Clues

"I refuse to believe you can still come back to life like this."

Looking at Road Bully’s severed head, Psylocke snorted coldly. This time, Road Bully did not revive again. His regenerative ability had its limits.

Seeing Psylocke kill the enemy, quite a few citizens applauded. However, some also felt that Psylocke had been too cruel. She had dismembered him, after all.

It could not be helped. An Adamantium blade combined with Psylocke’s psychic powers was simply that sharp.

"That should do it."

Psylocke let out a breath. At that moment, a mass of Black Qi rose from Road Bully’s body. Then, the Black Qi formed a blurry human face that sneered at Psylocke. "So-called Psylocke, you’re nothing special. You had such a hard time dealing with even one of my puppets."

Psylocke asked warily, "Who are you? A mutant?"

"A mutant? No, I hate mutants most of all."

The face said resentfully, "I want to destroy this world filled with suffering. Psylocke, we will meet again soon. When that time comes, you will be destroyed along with this world. Hahaha!"

Amid wild laughter, the face quickly vanished. Psylocke frowned slightly. Her instincts told her that this Black Qi was an enormous problem.

At that moment, Officer George and the others finally arrived. Looking at the chunks of corpse on the ground, George asked in astonishment, "He was that hard to deal with?"

"I thought you were going to say I was cruel."

Psylocke glanced at George in surprise. Although this officer was somewhat hostile toward mutants, his character was quite decent.

Then, Psylocke briefly explained what had happened. George’s brow furrowed deeply. "Black Qi? Destroying the world? Psylocke, could he be a special mutant?"

"He said he wasn’t, and he didn’t feel like one to me either."

Psylocke said, "Conduct an autopsy first. Also, be careful these days. Similar monsters might appear again."

"Alright. I’ll have every police station stay on high alert."

Officer George nodded, then instructed his officers, "Collect the body parts and send them back for an autopsy. I want the report on my desk tonight."

"Yes, boss."

The officers all nodded. Psylocke shook her head and went to check whether there were any survivors in the cars.

In the new office, Wang Bert frowned slightly after listening to Psylocke’s report over the phone.

The potion Road Bully had bought for one million dollars was the Human Enhancement Potion he had given Kingpin. The question was, what the hell was that Black Qi afterward?

The supernatural power in this world should only be mutants. Why did a mass of Black Qi suddenly appear?

After thinking for a moment, Wang Bert took out a stack of Banknotes from his pocket and said, "I want detailed information on the Black Qi, including who is behind it."

The Banknotes did not disappear. A message entered Wang Bert’s mind: "Insufficient balance. This information requires at least ten billion dollars. That is only the minimum. Detailed information requires one trillion dollars."

"One trillion dollars? Ancient God level?"

Wang Bert’s eyes narrowed. There was actually an Ancient God hidden behind this Black Qi? If it were not an Ancient God, it could not possibly be this expensive.

"Wanda, Apocalypse, Franklin, Phoenix, God… which one is it?"

Wang Bert fell into thought, but he could not determine who it was. After some consideration, he asked again, "I want to know who owns that human face."

The Banknotes swiftly vanished. At the same time, nearly one million dollars disappeared from Wang Bert’s account. In other words, this information was worth one million dollars.

Then, a face appeared in Wang Bert’s mind—a somewhat familiar face: Senator Cabo.

"How could it be Senator Cabo? He’s just an ordinary person!"

Wang Bert was somewhat shocked. After thinking for a moment, he teleported to the front of Senator Cabo’s villa, only to find that it had been sealed off by the police.

Senator Cabo’s identity was somewhat sensitive, so Wang Bert did not rashly enter the villa. He teleported back to his office, picked up his phone, and called Kingpin, asking him to help gather information.

"No problem, but Senator Cabo isn’t a mutant. I’ll charge you, or you can owe me a favor."

Kingpin said. He was not Wang Bert’s servant. He was Wang Bert’s partner.

Wang Bert said, "Launder five million for you. Same handling fee as usual."

"Fine."

Kingpin nodded. Wang Bert’s money laundering was not only cheap but also extremely safe. Kingpin had put a great deal of effort into investigating the previous transaction, yet he had found no trace of Wang Bert’s involvement at all.

While waiting for news, Wang Bert called Psylocke’s team manager and said, "Notify the tv station and newspapers that today’s robber was a human who gained tremendous strength by injecting a special potion."

