Chapter 41: Farewell Wakanda

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Farewell Wakanda

After lunch, the king spent some time chatting amicably with Daniel.

A little after two in the afternoon, it was finally time to leave. They walked up the boarding stairs of the aircraft together.

T’Challa reluctantly said goodbye to his parents. His eyes had turned slightly red.

The queen had already begun wiping away tears as she repeatedly reminded him of one thing after another.

A mother always worries when her child travels far from home.

The king said nothing. When T’Challa was about to board, he simply gave his son’s shoulder a firm pat.

T’Challa couldn’t help himself. He stepped back and hugged both his father and mother once more before finally turning around and boarding the aircraft without looking back.

Before leaving, the king had spoken with him privately.

T’Challa now understood the true purpose of this trip abroad.

His primary mission was to become friends with Daniel.

Learning about foreign technology and different social systems came second.

As the future king of Wakanda, he didn’t need to master every field of knowledge. He only needed enough understanding to broaden his perspective.

"Listen more. Watch more. Observe more."

That was the king’s instruction.

With empty hands and no luggage in sight, T’Challa boarded the aircraft. Soon after, the hatch closed and the aircraft lifted into the sky.

Daniel and Carol had already been waiting inside.

Noticing T’Challa’s low mood, neither of them disturbed him. They quietly sat off to the side and watched a movie.

By the time the movie was halfway through, T’Challa had mostly recovered and finally joined their conversation.

"T’Challa, where’s your luggage?" Daniel asked curiously after realizing he hadn’t brought anything with him.

"The Black Panther suit was already loaded onto the aircraft beforehand," T’Challa replied.

"As for everything else, Mother gave me a bank card before I left and told me to buy whatever I need after arriving in America."

Daniel "..."

Fine.

You’re rich.

I don’t want to talk to you anymore.

Feeling thoroughly defeated, Daniel turned away and prepared to continue watching the movie.

Unexpectedly, T’Challa became interested and started asking all sorts of questions about life in America.

At first, Daniel wasn’t particularly enthusiastic.

Then T’Challa casually mentioned that when they went shopping later, he’d pay for everything.

Anything Daniel wanted.

Consider it thanks for accompanying him.

Daniel’s attitude changed instantly.

His face bloomed into a smile brighter than a flower.

He immediately became the most enthusiastic tour guide imaginable.

...

The aircraft possessed cloaking technology.

Before departure, Daniel had already instructed the pilot from the Royal Guard to head to New York City first.

After all, they still had belongings stored at Susan’s place.

Unlike T’Challa, they weren’t wealthy enough to casually abandon their possessions.

Besides, they could accompany T’Challa while he shopped.

The aircraft was incredibly fast.

Only a few hours later, they arrived in New York.

The aircraft landed on the roof of the hotel owned by Susan’s family.

The bald female warrior serving as their pilot remained aboard while only Daniel, Carol, and T’Challa got off.

Before disembarking, Daniel and Carol picked up two gifts they had selected in Wakanda.

As none of them were ordinary people.

After confirming that nobody was nearby, they simply jumped off the rooftop.

The drop was only around ten meters.

For them, it was effortless.

The moment they entered the hotel lobby, Daniel spotted Susan sitting behind the front desk with a book in her hands.

Just as expected.

’She’s really a girl who loves studying,’ Daniel thought.

Unlike himself.

He was practically an academic slacker.

Even though he got into both Harvard and MIT, he honestly hadn’t put much effort into studying.

Otherwise, with his superhuman brain, Earth’s current knowledge might not even be enough to satisfy him.

Susan seemed completely absorbed in her reading and didn’t hear their footsteps.

Carol walked over, lightly patted her shoulder, and greeted her.

"Hi!"

The sudden voice startled Susan.

Looking up and seeing Carol, her surprise immediately turned into delight. She stood up and gave Carol a hug.

"You’re back already?" Susan asked.

"Yep!" Carol replied with a smile.

Susan then turned toward Daniel.

The moment she saw him, her eyes brightened.

For some reason, she felt like he’d become even more handsome after only a few days apart.

"You look like you’re in a really good mood today," Susan said as she stepped in front of him.

"Really? Haha."

Daniel laughed awkwardly.

Before she could speak further, suddenly he pulled T’Challa over.

"This is T’Challa," Daniel introduced. "A friend I just met."

T’Challa greeted her somewhat shyly.

"Hello."

Susan paused for a second.

"...Hello."

She extended her right hand and shook it.

"Did you come back to pick up your luggage?" she asked with a smile.

"That’s right," Carol answered.

"We’ve finished everything we needed to do, so we came to collect our things. And maybe mooch a meal while we’re here. You don’t mind, do you?"

Susan immediately shook her head.

"Of course not. You’re all very welcome."

The group chatted for a while longer.

"Oh, right. We brought gifts for you and Johnny."

Carol handed Susan a gift bag.

Susan accepted it happily and opened it right in front of them.

"This one is from me," Carol said, pointing at a crystal pendant.

Then she pointed at a crystal bracelet.

"And this one is from Daniel."

In reality, Carol had picked out both gifts.

Girls tended to be more thoughtful.

With Daniel’s personality, it would never occur to him to buy someone a gift on his own.

Susan immediately put on the bracelet first.

Then she smiled brightly at Daniel.

"Thank you. I really like your gift."

Only afterward did she put on the pendant Carol had chosen and thank her as well.

...

That evening, they once again enjoyed Susan’s cooking.

When Johnny came home and received his gift, he immediately threw an arm around Daniel’s shoulders. It was an advanced gaming console from Wakanda.

"Now that’s what I call a best friend!"

...

Later that night, Susan invited all three of them to stay over.

Daniel and the others politely declined, claiming they had already purchased train tickets.

When Susan offered to drive them to the station, they turned that down as well.

After all, the aircraft was still parked on the hotel roof.

What train tickets?

They didn’t have any.

After saying their goodbyes, the three headed into a nearby alley.

Daniel grabbed Carol and flew back up to the rooftop.

T’Challa climbed up himself.

Daniel wasn’t willing to hold another man’s hand.

It felt weird.

T’Challa wasn’t willing either.

He still remembered the intensely enthusiastic look Daniel had given him back at the factory.

The aircraft took off once more.

New York wasn’t far from Daniel’s hometown.

The train ride had taken several hours when they came.

With the aircraft, however, it took less than thirty minutes.

By then, night had already fallen.

Most of the town’s residents had long since retreated indoors.

Using the darkness as cover, the aircraft landed in an open field about five hundred meters from Daniel’s house.

After saying goodbye to the Royal Guard pilot, the three quickly made their way home.

Before even reaching the front door, Daniel shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Mom! We’re back!"

In the minds of the siblings, Mary’s status was obviously much higher than John’s.

Hearing the commotion, Mary and John hurried outside.

The four greeted one another with hugs before Mary ushered everyone inside.

Daniel took a few steps, then suddenly froze.

Someone had been forgotten.

Mary and John, seeing their kids after such a long time were completely focused on them, and they didn’t care much about the surrounding.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Carol were also so excited to be home that they hadn’t paid any attention to T’Challa.

As a result, poor T’Challa had been completely overlooked.

Daniel immediately turned around and called out to him.

At the same time, he repeatedly apologized for forgetting him.

T’Challa stood there with a speechless expression.

At that moment, he seriously felt that his father had entrusted him to the wrong person.