Chapter 202 Charles: I am one of the founders of the Brotherhood?
"She has very important things to do and has no time to deal with this, right?"
Old Logan watched Laura staring at the candy, terrified that this little wolf cub would really be lured away by this dark-haired guy with just a piece of candy, so he hurriedly found the most reasonable-sounding excuse.
Although he kept saying that Laura was a big trouble, there was no denying that Laura was indeed his daughter; his DNA flowed in her body, her abilities were almost exactly the same as his, and her temper was cut from the same mold. Anyone who saw them would not doubt their father-daughter relationship.
Looking at Laura, Old Logan seemed to see his past self.
Precisely because of this, he unconsciously protected Laura, acting in the role of an old father, not only taking care of her daily needs but also instilling correct moral values into this uneducated little wolf cub, such as not stealing things casually, and even more so, not taking lives at the drop of a hat.
However, not long after he finished saying this, he casually swiped a mobile phone charger and a cigar from the convenience store counter—without paying—and had just finished off a few people, perfectly illustrating what it meant to have a father like a daughter.
Moreover, Laura had another similarity to Old Logan: rebelliousness.
Laura completely ignored Old Logan's words. She looked at the panda-eye-like mask on Wade's face and asked curiously: "Are you guys superheroes?"
Old Logan: "?"
No way, so you can talk!?
Since he met Laura, he had never heard her say a single word. He had assumed she couldn't speak, or was mute, and had even secretly sympathized with her.
He never expected that it wasn't that Laura couldn't speak, but that she simply didn't want to talk to him!
At this moment, the old father's heart cracked a little.
Wade immediately put his hands on his hips, his voice full of exaggerated complacency: "Of course! Standing in front of you is the top-tier superhero of the Marvel Universe, the beloved Deadpool! Want my autograph? Since this is the first autograph of the day, I can also include a free exclusive hug from Deadpool!"
"Stay away from her!"
Old Logan suppressed the sourness in his heart, grabbed his Adamantium Claws, and stared at Wade vigilantly.
He saw through Wade's silly nature at a glance and didn't want Laura to get too close to him, lest she be led astray by this guy.
Thinking of Laura turning into a delinquent girl, Old Logan couldn't help but shiver.
Darian said happily: "I am also a superhero, known as Lord Doom. I once led the Avengers to save the Battle of New York. You might not know what the Avengers are; they are the most famous... hero team in another World. Every member is a superhero. They have always wanted to invite me to join the Avengers, but I refused."
"So amazing!"
Laura's eyes lit up immediately.
But Wade laughed when he heard this: "Stop kidding, buddy. There's no such character as you in the Avengers movies. You only appeared in the Fantastic Four movies, and you were a super villain..."
Bang!
Darian shot and interrupted Wade's words.
"Well done!"
Old Logan immediately applauded.
Darian put away the golden desert eagle and continued, his expression unchanged: "I am currently forming a new superhero team, determined to surpass the Avengers. I see you have great potential. Do you want to join our team?"
Laura wanted to agree, but she hesitated: "But... I still have to go to Eden."
[NPC Laura Kinney has issued a new quest to you]
[Quest: Eden]
[Goal: Escort Laura safely to Eden]
[Reward: Experience +1000, Laura Favorability +20, Random Item *1, Anchor Fragment *1]
Darian waved his hand, his tone relaxed: "It's fine, we can send you to Eden first, and then you can join our team. It doesn't conflict at all."
"Okay!"
Laura's eyes lit up, and she nodded decisively.
"Not okay at all!"
Old Logan immediately interrupted, his voice stiff: "Listen, we don't know you at all, and we don't want to take on any more trouble. If you want to find team members, you can find someone else."
He didn't know the background of these two people, so naturally, he wouldn't easily agree.
He was no longer the lone wolf he used to be.
Now, he was trying his best to maintain this family. The former superhero had gone to work as a taxi driver, worrying about daily necessities, and now he was dragging an aging Charles and a young Laura on the run. The burden of life had long since crushed this Old Wolf so he couldn't breathe.
If there were any more accidents, he didn't know if his scarred old bones could still hold up.
It didn't matter if he died, but he had Charles and Laura behind him. If the old and the young were left without care, he didn't even dare to imagine what the outcome would be.
