Attack

"Damn military, pulling this kind of thing again."

The viewers cursed furiously, without the slightest doubt in their hearts. After all, it was far from the first or second time the military had done something like this.

This time, the viewers’ anger far exceeded what it had been during the Stryker incident. After all, the main victims this time were ordinary people. The thought that they themselves might become those "patients" made them shudder.

What did it mean to be worse off than dead? This was what it meant.

Brigadier General Lance had no idea he was being broadcast live. He said, "It’s fine. Try to capture tourists, homeless people, and seriously ill people close to death. I’ll have the police pretend nothing happened."

"Then there won’t be a problem."

Francis smiled. "Within a month, I’ll triple the factory’s scale. Also, after extensive testing, we’ve made quite a bit of progress with the serum. The success rate will be one or two points higher than before."

"That really is good news."

Brigadier General Lance nodded in satisfaction. "Our goal is to create a mutant capable of replacing Iron Man. Hmph, mutants aren’t qualified to be guardians. They’re only fit to be our slaves."

"Though I’m a mutant myself, I agree with you."

Francis said, "I’ve disliked Iron Man for a long time. I really don’t know why those idiots worship him so much."

"Bastard."

Quite a few Iron Man fans cursed furiously. Not only had he called them idiots, he had dared insult Iron Man too. That bald bastard deserved to die.

"The only ones who can truly protect America are us, the military. For now, we’ll use Iron Man to protect the country and its people. Once we create a replacement, we’ll kill him immediately."

Brigadier General Lance said, "And that Psylocke, Angel, all of them have to die too. This world will not belong to those damned mutants."

"This world belongs to the rich."

Francis said, "By the way, have you figured out how to smear the mutants yet? The higher the mutants’ status gets, the harder my business becomes. Those warlords and gangs are worried something will go wrong."

"We’ll talk after we develop a replacement. We still need mutants right now, so we can’t go too far."

Brigadier General Lance said, "Once we no longer need them, we’ll turn them back into rats crossing the street. The public is easy to fool anyway. They’re all idiots. Whatever we say, they’ll believe."

The viewers were nearly driven mad with rage. TVs in many bars suffered beer-bottle greetings. Damn military—they had fooled them again and again. What did they take them for? "America doesn’t need an army! Disband the military! Iron Man is enough!"

Someone shouted in a bar, drawing cheers all around. Without question, a massive protest march was about to erupt.

"Could your people be any stupider?"

Acton cursed at General Anthony. Wasn’t this deliberately trying to raise the hatred even higher? "He doesn’t know he’s being broadcast live."

General Anthony’s face was livid as well. "We have to cut off the broadcast. Otherwise, who knows what else he’ll say."

"I just tried, but New York TV Station refused. Iron Man is personally stationed there, so they don’t dare cut it off. In fact, they don’t want to cut it off either."

Acton asked, "General, have you cleaned up all the loose ends?"

"They’re being dealt with. It won’t be much of a problem. I wasn’t personally involved in this matter."

General Anthony said, "I’m only afraid he’ll say my name in front of the reporters. If that happens, even if God personally descended, he couldn’t save me."

"Let’s hope he isn’t that stupid. If this isn’t handled properly, it might affect the election. In fact, I suspect Iron Man is coming after me."

Acton sighed. After thinking for a moment, he picked up the phone and called the Professor, hoping the Professor would consider the bigger picture and stop Iron Man from continuing this mess.

Acton secretly sighed. If only Iron Man were as easy to deal with as the Professor.

At Mutant Academy, the Professor stared at the television, his face flushed red. Even his hands were trembling, showing just how furious he was.

Creating mutants and selling mutants as slaves—both of these were utterly vile. Even the kind-hearted Professor could not help flying into a rage.

After a long while, the Professor took a deep breath and said, "Jean, do you know? Right now, I somewhat agree with Erik’s ideas."

"I understand, because I feel the same way."

Jean sighed. "Humans truly are too evil, too ugly. Even the demons in Hell would have to admit defeat."

"We mutants are humans too."

The Professor shook his head. "Bert truly is formidable. Though I don’t know what other measures he has prepared, Acton can no longer possibly take office."

