Lord of Cinder in American Comics

The guards aren't stupid; they'll naturally check regularly, and it's only a matter of time before they discover Laura's absence.

Having chosen her direction, Lara headed towards the highest peak in Wakanda.

The highest peak in Wakanda is a snow-capped mountain, the home of the White Ape God tribe. They rely on the natural barrier of the snow-capped mountain to guard the borders of Wakanda.

Laura is currently trekking through the snow-covered mountains, the higher she climbs, the more intense the storm becomes. But once she reaches the summit, the entire panorama of Wakanda will be laid out before her, which will be of great importance to her subsequent actions.

As night deepened, Lara, hiding behind a huge rock, started a fire on the snowy mountain, using the flames to temporarily warm her body.

Stirring the embers in the fire pit with a twig, Laura began preparing dinner: "Thank goodness for Mr. Greed's reminder that I'm only suited to acting alone, so no teammates will get hurt!"

Lara Croft, the tomb raider who brings ruin wherever she goes and the terrifying killer who wields firearms with her bare hands, finally understands the terrible buff she possesses after being reminded by a greedy person.

"As long as you avoid teaming up with acquaintances, you won't let them suffer!"

That's why Lara chose to enter Wakanda alone this time. So many adventures have already shown her a lot. The once naive girl has gradually transformed into a swift and ruthless adventurer.

Suddenly, a sound came from above. Lara quickly rolled over, picked up a weapon from the side, and aimed it in the direction of the sound.

A small white gorilla peered out from behind a rock, looking at Laura and then at the food in her fire pit.

Laura breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the little gorilla put away its weapon, take the fragrant food from the fire pit, and push it towards the little gorilla.

Here, this is for you!

The baby gorilla watched Laura's actions, then hid its head behind the rock, only peeking out again after a while to observe.

Laura had placed the food away from her, so the little gorilla could get it without having to interact with her.

Laura's back gave the gorilla a sense of security. Taking advantage of Laura's inattention, it tiptoed over, secretly finished its meal, and left its utensils behind.

For Laura, this was just an unintentional incident, but the snowballs that were thrown into her sleeping bag at night made the experience less than pleasant.

Laura opened her eyes and saw the little guy dancing and waving his arms on the rock.

The white gorilla was particularly noticeable in the darkness, and its body language revealed its anxiety at that moment.

Laura keenly sensed the difference. She sat up, picked up her binoculars, and saw in the thermal imaging field of view that distinct human figures were moving towards her position on the snow.

"Thank you, little one!"

Laura said something and hurriedly began packing her things.

As Laura prepared to set off, the white gorilla grabbed her trouser leg and yanked her sharply in one direction.

"Oh! You want me to go in this direction?"

Laura simply picked up the white gorilla, put it on her backpack, and carried it on her back, letting the gorilla guide her.

At this moment, the guards chasing Laura were intercepted in the snow mountain, which belongs to the territory of the white gorilla tribe. Their tribal chief, Mbaku, is leading his people to block the guards from the royal family.

"Go back! This is not a place for you!"

Mbaku slammed his weapon into the ground, signaling that the weapon was the final warning, and that crossing the line meant war.

The head of the guards, Okoye, a member of the King's personal guard, stopped her restless men, saying, "Someone has infiltrated the snowy mountains! The King has sent us to hunt him down. This person poses a significant threat to the safety of Wakanda! You don't want outsiders to invade, do you?"

Okoye's reasoned arguments only made Mbaku hold his head even higher.

"The snow-capped mountains are the territory of the White Ape God! Not your Black Panther God! Get out! Don't make me say it a second time!"

Having served the king for so many years, Okoye knew that Mbaku was a brute and incapable of communicating in a situation like this.

On one side were escaped prisoners, and on the other were local tribes. Okoye could only station the royal guards around the area to prevent Lara from escaping again.

