Logan's physical fitness was actually quite formidable, even stronger than most Mutants.
But compared to Darian, it seemed insufficient, especially in terms of pure strength.
You see, Logan had gained weight now; with his own weight plus an entire Adamantium skeleton, he weighed upwards of 120 kilograms. Yet Darian could easily toss him into the air—this strength was more ridiculous than any Mutant Logan had ever seen.
Darian asked curiously, "By the way, why are these people hunting you down?"
Logan hesitated for a few seconds before finally deciding to be honest: "There's a Military Colonel named William Stryker. He was the Commander of my old Mutant team. He found me and said he could provide a weapon to defeat Victor, which is this."
As he spoke, Logan raised his right hand, and three cold, glinting Adamantium Claws popped out from between his knuckles.
To be fair, he was quite satisfied with this new 'manicure,' even though the surgical process had been a nightmare.
"But it was all a trap!"
Logan's eyes suddenly turned cold, his voice suppressed with rage: "Stryker didn't care at all if I could get my revenge. He only wanted my DNA, and then he planned to wipe my mind and turn me into an absolutely obedient killing machine."
"Fortunately, I discovered their plan in time and escaped from his Base. Afterward, I came to this place. Now that guy is sending people after me, simply because he wants to catch me and turn me back into his weapon."
"I see. This Stryker really is a villain, using such a dirty tactic like brainwashing!"
Darian spoke righteously, as if he had completely forgotten that he once had Charles do something similar to the Logan of another parallel World.
He then asked, "So, what do you plan to do now?"
"Find Victor and get my revenge!"
Logan answered without hesitation.
Victor had sentenced him to a life without a wife; this grudge had to be settled no matter what!
"But do you know where he is?"
"Before I escaped that Base, I heard them mention an island. I plan to find my old comrades from the Mutant team first and gather information from them. Maybe there will be clues."
As Logan finished speaking, the system's voice sounded in Darian's mind.
[NPC James Logan Howlett has issued a new quest to you]
[Quest: Tracking Clues]
[Objective: Investigate and find the mysterious island]
[Rewards: EXP +1000, Logan Favorability +10, Random Item *2]
Darian hadn't expected a side quest to trigger before the dungeon quest even started.
He nodded and said, "Alright, let's find your teammates first."
"We?"
Logan was stunned: "This is my business; there's no need for you to get involved."
Darian said with an air of righteousness: "Logan, we're teammates. How could I abandon you? It's settled—we'll find Victor together!"
Since when did we become teammates?
Logan was a bit dazed by his words, but he was quite moved. He didn't expect this guy to be so loyal.
He fell silent for a moment and eventually stopped declining, simply nodding.
"...
...Whatever you say."
After dealing with Agent Zero and his group, Darian and Logan returned to the farm.
Before them was the destroyed barn. The elderly couple was looking at the ruins with worried faces.
Especially Old Kent; seeing his beloved motorcycle turned into a pile of charred wreckage, he felt heartbroken.
Darian walked up and, without a word, tossed a gold bar over as compensation.
The couple took the gold bar, and their faces instantly brightened. They immediately stated that blowing up their house would have been fine too. With the two gold bars Darian had given them, they could move to the city to live with their son.
Logan breathed a secret sigh of relief.
He didn't want his business to involve these kind, ordinary elderly people. Seeing them gain a blessing from this disaster put his mind at ease.
Then Darian turned around and patted his shoulder: "By the way, Logan, this compensation goes on your tab."
Logan: "....."
Las Vegas, Nevada.
Driving the old car gifted by the elderly couple, Darian and Logan arrived at a slightly dilapidated gym on the outskirts of the city to find one of Logan's former comrades, Shadow John.
John was a Black man wearing a cowboy hat. He possessed the ability of Teleportation, but he could only teleport within his line of sight—essentially a budget, Black version of the Red Devil.
John was very happy to see Logan, and the two exchanged pleasantries in a relaxed atmosphere.
After learning that Darian was also a Mutant, John asked enthusiastically, "Hey brother, what's your ability?"
Darian pondered for two seconds: "I'm very rich."
John:
"..."
What a powerful ability, I want it too!
But after Logan spoke about his recent experiences, John's expression gradually darkened.
"I'm so sorry about what happened to you."
John expressed sympathy for Logan's ordeal and said in a low voice, "After you left the team, Victor became more and more insane. He did whatever Stryker told him to do. Eventually, I couldn't stand hunting them down anymore and chose to leave the team as well."
"Them?"
Logan keenly caught the keyword and immediately followed up: "Who are 'them'?"
John hesitated, his tone complex: "Our own kind—other Mutants. Stryker lied to us, saying that doing this was just to prevent people from falling victim to evil Mutants, that we were carrying out justice."
"But later I found out it wasn't like that at all. That bastard Stryker was even going after Mutant children! It's absolutely insane!"
Darian asked, "What exactly does Stryker want to do by capturing so many Mutants?"
"I don't know the specific details."
John shook his head: "It seems they're being taken to an island. After Logan left, I was the second to quit the team, so I didn't get much inside information. However, you can ask Fred about this. He was with the team longer than I was and had access to more information. He likely knows something."
Logan asked, "You mean Fred Dukes? Where is he?"
John pointed below the window: "Right here in our gym. But he's changed quite a bit; you might not even recognize him."
Immediately after, John took the two to the gym's training area and met Fred.
Logan looked at the ball of flesh by the boxing ring, whose waist was probably larger than two of him combined, and was left dumbfounded.
