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Watching Kevin stretch his limbs, looking perfectly fine in front of him, Logan finally reacted:
"Wait... stop right there! You... you're not dead?!"
"Isn't that obvious? Did you think a single sniper bullet could kill me?"
Kevin looked at Logan with a strange expression.
For Kevin, who might not even be killed by a nuclear bomb, to be killed by a mere sniper bullet would be too dismissive of his Level 5 physique.
"Then you just now... your... your pupils..."
Logan was incoherent.
Kevin had died with his eyes open, his pupils dilated in the exact same way as a dead person.
Logan, who had witnessed countless deaths, was quite certain of this.
He also couldn't feel Kevin's heartbeat or body temperature, which confirmed Kevin's death.
But what was happening now?!
"Just playing dead, it's very simple. Stop the blood flow in the body, stop the heartbeat, and as for dilated pupils, a little trick with water control can achieve that. So don't be so surprised, Logan, I'm not dead yet."
Kevin tore off his blood-stained clothes and threw them to the ground, answering Logan's questions at the same time.
Water control ability, combined with a little acting, and powerful cardiopulmonary function, ultimately created an extremely realistic death scene.
Basic operation, don't be surprised.
After a brief moment of bewilderment, Logan finally understood the principle behind Kevin's 'resurrection'. He frowned, his expression unreadable:
"So you were never dead from the start??"
"Of course! Let me tell you something, Logan, with my current physical defense, almost no weapon can harm my body, except for humanity's highest-grade weapon, the nuclear bomb."
"Then why did you... play dead just now?"
"It's a performance!" Kevin said as a matter of course: "As the one who exposed Alkali's dark side, if I were killed by Alkali, they wouldn't be able to explain themselves even with a million mouths."
Moreover, if Kevin had died, it would have been fine; Alkali would have eliminated a troublesome opponent like Kevin, so it wouldn't have been a complete loss.
But unfortunately, Kevin did not die, and moved from the open into the shadows, and will continue to guide Logan and others to target Alkali-Transigen.
Only when Alkali completely collapses and goes bankrupt will Kevin's targeting of them end.
So Alkali-Transigen really lost big this time. They probably never expected to encounter Kevin, this old trickster from another world.
There was also a more important reason.
Kevin's fame in the Wolverine 3 world had grown a bit too high. If he were still alive, bound by his fame, Kevin would be constrained no matter what he did.
And he would also be burdened with responsibilities that didn't belong to him by the public.
For example, emulating Professor X to establish a Mutant Academy.
Frankly, the position of CEO of Vought was already giving Kevin a headache. If he were to also become the dean of a Mutant Academy, Kevin would probably be exhausted to death.
Besides, he wasn't suitable to be a leader of mutants.
He wasn't a mutant!
So after much thought, Kevin simply took this opportunity to 'feign death' and escape. This not only incited public anger against Alkali-Transigen but also freed him from the responsibilities that might have been imposed on Kevin.
It was simply a win-win!
Meaning Kevin won twice.
"Kevin, has anyone ever told you that you're a real jerk?"
When he realized his emotions had been completely wasted, Logan cursed Kevin without mercy.
He had been so sad just now, thinking Kevin was really dead, but it turned out Kevin was just faking it!!
Pah, what a waste of emotion!
Kevin replied with a cheeky grin:
"Thanks for the compliment."
Although it wasn't really a compliment, for Kevin, being a jerk was always better than being a truly good person.
Logan didn't bother with Kevin anymore.
After confirming that Kevin was truly fine, the two quickly tidied up and hurried back to the small wooden house next to the watchtower.
Underneath the wooden house, there was a basement excavated by Richtor using his abilities, where Professor X and Caliban were hiding.
Kevin and Logan returned to check on their safety.
Caliban was fine, but Professor X was quite frightened by the earlier bomb.
The elderly Charles was somewhat susceptible to fright; he kept muttering about the children, worried about their safety.
But fortunately, they were not in life-threatening danger.
Now that everything was over, the children had successfully crossed the border into Canada, and Professor X, Caliban, and Logan were all alive.
Kevin, who participated in this plot and killed the important figure Zander, gained a total of ten skill points this time.
And this was not the end; as the 'Death of Kevin' incident intensified, Kevin would gain more skill points in the future.
So now there was only one last thing left.
To buy Professor X a ship.
A ship called the rising sun.
...
Three days later, in an unknown sea area.
Wolverine Logan, wearing a floral shirt and sunglasses, lay on the yacht's deck, sunbathing.
Beside him, Professor X, wrapped in a blanket, dozed lazily under a sun umbrella.
Kevin leaned against the yacht's railing, playing on his phone and watching the online discussions.
The 'Death of Kevin' incident, as expected, caused a huge stir online.
Reports similar to 'They Killed a Hero' and 'Why Such a Tragic Thing Happened in This Country' emerged one after another online.
The heat of these events, combined with the heat of the previous few events, provided Kevin with a total of five skill points within a few days.