Jean stared in astonishment. "You mean Iron Man exposed this matter to make Acton lose the election?"

The Professor nodded. "Yes. He should have discovered this some time ago."

Jean asked, "Then why didn’t he deal with those disgusting people earlier?"

"To catch them all in one net, to make use of it at a crucial moment. Bert’s wisdom is completely out of proportion to his age."

Jean said, unable to accept it, "But during this time, many people will be tortured to death."

"Bert once said that good people must be worse than bad people. Only then can they defeat bad people."

The Professor slowly said, "I represent good, Erik represents evil, while Bert possesses both good and evil. Neither I nor Magneto can save the mutants. Only Bert is the true Mutant Savior."

"Professor, I can’t understand it, and I can’t accept this."

Jean shook her head. The black flames deep in her eyes quietly swelled by another circle because of this incident.

Simply put, the more negative emotions she had, the faster Phoenix awakened.

"Jean, don’t think too much. The most important thing in life is staying true to yourself."

The Professor said this just as the phone rang. It was Acton calling. He said, "Professor, if this continues, the public will completely lose faith in the military. That isn’t a good thing. America cannot do without the military’s protection."

"When something has gone rotten, I think it’s better to cut it off. If it isn’t cut off, the other parts will rot along with it."

The Professor said, "Acton, I will not stop this. The military must bear the consequences of the evil it has done."

Acton was silent for a moment before saying, "The military has indeed brought this upon itself. Professor, please tell Iron Man that he can strike at the military, but he cannot shake the foundations of the nation. Otherwise, America may split apart."

"I’ll tell him."

The Professor put down the phone. Staring at the television, he snorted coldly. "Let’s see what fate awaits these scum."

Even the Professor called them scum, which showed just how hateful they were.

The Professor was not the only one awaiting their fate. The viewers were eagerly waiting as well, and many shouted in their hearts, Kill them all. Leave none alive.

Outside the office, Translucent was introducing Treece to the people inside. "That general is Brigadier General Lance, an important figure in the Army. That bald man is Francis. He used to be a soldier, but was later turned into a mutant. He has high-speed reflexes and the ability to ignore pain.

"That Francis is mine. I’ve thought of plenty of ways to torture him lately. I’ll make him regret being born into this world."

Treece said, "That sounds rather cruel. If you let me join you, I can help keep it secret."

The cameraman coughed and hurriedly said, "Gentlemen, this is being broadcast live."

"What we just said was purely a joke. Please don’t take it seriously. However, I personally think that Francis should suffer Death by a Thousand Cuts."

Treece said resentfully. The viewers all nodded in agreement. Trash like him absolutely could not be allowed to die too easily.

"I wonder when Mr. Wade’s side will make its move. I can’t wait to see their fate."

Treece had barely finished speaking when a thunderous boom sounded from outside. It was immediately followed by dense gunfire, popping in rapid succession like exploding beans.

Brigadier General Lance was startled and hurriedly asked, "Francis, what’s happening?"

"Don’t worry. We have plenty of people. Nothing will happen."

Francis motioned for Brigadier General Lance to stay calm, then picked up his communicator and asked, "What’s happening?"

On the other end of the communicator was a burly female mutant named Sand Dust Angel. She possessed tremendous strength and a sturdy body. She said, "Mutants have broken in. Leading them is a big man with claw blades on his hands. If I remember correctly, he’s Wolverine, one of Iron Man’s men."

"One of Iron Man’s men? Don’t tell me Iron Man came too?"

Francis was greatly alarmed. If Iron Man really had come, he could consider killing himself immediately. At least that way, he could die with a shred of dignity.

Brigadier General Lance was thinking the same thing. Everyone knew Iron Man was the strongest mutant.

Sand Dust Angel shouted, "He didn’t come. It’s only the Security Team. There aren’t many of them. I’m leading people to counterattack."

"That’s good."

Francis sighed in relief and ordered, "Send the mutant slaves in the backyard out to buy time. Also, burn this place down. We can’t leave any evidence for Iron Man."

Sand Dust Angel was stunned. "Set it on fire? There are hundreds of patients in the factory."

Francis coldly said, "What’s the problem? Do you want to leave them alive to accuse you?"

