Chapter 195: Ancient One v/s Bast
TL/N: We Crossed 10K Collections!!
The council quickly decided how to deal with the aftermath of the turmoil.
For the First National City Bank Trust, as was the case when Malik's father died, most of the assets—aside from the direct property—were placed under the "temporary management" of the council members.
Thomas's family was left with nothing but dividends and became mere spectators.
This was still a good result.
Calvin Chadwick, who was the first to break the unspoken rules, had most of his personal assets confiscated by the judiciary and local governments. These assets were then sold at low prices to other council members, who completely dissolved them.
Fortunately, he was still young and had no direct heirs.
Otherwise they would have suffered as well.
Control of the Winter Soldier was given to Senator Vernon of New York to do the "dirty work" of the Council.
As for the vacant Council seats, no suitable candidates were found, so they were left unfilled—the original Council of Nine had now become the Council of Seven.
No one objected—after all, sharing power among seven was better than sharing it among nine.
Not long after the council meeting ended, Carter returned.
"It's not your fault. Even if it were, it would be my fault for misjudging the people. Stop standing around. I'm giving you a long break—go spend time with your brother!"
Inside the Area 51 lab, Josh looked at the two frozen Super Soldier corpses and patted Carter on the shoulder as he spoke.
It was cruel, but because of the special nature of Super Soldiers, Andrew and Luke's bodies couldn't just be buried. After the Wakanda war, the CIA, with the help of the U.S. military, had them transported and frozen for future use.
As for their families… Leaving aside whether Hydra-selected soldiers even had families, if they did, the solution was simple—burn some random body, send it to them, and give them a pension.
Of course, there was no need to tell Captain Carter about this—otherwise, she would definitely explode in anger.
Carter, unaware of this, silently left the cold storage after Josh's words, planning to follow his advice and spend some time with her brother.
Michael Carter had been rescued, and Josh had fulfilled his promise to Carter by erasing his name from the intelligence list, leaving only two Zodiac agents behind.
However, since Michael had originally been a Zodiac agent and had undergone enhancements, he still had to pass CIA evaluations before he could be fully released.
So he couldn't leave the USA for the time being.
Carter didn't mind too much, but Michael was quite frustrated—after regaining his memories, he was desperate to see his wife and kids again.
"By the way, Josh, there's something else."
Just as she was about to leave, Carter spoke suddenly.
"What is it?" Josh asked curiously.
"It's about Wakanda. I don't think Wakanda was really destroyed," Carter whispered after looking around.
"Oh? What makes you say that?" Josh asked in surprise.
"When we infiltrated Wakanda, we saw some Wakandans evacuating..."
Carter then explained how she had witnessed the T'Pani siblings escape.
At the time, only three Super Soldiers had seen it. Now that the other two were dead, Carter was the only one who knew.
After some hesitation, she finally decided to tell Josh.
She understood how U.S. intelligence worked. If this information got out, the escaped Wakandans would certainly be hunted down.
But keeping it a secret would violate CIA regulations and betray Josh's trust after all his help.
Besides, Wakanda was gone anyway.
And if the Wakandans ever made a comeback, who knew what kind of chaos that would cause?
After careful consideration, Carter decided to share the information with Josh.
"I see... I understand. Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Josh showed little emotion as he listened to Carter, but after sending her off, he fell into deep thought.
To him, Wakanda's downfall had seemed too easy.
Because during the UN military's destruction of Wakanda, one key figure had never shown up.
The Wakandans, especially the royal family, worshipped a goddess named Bast, the Panther Goddess.
Most people would dismiss Bast as just a myth, a symbol.
But Josh knew she was real—she truly existed and had been protecting Wakanda.
So why hadn't the Panther Goddess intervened when Wakanda was destroyed?
A small sense of unease crept into Josh's heart.
But after hearing from Carter that some Wakandans had escaped before, Josh suddenly understood—perhaps because Wakanda hadn't been completely wiped out, Bast saw no need to act?
If that was the case, should he order a hunt for those who had escaped?
Josh thought again.
What he didn't know was that Bast hadn't remained idle—she had been stopped.
In a special dimension, a massive panther with sleek, jet-black fur was locked in a standoff with a figure clad in a simple yellow robe.
That figure was none other than Earth's guardian, the Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj—The Ancient One.
And the giant panther was, of course, Bast, the panther goddess.
"Go back, Bast. This is not a place for you," The Ancient One said calmly, looking at the panther with an air of authority.
"...Ancient One! You know as well as I do—no universe dares to treat my children this way!"
Bast's voice was sharp, yet unmistakably feminine.
"Oh? Is that so?" The Ancient One chuckled. "Strange, then, that when I meet my counterparts from other universes, I often hear stories of Wakanda's downfall. And yet nothing ever happens. So why now? Why did you suddenly appear just because Wakanda fell in my universe? Are you saying... you think I'm an easy target?"
Bast fell silent.
In other universes, when Wakanda had been destroyed, it was usually by forces beyond human comprehension. She had no choice but to accept those losses.
But in this case, mere human nations had wiped out Wakanda. That enraged her. She wanted to teach this world a lesson.
Only to be stopped by the Ancient One of this universe.
... She wanted to strike back and say, "Yeah, I guess you're easy to bully."
But she didn't have the courage.
Fighting The Ancient One on Earth—especially in such a unique place—was not a wise move. Just look at Dormammu. He was beaten down over and over and even used as a power source. It was an utter disgrace for a god.
Still, Bast wasn't going to back down so easily.
After all, Wakanda's existence in any universe directly affected her power. She wasn't detached enough to ignore the massacre of her own people.
The Ancient One saw Bast's reluctance.
Since you won't accept it, let me help you accept it.
As Bast eyed her warily, the Ancient One revealed a magical blade.
Moments later, the room echoed with the furious roar of the Panther Goddess.
"Ancient One, this is not over!"
After nearly half an hour, Bast left one last threat before vanishing into the endless void—defeated and humiliated.
"Come back sometime!"
The Ancient One grinned as she twirled a long, black whip in her hand.
Oh... wait.
That wasn't a whip.
It was Bast's tail.
Hmm, pretty sturdy.
But the Ancient One's relaxed demeanor didn't last long. After confirming that Bast was indeed gone, she took a deep breath, her expression showing exhaustion. A dark mark flickered across her forehead.
Clearly, the fight had been far more taxing than she had let on.
After a brief rest, she moved her hands, shifting the space around her. A scene appeared before her—it was Josh, sitting in his office, completely unaware that he was being watched.
This was only an illusion, not the real Josh.
"Do not disappoint me, child. Grow stronger... I can't hold on much longer."
The Ancient One looked at Josh with a mixture of expectation and concern before she sighed.
Considering her age, calling Josh child was perfectly reasonable—it wasn't meant to imply any personal connection between them.
The reason she had secretly helped Josh and watched over him was because she had glimpsed something in the river of time.
A possibility.
A possibility that every version of herself across the multiverse had longed for.
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