In total, Kevin's skill points now once again exceeded twenty and were heading straight for thirty.
Kevin had not used these skill points for now.
After changing to a second profession, there would definitely be many skills waiting for Kevin to upgrade.
In order not to find himself without skill points to light up a favorite skill when the time came, Kevin decided to save them for now.
And even if there were no favorite skills at that time, accumulating for a few more days, gathering thirty-two skill points, he could still upgrade a basic skill to Level 6.
"Hey, you jerk, when are you going to see Jean?"
Kevin was browsing the internet, calculating skill points.
Logan, lying on the deck behind him, suddenly asked.
Days had passed, and after buying the yacht, Kevin was no longer in such a hurry to find Jean Grey.
Logan had been busy 'moving' these past few days and hadn't asked Kevin.
Now that he finally had time, he remembered to ask.
"After your matters are settled, I suppose."
Kevin glanced at Logan.
Logan's eyes behind his sunglasses shifted, looking at Kevin:
"My matters are already settled, aren't they?"
Their biggest concern before was buying the rising sun, and now that the rising sun was in hand, Charles and Caliban had also moved onto the ship. After being busy for these past few days, they were now in a state of idleness.
What else did they need to be busy with?
"Do you really think it's all settled?"
Kevin hinted, looking at Charles.
Logan seemed to understand something. He took off his sunglasses and sighed:
"Alright, I probably know what you're going to say, but it's impossible. I'm already old, and I don't have the energy to run a school."
After moving onto the ship, Charles had talked a lot with Logan when he was lucid.
The children did cross the border into Canada, but it wasn't certain that they were safe.
No one knew the situation in Canada, and it was unknown whether the refuge was a truly existing place or a trap to lure people in.
Charles judged that one day in the future, the children would still seek help from Logan.
Mutants would also seek help from Logan.
Therefore, Logan needed to take over Charles's legacy, re-establish the Mutant School, and provide a safe home for mutant children.
Charles wanted Logan to do this, but the current Logan simply didn't have the energy for it.
"Your body... will gradually recover."
Kevin suddenly said.
"Nonsense." Logan didn't believe Kevin's words at all. "I know my condition better than you."
"Hmm, I won't argue with that, but you definitely don't know as much as I do about Alkali-Transigen's genetically modified food."
"..."
"I think you should understand that the gradual failure of your healing factor is primarily due to Alkali-Transigen's genetically modified food. And recently, you haven't been eating anything produced by Alkali-Transigen, so as long as you want to live, your body will slowly recover."
Kevin walked over and sat beside Logan, speaking softly to him.
The gradual disappearance of Logan's healing ability had many factors.
He had once had a portion of his power absorbed by that ungrateful Japanese man, had endured nuclear radiation, and had also been affected by Alkali-Transigen's gene serum.
All these things could be triggers for the failure of his healing factor.
But the most crucial factor among them was not these external things, but Logan's heart.
He wanted to die, having lost the will and motivation to live.
And this feeling of being disillusioned with the world accelerated the disappearance of Logan's abilities.
Even now, neither radiation nor gene serum was the main reason for Logan's aging.
It was his heart that no longer wanted to live.
"Why don't you do it yourself?" Logan suddenly asked Kevin, "You're younger and more energetic than us, and your abilities are enough to make you a leader of mutants, so why don't you start a school yourself?"
"Did I ever say I was a mutant?"
"...What?"
Logan instantly froze.
Kevin said softly:
"I never said I was a mutant. I'm different from all of you. To you, I'm just an outsider, not qualified to be a mutant leader."
Ultimately, Kevin was not a mutant at all.
At least not a mutant from the X-Men world. He didn't have the X-gene in his body, and even after changing professions, Compound V no longer existed in his body.
Kevin had become a completely new species, distinct from them—a humanoid marine creature capable of living in the deep ocean.
He wasn't qualified to establish a school, and he didn't want to become a leader of mutants.
And the most crucial point was that Kevin himself was not from the X-Men world.
There was no Ancient One in this world to pause time for Kevin; once he left, he wouldn't know when he would return.
The affairs of mutants, after all, had to be handled by mutants.
Kevin was just an outsider.
"You're not a mutant? But..."
The truth Kevin revealed made Logan frown for a long time.
He couldn't figure out what Kevin could be if he wasn't a mutant.
Kevin didn't continue explaining to Logan. He picked up his phone, dialed someone's number, and before the call connected, he said to Logan:
"Besides, Laura also hopes you'll pull yourself together."
"?"
The sudden mention of Laura made Logan's already confused mind even more muddled.
Kevin didn't speak anymore because the call had connected. On the other end, Paul's voice came through:
"Boss? I've picked up those kids. Should I send them to you now?"
"No need, just let Laura come. Send the others to the previously designated safe zone. As for the rest... someone will help you with it."
Kevin arranged softly.
Logan understood at this point: "...You brought Laura back?"
"Yes, she's your daughter after all."
After hanging up the phone, Kevin said to Logan with a smile.
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