After Karl bought Cain a reinforced luxury SUV worth millions — one specially modified with strengthened suspension and chassis to support his weight — Cain was extremely excited.
"A real man drives something like this!" Cain Marko declared proudly.
He immediately floored the accelerator and sped recklessly through the streets. The engine roared like artillery. Traffic lights were ignored. Police sirens quickly followed.
Karl felt a headache coming on.
Fortunately, Stark Industries' legal department handled the situation before it escalated further. After resolving the fines and damage claims, Karl brought the Red Tank back to the manor and had Speed begin modifying the SUV's structure further to prevent future accidents.
While observing Speed's frame during modification, Karl noticed combat damage along its exterior plating.
It must have been from the Red House incident — Speed had fought to protect Aunt May and Raven.
Karl narrowed his eyes.
Speed needed an upgrade.
And there was only one material suitable for it.
Vibranium.
He pulled up Wakanda's location on a global map.
Publicly, Wakanda was considered an underdeveloped African nation. In reality — as known in the comics — it was the most technologically advanced country on Earth, built upon the meteorite-derived vibranium that had crashed there thousands of years ago.
Wakandan vibranium (not to be confused with Antarctic anti-metal) possessed extraordinary kinetic energy absorption properties. It could absorb, store, and redistribute energy, which was why Captain America's shield was so resilient. However, it was not absolutely indestructible — it had energy saturation limits.
Karl disappeared into the Shadow World.
At his current shadow-phase travel speed, intercontinental movement took only a few hours.
Three hours later, he arrived at Wakanda's perimeter.
To the outside world, it looked like farmland and savanna.
Through the Shadow World, however, Karl perceived the truth — the cloaking barrier, vibranium-powered infrastructure, and energy lattice that concealed the Golden City.
He phased through without triggering conventional surveillance.
Inside a vibranium mining zone, automated transports carried raw ore to refinement facilities. Raw vibranium ore was unstable and required molecular stabilization before storage.
Karl followed the transport into a refinement complex.
Inside, refined vibranium ingots were stored in magnetically suspended containment systems. Even for Karl, the sight was shocking.
This was not small-scale material.
This was strategic-level resource storage.
On the black market, even tiny quantities caused global bidding wars. The often-quoted "$100,000 per gram" figure was outdated and speculative — in reality, vibranium was rarely sold and functionally priceless.
Karl did not intend to refine ore himself.
He waited.
Then acted.
Four Shadow Ninjas temporarily interfered with monitoring nodes. At the same time, ten thousand Shadow Ninjas surged out, moving in perfect coordination.
They began transferring vibranium into shadow storage.
Karl assisted with telekinesis to accelerate the mass transfer.
Not one warehouse.
Three.
Within minutes, nearly sixty metric tons of refined vibranium disappeared.
Alarms triggered.
Wakandan security mobilized — including Dora Milaje units and vibranium-armed response teams.
But by the time they reached the storage zone, the warehouses were empty.
No structural breach.
No explosion.
Just absence.
Karl had already withdrawn into the Shadow World.
He exited Wakanda's energy boundary and reappeared in New York shortly afterward.
Inside Wakanda, King T'Chaka stood before the emptied warehouse.
His expression darkened.
Wakanda's vibranium tracking systems registered an anomalous energy displacement signature — briefly detected in North America.
New York.
Less than ten minutes after the loss.
Even Magneto, who could manipulate vast quantities of metal, could not transport sixty tons across continents in minutes without catastrophic magnetic disturbance.
This was not electromagnetic manipulation.
This was something else.
Dimensional transit.
T'Chaka did not immediately order retaliation.
The intruder had:
Taken vibranium
Caused no casualties
Avoided direct confrontation
Not exposed Wakanda publicly
That restraint mattered.
If Wakanda escalated recklessly, it risked revealing its true status to the world.
He would not make that mistake.
Instead, he ordered discreet reconnaissance.
A stealth aircraft would be dispatched to New York.
Prince T'Challa was nearing the age to inherit the mantle of Black Panther. T'Chaka understood that crises shaped kings.
But this situation required caution.
The individual capable of removing sixty tons of vibranium in minutes was not someone to provoke blindly.
He would investigate first.
Then decide.
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