Snapping out of his thoughts about the past, Liam took one final look into the mirror before putting his had back on and turning around.
"There's a high chance I'll have to use Incursio during my visit to Wakanda," he muttered. "But it doesn't matter. If suffering through pain is the consequence for my strength, then so be it."
'Once I'm back, I'll need to study this transformation in more detail too,' he thought, sighing while creating a portal in front of him. 'That's probably going to hurt quite a lot.'
Liam had originally wanted to study his transformation earlier, but creating the organization held a higher priority.
'I don't want to delay setting up this organization any longer,' Liam thought, walking through the portal. 'There aren't that many years left, after all.'
On the other side of the portal were long, open fields with yellow grass and the occasional akacia tree. The fields stretched far into the distance, covering many small hills.
Far in the distance, Liam could see someone herding a large group of sheep with the help of his dog. The man let the sheep graze on the yellow grass while his dog made sure none of them strayed from the group.
'It really is peaceful here,' Liam thought, smiling. 'Also, it looks like the village is not too far from here.'
Liam started walking in the direction the shepherd came from. He had portaled himself close to one of the villages he had seen in the movies, having decided that he would enter the real Wakanda from that village.
'And from there on, the real deal starts,' Liam thought, serious.
The current king was King T'Chaka, and Liam knew that he wanted Wakanda to remain in isolation from the outside world. Despite that, he also knew that he had to find a way to convince them somehow.
Walking further through the yellow fields, Liam found more and more shepherds in the area. Some shepherds had their young children with them. One such example was a man in his mid-thirties walking through the yellow fields with a massive smile on his face while his son jumped and ran around him excitedly.
That scene brought some nostalgia to Liam, relaxing him and causing him to enjoy the peaceful surroundings more.
Not long after, Liam walked through the village, which he recognized as the place where he needed to be.
The village itself was very simple. The houses were made of clay and stone, completed with thatched roofs. The people there wore simple, rag-like clothing while herding animals or carrying objects through the village.
The people from the village gave him strange and cautious looks as they walked past him. Liam looked around, carefully studying the people he came across, he could immediately tell something was off about some of these people.
'First of all, I am always being watched,' Liam noted, carefully glancing around. He could see the people watching him—some sat in chairs in stalls, while others seemed like ordinary workers.
Liam could tell that wherever he went, their eyes would always follow his movements.
'Must be people from the border tribes or the Dora Milaje,' Liam thought, satisfied that everything was going according to plan.
Just opening a portal into the real Wakanda would have been extremely disrespectful, thus he had purposefully shown himself here.
'Unfortunately, I will likely need to be more forceful later on,' Liam thought, turning towards one of the people watching him. 'I'll try to stay as polite as possible, but I have to get to the throne room.'
Liam saw a woman sitting on the ground with a basket of fruits in front of her. He approached her with a large smile, crouching down while looking at the fruit in the stall.
"How much for one of these?" Liam asked politely.
The woman replied in a language he did not speak. Before he could reply, he heard a rough voice coming from behind him. Liam stood up while the voice continued speaking.
"She says they are not for sale, only for trade," an elderly man said, wearing a wide smile on his face.
Liam turned to face the old man, who had reached out to shake his hand.
"Good day, I am this village's chief. To what do we owe the pleasure?" the elderly man asked.
"Hello, the name is Liam," Liam started. "And I came here to meet some people."
"Ah, Liam, good name," the elderly man responded enthusiastically. "We don't get a lot of visitors here. Please tell me who you want to meet. Maybe I can be of help."
"Oh no, it's alright," Liam responded, still smiling. "I have already found someone who could guide me to the person I want to speak with."
The elderly man raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "Who?"
"This woman here," Liam said, pointing behind him while keeping his eyes on the elderly man.
"She does not speak English. How is she supposed to guide you?" the elderly man quickly said.
A moment of silence fell as Liam pondered what to say. The woman behind him, who had tensed up when he mentioned her, started to relax again.
"That would be a good question, suppose she doesn't speak English," Liam responded. "But I'm pretty confident she does speak the language."
The elderly man looked at him like he was crazy, but behind that facade was wariness.
Liam smirked, ready to deliver his final line. "How else would she be able to keep tabs on any foreigners entering the village?"
A moment of shock flashed on the elderly man's face before he instantly replaced it with a smile as he started laughing.
"What are you talking about? Keep tabs? On who and why?" the elderly man laughed. "We are one of the poorest countries in the world. There is nothing to protect here except the happiness in our lives."
"Is that so?" Liam asked, changing his smirk to a serious expression. "Then why is she ready to launch an attack against me?"
Realizing they had already been found out, the village chief and the Dora Milaje member got serious too. The Dora Milaje member stood up, pressing a weapon against Liam's back.
"State your purpose, outsider," the Dora Milaje member commanded, clear but cautious.