that bomb, has been lit. Fury is probably licking his wounds in a corner right now, while keeping a watchful eye on the darkness around him."
"Internal communications at S.H.I.E.L.D.. indicate that Fury has raised the alert level to the highest level," Motoko reported. "He's conducting a thorough background check on everyone, including Phil Coulson, whom he personally recruited."
"Fear is a good thing; it can make people seek comfort, but it can also lead them to make irrational gambles."
Lynn placed the Vibranium piece on the table.
Our map isn't big enough.
Motoko looked at the black chess piece and traced the origin of the metal.
Wakanda.
"That's right." Lynn laughed. "A closed-off nation sitting on a mountain of treasures yet still playing tribal games. They think they can escape the tides of time with an invisibility cloak? How naive."
"You're planning a hack?"
"No, that's rude robbery. What we want is an invitation, or rather, a forced request for help."
Lynn pointed to the photo of Barbara Minerva on the screen, a blurry screenshot of her after her transformation in Siberia.
" Barbara is an archaeologist who gained the power of the Cheetah while searching for ancient god relics in Africa many years ago. Wakanda, on the other hand, worships the Panther God Bast."
"Are felines always fond of fighting?"
Motoko understood Lynn's intention.
"You want to establish a connection."
"I want you to implant a piece of history into S.H.I.E.L.D..'s database." Lynn's eyes deepened. "A history that shows Wakanda wasn't always closed off. Make them believe that the curse on Barbara is actually some kind of variant power that Wakanda had lost, or even the nemesis of the Panther God, Bast."
" Fury is now extremely insecure. Hydra is corrupting him from within, and Hydra are rampant on the outside. He desperately needs a weapon that can counter these forces."
"If he knew that there's a country in this world with super metals and mysterious powers, and that Barbara is the key to unlocking that country's gates..."
Lynn didn't finish speaking.
"Understood." A blue light flashed in Motoko's eyes. "I'll make him believe that this is his own lifeline."
The Director's Office, in the Triskelion.
Nick Fury's eyes were bloodshot.
He hadn't slept for forty-eight hours.
A pile of paper documents lay spread out on his desk; ever since he suspected he was being monitored, he had reverted to this most primitive method.
The operation in Siberia was a disastrous victory.
He brought back Tony Stark, confirming the existence of Hydra's hidden backup forces, but he also lost an entire task force, and even failed to bring back the "asset," the Winter Soldier.
What terrified him most was the combat recorder that Coulson brought back.
"Sir."
Maria Hill pushed open the door and came in, holding an encrypted hard drive.
"What's this?"
"The data mining team discovered it while sorting through Howard Stark's old files," Hill said with a strange expression. "It was an encrypted folder marked as extremely dangerous, which couldn't be decrypted before due to outdated algorithms, but it suddenly unlocked after the system automatically updated the patch."
Fury was on edge.
Automatic system updates?
At this juncture?
But he didn't care about that, and took the hard drive and plugged it into the standalone computer that wasn't connected to the internet.
A yellowed scanned document quickly appeared on the screen.
That was an expedition log from the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) in the 1940s.
[Code Name: Golden City ]
[Recorder: Howard Stark ]
[...We discovered a strange metallic radiation deep in the jungles of East Africa. The local indigenous people call that place the land of the gods. They worship a black Panther God. But what interests me more is another totem we found in the surrounding ruins—the cheetah.]
According to local guides' legend, the Cheetah was once a rival of the Panther God, but was banished for stealing the power of the " God's Herb." This power grants its holder superhuman speed and ferocity, but also comes with a bloodthirsty curse...
At the end of the document, a hand-drawn rubbing of a stone slab is attached.
The image above depicts a cheetah walking upright, tearing apart its enemy.
That pose is 99% identical to Barbara Minerva's fighting stance in the video.
Fury stared intently at the screen, his breathing becoming rapid.
Wakanda...
He read out the name of the country that had long been considered by the intelligence community to be a poor agricultural nation.
S.H.I.E.L.D.. has long had rumors about Wakanda, suggesting it's not as simple as it seems.
But he never investigated further; after all, the world already had enough troubles.
But now, this file connects everything.
Barbara's power is not without source; it is a "stolen power" from that mysterious kingdom.
If Howard's records are true, then Wakanda must possess some method to control, or even amplify, this power.
Pierce was watching him, while Hydra was sharpening its knives in the shadows.
S.H.I.E.L.D.. is riddled with problems, and he has fewer and fewer options at his disposal.
He needs strength.
If they could enter Wakanda, if they could obtain that metal, or that herb... S.H.I.E.L.D.. could assemble a truly loyal super force and completely eradicate Hydra, this cancerous growth.
Barbara Minerva was the only ticket to enter that closed country.
Hill.
"Exist."
Where is Barbara now?
"Under observation in the medical isolation area."
"Prepare a Quinjet, the long-range kind. Get me all the satellite images of that agricultural country in East Africa."
Hill hesitated. "Sir, what are you planning to do? The situation in the department is very delicate right now. Pierce keeps looking for excuses to take over command..."
"That's precisely why we must take the initiative."
Fury pointed to the document.
"We hold a key in our hands, Hill. A key to the treasure vault. Barbara is not only a fighter, she is also a homecoming. Whether Wakanda likes it or not, they must confront this exiled member of their people."
"I want Barbara to enter Wakanda."
"In the capacity of S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"No." Fury shook his head. "As a patient seeking redemption. Tell her we've found a clue to curing her bloodlust curse, right here in Africa."
This is an irresistible lure.
This is true for Barbara, and it is also true for Wakanda.
The moment Barbara sets foot on that land, S.H.I.E.L.D..'s eyes follow her in.