Darian said calmly: "We are not trouble. The guys you killed are the trouble. With your current abilities, how much longer can you hold on? With our help, we guarantee we can send you safely to your destination."
Old Logan fell silent.
This was true. If it weren't for Charles forcibly controlling these militants, he probably couldn't have stopped so many people.
Just then, Charles spoke again: "Logan, agree to it. They are good people."
Old Logan turned his head: "This couldn't have been heard by you, right?"
He was referring to Charles's Telepathy ability.
But he also knew that Charles had long been unable to use his abilities independently. If he used them forcibly, his abilities would spiral out of control just like before.
Charles smiled slightly: "Having been a mind reader for a lifetime, even without abilities, I can still tell what kind of people the other party is."
Old Logan struggled for a moment, finally scratched his hair irritably, and cursed in a low voice.
"Fuck! I don't care anymore, do whatever you want!"
"So, you are from a parallel World?"
"That's right, I have traveled through multiple Worlds. In the last World, I and another Logan snuck into Stryker's experimental Base, rescued a group of Mutant children, and exposed all of Stryker's evil deeds. Then I met Wade, and we came to this World together."
In the car, Darian and Charles were chatting in the back seat.
While Wade was sitting in the passenger seat, constantly harassing Old Logan who was acting as the driver, annoying Logan so much that the veins on his forehead were throbbing, and he just wanted to give this chatterbox a few claws.
Sacrificing one Old Logan to grant the whole car peace and quiet.
Darian mourned for Old Logan for half a second and continued: "Actually, I have seen you in other parallel Worlds. You had long flowing hair back then, not like now... well, having the demeanor of a big boss."
Charles didn't mind, instead, he smiled and said: "When I was young, I did have a lot of hair. But after experiencing many things, I became what I am now."
"To be honest, I think this hairstyle suits you better."
"Really? Actually, I think so too."
Charles touched his smooth head and asked curiously: "So, you know another younger version of me?"
Darian nodded: "Yes, and our relationship is quite good. We jointly founded a Mutant organization, determined to fight for a better tomorrow for Mutants."
A hint of nostalgia flashed in Charles's eyes: "That's really nice. If I'm not mistaken, our organization should be called the X-Men, right?"
"No, it's called the Brotherhood."
Charles: "..."
What the hell, I became a founder of the Brotherhood?
Charles paused and asked cautiously: "The me in that World shouldn't be too extreme, right?"
"I think it's okay. Actually, Erik often felt that you were a bit extreme."
Charles: "..."
After a moment of silence, Charles finally accepted these outrageous settings.
"You also know Erik?"
"Of course, he is also a member of the Brotherhood. The three of us, plus Raven and Hank, formed the original Brotherhood together."
Listening to these familiar names, Charles couldn't help but be stunned, a glimmer of sadness flashing deep in his eyes.
Darian didn't stop and continued: "Later, many more Mutants joined the Brotherhood, including the Logan and his brother Victor from that World. We worked together to fight against the Hellfire Club, defeated Sebastian Shaw, and successfully stopped his evil plot."
"After that, our Brotherhood flourished. You built the X-Mansion, recruited and taught Mutant children from all over the World. Oh, by the way, Erik was also one of your students, although he wasn't very willing."
Charles: "!!!"
Was the me in another World that awesome?
Having Erik as his own student—Charles wouldn't even dare to make such a wish on his birthday!
Many details Darian described could correspond to the memories in his mind, but the final outcome was vastly different from everything he had experienced.
In his memory, there was no existence of Darian. After he and Erik and others defeated Sebastian Shaw, Erik left with a portion of the Mutants.
From then on, they drew a line, became opposites with different philosophies, each fighting for the future of Mutants in their hearts, and occasionally coming out to fight each other, but it often ended with the victory of the X-Men led by Charles.
Charles couldn't help but ask: "But why was Erik willing to stay?"
He knew Erik's personality too well. With the other party's belief rooted in trauma and distrust of humans, it was destined that he would take a different path from himself.
But listening to what Darian said, Erik seemed to have stayed in the Brotherhood voluntarily, and even became a student of the X-Mansion.
This was simply incredible!
Darian grinned: "Simple. I made you the nuclear weapon of the Mutant faction, and Erik was the one responsible for pressing the button. As a diplomat, using you to deter those humans who were ready to move, he was naturally willing to stay. Even if you wanted to drive him away, he would probably stay shamelessly."
