Retreat

As Greed spoke, one blank-faced civilian after another emerged from the nearby buildings. Notably, each of them had a strange eye growing from their forehead.

Wang Bert sneered. "This trick again? You think it’ll work on me?"

"Iron Man, you can remove the eyes from these people’s foreheads, but can you remove the eyes from everyone else in the city?"

Greed said smugly, "Over the past two hours, I left behind a great many eyes."

"This is the trump card that made you dare stay here all this time?"

Greed’s words made Wang Bert sneer. "You’re very cautious. Unfortunately, you’re too greedy."

"If people aren’t greedy, what’s the point of being human?"

Greed laughed. "Iron Man, we’re leaving now. Don’t even think about stopping us. Otherwise, a lot of people in this city will die."

Wrath shouted at Wang Bert, "Iron Man, one day, I’ll tear you apart with my own hands!"

"You don’t seriously think your little scheme will work, do you?"

Wang Bert smiled disdainfully and snapped his fingers. The eyes on every puppet’s forehead began to vanish—not just those in front of him, but also those hiding elsewhere.

Sensing that he had lost contact with the puppets, Greed cried out in disbelief, "Impossible!"

"Impossible? Greed, you know nothing."

Wang Bert snorted. Adamantium Nanoparticles surged out from his chest and swiftly spread over his entire body.

Iron Man had arrived.

"Die."

Wang Bert had no intention of wasting words. The Nanoparticles formed two lightning whips, which smashed viciously toward Greed and Wrath as if tearing through space itself.

Greed did not dare fight Wang Bert. He immediately jumped onto Wrath’s back, and Wrath carried him away at top speed like a Man Bull.

Just as Wang Bert was about to give chase, Greed shouted through the communicator, "Believers, take the bombs you seized earlier and blow up every building in the city!"

"My God is immortal!"

The Evil Believers in the city shouted fanatically. Then, carrying the bombs "kindly provided" by the military, they ran toward the surrounding buildings.

Large numbers of survivors were hiding inside those buildings! "Iron Man, if you kill us, everyone else dies! Hahaha, I told you, you can’t kill me."

Greed shouted. This was his final trump card: sacrifice the other Evil Believers in exchange for his own escape.

"My temper’s flaring up."

At any other time, Wang Bert might have endured it. But Greed and Wrath had killed so many people and still wanted to escape. Did they think Iron Man was a pushover? Not to mention that bastard had actually dared mock him.

"Ten million dollars. Every Evil Believer in the city dies."

Wang Bert declared grandly. The next second, every Evil Believer in the city felt a sharp pain in their hearts. They clutched their chests and collapsed, including Greed and Wrath.

Of course, ten million dollars was not enough to kill Greed and Wrath. They both had ways of dealing with this move. For instance, Wrath directly tore out his heart and crushed it. The next second, a new heart grew in his chest, beating powerfully.

"My God, save us."

The other Evil Believers did not possess Wrath’s abilities and could only pray to their god in their hearts. Original Sin immediately teleported a large amount of Black Qi into their bodies. The Evil Believers quickly recovered and rose from the ground.

Seeing this, Wang Bert said calmly, "Then let’s add another twenty million."

The next moment, the Evil Believers who had just gotten back up clutched their chests and fell again. Wrath cursed, "Again?"

Greed looked shocked. "What kind of ability is this? It’s so terrifying!"

Original Sin did not intervene again this time. Even the richest household had limited supplies, and Its Black Qi was finite.

"Since they’re going to die anyway, they might as well be put to use."

Original Sin snorted. Apart from Greed and Wrath, all the other Evil Believers exploded into clusters of Black Qi. Then, the Black Qi transformed into hundreds of thousands of sharp arrows and shot toward the survivors in the city.

Not only were these Black Qi arrows incredibly powerful, they also had tracking capabilities. Wang Bert’s expression changed, and he hurriedly activated his Money Power. "Twenty million dollars to amplify my spatial ability."

As Money Power activated, Wang Bert’s spatial ability greatly increased. The space of the entire small city fell under his control.

"Destroy!"

Immediately afterward, Wang Bert let out a majestic roar. Space trembled, and the hundreds of thousands of Black Qi arrows shattered on the spot, dissipating into the air.

Just as Wang Bert completed his cash-fueled strike, Greed and Wrath vanished simultaneously. Original Sin had intervened and taken them away.

"Looks like it wasn’t just the Evil Believers who leveled up. Original Sin did too."

