Wenwu sneered. Even before, his Ten Rings might not have matched Mjolnir in power, but they had not been far behind. Now that he could tap into a deeper layer of power, they were naturally even stronger.
How could this Mutant, who was at most level three, possibly be his match? If a level-four Mutant like Magneto came, perhaps he would have to take things a little more seriously.
Seeing his greatest trump card defeated, Klaue's legs went weak. The gun in his hand clattered to the floor, and he collapsed to his knees.
"Don't... don't kill me! I'll give you anything you want! Money, weapons, information, anything!" Klaue desperately kowtowed, his voice choked with despairing sobs.
"You're still of some use. You can be my dog."
Wenwu walked calmly up to him and looked down at him from above, his tone icy. "But let me make this clear first: if a dog dares to turn on its master, death is all that awaits it!"
Hearing that he could live, Klaue felt as though he had been granted a pardon. With a fawning expression, he said, "Yes, my lord! From now on, I'm your dog. Wherever you tell me to go, I'll go!"
Wenwu slowly approached the gravely wounded Becky and looked down at him, asking in an indifferent voice, "And you? What will you choose?"
Becky gritted his teeth, struggling to rise despite the intense pain. He instinctively turned toward Klaue, only to see Klaue frantically signaling him with his eyes, urging him to surrender quickly.
After weighing the pros and cons, Becky finally lowered his head and chose to submit.
"Tell me about your background," Wenwu then asked.
"My Mutant abilities awakened when I was a child. My family abandoned me because I was a monster. I lived from day to day, never knowing if I would survive the next, always hiding.
"Then, a year ago, the United States military discovered me. They wanted to capture me alive. I was badly wounded while fleeing, and in the end, Mr. Klaue saved me..." Gasping with difficulty, Becky recounted his entire past.
"Now that you've joined the Ten Rings, you no longer need to live in fear. You can live openly. Of course, that is on the condition that you work diligently for me," Wenwu said calmly.
"Yes! Thank you!" Although Wenwu's voice was indifferent, his words gave Becky a warmth he had not felt in a long time, and his eyes could not help reddening.
Wenwu looked at him and inwardly shook his head.
This man had clearly lacked love since childhood. He was weak and timid, and just a simple promise had moved him beyond all reason.
"Klaue, I assume you've heard of me. But I'll introduce myself again anyway. I am Wenwu, leader of the Ten Rings." Wenwu turned toward Klaue, a teasing smile curling his lips.
"Your subordinate had already guessed. I, Ulysses Klaue, pay my respects to my lord!" Klaue prostrated himself again, kowtowing repeatedly.
"Enough. Take me to see your vibranium collection," Wenwu ordered in a low voice.
Klaue's heart jolted. Sure enough, this big shot had not come in person for anything simple. The only thing he had that could attract someone like him was vibranium.
Not daring to delay, he immediately led Wenwu upstairs to a hidden vault.
Several specially made alloy cases sat quietly inside the vault.
"My lord, I've secretly sold some over the past dozen years or so, but there are still a full two hundred and twenty kilograms of pure vibranium here!"
As Klaue spoke, he walked up to one of the specially made alloy cases, entered the code, and heaved with both hands. The heavy lid swung open.
He then began telling Wenwu where this batch of vibranium had come from.
In 1992, N'Jobu, a traitor to the royal family of the technologically advanced nation of Wakanda, hidden in Africa, had contacted him. With N'Jobu's assistance, Klaue had led an armed squad into Wakanda's mineral storehouse and stolen two hundred and fifty kilograms of high-purity vibranium.
With those stolen goods, Klaue had transformed himself into the black market's most famous vibranium dealer. Over the past dozen years or so, he had sold it off bit by bit for profit, selling a full thirty kilograms by now!
After hearing this, the corners of Wenwu's mouth rose slightly. If he had not come to collect this vibranium today, Ultron would probably have taken the entire stock when he came knocking in the future.
Although Klaue was exceedingly cunning, his abilities and methods were indeed good, and he also knew Wakanda's exact location. Thus, Wenwu had no intention of killing him.
Wenwu picked up a glass container from the case. Inside were several pieces of dark silver metal-vibranium. As he felt the metal's texture, a satisfied smile finally curved his lips.
"Take it all away!" Wenwu ordered his men behind him.
His men immediately filed in and carefully carried away all the vibranium.
Klaue stood to the side, his eyes full of anguish as he watched his vibranium being cleared out, yet he did not even dare breathe loudly.
Once the vibranium had been carried out, Wenwu turned to Klaue and instructed him in a low voice, "I'll leave you a hundred men to command. Buy arms instead of selling them. I want everything. Especially 'mushroom bombs.' If you can get those, I'll reward you handsomely.
"Also, steal an ancient vibranium hammer from the British Museum. Work out the details yourself."
"Becky, come back to headquarters with me."
"Yes..." Klaue and Becky immediately answered.
"My lord, about the funds for those purchases..." Klaue asked cautiously.
"Once you've found a seller, apply to headquarters yourself. And don't try any clever tricks with me!" Wenwu warned coldly, then turned and left with Becky.
Watching Wenwu's departing figure, Klaue glanced at the hundred pairs of eyes staring sharply at him and suddenly felt like crying, but had no tears.
He knew that his carefree, unrestrained days were now gone for good.
Vibranium was extremely precious, so Wenwu had to escort it to the base personally.
Thus, by the time they reached the base in Syria, five days had passed.
After arriving at the base, Wenwu carefully hid the vibranium, keeping even Ivan and Dr. Burstein from knowing about it.
Next, he tested Becky's abilities. Becky's bat wings were much like those of real bats: membranous wings. He did not fly quickly, and was even a little slower than a pigeon. However, the maximum power of his sonic waves was tremendous. They could shatter concrete walls and even blast a light armored vehicle to pieces!
His ability was similar to that of Banshee from the X-Men. He was decent enough as a fighter.
Over the following days, Wenwu worked with Dr. Burstein to study Chi while also learning from Ivan, attempting to refine Tony Stark's blueprints and build the Iron Man Armor.
Xu Wenwu had lived for a thousand years and possessed extensive experience and knowledge. His knowledge of modern subjects was no less than that of a graduate student or someone with a doctorate, but unfortunately, he was not particularly proficient in modern physics.
Fortunately, Xu Wenwu already had exceptional comprehension. After their souls fused, Wenwu's memory and comprehension had improved greatly, allowing him to learn extremely quickly.
Even if his talent was a little inferior to Ivan's, the gap was not large.
After just one month, he could already build a suit of armor similar to the Mark I himself.
However, his foundations were still a little lacking when it came to making heavy armor on the level of Iron Monger.