Strengthening Their Power

"Mr. Iron Man, your kindness is moving."

A reporter asked, "But how can you guarantee that the Leech won’t fall into the hands of bad people? Leech poses an enormous threat to mutants. Once it is controlled by evil people, mutants will face doomsday."

Wang Bert did not answer immediately. He asked the reporter, "Are you a mutant?"

The reporter did not deny it. He nodded and said, "Yes, I’m a mutant. I’m not asking this to question you. In fact, I’m very grateful to you. Without you, I never could have gotten my current job.

"But I’m truly worried. I believe other mutants are worried just like I am."

"That’s understandable."

Wang Bert nodded and said, "To prevent Leech from being leaked, I alone will control it from now on. Anyone who wants to use Leech must apply to me. In addition, I’ll find a way to develop a restorative serum that can undo Leech’s effects."

President Richard added from the side, "I fully support Iron Man’s decision. Leech is safest in Iron Man’s hands."

"It’ll definitely be safe with Iron Man."

The reporters all nodded in support. Compared to the government, Iron Man was more trustworthy.

The mutants watching in front of their screens nodded as well. They could accept such an arrangement. After all, that was Iron Man, the savior of mutants.

"I wonder when we’ll be able to get injected with Leech?" Quite a few mutants were already impatiently thinking about it.

"Leech is indeed best left in Bert’s hands."

Professor X nodded and said, "Once Erik is brought back, we have to give him an injection and turn him back into an ordinary person."

Raven smiled. "I’d be delighted to see him become an ordinary person again, but I won’t remind him to take his medicine on time anymore."

In Pyramid Country, Apocalypse led Magneto and the others in watching the press conference. Magneto said furiously, "Leech, Sentinels, clones… I told you long ago that humans aren’t trustworthy. They only want to exterminate us."

"That is humanity."

Apocalypse said, "Iron Man truly is someone remarkable. America is already completely under his control. Unlike that Professor Charles, he is a real hero of ambition."

"Iron Man is indeed a hero of ambition, but his vision is too narrow. We are noble gods, while humans are merely filthy, disgusting inferior species."

Magneto said coldly, "Why should gods live peacefully with inferior species?"

Blink and the others stared at Magneto in astonishment. Wasn’t he being a little too extreme? "That’s right. All humans are nothing but our servants."

Apocalypse, however, strongly agreed. He said, "Iron Man has chosen the wrong path, so he is doomed to fail. The Mutant God can only be me."

Magneto hesitated for a moment before saying, "Apocalypse, I have a question I’d like to ask you."

"Go ahead."

Apocalypse was harsh toward humans, but he treated his own people quite well. Thousands of years ago, his Four Horsemen had even been willing to sacrifice themselves to protect him.

"With your power, why don’t you just kill Iron Man directly?"

Magneto asked, "Iron Man may be powerful, but compared to you, he is nothing."

Blink and the others all looked toward Apocalypse. They wanted to know the answer to that question too.

"At first, I did intend to kill Iron Man directly."

Apocalypse said slowly, "But later, I changed my mind because I obtained information about Professor X from the Human Supremacy Organization."

Magneto was stunned. "From the Human Supremacy Organization?"

"Yes. There is a prince in the Middle East who is a core member of the Human Supremacy Organization. I obtained a great deal of information from him, including the fact that the Human Supremacy Organization was planning to ambush Iron Man. That is why I chose to act today. I simply didn’t expect Iron Man to be hiding a Time Imp."

Apocalypse said, "The Professor’s ability is an unprecedented treasure. Once I obtain it, not only will humanity become my servants for all eternity, even Iron Man will become my subordinate.

"That is why I changed my mind. I decided to obtain the Professor’s ability first, then deal with Iron Man."

In truth, that was not why Apocalypse had avoided confronting Wang Bert head-on. He had refrained because he had learned Wang Bert’s identity—the Creator God.

Last month, after Apocalypse recovered his strength, the images of himself being brutally beaten in his mind kept him from rushing to find Iron Man. Instead, he first used his powers to enter Hell and contact Original Sin.

Original Sin was desperate for someone to kill Wang Bert, so he immediately told Apocalypse everything about Wang Bert in detail.

To be honest, Apocalypse had been shocked. Iron Man was actually an incarnation of the Creator God? That was far too unbelievable.

