"Tsk tsk tsk... Cat God, are you home? Mimi, Mimi? Where did you go?"
Su Ming made a sound to tease the imagined cat while looking around for traces of the Leopard God.
Now that he knew where Wakanda is, if he could get in once, there'd be countless times after.
The current Wakanda isn't like its future self, not quite as full of all sorts of advanced tech, though it is somewhat ahead in some areas compared to the outside world, supposing you look at it with Su Ming's foresight, it's really just whatever.
Except for that invisible energy barrier covering the nation, which should have been picked up somewhere as alien technology.
Under the cover of night, he once again slipped into the place where the Heart-shaped Grass is planted.
After the previous burglary, the defense here was significantly tightened, with guards and alarm devices, and even closed-circuit surveillance cameras not found outside had been installed here.
But in front of a stealth cloak, they were all for nothing.
Let it turn into an optical camouflage, and everything went smoothly, no casting abilities needed, just walking the road less traveled.
He picked some Heart-shaped Grass, flew to the top of the mountain to find a hidden grassy nest to lie down in, squeezed the unpalatable grass leaves into juice, drank it, and entered a dream-like world.
"Speaking of which, this place really is a wasteland, not even a strand of hair."
Although there are trees and grass here, aside from the sky being filled with purple auroras, it looks no different from the real African grassland outside.
The "hair" Su Ming mentioned, of course, refers to leopard fur.
The Leopard God lives here with many little leopards, as well as all the deceased kings of Wakanda, yet there wasn't a single piece of loose fur, leaving him without any clues.
Everything seemed unreasonable, could it be that the Heart-shaped Grass is actually some kind of hallucinogen?
Could it possibly hypnotize each Black Panther into believing they're omnipotent, using psychological suggestion to unleash human potential? Not impossible, just like the Winter Soldier as a similar Painless Warrior.
The human body has a self-protection mechanism. When exerting force approaches values that may cause bodily harm, nerves automatically tell the brain that further force will lead to danger, hence the origin of pain, and humans unconsciously dissipate force.
And once this mechanism is canceled, no one stops the exertion, a method to squeeze out body potential at any cost.
While guessing in his mind, he walked under a big tree, the one where he saw the Leopard God sleeping on its branch last time, should be its home, right?
Speaking of which, this tree looks like a smaller World Tree, something like a banyan tree wouldn't grow in the dry African grassland, so it must be a baobab tree.
The Leopard God is indeed a foodie, choosing a baobab tree for a home, as if it's not a gorilla or a monkey.
"The sky's shade awaits the rain, while I await you..."
As he leaned against the tree, he casually pulled out a few blades of grass and played with them in his hand, actually starting to sing, anyway, here in the dream realm, time is meaningless, might as well relax for a while.
Such beautiful and moving music, the Big Cat would definitely be drawn to it!
However, from "Blue and White Porcelain" to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," he hummed through dozens of songs, but the Cat God, no, the Leopard God still did not appear.
Strange, where did the cat go?
This grassland in the dream realm is pretty vast, did it have nothing to do after eating its fill, going for a stroll?
Su Ming got up from the grass, intending to look for it himself, anyway, in this peculiar world all his abilities were intact, just feeling a bit lazy overall.
After flying for a while, he vaguely saw many feline creatures under another big tree, thinking that maybe the Leopard God didn't settle on that big baobab tree yet and this is its current stronghold.
So he landed to take a look.
These were Big Cats alright, but as he got closer under the purple night sky, he realized the colors were different, he knew he had come to the wrong place.
This was a group of lions, both big and small, seemingly chatting, with some lion cubs rolling on their backs on the grass, looking quite adorable.
But, as neighbors, they might know where the Leopard God went.
"Hey, everyone, I'm just passing by, have any of you seen the Leopard God lately?"
Su Ming landed, rummaging through his belt, realizing there wasn't much food left, only some snacks to use as bribes.
The leading male lion seemed easygoing, accepting the gifts and distributing them to its cubs, smiling as it popped a claw out of its cat paw.
It looked quite cartoon-like, with a highly anthropomorphic expression: "Over there, at this time, it should be bath time for the leopard."
Su Ming smiled and nodded at it, indeed, lions had a clearer grasp of grassland affairs: "Thank you, you living here must be a god too, what's your name? Maybe I've heard of it, who knows."
"Humans from a monistic universe may find it hard to understand my existence, but I'll tell you anyway, I am Lion King Xin..." The lion tidied its red mane gracefully, responding in style, yet was interrupted by Su Ming.
"Ahem! Don't say that name, can't handle it in my worldview, goodbye!"
Su Ming tossed away the spicy strips in his hand and flew off like a bolt, what kind of ghostly place is this?!
Following the direction the lion pointed out, he flew for quite a while, finally seeing a big lake, where a small black figure was spinning and dancing on the water from afar.
Su Ming landed by the shore, with a few black lines hanging from his head, the Leopard God was actually practicing the butterfly stroke, what a dazzling sight.
In his initial guesses, it was conceivable for the Leopard God to be wrapping a towel around its neck, holding a bottle of shampoo, adjusting the water temperature under the showerhead, but never would he have thought it was performing water ballet.
The key is there's not even an audience, the Leopard God is doing all this for itself? Could it be that its mind is having issues?
