Juggernaut

That evening, Wang Bert, Wolverine, and Wade disguised themselves and arrived at an underground Fighting Arena in Queens. This arena was well-known in New York because all its fighters were mutants.

"I used to fight in underground matches all the time. They just didn’t know I was a mutant, so I made plenty of money for booze every time."

Listening to the cheers around them, Wolverine said excitedly. Wade mocked, "You’re really not embarrassed to bring up that kind of dark history?"

Wolverine said, "Getting scammed is dark history. Scamming others is a success story."

Wang Bert rolled his eyes. Uncle Wolf’s skin was truly ridiculously thick. He shook his head and looked toward the cage below.

That was right, a cage. At that moment, two mutants were fighting inside a massive cylindrical cage. One of them was incredibly fast, constantly darting around the cage, while the other had skin that looked much like stone—he possessed a stone body, tough and indestructible.

"Kill him! Kill him!"

The audience shouted excitedly, wearing expressions as though they were watching two monsters fight.

"I hate this place. Fortunately, it’ll soon be a thing of the past."

Wang Bert said, "Wade, is the Security Team ready?"

"Don’t worry, BOSS. My people already have the weapons you brought in. They can move at any time."

Wade replied confidently. Everyone entering the Fighting Arena had to be searched to prevent troublemakers from bringing in weapons. Of course, that was no challenge for Bert Wang, the Space Lord.

Wang Bert said, "Be careful. Don’t let the arena staff notice you. I don’t want any accidents."

Wade said proudly, "My Security Team may not have many people, but every one of them is skilled. Those idiots from the Wild Wolf Gang won’t notice them."

"Really?"

Wolverine was unconvinced. He turned and looked around, then after a moment pointed at a shifty-eyed young man constantly glancing about. "That guy’s one of yours, right? He’s pretty amateur."

Wade sneered. "No, he’s just a rookie thief taking advantage of the chaos to steal things."

"A thief?"

Wolverine was stunned. At that moment, the young man slipped his hand into a guest’s briefcase. A moment later, he pulled out a wallet, tucked it into his clothes, and turned to leave his original seat.

Wolverine asked irritably, "He really is a thief. How did you know he was a rookie?"

"If he weren’t a rookie, would he dare steal here?"

Wade said, "This is Wild Wolf Gang territory. If they find out, that thief is as good as dead."

"Stealing here would affect their business."

Wang Bert nodded and asked, "Wade, you know a lot about this stuff?"

Wade shook his head without saying more. The truth was, he had been a thief himself for a while as a child. He had had no choice; life had forced him into it.

At that moment, cheers and curses erupted from the arena as the fight in the cage came to an end. The stone mutant seized an opening and punched the speed mutant away, sending him crashing heavily into the cage before he fell to the ground.

"The winner, Thing!"

The referee entered the cage, raised Thing’s hand, and shouted loudly. The audience cheered, while countless worthless betting slips were tossed into the air.

"Next comes tonight’s main event."

The referee lowered Thing’s hand and shouted, "The Champion Challenge! Will Thing successfully challenge the Champion, or will the Champion defend his title as always?"

"Juggernaut! Juggernaut…"

The audience shouted fanatically in unison, clearly worshipping that Champion. When Wang Bert heard the name, he was startled. Juggernaut? Juggernaut had appeared in X-Men 3. He was a powerful, tough-bodied mutant—unlike in the comics, where Juggernaut was a follower of the Crimson God rather than a mutant.

Also, in the comics, Juggernaut was the Professor’s nominal stepbrother from different parents. As for the movie version, that remained to be seen.

"Looks like we’ve struck gold this time."

Wang Bert nodded in satisfaction and said to Wade, "Have your people prepare to attack. Also, personally lead a team to take over the surveillance room. I don’t want any surprises."

"Alright."

Wade nodded and got up to leave. Wolverine asked, "What am I supposed to do?"

Wang Bert smiled. "You’ll be fighting head-on, of course."

Wolverine rolled his neck and said, "Good. Come to think of it, I haven’t fought in a while. Mutant Academy is nice and all, but it makes people soft."

"It’s a Heaven for the Professor, but this world is Hell."

Wang Bert said calmly, "I’d rather have villain soldiers from a Fighting Arena than child soldiers from Mutant Academy."

"Sure, but wait, weren’t you insulting me too?"

Wolverine asked.

Wang Bert smiled. "No. You’re not a villain soldier. You’re a bastard soldier."

