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"Logan, Logan! What are you doing? Laura and Mike are still inside, we can't just leave them! We—" "Charles!" Logan roared furiously, stormi
"Logan, Logan! What are you doing? Laura and Mike are still inside, we can't just leave them! We—"
"Charles!"
Logan roared furiously, storming up to Charles and yanking his collar. With a low growl, he said, "We're no longer who we used to be. We're not the X-Men anymore. We can't help anyone, nor can we afford to bring trouble to others. The world has changed!"
Charles stared into Logan's eyes and replied calmly, "But hope is right in front of us now. Are you really going to give up like this?"
"Hope? There hasn't been hope for a long time! Wake up!"
Logan released Charles with a cold expression and continued pushing him forward.
Charles murmured, "No, Logan, leaving now means you're abandoning hope. It's not that hope has abandoned us."
Hearing their exchange, Caliban sighed softly. He glanced at Donald Pierce, lying unconscious on the ground, and asked, "Did you finish him off?"
"No." Logan forced his voice to remain steady. "Killing him would only bring even more trouble."
The words had barely left his mouth when Caliban suddenly shouted, "Go! They're coming—lots of them!"
Logan's face darkened. He quickly lifted Charles into the car, folded the wheelchair, and got in with Caliban. He started the engine and sped toward the exit.
But just as the car roared to life, one off-road vehicle after another charged into the refinery.
Logan's car became like a trapped beast, weaving left and right in desperation. But no matter how he maneuvered, they were forced back step by step until they ended up surrounded in front of the plant.
"Pah!"
Donald Pierce, who had been knocked out, staggered to his feet, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and waved mockingly at Logan inside the car.
"If you don't want those two bald guys dead, get out."
Logan glanced at Charles and Caliban. Suppressing his fury, he stepped out and growled, "I told you already—the person you're looking for isn't here."
"Tut-tut!"
Donald Pierce wagged his finger. "That's not for you to decide."
He swept his gaze toward the car and then pointed at Charles. "Maybe I should ask that old fugitive instead?"
"You son of a—!"
Logan bellowed as his adamantium claws unsheathed with a metallic snikt.
But in the very next instant, gunfire erupted. Bullets tore into Logan's body, leaving bloody holes.
He staggered and fell heavily to the ground.
Watching Logan's painfully slow healing, Pierce signaled his men. Several came over to pin Logan down. Pierce then pressed his boot onto Logan's chest, leaned close, and whispered, "The end of a hero… ha, I really didn't want to see you reduced to this."
Grinding his foot against Logan's chest, Pierce glanced toward the factory and ordered coldly, "Go. Bring her out."
Immediately, several heavily armed soldiers raised their rifles and advanced.
Meanwhile, inside the room, three people had already seen the situation outside through a surveillance feed.
Seeing the enemies approaching, Gwen grew tense but also strangely excited. "Dad, what do we do?"
Mike looked at Laura, who calmly finished chewing her last bite of meat and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. He turned to Gwen and said, "What happens next is going to be bloody. You'd better close your eyes."
Following Mike's gaze, Gwen looked at Laura and froze slightly. "Her?"
Mike nodded. "She's strong."
Gwen frowned.
It was the first time she had heard her father praise someone her age like that—with genuine admiration in his tone.
She wanted to see just how strong this "Laura" really was.
Instead of closing her eyes, Gwen widened them. When Mike reached out to shield her vision, she gently pushed his hand away and whispered, "It's fine. I'm not afraid."
Mike hesitated but slowly lowered his hand.
As a Kent, Gwen would eventually have to face these things. And with the Spirit of Vengeance bound to her, she was no fragile flower.
This was the same little girl who had trained in combat tirelessly, even beating boys her age who studied the same discipline. Gwen was no ordinary girl.
Hearing the door open, Laura set her utensils aside and strode forward.
Worried, Gwen whispered, "Dad… shouldn't we help her?"
Mike replied, "I'll step in if I need to."
"Oh…"
Gwen responded softly, but in her eyes, fear and worry were mixed with anticipation and excitement.
Laura stood calmly at the door, lowering her stance like a hunting beast. Her indestructible claws slid out with a metallic gleam.
The next moment, as a gun barrel poked out from around the corner of the wall, Laura let out a low growl and slashed, severing it cleanly. Then, like a bloodthirsty young wolf, she lunged at the enemy.
Screams echoed as cold adamantium claws slashed through flesh, spraying blood everywhere.
Laura weaved through the enemies with merciless efficiency, cutting them down one after another. When she reached the last soldier, she viciously decapitated him, gripping the severed head like a basketball as she strode back out.
Clean. Decisive. Not a trace of hesitation. It was hard to believe such carnage had been wrought by an eleven-year-old girl.
But in truth, Laura had been raised not as a child, but as a soldier—a weapon. Killing was second nature to her.
Mike glanced at Gwen, worried the bloodshed might—
"She's amazing!"
Gwen shouted in excitement, cutting him off. She turned to him with sparkling eyes. "Dad, can I help too?"
Mike froze, his worry plain. "You're not scared?"
Gwen lifted her chin.
"Dad, I'm a Kent."
A smile spread across her face as she declared, her voice still young but firm, "I can't let you protect me forever! I want to protect you too!"
"Heh…"
Looking at her smile, Mike was overcome with emotion.
Gwen was even stronger than he had imagined.
He bent down, hugged her gently, kissed her forehead, and whispered, "Go."
Gwen nodded, her steps quickening until she broke into a run straight for the door.
Gunshots, screams, curses, and the sound of blades tearing through flesh crashed into her senses all at once.
She saw Charles and Caliban hiding inside the car. She saw Logan pinned to the ground. She saw Laura locked in fierce combat, blood spraying from fallen enemies.
Taking a deep breath, Gwen began summoning the Spirit of Vengeance within her.
It wasn't her first time—she had already tried transforming under Mike's supervision when the contract was first made.
This time, it came easily.
While everyone's attention remained fixed on Laura, Gwen's body began to change.
Azure flames flickered at her fingertips, quickly spreading to engulf her whole body. Flesh vanished in the blaze, leaving behind a small skeleton wreathed in blue fire.
(End of Chapter)