Chapter 33: Carol’s Frustration

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Carol’s Frustration

"Stop running!"

Carol shouted as she chased after Daniel.

She was furious.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt she’d been completely tricked.

Daniel had only told her that he knew a way to make her stronger.

Trusting him, she’d followed along without asking too many questions.

The next thing she knew, she’d been dragged all the way to Africa.

Then she’d discovered an unbelievably advanced hidden nation.

She was still trying to process that shock when she’d been talked into drinking juice squeezed from something called a Heart-Shaped Herb.

And not just drinking it.

Drinking it while buried in a sand pit.

Honestly, Carol could tolerate all of that.

But that final lick from the Panther Goddess?

That was where she drew the line.

The memory alone made her want to explode.

That enormous tongue had covered her entire face.

Even though it happened in some weird spiritual realm, it had felt disgustingly real.

The moment she’d woken up, she’d decided Daniel was going to pay for it.

The instant Daniel heard Carol yelling that she wanted to punch him, he turned around and ran.

Immediately.

No hesitation whatsoever.

What a joke.

He was Superman.

He had a reputation to maintain.

There were so many people watching.

Standing still and letting Carol punch him, even if it didn’t hurt it would be embarrassing.

Pain wasn’t the issue.

His dignity was.

Strategic retreat!

So the two of them disappeared from the cave in a chaotic chase, one running and the other pursuing.

Left behind was the king, who had been about to greet Carol with a smile.

Now he looked somewhat miserable.

His hair was full of red sand.

Ever since temporarily surrendering the power of the Black Panther for the ceremony, he no longer possessed enhanced reflexes.

When Carol and T’Challa had burst out of the sand pits moments ago, sand had flown everywhere.

He hadn’t managed to dodge.

The king brushed some sand off his shoulders and sighed.

"I’m getting old."

He couldn’t help reminiscing about his younger days.

Back then, he would’ve avoided that easily.

One quick movement and not a grain of sand would’ve touched him.

Just as he was mourning the passing of his youth.

"Father!"

T’Challa suddenly leaped out of the pit.

A fresh shower of sand exploded into the air.

And landed directly on the king.

Again.

The king "..."

He had literally just cleaned himself off.

Silently enduring the injustice, he brushed away the new layer of sand and looked at his son.

"How do you feel, my son?"

T’Challa’s eyes were shining with excitement.

"Amazing!"

"I’ve never felt this good before!"

He clenched his fists tightly.

The muscles in his arms tensed instinctively.

"It feels like my whole body is overflowing with power."

"So this is the strength of the Black Panther?"

"Yes."

The king smiled proudly.

"This is the power that has protected Wakanda for generations."

"It’s incredible!"

T’Challa exclaimed.

"This is incredible!"

The excitement on his face was impossible to hide.

After watching his son’s reaction, the king nodded in satisfaction.

Then he asked something else.

"My son, did you meet our Panther Goddess?"

"I did."

T’Challa nodded.

"But..."

The king blinked.

"But what?"

T’Challa scratched his head.

"The Panther Goddess didn’t seem very happy."

"She didn’t really say much."

"She licked me once... then kicked me out with a paw."

The king froze.

"..."

For a moment, he wasn’t sure what to say.

Eventually, he forced a smile.

"Perhaps... the Great Bast was very busy today."

Even he wasn’t convinced by that explanation.

Today’s events had become stranger and stranger.

Originally, he’d been certain Carol wouldn’t receive the Panther Goddess’s blessing.

The secret passed down through Wakanda’s kings was known only to the royal line.

The Heart-Shaped Herb alone wasn’t enough.

Only those acknowledged by Bast could truly gain the Black Panther’s power.

That was why T’Chaka had agreed so easily.

As far as he was concerned, there was no risk.

He had fulfilled his promise by providing the herb.

If Carol failed to gain power afterward, nobody could blame him.

Yet judging by the speed with which she’d launched herself out of the pit moments ago...

There was no doubt.

She had succeeded.

Which made no sense.

Historically, hadn’t only followers of Bast ever received her blessing?

The king couldn’t understand it.

"Father," T’Challa suddenly asked, "there’s something I don’t understand."

"What is it?"

"Why did you allow Carol to participate in the ceremony?"

"Just like Priest Badu said, doesn’t that violate thousands of years of tradition?"

The king looked at his son for a long moment.

Then he smiled faintly.

"That is something you’ll need to discover for yourself."

"When the day comes that you understand the answer, you’ll be ready to become a true king."

T’Challa thought about it carefully.

Although he still didn’t understand, he trusted his father completely.

"Okay, Father."

He nodded obediently.

If his father didn’t want to explain, he wouldn’t continue asking.

But he silently committed the question to memory.

