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
Zander' expression remained unchanged as he listened to Kevin's blatant threat.
Instead, he smiled, pointing at the recording device on a soldier's head nearby and said, "I must say, your actions have given me a lot of inspiration. It's my first time realizing that 'live broadcasting' and 'public opinion' can cause us such big trouble. So… I also learned a little from you."
"See this? This is a military-grade recording device. It can fully record everything it observes and send the recorded video back to the cloud for storage."
"It's true that you're very powerful, and I know your methods, but… if you don't want those… fans who like you to know what kind of person you are, then you'd best not use your method."
Zander was indeed Alkali's Head of Research, a clever man.
Once he understood that Kevin was building a persona to get everyone on his side, Zander quickly grasped Kevin's strengths and weaknesses.
The strength was that, under the persona Kevin created, the public would spontaneously support Kevin, treating Alkali-Transigen, which opposed Kevin, as an evil dragon that needed to be overthrown, criticizing it verbally and in writing.
But the weakness was that, in front of the camera, Kevin's previous ability to inexplicably cause brain hemorrhages or even exploding heads couldn't be used at all.
Because his current identity was a 'hero,' a 'warrior' who dared to fight against powerful forces and dared to strive for living space for mutants.
With such an identity, he could not use methods that appeared 'evil' or 'Weird' in the public eye.
A hero cannot be 'evil,' neither in character nor in ability.
So Kevin never manipulated blood from beginning to end; he only manipulated water, using those pathetic, insignificant Water Balls to pierce people's heads.
Zander saw through this, so he was not at all worried that Kevin would explode his head here.
Under the camera, Kevin would not do that.
Zander thought Kevin had stopped live streaming because the sniper had just aimed at the location of his phone on his chest.
He thought Kevin's live stream had been cut off, which was why he brought the recording device, but he never expected that Kevin, in a moment of crisis, would still take care to protect the phone on his body.
So he thought Kevin would be threatened by him in this way, unaware that Kevin never intended to kill them by exploding their heads in the first place.
However, that being said, the act still had to be performed.
"I… would never… use the disgusting methods… you speak of!"
Kevin roared in anger.
Zander looked him over in surprise:
"To be honest, your physical fitness… is even better than I imagined. I originally thought that bullet would tear your body in half, but now it seems… it just passed through your body? The bullet is even still inside you, right?"
"A sniper bullet that can penetrate a tank, yet it couldn't shatter your body… Your body is truly stronger than I imagined, so, I am willing to give you a chance."
"Surrender now and agree to retract your previous accusations against Alkali online, and I will have medical personnel come and save you…"
"Get lost."
Before Zander could finish speaking, Kevin spat out a mouthful of blood and barked at him.
Zander paused, as if he hadn't heard clearly, or perhaps couldn't believe Kevin would refuse his request at death's door, and looked up to ask:
"What did you say?"
"He said, get lost, get far away, are you deaf?"
Wolverine mercilessly cursed Zander.
Although he knew that only Alkali could save Kevin now, he also understood that Kevin would never agree to collude with the enemy!
Even if it meant his life, Kevin would fight Alkali to the end!
Noticing Wolverine, Zander then shifted his gaze.
"James Howlett… or should I call you Wolverine? If I'm not mistaken, you just recovered your normal state because you were injected with our mutant serum? It seems the effect of that serum on old mutants is quite short…"
"Blah blah blah blah—"
It happened again; Zander' words were interrupted once more. This time it was Kevin, who looked at Zander with a mocking expression and said:
"In the end… you only know how to argue, don't you? All this talk, aren't you just trying to… make me… issue a statement online, saying… that everything before was false, that your Alkali-Transigen… never did such things… right?"
As Kevin said this, his tone changed, and he bared his teeth, articulating each word:
"Dream on! Scum!"
"That's truly regrettable… In that case, taking your bodies back is also an option."
Confirming that Kevin and Wolverine would not change their minds, Zander stepped back, allowing the armed security personnel to move forward.
Dozens of muzzles were aimed at Kevin and Wolverine.
Wolverine's adamantium claws were still there, but they no longer possessed their earlier bravery.
However, as he supported Kevin, there was no fear of death in his eyes, but rather a sense of relief.
He had wanted to die a long time ago, and rather than dying sadly of old age, lying in some unknown garbage heap, it seemed more glorious to die honorably in battle with comrades for the children now.
Wolverine was prepared to die a valiant death.
The security personnel of Alkali-Transigen, and the surrounding military members, were also prepared to open fire.
But just then, the sound of a helicopter came from the sky.
Zander frowned and looked up, only to see a helicopter with a television station logo flying towards them in the sky.
It was one of the two television stations that had been stopped earlier. They had managed, somehow, to break through Alkali's blockade and reach the scene.
Seeing that the television crew would arrive any moment, Zander impatiently waved his hand, signaling everyone to shoot.
But Kevin smiled when he heard the helicopter.
Weak as he was, he asked Zander a question that seemed quite meaningless:
"Hey, you bastard, do you know… how many ponds there are in this forest, near me?"
"?"
"The answer is… three!"
Kevin finished speaking and suddenly raised his hand, pointing forward.
The next moment, three columns of water shot up from three different directions, forming tornadoes that flew from afar with unstoppable momentum and descended from the sky!
The three water columns were far apart, but they arrived with no delay.
From the moment Kevin spoke that sentence until the water columns fell, no more than five seconds passed before the surroundings became a muddy swamp covered in flowing water!
"Die!!! Bastard!!!"
Kevin roared, his mouth full of blood, his face ferocious as he raised both hands towards Zander.
