"sentinel robots?"
"They can hunt and kill Awakened?"
When they heard Fang Yuan's introduction to the Sentinel program and saw the finished sentinel robot Trask had brought, every councilor was stunned.
They never expected the Dark Council to hold back for so long only to unveil such a deadly weapon.
"Vought Corporation relies most on the Awakened. If we can really use sentinel robots to kill them…"
"Everything Vought has will be ours!"
The councilors were elated; for a moment no one voiced any opposition.
After all, the recent lesson was still fresh—no one dared to defy Chairman Fox's will.
Besides, they truly felt the plan was excellent.
Anyone still occupying a council seat at this point was extremely ambitious and capable.
The Dark Council never banned internal competition, so council seats changed hands frequently.
For example, when the Dark Council was first founded, the Gang-boss Moni Scana—specially approved for a seat—had been forced to give it up years ago.
The interests tied to a council seat were too huge; a rookie capitalist from the underworld simply couldn't hold on.
Thus, for the current councilors the Sentinel program wasn't unacceptable.
Attempting racial genocide to rule the World was something they'd tried before.
Moreover, the plan had been proposed by the chairman himself; unless they no longer wanted Awakening Serum, Life Serum, and Longevity Serum, they had no right to refuse.
"I agree!" One councilor reached consensus with his main faction and raised his hand first.
"I agree!"
"I agree too!"
Others followed one after another; soon over half had voted and the resolution passed.
That killed any lingering hesitation among the remaining factions—everyone was in the same boat now, with no turning back.
"Anyway, the plan still needs mass production and upgrades; it won't be deployed immediately, so there's room to maneuver," leaders of more conservative factions thought.
The lower a faction ranked in the Dark Council, the less enthusiastic it was about the Sentinel plan—if the council ruled the World, they'd still get only crumbs while bearing equal risk.
Better to keep the current state: low risk, high return, with just daily hassling of Vought.
But they didn't get a say; otherwise they wouldn't be sitting here watching others vote.
They were still comparatively lucky—smaller factions didn't even know what the Sentinel plan was before being swept along.
"The councilors must have thought it through; they won't drag us all to our Deaths," mid-tier faction leaders reassured themselves.
Little did they know the councilors were thinking the same: "The chairman must have thought it through; he wouldn't rashly destroy the entire Dark Council."
Indeed, Fang Yuan had thought it through—his conclusion was to send them all to their Deaths.
Meanwhile, Professor X led the others to track down Trask. They first went to Bureau of Investigation headquarters and found Director Frye.
By the normal timeline Frye should have died of heart disease last year—but with Vought's three miracle serums (Awakening, Life, and Longevity) in play…
As Director of the Bureau of Investigation, Frye could greatly aid Vought, so Fang Yuan opened a special trade channel: serve Vought, earn serums.
Frye himself was blunt—who wants to die of old age if they can live?
Thanks to the serums, the now-seventy-eight-year-old Frye was healthier than ten years prior.
When Charles came asking, Frye was extremely cooperative—he still wanted to secure a serum for his deputy Director Clyde.
"Strange—after Trask was sentenced, he was transferred to the current prison, but the prison never received any transfer order."
Frye's intel capabilities were trustworthy; he quickly pinpointed the problem.
"George Hamilton—this official issued the transfer order!"
"Where is he now?" Charles asked.
"Well…" Frye produced a Death record. "Died in a car crash five years ago."
Charles, Logan, and the others frowned.
A dead man is hard to investigate.
But Frye immediately provided a new lead.
"If you want whoever was behind him, I can give you a clue."
"After Hamilton died, his family all went to work at a Real-Estate Company—one actually controlled by Moni Scana."
"Who?" Wolverine asked, brows knit.
Frye stared at Logan in surprise. "Even if they don't know, you of all people should know exactly who he is."
Moni Scana, Gang-boss; his most infamous deed in World history was—without his own knowledge—planning the assassination of President Kennedy.
Logan had once been Kennedy's bodyguard, so of course he should be familiar with Moni.
"He's doped up, mind's still foggy," Charles quickly interjected.
The fact that Logan had traveled back from the future was something they'd keep to themselves—no need to tell everyone, especially not someone like Frye.
