Suppression

The prisoners all turned to look at Wang Bert. The soldiers had told them about this early on, and they knew exactly what was happening.

They felt no gratitude toward Wang Bert, only resentment. Who the hell are you? What gives you the right to stop us from being free?

What prisoner was ever a good person?

"Looks like I don’t need to introduce myself any further."

Facing the prisoners’ malicious stares, Wang Bert smiled. At the same time, the Security Team surrounded the prisoners, fully on guard.

"Mr. Wang, you’re the Mutant Savior and have done a great deal for mutants. I’m very grateful to you."

Long Hair Boon spoke on behalf of the prisoners. "But that doesn’t mean you have the right to restrict our freedom. The government has pardoned us. We’re innocent now."

"That’s right, we’re innocent now!"

The prisoners shouted one after another. As the soldiers unlocked the prison cells, they waited to enjoy the show. Bert Wang, let’s see how you handle this. Go easy, and you won’t be able to keep the prisoners under control. Go too hard, and the mutants will definitely object. Let’s see how you keep being the Mutant Savior then.

The reporters took pictures and sighed. Bert Wang’s intentions were good, but this was truly troublesome. If he handled it badly, he would end up offending both sides. Ordinary people would blame him, and mutants would blame him too.

"Legally speaking, you are indeed innocent now."

Wang Bert said slowly, "However, I can’t let you return to society, because some of you will immediately commit crimes again once you do."

One mutant shouted, "What does that have to do with you? Even if we really commit crimes, the government will deal with us. You’re just some snot-nosed brat. What gives you the right to punish us?"

Another mutant pleaded, "Mr. Wang, I only stole things. I promise I won’t do it again after I return. Please, let me go."

"I have the authority. The president signed a special order granting me temporary control over you for one year."

Wang Bert took out a document and displayed it before continuing, "I’ve decided to keep you at the Recycling Plant to wor… work for one year. Unless I’m certain you won’t commit crimes again, I will not let you leave."

"Why?"

The prisoners became enraged. One prisoner even fled directly—his ability was flight. He kicked off hard with both feet and shot into the sky.

The lieutenant sneered inwardly. This flyer was normally kept indoors and never allowed outside. This time, the lieutenant had deliberately neglected to warn Wang Bert. As long as the flyer escaped successfully, they would have something to make an issue of, since the handover had already been completed.

"Freedom, here I come!"

The flyer was thrilled. Then, he suddenly felt himself getting closer and closer to the ground. Before he could react, he slammed into the earth with a bang and swallowed a mouthful of dirt.

"Sorry, but I said no one is allowed to leave without my permission."

Wang Bert said with a smile. At the same time, the Security Team raised their guns and aimed them at the prisoners, while Wolverine and Juggernaut glared murderously.

Everyone on the Security Team had gun licenses. After all, the president was one of their own. Besides, the Security Company would officially be established soon enough.

Faced with the guns, the prisoners panicked somewhat. Long Hair Boon shouted angrily, "Bert Wang, what are you trying to do? We’re innocent now. If you kill us, you’ll be committing a crime."

"You know your laws. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. At most, I’ll seriously injure you."

Wang Bert said, "Crouch down and put your hands on your heads, or don’t blame me for being rude."

The reporters nodded to themselves. To deal with mutant prisoners, one had to be tough. Otherwise, they would only bully you instead.

Most mutants could not withstand bullets. Under the threat of guns, the prisoners reluctantly crouched down with their hands on their heads. Seeing this, the lieutenant had all the prison cells opened, and more than twenty serious offenders appeared before everyone.

These serious offenders all had blood on their hands. Seeing them, the prisoners seemed to find their backbone and rose to their feet one after another.

"I heard someone wants to take away our freedom?"

A Big Mouth Man shouted coldly. He was an Ogre, with the ability to devour life and strengthen himself.

This ability was powerful. If he only devoured animals and plants, no one would have said anything. The problem was that he was a psychopath. After awakening his ability, he chose to eat people.

After killing more than ten people, Ogre was arrested by the military. Since New York State had no death penalty, and the military wanted to experiment on him, he survived.

"Anyone who tries to stop me dies."

A chubby teenager raised his hand, and flames burst from his palm. He was Fire Fist, arrested for attempting to burn down a church.

The other serious offenders were equally defiant. Seeing this, Wolverine and Juggernaut stepped forward with savage expressions. "Looks like we can finally have a proper fight."

