*Crash!*
Logan kicked open the clinic’s iron door, his eyes bloodshot.
“Where’s the money?
Where’s my money!” Fernando, the back-alley doctor, immediately rushed over, shouting.
Logan shoved him aside and stormed straight toward Miles’s wheelchair.
Miles was fast asleep.
Under Charles’s guidance, Miles had finally learned how to sleep normally, allowing his constantly high-strung mind to relax.
His body was already weak, and after his recent power outburst, he desperately needed a good sleep to recover his strength.
But right now, Logan didn’t have the luxury of time.
Seeing this, Laura stood up to block Logan, a furious expression on her face.
She clearly didn’t want him waking Miles up.
“Fuck, get out of the way!”
Logan had to exert some effort to pull Laura aside before shouting at Miles, “Hey, kid, wake up!”
“Stop sleeping!
Fuck!
Get up!”
Seeing that Miles wasn’t responding, Logan ignored Laura’s attempts to stop him and shook Miles’s shoulders violently.
As Miles finally began to open his eyes, Logan couldn’t help but snap, “Dammit…
Caliban is missing!
You little bastard, use your goddamn powers to find him!”
“Huh?
Who’s calling me?
Is that God…
Oh, just an old dog barking…” Forced awake, Miles opened his eyes groggily and habitually started babbling.
“What’s wrong, Logan?
Has your breast cancer flared up again?
I told you Hugh Jackman shouldn’t have taken so much protein powder…”
“Shut up!” Logan spat, his face twisted in anger.
“Find him now!”
“Oh…
Caliban, right?”
Miles, slightly more awake now under Logan’s roaring, let out a deep yawn.
He habitually pressed his finger to his temple and released his perception.
The TV in the room, the wiring in the walls…
countless streams of electronic data flooded into his mind in an instant.
The city’s surveillance network unrolled in his consciousness like a scroll.
However, just as Miles began to activate his ability, a blood-curdling shriek suddenly echoed from outside the clinic!
“Ahhh!!!”
The sound was short and sharp, like a throat torn open by a wild beast, ending abruptly.
Was it Fernando?
Logan and Laura whipped their heads around at the same time, then rushed to the doorway to look outside.
The sight made Logan’s pupils contract sharply!
Dr.
Fernando was suspended in mid-air, his neck impaled by a clawed hand.
Blood welled from the horrific wound, dyeing the intruder’s arm and chest crimson.
Holding him up was a tall, burly man, his tank top stretched tight over bulging muscles.
“Fuck…” Logan gritted his teeth.
It was his own face, but younger and cleaner.
It lacked his signature beard, and the jawline was sharper.
But the eyes were wrong—empty, devoid of reason or emotion, holding only a pure, unadulterated desire to kill.
With a casual fling, the brute tossed Fernando’s corpse to the ground with a dull thud.
Then, those beast-like eyes stared straight into the clinic.
He saw Logan, then glanced past him to Laura and Miles in the wheelchair.
It wasn’t a look of appraisal, but rather a wolf sizing up its prey, calculating whom to slaughter first.
“…”
Laura silently stepped up next to Logan, crouching slightly.
Her claws slowly slid out from her hands resting at her sides, a low, almost imperceptible growl rumbling in her throat.
“It’s *that thing*!”
Logan recognized this guy.
This was the “something worse” that the nurse, Gabriela, had mentioned in her video.
A monster bred by Alkali Transigen using his own genetic material.
He looked identical to Logan’s younger self, but lacked a soul or humanity, driven only by killing instincts—X-24!
“Get Charles out of here!
Go!”
Logan roared at Laura, unsheathing his claws as he lunged forward with a battle cry.
The old wolf and the dark wolf immediately locked in a vicious grapple, but the fight was entirely one-sided.
Every attack from the old wolf was easily deflected by the dark wolf, while every counterstrike from the dark wolf left bone-deep gashes in the old wolf’s aging body.
Seeing Logan’s dire state, Laura let out a fierce screech of her own and charged in with claws bared.
Yet, even with the two of them teaming up, the tide of battle didn’t turn at all.
X-24 didn’t even look back.
He threw a blind back-elbow that smashed squarely into Laura’s cheek, the massive force sending her flying.
She crashed heavily against the wall, causing loose gravel and dust to rain down.
“Argh!” Seizing the opening, Logan crossed his claws and swung them with all his might toward X-24’s neck.
*Clang!*
An ear-splitting metal screech rang out.
