Storm

"They were not only cruel to mutants, but equally vicious toward ordinary people. The number of ordinary humans who died horribly on Experiment Island was no less than the number of mutants."

Wang Bert looked at the audience and said, "I will release Experiment Island’s location. You can go dig up the bones yourselves. What I want to tell you is that we mutants are not demons."

"Mutants aren’t demons?"

The audience fell silent, then turned their eyes toward Senator Kelly and Stryker on the screen. They were the real demons.

Many viewers in front of their televisions felt guilt toward mutants well up inside them. Then, that guilt turned into rage. They stormed out of their homes, taking to the streets in protests and demanding that the government provide an explanation.

They had used mutants as test subjects, not even sparing children, while deceiving and exploiting them. How could anyone tolerate that?

"It’s completely over."

Senator Kelly gave a miserable laugh. Five minutes ago, he had been America’s most promising senator. Five minutes later, he had become a demon—a demon who could be torn apart at any moment.

Though he knew Wang Bert had planned this all along, Senator Kelly still bitterly regretted provoking him. He really should never have provoked him.

"The Mutant Registration Act is completely finished."

Jean walked to the Professor’s side and said happily, "Life should become much better for mutants from now on."

"Not necessarily. Bert is still too young. He should not have exposed this matter. It might feel satisfying, but the consequences will be endless."

The Professor shook his head and said, "He should have taken that evidence and negotiated with the president. The president would surely have changed his attitude toward mutants then. Uh, I just hope he didn’t kill Stryker. Otherwise, it will be even more troublesome."

Jean said unhappily, "Professor, Stryker deserves to die. And if he negotiated with the president, the whole truth would have been buried. Nothing would change."

The Professor still shook his head. "What Bert did will trigger a massive storm. That is not good. Stability is more important than anything."

Jean said nothing more. Perhaps the Professor was right, but she preferred Wang Bert’s approach. Those who did wrong had to pay the price.

After a while, the recording ended. Wang Bert called to Yuriko, "Yuriko."

Yuriko nodded, opened the briefcase, and took out the documents for the reporters to photograph.

Wang Bert said to the reporters, "These are the records of Stryker’s experiments. Also, Experiment Island is outside Las Vegas. I will send you its location."

"Thank you, Mr. Wang."

The reporters snapped photos while shouting excitedly. This was a massive scoop. They would not have to worry about ratings for the next month.

Reporters were the people who most feared that the world would remain peaceful. If the world was not in chaos, where would their ratings come from?

After dealing with all that, Wang Bert ignored Senator Kelly, who looked like a defeated cur, and turned toward Magneto in the glass corridor. There was something he wanted to ask him.

Magneto found himself increasingly impressed by Wang Bert. Holding a communicator, he quietly instructed Mystique, "Senator Kelly no longer has any value. Find an opportunity to bring him to the island for experiments. Also, find a way to get close to Bert Wang. That young man is very interesting."

"Understood. I’m interested in him too."

‘Henry’ smiled, a flash of yellow light passing through his pupils.

Magneto was about to say something else when he saw Wang Bert approaching. He put down the communicator and asked with a smile, "It seems you recognized me."

"How could I not recognize the famed Magneto?"

Wang Bert smiled and asked, "Magneto, I want to ask you something. Do you have a daughter?"

Wanda had never appeared in the X-Men film series, which was why Wang Bert asked. Magneto was somewhat startled, then said bitterly, "I once had a daughter, but she was killed by humans."

Isn’t that the plot from another Timeline?

Wang Bert frowned slightly. It seemed finding Wanda would not be easy. He said, "I was presumptuous."

Magneto said generously, "It’s fine, Bert Wang. You did very well today. I formally invite you to join the Mutant Brotherhood. Together, we will overthrow humanity and establish a world that belongs to mutants."

"Erik, he will not join your Mutant Brotherhood."

A dissatisfied voice rang out. Wang Bert and Magneto turned to see Jean pushing the Professor toward them.

Magneto was equally displeased. "Charles, after seeing what Stryker has done, do you still have faith in humanity?"

