join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr
There were eleven children waiting for Laura here; including Laura, that made twelve.
There were five boys and seven girls, with girls making up the majority.
From the watchtower, they looked down at Kevin and the others approaching, scrutinizing them with expressions ranging from wary to curious.
Due to the hot weather, Wolverine had taken off his jacket and held it in his hand; he stood with his hands on his hips, looking up at the mutant children on the watchtower, finally understanding what 'Eden' truly was.
"So, there's no such thing as Eden at all? The Eden you mentioned is just a meeting point you agreed upon with your friends?"
Kevin had mentioned it to Wolverine earlier, which was why Wolverine could react so quickly now.
He looked at Laura, questioning her, but Laura didn't answer; she walked to the base of the watchtower and waved to those above, then turned and said:
"We agreed that if we got separated, we'd meet here, and then… cross the border into Canada."
"That's good… Well, since we've reached here, my mission is complete. Good luck."
Wolverine had brought Laura here and seemingly had no intention of continuing to look after her.
He turned to leave, but Charles, who was in the car, said to him:
"Wolverine, they need your help."
"Shit, Charles, I've already told you, we're in no position to help others right now! I promised you I'd bring this child here as the nurse requested, and that's enough! We have our own things to do, you know!"
Wolverine no longer wanted to waste time.
He could see that Charles's body was weakening day by day, and he needed to buy a yacht as soon as possible before Charles's life ended.
They had no time to delay any further.
"Wolverine…" Charles's expression was helpless, "You've helped them this far, just continue to help them a little more…"
Charles still wanted to say something, likely along the lines of 'help them as I once helped you'.
Kevin had heard these words many times over the past two days, because sometimes Charles would forget he had said them to Wolverine, and so he would repeat them tirelessly, over and over again.
Kevin had initially thought Charles would continue to speak in that manner.
But who knew that Charles would suddenly stop mid-sentence, his expression once again becoming blank, and his gaze towards Wolverine carrying a hint of wariness:
"…Who are you?"
Wolverine: "…"
Wolverine helplessly slapped his forehead.
Alright, Charles was having another episode.
Recently, Charles's Alzheimer's had been getting worse; sometimes, while speaking, he would forget who he was talking to. Thankfully, under the influence of medication, Charles at least wouldn't indiscriminately activate his powers when he had an episode.
Otherwise, if Charles's powers were activated, at least a few of the mutant children standing on the watchtower right now would fall off.
Seeing Charles not remembering him, Wolverine looked speechless, unsure what to say for a moment.
Kevin, however, skillfully took out a photo—a group photo they had taken at the farm earlier—and placed it in front of Charles:
"He's your son, and I'm your student… If you don't believe me, look, we even have a group photo here."
Kevin showed the photo to Charles, pointing to himself and Wolverine, explaining to him.
Charles looked at the photo, his expression once again bewildered, and still somewhat disbelieving, he said:
"…But why don't I remember you two?"
"Alright, it's okay if you don't remember us, Laura!"
At the crucial moment, Kevin brought out his secret weapon, Laura Kinney, the 'little granddaughter' whom Charles was exceptionally fond of.
Summoned, Laura returned to Charles's side, her tender small hand grasping Charles's wrinkled palm.
Only then did a glimmer of light appear in Charles's pupils:
"Oh, Laura… I remember now, you're Laura…"
"…I really don't know what's wrong with your brain."
Wolverine couldn't help but complain to Kevin at the sight:
"I've taken care of him for so long, and he still forgets me when he has an episode, yet he's only spent a few days with Laura and remembers her so clearly."
"Is this what they call 'grandparental love'?"
Kevin was gloating nearby.
Earlier, when Charles forgot Kevin, Kevin had felt a little uncomfortable, thinking that he had helped him for so long, only for Charles to turn around and forget him when he had an episode, which was a bit unfair.
But when he saw Charles equally forgetting Wolverine, the tiny bit of displeasure in Kevin's heart instantly vanished, and he turned to watch Wolverine's predicament.
And he also felt a sense of relief.
Even Wolverine, who had taken care of Charles for so long, was forgotten by Charles as soon as he spoke, so what did it matter if Kevin was forgotten?
After joking, Kevin's smile subsided slightly, and he said seriously to Wolverine:
"But now it seems you really have to stay here. Right now, only Laura can keep Professor X clear-headed for a while."
When Charles had an episode, he disowned everyone but remembered Laura.
If Laura wasn't kept by his side, when everyone moved onto the boat later, Charles would certainly go mad frequently, asking where Laura was.
Wolverine was now unable to leave Laura; Charles's current condition did not allow him to leave Laura.
"I'm really fed up…"
Wolverine sighed, and in his helplessness, could only choose to temporarily stay here with Charles.
At least they had to get these children to a safe place.
…
The leader of this group of mutant children was a Black child named Richtor, whose ability was to manipulate earth and stone.
The source of his genes was likely from an X-Men member named 'Avalanche,' who had long since died.
