Blade Technology Industries had just dropped another bombshell on the world!
Zod Heath had developed a miracle drug targeting AIDS!
And the most crucial point wasn't that it was some kind of targeted therapy—it was that the drug was effective even against hereditary AIDS.
In other words, AIDS patients across the entire world finally had hope.
After being infected with HIV, patients usually endure a latent period lasting several years—sometimes over a decade—before it progresses into full-blown AIDS. As the immune system collapses, all kinds of infections emerge: shingles, oral fungal infections, tuberculosis, enteritis, pneumonia, encephalitis caused by special pathogens, and severe infections caused by Candida, Pneumocystis, and many others. In later stages, malignant tumors often appear, accompanied by long-term wasting, ultimately leading to total organ failure and death.
Yet many victims weren't careless or irresponsible.
They were infected through blood transfusions.
Because of the long incubation period and how difficult it was to detect, many only discovered the infection years after receiving transfusions. These people were the most tragic of all.
According to statistics released by the World Health Organization in November 2009, by the end of 2008 there were an estimated 33.4 million people worldwide infected with HIV—31.3 million adults, including 15.7 million women, and 2.1 million children under the age of fifteen.
But those numbers only accounted for confirmed and predicted cases.
In reality, the number of patients still in the latent stage was likely far higher.
Blade Technology Industries randomly selected a group of AIDS patients and provided free treatment. In less than half a month, every patient recovered.
Not only that—their immune systems and bodies, previously ravaged by the disease, were completely repaired afterward by the Extremis Virus.
Every doctor involved was stunned.
They simply could not comprehend the mechanism behind Blade Technology's miracle drug.
The World Health Organization immediately sent an invitation, hoping to test whether the drug met regulatory standards.
Zod Heath refused—flatly.
At the same time, he publicly stated that the drug would not be subject to any form of regulation, both to prevent the United States from shipping it off to India for pharmaceutical experiments, and to prevent others from reverse-engineering it.
Though, in his estimation, neither virus involved would be obtainable anyway.
Ordinary vampire viruses were indeed capable of eradicating all viruses—but they carried serious risks. Only Blade's unique vampire virus had reduced assimilation effects to as low as ten percent, and even that could be controlled with the addition of a small amount of Extremis Virus.
Continuously drawing blood from Blade himself was far from ideal.
Zod had already begun researching ways to culture Blade's vampire virus independently—and further neuter its assimilation capability.
The entire world's known AIDS patients went insane with excitement.
So did those who feared they might be infected and had already fallen into despair.
Most of them were wealthy.
As for why… well.Those who knew, knew.
As a result, even when Blade Technology priced the miracle drug extremely high, demand still vastly outstripped supply.
The emergence of an AIDS cure elevated Blade Technology Industries back onto the altar of divinity.
A problem that had plagued humanity for decades—ever since AIDS was first discovered—had finally been conquered.
Zod Heath was no longer just a genius.
He was a treasure of humanity.
With Blade Technology's influence now radiating across the globe, Zod also began implementing plans to construct his own satellites and space stations.
Uld had only just returned from Rabbit's side when Zod Heath immediately sent him—without a moment's rest—to Wakanda.
Zod wanted more vibranium.
As for the Heart-Shaped Herb, Zod had no interest in it.
That plant wasn't some miraculous material for creating super soldiers—it was merely a hallucinogenic, or possibly toxic, substance that allowed one to commune with the Panther God.
If someone outside the Wakandan royal family consumed it, the Panther God would crush them outright.
Only Wakandan royalty could pass the Panther God's trial and be transformed into the super warrior known as the Black Panther.
Nor did Zod covet Wakanda's vibranium-based technology.
He was confident he could do better.
Besides—vibranium was a metal with near-universal applicability, practically omnipotent in its potential.
And what did Wakanda do with it?
They made clothes and spears.
It was an unforgivable waste.
Uld felt like he was being worked to death.
With no other choice, he handed over company affairs to Natalie, then boarded a private jet bound for Wakanda.
Wakanda's current king—also the reigning Black Panther, T'Chaka—was genuinely surprised that an outsider would come to their "backward" land.
When Uld stepped off the plane, he too felt Wakanda was astonishingly underdeveloped.
Yet this place sat on a natural vibranium mine.
Their luck was outrageous.
Uld knew from his boss that vibranium sold for ten thousand dollars per gram, with demand far exceeding supply.
The black market was flooded with it—at prices exceeding fifty thousand dollars per gram.
These Wakandan natives were wealthier than Middle Eastern oil tycoons.
T'Chaka removed his vibranium-fiber royal robe—worth several hundred million dollars—and changed into a tattered traditional garment that barely covered his lower body.
"Greetings, King of Wakanda," Uld said politely.
"What king?" T'Chaka replied, giving him a look as if he were joking."I'm just the chieftain of a tribe."
Uld didn't find it strange at all that the leader of a backward tribal nation spoke fluent English.
Instead, he calmly explained his purpose.
Upon hearing it, T'Chaka was even more surprised.
He had assumed this was another group of stubborn Americans—like those who once bought vibranium—coming back to try their luck again.
After all, in Wakanda's early days of development, they had sold small amounts of vibranium in exchange for money, sending young people to study in the United States before returning to help modernize their homeland.
That was why Wakanda's computers were fully binary-based, just like the outside world.
Coupled with vibranium's unique properties, Wakanda's technological advancement had surpassed that of all humanity combined.
They already possessed their own spaceships and satellites—and completely outclassed the rest of the world.
What T'Chaka hadn't expected—
Was that the visitor was Zod Heath, the man now hailed as humanity's greatest treasure, the Einstein, Tesla, Joule, and Planck of this century.
And he wanted vibranium.
As the foundation upon which Wakanda was built, vibranium was something T'Chaka could never agree to give away.
This wasn't T'Challa's era yet.
His thinking wasn't that open.
All he wanted was for Wakanda to continue existing—unchanged.
So T'Chaka politely declined, stating that all vibranium sold in the past had already been exhausted.
If they doubted it, Wakanda was free to be searched.
Back then, those Americans hadn't believed it either. They dug everywhere—yet still found nothing.
How could they know?
All shallow vibranium veins had long since been collected.
The deeper layers were buried too far below to ever be exposed.
Because the truth was—
The entire nation of Wakanda sat atop a colossal vibranium meteor.
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