Completing the Gene

This Evil Believers incident caused roughly a thousand civilian deaths. At the same time, America eliminated more than three hundred Evil Believers.

Half a month ago, that number would have caused an uproar. But compared to the disaster half a month earlier, everyone could barely accept such losses.

Especially since America’s situation was much better than other countries’. At least ten thousand people had died in Europa, and it still wasn’t over—the X-Men, after resting for a night, headed there with Nightcrawler’s help to provide support.

This battle had caused considerable losses, but quite a few people had benefited as well. President Richard, for example, had successfully changed his public image. Though he had yet to fully win public approval, far fewer people were cursing him now.

The Mutant Guardians had also gained plenty of benefits. The public was extremely satisfied with them and constantly praised them.

The ones who gained the most, however, were Original Sin and Wang Bert.

Although the Evil Believers had suffered severe losses, Original Sin had not lost out. On the contrary, He had profited enormously—the people killed by the Evil Believers vastly outnumbered the Black Qi He had expended.

The more people died, the weaker the seal became. If the Evil Believers kept this up, Original Sin would regain His freedom within five years.

Of course, Original Sin had no intention of waiting that long. This was merely an appetizer. The real main course was the Seven Deadly Sins.

As for Wang Bert, his main gain was prestige. He had previously only been America’s Guardian God, but after this battle, he had directly become America’s Guardian God. His number of fans soared, and some presidents even publicly declared themselves fans of Iron Man.

Prestige was very important to Wang Bert because he wanted to become the Mutant God, and he also wanted mutants and ordinary humans to live together peacefully.

Besides that, prestige had another use: it allowed Wang Bert to easily obtain the blood of other mutants. After all, he was the Mutant Savior. With any excuse at all, people would give him their blood.

The more blood he had, the faster Wang Bert could reverse-engineer the Mutant Source. Before long, he would gain control of the Mutant Source and become the Mutant God.

Leaving that aside for now, just as Wang Bert had said, Evil Believers were becoming commonplace. Almost every day, Evil Believers caused trouble. After their initial cursing and fear, the American public gradually got used to it. Whenever they sensed something was wrong, they immediately called the Mutant Guardians.

With Wade and Nightcrawler around, those Evil Believers could not cause any major trouble in America.

Other countries were not so fortunate. They were being tormented by the Evil Believers, and to deal with them, nations everywhere began forming Mutant Guardians and offering all kinds of favorable terms to attract mutants.

As a result, mutants’ status rose once again. No one dared to publicly humiliate mutants anymore.

Of course, that did not mean mutants could rest easy from now on. Those anti-mutant elements would never allow mutants to remain in the spotlight forever.

"Mutants, Evil Believers… this world has completely entered the supernatural era."

Wang Bert stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down over Manhattan as he muttered, "This is the best of times, and this is the worst of times."

"Boss, you didn’t call me here just to listen to you sigh, did you?"

Psylocke walked in from the doorway, her face full of exhaustion. "I’m exhausted from the past few days. By the way, why are there so many Evil Believers in New York? Logically speaking, shouldn’t they avoid New York like the plague? Everyone knows New York is the home base of you, Iron Man. You, Iron Man, are a god. I heard there are even religions overseas that worship you."

Wang Bert said mockingly, "If they had functioning brains, why would they become Evil Believers?"

"That actually makes a lot of sense."

Psylocke smiled. "So, why did you call me here? Once you’re done, I’m going back to sleep."

Wang Bert turned around and asked seriously, "Psylocke, do you want to become stronger?"

"Of course I do. My abilities are too limited."

Psylocke sighed. "Unfortunately, I’ve already developed my abilities to their limit. It’s impossible for me to improve any further."

"You can’t, but that doesn’t mean I can’t."

Wang Bert smiled. "Would you mind coming back to the manor with me?"

"I don’t mind, but I’m afraid the meteorites in the sky might."

Psylocke cracked a joke first, then asked curiously, "Boss, don’t tell me you can increase a mutant’s strength?"

"I can, but I’ve never used this ability before, so I don’t know whether anything might go wrong. I know you fairly well, so I wanted to ask you to be my test subject."

Wang Bert said, "As for why we have to do it at the manor, it’s simple. If the experiment fails, I can bury you immediately and make sure no one finds out."

"Is that how you treat your friends?"

