Failure, Kingpin

"Azazel, what did you say?"

Astra, head of the Mutant Brotherhood New York Branch, asked Azazel unhappily. Azazel snorted. "Was I wrong? If there hadn’t been a traitor, how would the X-Men have known about our operation?"

Just as Astra was about to argue, Magneto waved his hand. "We’ll discuss this later. Azazel, find a way to infiltrate the Mutant Academy and bring that little girl back to me."

Azazel said disdainfully, "No problem. You should have sent me from the start instead of counting on an idiot like Sabretooth."

Sabretooth growled at Azazel in displeasure. Rather than showing fear, Azazel looked openly provocative. With his Teleportation ability, no matter how recklessly he acted, he would never truly die.

Azazel’s Teleportation ability was countless times stronger than Nightcrawler’s. He could even teleport from North America to Asia.

Magneto glanced at Azazel and frowned slightly. Although Azazel’s ability was useful, Magneto would not use him unless absolutely necessary.

It was not because Azazel was arrogant and conceited, but because he came from the Hellfire Club. Magneto did not trust him. That bastard might have been a spy Sebastian Shaw had planted in the Mutant Brotherhood.

The Hellfire Club was an organization of high-level mutants led by Black King Sebastian Shaw and the White Queen—they followed an elite path, and only high-level mutants could join them.

Though the Hellfire Club kept a relatively low profile, they controlled enormous power and wealth. In terms of true strength, they might not lose to either the Mutant Academy or the Mutant Brotherhood.

Magneto changed the subject. "I hope everything is going well on Raven’s end. We need to get something out of today."

"I can go help Raven."

Azazel’s eyes lit up as he volunteered. Magneto merely snorted without replying. At that moment, Raven called. "Erik, I’ve captured the senator. I’m on my way back now."

"Excellent. I’ll prepare the machine. Senator Kelly cares so much about us mutants, so I’ll give him a gift."

Magneto laughed. "Let him become one of us."

"He’s getting off easy."

Everyone laughed at once. Everyone was furious with Senator Kelly, furious enough to want to tear him to pieces.

In the basement of the New York Branch, Senator Kelly slowly woke up and discovered that he was tied to a metal chair. Two people stood before him—Erik, the notorious Magneto, and Mystique, who had knocked him unconscious earlier.

Meanwhile, Toad, Astra, and the other mutants stood near the entrance. It was worth mentioning that Azazel was absent, as Magneto did not trust him.

Senator Kelly shouted in shock and fury, "What are you going to do? I’m a senator! Do you know how serious the crime of killing a senator is?"

Magneto barked, "Then do you know how serious the crime of persecuting us mutants is?"

Mystique made a throat-slitting gesture at Senator Kelly. He was both furious and terrified as he shouted, "Where’s Henry? Where’s my assistant, Henry?"

Magneto looked at Mystique with admiration and said, "Henry died long ago. The one who has been by your side these past few months has always been Mystique. She can become anyone. She is God’s masterpiece."

"God would never create monsters."

Senator Kelly cursed bitterly. The mutants all flew into a rage, but Magneto raised a hand to signal them to calm down. Then he approached Senator Kelly and said, "We are not monsters. We are humanity’s future."

Senator Kelly wanted to retort, but Magneto’s killing intent made his entire body tremble. His teeth chattered, and he could not force out a single word.

Magneto smiled disdainfully and turned toward the machine across from him. "You’ll never have to fear me again."

With that, Magneto stepped onto the machine and faced Senator Kelly directly.

The machine was made of silvery-white metal and looked like a sphere, with a large rotating ring around it.

Though it looked rather unremarkable, its function was powerful—it could emit radiation and trigger mutation in the human body, turning someone into a mutant.

However, this machine could only be activated by Magneto using his own power; no one else could operate it. Furthermore, after using it, Magneto would fall into extreme weakness. If it lasted too long, he could even die. That was why he needed Rogue.

Because of this, the machine had never undergone a real test. This was its first official experiment.

The data is correct. It should work.

As Magneto thought, he placed his hand on the control panel. The outer sphere began to rotate, growing faster and faster. White energy appeared from nowhere around it and slowly spread toward the terrified Senator Kelly.

"Has it begun?"

In the office, Wang Bert narrowed his eyes slightly. The small device Psylocke had placed on Senator Kelly could not only track him but also eavesdrop. Wang Bert had heard all the previous conversation.

"Almost."

