Three hours later, everything was ready.
Miles had changed into a hospital gown and was being wheeled down the hallway toward the operating room by a kind-looking nurse.
Logan stood outside the hallway, watching the heavy operating room doors close between him and Miles.
A sudden, inexplicable irritation began to rise in his chest.
“Hey there, beautiful nurse, will you be in there during the surgery?”
“Yes, Mr.
Miles.
Is there anything you need?”
“Oh, I was just wondering—is it okay for patients to record their own surgeries?
I want to keep it as a souvenir.
After all, this might be the only chance I get in my lifetime to see my own brain.”
“Uh…
that is a pretty cool idea.”
“Right?
I knew it was awesome!” Miles continued to ramble.
“And hey, if I don’t make it off the operating table and you guys end up killing me, remember to preserve my brain in formalin.
Maybe it’ll fetch a good price down the road, like Einstein’s…
Oh, and put Laura down as the primary beneficiary.
Forget old Charles; he doesn’t have many years left anyway.
If I leave him the money, it’ll just get hit with estate tax when he dies…”
“…” The nurse’s face twitched slightly, and she chose to remain silent.
As the wheelchair drew closer to the operating room, with less than five meters to go, Miles’s heart suddenly leaped.
A powerful, chilling sense of crisis washed over him.
Instinctively, he pressed his fingers to his temple, and his telepathy instantly swept outward.
In that moment, he sensed the mental signatures of over thirty people inside the operating room ahead!
Too many people.
This was wrong!
Something was up!
Realizing this, Miles wasted no time.
He channeled his power further, using his electronic signal manipulation to hack into the hospital’s surveillance system and rapidly flipped through the camera feeds.
Countless images flashed through his mind, finally freezing on a scene from over an hour ago—a group of mysterious figures in black tactical gear slipping silently into the hospital through the staff entrance!
And at the very back of that group, a tall, familiar figure flashed by.
X-24!
It was a trap!
“Stop!
Abort the surgery!” Miles shouted at the nurse without hesitation.
Instead of stopping, the nurse’s expression hardened.
She accelerated, pushing him at a jog toward the operating room!
This nurse was an enemy!
“Fuck!”
Miles immediately unleashed his mind control on the nurse, trying to force her to stop.
“Ngh…”
As his power took hold, a pained expression crossed the nurse’s face, and her footsteps faltered.
After successfully seizing control of the nurse, Miles tried to make her turn around and wheel him out, but he found he couldn’t do it!
The nurse’s willpower was frighteningly resilient.
She was actually resisting Miles’s mind control through sheer brute force of will.
Miles could make her stop, but that was the limit!
Frankly, Miles wasn’t particularly strong when it came to pure mind control.
Leaving Professor Charles aside, he couldn’t even completely control an ordinary, strong-willed human soldier like Donald Pierce.
Yet, in Miles’s perception, this nurse’s willpower seemed even stronger than Donald’s!
She definitely wasn’t an ordinary person!
*Clack, clack, clack…*
Sensing something was wrong, rapid footsteps began to echo from the operating room.
Someone was coming.
“Logan!!!”
While keeping the nurse pinned in place, Miles screamed at the top of his lungs, “It’s a trap!!”
In the next instant, a commotion erupted at the entrance of the hallway behind Miles.
The heavy metal doors burst open, and a disheveled Logan charged in! Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
*Slam!*
At the same time, the doors to the operating room swung open.
Several figures clad in specialized tactical gear were about to rush out—only for the doors to immediately begin sliding shut again!
Miles’s gaze was ice-cold.
Obviously, this door was also electronically controlled!
In the split second the doors parted, Miles saw the men inside…
They were still the Reavers hired by Dr.
Zander, but now they had replaced their flashy mechanical prosthetics with the simplest, low-tech artificial limbs.
They also carried absolutely no unnecessary electronic equipment.
Clearly, they were guarding against him!
“Zander, you son of a bitch!!” Miles roared, cursing him out.
A momentary lapse in focus allowed the nurse to break free from his mental shackles.
She lunged forward to pin Miles down, only to be violently shoved away by Logan, who had just arrived!
“Ugh!”
The nurse grunted, stumbling slightly before quickly regaining her footing.
She spun and delivered a fierce kick to Logan’s chest, forcing him back two steps.
Military agent…
Seeing the clean, efficient kick, Logan immediately recognized the woman’s background!
“Logan…
Wolverine…” the woman warned in a low voice.
“Back off.
If you don’t want to die, stay out of our way!”
Old Logan’s fierce response to her threat was to unsheathe his claws.
“Fuck you!”
While Logan clashed with the woman, Miles remained in the wheelchair, his face pale as he continued to channel his power.
Under his manipulation, the power to the entire operating room was cut, preventing the men inside from coming out through the main doors.
