In a safe house in Mexico City, the CIA's Alejandro was tending to Isabella's wounds with a medical kit. To an outsider, they looked like a father and daughter.
However, Isabella's fear made her face pale, and her teeth chattered constantly. She didn't dare to move, which somewhat spoiled the warm atmosphere.
"Please... let me go... Whatever you want, my father will agree."
Her voice trembled, but Alejandro seemed not to hear her, continuing to clean the wound with alcohol and carefully bandage it. His expression showed no emotion, as if the little girl, whom he could easily crush, was just a stranger.
Broly leaned against the wall, observing Isabella. He had no fondness for drug traffickers, neither in his past life nor this one.
"Aren't you going to kill her?"
His words made Isabella jump like a startled deer, and she looked at Alejandro with a pleading gaze.
"Hahaha! She sees you as her savior!" Broly laughed.
Alejandro's expression didn't change.
"She has a use. Now is not the time to kill her."
His words caused Isabella to completely break down.
Filippo Reyes was in a state of fear and rage. His men had recovered video from the onlookers' phones at the scene. Although the video was blurry, it was still possible to see that the mutant among the kidnappers was incredibly powerful. The artificial mutants he had purchased from the Mutant Factory were no match for him.
It was the first time he had seen such a powerful mutant, one that was terrifying. Where did the Mata Group find such a monster?
Miguel Reyes and Barton Herrera, standing beside him, didn't look good either.
Filippo hooked Barton's neck with one hand and whispered into Barton's ear in an exasperated tone.
"Barlo Mata, he showed no mercy... Attacking my family like that... my daughter... Only a madman would do such a thing... Dangerous, a crazy beast, I want him dead, not next year, I don't want you to kill his lawyers, accountants, and financial people, I want you to kill his secretary, his partners! Anyone who has helped him, I want them dead! Anyone who has licked a stamp and stuck it on an envelope with his name on it, I want them dead! Then I want you to find anyone who has shaken his hand, and kill them all!"
The mere kidnapping of his daughter wouldn't have caused Filippo to lose his composure. What truly angered him was the feeling that his life was threatened.
"No matter the cost, bring Francis here, especially the woman under him. They are best at dealing with mutants."
This threat reminded him of the humiliation and fear he felt when he was a robber. At that time, he and his brother Miguel had to give two-thirds of all the money they stole to the gang's boss. Later, they joined forces to kill the boss, broke away, and built the massive Reyes Group.
"I understand, boss."
Barton shrugged, and soon after, he rode a motorcycle to the outskirts of Mexico City. It was a classic Harley Streetfighter, modified with ape hanger handlebars, weaving through traffic and overtaking other vehicles, quite ostentatiously.
The Mutant Factory was disguised as an ordinary chemical plant, not far from the main road of Mexico City. The Mexican president's fragile control over the country allowed them to be somewhat unscrupulous.
The guard at the factory gate was clearly familiar with Barton and directly opened the barrier, letting him in.
Barton parked the motorcycle in the parking lot, took out an ID card, and swiped it to open the heavy alloy gate. Inside was the layout of a very ordinary chemical plant: thick pipes, huge reaction tanks, and reactors. There were even a number of workers pretending to maintain production. He entered the real Mutant Factory through a dark and damp underground passage.
"Welcome to hell!"
Francis, the person in charge of the Mutant Factory, stood in front of Barton, holding a file in his hand and wearing a white coat. The scene behind him was indeed like hell. Ice water, electric chairs, waterboarding, branding irons, and batons. The staff of the Mutant Factory were torturing the experimental subjects in various ways to bring them to the brink of death, in order to stimulate the X-Weapon Serum injected into their bodies.
The shrill screams almost pierced the eardrums. Some subjects had already activated their X-gene: some had sharp bone spurs erupting from their bodies, some had their skin turning into black scales, and some had grown fish-like gills.
There was indeed no place on Earth more like hell.
"We have just created three new mutants, and I believe Mr. Filippo will be very satisfied."
Francis's eyes narrowed, like a fox that had seen its prey. A brainwashed mutant could be sold for at least seven million dollars, while the cost was no more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The largest cost was the X-Weapon Serum, and in chaotic Mexico, the cost of these experimental subjects was zero.
Thanks to these wealthy drug lords, they had already earned over a billion dollars, supplying dozens of mutant enforcers to this chaotic land.
It was like an arms race. As soon as one side purchased mutants, the other side would have to purchase a corresponding number of mutants to maintain the balance of power. The chaotic situation in Mexico was the best salesman.
Barton took out his phone and opened the video.
"No, Mr. Filippo asked me to come to find out if this person is your product?"
Francis's face became serious. He took the phone and replayed the video repeatedly, carefully observing Broly's actions.
"This is not our company's product, and I can't even be sure if he's a mutant."
This was a variable. Francis appeared indifferent on the surface, but he was quite interested inside.
"He killed a senior lawyer of the Reyes Group as soon as he appeared, and also destroyed one of our factories and kidnapped Mr. Filippo's daughter." Barton recounted Broly's actions one by one; these things couldn't be hidden, so it was better to just say them: "We also suspect that the destruction of a transit station was also because of him."
"The Reyes Group has now shown its weak side, and Mr. Filippo wants to hire you and the Dust Angels to deal with this person," Barton said.
"Why should I help you? This person is very strong and very difficult to deal with."
Francis returned the phone to Barton.
"Money is not a problem. Mr. Filippo is willing to pay a high price to hire you. More importantly, Mr. Francis, this guy has broken the balance between the various groups. If the Reyes Group is destroyed, the Mata Group will only use guns, not money, to buy mutants from you."
Barton's ability to become the third in command of the Reyes Group was not just due to his ruthlessness.
Francis was silent for a moment. Although he didn't think much of these drug lords, the chaotic situation did hinder his business. The people behind him wouldn't want to see this situation.
"Alright, let's talk about the price."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
ps: The characters from Marvel are officially appearing, and the story will become more and more exciting. I just looked at the ranking of the new book list, and it's already in twelfth place. I'm just a little short of getting into the top twelve. Everyone, please give me another push.