Aftermath

"It’s over."

Seeing Wang Bert deal with the mutant prisoners, the reporters applauded. Bert Wang truly deserved to be called the strongest mutant. Those mutant prisoners couldn’t stir up any trouble in his hands.

The reporters then returned from afar to the Recycling Plant, preparing to interview Wang Bert again.

Seeing that the situation was beyond salvage, the lieutenant snorted. "Mr. Wang, I hope you keep a close eye on these mutant prisoners and don’t let them commit any more crimes."

Wang Bert said, "You should worry about yourself first. You might end up being made a scapegoat too."

The lieutenant froze. Right, he could be made a scapegoat as well. He did not dare waste any more time and hurriedly led the soldiers back to the base, where they could discuss the matter with their superiors.

Tomorrow, a storm of public opinion targeting the military would erupt.

After the soldiers left, a reporter asked Wang Bert, "Mr. Wang, more mutants will be arriving later. Are you confident you can keep them all locked up?"

Wang Bert said, "As long as the outside world doesn’t put too much pressure on me, I should be able to handle it."

"Don’t worry, the military will take most of the heat for you."

The reporters laughed. One reporter asked, "Mr. Wang, that lieutenant just said that more than thirty of the prisoners belong to the Mutant Brotherhood. Will you hand them over to Magneto?"

Wang Bert said, "I’ll select some of the better-behaved mutants and return them to Magneto. I should fulfill at least part of the conditions the president agreed to."

The reporter said, "With Magneto’s personality, he won’t be satisfied with just part of them."

Wang Bert said, "I’ll have a proper talk with him."

The reporters shook their heads. Magneto was not someone easy to talk to. Bert Wang had truly brought trouble upon himself this time.

Still, that was what made a hero, wasn’t it?

Before long, the reporters left the Recycling Plant with the gifts Wang Bert had given them. They were heading back to their newspapers to wage war on the military with their pens.

They had been fooled and used again and again. Did the military really think they had no temper? "Magneto? That old man has no family to care for him, so his temper is as stubborn as a rock. Wait, family."

Wang Bert stroked his chin. Although Wanda had vanished, Magneto still had a son and a daughter.

His son was naturally Quicksilver. He had appeared in the X-Men series, so there was probably one on this planet too. As for his daughter, she was Polaris Lorna, who had appeared in the TV series. Wang Bert did not know whether this planet had her.

After thinking it over, Wang Bert called Psylocke and asked, "Psylocke, do you know a mutant named Caliban?"

"Of course I know him. I even worked for him before I went independent. Are you looking for someone?"

Psylocke asked. Caliban could sense the existence of other mutants and was an information broker in the mutant world.

"Yes, I want him to help me find two people."

Wang Bert said, "Give me his number. I’ll speak to him personally."

Psylocke laughed. "No problem. That guy values money above all else, so he’ll be happy to help you find people. Oh, remember to mention my name. You can get a discount."

"Thanks."

Wang Bert hung up and went to the backyard to deal with the prisoners.

"One year. I’ll only supervise you for one year. After that, I’ll let you leave."

Wang Bert said to the prisoners, "Also, if you behave well, I’ll let you leave early."

"Only one year?"

The prisoners’ eyes lit up. If it was only one year, it was not impossible to accept.

"But let me make this clear. If anyone tries to escape or harms a staff member, I won’t be polite."

Wang Bert said coldly, "A few deaths mean nothing to me. For example, Ogre will be dead soon."

The prisoners felt a chill in their hearts. No wonder Bert Wang had never called an ambulance. He had never intended to let Ogre live.

Seeing that the prisoners had temporarily submitted, Wang Bert nodded in satisfaction and left Wade behind to manage the mutant prisoners.

"BOSS, are you really going to let them go after one year?"

Wade asked, "One year isn’t enough to turn bad people into good people."

Wang Bert said, "After one year, those who haven’t changed will die."

"I can get behind that."

Wade laughed. As a mercenary, he had no saintly notions. In fact, if he were not worried about affecting BOSS, he would have taken the initiative to kill all those scumbags.

"For the first three days, let them adapt and rest. After three days, arrange work for them. I’ll pay them wages, the same wages as everyone else."

Wang Bert said, "Whether they turn over a new leaf or walk toward death will be their own choice."