"No problem. I’ll have someone pour gasoline immediately."

Treece said angrily, "That guy really is scum. Translucent, I’ve decided—I’m torturing him with you. Uh, Keli, remember to move the camera away when the time comes."

The viewers were deeply dissatisfied. How could the camera move away during such a wonderful show? If she dared move it, they would complain immediately.

After giving his orders, Francis moved aside a cabinet, revealing a secret passage behind it. Then he summoned the bodyguards and ordered, "Escort the general out through the passage. General, don’t worry. I’ll handle everything."

Brigadier General Lance first nodded, then said, "All right, Francis. Iron Man has the ability to make people tell the truth. If things go badly, you must kill yourself."

Francis fell silent for a moment before saying, "I understand. Don’t worry, I won’t disappoint you."

"Good."

Brigadier General Lance was very satisfied. Just as he was about to leave with the bodyguards, a red figure appeared out of thin air and shot the three bodyguards in the head one after another.

"Wow, did I just commit murder?"

Wade let out an exaggerated cry. Francis was both shocked and enraged, and hurriedly raised his gun to shoot Wade in the back.

Wade dodged aside, avoiding the bullet. Then he raised a hand and blasted out a bolt of lightning. Francis flew backward into the cabinet, and his pistol clattered away into the distance.

Wade ignored Francis after that. Pointing his gun at Brigadier General Lance, he shouted, "Please don’t move around recklessly, or my murder charge will become even more serious."

"Mutant Wade."

Brigadier General Lance was startled and hurriedly shouted, "Do you know who I am? How dare you point a gun at me?"

"I know who you are. You’re the bastard every person in America wants to beat up."

Wade stepped forward and heavily smashed the gun butt into Brigadier General Lance’s head. Brigadier General Lance screamed and collapsed to the floor, blood gushing from his forehead.

"Awesome!"

Treece and the viewers in front of their screens cheered loudly at the same time. At that moment, Wade’s popularity soared.

"Wow, I seem to have committed assault again. How terrible."

Wade put on an act and said, "Luckily, I’m handsome enough. The judge should forgive me."

At that moment, a fierce whoosh came from behind Wade. Francis had launched a sneak attack with a machete in hand. Wade sneered and abruptly vanished. When he reappeared, he was already behind Francis.

Then Wade shot Francis in the calf. Francis turned around as though nothing had happened and continued slashing at Wade. Wade’s eyes lit up red as he prepared to give Francis two large holes.

Just then, with a bang, a hammer heavily struck the back of Francis’s head. His vision went dark, and he passed out on the spot—he merely could not feel pain; he could not ignore damage.

Translucent grabbed Francis by the leg and said, "He’s mine. Treece, from now on, follow Wade."

Treece shouted, "Man, I really want to go with you."

Wade shouted, "Wow, are you confessing your love to me?"

Translucent and Treece both got black lines across their faces. Translucent said, "You’re needed here more. You can properly interview our general."

As he spoke, Translucent removed the invisibility effect from Treece and the cameraman, and both of them appeared.

Treece turned to the camera and said helplessly, "Looks like I won’t get the chance to vent the patients’ anger. Fortunately, we still have Brigadier General Lance."

After saying that, Treece walked over to the bloodied Brigadier General Lance, held the microphone out to him, and asked, "Brigadier General Lance, do you believe what you’ve done is worthy of the people of America?"

Brigadier General Lance looked at the microphone and the camera behind it, and his expression changed drastically. "An interview? When were you here?"

Treece said, "We’ve been here all along. And by the way, we’re broadcasting live. Everyone in America can see your ugly face."

"Live broadcast?"

Brigadier General Lance’s mouth fell open, his face full of despair. He knew he was finished. Not only would the public not let him go, General Anthony would not let him go either.

Brigadier General Lance gritted his teeth, pulled out the pistol at his waist, and pressed it beneath his chin to kill himself. At that moment, a hand caught the trigger and snatched the pistol away.

Wade sneered. "You seem very loyal to General Anthony. You’d rather die than testify against him."

"General Anthony?"

The viewers were greatly shocked upon hearing that name. He was one of the top figures in America’s military.