The murderous aura around Wolverine and Juggernaut made the serious offenders’ pupils shrink. At that moment, one of them suddenly split into a large number of duplicates and fled in all directions.

This was Doppelganger. He could create hundreds of duplicates—he had been imprisoned for using them to rob banks.

Seeing Doppelganger run, the other serious offenders grew restless. Just then, Wang Bert flicked a pebble, striking Doppelganger’s original body dead on. Doppelganger screamed and collapsed, and all the other duplicates vanished.

The serious offenders froze, then stared solemnly at Wang Bert. This man had been called the strongest mutant by the media.

"Let’s make a bet."

Wang Bert said, "I’ll take all of you on by myself. If I win, you’ll obediently remain in my factory. If I lose, you’ll gain your freedom."

"What?"

The prisoners were stunned. Bert Wang was actually planning to take all of them on alone? Had he been kicked in the head by a mule?

"BOSS, there’s no need for you to take such a risk. We can handle them."

Wade shouted, "We’ve got so many mutants and so many guns. We’re not just here for decoration."

"That’s right, we can handle them."

Wolverine and Juggernaut nodded repeatedly. If the BOSS had to personally handle everything, what were they even there for? More importantly, they were dying for a fight.

The reporters also shouted, "Mr. Wang, you can’t take this risk."

"They’re all mutants. I don’t want too many casualties."

Wang Bert waved his hand. "Do you accept or not? If you don’t, we’ll start fighting right now."

"We accept. Why wouldn’t we?"

Ogre said greedily, "Bert Wang, your flesh must be delicious."

The mutant prisoners recoiled in disgust and hurriedly moved farther away from him. They might be prisoners too, but they were normal people.

Wang Bert asked, "What about the rest of you? Do you accept?"

"We accept."

Everyone nodded in unison. One person against a group—only an idiot would not know which option to choose.

Wang Bert nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Let me teach you something: in this world, money is king."

As he spoke, Wang Bert took out a stack of Banknotes. Then, all the Banknotes vanished.

"Get him!"

Sensing that something was wrong, Ogre charged at Wang Bert with all his strength. At the same time, Fire Fist hurled flames, and the others activated their abilities as well.

Wang Bert did not dodge. The next moment, a massive Space Magic array appeared beneath the prisoners’ feet, and then all the prisoners and all the attacks vanished.

The reporters were shocked. "Mr. Wang, where did they go?"

"Up in the sky, ten thousand meters above the ground. By the way, the spatial glow around them will seal their ability to fly."

Wang Bert pointed at the sky. Everyone looked up in surprise, but all they saw were clouds. Still, no one doubted him. Iron Man’s methods were simply too incredible.

The lieutenant could not help asking, "Bert Wang, are you trying to kill them by dropping them?"

Wang Bert could not be bothered with the lieutenant. He shouted toward the sky, "As long as you admit defeat in your hearts, you can return to the ground. If you refuse to surrender, then wait to die."

Wang Bert’s voice rang in every prisoner’s mind. Quite a few frightened prisoners immediately screamed inwardly, I surrender! I surrender!

Dozens of figures fell onto the open ground in front of the Recycling Plant at once, kicking up clouds of dust. Then, more and more prisoners chose to surrender. Soon, the ground was covered with sprawled prisoners.

Once all the prisoners had surrendered, Wang Bert smiled. "Very good. Looks like you all value your little lives."

"Bert Wang, I’ll kill you!"

Ogre was physically tough and quickly climbed to his feet. He roared and charged at Wang Bert, while another prisoner controlled Wang Bert’s shadow, rendering him unable to move.

That was not all. More than twenty prisoners climbed up from the ground. Some charged at Wang Bert, while others fled outside.

As prisoners, breaking their word was only natural.

Wang Bert had been prepared. "Stop them. Logan, Juggernaut, as long as they don’t die, do whatever you want."

"I’ve been waiting for this."

Wolverine grinned viciously and rushed in front of Ogre, driving his claws toward the other man’s chest. Ogre was startled and hurriedly dodged, but Wolverine pressed his advantage, slashing repeatedly with both claws. Every strike targeted a vital spot.

"Do you have some misunderstanding about what ‘as long as they don’t die’ means?"

Forced back step by step, Ogre gritted his teeth and simply gave up on defending. His nails lengthened as he viciously stabbed toward Wolverine’s neck.

