Marvel: The Enlightened One-Chapter 106: [] - The Last Man Who Lied to the World Didn’t Exactly Have a Happy Ending

Chapter 106: [106] - The Last Man Who Lied to the World Didn’t Exactly Have a Happy Ending

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Maria Hill wasn’t pointing at some random spot on the horizon.

She was pointing directly at the true location of Wakanda—the vast, primitive jungle they used to deceive the outside world.

The battle between Hawk and the Demon Hulk was over, but for S.H.I.E.L.D, the fight was just beginning.

After all, both Hawk and the monster had burst forth from that very jungle.

So, while the S.H.I.E.L.D. commander was making small talk with Hawk, her agents on the ground had already reached the border. They were running scans on the perimeter, and the results were now being fed directly into Maria Hill’s hidden earpiece.

Hawk followed her gaze.

He saw a dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, their faces alight with the excitement of discovery, using a variety of instruments to scan an invisible barrier.

Maria Hill watched his expression. "You’re not going to tell me?"

"I can."

Hawk looked back at her and shrugged. "That’s Wakanda. The ’real’ Wakanda."

Maria Hill froze.

Hawk then gave her the short version: the story of a nation sitting on a mountain of Vibranium, developing technology far beyond the rest of the world, all while posing as a starving third-world country to beg for aid at the United Nations.

He didn’t add any embellishments. It was the simple, unvarnished truth.

They were a high-tech nation hiding behind the mask of poverty, taking money and food that could have saved countless lives in countries that were actually suffering.

If they had simply chosen isolation, Hawk might have respected them.

But their deception? He had nothing but contempt for it.

A lie is a lie, no matter how advanced the technology you use to hide it.

As Maria Hill listened, her expression shifted from professional curiosity to utter shock—a shock even greater than when she had heard Hawk threaten to use Mephisto’s head as a urinal.

Mephisto was a distant, almost mythical threat.

Wakanda was right here. A member of the UN.

Hawk saw the look on her face and, thinking of Anna and the favor she had done him, smiled faintly.

"You don’t believe me?"

"Honestly? It’s a little hard to swallow."

Maria Hill replied, her professionalism returning.

Hawk just smiled and said nothing, his gaze turning back to the shimmering, invisible energy shield that protected the hidden kingdom.

...

Wakanda. The Royal Palace Command Center. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

After a frantic effort by the royal physicians, King T’Chaka had regained consciousness.

But for how long?

He was old, too old to bear the mantle of the Black Panther. The blow he had taken from Hawk on Mount Bashenga had been devastating. A normal man would have been torn in half.

The injuries he had sustained were severe.

The only reasons he was still alive were Wakanda’s advanced medical technology, and the sheer, stubborn will of a king who refused to die while an enemy was at his gates.

Now, sitting in a wheelchair, T’Chaka watched the holographic displays, his eyes fixed on the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at his border.

Though Wakanda presented itself as a poor African nation, it was still a recognized member of the UN.

As its king, T’Chaka knew of S.H.I.E.L.D, the agency operating under the oversight of the World Security Council to maintain global peace.

Like many other third-world leaders, he had even signed the accords granting S.H.I.E.L.D. operational authority within his borders.

But they had never had any reason to interact.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had never paid any attention to a nation so poor that even Africa’s warlords ignored it.

But that was before today.

A sense of cold dread washed over the old king as he looked at the images of Commander Maria Hill and the man who had brought this catastrophe upon them.

Wakanda’s days of peaceful isolation were over.

...

Outside the border.

Maria Hill took the data slate an agent handed her. She glanced at the readings, then looked up as another agent fired a low-powered energy blast at the barrier. A massive, golden dome shimmered into existence for a moment, and her eyes went wide.

She was starting to believe him.

She turned back to Hawk. "How do we get in?"

Hawk raised an eyebrow. "We? No, no. I’m not going in. But if you want to, I can help you tear down that wall."

His mission in Wakanda was complete.

As for the rest of the Vibranium...

Whoever wanted it could have it.

His attitude toward it was the same as his attitude toward money.

Power was the only thing that mattered. Money, Vibranium... they were just tools. As long as he had his strength, he could get more tools whenever he needed them.

Maria Hill considered his offer, then nodded, her expression serious. "I’d be grateful for your help, Hawk."

If Wakanda was truly what he claimed it was—a hidden, technologically superior nation with a monopoly on Vibranium, then this was a global security crisis. She had to report it to the World Security Council immediately.

A small African nation, secretly hoarding the world’s most advanced technology and resources while crying poverty? What are you planning?

Today you build in secret. Tomorrow, you build an empire.

Maria Hill’s expression was grim. Then, a thought occurred to her. "Do you need us to stand back? So you can put on that shiny golden armor?"

Hawk was taken aback for a second, then he laughed. "Did you like it?"

"I did."

Maria Hill’s tone was dead serious. "It’s far more impressive than Tony Stark’s."

A smile touched Hawk’s lips. "Thanks."

With that, the spectral image of the Phoenix appeared behind him. With a piercing cry, the golden pieces of the Phoenix Armor materialized, assembling around him in a flash of fire and light.

Maria Hill’s eyes widened with a look of undisguised awe.

Beautiful.

Clad in the Armor, Hawk radiated an aura of deadly beauty.

Hawk smiled. "You should probably have your people take a few steps back."

"...Right."

Maria Hill snapped out of it and ordered her agents to withdraw.

...

In the Wakandan command center, Princess Shuri turned to her father.

"Father."

"Divert all power to the shield. He just fought that monster. He can’t have enough energy left to break through."

"Yes."

Shuri nodded and gave the order, reinforcing the Vibranium shield that had protected their peaceful and isolated way of life for centuries.

...

Outside, Hawk stood alone.

His Cosmo began to burn, and tendrils of crimson energy, visible to the naked eye, coiled around him.

As his power reached its peak, the very air around him seemed to ignite.

"PHOENIX’S WINGED ASCENT!"

His roar was like the cry of a phoenix being reborn from the ashes, shattering the silence of the savanna.

In that instant, a fiery phoenix materialized behind him. As he threw a single, devastating punch, the phoenix surged forward, its wings of flame beating against the air, and slammed into the Vibranium shield—the shield that was supposed to absorb all kinetic energy.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

Time seemed to freeze.

Then, a sound like the world tearing in two ripped through the air.

The golden dome, the shield that protected all of Wakanda, flickered into full view for the first time, its surface rippling with golden energy.

Vibranium could absorb an incredible amount of energy.

But it had a limit.

Just as Thanos had been able to shatter Captain America’s shield, so too could this barrier be broken..

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

"Shield integrity at forty percent!"

"Twenty percent!"

"Five percent!!"

"Damn it, the backup generators can’t keep up!"

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!"

CRACK!

With a final, deafening crack, the dome that had hidden the true Wakanda from the world for centuries shattered completely.

In that moment, the real Wakanda—a nation of unimaginable wealth and power, a city of futuristic spires and flying vehicles, was finally exposed to the world.

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