Chapter 68

Africa.

A mountainous area in the northeast.

Bai Xiaofei, following the navigation display, continued to head towards his destination.

Leaving Tony Stark was a last resort for Bai Xiaofei. With his current strength, he was powerless against a massive organization like S.H.I.E.L.D. Without obtaining the Iron Man suit, Bai Xiaofei could only grit his teeth and endure, humbly playing the role of a grandson!

The situation was stronger than the individual, and there was nothing he could do about it.

However, after suffering such a significant loss, Bai Xiaofei naturally wouldn't let S.H.I.E.L.D. off easily. He had already made a plan to make S.H.I.E.L.D. taste some pain!

Before leaving, Bai Xiaofei fiercely extorted S.H.I.E.L.D.: "Let me go? Fine, give me 1 billion dollars!"

He thought S.H.I.E.L.D. would haggle, but to his surprise, Coulson readily agreed.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was probably eager to get rid of Bai Xiaofei, so the transfer was very quick. In less than 20 minutes, the enormous sum of 1 billion dollars was transferred to Bai Xiaofei's time-traveling universal bank card.

Seeing the other party's sincerity, Bai Xiaofei didn't bother to argue with S.H.I.E.L.D. and left early the next morning, flying to Africa.

Bai Xiaofei's goal was simple: to enhance his strength!

Tony Stark's Iron Man suit would take a few more months to invent and manufacture. During this gap, Bai Xiaofei could not only avoid S.H.I.E.L.D.'s surveillance and vigilance but also travel the world to verify some of his ideas and plans. If everything went smoothly, this time-traveling journey would definitely yield a great harvest, and he wouldn't have to worry about energy points for a while!

Before leaving, Bai Xiaofei stayed up all night, researching and organizing information about the Marvel world.

Bai Xiaofei discovered that this Marvel world was not the one from the comics.

Everything here was based on the movies!

In this Marvel world, there were no mutants. Characters like Professor X, Magneto, and Wolverine did not exist. People with superpowers were called superhumans or enhanced humans. For example, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in Avengers 2 were not mutants, and their father was not Magneto!

Mutants had nothing to do with this Marvel world!

When watching the movies, Bai Xiaofei was quite frustrated. The "X-Men" series was produced by 20th Century Fox, while "Iron Man," "Thor," and "Hulk" were produced by Marvel Studios. Due to the involvement of different companies and copyright issues, the backgrounds of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in Avengers 2 were altered.

Now, even the time-traveling device followed the movies, dividing them into different timelines.

This unexpected result both surprised and delighted Bai Xiaofei.

Surprise was understandable; anyone familiar with Marvel would be shocked by this situation, and Bai Xiaofei was no exception. What delighted him was that without the existence of mutants, this incomplete Marvel world had fewer unavoidable and insurmountable fatal dangers!

This made Bai Xiaofei feel much more at ease. The comic version of Marvel was too extreme, often blowing up the universe or resetting timelines, which Bai Xiaofei found unacceptable!

While there were many strong characters in the movie version, at least they had limits and weren't as bug-like and unsolvable!

No wonder "Iron Man 1" only required 100,000 energy points to travel to.

It was a castrated world!

There were pros and cons!

Bai Xiaofei didn't really mind this.

After all, he had a time-traveling device. As long as he had enough energy points, he could travel to any timeline; the only difference was the amount of energy points required.

Let's get back to the main topic.

When Bai Xiaofei realized he had to temporarily leave Tony Stark, he had already planned his next steps.

In the Marvel world, there were many geniuses, and Bai Xiaofei didn't have to stay by Tony's side.

The system's task was for Bai Xiaofei to obtain the Iron Man suit.

Nothing else was mentioned.

As long as he obtained an Iron Man suit before Tony defeated the big boss, Obadiah Stane, and then killed Obadiah himself, Bai Xiaofei would complete the task.

Before that, there were no restrictions on what Bai Xiaofei could do or where he could go!

Even without S.H.I.E.L.D.'s interference, to maximize his benefits, Bai Xiaofei would have left Tony's side to search the world for good things. The only difference was whether it was active or passive.

For example, Bai Xiaofei's current goal was the source of Vibranium—Wakanda.

Vibranium, also known as Sound-Absorbing Steel or Rebirth Steel!

A material from an extraterrestrial meteorite, not an element on the periodic table. Its atoms are permanently fixed at absolute zero, meaning Vibranium inherently lacks the ability to conduct or transfer energy. This property makes it the most stable and durable substance in the Marvel world, extremely suitable for defense as it can withstand almost infinite impact!

