American Comics: Tales of Cultivator

**Chapter 150: T'Chaka's Requirement**

Inside Nick Fury's Office

"Director, we've interrogated him for a long time, used all sorts of methods, including Truth Serum. Brock Rumlow has received training to resist this kind of thing; he still hasn't spoken!"

Nick Fury stood by the window, looking at the distant scenery, a sharp glint flashing in his single eye.

"Hill, if he hasn't spoken, it means he's indeed hiding something he doesn't want us to know.

I remember we have a Telepath Mutant locked up in The Raft, don't we? Find a way to get him out without the prison guards knowing.

No matter what method you use, you must pry open Crossbones' mouth!"

"Officer!" Agent Hill hesitated for a moment. "Brock's memory contains many of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s classified files. Letting a Telepath steal his memories... won't that..."

"Agent Hill!" Nick Fury turned his head, his single eye carrying a hint of ruthlessness.

"Now is not the time for soft-heartedness!"

Hill looked at Nick Fury's gaze, understood his plan, nodded without speaking further, and turned to leave, intending to carry out Nick Fury's order! S.H.I.E.L.D.'s The Raft is not a real island, but a maritime prison converted from a retired aircraft carrier.

This maritime prison holds the serious offenders S.H.I.E.L.D. has arrested over the years, especially Mutants with Supernatural Powers.

They are all held here, wearing shackles that suppress their Mutant Abilities.

The prison's lack of a fixed position makes it impossible for those attempting a prison break to locate The Raft.

And the vast Ocean surrounding it is the best barrier to prevent prisoners from escaping.

Even for their own people, it's not a simple matter to get someone out of this prison without the guards knowing.

Buzz buzz buzz...

Shortly after Agent Hill pushed the door open and left, the encrypted phone on Nick Fury's office desk suddenly rang.

He walked over, looked at the unfamiliar video on the mobile phone, hesitated for a few seconds, then answered the video call.

"Director Fury! Haven't seen you in a few days, you look well!"

In the video, in a laboratory full of technology, the fat Black King of Wakanda, T'Chaka, greeted Nick Fury with a smile.

Nick Fury looked at T'Chaka in the video, didn't speak, but put the mobile phone aside, walked over, and checked the office door lock.

After confirming that Hill had closed the door tightly and it indeed couldn't be opened from the outside, he picked up the mobile phone that was face down on the desk.

"Your Majesty, our agreement has been completed. I have reported the forged Soviet nuclear missile data to the Security Council. I presume the peace talks you anticipated will begin soon! According to the agreement, you have violated our agreement of non-interference!"

T'Chaka looked at Nick Fury, whose complexion wasn't very good. "Don't get agitated, Director Fury. You completed your matters as agreed, and our Wakanda Intelligence Agency also found over a dozen Hydra strongholds for you. We are even!"

"This time I'm looking for you to meet someone!"

T'Chaka turned the communicator's camera in front of him, revealing the experiment table before him. On the clean white experiment table, a one-armed man, naked from the waist up with disheveled hair, lay quietly.

A young black girl was using something like a shining pen to flip open the one-armed man's eyelids!

"Who is he?"

Nick Fury looked at the one-armed man lying on the experiment table, feeling some doubt.

"An acquaintance of yours, Director Fury!"

T'Chaka reached out and swiped on the virtual screen in front of him, quickly sending a clear frontal photo to Nick Fury.

"Sergeant Barnes!"

Although the man on the experiment table's appearance had changed significantly, Nick Fury, an experienced agent trained in memory, recognized his identity at a glance.

"Didn't he die?!"

T'Challa examined Nick Fury's surprised expression through the communicator. "Apparently, he didn't. Just yesterday, he led a team of soldiers trying to infiltrate Wakanda through a Secret Passage. Unfortunately, we were prepared!"

"Whose man is he?" Nick Fury looked at Bucky lying on the experiment table, thinking of the man who was still recovering.

Thinking about the rumored relationship between the two, he felt a faint headache.

"Your old Rival, Hydra!"

T'Chaka said, "We examined his body functions. He has clearly been modified; his body functions are very strong in all aspects. At the same time, we monitored his brainwaves and found that his brainwaves were artificially interfered with!"

Nick Fury was somewhat confused. "What do you mean?"

"He has been brainwashed, and severely, many times. Poor thing, he's just a human form killing machine now!"

The young black girl beside him chimed in.

A modified killing machine, obedient... Nick Fury's single eye lit up. "Your Majesty, could you hand him over to S.H.I.E.L.D.? You should know that Sergeant Barnes was once a member of the Howling Commandos..."