"Running into you, BOSS, is definitely their good fortune."

Wade sighed. For prisoners, finding legitimate work was no easy matter. That was why many prisoners committed crimes again after being released, such as Ant-Man Scott Lang.

"I hope they know gratitude. This place is yours. Contact me anytime if there’s a problem."

Wang Bert waved his hand and returned to his office in Manhattan. There were many matters waiting for his decision in the early stages of starting a business.

After Wang Bert left, Wade whispered to Wolverine, "Logan, don’t go back to Mutant Academy yet. These guys will definitely try to escape, and I need more hands."

"No problem."

Wolverine nodded. After taking so much money from Wang Bert, he had to do something.

Juggernaut said with a vicious grin, "I’m looking forward to them trying to escape."

"So am I."

Wade laughed. Making an example out of someone was always fun.

The prison break came even earlier than Wade expected. That very night, a fat figure secretly destroyed the dormitory door lock with flames, then carefully made his way outside along the wall.

"He thinks he’s being sneaky, but he has no idea a whole group of people is watching him."

Wade, who was monitoring them from the shadows, said. The Security Team all laughed at once—the moment that guy stepped out of his room, they had already spotted him.

One team member reminded him, "Captain, that kid is called Fire Fist. His ability is powerful, so don’t let your guard down."

Wade said, "Relax. Huh, there’s another one."

Everyone turned toward the dormitory entrance and saw Doppelganger hiding behind the door, spying on Fire Fist.

"How sneaky. Let’s have some fun with these guys."

Wade sneered. Just then, Fire Fist reached the edge of the dormitory area. He took a step forward, and his vision suddenly blurred. When it cleared, he found himself teleported back to the dormitory entrance, face-to-face with Doppelganger.

Fire Fist was dumbfounded. What was going on? Doppelganger looked awkward. The person he was trying to screw over had caught him in the act. What should he do? Urgently awaiting answers online.

Wade and the others were also stunned. Wade suddenly understood. "No wonder BOSS is so unconcerned. He set up spatial abilities around the place. Those prisoners can’t leave at all."

A team member asked in confusion, "Then why can we leave?"

Wade stood up and said, "Because we aren’t prisoners. Everyone, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"The good news?"

"The good news is that we’ll never have to work so hard standing guard again. With the spatial ability in place, those prisoners can’t escape at all."

"And the bad news?"

"The bad news is that all our traps and ambushes were for nothing."

"Damn it."

Everyone rolled their eyes. If they had known, they would have gone home to spend time with their wives. BOSS was great in every way except that he loved keeping people in suspense.

Wolverine was equally displeased and decided to return to Mutant Academy overnight, lest Jean’s interest cool down—he felt he was close to winning her over.

"You set me up?"

Fire Fist finally reacted and glared at Doppelganger. Doppelganger shrugged. "I never encouraged you to escape. Also, keep it down. If you alert the guards, we’re finished."

Fire Fist shot Doppelganger a resentful glare, then changed direction and continued trying to escape. No matter what, he had to get out, because he wanted to burn all those bastards at the church to death.

Those church bastards claimed to treat ordinary people and mutants equally, but in secret, they hated mutants to the bone. He had suffered no shortage of torture over the past few years. He wanted to repay them all the pain they had inflicted on him.

Unfortunately, reality was cruel. Fire Fist was teleported back once again. He was starting to lose his mind. With a roar, he charged forward with all his strength. A minute later, he was teleported back to the entrance again.

Doppelganger hurriedly fled back into the dormitory. Fire Fist was sure to alert the guards acting like that. Yet the moment he reached the stairs, he saw two guards smiling at him.

Vomiting Boy said, "Come on, Doppelganger. I’m really looking forward to seeing you use your duplication ability."

"I surrender. I request lenient treatment."

Doppelganger wisely squatted down with his hands over his head. Compared to him, Fire Fist was far more violent. Seeing Juggernaut approach, he roared and gathered flames before smashing them fiercely at him. "I’m getting out! Whoever dares stop me, I’ll kill them!"

"Do you know who I am? You dare talk like that in front of me?"

Juggernaut snorted and charged forward with thunderous steps. The flames burst apart with a bang as he rammed through them. Then he charged out of the rolling waves of fire and slammed viciously into Fire Fist. Fire Fist screamed as he was sent flying, feeling as if every bone in his body had shattered.