As Su Ming landed, the Leopard God naturally noticed him too, immediately changing its posture, swiftly swimming towards the lakeside.
It was like a speedboat, its tail spinning wildly like a propeller, white water splashing high behind it, splitting the water surface in two.
The Leopard God came to a sudden stop on the lake's surface, and Su Ming seemed to hear a 'screech' as if brakes were applied.
"Deathstroke, why are you here again? Wasn't the meteorite iron you took last time enough?" The Leopard God shook off the water droplets from its body and stepped onto the shore.
Su Ming took out some DC specialties, like canned soda: "The research on the vibranium isn't complete. This time, I need you to help me look into the problems with my soul."
"Your soul...." The Leopard God circled him and sniffed at him with a nose about the size of a human fist, damply: "No big problem. With your soul's strength, you certainly won't die. You'll recover on your own after a few days."
Su Ming sat down by the lake, the pitch-black water reflecting the aurora in the sky. The purple light resembled a thin veil, rendering everything hazy.
He picked up a clump of dirt and skipped it across the water, looking at the big cat beside him.
"I reduced a dimension from the Fourth Dimension to the Third Dimension. In theory, bringing things back to reality shouldn't be that hard. But I felt an invisible giant hand pressing the dimension down further, and that wasn't gravity's doing."
The Leopard God used its tail to flick a boulder, skipping it across the water too.
Unusually, the water splashed by the boulder shot straight up towards the sky. Soon, rain began to fall, and the Leopard God crouched down, asking amid the rustling sound of rain:
"What did you understand?"
Su Ming squinted, taking out a cigarette from his belt and lighting it, watching the heavy rain closely.
With the rain fell many things that shouldn't be in water, like candies, toys, and birds. Various objects were too numerous to count.
A moment later, he exhaled a light puff of smoke: "Are you saying a kind of gravity indeed exists? Just like in this dream realm, there will still be rain falling."
The Leopard God grinned, its whiskers curling up on both sides, and its sharp teeth gleaming:
"Wrong! The answer is 'none of your business,' hahaha...."
After speaking, it picked up various snacks on the ground and darted away, kicking up dust that hit Su Ming in the face.
"Cough cough, ptoo! It really wasn't any of my business!"
As Su Ming waved his hand before him to disperse the purple dust, he realized he had woken up, still in the place where he drank the Heart-shaped Grass Juice, as if it had all been a dream.
"Tsk..."
Su Ming looked at the lit cigarette in his hand; it seemed not just a dream, and regarding the matter of dimensions, the Leopard God obviously knew something.
However, it was alright not to extract extra information. It's good to know his condition isn't too serious, and he could just rest and recuperate.
Gin should still be in Hawaii, not on Su Ming's island, which is currently being used as headquarters by the Spider Web.
Their vacation spot is in Honolulu, where it's crowded and lively.
Hawaii has no winter, with December temperatures usually above 25 degrees, making November to February the peak tourist season each year.
Even though we're not long past World War II, that busyness doesn't reach far.
There are still US Army shipwrecks outside the harbor, and he and Gin frequently go diving there.
Under the nightfall, Wakanda is very tranquil. Even the far-off mountain palace has only a few lights, and the city, hidden among the trees, still retains many tribal traces.
Now isn't a good time to deal with them, and besides, what he wanted has long been obtained. It's better to let them develop well here.
Shutting themselves off to climb the technology ladder sounds unrealistic, yet these people have really accomplished it. Probably only in a comic book world could such a thing exist.
He dusted himself off, got up from the grass. This is in the garden behind the Leopard God's statue, and the guard patrol hasn't reached here yet.
Feeling annoyed by being dusted by the Leopard God, he decided to leave a little something in return.
So he had Strangulation pull out all the guns and unleashed a barrage on the base of the Leopard God statue before fleeing without leaving a trace.
The gunfire drew the guards, and soon the current King Azzuri, dressed in simple sleepwear, arrived hurriedly.
The guards exchanged glances, their expressions peculiar, leaving the old man somewhat confused.
Guns, such weapons, are only used by outsiders. So if an outsider has invaded, why aren't they checking the barrier, instead discussing around the statue?
"Your Majesty!" A soldier soon spotted him, respectfully making way for him.
He greeted the soldiers calmly; he must remain composed at this time: "Hmm, what are you looking at?"
"Well.... You better see for yourself."
The guards stepped aside, revealing the statue that was obstructed. The base of the Leopard God statue was riddled with bullet holes forming a string of letters.
This was English, a language the old king recognized, and he couldn't help but read it aloud, as if the sentence had a spell:
"Wakanda Forever!"
Inexplicably, after saying this, everyone felt the phrase symbolized the spirit of Wakanda, so invigorating they'd like to say it several times a day.
Azzuri squinted, his snow-white beard trembling slightly, but in the end, he inscribed the invader's 'gift' into his newly revised law, erecting a monument before the palace.
The inscription began with a string of foreign words, but Azzuri hoped to ensure everyone could see it and say it.
He wanted Wakanda's people to remain vigilant and never give up.
Over time, the truth of this event gradually became obscured by the passage of time.
So much so that when Wakanda's descendants puzzled over why their national slogan was in English, no one would tell them this secret.