Instinctively, Miles wanted to cut power to the entire medical institute, but after a brief hesitation, he decided against it.
This was a hospital.
Cutting the power recklessly would kill too many innocent people…
Damn it…
Gritting his teeth, Miles poured all his focus into the campus surveillance system, frantically searching for any sign of X-24.
To him, that beast was the real threat!
Soon, the fight in the hallway was decided.
Though the female agent was highly skilled, old Logan had dealt with military types far too many times.
After a grueling struggle, Logan finally found an opening and knocked her unconscious.
*Cough, cough…* Logan coughed up a few splatters of blood.
Clearly, it hadn’t been easy for him either.
If he were in his prime, this woman would have been dealt with in a single slash.
But now, he really was old.
Meanwhile, noises echoed from the other side of the operating room.
Realizing the main doors were blocked, the men inside were taking the side exit to circle around.
Just then, Miles finally located X-24.
He was in the parking lot outside the hospital, walking straight toward the pickup truck where Charles and Laura were waiting.
Charles was asleep inside.
In that instant, Miles’s brain exploded with a roar.
A plot point from the original movie that he had long forgotten flashed in his mind like lightning—X-24 piercing Charles’s heart with his steel claws.
“No—!!”
Miles shrieked in terror.
Instinctively trying to bolt forward, his body gave out, and he tumbled out of the wheelchair.
“Ngh…”
His head slammed against the cold floor.
With bloodshot eyes and ignoring the pain, Miles screamed at Logan with everything he had.
“Take me to the parking lot!
Fast!”
…
Meanwhile, in the pickup truck, Charles was resting peacefully.
Laura, guarding him, had no desire to sleep.
Sensing danger, the girl curled up in the passenger seat like a watchful young wolf, her ears straining to catch every sound in the parking lot.
Suddenly, the screech of tearing metal shattered the silence!
*Crrr-ack!*
The pickup rocked violently as the heavy door was ripped clean off its hinges by an irresistible, brute force and slammed onto the asphalt.
A figure identical to Logan appeared in the doorway, but his eyes held no emotion—only a vacant, deathly void.
It was that monster!
“Yaaah!!”
Laura didn’t even have time to think; her body reacted ahead of her conscious mind.
Unleashing a sharp, feral screech, she launched herself from her seat, throwing herself at him with reckless desperation.
The twin claws on the back of her right hand thrust straight toward X-24’s eyes.
But X-24 merely raised his left arm, expressionless.
*Clang!*
Claws collided with metal-reinforced bone with a dull, heavy ring.
X-24’s hand was frighteningly fast.
He clamped onto Laura’s attacking wrist, his fingers squeezing tight.
*Crack!*
The sharp crack of breaking bone echoed as Laura’s right wrist was crushed.
The agonizing pain forced a grunt from her, but she instantly lashed out with her left claws, aiming for his throat.
X-24 didn’t even flinch, letting her claws leave a bloody gash across his face.
His right hand shot out, clamping around her neck, and hoisted her small frame into the air.
Laura kicked her legs wildly, but she couldn’t reach anything.
With a casual flick, X-24 threw her against a nearby concrete pillar.
*Thud!*
Laura slammed hard against the pillar and crumpled to the ground.
As she struggled to crawl back up, X-24 stepped forward and stomped on her shin.
*Crack, snap…*
Another stomach-turning crack of bone.
X-24 efficiently crippled Laura’s ability to move, then pulled a nylon cargo strap from the back of the pickup, binding the helpless girl tightly.
“Mmph, mmph…”
Gagged, Laura couldn’t even scream.
She could only watch in despair as X-24 slowly walked toward Charles.
Five meters, three meters…
In X-24’s blank eyes, old Charles’s figure grew clearer.
He remembered this old man.
In their last encounter, it was this old geezer who had suddenly unleashed a torrent of psychic power that even he couldn’t resist.
In that moment, he had felt a profound threat of death.
To X-24, neither Logan nor Laura was worth fearing.
Only old Charles was the true threat!
And so, he had to die!
Just then, the massive commotion of the fight between X-24 and Laura finally woke Charles.
The old man slowly opened his eyes.
Having just woken up, his vision was still blurry.
Seeing “Logan” standing by the door, confusion flickered across his face.
“Logan?” he called out softly, his voice raspy with sleep.
“What’s happening…”
*Shhhk!*
Before Charles could react—before he could even summon a shred of psychic energy—X-24 stepped into the vehicle and plunged his gleaming steel claws directly into Charles’s chest without resistance.
Charles’s body shuddered violently.
He looked down at the claws protruding from his chest.
Then, he raised his head and caught one last glimpse of his killer’s face.
In his clouded eyes, his final trace of consciousness was swallowed by overwhelming sorrow and disbelief.
In the distance, Logan, carrying Miles on his back, sprinted into the parking lot entrance just in time to see this.
Time froze.
“No!!!”