Preparation

After suppressing Apocalypse, the Celestial Group asked Black Phoenix and Original Sin, "Submit, or be taught a lesson!"

Original Sin swallowed and asked, "What does ‘taught a lesson’ mean?"

The Celestial Group replied, "I’ll use physical means to teach you until you submit."

Both Original Sin and Black Phoenix wanted to roll their eyes. After thinking for a moment, Black Phoenix asked, "Why do you want us to submit? Aren’t you here to capture us, Celestial Group?"

Faced with Black Phoenix’s question, the Celestial Group explained, "I made a bet with Space Lord…"

After hearing the Celestial Group out, Black Phoenix sneered. "You want to use me as an experiment. Why should I help you? Even if I were going to help someone, I should help Iron Man."

The Celestial Group said, "Help me win this battle, and I’ll let your consciousness leave. You’re only a negative personality anyway. Whether you exist or not doesn’t matter."

Black Phoenix gritted her teeth inwardly. This damned Celestial Group was going too far.

"Black Phoenix, if Space Lord wins, your only fate will be to be erased or absorbed."

The Celestial Group continued, "I’m not a good choice, but I’m your only choice. Without me, you will undoubtedly die."

Black Phoenix knew the Celestial Group was right. After hesitating, she nodded. "Fine, I agree. But you must heal my injuries first. Also, you must help me suppress Jean."

"Of course."

The Celestial Group nodded and raised a massive hand. A seven-colored radiance descended from Its palm, enveloping Black Phoenix.

Black Phoenix’s injuries, which had remained unhealed for so long, rapidly recovered. At the same time, Jean’s consciousness was completely suppressed. Jean struggled unwillingly, but she was no match for Black Phoenix and the Celestial Group.

I absolutely refuse to become an experiment. At this point, there is only one method left.

Jean thought to herself, I must merge with Black Phoenix. She can’t find out about this—I have to do it slowly.

Next, the Celestial Group turned to Original Sin. "Are you willing to help me? I will help you break free of your seal."

Original Sin asked, "Can you help me destroy Earth?"

"No. The Celestial Group does not wish to come into conflict with Space Lord."

The Celestial Group shook Its head. "That would not benefit the stability of the universe."

Original Sin asked, "The Celestial Group is so powerful. Why are you so wary of Iron Man? He is merely a newly ascended Creator God."

"Ant, you have no idea how powerful Space Lord truly is."

The Celestial Group spoke disdainfully. After Space Lord merged with Galactus, even the Five Creator Gods were no match for him. Only the Living Tribunal could fight him.

Even more terrifyingly, Wang Bert was not yet a true Creator God. Once he truly ascended, he would become the undisputed strongest being in the universe.

"I have no idea how powerful Space Lord is?"

Original Sin looked stunned. After thinking for a moment, It asked, "After I help you, will you use me as an experiment?"

The Celestial Group replied, "You are not a mutant and have no experimental value. Once I win the bet, I will leave. What you do afterward is none of my concern."

Original Sin nodded. "Then fine. I’ll help you."

Without another word, the Celestial Group raised a hand and struck the void. A cross-shaped seal abruptly appeared and was smashed to pieces by the giant palm.

Immediately afterward, a body wreathed in Black Qi floated out from the seal. Original Sin was overjoyed and instantly rushed into the body. Moments later, the body opened Its eyes and roared toward the sky. It had finally regained freedom.

Original Sin gritted Its teeth and shouted, "Iron Man, I will repay everything you did to me!"

The Celestial Group ignored Original Sin. In Its view, Original Sin was far too overconfident. It raised a foot and asked Apocalypse, who had nearly been flattened, "Submit, or continue being taught a lesson?"

"No matter whether I win or lose, I will not end well. Why should I submit?"

Apocalypse said coldly, "Kill me. As a king, I do not understand the meaning of submission."

The Celestial Group said, "Help me, and I will release part of your soul. Refuse, and I will turn you into a puppet and control you in battle."

"You think I will grovel in surrender and accept your ‘charity’?"

Apocalypse said disdainfully, "I am Apocalypse, World Lord. My knees will never bend."

Original Sin and Black Phoenix stared at Apocalypse in surprise. This guy actually had some backbone? Who would have thought! Apocalypse had never submitted. In the previous Timeline, Scarlet Witch had brutally crushed him, yet he did not submit. In this Timeline, Black Phoenix threatened him, yet he still did not submit. Now that the Celestial Group was threatening him, he would not submit either.