This was a new ability Ogre had developed after eating people: nail control. Eating people allowed him to evolve more effectively.

Faced with Ogre’s attack, Wolverine did not even dodge. The next second, Ogre’s nails pierced Wolverine’s neck, while Wolverine’s claws plunged brutally into Ogre’s chest.

Ogre stared at Wolverine in disbelief. Was this man insane? He was actually going for mutual destruction with him?

Wolverine pulled out his claws, then swung back and severed Ogre’s fingers. He yanked off Ogre’s fingers, and the wounds healed at a visible rate.

Ogre collapsed unwillingly. Wang Bert complained, "Logan, I told you not to kill anyone."

"He’s not dead right now. As for whether he dies later, what does that have to do with me?"

Wolverine shrugged and turned to charge at the other prisoners. The prisoners were horrified and scattered in every direction.

While Wolverine fought Ogre, Juggernaut cheered and charged forward with a thunderous rumble. Wherever he passed, prisoners flew into the air one after another.

What did it mean to be unstoppable? This was unstoppable.

The others did not lag behind either. Led by Wade, they knocked down the fleeing prisoners one after another. As for Wang Bert, he mainly filled in the gaps—using Teleportation to bring back prisoners who had escaped.

"Not only is Bert Wang powerful himself, his subordinates are powerful too."

The reporters and mutant prisoners silently marveled. It was worth noting that most of the prisoners had not moved. They had no desire to take another trip ten thousand meters into the sky—in fact, their legs were still weak, which was one reason they had not tried to run.

At that moment, a mutant with blades for arms rushed in front of the lieutenant. The lieutenant was startled and tried to draw his gun, but just as he opened the holster, the other man’s blade-hand was already pressed against his neck. He wisely raised both hands.

Then Knife Demon held his blade across the lieutenant’s neck and shouted at Wang Bert, "Bert Wang, let me leave, or I’ll kill him."

The lieutenant cursed furiously inside and regretted everything. He had stood too close just to spite Wang Bert.

Seeing this, the soldiers all aimed their guns at Knife Demon. Knife Demon hurriedly ducked behind the lieutenant, used him as a shield, and quickly backed away.

"Knife Demon, don’t you know that America’s soldiers are all men of iron and blood? The word compromise has never existed in their dictionaries."

Wang Bert shouted, "Lieutenant, you don’t need to keep blinking at me. I know what you mean. Don’t worry, I won’t let you down. Knife Demon will never escape. After you die, I’ll have the president cover you with the national flag. Wade, fire."

"When did I blink at you?"

The lieutenant was nearly losing his mind. He had no interest in sacrificing himself for America. Just as he was about to speak, Wade raised his gun and fired at the lieutenant with several bangs.

Bert Wang is definitely abusing his power for personal revenge.

The lieutenant was utterly despairing. Seeing that Wang Bert had actually opened fire, Knife Demon cursed, shoved the lieutenant forward, then turned and fled.

The soldiers immediately fired. Bang, bang, bang—Knife Demon was quickly riddled with bullets.

Unlike Knife Demon, the lieutenant was completely unharmed. Realizing that he was safe and sound, he was overjoyed. Wang Bert looked speechlessly at Wade. You actually missed every shot?

Wade was somewhat stunned. BOSS, weren’t you using psychological tactics? "Looks like you can’t become one of my trusted men."

Wang Bert looked disgusted. He looked at the Lieutenant and said, "Lieutenant, it’s such a shame you didn’t die. Cough, cough, I mean, that’s great."

The lieutenant gritted his teeth. "Bert Wang, thank you for your concern."

"You’re welcome. It’s what I should do."

Wang Bert smiled. Then, he coldly asked the few prisoners still stubbornly resisting, "Do you want to continue? To be honest, some of you really deserve to die."

The prisoners looked at Knife Demon’s corpse and the dying Ogre, then sighed helplessly and crouched down with their hands on their heads.

"Very good."

Wang Bert nodded in satisfaction and said to Wade, "Take them to the Dormitory Area on Back Mountain."

Wade quietly reminded him, "BOSS, the area you arranged doesn’t even have walls. They’ll definitely try to escape. We can’t watch them all the time."

"Don’t worry, I made arrangements in that area. No one can escape."

Wang Bert smiled. He had not spent the past half month doing nothing.

"Alright."

Wade nodded and led the Security Team in escorting the prisoners away. This conflict was temporarily over.