A moment later, Wang Bert said, "Magneto’s experiment fails. He is injured and collapses."

One million immediately vanished from Wang Bert’s account. At the same time, thick smoke suddenly poured from the control panel beneath Magneto’s palm. Then, the ring stopped rotating, and the energy rapidly dissipated.

Magneto screamed, coughed up blood, and collapsed to the ground from the backlash. Mystique and the others hurried over to support him.

Magneto’s hair was disheveled, his face exhausted, and he looked extremely old. He roared unwillingly, "Why did this happen? God, why won’t you even leave us a way to live?"

Senator Kelly laughed triumphantly. "Because you are monsters."

All the mutants stared at Senator Kelly with killing intent. His laughter abruptly stopped, and regret filled his heart. Wouldn’t it have been better to stay alive? Why did I have to court death?

"I’ll kill you."

Toad opened his mouth, preparing to shoot out his tongue, but Magneto said weakly, "Keep him alive for now. I will turn him into a mutant.

"Cancel the plan for one month from now. I need to redesign the machine. Astra, you’ll be in charge from now on. Mystique, follow the original plan and go to Wang Bert’s side."

After saying all that, Magneto could no longer hold on. His head tilted to one side, and he fainted. Mystique and the others hurriedly took him to the Medical Room. As for Senator Kelly, no one paid him any attention. He was left there alone.

"Hey, don’t leave me here."

Senator Kelly shouted, but only echoes answered him. He sighed, looked upward, and muttered, "At least there’s still a light."

The next second, the light went out, and the surroundings fell into complete darkness. Senator Kelly could not help screaming, but unfortunately, no one paid him any attention.

"Very good."

Hearing Magneto’s decision, Wang Bert nodded in satisfaction. The full one million he had spent had not gone to waste. This way, there would be no unexpected changes on the day of the High Summit.

Perhaps I should give a speech in front of representatives from more than two hundred countries.

Wang Bert thought to himself, That would not only greatly increase my prestige, but also make life a little easier for mutants in other countries.

"I’ll have a proper talk with the president next time. For now, I’ll deal with someone else—the underground emperor of New York, Kingpin."

Wang Bert smiled. He happened to be short on cash, so he would ask that fat bastard for a little sponsorship. Wang Bert was sure he would be more than willing.

At night, Kingpin’s massive body stepped out of an extended luxury car. The car seemed relieved; Kingpin weighed more than several grown men combined.

However, Kingpin only looked like a huge fat man. In truth, his entire body was muscle, and he could even fight Spider-Man head-on.

After getting out, Kingpin straightened his clothes while glancing toward the neighboring villa. When he saw the green sign inside it, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed nothing had happened today either.

The neighboring villa also belonged to Kingpin. His trusted subordinates lived there and were responsible for protecting his family. The green sign meant everything was normal.

Why was he being so secretive? The reason was simple: Kingpin’s wife and son did not know his identity. They had always believed he was a great philanthropist.

"Vanessa."

Thinking of his wife and son, Kingpin’s gaze became incomparably gentle, nothing like that of an underground emperor. Then he entered the villa and called out while taking off his coat, "Vanessa, I’m home."

No one answered Kingpin. He did not think much of it; perhaps she was bathing and had not heard him. He walked into the living room and was horrified to see a young man sitting on the sofa, drinking cola.

"Surprised? No wonder a certain bald egghead loves scaring people. Too bad the timing was off—the lights weren’t off."

The young man, Wang Bert, smiled. "Oh, and I drank your son’s cola. Remember to apologize to him for me."

"Wang Bert, where are my wife and son?"

Kingpin flew into a rage. Muscles bulged all over his body. His wife and son were his reverse scale; anyone who dared touch them, he would tear to pieces.

Wang Bert smiled. "Relax. I’m not as bottomless as you. I generally don’t kill people’s wives and children."

"Generally? So that means you do it occasionally?"

Kingpin snorted. "Where are they?"

Wang Bert said, "They’re sleeping in the bedroom. You can go check on them first. I don’t mind."

Kingpin did not hesitate at all and immediately headed for the bedroom. Then he carefully opened the door and found that both his wife and son were asleep, and sleeping soundly.

Kingpin could not help breathing a sigh of relief. He gently closed the door, and his expression immediately turned incomparably vicious. Wang Bert had to die.

Wang Bert put down the cola, stood up, and said, "Done checking? Now that you’re done, let’s talk business."

