The farmer and his wife were completely petrified. Only now did they truly understand that the Logan and Saitama standing before them were anything but ordinary—just moments ago, they'd walked right past the gates of hell and back.
At that moment, several military jeeps skidded up in a cloud of dust—the very squad that had been hunting Wolverine alongside David. No one had expected David to lose so fast. Compared with a mutant like him, these men were nothing more than hired mercenaries.
"Oh? He's got teammates too. You guys planning to fight together?"
Saitama scratched his head as he strolled toward the ring of mercs.
All of them had gone chalk-white. They had just watched the sharpshooter David blow Saitama's head off with a single shot—David, the monster who could snipe a target's skull from a kilometer away with a handgun. That shot had absolutely hit Saitama's head.
And now?
Almost instinctively, they looked at Saitama's skull. The shiny, polished dome showed not the slightest mark. So much for anti-materiel firepower—useless. Unbelievable.
Run.
Unless their brains were waterlogged—or they were outright idiots—anyone could tell the creature in front of them was far beyond their league.
An absurd scene followed.
The jeeps that had arrived in such a rush didn't even stop for a sip of water or a tough-guy one-liner. They whipped their tails around and bolted—faster than a kicked dog.
Wolverine: "..."
Farmer and wife: "..."
"Pah! Cowards."
Logan spat, cursing under his breath.
"Zero, Zero, do you copy? Is Logan dead?!"
A voice crackled from the cockpit of the helicopter wreck on the ground—Stryker, the bastard who had orchestrated all of this.
Enemies meeting on a narrow road—hatred flared at once.
Logan walked over and yanked the radio free.
"You trying to kill me, Stryker?"
"Logan—?" came Stryker's voice.
"Where is Victor?" Logan's voice went cold.
Victor—Sabretooth—once his brother-in-arms. Logan had watched him murder the woman he loved. A blood debt.
"Come back to base, Logan. I'll explain everything. We'll kill Victor together."
Stryker's tone oozed persuasion.
"Wrong answer. After I kill Victor, I'm coming for you."
Logan ground the words out. Stryker and the mutant strike team he led had been monstrous. Logan had once been one of them, but he'd quit when he could no longer live with their methods.
He never imagined that, to drag the retired Wolverine back into service, they would murder the woman he loved and even try to kill the elderly couple who had saved him.
Logan was furious. He hurled the radio down, smashing it to pieces.
"Thanks, Saitama—thank you, both of you."
After steadying his breath, Logan turned back to Saitama and the farm couple. He knew trouble would follow him now. As long as he lived, Stryker would never stop. Anyone close to him would be in danger—the farm couple, and Saitama too.
But…
Logan looked hard at Saitama. At this most desperate moment, an odd sense rose in him—that this guy could be relied on.
Wolverine, needing someone to lean on—who'd have thought?
"Saitama, what are you planning to do next?"
"Plans? Haven't really thought that far. I just got here, don't know the place at all."
"How about coming with me for a bit?"
Logan made the offer.
"Sure."
Saitama nodded without hesitation. In his vision, a status pane had popped up over Logan:
Name: Logan
Hero Occupation: Wolverine
Intelligence 2
Strength 4
Speed 2
Durability 6
Energy Projection 1
Fighting Skills 7
Justice Value: 6
Notes: Adamantium infusion complete; possesses an exceptionally strong physique and regenerative capability.
Not bad on paper, though weak compared with many other heroes in the Marvel world. Still, within the X-Men sphere, Wolverine was definitely first tier.
Saitama didn't care about the numbers—no one's stats were ever higher than his. He cared about one thing: Logan's Justice Value—6.
That was high.
"Uh—?"
Saitama's immediate agreement actually stunned Logan, but he had no time to dwell on it. All he wanted now was revenge.
"Thanks! Sorry, folks. Saitama, let's go."
He gave a quick nod to the farm couple, then left with Saitama at his side.
Research base.
Colonel Stryker—the founder of the Weapon X program—and a bald, heavy-set general stood in the ruined lab, faces grim. This was where Logan had escaped from, displaying combat ability beyond human.
"Colonel, this is going to be a disaster," the bald general said darkly.
"Don't worry. We'll stop him," Stryker bit out.
"Really? You just spent five hundred million dollars making him indestructible."
The general's tone was sour. A being like Logan already exceeded any known military adversary; letting him run free would bring catastrophic risk.
"Relax. Logan is just one node in the plan. We'll handle it. Please return to Washington—we have work to do," Stryker replied coolly.
His true plan was to forge a weapon surpassing Wolverine—one that fused the powers of many mutants—and then use that weapon to wipe mutants out. Short-sighted fossils like that bald general could never see so far ahead.
On the outskirts, in a shabby house.
Logan brought Saitama to an old war buddy—John, the teleporter—and squeezed an earth-shaking revelation out of him. For Logan, it was devastating.
His "brother" Victor was working with Colonel Stryker.
After Logan left the unit, Victor had begun hunting down their former mutant comrades across the board. How could it have come to this?
"Listen, Stryker's already moved. I need you to tell me where—some island, right?"
Logan flexed his hand; three gleaming metal claws snapped out with a click.
"Oh my God!"
John—the teleporter—gaped. He had known Logan back when they were brothers-in-arms, but in those days Logan's claws were bone. Since when had they turned into such lethal steel?
"W-what are you going to do?"
"I can try to get you there," John said, swallowing hard, "but a normal guy shouldn't be mixed up in mutant business, yeah?" He pointed at Saitama, completely out of his depth—he couldn't read Logan anymore.
"Normal guy?"
Logan glanced at Saitama, fighting the urge to burst out laughing. He clamped a serious hand on John's shoulder.
"Brother, you won't believe this, but Saitama's way stronger than me."
(End of Chapter)
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