Psylocke complained. "I don’t mind being your experiment. I trust you. But there’s one thing I don’t understand. Why not use Wolverine? Not only is he tough as nails, he has a healing factor. Wouldn’t he be a better test subject? He’s natural experimental material."

"Wolverine is already over one hundred and fifty years old. If something goes wrong, he might die."

Wang Bert shook his head. "You’re different. At worst, you’ll only end up paralyzed."

"I might as well die, then."

Psylocke rolled her eyes. "Come on. If you can really increase my strength, I don’t mind being your test subject at all."

As a mercenary, Psylocke naturally understood how important strength was!

"Don’t worry. Whether it succeeds or fails, I’m confident I can keep you safe."

Wang Bert smiled and teleported Psylocke to an empty room that had long been prepared. Then he said to her, "We’re about to begin. It might hurt a little, so bear with it."

Psylocke complained, "Don’t you think that sounds a little suggestive?"

"I don’t. Psylocke, don’t let your mind get so dirty."

Wang Bert stopped wasting words. He raised his hand, and dazzling blood-red light shone from his palm. Immediately afterward, countless crimson motes flew out from his palm and landed on Psylocke.

Psylocke felt those crimson motes seeping into her body. Her instinct was to resist, but remembering that Wang Bert was the one doing this, she relaxed and allowed the motes to penetrate her body.

After entering Psylocke’s body, the motes immediately fused with her blood. Then, they transformed into tiny particles that entered her genetic chains, completing her Mutant Gene.

The Mutant Gene determined a mutant’s upper limit. After years of arduous training, Psylocke had already reached the limit of her genes. There was only one way for her to grow stronger: complete her genes.

That was right—completing genes. No one else could do such a thing, but Wang Bert could. Not only had he analyzed Psylocke’s Mutant Gene, he also possessed an extremely profound understanding of the Mutant Source.

That was why Wang Bert had chosen Psylocke as his test subject—due to time constraints, she was the only one whose genes he had completed so far.

With the help of the crimson particles, Psylocke’s Mutant Gene rapidly improved. Then, her entire body lit up with dazzling purple light, making her seem as if she had caught fire.

"What’s happening?"

Psylocke instinctively panicked a little, but Wang Bert smiled and said, "Psylocke, don’t panic. Follow your heart."

"Follow my heart?"

Psylocke quickly calmed down. She closed her eyes, and the purple light around her gradually receded. After a while, the light transformed into a magnificent suit of purple armor that covered her body, making her look like a Valkyrie.

"Why does that armor use so little material?"

Wang Bert complained. He sensed that the areas not covered by the armor were protected by a layer of psychic energy as well. In other words, Psylocke had deliberately designed the armor this way—to show off her figure.

Women, after all. Making them wear full-body armor would be worse than killing them.

After the purple armor took shape, Psylocke suddenly opened her eyes. Then, she raised a hand, and a gorgeous purple longsword rapidly formed.

That was not all. Psylocke swung the longsword fiercely forward, sending a purple crescent blade light slashing viciously toward Wang Bert. The ground was directly split open by a long gash.

"I’ll send you the bill later."

Wang Bert flicked a finger, and the purple blade light vanished immediately. Psylocke was not alarmed but delighted. She continuously sent blade lights flying toward Wang Bert, testing her new abilities.

Wang Bert shook his head and sent all the blade lights away. A moment later, Psylocke stopped and said excitedly, "I finally have a ranged attack now. I won’t have to carry around a forty-meter-long greatsword every day anymore."

Wang Bert asked with a smile, "Want me to help test your armor’s defensive capabilities?"

"Of course… not."

Psylocke smiled. She would not give Wang Bert an opportunity to get revenge. She dismissed the longsword and said gratefully, "Boss, thank you. My strength has increased by at least twofold."

"This is only the beginning. Your abilities haven’t been fully developed yet."

Wang Bert said. Since he had completed Psylocke’s genes, he naturally knew what her ultimate form was.

The only pity was that even after completing her genes, Psylocke still could not become an Omega-Level Mutant—Omega-Level Mutants were bug-level existences, not something that could be achieved so easily.

Psylocke’s eyes lit up. "They haven’t been fully developed? So I can still improve?"

"Yes. Train hard from now on. Since you didn’t explode just now, there probably won’t be any problems in the future either."

Wang Bert smiled. "This experiment can be considered a complete success."

"So it could have exploded? You didn’t mention that before."

Psylocke complained. Then, thinking of something, she sighed. "Boss, if you didn’t already have a woman you loved, I really would devote myself to you."