Watching the royal guards leave, the once arrogant Mbaku looked towards a corner of the snow-capped mountain. In a place too far for the naked eye to see, Laura was climbing the ice peak.

M'Baku is one of Wakanda's strongest warriors. On the surface, he submits to the rule of King Black Panther, but in reality, the White Ape God is at odds with Black Panther. He doesn't mind using a little help to cause trouble for Black Panther and his minions.

Lara climbed the ice peak from one side of the snow mountain and saw a different view in the darkness: a modern city with high-speed railways running between buildings and aircraft constantly coming and going.

If we need a silhouette of a future city, Wakanda at this moment is the best representative.

Lara covered her mouth. She had seen the Undead Queen, the ancient city of Git guarded by the Undead Guard, and even the legendary city of Patiti, which could trigger the apocalypse.

None of this can compare to the shock I feel right now: in one of the world's most underdeveloped regions, there exists a city with the highest level of modernization and the most futuristic feel.

Before she could look around for long, the white gorilla on her backpack anxiously pointed out the direction for her.

But it was a snow slope bleached white by the moonlight in the darkness. The white gorilla's anxiety prompted Laura to take out her skis, preparing for a nighttime downhill race.

"Alright, little one, I'll get ready as soon as possible! Hopefully, you can guide me in the darkness..."

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Chapter 420: The Price of Technology

Laura, who descended rapidly from the snow-capped mountains at night, did not enter the city. Everyone knows that the more modern a place is, the more surveillance cameras it has.

To avoid the omnipresent surveillance, Laura followed the little white gorilla's directions and arrived at another ravine.

Laura was also puzzled as to why this white gorilla, who clearly had an unusual mind, would bring her here.

But since the other party had shown goodwill and brought her down from the snow mountain, Laura decided to trust them one more time. After all, in unfamiliar territory, these unusual creatures always have special methods.

There was no way out of the ravine, only a platform extending from the gap between the two mountains, and the white gorilla was pointing to that place.

Looking at the smooth cliff face with no foothold, Laura put down her climbing axe and said, "Alright, little guy, you've given me a tough challenge!"

The white orangutan squeaked, its animal limbs allowing it to leap freely between cliffs and precipices. It couldn't understand why the people in front of it couldn't swing through the snow-capped mountains like the people of its own kind it often encountered.

Laura pulled out a gleaming, polished skull and handed it to the white gorilla, saying, "Could you bring this to the platform?"

Laura pointed at the platform, gesturing frantically to the white gorilla. Fortunately, the little guy often interacted with humans on the snowy mountains and could understand the basics.

Carrying the skull, the white gorilla climbed onto the platform that humans couldn't reach, dropped the skull, and peered down at Laura, squeaking.

Laura received the reply, tied a bunch of neatly arranged bones in her backpack with a rope, and began her spellcasting.

Having cooperated with greedy people so many times, Lara has learned some tricks, and the pile of bones in her backpack is one of her insurance policies.

Lara awakened the skeleton, and the other body parts of the Carthus skeleton warrior, summoned by the skull, gradually floated towards the platform on the mountainside, bringing the rope up with them.

The skeleton warrior was assembled. It habitually scratched its shiny bald head, looked at the rope tied to its body, and skillfully found a place to tie the rope tightly.

Lara climbed up the rope from below and high-fived the skeleton (〃￣︶￣) (⊙＿⊙).

"Well done! And you, little one!"

Picking up the white gorilla beside her, Laura looked at the cave in front of her and began to prepare her escape route.

The eerie intelligent creature that guided her, and the entirety of Wakanda exuding an aura of danger—no amount of caution is too much.

Inside the cave, Lara used every means to conceal her presence, carefully exploring forward step by step.

A buzzing sound began to appear intermittently. Laura, hearing the slightly familiar sound, cautiously peeked out from the end of the cave.

'My God! This is an automated mining farm!'

