Celestial Group

"I won’t be destroyed by you, Black Phoenix. The one who’ll be destroyed is you."

Jean shouted angrily. Black Phoenix looked disdainful. Jean’s personality was somewhat timid; she could never possibly be Black Phoenix’s match.

Wang Bert did not try to persuade her further. This was something Jean had to figure out herself. No matter how much others said, it would be useless.

Then, Wang Bert and the Professor’s consciousnesses left Jean’s Mind Space and returned to their bodies.

The Professor sat in his wheelchair and shook his head. Then, he thrust both hands forward, and over a hundred long metal needles flew out from the wheelchair, blasting densely toward Black Phoenix with piercing sonic booms.

"The Professor can actually use Magneto’s powers?"

Black Phoenix was somewhat surprised. She first blasted Wolverine and Yuriko away, then glared at the needles. The needles rapidly disintegrated and vanished.

Though the needles disappeared, the magnetism on them remained. They continued shooting toward Black Phoenix. Unable to evade in time, Black Phoenix was struck repeatedly by the needles. Blood sprayed out, turning into black flames in midair.

The Professor’s control over magnetism was no weaker than Magneto’s, because he possessed extraordinary psychic power.

Black Phoenix flew into a rage. Black Flames representing destruction ignited all over her body, and her wounds rapidly healed within the flames. Then, she spread her hands, and a gigantic black phoenix appeared behind her, crying loudly toward the sky.

The moment the black phoenix appeared, the surrounding space-time seemed to freeze. Wolverine and Yuriko struggled toward Black Phoenix. She ignored them, controlling the black phoenix to flap its wings and fly toward the Professor. Everywhere it passed, even space was burned away.

The Professor remained utterly fearless. He controlled magnetism to form a force field around the black phoenix. The black phoenix let out a resounding Phoenix Cry and controlled its flames to continuously bombard the force field. The force field shook violently, as if it might shatter at any moment.

Black Phoenix condensed the flames into a long whip, preparing to help the black phoenix, when Wolverine and Yuriko attacked from both sides at once.

"Get lost."

Black Phoenix swung the whip fiercely at them. The whip’s power was terrifying. With a single strike, half a body vanished, and even Adamantium bones cracked.

Fortunately, Wolverine and Yuriko possessed extremely powerful healing abilities, and their wounds rapidly healed. Wolverine shouted and slashed the Flame Whip apart with one claw.

Black Phoenix grew even angrier. Just as she was about to attack again, a ball of black flame appeared in Yuriko’s palm and slammed viciously into her. It was Rogue’s absorption power.

Without Black Phoenix’s control, the black phoenix’s power dropped sharply. The Professor controlled the force field to gradually shrink, intending to crush it.

One-on-one, neither Wolverine nor the others was Black Phoenix’s match. But three against one, they could definitely fight the current Black Phoenix.

The situation was the same on the other side. Apocalypse and Original Sin were both tied down. Wang Bert was very satisfied with this. Things were going even better than he had expected.

Wang Bert said, "If they keep growing, they’ll definitely be able to help me hold back the Celestial Group in the future."

Franklin reminded him, "Only hold them back. If you want to deal with the Celestial Group, Apocalypse and Black Phoenix are more useful. They’re true ancient gods."

"I’m already making arrangements."

Wang Bert smiled. "Jean will find a way to merge with Black Phoenix. As for Apocalypse, he’s far too arrogant. To subdue him, I first have to crush that arrogance."

If Apocalypse could not even defeat Wang Bert’s subordinates, what did he have left to be arrogant about? "I see."

Franklin suddenly understood. "Combat training isn’t just about cultivating the Professor and the others. It’s also about subduing Apocalypse and Black Phoenix."

"That’s right. Original Sin can’t be subdued, but Apocalypse and Black Phoenix can."

Wang Bert said, "That’s also why I didn’t directly step in and finish them off. Beings like Black Phoenix and Apocalypse are difficult to force into surrender by threatening their lives."

Franklin said, "No wonder even my dad and mom have to work for you. You really are devious. Ow!"

"That’s called wisdom."

Wang Bert withdrew his hand and said, "I hope the Celestial Group doesn’t come too quickly. We need some time."

Franklin fell silent for a moment, then said, "They’ll come faster than you imagine. They aren’t NPCs in a game. With their intelligence, they’ll definitely be able to guess Scarlet Witch’s plan.