Upon seeing Kevin and the other adults, Richtor's eyes clearly showed wariness.
Despite appearing only thirteen or fourteen, years of experimentation and the nurse's guidance had given him a maturity unbefitting his age.
Kevin did not treat him as a child, but conversed with him as an adult, on equal terms:
"Hello, I'm Kevin. I know you definitely don't know me, but you should know them, Charles and Wolverine."
"Professor X and Wolverine, I know… But who are you two?"
Richtor was asking about Kevin and Caliban.
In the X-Men comic series they had read, there were no members named Kevin or Caliban mentioned.
Perhaps there was a Caliban, but he must have been an insignificant minor character, so they hadn't paid attention.
They were willing to trust Wolverine and Professor X because they had read the X-Men comics, and many times over.
In the monotonous laboratory, the X-Men comics the nurse had gotten for them were one of their few forms of entertainment.
They had long regarded the X-Men as heroes.
So, Wolverine's and Charles's reputations were at full value with them.
But Kevin and Caliban…
"It doesn't matter if you don't know us. You just need to know that we're together, and… we're also mutants."
Kevin said, raising his palm, and water condensed in his hand, transforming into the shape of a dolphin, which jumped into the hands of a curious little girl watching nearby.
The dolphin was lifelike, as if alive; the girl holding the little dolphin blinked excitedly, her fingers poking the water dolphin's cheek.
"OK…" Richtor looked at the girl playing with the dolphin, his tone softening: "Although I'm well aware that not all mutants are X-Men… but now everyone is the same, it no longer matters. Welcome to you all."
Richtor extended his hand to Kevin; Kevin symbolically shook it and said to him:
"Actually, the leader of this team isn't me, it's Wolverine. Also… I'm going to film a video, you don't mind, do you?"
Kevin took out his phone and aimed it at Richtor.
Richtor's expression became slightly strange as he looked at the phone's lens:
"…No problem."
Perhaps Kevin's actions reminded him of the nurse who had rescued them, so Richtor did not refuse.
Once Kevin entered filming mode, he stopped talking and focused on being a war correspondent.
The task of conversing with Richtor naturally fell to Wolverine.
Wolverine looked at Kevin, then turned to look at Charles, who was kindly chatting with the mutant children, and asked Richtor:
"Where do you plan to go next?"
"Canada, there's a sanctuary there. We're going there."
"Then you need to hurry. The Alkali-Transigen could find this place at any time."
"I know, so today is the last day for gathering. By 5 AM tomorrow, no matter how many people haven't arrived, we must depart."
Richtor was clearly prepared.
In fact, most of the scattered mutant children had already gathered, with Laura being the last.
The reason for waiting until 5 AM tomorrow was that at that time, satellites in the sky would not be able to monitor their whereabouts, making it safer for them to leave then.
This was Richtor's thinking.
The premise was that the Alkali-Transigen didn't arrive sooner.
Kevin did not urge Richtor to leave quickly. To make the Alkali-Transigen abandon their pursuit once and for all, Kevin needed them to cooperate with him in staging a show under live television broadcast.
Currently, the television station's helicopter was rushing towards them, and the Alkali-Transigen's personnel should also be in position.
Now, they just needed the Alkali-Transigen to make their move, and then this grand drama could begin.
It was just unknown where the Alkali-Transigen was at the moment.
…
The Alkali-Transigen was rushing towards the coordinates indicated in the photo.
Upon obtaining the photo and confirming the coordinates, Sanders led the security team to the location.
Although Kevin's side had caused a slight delay, meeting the children a day later than in the movie's timeline.
However, the Alkali-Transigen also wasted a lot of time mobilizing military personnel and resources.
Because of this, Kevin and his group actually found the children first.
The Alkali-Transigen followed closely behind.
Due to the presence of Kevin, a mutant whose abilities were unclear, Sanders did not immediately confront the children, but observed them from a distance through invisible drones in the sky.
During this waiting period, the military personnel invited by the Alkali-Transigen finally arrived late.
They came with heavy weapons, armored vehicles, and missile launchers, and as soon as Sanders gave the order, they would launch a saturation strike on the distant watchtower.
"What are you waiting for? Open fire directly and eliminate them!"
Once the military personnel arrived, Sanders said to Mohawk, the newly appointed security captain.
After days of psychological struggle, Sanders had given up on the X23 children and X24; anyway, with the successful example of X24, he could replicate it at any time.
Compared to these, eliminating the immediate threat was more important.
So now that everything was ready, Sanders gave the order without hesitation.
But Mohawk did not do as Sanders said.
His expression was tense, and he pointed to the distant sky, saying:
"Dr. Sanders, we can't do that now, because… there are TV reporters coming."
"…?"
Sanders froze and also looked into the distance.
He saw two civilian helicopters flying towards them in the distant sky.
He could see that on one of the helicopters, a cameraman was aiming his camera at their location.
The other helicopter…
Damn, why was the other helicopter also…?!
Sanders felt like cursing.
It turned out that more than one TV station had come to film this time.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr