The Offensive Begins

"Let’s hold off for now. In a few days, Hank, the president, and I can discuss it. Damn it, the president’s about to leave office."

Wang Bert thought of something and frowned slightly. America’s election was in November, and it was already September. In other words, in a few months, that cooperative president would step down.

Then candidate Acton would take office. He was no pushover—on the surface, he would cooperate with mutants, but behind the scenes, he would definitely plant spies.

"The new president isn’t bad either. In several public speeches, he’s taken the mutants’ side."

Psylocke said. Wang Bert shook his head without saying much. "Put the firefighter matter on hold for now. We can discuss everything else later. Yuriko, get some funds from Finance and bribe the TV stations and newspapers to speak for mutants."

"Understood."

Yuriko nodded. This was not her first time doing something like this; she was thoroughly familiar with it.

Controlling public opinion was a capitalist’s basic skill. There was nothing much to say about it. In fact, Rebirth Group was acquiring newspapers and TV stations, but the resistance was considerable.

At that moment, Wade came to visit. Wang Bert looked at his new look, covered from head to toe in bandages, and mocked, "Are you trying to play the pity card?"

"I’m not playing the pity card. I really am pitiful."

Wade bitterly explained what had happened, then said, "BOSS, that metal bastard’s weapons are extremely advanced. He even has an energy shield."

Wang Bert frowned. That mysterious man with the metal arm was probably Cable, the main villain from "Deadpool 2," who had the same face as Thanos.

In his previous life, Wang Bert had looked up information on Cable. He knew Cable came from the future and was the son of Cyclops Scott Summers and Phoenix’s clone. As for the rest of his background, he had not read into it closely and had forgotten it all.

"Cable is manageable. He should be after Fire Fist. The real trouble is those Cloaked Men. There’s an eighty percent chance they’re connected to the corrupted God."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Bert pulled out a stack of banknotes and used Money Power. Just as he had expected, someone had cast concealment magic. It would take a great deal of money to break it.

"So a dark organization has gotten in touch with the corrupted God. Sigh, this world really isn’t worth it."

Wang Bert said, "Wade, the Security Company has been approved. Clean yourself up and come with me to buy weapons. I’m turning the Recycling Plant into a fortress.

"No matter what happens, nothing can happen to the mutant prisoners. Otherwise, things will become extremely troublesome."

Wade’s eyes lit up. "What kind of weapons can we buy?"

"Missiles… definitely not. But machine guns, Rocket Launchers, tanks, and the like should be negotiable. Our authority is very high. Of course, there will definitely be restrictions on these weapons—for example, they can’t be transported into New York."

Wang Bert said, "I’ll have the president help us. As long as there’s money in it, he’s easy to talk to."

Psylocke snorted. "Right now, he only wants to rake in more before leaving office."

"That kind of president is a good president," Wang Bert said. "Why would an American president need dreams? What a waste of time."

Wade nodded in deep agreement. Thinking of something, he said, "BOSS, remember to bring Deadpool. I want to make that metal bastard pay."

"Deadpool?"

Wang Bert thought for a moment and waved his hand. A transparent coffin appeared out of thin air. Then, he took out a stack of banknotes and used Money Power, shrinking Modified Deadpool into an extremely tiny figurine.

That was not all. Wang Bert then took a bracelet from his person and attached a Soul Magic array to it. After that, he split the bracelet in two, placing one half on Wade and the other on Modified Deadpool.

"As long as you keep him on you and shout, ‘I am Deadpool, and in the name of the moon, I will punish you,’ you can become the all-powerful Deadpool."

Wang Bert tossed the Deadpool figurine to Wade and said, "Also, Deadpool’s body needs nourishment. Every seven days, you need to inject him with nutrient fluid."

Wade caught the Deadpool figurine and said with a miserable expression, "BOSS, can we change the line? The one you gave me is way too embarrassing."

Wang Bert said with a smile, "You don’t have to transform. I won’t force you."

"I’d better transform. At worst, I’ll find somewhere with no one around."

Wade put away the figurine with a bitter smile. Thinking of something, he asked, "Then what do I shout to turn Deadpool back? Wait, Deadpool can’t even talk."

"Don’t worry. I’ve already fixed Deadpool’s mouth. A Deadpool who can’t talk isn’t a real Deadpool."