His face, identical to Logan’s, remained completely expressionless, his eyes reflecting nothing but pure bloodlust.
With a sudden twist of his wrist, a sickening *crack* sounded as Logan’s arm was bent back at a grotesque angle.
Even Adamantium skeletons could dislocate.
“Aaargh!!”
The searing pain choked off Logan’s roar.
X-24 followed up immediately with a knee strike to his abdomen.
Logan doubled over like a broken sack, his stomach churning as he spat out a mouthful of bile and bloody foam.
*Dammit…
what is this thing again?
What part of the plot is this?!*
Inside the clinic, Miles forced himself to sit up.
The hangover-like aftereffects of being violently woken left his brain feeling like mush, each heartbeat sending a throbbing pain through his temples.
Hearing the crashes and roars echoing from outside, he knew he didn’t have much time.
“Fuck you, Logan…” Cursing under his breath, he endured the intense fatigue and dizziness to launch a direct telepathic strike, stabbing into X-24’s mind.
But in the next second, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his expression going blank.
This guy’s brain had no thoughts, no memories, no emotions…
absolutely nothing!
X-24’s mind was nothing like the normal human psyche Miles was familiar with; it was a vast, primordial void.
Only a single command screamed and burned there eternally!
This thing was a soulless beast!
Facing this opponent, Miles realized his telepathy was utterly useless.
Methods of controlling humans had no effect on a wild animal!
“Ugh…” Miles reached up with a trembling hand to wipe away the nosebleed caused by overexerting his power.
He gritted his teeth as he watched the brutal battle outside.
He could vaguely sense the signals of two or three electronic devices on the brute, but his head throbbed too violently to pinpoint them.
Furthermore, this monster didn’t rely on technology to fight, and there were no devices nearby to weaponize.
His technopathy was useless, his mind control ineffective…
aside from detecting a few faint electronic signals on the beast, his abilities seemed completely futile against him!
And stripped of his powers, Miles was nothing but a paraplegic twelve-year-old boy.
So, what could he do?!
The moment Miles’s mind recoiled from the psychic backlash, X-24 seemed to break free from some invisible constraint, his movements becoming even more frenzied.
He grabbed Logan by the throat, hoisting the old man’s aging body off the ground with a single hand.
“Ugh…
gahh…”
Starved of oxygen, Logan’s face quickly turned a dark purple as his limbs thrashed weakly.
“Yaaah!!” Having just scrambled up from the floor, Laura shrieked and charged again, her claws aiming straight for X-24’s eyes.
Without even looking back, X-24 swung Logan like a club, slamming his body hard into Laura.
The two of them collapsed into a tangled heap on the floor.
…
Somewhere a kilometer away, Dr.
Zander and Antony were quietly watching the live feed of the battle on a computer screen.
“X-0’s ability is powerful, but with the right preparation, he isn’t hard to counter,” Dr.
Zander said with a smile.
Meanwhile, tied to a chair with his mouth gagged, Caliban also stared at the screen, his pupils dilating as he watched the brutal combat between X-24, Logan, and Laura.
He had been captured by the Reavers shortly after they entered the bank.
Though Caliban was a mutant, his combat capability was highly limited, leaving him completely defenseless against a squad of trained soldiers.
Dr.
Zander continued to speak mildly to Caliban, “For a mutant like X-0 who can manipulate all kinds of electronic equipment, a pure genetic soldier like X-24 is the perfect counter.
Though X-0 has telepathy, we ran tests long ago…
he cannot control X-24.
This is a pure beast that only obeys my commands.”
Pausing for a moment, Dr.
Zander continued, “Of course, to allow X-24 to slip close to them undetected, we had to eliminate a certain obstacle beforehand…
namely you, Mr.
Caliban, with your ability to sense other mutants.”
“Had you remained by their side, X-24’s approach surely would not have escaped your notice.
And so…
we had no choice but to invite you over as our ‘guest’ first.”
“As it stands, he is performing remarkably well.” Dr.
Zander nodded in satisfaction, watching X-24 overpower Logan and Laura on the screen.
He then spoke into his walkie-talkie, “Don’t drag this out.
Finish them off quickly and bring back X-0!”
…
“…Finish them off quickly and bring back X-0!”
Dr.
Zander’s voice crackled from the micro-earpieces in X-24’s ears.
The beast gave a slight nod, let out a thunderous roar, and with a sudden surge of strength, finally shook off Logan and Laura’s desperate grip!
