Bruce Banner stepped forward a few paces, donned specialized medical gloves, and knelt beside the mangled lion to carefully examine the bite marks and torn tissue at the wound. His movements were professional, but his slightly trembling fingertips betrayed him.
"Something's not right," Banner stood up, his voice filled with confusion. "These lacerations... they're too deep, far exceeding the needs of normal predation. Its bite force is terrifying, but it barely ate anything. Most of the animal's flesh was torn off and tossed aside."
He pointed to a disemboweled antelope not far away and continued, "Look, the internal organs were dragged out entirely and scattered everywhere. This doesn't fit the habit of carnivores eating soft organs first. Its attack wasn't for food; it was more like... venting something. Or rather, it's toying with its prey, enjoying the process of dismemberment."
Steve said in a low voice, "We must find it immediately and stop it."
Lin Huai activated his Spirit Vision.
In his field of vision, above this bloody slaughterhouse, floated a thin layer of black-gray mist invisible to the naked eye.
"My Spirit Vision tells me our target did this," Lin Huai spoke up. "That leopard has been corrupted by Beyonder influence. Ordinary creatures basically can't withstand such pollution; that Beast has already gone mad."
"So, we're facing a source of pollution? Just like that octopus?" Tony frowned, a concept that felt both familiar and loathsome to him.
He pulled a portable device from his tactical vest and pressed a button. A dozen "Beetle" Drones—sturdier replacements for the "Hummingbirds"—buzzed into the air, scattering into the surrounding jungle.
"These Drones are directly connected via physical fiber optics. As long as the distance isn't too great, we don't have to worry about signal interference. Let them be our eyes." Tony operated the miniature console on his arm and said to Banner, "Banner, which way did that big cat go? Use your professional knowledge to give me a direction."
Dr. Banner carefully surveyed the footprints on the ground and the direction the vegetation had been flattened, quickly providing a precise heading.
"Let's go," Steve said grimly, leading the way into the depths of the jungle.
They followed the trail, trekking through the sweltering, humid rainforest. The massive canopy blocked the sky, leaving the forest floor in dim light. Various unknown insects hissed in their ears, and every step onto the thick layer of rotting leaves made a "crunching" sound.
"I hate this hellhole~" Tony waved away a large moth that had landed on his faceplate, complaining in the team channel. "It's hot, it's damp, and there isn't even a decent Villa. When we get back, I'm definitely buying a piece of rainforest and turning it into the World's top resort."
"Tony, quiet," Steve looked back and glared at him. "Stay alert."
Relying on Dr. Banner's professional biological knowledge and Lin Huai's occasional divinations, they walked for about half an hour until the clear sound of Water came from ahead.
Pushing through the last thicket of dense shrubs, an open canyon appeared before them. A silver waterfall cascaded down from a cliff dozens of meters high, crashing into a clear pool below and kicking up clouds of white mist.
And by the pool, they finally saw the target of their journey.
It was a pitch-black leopard.
It lay quietly by the water, bowing its head to lick the cool pool water. It was a size larger than a normal Black Panther, its muscles taut with powerful lines, its form sleek and agile. Sunlight filtered through the mist, casting a faint glow on its obsidian-smooth fur.
But the most unsettling thing was the eerie purple patterns on its fur.
Those patterns seemed like living things, slowly flowing with the rise and fall of its breath, emitting an extremely sinister bright purple glow, as if what flowed through its veins wasn't blood, but glowing venom.
This mixture of lethal danger and eerie beauty made everyone present hold their breath.
"Target in sight." Tony's shoulder armor opened, revealing a launch port locked onto the Black Panther's back. "The patterns on its body remind me of that octopus from before. I suggest using high-intensity tranquilizer rounds to end this quickly."
But just as he was about to pull the trigger, a series of chaotic footsteps abruptly echoed from deep within the jungle.
"What's that sound?" Banner looked around warily.
Before he could finish, dozens of tribespeople holding spears, their faces painted with purple patterns similar to those on the Black Panther, swarmed out from the surrounding woods.