"Better not. I’m worried meteorites will destroy my manor."

Wang Bert waved his hand. Psylocke was better left to his main body. He needed to focus on settling Wanda’s affairs himself.

"I’m worried about that too."

Psylocke laughed. "Boss, send me to the Training Ground. I’m going to train hard and strive to fully develop my abilities as soon as possible."

"Alright."

Wang Bert nodded in satisfaction and waved Psylocke away. Psylocke was a very diligent woman. It had not been a waste to make her the first one he enhanced.

"Who should I complete next? Wolverine, Juggernaut, White Queen…"

Wang Bert pondered silently. It was worth mentioning that his ability was different from Apocalypse’s enhancement ability—Apocalypse’s ability developed potential, while his completed genes.

If mutants were compared to buckets, Apocalypse’s ability was like adding water to them, while Wang Bert’s ability was like making the buckets bigger. They seemed similar, but Wang Bert’s ability was clearly more advanced than Apocalypse’s.

Advanced often meant slow, and Wang Bert’s completion ability was no exception. He had to spend time studying and completing genes. In terms of efficiency, he was far inferior to Apocalypse.

However, mutants whose genes had been completed by Wang Bert would definitely be stronger than mutants enhanced by Apocalypse.

"I wonder where Apocalypse is now. If I could study his genes, I’d definitely gain a lot."

Wang Bert’s heart stirred, but he immediately shook his head. Now was not the time to look for Apocalypse.

In the blink of an eye, another half month passed. It was now mid-October, and only half a month remained before the election. President Richard planned to hold a press conference tomorrow and officially begin his battle for reelection.

Leaving that aside, Wade stared at his pale face in the bathroom mirror and gave a miserable smile. After living for more than thirty years, he finally understood what it meant for joy to turn into sorrow.

A few months ago, he had inexplicably gained the Boss’s favor, and his life had been on easy mode ever since. Not only had he become the CEO of a Security Company, he could even chat and laugh with the president.

On top of that, his beloved wife had become pregnant. His career and family life had both flourished.

Before Wade could even lose himself in happiness, terrible news suddenly descended—he had cancer, and only a little over two months left to live.

"God, why are you being so cruel to me? I just ascended to Heaven, and you kicked me straight back into Hell!"

Wade gritted his teeth and punched the bathroom Mirror to pieces. He was truly unwilling to accept it. Just days ago, he had sworn that he would make his child the happiest baby in the world. Yet now, he would not even live to see the child be born.

Just then, Wade’s phone began ringing. He answered it and asked weakly, "Who is it?"

"It’s me, Domino. Wade, something’s been off with the Brotherhood lately. Some mutants keep gathering together in secret to talk about things. I feel like something major is about to happen within the Brotherhood."

Domino reported. She had officially joined the Mutant Brotherhood ten days ago.

Wade responded, "Oh."

Domino was deeply dissatisfied. "Wade, what do you mean, ‘oh’? I risked my life to get this intelligence, and all you can say is ‘oh’?"

Wade gave a bitter smile. "Your life isn’t in danger. Mine is. I have cancer."

"What?"

Domino was dumbfounded. She carefully asked, "That has nothing to do with me, right? We’ve only met once. We’ve only been in touch by phone since then."

"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. It doesn’t matter anymore. I’ll tell the Boss about this. Also, you might need a new contact."

Wade sighed and hung up. Then, he shook his head and went to the company to resign from Wang Bert so he could focus on treating his illness.

Unlike in the movies, where Wade gave up on himself after falling ill, in reality, he planned to seek treatment actively. At the very least, he wanted to see his child be born.

As for money, that was not a problem at all. Wade’s salary was high, and the company had purchased extensive medical insurance for him.

In the office, Yuriko was reporting to Wang Bert. "Boss, sales of your merchandise have hit another record high. Many people are complaining that they can’t buy any. Christmas is coming soon, and your merchandise is the gift children want most."

"Tell the manufacturers to speed up production. I’ll have Wade go receive the shipments."

Wang Bert smiled. "We can’t disappoint those children, can we?"

Yuriko reminded him, "Boss, this will create quite a few problems, such as tariffs and protests from shipping companies."

"Small matters. Just pay the taxes."

Wang Bert said. At that moment, Wade came to see him. With a miserable expression, he said, "Boss, I’m sorry. I can’t serve you anymore."