A vicious gleam flashed in Juggernaut’s eyes as he prepared to crush Fire Fist completely. Just then, Wade’s voice rang out. "Juggernaut, he’s still a kid. Give him a chance."

Juggernaut turned and glanced at Wade, then sneered. "Didn’t expect you to be so compassionate."

"People usually call me the compassionate Mr. Wade."

Wade shrugged. Juggernaut snorted, walked to the side, and said, "I’ll give you face this time, but there won’t be a next time."

"We’ll talk about next time’s favor next time."

Wade laughed. Then he walked over to Fire Fist, bent down, and said, "Kid, you’re in trouble."

"I want out!"

Fire Fist roared, trying to gather flames, but Wade kicked him unconscious. Then Wade shouted, "Hang him and Doppelganger up. No food for three days. I want everyone else to know what happens when they try to escape."

One team member whistled. "Wow, I heard it’s going to rain heavily tomorrow?"

"Isn’t that even better?"

Wade laughed. To manage this group of prisoners, he had to be harsher than they were.

At the same time, on a hill outside the Recycling Plant, a figure lowered a pair of binoculars, looking utterly lost. "Why is this different from history? Where did that Bert Wang come from?"

The next day, news reports blanketed the media. The public had serious objections to the government releasing mutant prisoners, but they were even more dissatisfied with something else—the military’s despicable methods.

Not only had the military forced a large number of mutants onto Wang Bert, they had also tried to smear him and deceive the public. It was utterly intolerable.

Naturally, the military was cursed to hell and back, leaving them no choice but to push that major out as a scapegoat.

The public was not satisfied with that. They demanded that the military hand over General Cassol. The military took a rather hard-line stance and gave no response.

The president had long been unhappy with the military. He held press conferences one after another to attack them, making the military grind their teeth in hatred.

With the military drawing the fire, Wang Bert did not face much pressure over this matter. In fact, quite a few people admired him and considered him a true hero.

However, that did not mean the matter was over. In fact, it had only just begun. The military and those anti-mutant forces were all waiting for Wang Bert to slip up.

Several days later, in the morning, Wang Bert was having breakfast at a small shop downstairs from his company—fried dough sticks and steamed buns. They were not particularly authentic, but being able to eat them in Manhattan was already quite good.

"It’s hard to imagine that a tycoon like you would eat breakfast at a street stall."

An elderly man with silver hair sat beside Wang Bert and said, "Shouldn’t someone like you be eating a high-end breakfast prepared by a secretary?"

"That’s breakfast for ordinary billionaires. At my level, I eat whatever I want. I don’t need to care what others think."

Wang Bert shrugged. Tony Stark ate cheeseburgers every day. Who dared say anything about him? "I like how free-spirited you are."

The silver-haired old man smiled. "But Bert Wang, don’t you know that you shouldn’t casually take things that belong to other people?"

This silver-haired old man was Magneto, who had come to settle accounts with Wang Bert. At the same time, Azazel, Mystique, and the others were hidden nearby, protecting Magneto.

Wang Bert finished the last bite of his steamed bun and said, "I have thirty-two mutants from the Brotherhood. Twenty of them have no major problems, so I can return them to you. The remaining twelve not only hate humans intensely, but also have severe violent tendencies. I can’t let them go."

Magneto sneered. "Bert Wang, do you think I came here to negotiate with you?"

Wang Bert smiled. "Magneto, how many more years do you have left to live?"

Magneto said, "As long as the mutant cause remains unfinished, I will never die."

"At your age, you probably have another twenty or thirty years. Let’s call it thirty."

Wang Bert said, "How many years do you think I can live?"

Magneto said impatiently, "Bert Wang, I don’t have time for your jokes."

"I’m not joking. With your intelligence network, you should know that I possess Money Power."

Wang Bert said, "Do you know? For just one hundred million dollars, I can trade my lifespan for yours. In other words, Magneto, if I want to kill you, it’ll be very easy."

"Trade your lifespan for mine?"

Magneto was dumbfounded. Such an ability existed? Was it real? Even Magneto, who could control the Statue of Liberty and had been called a god by the media, had no defense against such a method.