Corridor.
Peggy and Jeno stood face-to-face.
The English Rose lightly bit her red lip, leaning close to Jeno's ear.
"I have only one request: that you come back safely."
Jeno chuckled softly. "What kind of request is that? Should I say 'thanks for the concern'?"
What kind of jinx is she laying on me before a mission? Feels like a death flag is flashing over my head. Though it was probably just his imagination.
Peggy rolled her eyes, stepping around Jeno to leave, muttering under her breath, "Too foolish."
"Heh."
With his super hearing catching her whisper, Jeno smiled slightly. He really wasn't in the mood for romance right now.
Growing stronger was the priority. Once he achieved fame and success, there would be plenty of time for sweet love.
Jeno turned and headed off to find his two team members.
Laboratory Base, Main Hall.
"My goodness, you can actually stimulate bone growth!"
Dr. Erskine was still pestering Logan with questions, much to the shorter, stocky man's annoyance.
"Alright, Dr. Erskine, my team member is a bit tired. Let him rest."
Jeno walked into the hall, hands clasped behind his back, smiling.
"Fine. It's just the first time I've encountered someone with rapid regeneration. As a scientist, I'm curious."
Erskine reluctantly released Logan's hands.
Logan breathed a sigh of relief, retracting the bone claws from his hands, and immediately straightened up to face Jeno. "Captain! You're here!"
Seeing Wolverine's polite demeanor, Jeno felt gratified.
See? Who said tough guys have no manners? Wolverine is being quite obedient now.
Jeno glanced at the corner, frowning slightly at the sight of Victor, who had regrown most of his head. "Why is this guy's healing so slow?"
Logan hurriedly put on an appeasing smile. "He should recover fully soon."
"Alright. I'm just here to tell you to get ready. We're heading to the front lines."
Jeno briefly outlined the mission.
"Uh, Boss... can we take a ship?"
Logan cautiously made his request. He truly did not want to experience high-speed flight as Jeno's luggage. In fact, Wolverine might never fly in a plane again.
The psychological shadow Jeno cast was simply too large.
"Sure. I'm not unreasonable. We'll go by warship."
Jeno grinned and patted Logan's shoulder. "When your brother wakes up, bring him to see me. I'll treat you both to a meal."
As if hearing Jeno's words, Victor's half-formed body shuddered involuntarily.
Jeno sauntered off casually. Not long after, Victor's remaining skull completed its regeneration.
"Huff! Cough, cough!"
Victor's eyes snapped open. He gasped for breath, his memory stuck on the moment he provoked Jeno, followed by a sudden head-splitting pain, and then... nothing.
"You idiot. You're finally awake."
Logan stood with his arms crossed, sneering at Victor.
"Logan?"
Victor rubbed his head, looking at the unfamiliar surroundings. "Where are we?"
"Hah, my foolish older brother."
Logan's tone was mocking. "We're in New York."
"What? New York? How long was I out? And what happened while I was unconscious? Where's that American guy?"
Victor fired off questions one after another, wearing a 'seeing a ghost' expression. Getting from Canada to New York would normally take at least two weeks.
"What 'American guy'? You moron! You call him sir!"
Logan's face changed dramatically. He rushed over and slapped Victor twice across the face, making his brother see stars.
From his earlier conversation with Dr. Erskine, he'd learned Jeno possessed super hearing. If Jeno overheard this and it implicated him... he didn't want his head smashed by Jeno.
Logan explained, "You know what? The Captain was very displeased with your attitude. He punched your head into pieces."
"So, behave, my stupid brother. This Jeno guy is stronger than anyone. Don't try to provoke him again!"
Logan grabbed Victor's collar, emphasizing, "I strongly suspect that if you piss him off again, he might melt your ass with his heat vision and then stuff your head inside!"
Elsewhere, eavesdropping on their conversation with his super hearing, Jeno frowned deeply.
What nonsense. I'm not that perverted, using heat vision on someone's ass. It's too dirty and smelly. I might be brutal, but I'm not a deviant.
However, if Victor still wanted to learn from foul-mouthed thugs and disrespect him, he wouldn't mind folding Victor into a human-shaped pretzel and gifting him to Logan.
Jeno didn't have to wait long. Just as he finished his last spoonful of mashed potatoes, Logan arrived with Victor.
"Sir! Corporal Logan reporting!"
"Sir! Corporal Victor reporting!"
Jeno sat in his chair, chin resting on his hand, looking at Victor with amusement.
The man codenamed Sabretooth now wore an awkward expression, eyes darting around, unable to meet Jeno's gaze, much like a student caught misbehaving.
He had been thoroughly frightened by Jeno's brutality. After all, losing one's head felt like complete oblivion.
"I preferred your previous untamed demeanor."
Jeno slowly stood up and walked over to Victor. The无形的 pressure made Victor instinctively lower his head.
Perhaps losing a head and getting a new one had added some reason. Victor's lips moved as he murmured, "I'm sorry, sir. It was my fault!"
"Please punish me!"
Victor's submission meant Jeno had firmly established control over the team, cementing his leadership.
"Forget the punishment." Jeno patted Victor's shoulder. "I'm not like those old fogeys who rely on punishment to maintain authority."
"Because, I am the authority!"
Jeno declared arrogantly,
"Follow my lead, and you'll gain everything you've ever wanted—wealth, honor, status!"
"In exchange, I have only one demand: obedience."
The Wolverine brothers nodded repeatedly.
"I'd prefer not to have to smash one of your heads again. Understand?"
After dangling the carrot, Jeno didn't forget the stick.
"We understand," the brothers said in unison.
"Good. Enough talk. Get something to eat. Then, we prepare to depart for the front."
Hearing they were heading to the front lines, Sabretooth's spirits lifted. He didn't have many hobbies, but he loved killing.
"Boss, who are we killing?"
Sabretooth licked his lips, gathering the courage to ask.
"Japanese."
Jeno answered casually, then asked offhandedly, "Heard of them?"
Sabretooth rubbed his nose. "Uh... heard from an old comrade. They're uncivilized barbarians. They'd shout for some 'Heavenly Sovereign' or something, slit their own bellies to commit suicide... pretty messed up overall."
Wolverine Logan, however, brightened up, a sly grin spreading. "Their women... are very beautiful!"
Whether in comics or movies, Logan always had entanglements with Japanese women. It was practically his trademark.
Jeno shrugged. "Once we fight our way to the Japanese islands, you can pick whomever you like."
Once Japan was defeated, white men like them would become the privileged class on the islands, lording it over everyone. Logan could have his pick then.