Chapter 32: Results

Chapter 32: Chapter 32: Results

Carol felt like she was in a very strange state.

Her entire body felt weightless, as though she were floating through the air.

At the same time, she couldn’t feel her body at all.

It was as if her soul had separated from her physical form.

Half dream, half reality.

Half awake, half asleep.

Somewhere in the distance, she could hear ceremonial chants being sung in Wakandan.

The voices seemed to drift in and out, echoing from far away.

Then, without warning, the world spun around her.

Everything blurred.

And Carol lost consciousness.

...

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in the middle of a vast grassland.

The sky overhead was dim, bathed in twilight.

The surrounding world was silent.

Almost unnaturally silent.

Directly ahead stood an enormous tree.

Its canopy stretched dozens of meters across, overflowing with lush branches and leaves.

The tree glowed with countless colors, casting shimmering light across the grass.

Carol carefully looked around.

Soon, she noticed something strange.

Her body was transparent.

Looking down, she saw she was still wearing the clothes delivered to her hotel room the previous night.

A T-shirt.

Light blue jeans.

Simple and clean.

She raised her hand and stared at it for a moment.

"I seem to be... some kind of spirit right now?" she muttered to herself.

Just as uncertainty began creeping into her mind, something emerged from the darkness ahead.

A gigantic black panther slowly walked toward her.

Carol froze.

The creature was enormous.

Three stories tall at least.

Nearly twenty meters long.

Its black fur shimmered with a mysterious glow.

Every step it took seemed to shake the earth.

Carol nearly jumped out of her skin.

But then she remembered what Daniel had told her.

There wouldn’t be any danger during the process.

At least, that’s what he’d said.

Gathering her courage, she forced a friendly smile onto her face.

"Hi," she greeted awkwardly.

The giant black panther stopped.

Its eyes, each the size of a large bowl, stared directly at her.

Carol immediately felt a chill run down her spine.

"Hello."

She waved again.

Trying her best to look harmless.

Inside, however, she was already cursing Daniel.

What kind of enhancement was this?

Where had this giant panther come from?

Some sort of genetic mutation?

The moment she got back outside, she was definitely settling accounts with Daniel.

Absolutely.

At that moment, Carol had completely misunderstood him.

Daniel had no idea this would happen either.

In fact, he was currently standing outside regretting the entire decision.

"Mortals. I am a god, not a genetic mutation."

A majestic voice suddenly echoed inside Carol’s mind.

She spun around immediately.

"Who’s there?"

She looked everywhere.

There was nobody else.

Finally, her eyes returned to the giant panther.

Her expression became increasingly stiff.

"Wait... was that you talking?"

Oh no.

This thing could hear her thoughts.

"Correct."

The dignified voice sounded again.

"I am Bast, the Panther Goddess."

The giant panther’s eyes glowed softly.

"You stand within my divine realm. Every thought and action of yours is known to me."

Carol’s face twitched.

Great.

Nothing was private anymore.

Bast continued.

"You are not one of my followers."

"Why, then, do you seek my blessing and ask for my power?"

The Panther Goddess was genuinely confused.

What exactly was happening in Wakanda these days?

Sending a foreign woman here was one thing.

But sending someone who wasn’t even a believer?

Had everyone gone mad?

Did they think granting power was free?

For centuries, Bast had only enhanced mortals because she gained faith in return.

There was a benefit.

A fair exchange.

Now two people had arrived at once.

And one of them wasn’t even a believer.

Wasn’t this a loss?

Had Wakanda fallen apart while she was sleeping?

Countless thoughts flashed through the goddess’s mind.

Her awareness extended into the outside world.

She observed the two chosen inheritors lying buried in the red sand.

Standing nearby were two others.

One of them she recognized.

Decades ago, she had personally granted that man power.

T’Chaka.

The other...

The other she didn’t recognize at all.

Yet the moment she saw him, Bast froze.

’What is this?’

The Panther Goddess stared at Daniel.

For a brief moment, she almost thought she was mistaken.

’This mortal... possesses power capable of killing gods.’

At the very least, in a one on one fight... Bast was fairly certain she would be beaten badly.

The person she was thinking about was Daniel.

Back in the spiritual realm, Carol looked up nervously at the massive eyes staring down at her.

"I honestly don’t know what’s going on," she explained.

"Daniel just told me that drinking the Heart-Shaped Herb would make me stronger. Then I drank it, and somehow ended up here."

"The young man outside is called Daniel?" Bast asked.

"Yeah."

Carol nodded.

"He’s my little brother."

...

The Panther Goddess fell silent.

For a long moment, she said nothing.

Finally, she spoke again.

"Very well, mortal."

"I shall make an exception this time and grant you power."

"You will gain a physique far beyond that of ordinary humans."

"Come here."

Carol hesitated.

