Crushing

"This is the president of America!"

The president’s panic displeased Wang Bert. This guy was far less capable than Acton. He walked over and said, "Calm down. You’re the president."

"I was a little too nervous."

The president came to his senses, let out a breath, and said with a bitter smile, "When there was no chance before, nothing mattered. Now that there’s a chance, I’ve become overly worried about gains and losses."

Going from having a chance to having none, then from none back to having a chance, had clearly affected the president’s mindset. Wang Bert smiled. "Relax. With me here, nothing will happen. Besides, this is actually a good opportunity."

The president asked, "What kind of opportunity?"

"A good chance to change your image. Sir, hold a press conference now, declare war on the Evil Believers, and state that you’ll do everything possible to protect the people of America."

Wang Bert said, "Simply put, build yourself a Tough Guy image. Uh, you can add a few slogans too, like ‘Make America safe again.’"

"A Tough Guy image? The American people like tough guys."

The president’s eyes lit up. Then, thinking of something, he hesitated and said, "Bert, if this goes wrong, I’ll be out of office immediately."

"Don’t worry. The Evil Believers don’t have any schemes this time. They’re just killing people."

Wang Bert said, "With the Guardians and the Security Company, the Evil Believers will be suppressed soon enough. Just get on stage and perform. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility."

"Fine. I’ll hold a press conference right away."

The president nodded and had his secretary prepare the press conference. Then, before the reporters, he shouted forcefully, "America will not fear the Evil Believers! Any Evil Believer who dares show themselves will be eliminated by us.

"People, do not be afraid. If you discover an Evil Believer, report it to the Mutant Guardians immediately. We will rush over to help you at once.

"Believe in me. Believe in Iron Man. We will not let you down. What happened half a month ago will never happen again. I, President Richard, guarantee you that I will make America safe again."

Watching the passionate president on television, the public was full of question marks. Had the president been controlled, or was he having a mental breakdown? Why had he suddenly become such a tough guy?

The military was equally dumbfounded. Could this president be Iron Man in disguise? Candidate Acton frowned slightly. Had President Richard suddenly changed his image at this time because he wanted to be reelected?

"Impossible. No one would vote for him anyway, and there’s only a little over a month until the election. Whatever he does, it’s too late."

Acton shook his head. The reason he dared get so close to the military and seize power without restraint was because he was certain he would become president.

Given the current situation, unless God descended, Richard could never be reelected.

Over the next two hours, the Mutant Guardians and the Security Company fought the Evil Believers with all their strength. Through their efforts, more and more Evil Believers were eliminated.

Tempered by actual combat, the Mutant Guardians and the Security Company matured rapidly, their combat power soaring. At the same time, Evil Believers began appearing less frequently.

As one side rose and the other declined, the combat teams of the Mutant Guardians and the Security Company finally began to have spare capacity. The moment an Evil Believer appeared, a squad would immediately teleport over and eliminate them.

"This stage is basically over. However, Evil Believers will become the norm from now on. They’ll appear every day."

Wang Bert nodded inwardly. Wade and Nightcrawler deserved much of the credit for how smoothly this had gone. Teleportation was truly too useful. Those military bigwigs were practically drooling.

At that moment, the president called Wang Bert and said excitedly, "Bert, we won. I’ll hold a press conference immediately to announce the good news."

Wang Bert smiled. "Remember the Tough Guy image."

"Don’t worry, I won’t forget. From now on, call me Tough Guy Richard."

The president said smugly, "By the way, quite a few Evil Believers have appeared in other countries too. Mexico, Great Canada, and Europa have all been begging for help. Should we send reinforcements?"

"I’ll handle Mexico and Great Canada. As for Europa, we’ll talk in a few hours. Nightcrawler and Wade are both a little tired."

Wang Bert said unhappily, "Those bastards dragged their feet when told to establish Mutant Guardians. Half a month has passed, and they haven’t even finalized the rules. They deserve to be attacked."

"Those washed-up Europa folks are outrageously inefficient."

The president sneered. "Unlike me. I had the Guardians up and running in half a month. Right, we can emphasize that in the publicity. I, Richard, am a capable man."

"Didn’t I force that through? Even Acton did more than you."