Kingpin said, "Outside. I don’t want to disturb them."

Wang Bert did not refuse. With a wave of his hand, both he and Kingpin vanished. When they reappeared, they were already on the roof of an abandoned building.

"Teleportation?"

Kingpin was shocked. Wang Bert could actually teleport? Wasn’t he only capable of dealing with garbage?

"Kingpin, why do people always insist on courting death?"

Wang Bert looked at his hand and said calmly, "They’re living perfectly well, yet they insist on provoking a dragon that can kill them at any time."

"More than fifty million US dollars disappeared out of nowhere. I need to give those gangs an explanation, or they’ll think I stole their money."

Kingpin answered while subtly moving closer to Wang Bert. "Even as New York’s underground emperor, I can’t withstand that many gangs.

"Wang Bert, all I can say is that you were unlucky. You suddenly came into so much money and happened to become the scapegoat."

After a pause, Kingpin added, "Also, though I have no evidence, I’ve always felt that you were the one who stole my money. There can’t be such coincidences in this world."

This guy’s instincts are really accurate.

Wang Bert laughed. "Maybe I’m not the unlucky one, Kingpin. Tell me, how should I deal with you?"

Kingpin said nothing. He suddenly exerted force, crushing the ground beneath his feet as he charged at Wang Bert with the ferocity of a violent bear, intending to crush him completely.

As an underground emperor, Kingpin’s method of solving problems had always been simple and direct: crush the other side.

At that moment, Wang Bert suddenly teleported behind Kingpin. Then he kicked Kingpin hard in the back, sending his massive body tumbling off the rooftop like a giant bear.

"Ah!" Kingpin screamed, but his mouth was immediately filled by the howling wind. He flailed his arms in panic, but it was useless.

"No!"

As the ground drew closer and closer, despair filled Kingpin’s heart. He was not afraid of death, but if he died, his wife and son’s fate would definitely be miserable.

Those gang members were all wolves. The safeguards he had left behind might not be enough to protect the two of them.

Just as Kingpin was about to become a pile of mush, he suddenly vanished. When he reappeared, he was above the ocean outside, plunging into the sea with a splash.

A moment later, Kingpin reappeared on the rooftop out of thin air, drenched in seawater and carrying a flopping fish. Then he opened his mouth and vomited a large amount of seawater before lying on the ground and greedily sucking in air.

"Fun?"

Wang Bert crouched in front of Kingpin and asked. A vicious glint flashed through Kingpin’s eyes as he wanted to grab Wang Bert, but he forcibly stopped himself. With the other man’s ability and vile personality, this had to be a trap.

"Smart."

Wang Bert said, "Kingpin, if you weren’t still somewhat useful, you would already be dead."

"I apologize. I admit defeat. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it."

Kingpin looked at Wang Bert and chose to submit. Being able to bend and stretch was a fundamental skill for a ruthless hero. Whatever happened, he could deal with it after surviving.

Wang Bert knew Kingpin was unconvinced. He smiled, stood up, and said, "First, please donate fifty million US dollars to the mutant cause. I’ll thank you properly on behalf of mutants."

Kingpin gritted his teeth. What did mutant affairs have to do with him? He said, "Fine, but I need a few days to raise the money."

"You’re New York’s underground emperor, yet you need time to raise fifty million?"

Wang Bert mocked, "Also, all your gang banks combined only had a little over fifty million in cash? That’s pathetic. I’m embarrassed for you."

"You think gangs like ours are rich? You’re overestimating us. The dirty money we earn has to be laundered first, and the fees range from fifty to seventy percent."

Kingpin struggled to his feet and said, "Then the cleaned money has to be sent to the Senators and police higher-ups we’ve bought off. Add in expenses for the men, settlement payments, and so on, and very little actually ends up in our pockets."

Wang Bert asked, "That sounds pretty miserable. Since it’s so miserable, why join a gang? Wouldn’t legitimate business be better?"

"You think I don’t want to run legitimate businesses? But who would allow it?"

Kingpin said, "The people behind me won’t allow it. The people I’ve bought off won’t allow it. My subordinates won’t allow it. Those who hate me won’t allow it. The other gangs won’t allow it either. In this life, I can only keep walking down this dark road."

After meeting Vanessa, Kingpin had always wanted to go legitimate. Unfortunately, just as he said, no one would allow it.

The moment Kingpin truly tried to go legitimate, only death would await him.