Although Observation Haki was a pretty good reward, that wasn’t what made Roy excited.
His Devil Fruit had always carried the “Mutating” suffix.
The System Shop had also remained “Under Maintenance.” And because the system had gone so long without issuing any missions, Roy had even started wondering whether its mission function was broken too.
Now that he had finally received the main mission Defense of the School, he could at last breathe a sigh of relief.
The first mission might have arrived a little late, but at least it proved that the mission function was working properly.
As long as that part of the system still functioned, he could continue increasing his strength through missions.
After calming his excitement, Roy carefully examined the mission.
Judging purely from the objective, this mission wasn’t particularly difficult.
The soldiers William Stryker would send tonight were indeed elites, but only by ordinary human standards.
Against mutants, those elite soldiers weren’t much stronger than normal people.
More importantly, unlike in the movie, the school’s current fighting strength was considerably greater.
Roy himself aside, there were also Iceman, Colossus, Lorna, Shadowcat, and the others.
Although Iceman and the rest couldn’t yet be considered qualified X-Men, defeating an armed force made up entirely of ordinary humans wouldn’t be especially difficult for them.
And barring anything unexpected, Wolverine—whose combat experience probably exceeded the combined ages of Roy and the other four—would be returning to the school soon.
With Wolverine and the rest of them together, even if William Stryker came prepared, taking down the school wouldn’t be easy.
There was, however, one part of the mission Roy didn’t quite understand.
That was the requirement to “successfully defend the school.” Repelling the armed force attacking the school was easy enough to understand.
He simply had to drive all of Stryker’s men out of the school—or kill them all.
But the requirement to “successfully defend the school” was somewhat vague.
Defending it for one minute counted as defending it.
Defending it for an entire day also counted.
Although Roy didn’t know how long he would need to protect the school for the system to recognize the objective as complete, he didn’t waste too much time thinking about it.
The system might not have specified a duration, but once he satisfied the conditions, it would naturally judge the mission complete and issue the reward.
So all Roy had to do was remain at the school until he received the mission reward.
Everything else could be dealt with when the time came.
After closing the mission panel that only he could see, Roy, who had originally planned to rest in his dormitory, left the room in a cheerful mood.
The library.
After leaving the dormitory, Roy went straight to the library, picked up a book about the X-gene, and began reading.
Time passed little by little.
More than an hour later, he suddenly heard the sound of a motorcycle coming from outside the main building.
In the otherwise quiet campus, the rather conspicuous roar of the motorcycle quickly attracted the attention of quite a few students.
Roy didn’t leave the library immediately, but he already knew what it meant.
Wolverine was back.
After thinking for a moment, he returned the book he was reading to the shelf.
Then he headed toward the entrance hall of the main building.
The moment he arrived, he saw Wolverine embracing Rogue.
Just as Roy remembered, Wolverine was the kind of man who immediately gave off the impression of being tough and rugged.
Wild hair and thick sideburns.
A dark leather jacket and jeans.
A shoulder bag hanging from his right shoulder.
“Miss me?” Wolverine asked after the hug ended.
“Not really.” Rogue replied with a hint of pride.
Although they hadn’t known each other for very long, Wolverine had already become something of a father figure to Rogue.
He had saved her life more than once.
“You doing okay?” Wolverine asked.
“Pretty good.
What about you?” Rogue replied immediately.
But at that moment, Wolverine’s gaze shifted past her.
He frowned.
“Who’s this?” “His name is Bobby.
He’s my—” Before Rogue could finish, Iceman stepped forward, extended his right hand toward Wolverine, and said, “I’m her boyfriend.
You can call me Iceman.” Boyfriend?
Wolverine hadn’t expected Rogue to get herself a boyfriend when he had been away from the school for less than a month.
For some reason, he immediately felt as though the precious little girl he had been looking after had been snatched away by some brat.
When Wolverine shook his hand, Iceman used a little of his power and demonstrated his ability.
“Nice.” Wolverine released his now slightly chilled hand and continued, “Boyfriend, huh?
So can you two…?” Although he didn’t finish the question, both Iceman and Rogue knew exactly what he meant.
“We’re working on it.” Iceman immediately replied.
Then keep working on it.
Wolverine thought silently.
He turned his head toward the other side, frowned again, and asked, “And what about you, kid?
Who are you?” The person Wolverine was looking at was none other than Roy.
The moment Roy’s gaze had fallen on him, Wolverine had felt something almost instinctive— like a predator sensing a natural enemy watching him.
It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
“You must be Mr.
Logan.
Nice to meet you.
I’m Roy.” Roy walked over and introduced himself calmly.
“Roy is the team captain, and he’s an X-Man just like you.” Rogue quickly explained.
Although she hadn’t participated in the daily practical combat classes, Iceman had already told her pretty much everything he was allowed to talk about.
“Team captain?
An X-Man?” Wolverine stared at Roy in confusion, suddenly wondering what exactly had happened at the school while he was gone.
Iceman briefly explained how Roy had become the team captain and joined the X-Men.
He had barely finished when Storm’s voice sounded from nearby.
“Look who’s back.
Your timing couldn’t be better.” Storm spoke as she descended the staircase.
“What’s so convenient about it?” Wolverine turned toward her and asked immediately.
“We happen to need a babysitter.” Storm smiled.
“A babysitter?” Wolverine only became more confused.
I haven’t even been gone a month.
Why does it feel like the entire school has changed?
“Jean and I are heading to Boston to bring back the mutant who attacked the President.” “And don’t worry, you won’t be alone.
Roy can help you out.” Storm quickly explained.
“So you’ve confirmed a mutant did it?” Wolverine asked.
“The Professor has already located him.
Jean and I will be leaving shortly.” Storm continued.
“We’ll talk later.
I need to prepare the plane.
It’s good to have you back.” With that, Storm gave Wolverine a polite hug before turning and leaving the entrance hall.
Just as Wolverine was about to ask Roy exactly how old he was, Phoenix—Jean—appeared at the top of the second-floor staircase.
“The Professor wants to see both of you.”