Heart-Shaped Herb

"Ah—!" Just as Batroc's footwork became somewhat chaotic, struggling more and more, a furious roar sounded from within the dense forest. Following that, the heavy pounding of footsteps echoed, accompanied by the sound of numerous trees snapping.

Rough and direct, like a rampaging beast, the Red Tank disregarded the terrain and began to accelerate through the woods.

In the midst of its sprint, the Red Tank's muscles swelled once again, bulging the half-body armor it wore. Atop its head was a somewhat comical circular metal helmet, tightly enclosing its head and making its eyes appear small.

Emerging from the forest, Red Tank's steps didn't slow down; instead, it increased in speed. Its height, originally three meters, seemed to grow more, making it appear around four meters tall, like an oncoming giant mountain.

Staring fiercely at Storm, Red Tank seemed focused on crushing her into dust.

With a powerful roar, Storm summoned a massive bolt of lightning from the sky, resembling a broadsword that cut through the heavens. It created a blinding streak of light accompanied by a deafening roar, striking Red Tank's head directly.

A resounding explosion followed. Due to the close proximity, the participants on the scene were momentarily deprived of their hearing and vision.

Storm was accustomed to dealing with lightning every day, and her passive ability allowed her to perceive various natural phenomena related to lightning. In her astonished gaze, she noticed that Red Tank had suffered no damage at all from the attack. His speed had even increased.

Storm possessed formidable attack power, that much was certain. However, she was a typical mage turret, strong in offense but lacking in defense, with long cast times for her skills.

Facing Red Tank, which had grown to around four meters tall due to its running and charging directly at them, Storm realised that her altitude was too low. She hurriedly attempted to ascend, but as a wind-powered flyer, shifting from controlling lightning to controlling wind took too long in her urgent state, and she couldn't take flight.

With the impending collision that would turn her into a mass of flesh and blood, to the point that even Charles Xavier woudn't recognise her anymore.

However, Storm's new "best friend", Daisy, took action.

Daisy had a general understanding of Red Tank's abilities and knew that tackling it head-on with brute force wasn't an option. She had been monitoring its movements through frequencies early on.

Originally planning to save Black Panther, the plan had to change. Daisy activated her full power, becoming like an arrow released from its bowstring. She accelerated in two steps, arriving beside Storm in an instant. With a running start, she leaped and tackled Storm to the side.

Daisy had been calculating teleportations daily, unconsciously enhancing her mathematical abilities. She calculated various forces with great precision. Although her speed decreased slightly, she managed to bypass the head-on impact. As a result, Red Tank brushed past them and continued forward.

The powerful shockwave from the impact did affect them somewhat. Storm, who lacked physical constitution, was easily knocked aside, while Daisy, aiming to make her actions appear genuine, deliberately suffered some of the impact and broke several bones. She spat out a mouthful of blood near Storm, then pretended to be unconscious while holding onto the silver-haired beauty.

Black Panther's furious roar echoed in their ears, along with the relentless footsteps of the Red Tank. The bald female guards had a strong camaraderie among them. Two of them split off to rescue Daisy and Storm.

However, to their surprise, Daisy held onto Storm tightly, even in her "unconscious" state. This act of devotion left the female guards impressed by the depth of their friendship, and they had no choice but to carry both of them away together.

Soon after, a series of earth-shaking roars followed. Black Panther had decided not to rely solely on his own combat skills to deal with the enemy. He called for Wakandan fighter jets and used advanced weaponry to repel the Red Tank. The group retreated all the way back to Wakanda, carrying the wounded.

Daisy still held onto Storm, both of them lying on a specially designed stretcher.

To prevent any vulnerabilities, Daisy shielded most of her senses and suppressed her brainwaves, making it seem like she was on the brink of death. Despite the impact being nothing to her after over a year of studying forces and reactions, she feigned unconsciousness. On the other hand, Storm's injuries were genuine and severe.

The aircraft landed urgently at the palace, and after examination by the court physicians, they shook their heads in helplessness. The injuries of the two women were too severe, and they had lost any chance of recovery. Their lives could be sustained for only a few more minutes.

Daisy patiently waited for T'Challa to make a decision. It had to be said that Black Panther was a good man.

Without any internal struggle, T'Challa dismissed the doctors and ordered a few female guards to carry the two women with him. They took a detour around the palace and headed for the back mountains.

On the way, Daisy heard people attempting to obstruct them, citing royal traditions and orders from the queen. However, without exception, T'Challa's firm commands repelled them.

It seemed that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship was a difficult issue. Initially, Daisy was worried about being implicated, but thankfully, T'Challa had strong principles and disregarded his mother's orders. He led the group into the depths of the mountains.

Throughout the entire ordeal, the old king never appeared. Daisy was highly skeptical of his claim of ignorance. With her limited political knowledge, she deduced that the old king was likely avoiding political risks and planned to shift the blame onto his son if anything went wrong.

However, Daisy didn't mind too much. Pretending not to know could also be a form of support.

"Bring the Heart-Shaped Herb, two of them!" T'Challa, accompanied by the female guards, rushed into a cave and loudly ordered the priest inside.

Daisy understood these two Wakandan phrases: "Heart-Shaped Herb, two of them!" She was overjoyed. As the guards set both women down, Daisy, as if her muscle strength had been exhausted, released her grip on Storm.

Seeing that no one was stopping them, the priest seemed to understand the situation. He hastily retrieved two Heart-Shaped Herbs and handed them to T'Challa.