Before Laura's eyes, fully automated mining machines continuously crushed the underground rocks, loaded them onto rails, and at the end of the rails, smelting equipment rapidly screened, cleaned, and fed the mineral powder into the furnace.

In Laura's eyes, those silvery-white metal ingots were loaded onto a fast train and sent to an unknown place.

Wakanda is situated on vibranium veins, which originated from ancient meteorites that brought this special mineral to Earth. Thanks to Wakanda's protection over the years, the outside world has only been able to obtain a small amount of the product.

They possessed mountains of gold, isolating themselves from the outside world.

Laura filmed the scene before her, but she didn't forget her mission. Whether in the ancient city of Kitt or the lost Patiti, the greedy people clearly desired to obtain a mysterious item.

It is the medium for the Queen of Yamatai to achieve immortality, the creator of the immortal guardians of Kit, and also the prophecy of Parthia's destruction and doom.

The last clue points to Wakanda, a strange land where civilization and tribes coexist, and technology and backwardness intertwine.

Laura stealthily moved along the transport tracks until she hid beneath what was clearly a surveillance facility.

The people pacing back and forth in the room above revealed his inner turmoil, until he was interrupted by a loud slamming of the door.

"Don't you know who you are?! How dare you come here!"

"Don't forget who brought all of this here! By your own efforts? How long would it have taken those backward tribes to develop into what they are today!"

The noise above piqued Lara's curiosity; the two men's conversation was clearly filled with disputes over the country of Wakanda.

Laura secretly climbed onto the suspended monitoring room, using her arm strength to secure herself to the side, and quietly peeked out from the corner of the glass.

In just a moment, Laura pulled her head back, but that moment was enough for her to remember what she had seen.

Laura knew the two people arguing very well, because she had done her research beforehand; the aged voice belonged to the current King of Wakanda, T'Chaka.

And another person, whom no one would have guessed, is the world's most wanted criminal! Nick Fury, who is standing right opposite the King of Wakanda.

Nick Fury's voice rejected T'Chaka's expulsion, his words filled with threat: "If I hadn't given you that treasure, your Wakanda would be living on UN aid! Would they be where they are today? Would you, T'Chaka, be where you are today?"

Tchaka's voice was filled with grievance as he argued, "But every time your thing is activated, it costs my people their lives! I'd rather you had never come!"

"But you've never stopped! Stop pretending! Tchaka, you can't let go of any of this! You've gotten used to it all and can't go back to the days when you relied on the United Nations to survive!"

Wakanda as it is today was born from what I gave it; everything here bears my mark! Now it's time to repay me!

Nick Fury paid no attention to T'Chaka's words; at this moment, he was the creditor, and the desperate creditor was trying to recoup his assets.

Laura gradually understood what they were talking about; this was the purpose of her visit.

Ever since Lara received the order from the Greedy Ones in Yamatai, she has been searching for information about this special item.

Legend has it that there are six golden apples, which possess immense power, capable of controlling minds to prolong life, and even allowing one to obtain technology that surpasses the times at the cost of their own life.

T'Chaka's words confirm this: he used the lives of his people to activate the golden apple, which gave Wakanda its unparalleled technological prowess.

Otherwise, it's inexplicable that a tribe in a primitive, warring state could possess such technological prowess. The prerequisites for developing technology from scratch are enough to make a normal country struggle with all its might, let alone a place still in the feudal tribal era.

Laura pressed herself against the wall, listening intently to the conversation inside.

Fury's voice was filled with desire for Wakanda, and his investment in Wakanda left T'Chaka speechless.

Then, Fury said in a seductive tone, "Actually, your tribe doesn't need to pay any more. After all, Wakanda has so many tribes; it's time for them to pay some price for the development of this place..."

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Chapter 421: The Story

Laura was in a daze; she didn't know how she got back to the original cave entrance until the white gorilla's anxious squeaking woke her up.

Stroking the white gorilla's head, Laura asked seriously, "You know all this, right?"