Wang Bert stood up and said, "Let’s go. We’re heading to the arms company to prepare a Christmas gift package for those invaders."

"I like that kind of gift package."

Wade’s eyes gleamed. Setting traps was one of his greatest strengths.

Meanwhile, Cable, who was at home preparing his next move, was approached by a freak covered in eyes.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am High Priest Greed."

Greed said to the wary Cable, "Don’t be nervous. We should be friends. My people met you outside the Recycling Plant."

"I don’t have any friends with this many eyes."

Cable gripped his gun and asked coldly, "What do you want with me?"

"It’s simple. Team up to attack the Recycling Plant. When the time comes, you accomplish your objective, and I accomplish mine."

"You know what my objective is?"

"I don’t, but that isn’t important. What matters is that we both want to attack the Recycling Plant."

Greed smiled. "I’ll make my move in three days. Are you interested in working with me?"

Cable thought for a moment before answering, "I’m not interested in working with you, but in three days, I’ll go to the Recycling Plant."

Greed smiled and said, "No problem. See you in three days."

With that, Greed turned and left decisively, driving back to the Underground Church.

Inside the car, a believer asked Greed in confusion, "High Priest, why did you personally come to see a mere mutant? Isn’t that giving him too much face?"

"He isn’t an ordinary mutant. I saw the future in him."

Greed said with cold eyes, "I invited him to join the operation so that we can take him down as well. This world should not have a future."

The believer was puzzled. "Then why not attack him directly here?"

"Because I’m not confident I can keep him here by myself. That fellow Wrath isn’t around."

Greed said, "In three days, the Hilton Hotel will host a banquet for high-ranking figures. Many influential people will attend. Take the mercenaries and kidnap them, then find some excuse to go on TV and lure Iron Man and Psylocke over.

"Without Iron Man, the Recycling Plant definitely won’t be able to stop us."

The believer reminded him, "High Priest, Iron Man can use Teleportation."

"It doesn’t matter. Once he reaches the Hilton Hotel, I’ll block the Recycling Plant’s signal. Besides, I’ll leave you a trump card."

Greed looked at the surrounding skyscrapers with a fanatical smile. "In three days, New York will be reduced to ashes. My Lord’s glory will shine upon the entire world."

The believers all shouted excitedly, "My Lord is eternal!"

Meanwhile, Cable frowned deeply in his room. Why was this era completely different from the history he knew? The past has changed. Will killing Fire Fist still matter?

Cable wavered slightly. He lowered his head and glanced at the charred teddy bear at his waist, then his expression hardened again. For his daughter’s sake, he had to kill Fire Fist.

As for everything else, he would leave it to the X-Men. The X-Men had never disappointed anyone.

Three days later, Storm stepped out of a car at the Recycling Plant and said to Wang Bert, who had come forward to greet her, "Bert, it’s been a long time."

"It has. One day apart feels like three years. I haven’t seen you in years already."

Wang Bert smiled. Storm said, "Did Logan corrupt you, or did you corrupt Logan?"

"I think his share of the blame is a little bigger."

Wolverine ignored Wang Bert’s teasing. He stared intensely at Jean, his eyes burning with passion. He had not seen Jean for a full seventy-three hours.

Cyclops stood in front of Jean with an unhappy expression. Sometimes, he truly hated being a good person—if he were a bad person, that bastard Wolverine would have been dead long ago.

"Logan, let me tell you some bad news."

Seeing Logan’s expression, Wang Bert said, "Jean and Scott already have a child."

"What?"

Everyone present stared at Wang Bert in shock. Jean subconsciously touched her stomach, then shook her head. "Bert, I’m not pregnant."

Cyclops looked disappointed. If Jean had a child, he could marry her because of the baby.

"Wade."

Wang Bert called out. Wade walked over carrying a portrait of Cable. Wang Bert pointed at it and said, "This man is your child. Look at his left eye—he’s obviously Cyclops’s son."

Cyclops complained, "Mr. Wang, don’t joke around. He’s obviously a cyborg. Besides, he’s older than I am."

"You think I’m joking?"

Wang Bert said, "This guy had been watching the Recycling Plant. I used Money Power to investigate him and discovered that he’s your son from the future."

"From the future?"