Their movements were uniform, their faces filled with a near-pious fanaticism. They quickly formed a human wall between the Black Panther and the Avengers, shielding it resolutely.
There was no hostility or fear in their eyes, only a sacred determination, as if they were guarding something holy.
"People of God, guarding here!" An old priest stepped out from the crowd. The purple patterns on him were the most complex, and his scepter was topped with a polished animal bone. He shouted in heavily accented, broken English.
"That Beast is dangerous!" Steve stepped forward, stowing his shield and spreading his hands, wanting to reason with them.
"Nonsense!" the priest retorted fanatically, raising his scepter toward the Black Panther, which was slowly standing up after being disturbed. His eyes shone with worship. "That is the great panther god Bast, a miracle bestowed upon our tribe! A newborn deity! He has brought great miracles and food. You outsiders shall not lay a finger on our god!"
"Miracle?" Tony scoffed, cursing softly in the team channel. "They call a panther a deity? And a bloodthirsty one at that? I'm never believing religious propaganda again!!!"
He clearly lost his patience. "Old Ice Pop, reasoning with them is useless. Let me handle it. Non-lethal Sonic Cannons will have them rolling on the ground but won't hurt them."
He raised his hand to activate the Sonic Cannon on his armor's arm, but Steve stepped forward, blocking the firing port with his body.
"Tony, stop!!" Captain America's voice was firm. "They aren't enemies! They're just being deceived! We cannot harm innocent civilians; that's the line!"
"Then what do you suggest, Captain?" Tony snapped back. "Sit down and have a cup of tea with them? Hold a debate on 'what a true god is'? You think they'll listen?"
"Food? It seems those slaughtered animals were eventually taken by these people. In that sense, it's quite logical for them to call this panther a god," Dr. Banner analyzed, adjusting his black-rimmed glasses.
While they were arguing, the Black Panther behind the human wall moved.
It paced like a king onto a high rock. It looked down at the people below, proudly displaying the shimmering, eerie patterns on its body.
Those purple patterns instantly came to life!
An invisible mental shockwave rippled out, instantly enveloping everyone on the scene!
Seeing this "miracle," the fanaticism in the eyes of the tribespeople reached its peak. They could no longer hold themselves up, falling to their knees in waves, shouting the name "Bast" and striking their foreheads against the damp earth as if welcoming a divine punishment or expressing gratitude for divine grace.
Meanwhile, the unprepared Avengers were dragged into hallucinations by this sudden mental attack.
The scene before Tony's eyes distorted. His proud mark armor instantly became rusted, as if it had rotted in seawater, peeling off piece by piece until it turned into a pile of scrap metal. The arc reactor in his chest also flickered out, and a cold, suffocating sensation instantly overwhelmed him.
Steve no longer heard the roar of the waterfall, but the whistle of the train speeding through the Alps. He saw Bucky again, wearing his old military uniform, falling into the bottomless Abyss amidst the wind and snow. That desperate cry looped endlessly in his ears, cutting his heart repeatedly like a dull knife.
Banner felt the Hulk inside him completely ignited by this external stimulus. That pure, World-destroying rage crashed against the dam of his reason with unprecedented violence. He saw his hands turning green, and the Betty before him was looking at him with the look he feared most—one full of terror and rejection.
"Wake up, everyone!"
Only Lin Huai remained unaffected. He stepped forward and gave each of them a shove.
Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was in chaos and trapped in hallucinations, the Black Panther cast a contemptuous glance at these vulnerable intruders. Then, with a leap, it retreated calmly into the depths of the dense forest, vanishing in a few bounds.
The fanatical believers also seemed to receive an order, quickly standing up and escorting their "deity" as they retreated. Soon, only the shaken Avengers remained in the canyon, looking at each other.
"Fuck!!!" Tony was the first to break free from the hallucination. He instinctively touched his intact chest plate before punching a nearby rock hard, letting out an angry roar. "We actually got played by a cat!!!"
"Its ability is very eerie," Steve's expression was also grim. "It can directly attack our minds. Those civilians probably consider it a miracle because of these hallucinations."
The team's first capture mission ended in failure.