Because he was the proud mutant king, Apocalypse!

"Then I shall grant your wish."

Blue light shone from the Celestial Group’s eyes. The moment Apocalypse’s gaze met that light, his eyes became vacant.

After dealing with the three of them, the Celestial Group stretched out a hand toward Earth. Moments later, two figures appeared in Hell.

One was a sleeping young man—an Omega-Level Mutant, Legion, also known as the Professor’s son.

The other sat in a wheelchair, his face dull and vacant, as if he were an idiot. It was Mastermind Jason. After Wang Bert saved him, he had remained at Mutant Academy, but now he had been summoned here.

"Celestial Group, do you need more helpers?"

Original Sin blinked and said, "I have two helpers on my side. Do you want them? One is Human Torch, and the other is Black King. They used to be members of the Seven Deadly Sins."

Only a wisp of Human Torch and Black King’s true spirits remained in Original Sin’s possession. Reviving them would be rather troublesome, so Original Sin simply offered them to the Celestial Group as a favor.

"I don’t want Human Torch. He would lower our average intelligence. You can give me Black King."

The Celestial Group said, "For the next three months, I will make proper arrangements in Hell and await Space Lord’s challenge."

Black Phoenix and Original Sin said in unison, "We will help you defeat Iron Man."

"Very good."

The Celestial Group nodded in satisfaction. Then It raised a hand, and Hell was completely sealed off. Even Wang Bert could no longer know what was happening in Hell.

Seeing this, Wang Bert’s avatar outside Hell snorted and returned to the main body.

"Celestial Group, your arrival did surprise me somewhat. But since I dared use Apocalypse and the others as stepping stones, how could I possibly have made no preparations?

"I have tampered with Apocalypse, Black Phoenix, and Legion. I am the Mutant God.

"The Mutant God is not a mutant with godlike power. He is the god who rules over all mutants!"

Earth. The Celestial Group’s enormous body vanished, and people all around the world collectively breathed a huge sigh of relief. Then, they began praising Iron Man once again. Clearly, he was the one who had made that armored being disappear.

Holding his phone, Wang Bert said, "Mr. President, that armored being poses no threat to Earth. You can consider It a Christmas present."

President Richard breathed a sigh of relief. "I don’t want such a huge Christmas present. As long as everything is fine. I’ll hold a press conference and announce this immediately."

"Please inform the other presidents for me. I’m a little busy right now and don’t have time to reply to each of them."

Wang Bert put down the phone and shook his head slightly. The Celestial Group indeed posed no threat to Earth, but It threatened mutants.

The Professor asked on everyone’s behalf, "Bert, what exactly is going on?"

Wang Bert did not hide anything and explained the bet between himself and the Celestial Group. Everyone was stunned, and Wade could not help asking, "That was the Celestial Group? BOSS, you never told us It would be that huge!"

Wang Bert shook his head. "It is actually only a few hundred meters tall. The reason the entire world could see It was because It used a special ability."

Wolverine asked, "That guy went to Hell. Will Jean be in danger?"

Cyclops could not help snorting. "I should be the one asking that."

Wang Bert shook his head. "Don’t worry. As long as Black Phoenix is alive, Jean will be fine."

"A bet is better. If they truly fought, Earth might be shattered."

Franklin said, "If your main body fought them, the situation would be even worse. The entire Milky Way Galaxy could be erased."

"The Milky Way Galaxy could be erased?"

Everyone was dumbfounded. Wade asked, "BOSS, I’ve wanted to ask this for a long time. What exactly is going on with you? It seems you have an incredibly powerful main body that even the Celestial Group does not dare clash with."

Wang Bert turned to look at Franklin. Franklin did not understand why, and Wang Bert complained telepathically, Help introduce me. Who introduces this kind of thing himself? It ruins the cool factor.

The moment you said that, you lost all cool factor.

Franklin complained, then pointed at Wang Bert and said, "The universe originally had Five Creator Gods. Later, a human ascended through his own efforts and became the sixth Creator God.

"That person is the big capitalist standing before us. His official titles are Space Lord and Lord of Blood."

"A Creator God?"

Everyone cried out. Although they did not fully understand the hierarchy of gods, anyone who had gone to school knew what a Creator God represented.

"So I’m a Creator God’s lackey? Does that mean I can strut around from now on and sleep with any beautiful woman on any planet?"