A hint of a successful smile flashed across T'Chaka's fat face. He was waiting for Nick Fury to say that.

"Director Fury, yesterday this Winter Soldier led a team into Wakanda. Although most of them were captured by us, they also stole a batch of our vibranium ore!"

Thinking of the vibranium ore that was lost despite being fully prepared, T'Chaka felt a pang of heartache.

Who could have imagined that Hydra's people would split into two groups, throwing out the Winter Soldier as a decoy?

They sent another group to raid the Vibranium warehouse.

Judging by their familiarity and knowledge of the Vibranium warehouse's position.

The real killers behind the two instances of vibranium ore loss were indeed Hydra's people; there's no doubt about it.

"How much is that batch of vibranium ore worth?" Nick Fury looked at T'Chaka's expression,

His face twitched, preparing himself for a major drain on his personal vault.

"They stole one ton of vibranium ore. According to the current price of vibranium on the Black Market, this batch of vibranium ore is worth ten billion US Dollars!"

After stating the price, T'Chaka looked at Nick Fury with an expression that said he was waiting for the money.

Nick Fury's black face, which usually wouldn't change expression even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, twisted. For a moment, he wondered if he had misheard.

"How much?!" he demanded.

"Ten billion US Dollars!" T'Chaka said grandly. "There was some change in the lost vibranium, but since we have a common enemy, I'll waive the change for you!"

Nick Fury looked at T'Chaka's face, which was even blacker than his own, and suddenly felt an urge to also go and rob Wakanda.

Ten billion US Dollars, even if he embezzled the World Security Council's appropriations to S.H.I.E.L.D. every year and diverted the shares dividends from several high-tech companies.

His personal vault still hadn't accumulated ten billion...

"Ahem, Your Majesty, you also know that things are not peaceful within S.H.I.E.L.D. right now. Sergeant Barnes should stay with you for now. I'll pick him up after my matters here are resolved!"

Nick Fury vividly demonstrated what it means for poverty to dampen ambition. Facing T'Chaka, his voice dropped a few tones.

There was nothing he could do. He had originally thought it would cost at most a few million US Dollars to redeem Bucky, but he hadn't expected the conversion unit to exceed his imagination.

Ten billion US Dollars for one Bucky? That money would be enough for him to build another Helicarrier with air conditioning.

"Hahaha..." T'Chaka laughed, waving his hand.

"I was just joking with Director Fury. Sergeant Barnes was someone who contributed to the anti-Fascist cause back then. How could I possibly trade him for money?

It's just vibranium worth ten billion US Dollars, consider it a gift to Director Fury!"

"Bah!" Looking at T'Chaka pretending to be generous, Nick Fury cursed inwardly. "You should actually give it! The vibranium was stolen by others, and you're using it to do someone a favor? What's so generous about that!"

At the same time, Nick Fury looked at T'Chaka, feeling extremely wary. They were both old foxes.

Nick Fury knew deeply that there were no free lunches in the world.

"Director Fury, not long ago, I talked with several representatives from the Security Council and high-level staff from various countries. Some matters reached a stalemate, so the peace talks were not successful! I don't think Director Fury would mind lending a hand for world peace!"

Indeed, Nick Fury's guess was correct. T'Chaka changed the subject and presented his conditions.

"Your Majesty is joking. S.H.I.E.L.D. is just an agency under the Security Council. Let alone influencing the decisions of the major powers, even with the World Security Council, I am powerless!"

Nick Fury looked wary at T'Chaka, deflecting while also feeling some curiosity.

"Your Majesty, may I ask at what point your negotiations with the Security Council reached a stalemate?"

T'Chaka smiled. "I agreed to the Security Council's requirement to export vibranium ore. Additionally, I can also appropriately provide some technology for vibranium development!"

"What are your requirements?" Nick Fury asked! T'Chaka rubbed his large belly. "Oh, nothing much. I just want the World Security Council to add a seat..."

Listening to T'Chaka's audacious words, Nick Fury felt a sense of suffocation.

Adding a seat to the World Security Council? Do you know the weight of that seemingly light sentence?

Nick Fury felt an urge to grab T'Chaka by the neck and ask him properly.

"King T'Chaka, I truly cannot help you with this matter. Let alone me, even the Secretary of the World Security Council would have no method to help you..."

"The current world structure was completely fixed after WWII. You are now holding a knife and fork, preparing to sit at the table; it's too late!"

(end of chapter)