Rows of neat cages, various experimental data hung on the walls... Logan could even imagine the agonizing screams of his kin inside those cages when this place was still operational. In this lab, mutants were nothing more than a group of animals, not much different from pigs, cows, dogs, and sheep.
Logan's fists involuntarily clenched. He hadn't expected the goods Donald mentioned to be experimental mutant samples!
"Mutants are complex creatures," Samuel said, crouching down to examine a cage up close. Through the cracks in the cage, he could see that it was empty.
He turned to Donald and asked, "But... isn't it illegal to perform human experiments?"
From the information on the walls, he could see that several experiments had been conducted on mutants here.
However, he felt nothing for mutants. To new-era humans, the word "mutant" sounded more like a mysterious creature from the last century.
Furthermore, the government's deliberate deletion of information about mutants, aiming for the world to forget they once saved it, meant that young people like Samuel knew very little about mutants, were psychologically indifferent, felt no aversion, and didn't care.
Therefore, they were far less shocked by the use of mutants for research than Logan was.
"It's legal," Donald said with a smile, watching Logan's slightly grim expression with a playful look.
"Alright, where's the cargo? Let's take it and get out of here fast! I don't want to spend the night here; there might be mutant ghosts tonight!" Josh asked, feeling a chill run down his spine from the environment.
He could guess that countless mutants had been killed there; judging by the photos on the walls, there seemed to be some young mutants among them.
"Follow me," Donald smiled, walked up to a wall, and tapped it. The hollow echo indicated there was a gap behind the wall.
He forced the wall open, revealing a deep passageway. Dust scattered, and a putrid smell wafted out.
"The test subjects or samples outside are child's play; they're virtually worthless. They wouldn't even cover the cost of transporting them back," Donald said with a smile, pointing into the passageway. "The real show is in the back."
"What do you mean by that?" Samuel looked at the passageway, puzzled.
Logan remained silent. He knew Donald was deliberately mocking how cheap mutants were; some were worth less than the fuel.
He was also implying that mutants were simply a group to be measured by their price, unworthy of comparison to humans.
Logan knew that was Donald's nature: he loved to needle people's weaknesses and make them look bad; he enjoyed it.
The group passed through the narrow passageway and reached a more secret laboratory.
Donald turned on the lights, instantly illuminating the dim lab with a blinding glare.
Twenty-four iron boxes appeared in view, and through the cracks in twenty-two of them, "people" could be vaguely seen inside.
"Corpses?"
Samuel looked down and examined one of the cracks carefully, and he jumped in fright.
He wasn't afraid of the dead, but these rows of horrifying mutant corpses made his heart pound. They gave him a Resident Evil vibe.
"Don't be afraid."
Donald walked deeper into the labyrinth, smiling. "They can no longer threaten us."
He then pointed to several metal boxes behind him. "The first few aren't important; these are the real show."
"This first one only gave mutant characteristics (his body was covered in wolf fur), but he had no superpowers. It was a failed experiment and was executed." Donald patted the first box with a smile and then pointed to the second. "The second was a slight improvement; it replicated the mutant's abilities. It's a shame his cells divided too fast, and he literally 'exercised' his organs to death."
"This third one…"
Donald approached the third box with a regretful air. "He almost succeeded, replicating all the mutant's abilities. It's a shame his willpower was too weak; he couldn't withstand the metal being poured and died on the test table."
Samuel and Josh frowned involuntarily; Donald made death sound too easy.
"It's too cruel," Samuel couldn't help but voice his doubts. These methods of death would be difficult for a normal person to accept, and judging by the appearance of the corpses, they didn't seem very old.
Donald smiled and shook his head, saying, "There's no need to mourn the death of lab rats. They were only test subjects. Their only purpose in being created was to allow us to record data."
"So, the experiment was a success, and this place was abandoned?" Josh couldn't help but ask.
"Uh..." Donald thought for a moment and smiled: "More or less. We are currently on the border between success and failure."
"What do you mean?" Samuel asked, puzzled.
Donald walked to the last two boxes. "You should have noticed that there are two empty boxes here."
"What do you mean?"
Samuel ran to the empty boxes and asked curiously, "Did they succeed, so they weren't executed?"
"Yes."
Donald pointed to the empty box X-24. "Not bad, except for its weaker abilities."
"And what about X-23?"
Samuel looked at the other empty box beside it.
"She escaped."
Donald shook his head regretfully. "She was the most successful, virtually replicating all the mutant's strengths—she even surpassed him in some aspects!"
He then looked up and continued with a smile: "I'm looking for her. They say she's in Santa Fe. If any of you find her, I'll reward you handsomely."
"They've used more than twenty test subjects..."
Josh looked back at the rows of boxes behind him and couldn't help but ask, "Who exactly are they trying to replicate?"
From the introduction, he could see that the ultimate goal of these test subjects seemed to be to replicate a mutant's abilities.
For this, they were willing to kill more than twenty "people."
And clearly, perhaps only two, or even one, had succeeded.
How special must the replication target be for the lab to pay such a high price?
"Who?"
Donald suddenly smiled, pulled out a very old-looking drawing from under an iron box, carefully unfolded it, and placed it on top.
At the top of the paper read: "Conceptual Anatomical Diagram of Wolverine."
Below it was anatomical information about a humanoid figure with steel claws, with labels next to each organ.
Josh leaned towards the edge of the paper and murmured the name: "Wolverine?"
Hearing this, Logan's face instantly darkened.