"Is Mr. Wang trying to downplay Psylocke’s dismemberment of him?"

The team manager asked.

Wang Bert said, "Yes. For a celebrity, dismemberment is too brutal a method. I’ll design some ways for Psylocke to subdue people instead."

"That would be wonderful."

The team manager said delightedly, "Mr. Wang, I’ll have the media focus on the special potion and the black human face. Also, I’ll release footage of the robber’s arm regenerating."

"Alright."

Wang Bert nodded. He put down the phone, then spun a coin rapidly in his hand as he pondered.

"Until I figure out what the Black Qi really is, I should put the plan to create supervillains on hold. I don’t want things to get out of hand."

Thinking of something, Wang Bert muttered curiously, "Come to think of it, how much would it cost to restart the world?"

At that moment, his phone rang. It was Kingpin. "My people obtained the case file from the FBI. Senator Cabo and his servant mysteriously disappeared several days ago.

"Also, there was a large amount of blood in Senator Cabo’s bedroom, but neither his nor his servant’s remains were found."

"The FBI? That makes sense. For such a major case, the FBI would definitely take over."

Wang Bert said, "Kingpin, your connections are pretty wild. You can even get FBI case files."

"The Director of the New York FBI took a sports car from me the day before yesterday. That bastard is extremely Greed."

Kingpin snorted coldly. "Because of your conflict with Senator Cabo, as well as how bizarre this case is, you’re also within the FBI’s scope of investigation."

"I’m a law-abiding citizen."

Wang Bert did not care. The FBI could intimidate ordinary people, but for a billionaire like him, without solid evidence, there was no need to pay them any attention.

"Your record is indeed spotless."

Kingpin was somewhat envious. He asked, "Do you need the case file? I can make a copy for you."

"Send me a copy. Also, how is the rescue of the mutants going?"

Wang Bert asked.

Kingpin said, "I’ve investigated all the underground Fighting Arenas in New York. Three of them are using mutants as fighters. If you need me to, I can help rescue them."

"You don’t need to do it. It’ll be a good chance for my security guards to see some blood."

Wang Bert said, "Those security guards who have never seen blood won’t amount to much."

"Whatever you say. By the way, that robber has made the Human Enhancement Potion incredibly popular on the black market. The price has doubled."

Kingpin asked again, "Do you want to take the opportunity to sell more Enhancement Potions?"

"No rush. Hold off for now. That Black Qi is troublesome."

Wang Bert shook his head and said, "If you get any information on Senator Cabo or the Black Qi, contact me. I’ll pay you well."

"Alright."

Kingpin nodded and hung up. Then, he summoned his trusted subordinates and had them investigate Senator Cabo and the Black Qi.

"I have a feeling a new era is coming."

Kingpin narrowed his eyes slightly. After considering it, he took a bottle of Human Enhancement Potion from his safe and injected it into his body.

After Road Bully injected the potion, Kingpin had secretly examined him and confirmed that the potion had no issues. Under those circumstances, he had naturally kept a bottle for himself.

One only needed to look at the bulging muscles all over Kingpin’s body to know how much he craved power.

The Human Enhancement Potion took effect extremely quickly. Before long, Kingpin felt his body begin to burn. Then, the muscles across his body began to writhe and swell slightly.

"Is this power?"

Feeling the immense power surging from within his body, Kingpin could not help but laugh wildly. He felt as if he could crush everything in the world—a delusion brought on by his rapidly soaring strength.

Once his body temperature gradually fell, Kingpin stood up and smashed his fist into the sturdy desk. A huge hole was punched through it, and it collapsed with a crash.

Kingpin was extremely satisfied. Looking at the safe, his eyes flickered. "If I can obtain the formula for this potion, I won’t just become the richest man in the world. I’ll be able to build a kingdom of my own."

"Getting the formula won’t be easy. That Bert Wang bastard is not only powerful, but also extremely cunning. I need to plan carefully…"

Kingpin was deep in thought when unimaginable agony suddenly erupted from the depths of his soul. Even someone as tough as him could not help screaming as he dropped to his knees.

The pain lasted a full minute. Kingpin was drenched in sweat. Once it finally faded, he lay weakly on the floor, gasping for breath.

"Bert Wang!"

Kingpin finally understood the Soul Magic Array’s second function—whenever he had thoughts of harming Wang Bert, the Magic Array would activate and punish him with excruciating pain.