Wolverine extended one claw and gave him the middle finger. At the same time, Juggernaut entered to the audience’s cheers. Just like in the movie, he was huge, covered in muscles, and wore an enormous steel helmet. He looked every bit like a tank.

Juggernaut entered the cage and shouted at the crowd, "How do you want him to die?"

"Crush him! Crush him! Crush him…"

The audience shouted loudly.

"Fine. Today, I’ll crush him alive."

Juggernaut burst into laughter, radiating unspeakable brutality. Thing, standing opposite him, could not help swallowing nervously, a little afraid.

I have to win. Only if I win can I get the reward.

Thinking of the reward for victory, Thing gathered his courage and prepared to fight Juggernaut properly.

The mutants in the underground Fighting Arena fell into two categories. One consisted of slaves, such as the speed mutant from before. The other consisted of mutants who enjoyed fighting or had some need for it. Juggernaut belonged to the former, while Thing belonged to the latter. He needed money, so he had come to fight.

"Place your bets! Juggernaut pays one-to-one, Thing pays one-to-three!"

Members of the Wild Wolf Gang came around selling betting slips, and the audience began placing wagers. Overall, more people bet on Juggernaut, but Thing’s odds were higher, so some people bet on him too, hoping to see a miracle.

Wolverine asked, "BOSS, who do you think will win?"

"Me, of course."

Wang Bert no longer wanted to watch. He stood up and shouted, "Enough. Everyone, get out of here."

Everyone turned to look at him. Two angry Wild Wolf Gang guards marched over and shouted, "Kid, where are you from? You dare make trouble in Wild Wolf Gang territory?"

Wang Bert said calmly, "Logan."

"I’ve been waiting."

Logan did not waste words. He stood up, flicked his hands, and revealed his claws.

"They’re mutants!"

The guards immediately reached for their guns. Logan roared, driving his claws viciously into their bodies. Then he lifted both men and hurled them down toward the cage below.

Wang Bert shouted again, "Get out! No one can enslave mutants."

The audience finally reacted and screamed as they fled outside. Wade took the opportunity to lead his people into the surveillance room, and a series of gunshots rang out.

"Someone’s wrecking the place! Kill them!"

A large number of Wild Wolf Gang members swarmed in from all directions. At that moment, the Hawkeye sniper from the Security Team fired. Bang, bang, bang—three shots, three headshots.

"Looks like I haven’t gotten rusty."

The sniper was a little excited. He had originally been a genius military sniper, but one night, he suddenly awakened as a mutant, and his eyes became like Hawkeye’s.

That should have been a good thing, since it allowed him to shoot more accurately. Unfortunately, society at the time discriminated against mutants, and the sniper was thrown out of the military. With nowhere to go, he eventually became homeless.

The sniper had thought his life was over, but then Bert Wang emerged out of nowhere. Not only had he changed public opinion, but he had also started a company that took in homeless mutants. The sniper was given a second chance at life.

No matter what, I have to complete BOSS’s orders.

The sniper fired calmly. At the same time, the other mutant guards raised their submachine guns and fired down from above. They had experienced despair and were filled with gratitude toward Wang Bert. No matter what Wang Bert asked them to do, they would do it.

"How did they bring so many guns inside?"

The Wild Wolf Gang members were driven into a panic and hurried to find places to hide. They cursed inwardly. Were the idiots handling the searches useless? How had they failed to find so many guns? "Hahaha, this is great! You idiots, die!"

Wolverine laughed wildly and charged through the bullets toward the Wild Wolf Gang members huddled in a corner. He was the berserker type; once he saw blood, he went wild.

Though the gang members in the corner kept firing, they could do nothing to Wolverine. Before long, he slaughtered them all with his claws.

The referee was terrified. He shouted, "Juggernaut, go deal with that guy! Thing, kill those gunmen around you! I’ll double the money I promised you!"

"Really?"

Thing’s eyes lit up. As for Juggernaut, he did not bother negotiating. He walked straight toward Wolverine. To him, fighting was what mattered most.

Just then, the referee vanished into thin air. When he reappeared, he was at the ceiling. Then he screamed as he fell, only to be impaled on the spikes outside the cage.

Juggernaut and Thing stopped in shock. What was going on?

"You seem to need money badly. I can satisfy that need."

At that moment, Wang Bert slowly walked down the stairs and spoke gently to Thing. It was worth mentioning that he had already removed his disguise.