As an ancient god, Apocalypse knew very well how terrifying the Creator God was. In fact, that was the goal he had always strived toward.

Although Iron Man was merely an incarnation and did not possess much power, Apocalypse still chose to proceed with caution, lest he end up in Wang Bert’s hands like Original Sin.

The Apocalypse of this Timeline was different from the Apocalypses of other Timelines. The others had never been brutally beaten and were extremely arrogant, while this Apocalypse understood fear because he had been thrashed twice.

Apocalypse had originally wanted to ask Original Sin more questions, but God suddenly sensed him and drove him out of Hell. That was also why he knew nothing about the Celestial Group.

After that, Apocalypse decided to recruit forces and strengthen both his power and his influence. Once he was sufficiently confident, he would have a final battle with Wang Bert.

It was worth mentioning that Apocalypse wanted the Professor’s ability first not only to subdue Iron Man, but also to threaten him.

Iron Man cared too much about humanity. Apocalypse could use human lives to threaten him—after gaining the Professor’s ability, Apocalypse could even control the launch of nuclear missiles.

At that point, Iron Man could only submit. Otherwise, humanity would be exterminated.

As for why he did not tell Magneto and the others the truth, the reason was simple: Apocalypse was afraid of losing face. He was Apocalypse, an invincible being.

Apocalypse thought to himself, Luckily, I was cautious enough. If I had challenged Iron Man in my weakened state back then, he and that Time Imp would definitely have killed me.

"So that’s how it is."

Magneto knew Apocalypse had not told the truth, but he did not press the matter. He asked, "Apocalypse, what should we do next? With Iron Man and the Time Imp protecting him, it will be nearly impossible for us to capture Charles."

"It may be impossible for others, but not for me. Don’t worry, I already have a plan."

Apocalypse smiled. "This world will definitely belong to us mutants. Before that, I’ll help you improve your strength."

Everyone was stunned. "Improve our strength?"

"That’s right! Magneto, only I know how powerful you truly are."

Apocalypse smiled faintly. He took Magneto’s hand and placed it on the ground. "Feel the metal and darkness hidden beneath the earth with your heart. You will discover that the power you possess is enough to overturn the world. You are Magneto, not Wan Tie Wang. Your ability is not limited to controlling metal."

As Apocalypse spoke, Magneto’s consciousness suddenly exploded outward. He sensed countless metals hidden deep within the earth. More importantly, he could control them.

Magneto stood up and let out a roar. The ground shook violently as countless iron grains floated into the air. Then, the surrounding buildings shattered one after another, and all kinds of metal danced wildly through the sky, forming magnetic fields one after another.

Blink and the others watched with their mouths agape. This was too terrifying. At this rate, he might even destroy the entire city!

In fact, Magneto could do more than destroy a city. He could return Earth to its primordial age.

The current Magneto could be considered half an Omega Mutant.

"Iron Man has a Time Imp, and I have Magneto. Iron Man, the time for our final battle is not far away."

Apocalypse burst into laughter, then signaled for Magneto to stop. It was not yet time to put on such a show for humanity.

"So I’m this powerful."

Magneto stopped and stared at his hands as he said in disbelief.

"That’s right. You are this powerful."

Apocalypse looked at Blink and the others. "I will help all of you improve as well."

Blink, Bishop, and Zheng Tu shouted excitedly, "You are our master! You are the god of mutants!"

Unlike Blink and the others, Sunspot stood there with a blank expression and did not kneel with them—he was originally a good person, and he only followed Apocalypse because Apocalypse had hypnotized his consciousness.

Apocalypse possessed many abilities. Hypnosis was merely one of them.

"Of course I am the god of mutants."

Apocalypse said it as if it were only natural. At that moment, Magneto hesitated before saying, "Apocalypse, I developed a Mutant Transformation Device. I think it may be useful."

After hearing Magneto’s description of the Mutant Transformation Device, Apocalypse said happily, "Let’s conduct an experiment first. If it succeeds, our next plan will go much more smoothly."

Magneto said confidently, "I have a feeling it will definitely succeed."

"Good. Oh, before that, there is one more thing you need to do."

Apocalypse said, "Gather your subordinates. We are far too short on manpower."

