If you had to ask—who holds the strongest scientific research capability in the world?
The answer is almost a given: of course, it's Kagura's Rhodes Island Industries.
After years of rapid development, Kagura's Rhodes Island Industries has grown into a massive multinational corporation.
It now owns numerous subsidiaries and holds a near-complete monopoly over the world's cutting-edge technology and military-industrial complex.
From its roots in the arms industry to electronics, consumer smartphones, internet entertainment, advanced medicine, mechanical engineering, infrastructure, telecommunications, and material science...
Rhodes Island Industries has evolved into a self-sustaining industrial ecosystem, forming an incredibly robust and complete supply chain.
What can you say?
It's just in her bones.
Without a full industrial system of your own, how could you ever feel secure?
If you're going to build a self-reliant utopia, then of course everything needs to be produced in-house!
That said, even with all this, Kagura wouldn't outright declare Rhodes Island as the best in the world.
And surprisingly, Rhodes Island's true rival isn't even Stark Industries, despite their similar roots.
Sure, Stark Industries, led by Tony Stark, has some impressive tech. In certain fields, they're even on par with Rhodes Island.
But Stark lacks a complete industrial chain.
When it comes to large-scale manufacturing and integrating advanced technologies, Stark Industries still lags behind. After all, most of its high-end tech is designed to serve just one person: Iron Man.
In reality, the only contender that can match Rhodes Island's comprehensive tech might... is a hidden kingdom far away in Africa.
Wakanda.
A secretive nation rumored to be a thousand years ahead of the rest of the world—thanks to its vast vibranium reserves.
It's a land of technological miracles, yet, to this day, almost entirely unknown to the world.
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Over the West Coast of Africa
The latest-generation Halo transport aircraft cruised across the Atlantic at Mach 11, heading straight for the ancient and mysterious continent of Africa.
Inside the cabin, Kagura was operating several holographic displays.
"Cortana, any contact from Wakanda yet?"
Cortana never quite understood her master's obsession with this.
Based on all the intel and records available, Wakanda was an extremely poor, agricultural country—primitive, dirt poor, and seemingly devoid of any modern technology.
"Master, I don't see much point in trying to contact a patch of rainforest through a quantum communication channel, but... as expected, no response from Wakanda."
Despite its legendary tech and the claim of being a millennium ahead of the world, Wakanda was astonishingly low-profile.
At the UN, Wakanda presented itself as a third-world country living barely above subsistence.
Harmless.
Poor. Powerless.
The Wakanda ambassadors stationed at global institutions like the UN were mostly ornamental, with no real authority or influence.
In fact, Kagura suspected that those so-called Wakanda diplomats had no idea their homeland was a superpower of science and innovation.
They probably weren't even real Wakandas.
"No response yet, huh..." She didn't seem too bothered by Cortana's skepticism.
No matter how many times she tried to explain Wakanda's true power, Cortana wouldn't believe it until she saw it with her own eyes.
The only reason Cortana even followed her here was because she obeyed her master's orders.
Kagura was beginning to feel like if she kept talking, Cortana might just hit her on the head to check if she had a fever.
The truth was, Wakanda had very little connection with the outside world.
When Kagura checked the Oslo Internet Exchange in Norway, she found only one active network line to Wakanda.
And even that line had been shut down for years.
In short, Wakanda was a textbook example of total isolation.
Because of that, Kagura had no way to contact the nation in advance—not via internet, email, phone, or any modern means. It had hidden itself too well.
So the only option left... was to knock on the front door in person.
"Master, we're approaching the target area," Cortana reported. "Just like the public maps say—nothing around here except rainforest and a few scattered villages on the plains. No sign of any large cities."
"I know," Kagura nodded. "Now it's time to test Rhodes Island's technological might."
"Technological might?" Cortana tilted her head, puzzled.
"Cortana, if we were going to build a massive city here, and needed to shield it with a huge energy dome, what frequency would you use for the energy shield?"
"Master, I'm not sure what game you're playing, but if we were constructing such a dome, there aren't exactly many viable frequency options for a shield that size."
"Can you estimate one?"
"Of course, Master."
"Perfect." Kagura nodded.
"Tune the transport's energy shield to that estimated frequency. Then bring us down to 500 meters altitude, 0.7 Mach, with a 3-degree nose-up angle."
"That way, if the hack fails, we won't crash and burn."
"Command confirmed, but… what exactly are you doing?" Cortana was still confused.
"This feels like we're trying to break into an active shield, but there's nothing shielded around here..."
"Oh, there is."
Kagura looked out at the approaching forest and earth below.
"If our intel's right, we're flying directly over Wakanda's capital. The entire city is hidden beneath an energy dome and cloaked by a holographic disguise!"
Cortana's eyes widened with disbelief, but she began to take the claim more seriously.
"Understood. Strengthening our own energy shield... initiating shield breach protocol... recalibrating frequency... bracing for impact!"
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The silver Halo transport streaked across the sky, slicing toward the vast African jungle.
At this point, Wakanda's air defense radars must be screaming.
But really—what else could Kagura do?
They were the ones who decided to hide themselves so thoroughly, without leaving even a single way to be contacted.
Now that danger was approaching, even helping them had become this difficult!
Hmph.
The girl muttered to herself…
———————————————————————
Zzzzzt—!
As the transport descended to 480 meters, its energy shield suddenly sparked with intense light—like it had slammed into something invisible and unyielding.
"Shield impact confirmed! Rapid decryption in progress—adjusting breach frequency now!"
Cortana's reflexes kicked in immediately.
She interfaced with the transport's systems and began adjusting the shield frequency to match Wakanda's—so they could slip inside the dome without crashing.
"Frequency locked. Neutralization successful. We're in!"
"Heh, told you so!"
Kagura smiled triumphantly and displayed the scene in front of them to Cortana.
"As expected of you, Master."
Cortana looked out the window.
"This... really is one incredible hidden civilization."