Wade’s eyes lit up. This was an unbelievably powerful backer.

Wang Bert sneered. "Your wife is pregnant."

Wade immediately shut up. "Forget I said anything."

Wolverine asked in confusion, "A Creator God? BOSS, if your main body is that powerful, why make an avatar?"

"It’s complicated. It began with a desperate woman."

Wang Bert sighed and said, "In the previous Timeline—uh, the one before the previous Timeline—Old Magneto’s daughter, Scarlet Witch, could not have children with her robot husband. Combined with some other matters, she took out her resentment on mutants and shouted, ‘No more mutants.’ Then, every mutant was erased."

Everyone was stunned. That sentence seemed to contain a lot of information. Also, was Old Magneto’s daughter really that powerful? "Later, time restarted. Because of Scarlet Witch’s curse, mutants became independent from the real Earth."

Light shone from Wang Bert’s hand, revealing two Earths within it. "This is the real Earth, which has no mutants whatsoever. This is your planet, Mutant Planet…"

After hearing Wang Bert’s explanation, everyone was shocked. They had been living on a fake Earth? This was far too outrageous. The Professor sighed. "Ever since I inherited Erik’s abilities, I felt that this world was somewhat unreal. I never expected the whole world to be fake."

Psylocke smiled bitterly. "No wonder Doomsday Master kept saying this was a false world."

"The world may be false, but all of you are real. I came here not only to find Wanda, but also to completely resolve this matter and return you to the real Earth."

Wang Bert continued explaining. By the time everyone heard the full story, they had sunk into deep silence.

Psylocke sighed. "So time has already restarted twice. We truly are like ants, controlled by others at will."

Wade was not as sentimental as Psylocke. He curiously asked, "BOSS, how was my life in the first two rounds? Did I become a winner in life?"

Wang Bert glanced at Wade and asked with a half-smile, "Do you really want to know?"

Wade had a bad feeling, but after hesitating, he still nodded. "Yes."

"In the first round, you served Colonel Stryker alongside Logan. Then, because you talked too much, you were transformed into Weapon X. In the end, Logan’s Adamantium claws severed your neck."

Wang Bert said, "The illusion you experienced before was actually adapted from a true story."

"That’s too tragic, isn’t it?"

Wade rubbed his neck and curiously asked, "What about the second round?"

"The second round was even worse. You were just an ordinary mercenary who unfortunately developed cancer. To stay alive, you joined a mutant modification facility and were tortured every day by a guy named Francis. In the end, although you gained regenerative abilities and survived, you completely changed into something else."

Wang Bert projected Deadpool’s appearance. Everyone felt nauseated, including Wade himself. "That’s too ugly. I look just like an avocado. BOSS, it’s a good thing I met you, or I would never have found a girlfriend in this life."

"Some love can transcend appearances, Wade. You are actually a true winner in life."

Wang Bert did not elaborate. He said, "Enough of that. In short, our next task is to win this bet. When that happens, everything will return to normal."

"That makes it simple. Timelines, Creator Gods—just hearing about all that makes my head hurt."

Wolverine laughed, while Leech and Quicksilver repeatedly nodded. Clearly, their intelligence was on the same level as Wolverine’s.

The Professor said, "We will win. Although the Celestial Group is our creator, we mutants are free."

"With BOSS, a Creator God, on our side, of course we will win."

Wade shamelessly flattered him. This was a Creator God. If he buttered him up properly, he would never have to worry for the rest of his life—hell, perhaps not even in the next life.

"Winning will not be so easy."

However, Wang Bert shook his head. "In three months, we will face the Celestial Group, Apocalypse at full strength, Original Sin, Black Phoenix, and the Professor’s son Legion. Beyond that, there will be some utterly wicked mutants.

"I can deal with the Celestial Group. The rest will depend on you."

"Legion?"

The Professor froze, then asked, "Bert, Legion was taken away by the Celestial Group?"

Wang Bert nodded. "Yes. The Celestial Group arrived a month ago. Before meeting me, It secretly completed all Its preparations. Hmph, if I had tried to kill Apocalypse and the others, It would certainly have intercepted me midway."

The Professor sighed. "Bert, even as I am now, I am no match for Legion. He is extremely powerful. The only problem is that his abilities are unstable."

Wang Bert said, "Not being able to defeat him now does not mean you will be unable to defeat him later. Over the next three months, I will intensify your training. We must win the bet three months from now."