Fall

"The Behind-the-Scenes Manipulator behind the creation of mutants was actually General Anthony? In other words, the entire military is rotten to the core."

The public erupted in curses. Lance was only a brigadier general and could not represent the military, but General Anthony certainly could.

"He’s slandering me! I’ll sue him! I’ll have him shot!"

General Anthony shouted in terror—yes, terror. If this matter was confirmed, even he would not escape unscathed.

"The key is Brigadier General Lance. If he talks, you’re dead. Otherwise, nothing will happen to you."

Acton said this just as his assistant rushed in and reported, "Mr. Acton, a large number of photos of you having close contact with General Anthony have appeared online. Someone is also accusing you of being the Behind-the-Scenes Manipulator, and their claims sound convincing. They were clearly prepared."

"What?"

Acton was startled and hurriedly stood up. "Contact those websites and make them delete the posts. Iron Man’s target isn’t the military. His target is me. He wants to completely ruin my reputation and let Richard win reelection."

"Yes."

The assistant immediately went out to make calls. Unfortunately, those websites completely ignored his demands. The reason was simple: President Richard had personally spoken at length with the people in charge of those website companies.

One side was President Richard, who was almost certain to win reelection. The other was Acton, who was about to become infamous. Those websites knew whom they should choose.

"These damned capitalists. Hurry up and get online trolls to defend me."

Acton cursed, then turned to General Anthony. "Brigadier General Lance must die. If he talks, not only are you finished, I’ll be completely finished too."

General Anthony shouted, "The problem is, how do we kill him? Wade is right beside him. With Wade’s Teleportation ability, he can return to New York in the next second. Besides, Iron Man must be watching this matter."

"Damn it."

Acton cursed furiously, but he could not think of any way to solve the problem. Teleportation on a global scale was simply too overpowered.

"We’re finished."

Acton sat on the sofa, his face full of despair. With Iron Man involved, Brigadier General Lance would definitely talk. When that happened, both he and General Anthony would be completely finished.

General Anthony was equally desperate. He had even considered firing a nuclear missile at that factory, but he quickly shook his head and abandoned the idea.

It was not because General Anthony was merciful. It was because nuclear missiles would be useless too—Wade could teleport.

"I should go home now and prepare a dignified way to die."

General Anthony gave a miserable smile. At that moment, a voice filled with resentment sounded in his mind. "You don’t have to die, as long as you believe in me."

General Anthony froze, then reacted and asked in his mind, "Doomsday Master?"

"This world is false. Only by destroying this world can you enter the real world."

Original Sin slowly said, "Believe in me, and I will give you power. I will grant you eternal life and everything you desire."

General Anthony hesitated. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and asked, "I want Iron Man dead. Can you do that?"

"I want Iron Man dead as well."

Original Sin said, "If you are willing to believe in me, I will make you my envoy, Sloth of the Seven Deadly Sins."

General Anthony said, "Sloth? How am I lazy? I want Pride."

Original Sin said, "Pride is the strongest of the Seven Deadly Sins. You are not qualified. If you are dissatisfied with Sloth, you can choose the final sin."

"The final sin? Forget it. I don’t want to disgust everyone."

General Anthony gritted his teeth. "I am willing to believe in you. Please grant me power. Also, send someone to kill Brigadier General Lance. My identity is useful; it cannot be discarded."

"No problem. I will help you deal with Brigadier General Lance."

Original Sin nodded in satisfaction. General Anthony let out a breath of relief. This way, he could escape this disaster. As for the coming destruction of the world, he would deal with it when it came. If it truly came down to it, destruction would not matter anyway—he would not die.

During the entire negotiation, General Anthony had not mentioned America even once. It was obvious that he did not care about America at all. He had never been a patriot, merely an old man obsessed with power.

The reason General Anthony wanted to deal with mutants was simply because mutants would interfere with his power. That was all.

By comparison, Acton was a true patriot. That was why Original Sin had not tried to tempt him, because Original Sin knew Acton would never agree to believe in it.

At that moment, a large amount of Black Qi poured into General Anthony’s body. He felt as if he had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation. His eyes turned completely black, making him look like a demon.