Wang Bert cursed, then thought for a moment before teleporting to another city to continue eliminating Evil Believers.

In California, Wolverine drove his claws viciously into an Evil Believer’s body. The Evil Believer first let out a scream, then tightly grabbed Wolverine’s arms with both hands.

Taking the opportunity, another Evil Believer rushed behind Wolverine and repeatedly stabbed his back with a military dagger held in reverse grip. Wolverine grunted in pain, lifted the Evil Believer in front of him whole, then turned and smashed him hard into the Evil Believer behind him.

With a bang, the two Evil Believers rolled across the ground. But neither of them was dead. Just as Wolverine was about to finish them off, a nearby Evil Believer aimed a rocket launcher "kindly provided" by the military at him and prepared to fire.

At that moment, a laser blasted over and blew off the Evil Believer’s arms.

Wolverine glanced back and saw that Cyclops had helped him. Cyclops raised an eyebrow and said to Wolverine, "Don’t mention it."

With that, Cyclops fired at the Evil Believers beside him. Notably, he was no longer holding back the power of his lasers. Every attack was at full force.

On one hand, the Evil Believers deserved to die. On the other, they no longer had the spare capacity to show mercy. These Evil Believers were becoming more and more powerful.

"Compared to before, you finally look like a man. On the battlefield, there’s only one thing you need to think about: killing the enemy."

Wolverine laughed as he rushed forward and drove his claws up through an Evil Believer’s chin into his brain. Then he twisted hard, killing the Evil Believer on the spot.

Storm flew through the air, constantly hurling lightning down at the Evil Believers below. The Evil Believers fired madly at her, but every bullet was swept away by the raging winds around her.

This was a new skill Storm had developed after being shot: Storm Shield. Earlier, she had flown in the air as usual and nearly got taken out by a single bullet from an Evil Believer.

Having learned her lesson, Storm became more cautious after receiving treatment. Not only did she create Storm Shield, she also learned to stay alert in every direction and prevent anyone from ambushing her.

"The X-Men are growing rapidly. But if I had a choice, I would rather they never had to grow up."

The Professor sighed inwardly as he used Cerebro to control the Evil Believer Captain and attack the other Evil Believers.

The Evil Believer Captain’s ability was Wind Blade Technique. At first, he could only release one wind blade. Now, he could release more than ten at once. Under the Professor’s control, he repeatedly launched wind blades, knocking the Evil Believers to the ground.

Notably, none of the Evil Believers knocked down by the Captain died. The reason was simple: the Professor was kind-hearted and did not want to kill anyone, even Evil Believers.

The Professor was a genuinely good man, perhaps even a saint. Unfortunately, saints were not suited for political games.

"There are still Evil Believers in more than ten cities that haven’t been dealt with. Sigh, why does America have so many freaks?"

The Professor sighed inwardly. At that moment, an incomparably evil consciousness descended into the Captain’s mind and ordered, "Retreat… hmm?"

That consciousness discovered the Professor’s awareness and immediately followed it into the Professor’s mind. The Professor’s vision blurred, and he appeared in an incredibly dark place. Then, a majestic figure with black hair, a black beard, and Black Qi rising from his entire body appeared before him out of nowhere.

"Who are you?"

The Professor could not help swallowing. This figure was far too terrifying, practically comparable to a god of Hell.

Original Sin shouted majestically, "I am God."

The Professor froze, then shouted, "No, you are not God. You are the Doomsday Master they worship."

"I am both the Doomsday Master and God. Mutant, your ability is quite impressive. Have faith in me, and I will lead you beyond this world."

Original Sin shouted. If It could gain the Professor’s loyalty, the destruction of the world would be within reach.

The Professor said with absolute resolve, "I will not believe in you. And I will do everything I can to protect humanity."

"Is that so?"

Original Sin snorted. Billowing demonic Qi surged from Its body and swept toward the Professor, seeking to corrupt him. Though shocked, the Professor was not afraid and calmly faced it all.

At that moment, holy white light shone from the Professor’s body. The moment the demonic Qi touched the white light, it vanished completely.

"Holy Spirit!"

Original Sin was somewhat surprised. This mutant’s soul was actually so pure, so holy?

If God still existed, then upon his death, the Professor would immediately become a Holy Spirit and ascend to Heaven. Holy Spirits were exceedingly rare, rare enough to qualify to drink coffee and chat with God.

"I will not submit to you, and neither will humanity."

The Professor shouted. The holy light around him became as dazzling as the sun, and the surrounding demonic Qi swiftly dissipated.

