Since the scenery of Wakanda was so beautiful from high up, Bucky and Leo werenât in a hurry to land on the ground.
Instead, they discussed briefly and decided to fly low around the edge of the shield, circling Wakanda to admire the beauty and familiarize themselves with the terrain while gathering some basic intelligence.
Nonetheless, Leo was holding onto Buckyâs arm the entire time. For a short while, it was manageable for Bucky, but as time passed it became increasingly uncomfortable.
After flying for a while, Bucky couldnât resist making a slight complaint, âLeo, can you upgrade my suit too when youâre free? I want to fly too.â
Before Leo could respond, he suggested based on his own understanding, âI know I canât handle the Intracranial Transmission Technology, but I figure you can help me build a powerful flying device, like the drone earlier. Then, using your shrinking tech, you can shrink the device down to the size of a thumbnail and put it on my suit. That way, I can fly wherever I want in my own specially designed-aircraft without needing you to carry me like youâre doing now.â
Leoâs eyes suddenly lit up as he looked at Bucky in amazement, âThatâs a great idea! I didnât even think of that. I can definitely make one for you and try it out.â
Bucky humbly replied, âI just came up with this idea when I was lying on the drone earlier. Besides, after seeing so much advanced technology these past few days, I feel like I need to keep up with the times and learn to think divergently!â
Nodding approvingly, Leo gave Bucky a thumbs-up.
It seemed that Leoâs thinking was still limited by the Ant-Man movies from his past life. He believed that the Ant-Man suit should prioritize lightness and mobility, and there was no need for space to install a flying module.
So, if one wanted to fly, they either had to ride an ant or make a pair of wings.
After all, in the movies, Scott Lang often flew around on a carpenter ant named Antony while Wasp could fly thanks to the wings on her back.
Regardless, there were tons of options for flying while wearing the Ant-Man suit. For example, as suggested by Bucky, creating a tiny aircraft would be a good choice. But for now, creating a flying machine wasnât feasible in a short amount of time. Although Leoâs weapons, such as the Hummingbird drone could be shrunk and could fly, they werenât equipped with a cockpit.
Thus, Buckyâs dream of soaring in the sky wasnât achievable right now and still required Leo to carry him. But constantly pulling Buckyâs shoulder was both ungraceful and troublesome.
So Leo slightly enlarged himself to be about the size of a ladybug. At this point, one of his hands was about the size of Buckyâs body.
Gently placing Bucky in his palm, he said, âFor now, youâll have to sit in my palm. After we finish this mission, Iâll help you build a flying vehicle.â
Bucky nodded and held onto Leoâs finger to steady himself. Next, Leo carried him and circled Wakanda at a low altitude, providing them with a basic understanding of the countryâs geography.
Combining this knowledge with the simplified map given by Ulysses, Leo had already pinpointed the location of the Vibranium mine.
However, Buckyâs thought process and priorities were different from Leoâs. He said, âLeo, I donât know if you noticed, but we just circled the outer perimeter of Wakanda and passed at least twelve temporary Wakandan warrior squads.â
âReally?â
âOf course! Didnât you see them?!â
Leo truly hadnât noticed them at all and began to rack his brain, trying to recall any signs of the squads. No matter how hard he tried, all he could conjure in his mind were the large aircraft near the Vibranium mine and the towing iron spires encircling Wakanda. There were 99 spires in total, each about twenty meters high, and they radiated a bluish-purple glow, the color of Vibranium.
This led Leo to surmise that the spires were Wakandaâs shield generators. As for the ground level, he wasnât certain if there were any temporary squads stationed thereâŠ
Well, he was too fascinated by those magical machines that he didnât have the attention to spare for the ground.
Fortunately, Bucky had a military background and was sensitive to the details of camping and marching, noticing things that Leo didnât. Right now, he couldnât help but marvel at how each profession has its own expertise! If he had come alone today, he would have missed a lot of details.
With this in mind, he reaffirmed his strategic policy of ârecruiting more talented individuals to his camp.â
âWakanda has stationed a lot of squads on the border. Their camps must have information about the recent battles,â said Bucky, looking down as his gaze swept between the tall and low buildings. âLeo, I want to check those camps out.â
After a momentâs thought, Leo replied, âSure, Iâll drop you off on the ground and then you can quietly gather information on whatâs happening in Wakanda. Iâll look for the Vibranium, if anything pops up, just ring me up.â
Bucky nodded, agreeing to Leoâs plan. Afterward, Leo guided Bucky to a small campsite near the bushes, where he landed and shrank to a size similar to Bucky.
Bucky, with his Super Soldier Physique and now reduced size, had explosive strength and easily hopped onto the tip of a blade of grass, peering forward with the leaf in his grip. Following suit, Leo also jumped onto the blade of grass but realized that he couldnât see anythingâŠ
âAfter shrinking, my field of vision is too poor. I canât see anything,â grumbled Bucky before turning to Leo and saying, âLeo, Iâm going to sneak into their camp. You go and find Vibranium, donât worry about me.â
âBe careful.â
âAlright.â Bucky nodded before leaping and running towards a nearly military camp, performing an impressive display of acrobatics on the blades of grass along the way.
Leo watched as Bucky disappeared until his sight was finally obstructed by the blades of grass. Then, he sprang up from the leaf, igniting his Anti-gravity Pulse Blasters and flying towards the Vibranium mine that he had located earlier.
As he no longer needed to worry about Buckyâs balance, his flight speed was extremely fast this time. In no time, he flew to the entrance of the Vibranium mine, which was located in a mountain pass in the north of Wakanda.
After years of mining and transportation, the entrance of the mine had been widened significantly, forming a circular shape with a diameter of about thirty meters, allowing Wakandan transport aircraft to freely enter and exit.
When Leo flew directly above the entrance, a transport aircraft suddenly flow out of the mine soundlessly. He swiftly moved aside dozens of meters to give way to the aircraft and then watched it intently.
The appearance of the transport aircraft was similar to the âAll-purpose Droneâ that he analyzed earlier but in a smaller version. Its flight power module also was glowing blue, showing that it was powered by Vibranium and used pulse for lifting. It was because of this that the aircraft could fly soundlessly unlike the noise made by civilian aircraft. And it also didnât require a runway for takeoff and landing, making it extremely convenient.
This kind of aircraft was no different from the spacecraft that Leo had in mind. He was certain that with Wakandaâs current technology, building spacecraft capable of leaving Earth would be a piece of cake.
Frankly speaking, Wakandaâs level of technology had long since reached the level of space technology, far beyond civilian technology!
The transport aircraft slowly rose, then rapidly accelerated when it was about fifty meters off the ground, flying towards the center of Wakandaâs city.
Looking at the departing transport aircraft, Leoâs eyes were filled with blazing light when he turned back to look at the entrance of the mine.
âWakandaâs black technology! Here I come!â Leo shouted inwardly.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Viper Mark VIII instantly accelerated and he dived into the entrance of the mine.