Charles: "..."
It turned out to be this method.
He gave up some of his peaceful philosophy, and Erik gave up some of his extreme ideas, which instead made them both completely united.
"That's good, that's really good..."
Charles muttered to himself, no one knew what he was thinking at this moment.
Old Logan who was driving also had a complex expression.
Over the years, they had tried their best to coexist peacefully with humans, but ended up in such a state. He didn't know if this path was right or wrong.
Darian broke the silence and asked: "By the way, how did you guys end up in this state? Even if you are older, it shouldn't be like this, right?"
Charles, a telepath, got Alzheimer's, and Logan, a super healer, couldn't even handle metal poisoning. It sounded absurd.
Old Logan gritted his teeth and said: "It's all that damn genetically modified food. This stuff is everywhere, just like chronic poison, gradually affecting the X-Gene in Mutants, causing it to decay. All Mutants couldn't escape it. Their abilities are constantly weakening, and some can't even control their abilities."
"And humans who ate this genetically modified food, the recessive X-Gene they might carry is also permanently suppressed. The result is that 25 years have passed, and no new Mutants have been born in this World."
"I see."
Darian suddenly realized and finally understood why Old Logan and Charles were living so miserably.
Humans actually started a gene war to erase the existence of Mutants from the root. This move was indeed hard to defend against.
Of course, it was quite simple to crack this move.
Before everything got out of control, letting the Charles at his peak use his invincible Telepathy ability would solve all problems.
But obviously, the Charles of this World didn't do that.
I really don't know whether to call Charles rigid, or the human side bold. Knowing there was an existence like Charles, they still dared to push such a desperate plan. Were they really not afraid of forcing an honest man to directly cause mutual destruction?
Darian said to Old Logan: "So, your Healing Factor getting weaker is mainly because of this reason, right?"
Old Logan didn't answer, tacitly agreeing to this statement.
Darian thought for a while: "Old Wolf, I have a way to return you to your peak state, and even get rid of Adamantium forever. It's just that the process might be a little painful. Do you want to try?"
"No need, I have lived enough."
Old Logan didn't hesitate much, shook his head, his voice filled with deep exhaustion.
For him, a long life had long become a kind of wear and tear. Death was the true relief. Being able to live one day at a time was all there was to it.
Wade was unhappy when he heard this: "Hey, you can't die. We just agreed to film the 'Deadpool & Wolverine' blockbuster together! If you die, I'll have to search the entire parallel Universe to find another Wolverine to be the protagonist. Most importantly, their salary might not be as cheap as yours... I mean, you have such unique, weathered charm!"
Old Logan: "..."
Who agreed to film a movie with you? Wasn't that just you talking to yourself?
Also, why isn't the movie name 'Wolverine & Deadpool'?
"What a pity."
Darian didn't persuade him either and gave up the plan to invite Old Logan to join the team.
With Old Logan's current healing power, he probably wouldn't meet the team's standards. Laura, who wasn't affected by the genetically modified food, met the team's recruitment conditions.
Screech—!
Suddenly, the car braked sharply, the tires rubbed against the ground making a harsh screech, and it stopped abruptly.
Darian reacted extremely quickly, immediately reaching out to protect the old man and the child on both sides, embodying the fine tradition of respecting the old and loving the young.
Only Wade, who never wore a seatbelt, was unlucky, hitting his head on the front windshield, howling in pain.
"What's the situation?" Darian asked.
"We are in trouble."
Old Logan stared fixedly ahead.
In front, illuminated by the headlights, a convoy was approaching them rapidly in a mighty manner.
Almost at the same time, from the dark wilderness on both sides, beams of bright light suddenly shot out.
Several modified armed off-road vehicles rushed out, the tires kicking up dust, instantly locking their lonely, dilapidated car in the center of the circle of light.
In the blink of an eye, they were surrounded on all sides, with no way to retreat.
"It's over, we're surrounded!"
Wade rubbed his forehead and made a panicked sound.
Of course, he was faking it; someone had to render the tense atmosphere.
Darian snorted coldly: "What kind of pessimistic talk is that? We have surrounded them. Old rules, close the gate and release Victor!"
"Victor wasn't brought to this parallel World."
"Then close the gate and release Logan!"
Logan: "..."