One day, he would find the answer himself.

...

By this point, Daniel and Carol had long since left the cave behind.

Daniel deliberately controlled his speed.

He wasn’t flying.

Nor was he running at full power.

Instead, he stayed just slightly ahead of Carol.

Fast enough that she couldn’t catch him.

Slow enough that she could keep up.

The truth was, he was observing her.

Using his enhanced vision, he carefully examined every part of her body while running.

The results surprised him.

Carol was perfectly healthy.

Every organ.

Every muscle.

Every bone.

Everything looked completely normal.

There wasn’t the slightest sign of damage.

The enhancement had succeeded.

Daniel found that hard to believe.

After learning that the Black Panther’s power came directly from Bast’s blessing, he’d actually given up hope.

In fact, he’d spent the entire ceremony worrying something might happen to Carol.

He’d even been mentally preparing a backup plan.

If Carol got hurt...

He was absolutely throwing T’Chaka off the mountain.

No negotiations.

Yet not only had Carol survived, she’d successfully gained power.

Looking at her now, her speed had already surpassed normal humans by a huge margin.

The two of them sprinted across the mountain slopes as if the rough terrain didn’t exist.

Their speed had easily exceeded one hundred kilometers per hour.

Soon, Daniel reached the summit.

He finally stopped and turned around.

"You should give up."

"You can’t catch me."

Carol glared at him.

"Then don’t stop running."

"Keep going if you’ve got the guts."

Daniel grinned.

"I actually can."

With his stamina, running around Earth hundreds, or even thousands of times wasn’t a problem.

Carol became even angrier.

"Hmph!"

How had she never noticed how annoying Daniel was?

If she’d known he would turn out like this, she would’ve beaten him up more often when they were kids.

Now look at him.

She couldn’t win anymore.

"You tricked me," she accused.

"How did I trick you?"

Daniel spread his hands innocently.

"Look at you now. You’re way stronger than before."

There was no way he was admitting he’d brought her to Wakanda before fully understanding how the enhancement process worked.

Not happening.

"You don’t know a damn thing!"

Carol snapped.

"After I drank that Heart-Shaped Herb juice, I ended up in some grassland."

"Then a giant panther the size of a three-story building walked up to me and claimed it was a god!"

Daniel’s eyes lit up.

"Oh?"

"What happened next?"

To be honest, he was fascinated.

The gods in his memories looked more like Thor, big, muscular guys who swung hammers around.

A giant panther deity was definitely new.

"Then that panther started saying a bunch of confusing things."

Carol’s expression darkened.

"And then it licked me."

Daniel blinked.

"That’s it?"

"That’s it?"

Carol nearly exploded.

"I still feel uncomfortable thinking about it!"

"That tongue was enormous!"

"Do you know how disgusting that felt?"

Daniel thought about it.

A giant panther’s spiritual tongue covering someone’s soul in divine saliva...

Yeah.

That sounded pretty rough.

"Okay."

He nodded sympathetically.

"You’ve suffered."

Finally, someone understood.

Carol felt slightly better.

Then Daniel continued.

"So I’ll let you punch me once."

"Huh?"

Carol blinked.

Daniel smiled.

"I want to test how strong you’ve become."

"Really?"

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Really."

"Fine."

Carol immediately accepted.

"Then stand still."

She bent her knees slightly.

The next moment, she leaped forward and landed directly in front of him.

Crack.

Crack.

She squeezed her fists, producing a series of cracking sounds from her knuckles.

A dangerous smile appeared on her face.

"Don’t cry afterward."

Carol could feel the power flowing through her body.

For the first time, she genuinely believed she might be able to hurt Daniel.

At least a little.

"Don’t worry."

Daniel patted his stomach.

"I won’t."

"Good."

Carol inhaled deeply.

"Here I come!"

The instant she finished speaking, her fist shot forward.

Straight toward Daniel’s abdomen.

BOOM!

The impact produced a loud explosion-like sound.

Carol’s enhanced strength was no joke.

The force behind the punch would’ve sent an ordinary person flying.

Then....

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

A scream echoed across the mountain peak.

Unfortunately, it didn’t come from Daniel.

It came from Carol.

Her face instantly turned pale.

Tears almost burst from her eyes.

"It hurts!"

"It hurts so much!"

The pain was indescribable.

It felt exactly like accidentally stubbing her toe.

That horrible, soul crushing agony.

Only worse.... much worse.

She quickly looked down at her hand.

As expected... her fist had swollen immediately.

It was puffed up like a steamed bun.

Carol stared at her injured hand.

Then at Daniel.

Then back at her hand.

Her eyes became red with grievance.

She looked moments away from crying.

"Daniel..."

Her voice trembled.

"You are not human!"