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The journey to North Dakota was not short.
Previously, Logan and his group were in Kansas, and to reach North Dakota, they still needed to pass through Nebraska, South Dakota, and then finally North Dakota.
The coordinates given by the nurse were in the northernmost part of North Dakota, bordering Canada.
This meant Logan was traveling vertically from south to north, crossing the entire heartland of America.
From the southernmost edge of America to the northernmost edge of America.
The time in the movie didn't seem long, as if they reached the destination after a few days of driving, but the actual time was much longer than that.
Especially since Charles was still alive, everyone needed to consider his feelings, so they had to look for motels along the way, rest at night, and couldn't travel non-stop through the night like only Logan and Laura did at the end of the movie.
This further extended the time.
Therefore, by the time everyone reached North Dakota, it was already three days later, and four days had passed since Kevin posted the video online.
In those four days, Kevin gained another six skill points sporadically; the first two days brought two points each, and the latter two days only one point each.
At this rate, in a few days, it would probably only be one point a day until it could no longer provide Kevin with skill points.
But even so, Kevin's skill points were back above ten, reaching eleven.
When he releases the video about Laura tonight, he believes he should get a few more skill points.
"Tomorrow, we should probably reach the place Laura mentioned."
At night, in a motel in North Dakota, Kevin leaned against the railing on the second floor and said to Logan beside him.
"I really don't understand why you believe in a place only mentioned in comics."
Logan said, taking out a cigarette and putting it in his mouth.
But Kevin quickly snatched the cigarette away:
"Because that place might just be a meeting spot Laura made with her friends, and Laura wants to find it not just because of Eden, but also…"
Kevin threw the cigarette into a nearby trash can: "Your body is no longer suitable for smoking."
Logan, who was about to pick up his lighter, turned to Kevin and asked:
"Who do you think you are? My old man? Go away, don't bother me."
Saying that, he was about to take out another cigarette.
Kevin snatched it again, and took his entire cigarette pack, saying:
"I'm not your old man, but I don't want Laura to lose the 'father' she just found."
"Nonsense, I'm not her father."
"From a genetic standpoint, you are, and she already sees you as her father, even if you're not a very good one."
Kevin threw the cigarette pack into the trash can and looked down.
Laura, at this moment, had found a ball from somewhere and was playing with Caliban.
Charles, sitting in his wheelchair, watched them from a distance, smiling happily.
If one ignored their identities, the current scene was no different from the daily play of an ordinary family.
After a few days of getting along and Charles's patient teaching, Laura had gradually shed some of her wildness.
She no longer took things without paying, nor did she extend her claws whenever something displeased her. Although her attitude towards Logan was still aloof, she had clearly accepted Logan as her father on a genetic level.
Logan was also watching everything below, his eyes filled with complexity.
Laura was a special existence to him.
He had many lovers in his life, but no children, and Logan had never known what it felt like to have his own child.
But now, he seemed to understand a little.
He threw the lighter in his hand into the trash can and said to Kevin:
"She's not suitable to be with us, and neither are you. Once you reach North Dakota and find the people you're looking for, just leave."
"Hey, we haven't even arrived yet, and you're already trying to kick me out? You promised to let me see Phoenix!"
"I'll give you Jean's grave address. You can go see her yourself when you have time. Don't stay with us; we don't have much time left and don't want to get involved in your affairs."
Charles was not yet dead, so Logan's goal had not changed.
He still wanted to buy a yacht and take Charles to sea to spend the rest of their lives.
Even though they were now clearly at odds with Alkali-Transigen, Logan had no intention of actually confronting Alkali-Transigen.
Charles's time was running out, and Logan had long lost his former ambition.
His abilities were gradually deteriorating, and the Adamantium in his body was eroding him every second.
If this continued, Logan himself wouldn't live much longer.
He clearly understood this, but he didn't care.
"Your body…" Kevin organized his words, his gaze falling on the truck parked in the corner.
Upon noticing the black package containing a 'corpse' on it, Kevin continued:
"Actually, it's not entirely hopeless. X24's genetic makeup is the same as yours. As long as…"
"I don't need it."
Before Kevin could finish, Logan interrupted him:
"Continuing like this is just prolonging the inevitable."
"You want to die."
Kevin said bluntly.
Logan did not deny it.
He did want to die, and had similar thoughts long ago, but his thoughts weren't as clear back then.
At that time, Logan still thought he could hold on, but now… Logan felt he couldn't hold on any longer.
And for Logan, who was 197 years old to date, his life had been exciting enough.
He participated in the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and also dealt with mutants.
He had brothers, wives, and even more than one wife, and more than one person he loved.