"You’re a Creator God whose might shakes the universe. No one would dare let you develop to your peak, so they’ll definitely descend ahead of time."

"Wanda will do her best to buy me time."

Wang Bert had only gotten halfway through when he suddenly sensed something. Together with Franklin, he turned his gaze toward Earth.

Earth was already in chaos. A gigantic armored figure had appeared in the sky, visible clearly across the entire planet.

That blue armored figure was a member of the Celestial Group.

"Damn it, did they have to come this fast?"

Wang Bert was speechless. With a wave of his hand, he collected the battling Professor and the others into space, then returned to Earth with everyone.

Franklin immediately followed him back. Original Sin and the others looked at each other, unable to understand what was happening.

"Did they notice my scheme?"

Original Sin asked. He had been secretly drawing on Hell Power, preparing to wipe out the Professor and the others in one go. But just as he had charged up halfway, Iron Man took them away.

To be honest, Original Sin was very annoyed. I was practically about to take my pants off—cough, cough—I was almost ready, and you people ran off early without even saying a word. Do you have no martial ethics at all?

"Something seems to have happened on Earth."

Apocalypse said with little interest, "We must restore our strength as quickly as possible. Otherwise, we’ll completely lose our dignity and glory."

"Iron Man has gone too far."

Original Sin cursed first, then sighed. Given their current condition, restoring their strength would not be easy.

On Earth, Franklin stared at the figure in the sky and asked in astonishment, "Why is there only one? Last time, dozens of them came. If not for that, we wouldn’t have lost so badly."

"Wanda hasn’t appeared. Something’s wrong."

Wang Bert frowned. At that moment, the Celestial Group looked in Wang Bert’s direction, then said in a completely emotionless voice, "The Celestial Group greets the Space Lord, Lord of Blood, and Lord of Power."

The first two titles belonged to Wang Bert himself, while the last belonged to Galactus.

"Your voice is really unpleasant to listen to."

With a thought, Wang Bert appeared in outer space. Then, he asked the hundreds-of-meters-tall Blue Celestial Group, "What are you doing coming to Earth alone?"

"Space Lord."

The Celestial Group answered, "You are a Creator God worthy of respect. We of the Celestial Group do not wish to come into conflict with you. That would only bring devastation to the living beings of the universe. Therefore, I traveled through time to this era to negotiate with you."

"Traveled through time?"

Wang Bert understood a little. He was too powerful, and the Celestial Group wanted to resolve this peacefully.

Though the Celestial Group was powerful enough to rival Creator Gods, Wang Bert was stronger. After merging with Galactus, he did not even fear the Living Tribunal, much less the Celestial Group.

The Celestial Group said, "Yes. We discovered Scarlet Witch’s plan. To avoid fighting you, we broke Scarlet Witch’s Time Seal and returned to this point in time."

Wang Bert asked, "Only you came back?"

The Celestial Group did not deny it. "Yes, only me. On one hand, negotiations do not require too many people. On the other hand, Scarlet Witch’s Time Seal is very powerful. We could not send too many back."

"You’re quite honest. In that case, let’s begin the negotiations. Can your Celestial Group give up on mutants?"

"No. Mutants are extremely precious test subjects. We cannot give them up."

The Celestial Group said, "But we can take a step back. We will only take the Omega-Level Mutants away and leave the other mutants untouched."

Wang Bert said coldly, "Scarlet Witch is my fiancée."

"Space Lord, your women are spread throughout the Entire Universe. What does losing one matter?"

The Celestial Group said, "If you want women, we can specially create a female race suited to your tastes to accompany you. No matter what requirements you have, they can satisfy them."

"When did my reputation in the universe become this bad?"

Wang Bert was somewhat surprised, and a little embarrassed. He coughed and said, "Custom-making a race just for me? You really go all out. But I refuse. Wanda is different. She’s the only woman I want to marry as my wife.

"Also, the other Omega-Level Mutants don’t matter, but you can’t have Iceman, Black Phoenix, or Franklin."

"We want all Omega-Level Mutants."

The Celestial Group shook its head. "Every one of them is an extremely precious test subject. Our Celestial Group has been conducting experiments since the birth of the universe. They are the most successful of all our test subjects."

"Then there’s nothing left to discuss."

Wang Bert sneered. "Scarlet Witch, Iceman, Black Phoenix, Franklin—you won’t take a single one of them."

"Space Lord, we respect you greatly, but that does not mean we fear you."