"I will come for you again. You will become my messenger and destroy the world for me."

Original Sin shouted. If It were at full strength, corrupting the Professor would not have been a problem. The issue was that It was currently sealed and could not even use one ten-thousandth of Its power.

The Professor shook his head. He would never become the Doomsday Master’s messenger. His entire life had been devoted to protecting others.

Then, the Professor’s consciousness returned to normal. He discovered that his connection to the Wind Blade Captain had been severed. After hesitating for a moment, he did not take control of another Evil Believer, instead choosing to investigate the situation first.

The Professor discovered that the Evil Believers across America were retreating. The same was happening in Mexico and Great Canada.

"Why are they suddenly retreating?"

The Professor was somewhat puzzled. At that moment, he sensed Iron Man in a small city, swinging lightning whips and cutting several Evil Believers in half.

That was not all. More than a dozen Evil Believers tried to flee, but Wang Bert raised a hand and teleported them all high into the air for a free fall.

"So they were frightened off by Iron Man going all out."

The Professor suddenly understood. Iron Man’s strength was simply too overwhelming. Those Evil Believers were no match for him and were easily crushed.

The Professor communicated with Wang Bert telepathically. "Bert, the Doomsday Master has ordered all Evil Believers to retreat."

Wang Bert frowned. "All of them?"

The Professor nodded. "Yes. Mexico and Great Canada are retreating as well."

"Good."

Wang Bert nodded and gave an order through the communicator, "The Evil Believers are retreating. Ensure your safety, then kill them as quickly as possible."

"Understood."

Everyone nodded and unleashed their full firepower to hunt down the Evil Believers, determined to leave none of them alive.

"They’re retreating?"

The Old General wanted to curse loudly. I’ve already… cough, I’ve just deployed the tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy weapons to the battlefield, and you’re retreating? Are you screwing with me? You have to be screwing with me, right? The Old General’s heart ached. All those earlier conditions had been agreed to for nothing—there was no possibility of backing out. At this level, credibility was important. If you went back on your word this time, no one would trust you next time.

Hank shouted, "We can’t let them leave, or there will be a next time."

"Attack with full force. As long as no one is killed, any other losses are acceptable."

The Old General ordered. In truth, even casualties did not matter. It was not as if it would be the first time. He only said that because he did not want to leave behind any leverage against himself.

With everyone’s efforts, the battle officially ended more than an hour later. But no one felt like celebrating. On one hand, quite a few Evil Believers had escaped. On the other, far too many civilians had died in this war.

"Boss, a rough estimate puts the death toll in America at at least tens of thousands. At least. The actual number may be several times higher. As for the economic losses, they are impossible to estimate."

Yuriko sighed. "Even more people died in Mexico. Great Canada had a slightly lower death toll because its population is less dense."

"Damn Evil Believers. Damn Original Sin."

Wang Bert could not help cursing. As long as Original Sin remained alive, this would never end. Unfortunately, he still could not kill Original Sin.

Money Power truly could do anything, but killing Original Sin might require more money than every banknote on Earth combined.

"I need to spend more time improving my strength in the future."

Wang Bert thought to himself. After considering it, he said to the President, "Mr. President, it’s time for you to hold a press conference."

"Although we won, I still have to take the blame. After all, America itself was attacked this time."

The president sighed. Fortunately, he would soon be leaving office, so it was not a major issue.

"You’re the president. If you don’t take the blame, who will?"

Wang Bert said, "Mr. President, I hope you announce the establishment of the Mutant Guardians at the press conference."

The president was stunned. "This… Bert, are you trying to force this through?"

"There’s no time to follow the usual procedures. I’ve already discussed it with the military, and they won’t object. As for Congress, let the public pressure them."

Wang Bert said, "You’re leaving office soon anyway. What’s wrong with being a little willful? If this works out, I’ll give you a Horse Farm and get you a top-tier Pure Blood Horse to raise."

Hank silently took off his headset. Bert was bribing someone right in front of him again. Uh, why did I say again?

"Fine. I’m leaving office soon anyway, and this will give the public an explanation so they won’t curse me quite as badly."

After hesitating for a moment, the president nodded. Wang Bert nodded in satisfaction and said, "Once you finish the press conference, I’ll announce the expansion of the Security Company. The two of us will team up to stabilize public morale and prevent any further problems."

The president readily agreed. "Fine. I’ll give your Security Company a long-term contract. It’s Congress’s money anyway."