Everyone was even more astonished. Wade blinked. He had actually guessed right? Jean could not help asking, "Bert, are you telling the truth?"

"Once you meet him, you’ll know whether I’m telling the truth."

Wang Bert said. He wanted to use this opportunity to clear Cable’s name. Cable was not truly a bad person. Besides, Wang Bert was interested in the timeline Cable came from.

Jean looked at Cable in the portrait and sighed. "Scott, suddenly I don’t really want to marry you anymore."

"What?" Cyclops was stunned. What did that mean? "Jean, you’re too wise. Don’t marry Cyclops. His genes are terrible. Any child he has will be even uglier than him."

Wolverine was overjoyed. "Marry me instead. I guarantee you’ll have a super handsome son, even more handsome than Angel Warren."

Cyclops glared fiercely at Wolverine. Should he beat this guy to death, or beat this guy to death? "That isn’t what I meant. His body has clearly been modified, and he looks very old. That means he’s suffered a lot. I don’t want our son to suffer so much."

Jean said softly. Cyclops fell silent. He also did not want his son to live such a miserable life.

"We’ll know once he gets here. I have a feeling this place will be very lively today."

Wang Bert smiled. He had used Money Power to sense what day trouble would come to the Recycling Plant, and Money Power had told him that trouble would come today.

Money Power was almost omnipotent.

"When he gets here, we’ll definitely ask him properly."

Cyclops and Jean looked at each other and nodded together. Wolverine looked resentfully at Wang Bert. Why did he have to say all that? What if they suddenly decided to get married? "Hey, Uncle Wolf, don’t look at me like that. It doesn’t fit your character."

Wang Bert mocked him. "That guy has a time machine."

Wolverine looked blank. "So what?"

Wang Bert could not help complaining, "Silver Fox. Your Silver Fox. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten her."

"Oh, right. If there’s a time machine, Silver Fox can come back to life."

Wolverine clapped his hands suddenly, feeling both guilty and embarrassed. He had spent so long pursuing Jean that he had forgotten Silver Fox.

Wang Bert asked with a gossipy expression, "By the way, do you love Jean or Silver Fox now?"

Wolverine refused to answer that question. He asked, "Can it really work?"

Wang Bert shrugged. "We’ll know once we catch that guy. At least it’s an opportunity."

"I hope that guy comes soon."

Wolverine said excitedly. Then he remembered Wang Bert’s question, and his brows immediately furrowed. Which one should he choose?

Watching Wolverine struggle, Wang Bert smiled broadly. Once Silver Fox returned, there would be quite a show.

Of course, watching the show was only a secondary goal. The real goal was to use Wolverine’s name to get hold of the time machine. That way, perhaps he could uncover the truth about this world.

At that moment, Clairvoyant suddenly walked over and said, "BOSS, quite a few people are secretly hiding around us."

It was worth mentioning that Clairvoyant had officially joined the Security Team, becoming the first prisoner to be released. As for Doppelganger, he had voluntarily asked to join this battle. After all, he had hundreds of clones and would not die.

"They’re here after all."

Wang Bert said, "Everyone, get ready. This time, our opponents are not simple."

Everyone nodded. "Yeah."

Meanwhile, a luncheon was being held at the Hilton Hotel in New York. The guests inside were all prominent figures in New York. They gathered in small groups, discussing fashion, entertainment, the economy, and the recently heated issue of mutant employment.

A well-dressed young man said, "Mutants entering the workforce is extremely unfair to ordinary people. I think it must be prohibited. At the very least, mutants should be heavily taxed."

A fat businessman said, "Iron Man definitely won’t agree with you. I heard he recruited all those firefighters into his company."

"That only treats the symptoms, not the cause."

The young man shook his head. He was about to say more when a waiter with strange markings on his face walked to the center of the hall and fired a shot at the ceiling.

The banquet hall instantly fell silent. Everyone turned their heads in shock to stare at the waiter.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, the waiter was quite satisfied. He said with a smile, "Sorry, but you’ve been kidnapped."

The guests froze for a moment, then screamed and fled toward the exits. The host shouted angrily, "Guards! Guards!"

At that moment, the surrounding doors slammed shut one after another. Then, a group of masked thugs holding guns drove the guests back into the hall.

The waiter chuckled and said apologetically, "Sorry again. All your security guards are already dead."