A moment later, General Anthony returned to normal. Feeling the strength and vitality filling his new body, his eyes lit up. It felt as though he had been reborn.

General Anthony was thrilled. "The feeling of youth is simply wonderful."

Acton, trapped in despair, did not notice any of General Anthony’s abnormalities. He muttered, "America is finished. America will completely belong to the mutants."

General Anthony was about to say something when Acton’s phone rang. He answered weakly, and a confident voice came from the other end. "Mr. Acton, I heard you need help. Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Black King. I believe you know who I am."

"Sebastian Shaw from the Hellfire Club?"

Acton was stunned. As one of America’s highest-ranking figures, he naturally knew of the Hellfire Club’s existence. He had even dealt with them several times. They were a group of selfish, greedy mutants.

"That’s right. I am the Black King."

The Black King said, "Mr. Acton, I can help you resolve your current troubles."

Acton asked excitedly, as if he had found a lifeline, "What do you want? As long as it does not damage America’s foundations, I can give it to you."

The Black King said, "What I want is simple: your friendship, and for you to stop Iron Man."

Acton frowned. "My friendship, and stopping Iron Man?"

The Black King nodded. "I hate Iron Man. I want to find a few friends to deal with him."

The Black King had always harbored resentment over the White Queen being taken away, but Iron Man was simply too powerful. He was not confident he could deal with him alone, so he wanted to find allies—or rather, people he could use.

The last time, the Black King had approached the Brotherhood. This time, he had approached Acton.

Clearly, the Black King was also a scheming old bastard.

Acton had no choice now. He decisively said, "Help me kill Brigadier General Lance, and from now on, you will be my good friend."

"Very well. Please watch the television."

The Black King smiled and hung up. Acton let out a sigh of relief and told General Anthony about the call.

General Anthony blinked. There was something he did not know whether he should say: Couldn’t you have come a little earlier? I just started believing in the Doomsday Master, and now you show up?

General Anthony said, "Those Hellfire Club mutants are selfish to the extreme. They cannot be trusted."

Acton shook his head. "The more selfish they are, the more trustworthy they become, because only selfish mutants would want to deal with Iron Man, the Mutant Savior."

After a pause, Acton said mockingly, "Selfish people are often narrow-minded. They do not realize their fate is tied to that of mutants. Once mutants are wiped out, they too will face their end."

"Once the cure comes out, I’ll personally send them on their way."

General Anthony snorted. "For now, we’ll use them. I hope they can truly kill Brigadier General Lance."

Acton nodded. "I hope so too. As long as Brigadier General Lance dies, nothing will be a problem. There are plenty of ways to explain away those smears."

"Supreme Doomsday Master, let Hellfire Club make the first move. If they fail, then you act."

General Anthony thought for a moment and said in his mind, "That way, Iron Man will not suspect me."

"Too late."

The Doomsday Master replied. General Anthony was speechless. He desperately wanted to curse. Damn it, are you all teaming up to toy with me?…

Let us turn back time a little. After hearing Wade’s words, Brigadier General Lance became somewhat flustered. He shouted, "This has nothing to do with General Anthony. I did it myself. Don’t take the opportunity to slander him."

"If it has nothing to do with him, why are you so nervous?"

Wade sneered. "And if it has nothing to do with him, why were you so eager to kill yourself?"

"What I did deserves a hundred executions. What is wrong with suicide?"

Brigadier General Lance said, "I’m not nervous. I’m just dissatisfied. General Anthony has done so much for the country. He should not be slandered by scum like you."

Treece cursed, "Scum? Is there anyone more scummy than you?"

"What do you know? Everything I did was for America, to protect idiots like you."

Brigadier General Lance shouted, "Mutants are extremely dangerous. If one day they decide to slaughter humanity, what are we supposed to do? Launch nuclear missiles and seek mutual destruction with them? To deal with mutants, we must create mutants who obey our commands. Only then can we protect America and protect the people."

"Should I thank you on behalf of the public?"

Treece said disdainfully, "Not to mention that you people are not nearly as noble as you claim, but even if you were, we do not need such disgusting protection."

Brigadier General Lance looked disdainful. "What do reporters like you know besides twisting right and wrong?"