Over the next month, most of America’s major news stories concerned the Vice President’s rebellion case. Either some wealthy tycoon or senator had been arrested, or another cruel laboratory had been uncovered.

In order to gain superpowers, the Human Supremacy Organization had conducted a great many experiments, and those experiments were often utterly inhumane.

When the public saw those brutal experiments, they were enraged. Demonstrations erupted repeatedly, demanding that the government uproot the Human Supremacy Organization completely and leave none behind.

Those people did not deserve to be called human. Setting mutants aside, at least tens of thousands of ordinary people had died because of them.

In the face of such overwhelming public sentiment, no matter what status the Human Supremacy Organization’s members held or how much wealth they possessed, they were all dragged out and thrown before the courts. What awaited them was at least life imprisonment.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Wang Bert instructed President Richard to declare the Human Supremacy Organization a terrorist organization and strip most of its members of their civil rights. After weighing the matter, other countries chose to follow America in cracking down on the Human Supremacy Organization.

In a short time, the Human Supremacy Organization went from a massive force capable of overturning America to a notorious terrorist organization condemned by everyone. Though it had not yet been completely destroyed, it was no longer a serious concern.

Wang Bert had won this war between mutants and ordinary humans! At noon that day, a female reporter said indignantly on television, "The military has just destroyed a Human Supremacy Organization Experiment Base. You would never guess what kind of experiment this base was conducting.

"It was conducting Evil Believer experiments. That’s right, Evil Believer experiments. Those bastards abducted people from nearby cities and forcibly turned them into Evil Believers through painful torture.

"Afterward, those evil scientists dissected the Evil Believers alive to study how they differed from humans…"

"To be honest, I’m fairly cruel myself, but compared to the Human Supremacy Organization, I’m nothing."

Sabretooth sighed as he ate roasted meat. "When it comes to cruelty, animals are far inferior to humans. Humans are the cruelest creatures."

Wolverine, holding a book, complained, "Why are you in my house, eating my honey roasted meat?"

"Jimmy, I’m your older brother. What’s wrong with eating some of your roasted meat?"

Sabretooth laughed. "By the way, you actually read books? Did the sun rise in the west? Ever since we were kids, I suspected you weren’t the doctor’s son, because you get sleepy the moment you read, just like me."

"Was my adoptive father a doctor?"

Wolverine was somewhat dazed. He then put the book on the table and sighed. "I still get sleepy whenever I see a book."

Sabretooth burst out laughing. He leaned over and glanced at the title of the book—"How to Get Along with Your Daughter"—then asked in surprise, "You still haven’t won over Little Wolf Girl?"

"I can’t figure it out. I don’t know why, but she really doesn’t like me. She won’t even talk to me."

Wolverine sighed and said, "But she really likes Silver Fox and the Professor. She never stops talking in front of them. Sigh, I’m such a failure of a father."

"That’s because you haven’t found the right method."

Sabretooth said smugly, "My son and I don’t have that problem. We fight every day, and our relationship is great."

Wolverine complained, "Fighting every day counts as having a good relationship? Also, keep it up and child protective services will come knocking."

Sabretooth picked his teeth with a toothpick and said, "Human methods of raising children do not suit us, because we are Beasts. If you are willing to teach Little Wolf Girl how to fight, she will definitely like you."

"I don’t want her to become another Wolverine."

Wolverine shook his head. He said irritably, "Finish eating and get out. Silver Fox will be back soon, and she doesn’t want to see you."

"You’re bringing shame upon our family, getting completely controlled by that woman."

Sabretooth looked utterly disdainful. He said, "I came today to tell you about how someone beat me into an idiot."

Wolverine said mercilessly, "Not interested. You can leave now."

"Hey, I’m your blood-related older brother."

Sabretooth was quite dissatisfied. He asked, "You’re not interested in my business, but what about your own?"

Wolverine asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Sabretooth asked, "Do you know why you lost your memory?"

Wolverine answered, "Because Stryker shot an Adamantium bullet through my head. BOSS told me before."

"Stryker was merely a tool. The real reason is that a Behind-the-Scenes Manipulator has been controlling your fate."

Sabretooth shook his head. "Me becoming an idiot and you losing your memories were both his doing. It is a curse carved into our bloodline. If we do not deal with him, we will keep losing our memories and keep becoming idiots."