Then, taking a few long strides, he lunged into the clinic and loomed right in front of Miles.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it…” Miles pressed his hands hard against his head, desperately trying to seize control of the beast’s mind, to no avail.
Seeing X-24 reach out his hand toward him, despair washed over Miles’s face.
But right at that moment, a faint, almost imperceptible groan came from the operating table nearby.
“…Miles.”
In the next instant, an unprecedented wave of psychic pressure crashed down!
Miles felt as if his brain had been struck by a massive hammer.
His neck went limp, and his entire body was paralyzed!
*Is this the old man’s true power?!*
As a fellow telepath, Miles felt the raw impact of Charles’s power outburst more profoundly than anyone…
This chaotic, tyrannical, ocean-like psychic wave was a force entirely beyond his wildest imagination!
At the same time, he wasn’t the only one; Logan and X-24 were also struck as if hit by lightning.
Laura was pinned flat to the floor, her face contorting as she struggled in vain to stand up.
“Dammit…” Bruised and bleeding, Logan looked toward Charles on the operating table.
He knew exactly what was happening—Charles was having another seizure!
In that instant, it wasn’t just the few people inside the clinic.
Everyone in the surrounding streets, shops, and homes was affected!
Ordinary humans with weaker minds froze in place, losing consciousness as if time itself had stopped.
A kilometer away, Dr.
Zander and his men were hit as well.
They only had time to let out a single cry before losing consciousness, their faces going completely blank.
“Ugh…”
A sharp cry from Dr.
Zander crackled through X-24’s earpiece.
In the next instant, grimacing under Charles’s psychic weight, X-24 slowly turned his head and dragged his body…
toward the exit of the clinic!
*He’s…
leaving?
Why?*
*Is it because of the sound from his earpieces?*
*So that’s how Dr.
Zander controls this thing!*
Miles’s trembling eyes tracked X-24’s slow departure.
At the same time, Logan dragged himself in from outside.
Bleeding from head to toe, Logan dragged his claws along the wall to prop himself up.
He crawled step by painful step to Charles’s side, pulled out a syringe of sedative, and plunged it straight into Charles’s neck!
“Ngh…” Charles let out a barely audible groan before sinking back into a deep sleep.
“Whew…
huff…” Logan panted heavily.
If he had been a second later, everyone here would have died.
Sprawled on the floor, Laura slowly pushed herself up and glared toward the departing X-24.
As if in response, X-24 came to a sudden halt outside.
“Who told you to leave!
Idiot!
Go back and bring X-0 to me!”
Hearing Dr.
Zander’s voice command through his earpiece, X-24 spun around.
At the same time, Logan and Laura looked back at him, their faces set in grim determination.
“Laura, take Charles…
and run!”
Logan rasped, forcing himself up and gritting his bloody teeth.
“…” Laura gritted her teeth, stubbornly refusing his order with fierce defiance in her eyes.
“Fuck, we’re all going to die if this keeps up…” Logan muttered hoarsely.
Seeing the beast slowly close in once more, Logan and Laura prepared themselves for a fight to the death…
But right then, the agonizing scream of Dr.
Zander suddenly echoed again from X-24’s earpiece.
“Argh…”
X-24 faltered, stopping in his tracks.
“What are you doing?
Dammit!”
Back at the Reavers’ camp, Dr.
Zander stared at the screen and bellowed into his transmitter, “Get back there and bring X-0 to me immediately!!”
But his voice didn’t reach X-24’s ears at all.
What played from the micro-earpieces was still Dr.
Zander’s previous scream.
“Argh…”
“Argh…”
“…”
Finally, X-24 tore his gaze away from Miles and the others, turned around, and bolted.
The moment he stepped out of the clinic, a soft *pop* came from both of his earpieces as they began to emit thin wisps of blue smoke, short-circuiting and failing completely.
As a result, until X-24 saw Dr.
Zander in person again, he would be unable to receive any new commands.
“…Go!!!”
Miles roared at Logan and Laura.
He slowly raised his head, his face a contorted mask of sweat, tears, and blood.
His eyes, nose, and ears were all bleeding.
In the cerebrospinal fluid extractor attached to the back of his head, a thin layer of yellow and red fluid had already accumulated.
…
“Dammit!!”
Watching the feed transmitted from the micro-camera on X-24’s shoulder, Dr.
Zander saw X-24 retreating and slammed his fist hard onto the desk.
“Can X-0’s ability actually broadcast false commands as well…”
“It seems I’ll have to let X-24 operate on his own next time…”