The Celestial Group said, "If we truly fight, you may win, but Earth will inevitably be destroyed."

Wang Bert laughed. "Are you threatening me?"

"No. I am merely informing you of the Celestial Group’s strength so that you do not make a misjudgment."

The Celestial Group shook its head. "We are not begging you. We are negotiating with you. In negotiations, each side should take a step back, and we have already taken one."

"I’ve also taken a step back. You can take Apocalypse and the Professor’s son, Legion. The rest, don’t even think about it."

Wang Bert said coldly. Legion was the Omega-Level Mutant with thousands of personalities. The Professor did not have much affection for him, so handing him over would not be much of a problem.

"Space Lord, you have not given enough."

The Celestial Group said, "We cannot accept these terms."

Wang Bert looked at the Celestial Group’s cold faceplate and said, "Fine, I’ll take another step back. Other than Scarlet Witch, I’ll allow you to take part of the other Omega-Level Mutants’ power. With your abilities and mine, splitting them open won’t be difficult.

"As for Scarlet Witch, she will not give you anything. Celestial Group, this is my bottom line. If you disagree, we’ll go to war directly. I’d like to see whether you can destroy Earth."

The Celestial Group looked at Wang Bert and said, "Not enough. We need them whole. Furthermore, Scarlet Witch is the highest priority. We must obtain her."

"Is that so?"

Wang Bert stared at the Celestial Group, his gaze icy. The Celestial Group fearlessly met Wang Bert’s eyes. As before, they respected Wang Bert, but they did not fear him.

After a moment, Wang Bert said, "In that case, leave this time-space. I’ll meet you properly in the future."

"Negotiations have failed. We will proceed to the next step."

The Celestial Group said, "Space Lord, let us make a wager. If you win, we will do as you say. If I win, we will do as I say."

"What kind of wager?"

"I noticed that this world has a Little Hell."

The Celestial Group said, "I will transform this Little Hell. Three months from now, you will attack Hell. If you conquer it, you win. Otherwise, I win."

"Transform Hell?"

Wang Bert thought for a moment and asked, "Can I take action? And will you take action?"

"Of course you can take action. You may also bring any helpers you wish."

The Celestial Group said, "I will also take action. Original Sin, Black Phoenix, and Apocalypse will become Hell’s guards. In addition, I will gather other mutants to help. Simply put, we will fight an offensive-defensive battle."

Wang Bert looked at the Celestial Group and asked, "You actually arrived a long time ago, didn’t you?"

"I arrived about a month ago."

The Celestial Group did not elaborate. "Space Lord, are you willing to make this wager? Unless absolutely necessary, we do not wish to go to war with you. That would mean a catastrophe for the universe, and the Living Tribunal would certainly intervene."

The Celestial Group did not want war, but neither did Wang Bert. Though he was confident he could destroy the Celestial Group, given their numbers and strength, many planets would certainly be destroyed. There was no doubt about that.

"A wager is fine, but I want to change two conditions."

Wang Bert said, "No matter what, Wanda cannot be given to you. That is my bottom line. As compensation, if I lose, I will give you a body of Galactus. Also, if you lose, you may not take away a single mutant. You may only extract energy."

Wang Bert did not say it had to be Galactus from this universe. Other universes had Galactus too.

"Galactus?"

The Celestial Group considered it, then said, "Agreed. But Scarlet Witch must hand over part of her power. She is special."

"Whether she gives up her power is her own decision."

Wang Bert shook his head. "Celestial Group, then it is settled."

"Very well, Space Lord. We will meet again in three months."

The Celestial Group nodded and stepped into Hell. Then, it said loftily to Original Sin and the other two, "Submit, or be taught a lesson!"

The Celestial Group was polite to Wang Bert because Wang Bert was a Creator God. But toward Apocalypse and the others, its attitude was as though dealing with ants—Apocalypse and Black Phoenix were merely their test subjects.

Compared to them, the Celestial Group’s attitude toward Original Sin was slightly better, but only slightly.

"How far do you intend to humiliate me?"

Apocalypse was on the verge of exploding. First Iron Man, and now the Celestial Group. Did Apocalypse not have any dignity? He was the World Lord, for heaven’s sake! Though that had been thousands of years ago, though he had eventually been overthrown, though he had really only ruled Pyramid Country.

A giant blue foot answered Apocalypse. It traversed time and space, crushing Apocalypse viciously beneath it. All of Hell shook.