Then she carefully raised a hand.

"Um... Goddess Bast?"

"What is it?"

"Can I decline?"

The giant panther blinked.

Carol swallowed nervously.

Honestly, she was a little scared.

This random god had appeared out of nowhere.

Who knew what accepting divine power would do to her?

What if she suddenly turned into a panther?

That would be a complete disaster.

"Receiving my power will not alter your appearance in any way," Bast said flatly.

Carol immediately realized the goddess had read her thoughts again.

At this point, she figured there was no point holding back.

Since her mind was already an open book, she decided to ask directly.

"If I accept your power, will you be able to control me?"

"Will I lose myself?"

"And do I have to start worshipping you afterward?"

The Panther Goddess fell silent again.

For the first time in a very long time, she regretted waking up.

What kind of situation was this?

She was offering divine power.

Divine power!

And this mortal was acting like she was shopping for groceries.

Questioning everything.

Being picky.

Even sounding slightly disgusted.

For a brief moment, Bast felt an urge to swat the woman across the continent.

Her claws twitched.

"No."

The answer was short and direct.

"Oh."

Carol thought for a moment.

"Then how strong will I be?"

"Could I beat Daniel?"

She paused.

Actually, she answered her own question almost immediately.

"Never mind. One look and I know that’s impossible."

"Let’s lower the standard."

"If I punch Daniel, will my hand hurt?"

Bast "..."

The Panther Goddess genuinely didn’t know how to answer that.

Truthfully, she wasn’t entirely sure whether her own claws would hurt if she swiped at Daniel.

Her instincts told her they probably would.

That man was absurdly durable.

Ridiculously durable.

At times, he even felt tougher than Vibranium itself.

And what was wrong with this woman?

Did she think so little of divine power?

Was she looking down on her?

The only reason Bast was even bothering with this was because she’d sensed Daniel’s extraordinary potential.

She wanted to build a positive connection.

Otherwise, why would she waste precious divine energy?

Did people think divine power grew on trees?

The reason gods slept was because power was scarce.

Every bit had to be conserved.

Bast suddenly decided she didn’t want to continue this conversation.

Without warning, she stepped forward.

A massive tongue shot out.

Lick!

Carol was instantly covered in panther slobber from head to toe.

"What are you doing?!"

Carol recoiled in disgust.

Her entire face twisted.

At this point, though, she wasn’t actually afraid anymore.

This Panther Goddess seemed surprisingly easygoing.

The moment the thought crossed her mind, Bast heard it.

Her eyes twitched.

The next second..

SMACK!

One enormous paw slammed into Carol.

She was launched into the distance like a baseball.

Bast watched her disappear across the horizon.

Much better.

Another minute of conversation and she might actually have killed the woman.

"Hmph."

"She dares dislike me."

The Panther Goddess muttered to herself.

After a while, she felt another portion of her divine power drain away.

Her mood worsened immediately.

This time she had enhanced two people.

It was a loss.... definitely a loss.

On the other hand, the young Wakandan boy was clearly one of her devoted believers.

Refusing him would have been unreasonable.

After thinking about it for a moment, Bast suddenly brightened.

"Actually... perhaps it isn’t a loss."

She glanced once more at Daniel outside.

The more she looked, the more satisfied she became.

After all, the woman she had empowered was Daniel’s sister.

If one day she ended up fighting those rival gods again...

Wouldn’t Daniel naturally be dragged into it?

Such a powerful warrior.

Durable, strong, capable of incredible damage.

Exactly the kind of champion every god wanted.

Just imagining Daniel punching those rival deities into the ground made her feel better.

"Not a loss."

"Definitely not a loss."

The Panther Goddess comforted herself.

...

Outside, Carol and T’Challa suddenly sat upright at the exact same moment.

Red sand exploded into the air.

The attendants nearby stumbled backward in surprise.

Daniel immediately rushed forward.

"Carol!"

He grabbed her shoulders and looked her over.

"How do you feel?"

"Everything okay?"

Carol stared at him.

Silently.

Expressionlessly.

Daniel suddenly had a bad feeling.

Carol didn’t want to answer him at all.

This scammer of a little brother.

He’d nearly scared her to death.

That giant panther was enormous. If it had gotten hungry, one bite probably would have been enough to swallow her whole.

After checking herself carefully, however, she realized nothing seemed wrong.

Her body hadn’t changed, at least not visibly.

But she felt incredible, every muscle felt full of energy.

Power surged through her body like electricity.

Then a grin slowly appeared on her face.

Daniel instinctively took a step back.

That grin wasn’t reassuring.

Not at all.

The next second, Carol flipped out of the sand pit in one smooth motion.

Like a missile, she lunged straight at Daniel.

"I want to punch you right now!"

"Stand still!"

"Don’t move!"

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