Wang Bert mocked inwardly. He said, "Good idea. You have experience with putting on a show, so I won’t say more. Handle it yourself. I’m going to deal with the Evil Believers."

The president laughed. "What American president doesn’t know how to put on a show?"

After hanging up, Wang Bert snapped his fingers, and Nanotech Armor appeared out of thin air beside him. He then instructed it, "I’ll handle Mexico. Go deal with the Evil Believers in Great Canada."

The Nanotech Armor spoke in a male voice. "Yes, sir. Please provide me with enough Space Energy to allow me to use Teleportation."

"Fine."

Wang Bert placed his hand on the Nanotech Armor and charged it. A moment later, the armor nodded at Wang Bert and vanished instantly.

Hank, who had been busy all day, asked curiously, "Bert, does your armor have artificial intelligence?"

"Yes."

Wang Bert nodded. The armor’s intelligence was equivalent to Jarvis before he became Vision. Under normal circumstances, it was sufficient.

As for artificial life, he could create that later. There was no rush now.

Hank asked excitedly, "I’m researching artificial intelligence too. Can I interact with it sometime?"

"No problem. In the future, it will replace me as a Super Hero and protect America."

Wang Bert smiled. He did not have that much time to deal with Evil Believers every day. The Nanotech Armor was the best substitute.

Better yet, whenever necessary, Wang Bert could transfer his consciousness into the Nanotech Armor. That way, he would not have to worry about anything going wrong with it.

Hank asked in astonishment, "It’ll be a Super Hero? Is it intelligent enough?"

"Of course. Made by Iron Man, guaranteed quality."

Wang Bert smiled and said no more. Then, he took out his phone and called the Old Mexico President.

The Old Mexico President answered Wang Bert’s call and shouted excitedly, "Mr. Wang, you finally have time."

The Old Mexico President had called Wang Bert earlier, but Wang Bert naturally had to prioritize America. After all, on the surface, he was American.

Wang Bert said, "Send me the locations of all Evil Believers. I’ll act immediately."

The Old Mexico President said, "All right, I’ll have someone send you the locations at once. Mr. Wang, if you need any help, just say the word. We’ll cooperate with you fully."

"Play some music."

After receiving the files, Wang Bert smiled and vanished into thin air.

"Music?"

The Old Mexico President was a little dumbfounded. What did Iron Man mean? And what music should be played at a time like this?…

Every country had patriots, and Mexico was no exception. At the call of the president and Iron Man, many mutants joined the Old Mexico Guardians. They just had not expected the mission to come so quickly—or to be so difficult.

In one city, Guardians Captain Juan, who had transformed into a gorilla, was blasted away by an immensely strong Evil Believer. He crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Die, government lapdog."

The bald Evil Believer, over three meters tall, grinned viciously and raised his sledgehammer, preparing to smash Juan to death.

"Captain!"

A Mexican girl’s eyes glowed red, and flames erupted over the bald Evil Believer’s body. The Evil Believer hurriedly rolled across the ground to extinguish them, then grabbed a nearby rock and hurled it at the Mexican girl with all his strength.

"Earth wall!"

Another team member slammed a hand against the ground, raising an earthen wall to block the incoming rock. With a bang, the wall shattered, and the rock rolled away.

The Evil Believer climbed to his feet and charged fiercely at the Mexican girl. Seeing his massive body and savage face, she was so terrified that she forgot to use her ability and turned to run.

Half a month ago, this girl had still been a supermarket sales clerk. Such a reaction was perfectly normal.

The earth-wall mutant raised another wall in an attempt to stop the Evil Believer, but the Evil Believer smashed through it with his shoulder. Then he kicked the earth-wall mutant in the chest. The mutant screamed, spat blood, and flew backward.

The Evil Believer laughed loudly. Just as he was about to pursue the Mexican girl again, Juan struggled to his feet and roared as he charged at the Evil Believer with all his might.

"Courting death."

The Evil Believer sneered disdainfully, lifting his hammer to finish Juan off for good. Though Juan knew he was no match for his opponent, he had no intention of retreating. He wanted to follow his idol Iron Man’s example and give everything to protect his country—the Old Mexico President had used Wang Bert as an example to instill conviction in the Guardians.