Worse still, the pain doubled each time. One minute the first time, two minutes the second, four minutes the third… and so on. By the ninth time, the Magic Array would directly Oblivion Kingpin’s soul.

"Until I break the Magic Array, I can’t have any more malicious thoughts toward Bert Wang. That bastard is terrifying."

Kingpin climbed up from the floor. As he took off his clothes, he thought, I’ll make money with him first. The rest can wait. I’m Kingpin, after all.

"Kingpin really is dishonest."

Sensing the Magic Array activate, Wang Bert sneered inwardly. Kingpin thought he had nine chances, but he did not know that the third time would be his death.

There would be no fourth time. Since Kingpin was this ungrateful, there was no need to keep him around.

"I’m badly short of manpower right now. Those mutants in the underground Fighting Arenas can replenish my Security Team."

After thinking it over, Wang Bert called Wade and Wolverine. "Wade, have your Security Team prepare. We have an operation."

"Logan, don’t return to Mutant Academy for now. There’s an operation."

"Alright."

Both Wade and Wolverine nodded, full of anticipation for the operation. Deep down in their bones, they had always craved battle and bloodshed.

After notifying the two of them, Wang Bert took out a stack of Banknotes and said, "I want to know Senator Cabo’s location."

The Banknotes did not disappear. A message entered Wang Bert’s mind: "The target has used magic to conceal his traces. One hundred million dollars are required to obtain the target’s location."

"Looks like my previous inquiry alerted the enemy."

Wang Bert narrowed his eyes. After thinking for a moment, he put away the Banknotes. His total assets were only a little over one hundred million dollars, so he could not waste them on this matter.

Should I pay a visit to America’s largest bank?

Wang Bert thought to himself. He had plenty of ideas for making money, but they all required a great deal of time. If he wanted to obtain a large amount of funds in a short time, the only method was to move money from a bank.

This would not be difficult for Wang Bert, but it would cause social unrest, and others would definitely suspect him.

"Forget it. Having a ready-made villain might not be a bad thing. There’s no need to deal with him too early."

Wang Bert shook his head. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Cast a Luck Spell on Psylocke. One million dollars."

One million dollars instantly disappeared from Wang Bert’s account. Then, a Luck Spell enveloped Psylocke. For the next period of time, she would become extraordinarily lucky, like the protagonist of a novel.

Of course, luck was limited. Once it was used up, Psylocke would return to normal.

The Road Bully incident quickly blew up. Due to Psylocke’s team’s public relations efforts, news reports mainly focused on Road Bully’s identity.

The autopsy report was out. Road Bully was not a mutant. He was an ordinary person, an ordinary person who had injected a potion and become an Enhanced Human.

The moment this news came out, the entire country was shaken. Had human technology already reached this level? It could actually create Enhanced Humans from science fiction novels? The White House and the FBI immediately seized Road Bully’s corpse. The emergence of Enhanced Humans made them deeply uneasy, because this kind of mass-producible power was not under their control.

Speaking of which, there was something amusing. Online, many people believed Road Bully was an Enhanced Human developed by the military.

This line of thinking was perfectly normal. The military had a history of such things, and the Human Enhancement Potion would definitely require many experiments. Only the military could complete everything without anyone noticing.

If there had been any solid evidence, the public would have already been preparing to protest. The military could only suffer in silence. They desperately wished they had the Human Enhancement Potion, but they truly did not.

This was only the beginning. Next, the FBI and spies from every nation would certainly do everything they could to trace the potion’s origin. They had to get this potion under their control. It could even change the nature of warfare.

One could imagine that New York would become extremely lively for some time to come.

Besides the Human Enhancement Potion, the black human face also drew a great deal of attention. Some claimed it was the power of another mutant, while others said it was magic. The two sides argued endlessly on TV and online, greatly boosting tv station ratings.

America’s authorities were also paying attention to the matter. After all, the other party’s goal was to destroy the world.

As for Psylocke’s dismemberment of Road Bully, since there was a reason for it and the focus had been shifted elsewhere, it did not cause much of a stir.

In fact, after this incident, Psylocke’s popularity rose rather than fell. The reason was simple: the appearance of Enhanced Humans made New York citizens feel deeply insecure. They needed someone to protect them, and Psylocke was undoubtedly the best candidate.