The Professor earnestly tried to persuade him. "Stryker does not represent all humans, Erik. Do not lose hope in humanity. Give humanity another chance."

"Humanity has no more chances. The future belongs to us mutants."

Magneto snorted and said to Wang Bert, "Bert Wang, I will find time to have a proper talk with you. Running a company cannot save mutants. Revolution is the only way."

With that, Magneto turned and left. His steps were exceptionally firm, just like his beliefs.

Running a company can’t save mutants? Why does that sound so strange?

Wang Bert grumbled inwardly. At that moment, the Professor said, "Bert, Erik’s ideas are too radical. Mutants are also part of humanity."

"Professor, don’t worry. I won’t join that Mutant Brotherhood of his."

Wang Bert waved his hand and changed the subject. "By the way, Stryker’s son Jason is with me. His condition is not very good. I’ll have someone send him to the Mutant Academy shortly."

"Jason? I failed to cure him back then. Otherwise, so many things would not have happened."

The Professor sighed and asked, "Bert, is Stryker still alive?"

Wang Bert smiled. "What do you think?"

The Professor sighed. "Bert, Stryker was a military colonel. If you killed him, there will be serious trouble."

"What does that have to do with me? That evidence was given to me by an American with a conscience."

Wang Bert sneered. Given the current situation, without evidence, who would dare touch him? Besides, he was rich.

In America, rich people had more "equality" and privileges.

The Professor smiled helplessly. "Bert, if you have more evidence, I suggest you save it for negotiations instead of releasing it."

"I know what I’m doing."

Wang Bert said no more, bid farewell, and left. The Professor sighed again. He was a good kid, just too stubborn, just like Magneto had been in his youth.

The Professor silently resolved, I absolutely cannot let Bert Wang walk Magneto’s old path. Otherwise, things will become troublesome.

"What exactly is the government doing? How could it allow Stryker to conduct such experiments?"

"My God, they even used children as test subjects. Are they still human? Is this still beacon-of-freedom America?"

"There must be higher-ups backing Stryker. That person might even be our president."

"This is unforgivable. We need the truth."

The storm Wang Bert had unleashed quickly swept across all of America. Every news channel was talking about it. The public could not accept it at all, and furious people took to the streets in protest.

The White House was once again surrounded by crowds. Worse still, more and more people were arriving from all over the country to join the demonstrations. Some were even calling for the president’s impeachment.

"Those two damned bastards."

Hearing the cries for impeachment outside, the president slammed his fist onto the desk. The two bastards he meant were Stryker and Wang Bert.

The president did not know much about what Stryker had done. At the very least, he had not known Stryker was experimenting on children. Otherwise, he would definitely have stopped him—not out of good or evil, but because he did not want to take the blame.

How could the president not be angry and furious under such circumstances? As for Wang Bert, he deserved to be cursed too. Without him, this mess would never have happened. Wang Bert had completely shattered the president’s dream of reelection.

"Call Bert Wang and arrange a meeting. He must have more information in his hands."

The president shouted at his staff. He had to save himself now, or he would surely be impeached.

A staffer immediately made the call. A moment later, he said with an ugly expression, "Bert Wang’s secretary says he isn’t available."

"Damn it."

The president cursed loudly. One staffer suggested, "Should we have the FBI arrest him? There is clearly something wrong with his intelligence source. Also, Colonel Stryker may have been killed by him."

"Could you possibly be any stupider?"

The president angrily hurled an ornament from his desk at the staffer. Arresting Bert Wang at a time like this? Did he think the president was not dying fast enough?

There would certainly be retaliation, but not now. They had to wait until this was over.

The president cursed, "Keep calling. Call until he agrees to meet me."

The staffer did not dare delay and hurriedly complied. At that moment, an assistant asked, "Mr. President, should we hold a press conference to clarify this matter?"

The president frowned. Holding a press conference now would certainly bring a barrage of questions. After considering it, he said, "Have the spokesperson hold a press conference. Say that everything was Stryker’s doing alone, and that I knew nothing about it.

"Also, assure the public that I will uncover the truth and give mutants an explanation."