He had elders, his own team, and even became the new headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
With all these experiences, what more could he be unsatisfied with in this life?
Now, Logan was tired; he just wanted to rest.
He didn't want to fight anymore; Logan didn't want to bother with the plight of mutants, the future of new mutants, or any of those things.
For him, these had lost all meaning. In the end of his life, Logan just wanted to find a peaceful place to spend his remaining days and welcome the end of his life.
Kevin knew that for someone who wanted to die, nothing he said would be useful.
He wasn't good at persuading others, or rather, not good at persuading people he had a good relationship with, so in the end, he could only choose silence.
And quietly held his phone, silently recording everything in front of him.
Logan didn't stop him, nor did he think about smoking again. He and Kevin stood side by side, watching the scene below, and when he felt it was about time, he got up and left, saying:
"It's time for Charles to take his medicine. Also… if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have been able to buy so much medicine, so… thank you."
Finally, Logan thanked Kevin.
The medicine prepared for Charles earlier would only last three days at most. If Kevin hadn't gone to a nearby hospital midway to get medication to stabilize Charles's condition, Charles would probably have had an attack these past few days.
Charles's body was already very weak; if he had two more attacks, his body definitely wouldn't hold up.
Kevin's actions indirectly extended Charles's life, which is why Logan thanked Kevin.
Kevin waved his hand and casually replied:
"I should."
He didn't want Charles to die, nor did he want Logan to die, so he would do his best to help them.
But in the end… apart from the incoming skill points, everyone's fate didn't seem to have changed much.
Charles would still die, the difference being whether he died at the hands of X24 or later with Logan by his side.
Logan might still die, the difference being whether he died in battle or eventually lost all his powers and was killed by the Adamantium in his body.
Kevin didn't even know what he had changed; he had gained a lot of skill points, but the ending… didn't seem to have changed much.
Leaning on the railing on the second floor, Kevin watched the plaza below.
He watched Logan push Charles away, and Laura also finished playing with Caliban.
Caliban, as was his habit, went to prepare dinner for Logan and Charles, but Laura, for some reason, came to Kevin's side.
"Are you filming?"
She walked up to Kevin and asked.
Kevin noticed her gaze resting on his phone, and nodded:
"Yes, I'm filming, filming a video about you."
"I heard Charles say you're doing this to help us. Can you really help us?"
"Of course, although it might not guarantee a great life for you all in the future, it can at least ensure that Alkali-Transigen won't continue to do anything to you."
Simply letting people know about Laura's situation might not necessarily ensure Laura has a good life in the future.
But with these videos, letting more people know about Laura's plight, Alkali-Transigen will at least not be so blatant in the future.
And if handled properly, it might even be possible to directly bring down Alkali-Transigen.
Kevin even felt a bit of regret that Alkali-Transigen and Vought were not in the same world; otherwise, with Vought's strength, it could have taken this opportunity to strike while Alkali-Transigen was down and swallow everything Alkali-Transigen had.
Kevin was thinking when he suddenly felt his hand being grabbed.
He looked down and saw Laura holding the sleeve of the hand that was holding his phone.
"Then, film me."
Laura said, facing the phone camera.
She hadn't been particularly fond of being filmed by a phone camera before; whenever Kevin moved his phone towards her, she would look away and hide outside the frame.
But now Laura was actively asking Kevin to film her, so it seemed Charles had indeed told her a lot.
Seeing Laura's serious expression, Kevin chuckled softly.
He raised his other hand and patted Laura on the head, saying:
"You don't have to do that; filming like that would seem unnatural. You just need to do what you normally do."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, that's all."
Kevin didn't ask Laura to do too much.
Laura couldn't act, and forcing her to perform would only make it seem artificial.
So, Laura just needed to maintain her usual behavior; there was no need to do things that met Kevin's expectations.
Or rather, as long as Laura could maintain herself, that would be enough to meet Kevin's expectations.
After sending Laura back to her room, Kevin took out his phone and reviewed the videos he had edited these past few days.
He hadn't posted any videos in the last two days, originally planning to wait until he found all the test subjects and then send out the videos all at once.
But now, Kevin suddenly had an idea.
Instead of telling everyone about meeting the other test subjects through videos, it might be better to just do a live broadcast.
However, there was a problem with live streaming: the other test subjects were located in a valley in the wilderness, so there might not be a signal source.
"Hmm… I wonder if I can connect to satellite internet… If not, maybe get a broadcast van then?"
Using a broadcast van's satellite antenna for relay broadcasting should have a high feasibility.
He just didn't know if he would encounter people from Alkali-Transigen tomorrow.
But before that, Kevin needed to send out the videos he had recorded these past few days.
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