Treece was furious. At that moment, Wade suddenly asked, "Did any of the money you earned go to General Anthony?"

"Of course not…"

Brigadier General Lance had only gotten halfway through his response when he suddenly realized something. His expression changed slightly, and he snorted. "General Anthony knows nothing about this."

"Is that so? Then where did your funding come from? And how does a mere brigadier general have such enormous influence?"

Wade sneered. "Anyone can tell that you’re just a hired hand. Behind you stands a real big shot."

"You disgusting mutants do not deserve to live in this world. One day, every last one of you will be killed."

Brigadier General Lance immediately changed the subject and shouted, "Long live humanity! Death to mutants!"

Wade said, "Keep talking tough. The BOSS is on his way. When he arrives, you’ll tell us everything."

"Iron Man is coming?"

Brigadier General Lance’s heart sank. The problem was that he had no way to stop it. With Wade here, he could not even kill himself.

Heaven is destroying America.

Brigadier General Lance’s heart was full of despair. At that moment, Original Sin’s voice sounded in his mind. "Believe in me, and I will give you power."

"I believe in you."

Brigadier General Lance’s eyes lit up, and he immediately agreed. He needed power to turn things around—or to kill himself.

Brigadier General Lance was not the only one who heard Original Sin’s voice. More than a hundred patients outside heard it as well. After suffering for so long, they were already filled with resentment, resentment so intense that they wanted to kill everyone.

Original Sin had known about this place for a long time. The reason it had not developed followers here was simple: it did not want to destroy this place.

Dozens of people died here every day. Why destroy such a wonderful place? More importantly, perhaps one day, they might truly create a super monster.

"As long as you let us take revenge, we are willing to believe in you, great Doomsday Master."

Most of the patients chose to agree. In the next second, large amounts of Black Qi surged into their bodies. Then, they all straightened up and turned their eyes toward the staff members anxiously watching outside.

Without the staff noticing, more than a hundred patients walked up behind them and stared at them with bloodshot eyes. To be honest, the scene looked like something out of a horror movie.

"Ah!" At that moment, one staff member turned around, saw the patients, and could not help letting out a terrified scream. The other staff members were startled. Just as they were about to berate the screaming man, the patients launched their attack.

"Ah!" It was an extremely bloody battle—or rather, a massacre. When it ended, all the staff had become corpses. Well, perhaps they could no longer be called corpses.

After taking revenge, the patients did not stop. They rushed out of the hall and attacked the guards from behind. Instantly, screams filled the air.

Wolverine, who was fighting Sand Dust Angel, was startled and could not help asking, "What’s going on?"

Sand Dust Angel was also shocked. After hesitating for a moment, she turned and ran toward the hall—not to escape, but to ignite the flames and completely destroy this place.

Wolverine immediately chased after her, shouting, "Don’t even think about escaping! You all deserve to die!"

"Get lost!"

Sand Dust Angel was quickly caught up to. She gritted her teeth and swung a large steel pipe beside her at Wolverine. Wolverine slashed with both claws, cutting the pipe in half and sending it to the ground. Sand Dust Angel cursed, then hurled the remaining section at Wolverine with all her strength before turning and continuing to run.

Wolverine sidestepped the pipe, then pushed off with both feet and launched himself into the air. His claws viciously stabbed into Sand Dust Angel’s back.

Sand Dust Angel screamed, but she did not die. Enduring the intense pain, she ran forward two steps and pulled herself free from the claws. Then she turned and smashed an elbow into Wolverine’s head. Wolverine cried out and fell to the ground.

That was not the end. Sand Dust Angel turned and stomped viciously at Wolverine’s head. Wolverine rolled aside, and with a bang, her foot stamped a small crater into the ground.

Wolverine climbed to his feet and said, "I’ve never met a woman as fierce as you."

"Anything you men can do, we women can do as well."

Sand Dust Angel controlled her muscles to stop the bleeding, then shouted, "Set fire to this place and destroy it!"

Hearing the order, the guards being besieged by the Security Team and the patients immediately turned and retreated. At the same time, they fired at the locations where gasoline had been placed. Before long, blazing flames erupted all around.