Under his control, the water swallowed Zander and everything around him.
Whether it was Alkali employees or the soldiers gathered around, all were swept up by the water!
The water from the ponds gathered around Kevin, and he manipulated the water with both hands, forming a giant water tornado over ten meters high, centered on himself and Wolverine!
Within the water tornado, figures flickered; everyone became fish in the water tornado, 'swimming' according to Kevin's control.
"W…T…F…"
Wolverine, who had been prepared to die, looked at the water tornado, which was over ten meters high, and his jaw remained dropped for a long time.
At the farm, when Kevin dealt with the Alkali security team, it was too dark for Wolverine to clearly see how Kevin dealt with those people.
He could only infer from the scene that Kevin used water to deal with the enemies.
From this, he inferred that Kevin's ability was hydrokinesis.
But… Wolverine never expected Kevin's ability to reach such a level, to be able to control so much water.
This had already exceeded the previous Tier 3 rating for mutants, reaching Tier 4.
Kevin was actually a Tier 4 mutant??
On the same level as Magneto and Professor X??
Wolverine was incredulous, and the netizens watching through the camera were equally incredulous.
But this spectacular scene did not last too long.
The water tornado lasted for a little over a minute in the sky before Kevin's body could no longer hold on and he collapsed to his knees.
The moment he fell, the water lost control, turning into torrential raindrops falling from the sky.
Those who had already suffocated in the water tornado also fell from the sky and crashed to the ground.
Already unconscious from suffocation, their chances of survival after falling from such a height were slim.
Especially the guy named Zander; he seemed to have received Kevin's special attention, as his head hit a rock when he fell.
His skull was fractured and his brain splattered, clearly he wouldn't survive.
But it seemed Kevin wouldn't survive either.
"Cough… cough cough…"
Kevin, who had used his ability in his last moments, seemed to have been drained of his last bit of life, his face pale, his lips bloodless as he lay on the ground.
Wolverine, seeing this, had no time to marvel at Kevin's powerful ability.
He quickly went to Kevin's side, turned the face-down Kevin over, and patted his cheeks:
"Hey, kid, Kevin! Hold on, don't sleep! The TV station's helicopter is coming soon, they'll take you to the hospital, hold on!"
"Wo… Wolverine…" Kevin gripped Wolverine's hand, his gaze unfocused, "…It's okay, it's okay… I've done… everything I needed to do, that's enough…"
"Hey! Aren't you still going to see Jean? I haven't taken you to pay respects before Jean's presence yet, you can't die here!"
"…It's… not important anymore, and I will see her… Wolverine… I will see her… And, for… me, who took so many lives… perhaps… this is the best ending…"
As Kevin spoke, the TV station's helicopter had already landed in the clearing outside The Woods.
The reporter, with a cameraman, quickly ran towards them. Kevin watched them and spoke his last words to Wolverine:
"Don't… let me die in front of them… I don't want… I don't want the children to be sad…"
"Kevin…"
"I… I'm sorry…"
In his last moments, Kevin tried to reach out to Wolverine and apologized to him.
Wolverine didn't know why he was apologizing, but he had no time to ask.
Because after that one sentence, Kevin's pupils dilated and diffused, his breathing stopped, and his heart ceased beating.
Even his outstretched hand lost strength and fell heavily to his side.
Holding Kevin's body, Wolverine was stunned and lost in thought.
He had thought he would lose his life blocking Alkali this time, but he never expected that in the end, it wouldn't be him who lost his life, but Kevin.
He was still so young…
Wolverine's eyes reddened slightly at this thought. He slumped beside Kevin, staring blankly at the sky, watching the TV station's helicopter descend from above.
The TV reporter who rushed over captured this scene in the end.
"Mr. Wolverine…"
The reporter, who had finally made it here only to find that the person he intended to interview had already died, was stunned for a long time before picking up the microphone, preparing to interview Wolverine.
But Wolverine didn't want to deal with the reporter.
He remembered Kevin's last dying wish, forced himself to gather his spirits, picked up Kevin's body, and walked towards the depths of The Woods.
"Mr. Wolverine!"
The reporter tried to follow, but Wolverine stopped him in his tracks with a shout:
"Enough! I don't care what you're here for! But now… you don't need to stay here anymore, and don't follow me, because everything is over!"
The reporter stopped due to Wolverine's words.
Wolverine ignored the reporter and walked step by step into the depths of The Woods.
He wanted to find a good burial place for Kevin, preferably a place with water, so that Kevin might rest peacefully.
But after he was buried? How would he explain to Caliban and Charles, how would he explain to Laura?
Kevin was the youngest among them, these adults, unlike them, old guys with one foot already in the grave. He could have had a beautiful future.
But instead… he died here, going to heaven one step faster than them.
Wolverine didn't know how to tell Charles.
No, perhaps he didn't even need to say anything, after all, Charles might not remember Kevin.
But thinking this, Wolverine felt even more desolate.
Wolverine slowly walked, holding Kevin's 'body,' intending to find a burial place for him.
But in a daze, he seemed to hear Kevin's voice:
"…The TV people are gone, right?"
Wolverine: "?"
His expression froze, his sadness instantly interrupted, and he looked down at Kevin, whom he was holding.
Then Wolverine and Kevin's eyes met.
"Alright, stop looking, quickly put me down! Being held like this by a big man is killing me."
After their eyes met, Kevin energetically jumped twice and sprang out of Wolverine's arms.
He looked down at his own hands, then looked up at Kevin in front of him.
Wolverine's mind went blank for a moment.
The dead man… had resurrected??
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