"Ex-girlfriend? What ex-girlfriend? There's a story here, isn't there?~"
Tony's eyes lit up. Sure enough, spend enough time around Lucas, and even Tony Stark would start prying into gossip.
"Nakia—the beauty who came back with us earlier. She's my brother's ex. Let me tell you, those two—"
Shuri narrowed her eyes, leaning closer to Tony with the same gossip-hungry expression. The two of them whispered conspiratorially.
"Shuri!"
T'Challa shot her a warning look. Instantly, Shuri straightened up like an obedient child and stopped chatting with Tony altogether.
"I need you on standby at all times," T'Challa said seriously.
"We may need support."
Shuri picked up a small box from the table. Inside was a brand-new communicator, no bigger than a fingernail.
"This is the latest communicator—Tony and I developed it together. Global coverage, immune to all signal interference. Even in places with absolutely no signal, it works perfectly. And—"
As she spoke, Shuri took out a tiny piece, placed it on her fingertip, and pressed it behind her ear.
"And once it touches the skin, it uses the body's static electricity to adhere automatically—and fully integrates with the skin."
Sure enough, the communicator vanished the moment it made contact. With another tap, it reappeared in her hand.
"Besides that, there's this."
She took out a slightly larger bead.
"This is a remote-control bead. It's directly linked to my command sand table. Just attach it to whatever device you want to control."
T'Challa nodded, then turned to look at another item.
"What's this?"
Shuri picked it up—it looked like a pair of insoles. She placed them on the floor.
"Step on them."
T'Challa did as instructed. The moment his feet touched the insoles, a pair of sleek, high-tech boots materialized around his feet.
"These shoes perfectly absorb footstep noise. You can walk without making a sound."
"Hm… that's actually pretty interesting."
T'Challa tested them, stomping lightly. Just as Shuri said—no sound at all.
"And now," Shuri announced excitedly,
"the equipment you need most—and the most advanced of all. Your very own Black Panther suit!"
The floor sank slightly, and two mannequin displays slowly rose up. Each wore a fang necklace—one gold, one silver.
"Father's Black Panther suit is outdated, so I won't waste time showing it," Shuri said bluntly.
"I mean, if someone already has a gun pointed at your head and you still need to put on a helmet—that's just—"
She mimed getting shot in the head.
Tony rolled his eyes hard. Shuri was absolutely throwing shade. His earlier Iron Man suits had worked exactly like that—only in the last few generations had he switched to full-body deployment modes.
"These two," Shuri continued, pointing at the necklaces,
"are the result of joint research between Tony and me—designed specifically for you."
She gestured toward the gold necklace.
"How about this one? Like it?"
"It's very nice," T'Challa admitted after a moment.
"But gold is a bit too flashy. Not low-key enough. I prefer the silver one."
He pointed to the silver necklace.
"I knew it! I knew he'd choose that one! You lose—ten dollars!"
Shuri jumped up excitedly.
"Fine…"
Tony looked dejected as he pulled ten dollars from his pocket and handed it over.
The two of them had made a bet on which suit T'Challa would choose. Tony had gone with gold—purely based on personal taste. After all, his own armor was red and gold.
Who would've thought T'Challa would choose the understated silver one instead?
Shuri brought her bracelet close to the back of T'Challa's ear. A flash of purple light flickered.
"Done. Your genetic signature has been uploaded. This suit belongs to you now."
She tapped her bracelet again.
"Now let me show you the suit's full form."
Shuri pressed one of the beads.
In an instant, black nanotech vibranium surged out from the silver necklace, flowing like fabric. There was no metallic sheen at all—it absorbed light so completely that it reflected nothing, even in darkness.
In the blink of an eye, the Black Panther suit fully enveloped the mannequin. The helmet took the form of a majestic panther's head. Compared to T'Chaka's old suit, this one was sleeker, more streamlined, with far fewer silver accents—only a few fine silver lines around the eyes.
"The entire suit is stored inside the fang necklace," Shuri explained.
"It's made entirely of nanotech vibranium. Now—hit it."
She gestured to T'Challa and took a step back.
"Anywhere?"
"Anywhere."
T'Challa hesitated briefly, then lashed out with a roundhouse kick to the suit's abdomen. The mannequin was sent flying, slamming hard into the wall behind it.
"Hey! Why did you hit it so hard?!"
Shuri immediately ran over, hugging the mannequin protectively as she came back, glaring at him.
"You told me to hit it," T'Challa said awkwardly.
"And I didn't even use that much force…"
Shuri reset the mannequin. T'Challa immediately noticed purple energy flowing back and forth across the spot where he'd struck it.
"Wait… what is that?"
He reached out and touched the area. The purple glow slowly faded.
"That was Tony's idea," Shuri said excitedly.
"Let him explain. I'm telling you—this suit is amazing because of this feature. Tony really is my idol. His ideas are incredible!"
She was practically glowing with excitement. The moment Tony proposed this function, she'd started experimenting—it was like an entirely new door had been opened for her.
"Ahem—excuse me."
Tony stepped forward, gently pushing T'Challa aside.
"The nanotech vibranium absorbs the kinetic energy from incoming attacks," Tony explained, pointing to the abdomen.
"That energy is then stored within the suit for later use."
"Ever heard of an electromagnetic pulse? When you release the stored energy, it creates a shockwave similar to an EMP. It can damage nearby enemies—and also block bullets or even artillery fire."
"That's… that's incredible!"
T'Challa was stunned. Compared to his father's suit, this was more than an upgrade—it was a complete qualitative leap.
"Now," Tony said, stepping back beside Shuri,
"hit it again."
He signaled to Shuri.
"Shuri, record the next sequence."
"No problem!"
Shuri immediately activated one of the beads on her bracelet.
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