At that moment, a figure appeared in the sky out of thin air. He raised a hand toward the Evil Believer, who suddenly vanished.

"You did well."

The figure nodded approvingly at the group, then disappeared. He came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

"Iron Man!"

Juan and the others were thrilled. Unfortunately, before they could say anything, Wang Bert was already gone, leaving them rather disappointed.

Just then, the Evil Believer fell from the sky in utter terror, slamming into the ground with a boom and leaving behind a huge crater.

Looking at the "meat paste" in the crater, the Mexican girl said worshipfully, "Iron Man is incredible. The Evil Believer that none of us could defeat together was taken care of with one wave of his hand."

Juan said excitedly, "Of course. That’s Iron Man. Now that he’s here, our country can be saved."

"I heard Iron Man is our chief commander. In the future, he’ll train us. I wonder if that’s true?"

The Mexican girl said, "Quite a few mutants joined because of that. Ah, I didn’t even ask Iron Man for an autograph just now. What a shame."

"Iron Man is busy saving other people. How could he have time to sign an autograph for you?"

As he said that, Juan suddenly remembered the earth-wall mutant and hurried over. "Uh, Yak, how are you?"

"What do you think?"

The earth-wall mutant said weakly, "Please call an ambulance for me. Thanks."

Wang Bert truly was busy saving people. He kept teleporting and raising his hand, sending Evil Believers one after another into free fall.

Half an hour later, Wang Bert stopped and called the Old Mexico President. "Most of the Evil Believers have been dealt with. Handle the rest yourselves. If you encounter any you can’t handle, call me. I’m heading to other countries now."

After saying that, Wang Bert put away his phone and teleported to other countries to deal with Evil Believers. He was very busy.

Holding the phone, the Old Mexico President asked in disbelief, "How long has it been? Iron Man has already dealt with all the Evil Believers?"

A female secretary said excitedly, "Mr. President, they really have all been dealt with. There are no more red dots on the map."

"Half an hour. Iron Man only spent half an hour dealing with every Evil Believer within our borders."

The Old Mexico President exclaimed, "He’s truly incredible."

"Iron Man isn’t human…"

The female secretary suddenly said. The Old Mexico President whipped his head around. How dare she insult Iron Man? Who gave her the courage? From now on, not a single inch of Mexican soil would allow her to stand upon it.

"He’s practically a god. No, he is a god. He’s God reincarnated, here specifically to save us."

The female secretary said with a worshipful expression. The Old Mexico President rolled his eyes. Finish your sentence, damn it. He had nearly called the guards to drag her out.

"Mr. Wang is naturally a god. With him here, Mexico has nothing to fear."

The Old Mexico President nodded repeatedly. He decided to have people specifically promote Iron Man. The greater Iron Man’s prestige, the more stable his own position would be, because he was the one who had invited Iron Man here.

The Old Mexico President thought to himself, I need to tie myself to Iron Man. From now on, Iron Man will be my god.

This operation to purge the Evil Believers did not wind down until nightfall—only in the Americas, however. Things were still lively over in Europa.

Hank handed Wang Bert a bottle of cola and said, "Bert, your efficiency alone is higher than all of ours combined. Those presidents keep thanking you and want to give you awards."

"As the strongest mutant, of course I’m efficient."

Wang Bert took the cola and said, "Hank, unless the Evil Believers launch a large-scale attack, I won’t act again. The armor will take my place."

"You’re the trump card. Naturally, you can’t appear every day."

Hank had no objection. He said confidently, "We managed to handle the Evil Believers even while being so rushed and disorganized today. It’ll be even less of a problem in the future."

"Very good. Wade will have the Security Company cooperate with you."

Wang Bert said, "Oh, and when you’re being interviewed, mention President Richard more. Give him some credit."

Hank asked in confusion, "That’s no problem, but Bert, what’s the point?"

"You’ll understand in the future."

Wang Bert did not elaborate, because Hank did not dislike Acton. He even thought Acton was a good person. In fact, many X-Men thought the same way.

"All right."

Hank knew he lacked political wisdom, so he said no more and went out to hold a press conference, reporting on the incident.

The Mutant Guardians had gotten off to a good start.

Wang Bert thought to himself, Any improvement to his image is still an improvement. The American public’s intelligence is generally pretty low anyway.