"You’re Mutant Savior Mr. Bert Wang?"

Thing shouted excitedly upon seeing Wang Bert, "You came to save mutants, didn’t you?"

Wang Bert nodded. "Yes. No one can enslave us mutants. No one."

Thing gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Wang, I’ll help you defeat these bastards, but I hope you’ll give me a share of the spoils. I’m desperately short on money right now."

"I never expected to have someone pledge allegiance to me like this."

Wang Bert smiled and said, "You’re not bad. Interested in joining my Security Team? Whatever difficulties you have, I’ll do everything I can to help."

"Thank you, Mr. Wang. I’d be honored to work for you."

Thing nodded repeatedly in excitement. Juggernaut looked at Wang Bert and shouted unhappily, "Little brat, are you trying to wreck my playground?"

Seeing this, Thing immediately stepped in front of Wang Bert to prevent Juggernaut from attacking him.

Wang Bert was the Mutant Savior. Nothing could happen to him—without him, Thing would still be suffering his neighbors’ scorn and curses.

"It’s fine."

Wang Bert waved a hand and said to Juggernaut, "One look at you tells me you don’t have much humanity. Let’s settle this with our fists."

"I feel like you’re insulting me, but I like what you said after that. We’ll settle it with our fists."

Juggernaut grinned, lowered his head, and charged toward Wang Bert with a thunderous rumble. Thing clenched his fists, ready to block Juggernaut for Wang Bert.

With a wave of Wang Bert’s hand, Juggernaut vanished. When he reappeared, he was tens of thousands of miles in the sky, screaming as he plummeted downward.

"That bastard has no sense of fair play! Didn’t he say we’d settle it with our fists?"

Juggernaut was filled with grief and indignation. His hands flailed frantically through the air, but it was useless. If he kept falling like this, he was dead.

Just then, Wang Bert’s voice sounded beside Juggernaut’s ear. "From now on, you work for me. Remember, you must obey me. You act only when I tell you to act."

Juggernaut wanted to speak, but the fierce wind rushed straight into his mouth, leaving him unable to say anything. He could only nod desperately in agreement.

It was a simple matter. He did not want to die.

Wang Bert nodded in satisfaction and snapped his fingers. Juggernaut was transferred back to the Fighting Arena, crashing into the ground with a bang and leaving a huge depression. Wang Bert had already removed most of the force; otherwise, the entire place would have collapsed.

Wang Bert said, "Juggernaut, go kill the Wild Wolf Gang leader. Consider it your first mission."

Juggernaut climbed to his feet and stared viciously at Wang Bert. Thing’s body immediately tensed.

Wang Bert did not care. He simply smiled at Juggernaut. Juggernaut cursed, then turned and smashed through the wall with a boom, charging viciously toward the backyard.

"Juggernaut, what are you doing?"

Before long, screams and furious curses from Wild Wolf Gang members came from the backyard. Clearly, Juggernaut had started fighting them.

Wang Bert grumbled, "What’s wrong with him? There’s a door, but he had to break through the wall."

Thing was stunned for a moment, then realized what had happened and looked at Wang Bert with immense admiration. Mr. Wang was truly incredible. He had even subdued Juggernaut.

Actually, it was not difficult. As long as you possessed the ability to kill Juggernaut, he would submit to you.

Juggernaut was a sensible man.

"BOSS, we found the mutant slaves, but they have bomb collars around their necks. They’re hard to deal with."

Wade’s voice came through the earpiece. After dealing with the enemies in the surveillance room, he had immediately gone to the dungeon where the mutants were imprisoned and rescued them.

Wang Bert said, "Don’t worry. Bring them up."

"Alright."

Wade nodded and led eight mutant slaves to the main hall. At that moment, the Wild Wolf Gang leader, a bald, muscular white man, fled from the backyard with several trusted subordinates—yes, fled. Juggernaut was slaughtering everyone inside.

"Stop!"

Seeing his men suffering heavy casualties, the muscular white man pulled out a device and roared, "Stop, or I’ll detonate those bomb collars!"

Everyone stopped, and the eight mutant slaves trembled in terror. Wang Bert pulled out a stack of Banknotes and asked, "Do you know that money can do anything?"

The muscular white man misunderstood him and shouted viciously, "Bert Wang, you want to buy me off? Sure. Bring me fifty million US dollars, or get ready to collect these mutants’ bodies."