Captain America's incredibly strong shield is made from a mixture of iron, Vibranium, and an unknown catalyst. Its hardness is unmatched by any known substance, almost indestructible!

Since he was determined to obtain one of Tony's Iron Man suits, Bai Xiaofei naturally wanted to maximize the suit's combat and defensive capabilities.

Unlike Tony, who could afford to use hundreds of Mark suits as fireworks for Pepper's amusement, Bai Xiaofei didn't know when he could return after completing this time-traveling task. Therefore, the Iron Man suit he obtained would be almost unique. If it broke or deteriorated, it would be unusable, so he had to be careful!

In terms of scientific equipment for the Iron Man suit, Tony was an expert. With his personal design and craftsmanship, Bai Xiaofei had no worries. However, the most critical parts of the suit, the skeleton and outer shell, had to be handled by Bai Xiaofei himself. To maximize the suit's lifespan and combat power, the first thing Bai Xiaofei thought of was Vibranium!

The power of Vibranium was self-evident, almost indestructible, and could absorb vibrations like sound and kinetic energy. If Bai Xiaofei's Iron Man suit could be entirely made of Vibranium, unless he encountered an extremely powerful and supernatural expert, even Thor or the Hulk would find it difficult to easily damage the suit's defenses!

With such an invincible Iron Man suit, Bai Xiaofei would dare to explore even the most dangerous timelines!

Therefore, obtaining Vibranium on this trip to Wakanda was a must for Bai Xiaofei!

...

A few hours later, Bai Xiaofei finally arrived at the isolated kingdom of Wakanda.

In the Marvel world, the small African country of Wakanda was not poor like other African nations. On the contrary, it was a resource-rich, technologically advanced power, with various black technologies far surpassing some developed countries!

The king of Wakanda was named T'Chaka, who was also the modern guardian of Wakanda—the Black Panther.

Each generation of Wakanda's guardian, the Black Panther, would consume a heart-shaped herb to gain superhuman speed, agility, strength, and endurance. The Black Panther also had a suit made of Vibranium, equipped with stealth technology that evenly absorbed kinetic energy, making him impervious to weapons!

Additionally, the Black Panther's suit had Vibranium-soled shoes that could adjust to different vibration frequencies, allowing the Black Panther to run silently on the sides of buildings and walk on water!

T'Chaka was both the king and a warrior, responsible for protecting the kingdom.

Wakanda used to be isolated from the world, but things were different now. With the rapid development of global technology, T'Chaka knew that if Wakanda remained isolated and stagnant, it would soon be left behind by the times. Therefore, he decided to engage with the world, integrating Wakanda into the global community and bringing technology to Wakanda!

His first step was to sell Vibranium.

Then, using the money, he sent scholars abroad to study, transforming the once impoverished and backward Wakanda into a leading high-tech power in Africa!

Clearly, he succeeded.

Bai Xiaofei's goal was to obtain a large amount of Vibranium through this extremely forward-thinking king. If possible, he also wanted to get some heart-shaped herbs, though only the Black Panthers of each generation were eligible to consume them, so Bai Xiaofei had little hope of obtaining them.

...

Inside the palace.

The old king, T'Chaka, was happily discussing international news and interesting events with his son, the next king of Wakanda and the next Black Panther—T'Challa.

At this moment, a palace guard walked in.

The guard bowed to T'Chaka and reported, "Your Majesty, there is a Chinese man named Bai Xiaofei outside who wishes to see you. He says he wants to discuss a very important cooperation matter with the king."

"Chinese?"

Hearing the guard's words, T'Chaka was slightly taken aback.

He knew of the distant Eastern Chinese nation, where the people were generally friendly. A significant portion of his trade was with China, and they had a good cooperative relationship. However, this was the first time he had heard of Bai Xiaofei. Could he be introduced by Chinese merchants?

T'Chaka turned to his son with an apologetic look, sighed, and said, "T'Challa, I'm sorry, I have to go! I promise I will spend more time with you in the future, believe me!"

T'Challa smiled and shook his head, saying, "Father, go ahead. State affairs are important. I understand. I have a few more days here!"

T'Challa was currently studying at Oxford University in the UK, learning statecraft. It was rare for him to return, and he would soon fly back to the UK to continue his studies. The old king had wanted to spend more time with his son, but state affairs were busy, and he couldn't find the time. Just when he had finally managed to free up some time, Bai Xiaofei arrived, making the old king feel guilty towards his son.

Seeing T'Challa's understanding and considerate nature, the old king smiled in relief.

Then, he turned and left.

...