The noise in the laboratory came and went swiftly.
In just half a minute, the scientists conducting experiments stopped their work as if they had received a command, and hurried to the lab entrance, queuing neatly in two rows. It was only then Leo noticed how many people were in the lab. There were at least fifty scientists in white lab coats or short skirts, standing in formation at the entrance.
Intrigued by the sudden change of events, he stood atop a Vibranium fridge to get a better view of the entrance.
The entrance was a horizontal corridor, and from his perspective, he couldnât see anything. His anticipation grew as he wondered what could abruptly appear from the corridorâs corner.
One second.
Two seconds.
âŠ
Ten seconds.
Finally, a figure appeared at the corner of the corridor.
It was a bald woman!
And she was dark-skinned, with muscular arms reflected in an oily sheen, dressed in a sleeveless strange material armor of red and yellow. She also wore a peculiar metal scarf around her neck with an unusual design.
Leo instantly recognized her as a member of Dora Milaje. Her attire and appearance were just like the ones he had seen in the movie âBlack Pantherâ in his past life, except that she lacked a spear in her hand. Her dress was so eye-catching that he couldnât even mistake her identity if he tried!
After the first bald woman, came the second, third, and fourth.
A total of four bald females gradually emerged from the corner of the corridor and took up a guarding position in a square shape in front of the laboratory door. Their aggressive and domineering posture indicated the one following them should be the current king of Wakanda.
As expected, it was King TâChaka who appeared right behind them.
He was dressed in casual black clothes, with a buzz cut and a goatee. The shine on his forehead was even brighter than the four guardsâ bald heads.
Was the king here to inspect the laboratory?
What a coincidence.
However, more and more people started emerging from the corner of the corridor. Most of them were children, all with the same skin tone, making it difficult for Leo to discern their ages. He could only make a rough estimate, assuming that the older ones were no more than fifteen years old, while the younger ones looked like they were not even eight yet.
This strange phenomenon made Leo start to doubt his initial assumptions.
Could this place not be a laboratory, but rather a Wakandan elementary and junior high school?
And was the king also the principal of the elementary and junior high school, even working as a part-time babysitter every day?! If so, Wakanda was truly a unique place!
Despite his nonsensical thoughts, Leo was still sure that the building he was in, at the bottom of the mine, was indeed a lab. So he became increasingly curious as to why this group of children had come with the king!
At this moment, a middle-aged woman dressed as a supervisor warmly greeted King TâChaka with a Wakandan greeting. Then TâChaka started chatting with the female supervisor. Occasionally, he pointed to the children behind him, and occasionally, he gestured towards the lab, his face full of smiles and without any royal airs.
Unfortunately, Leo couldnât understand the Wakandan language and could only guess wildly, but his guesses were illogical and useless.
Two minutes later the female supervisor and TâChaka chatted happily, and she waved to a group of assistants wearing white lab coats, who then led nearly a hundred children into the lab.
The children were cheering and jumping like Leo did when he attended interest classes as a child. Perhaps these children were here to visit the lab?
But with the king personally leading them here, Leo couldnât help but feel that these children shouldnât be attending interest classes, but instead, they should be attending political classes!
Nonetheless, the reality wasnât something he could decide. This group of children did come to attend the researching interest class that was held once every two weeks, and it just happened to coincide with the arrival of TâChaka.
Wakanda was a small country, and the distinction between the ruler and the people wasnât so obvious. Even the sons of miners and the princes attended the same elementary school because there was only one in the country.
Therefore, there was no tradition of dispersing the bystander in advance before the king of Wakanda arrived. As a result, TâChaka met with the students who came to the interest class, and they headed into the lab together, which was the scene that Leo witnessed.
After the group of nearly a hundred children entered the lab, they were divided into ten teams and led by ten people in white lab coats to different experiment rooms.
Among these children, two caught Leoâs attention in particular.
One was a little girl with braided hair that looked like she had just turned ten years old, albeit he wasnât sure as he was not good at distinguishing the ages of black children. He noticed her because while the other children were grouped with adults, she was being led by a researcher to the Holographic Simulation Workbench beside him.
Thrilled and skilled, the little girl pulled a stone stool and climbed onto it, waving her small dark hands over the Holographic Simulation Workbench, and brought up a⊠complex holographic model of an aircraft!
She wasnât messing around, as she had five scientists standing behind her, including the male and female who had argued about the spear six hours earlier. All five were fixated on the Holographic Simulation Workbench, occasionally glancing at the little girl with a mixture of envy and⊠admiration!
A ten-year-old who can design an aircraft! She was even more of a genius than Tony Stark!
Seeing this, Leo also figured out the identity of the little girl. She must be Princess Shuri, the brilliant talent of Wakanda and the daughter of King TâChaka. Thinking of this, he carefully examined the girlâs face again. Indeed, women change drastically as they grow up. He couldnât find a trace of resemblance on the girlâs face.
Besides the little girl, another child that caught his attention was a sturdy-looking little boy.
The boy was about twelve or thirteen years old and didnât follow the other children to different labs. Instead, he stood next to King TâChaka.
TâChaka bent down and spoke to the boy for a while, but the boy stubbornly shook his head and instead held onto TâChakaâs clothes.
Not only did the boyâs affectionate behavior with TâChaka caught Leoâs attention, but his striking resemblance to TâChakaâs face also made it impossible for Leo to look away. Without a doubt, this child was TâChakaâs son, Prince TâChalla.
It was unknown why TâChalla stuck to his fatherâs side instead of playing with the other kids.
Unable to resist, Leo complained. If the prince and princess didnât mingle with the other children, then how should their father maintain the excellent tradition of the royal family being close to commoners?
Since TâChaka was unable to persuade his son to leave, he let him stay by his side. Affectionately rubbing his sonâs head, he exchanged a few words with the female supervisor in the Wakandan language before they walked together toward a deeper part of the lab.
The lab was actually quite extensive, and it took Leo six hours to analyze the instruments and equipment in the current room. But wherever the king went must be of greater importance.
So Leo took off from the rock wall and silently followed them.