Wolverine wanted to explain, but he shut his mouth anyway; Professor X's word was law, even if this was the younger version of the Professor, the one who still had hair.
Charles turned to Frye and asked, "I assume you also know where Moni Scana is?"
"Of course, but if you plan to look for Moni, I suggest you find someone else first." Frye nodded and offered his advice. "Moni now owns several casinos, luxury hotels, and plantations. He's a major international businessman and stock-market tycoon—he's not someone you can meet just because you want to."
"Even if you managed to see him under the X-Men's name, it would draw a lot of attention."
Charles had to admit the logic was sound.
Their goal was to find Trask; alarming him would defeat the purpose.
"Then who should we look for?" Charles asked.
"JFK."
"JFK?"
After leaving the Bureau of Investigation, Logan was stunned.
"John Kennedy? Isn't he dead?"
"In your World, yes—but didn't you say you'd studied many of this World's major events?" Hank explained, then looked puzzled.
"Oh…" Logan scratched his cheek, embarrassed. "I watched for three hours and barely finished the Cuba Missile Crisis part; after that I only skimmed the table of contents."
Hank laughed despite himself; he'd thought future Logan might have changed, but nope.
Exactly—asking Wolverine to read books was asking too much of the wolf.
If Wolverine could sit still long enough to chew through a pile of books, the old Logan in "Logan 3" wouldn't have ended up a down-and-out chauffeur.
"So how do we convince this former President to help us?" Logan quickly changed the subject. "Which of you is closest to him?"
Logan hadn't expected every pair of eyes to swivel toward him.
"Huh?"
Wolverine's face was pure confusion.
With Wolverine in this state, he clearly wasn't going to be useful, so Charles contacted someone else.
"Who are we waiting for?"
On the outskirts of Washington, Logan couldn't resist lighting a cigar, savoring every puff.
In the future apocalypse, he'd never get his claws on anything this good.
Charles didn't answer; the man arrived almost immediately.
An armed helicopter descended slowly; before it touched down, a burly man leapt out—and Logan's cigar dropped from his mouth.
"WTF?" he blurted.
"Hey, Jimmy!"
Sabretooth Viktor strode over, circling Logan twice with a grin.
"So I hear you're back from fifty years in the future?"
"Your scent really is different." Viktor sniffed, disdainful. "Softened… weaker."
Logan's anger flared; with a snikt, his bone claws sprang out.
"Maybe I should refresh your memory before your brain rots," Logan snarled.
In his timeline, Sabretooth had later lost most of his mind, turning feral and attacking him nonstop—Logan despised him for it.
Yet instead of getting mad, Viktor laughed at the threat.
"That's it, Jimmy—that look, absolutely beautiful."
He guffawed. "I was afraid life in the future apocalypse had broken you."
Logan was stunned; memories flooded back—decades ago, the two of them fighting side by side.
"I'd forgotten you were actually more likeable at this point," Logan muttered, stubborn.
"Come on, I've already contacted Kennedy—he's waiting." Viktor turned toward the X-Jet.
"Viktor used to be Kennedy's special-ops team leader. After Kennedy left office, Viktor transferred into the regular army; he's now a Military Lieutenant Colonel," Charles explained.
Logan was floored. "Him? A Lieutenant Colonel?"
"All he's ever done is lead soldiers to their Deaths."
Hank patted his shoulder diplomatically. "Viktor reads books—he's a bit more patient than you."
To Logan, that sounded like pure fantasy; for a hundred years he'd believed he was the smarter of the two.
Of course, Sabretooth had always thought he was the brighter one.
Logan's shock lasted all the way until the X-Jet landed at Kennedy's estate; even the jet's stealth mode couldn't compete with the revelation that Sabretooth had become a scholar.
Only after meeting Kennedy did Wolverine's thoughts return to the mission.
Whatever else, this World was a parallel one; Logan cared most about his own.
He didn't know whether stopping Trask here could save his own future, but he was willing to try.
After Charles laid out the details, Kennedy grasped the gravity of the situation.
"A future without Fang Yuan—terrifying." He shook his head, then agreed without hesitation. "I'll take you to Moni."
"But… didn't Moni once try to assassinate you?" Logan asked, puzzled.
Kennedy flashed his trademark Melon-Smile. "There are no permanent enemies, are there?"
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