The assistant immediately made the call. "Yes."

Then the president turned to the military representative and angrily said, "The military must give me an explanation for this, and hand over whoever is behind it. Otherwise, I will not let this go. At worst, we’ll all die together."

Stryker was merely a colonel. There had to be a general supporting him from behind the scenes. There was no doubt about that.

The military representative wiped away cold sweat and said, "I will investigate the matter thoroughly."

"Director Goring, investigate everything about Bert Wang for me, including how many times he wet his pants."

The president turned and ordered the FBI Director. He now deeply regretted refusing Wang Bert a few days ago. If he had agreed to meet him then, Wang Bert probably would not have released the truth directly.

Director Goring nodded. "I will investigate with all my strength."

"As soon as possible."

The president sat down in his chair and let out a long breath. Then he thought of something and said, "Tell the campaign team to halt all campaign activities. Save the money."

Everyone nodded silently. After such a huge scandal, the president could not possibly be reelected. All he hoped for now was to leave office with some dignity.

At that moment, the noise of the demonstrations outside suddenly fell silent. Everyone was surprised and looked at the surveillance feed. They saw a group of bizarre-looking, ragged homeless people heading toward the White House.

This group of homeless people were all Epsilon Mutants whose evolution had failed, leaving them with grotesque appearances. Usually, they hid in dark alleys, afraid to show themselves. But this time, they bravely emerged and came before the White House.

Seeing these mutants, the protesters fell silent. Their eyes no longer held their usual disgust, only guilt. Yes, guilt.

"I’m sorry."

No one knew who shouted it first, but the protesters began apologizing one after another. The mutant homeless people were initially stunned, then nearly burst into tears. After silently enduring for so many years, they were finally accepted by society again.

The mutants could not help but straighten their backs. From this moment onward, they were no longer demons despised by others. The demons were someone else, such as those people inside the White House.

Then the mutants raised signs made of cardboard and shouted loudly, "We want dignity! We want the truth!"

"We are not demons!" "Punish the demons!" …

These mutant homeless people had come to protest as well. Stryker’s actions had utterly enraged them.

"We want dignity! We want the truth!"

The protesters immediately voiced their support for the mutants. This time, the White House had to provide an explanation.

The president could not help sighing again. That Bert Wang had stirred up a massive storm.

"The mutant homeless people went to protest too?"

Wang Bert was somewhat surprised when he heard this, then smiled. "Not bad. My help to them was not wasted. Zuo Yi, I’ll give you five million. Go provide the protesters with essential supplies like drinks and tents. Also, contact organizations that specialize in protests. I need their professional advice."

Do not be surprised—America really did have organizations that specialized in protests, and they even offered one-stop services.

"Chairman, I know what to do."

Zuo Yi said excitedly, "Mutants will have better days ahead."

Wang Bert shook his head, handed Zuo Yi the check, and gestured for him to get to work.

After Zuo Yi left, Yuriko said, "Zuo Yi is a little naïve. This war has only just begun."

"That’s right, it has only just begun. Humanity will not let mutants go. This storm can only make life easier for mutants for a short time. Once the storm passes, mutants will gradually return to how they were before."

Wang Bert nodded. "Humans have two traits. One is forgetfulness, and the other is refusing to change after recognizing their mistakes."

The problems between mutants and ordinary people were immense. Even without anyone stirring things up, countless conflicts would arise between them. Mutant awakenings caused destruction, some mutants used their powers to commit crimes, and there were also fear, Jealousy, and more.

People feared mutants’ powers while also envying them. Solving the mutant problem would not be easy.

Yuriko said, "That is human nature."

"We need to establish the Recycling Company during this period. That way, we can shelter a large number of mutants and let them live with dignity."

Wang Bert said, "One step at a time. The biggest problem with the Professor and Magneto is that they always want to reach the heavens in a single step, without realizing that spreading your legs too wide can tear your balls off."

"First do what we can, then talk about the rest."

Yuriko nodded. Though her boss was young, he handled matters with extraordinary maturity, like a seasoned, world-shaking tycoon.