Logan was just about to enter the building when he came to a stop. Kitty looked at him with confusion, but Logan simply leaned against a nearby wall with a look of resignation, watching as Spider-Man and Black Cat descended from the sky, sticking two textbook superhero landings.
"Good to see you, Bug. It seems things are going well on the Avengers' end, if they have the spare time to send someone out to deal with the Hand."
"Oh, uh, yeah, pretty much—actually, the whole Avengers team is fairly idle right now. Almost no one is calling on us to handle those Hydra bases."
It was unknown (actually, it was well-known) why clearing out Hydra bases had become such a coveted task. Essentially, as soon as various national governments discovered a Hydra base on their soil, a massive crowd would scramble for the chance to join the cleanup operation. Tony Stark and Hank Pym were already collaborating to monitor these enthusiasts, waiting like the oriole behind the mantis to root out the actual Hydra agents hidden among them.
On the other hand, it was because many of these matters involved the internal affairs of various nations, and the Avengers' jurisdiction remained a massive issue. Lacking legal enforcement power, they truly had no way to forcibly intervene without a government request or sufficient evidence.
So, the Avengers really were quite idle.
Logan merely gave a dismissive smirk and shook his head upon hearing this. Kitty, meanwhile, looked quite curiously at Felicia, who was following behind Peter. Logan also glanced her way. "And who's your friend here? What's her special talent?"
"Actually, she doesn't have one. She... volunteered to help."
Logan caught Peter's subtext—"volunteered" essentially meant "uninvited." He didn't say anything; anyone who dared to show up for an occasion like this had to have at least one trick up their sleeve, or at the very least be as well-trained as Daredevil.
Peter then asked about Logan's findings. "What about you? How did you find this place?"
"Long story. I'd almost given up hope on finding the Hand, but then I suddenly picked up Daken's scent. That kid has three main enemies: his old man, the Winter Soldier, and the Hand. If he didn't come looking for me, then—"
Peter understood immediately. "By following Daken's scent, we can find either the Winter Soldier or the Hand?"
"In theory, yes. Plus, the kid has spent a long time in the underworld; theoretically, he's better at finding the Hand than we are."
As Logan spoke, he sniffed the air around them and confirmed a point. "Daken's scent is very strong here. If we follow it, we might be able to find him."
"Then, lead the way."
Logan took the lead. To be honest, although his relationship with his unfilial son was terrible, he was still his son. At this moment, Logan was quite worried about Daken. If Daken truly had found the Hand, there shouldn't have been zero commotion for this long. This suggested that Daken either hadn't found them, or had been captured after doing so—neither of which was good news.
He just hoped the Hand hadn't cut Daken's head off; Logan wasn't sure if a healing factor could regenerate a severed head—his own head had never been lopped off before.
The four of them moved forward. Sniffing the air, Logan led them into an underground parking garage. They arrived at a wall where Logan unsheathed his claws and sliced through it, revealing a hidden passage. He couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "How did we never notice this before?"
"Probably because there used to be other gangs here, and we subconsciously assumed the Hand wouldn't put a base underneath another gang—wait, speaking of which, places like Fisk Tower are actually quite suspicious now, aren't they?!"
Peter's remark didn't garner much of a reaction. Logan didn't care much about the presence of gangs; he simply led them inside. It was pitch black as usual, appearing to be yet another part of New York's complex sewer system.
Peter let the spider emblem on his chest light up to provide illumination. Moving to the front, Logan caught a whiff of the air and let out an excited grin. "Ah, that's the smell of those living dead. You can't smell them at all from the outside. They're definitely in here."
"Should we call Matt and the others?"
"No rush. We're not sure if this is actually their headquarters or just another fake-out like last time. Let's scout it out first."
Logan led the way, but after walking a short distance, he stopped again. He sniffed carefully before informing the group: "Besides Daken, there are other scents of the living. One is... it's X-23. And there's another one I don't recognize."
Since the battle with Nimrod, X-23 had disappeared along with Gambit and his crew. Although it was unknown whether Mr. Sinister had survived like Zemo, they had certainly vanished from the scene. Now Logan was telling them that X-23 was here.
"Great. So we might have to deal with another Wolverine, right?"
"If we're unlucky, it might be two. Don't forget the Hand's brainwashing techniques," Kitty replied. Logan stopped in front of a door and kicked it open. Inside was a hall designed in a Japanese style, with tatami mats laid out on the floor. At the back were two armor stands holding suits of samurai armor. A samurai in silver armor stood with his back to the group before turning around and drawing his blade.
"Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Shadowcat. I have been waiting for you for a long time."
The Silver Samurai drew his sword and turned to face them. His gaze lingered on Logan before moving to Black Cat, a confused expression appearing in his eyes that even his faceplate couldn't hide.
And who was this one?
"I'm here to help, don't mind me."
"Fine, it doesn't matter. Let's settle this, Wolverine. As for the others, I've found opponents for them."
Daken and X-23 stepped forward simultaneously. The latter seemed to have grown a bit taller. Both children of Wolverine unsheathed their claws and stared down the others. As for the Silver Samurai, his katana remained pointed at Logan; he even tossed a katana toward him.
Logan didn't even look at the lousy sword. He popped his own claws and asked the Silver Samurai: "You don't look like one of the Hand's brats, kid. Where are the Hand's people? Since when did they start recruiting samurai?"
"Defeat me, and I will tell you!"
With an angry roar, the Silver Samurai charged. The two Dark Wolverines followed suit, and thus a battle—one that couldn't quite be called a "great war"—commenced.