He couldn't help but say, "This guy couldn't possibly be Fred Dukes, could he? I remember him as a muscular hunk. This looks more like a monster that swallowed Fred whole."
Darian was a bit surprised; he didn't expect the honest Logan to have the skill of snarky commentary.
John explained in a low voice, "After some things happened, he developed severe Bulimia. He just kept eating until he became like this. But I suggest you'd better not mention words like 'fatty' in front of him, or he'll get triggered."
"I understand."
Logan nodded, walked forward, and called out to the massive figure, "Hey, Fred, long time no see!
The last time I saw this girl, she was about 80 pounds."
He pointed at the tattoo of a girl on Fred's thick arm. As Fred had become a giant glutton, the originally slim girl tattoo had been stretched out, now looking like a plump girl weighing two hundred pounds.
Fred looked down at his arm and chuckled: "Logan, you're still as funny as ever."
After the pleasantries, Logan got straight to the point: "Do you know where Victor is?"
Fred's eyes flickered slightly: "...I don't know."
Logan saw that he was hiding something and stepped forward: "Fred, for the sake of our past friendship, tell me what you know. It's important."
Fred's face suddenly changed: "What did you just call me... Fatty?"
Logan was taken aback: "I said Fr...
Before he could finish, he was sent flying by Fred's Meatball Impact!
John said helplessly, "Didn't I warn you not to mention those kinds of words?"
"I freaking said Fred, not Fatty!"
Logan was exasperated. Was it his accent or Fred's hearing? How could he mishear that?
He climbed out from the pile of junk, brushed off the dust, and was about to step forward again when Darian pressed down on his shoulder.
"Let me do it."
"Can you handle it?"
Logan looked at Darian with some doubt.
"Don't worry, what I'm best at is convincing people with reason."
Darian gave a confident smile and strode in front of Fred.
[NPC: Fred Dukes]
[Codename: Blob]
[Favorability: 0]
[Review: A giant glutton who can withstand tank bombardment, but can't withstand Wolverine's Adamantium elbow.]
Seeing the other's information, Darian spoke: "Fatty, I'm here to negotiate."
"You're calling me Fatty too!?"
Hearing this, Fred's Base code was instantly activated. With a roar, he charged head-on, his massive belly slamming toward Darian, almost as if he were about to shout that happy hour was starting.
Darian didn't dodge. He pulled his right fist back, gathered his strength, and punched hard against the pressing mound of a belly!
Bang!!
With a dull thud, Fred's massive body flew backward, crashing heavily into the elastic ropes by the boxing ring. The ropes stretched to their limit, letting out a tooth-aching groan, nearly snapping.
Below the stage, Logan and John's eyes widened simultaneously, their faces filled with shock.
They understood Fred's ability; that body had once withstood tank shells without budging, truly a human fortress.
Yet the Darian before them had actually sent him flying with just one punch!
After knocking Fred down, Darian didn't stop.
He walked up to Fred and, before the other could get up, smashed a fist mercilessly toward his head!
Bang!!
Darian's strength was immense, making the entire boxing ring tremble violently.
He asked, "Where is Victor?"
"I, I....."
Fred was beaten so dizzy he couldn't even speak clearly.
Bang!!
Darian didn't hesitate and threw another punch.
"Do you know or not?"
"Bastard! I'll..."
Bang!!
"Stop! Stop! I'll talk! I know where Victor is!"
After more than a dozen consecutive punches, Fred's memory was finally awakened, and he cried out.
He slumped on the mat, his face bruised and swollen. His original anger had long been beaten out of him, leaving only a look of collapse.
Logan:"...."
John: "..."
You call this convincing people with reason?
The "reason" of physics?
Fred panted and hurriedly confessed: "Victor and Stryker are both on that island. They've been working together all along."
"What!?"
Logan lunged forward and grabbed Fred by the collar: "Victor and Stryker are working together!?"
Fred swallowed hard: "Yeah, didn't you know? They've been collaborating for a while. Victor is responsible for catching people, and Stryker sends them to the island."
"Fuck!!"
Logan let go of him and cursed fiercely, his eyes terrifyingly dark: "So it was a setup from start to finish. No wonder Keira had her 'accident' the day after Stryker found me. They killed her on purpose so I would willingly accept the Adamantium!"
In his rage, the three Adamantium Claws shot out, slicing a nearby pillar into two sections.
John's eyelids twitched at the sight; those repair costs were probably going to be expensive.
Darian continued asking, "What kind of people are they catching?"
"Mutants... Rumor has it that Stryker uses them for experiments."
"What experiments?"
Fred's eyes flickered, seemingly unwilling to say more.
But seeing Darian's fist raised again, ready to perform the Great Memory Recovery Technique, he quickly spoke: "Stryker plans to fuse their superpowers together to create a living weapon."
Darian's brow arched: "A living weapon?"
"Y-Yes."
Fred shrank his neck: "Stryker seems to have been trying to experiment on Mutants all along. That island is the main laboratory."
Logan's fists cracked as he clenched them, his voice squeezing through his teeth: "So injecting me with Adamantium back then was just part of the experiment?"
Darian immediately followed up: "Where is that island?"
Fearing Darian's fist, Fred spoke honestly: "I really don't know the exact location. But I heard that a test subject once escaped from there. His name is Remy LeBeau, formerly a street hustler in New Orleans. The prison guards called him Gambit because his gambling skills are incredible—he almost never loses... That's all I know."
Seeing that the quest objective tracking had updated with the appearance of the clue, Darian let Fred go.
With the information in hand, the two immediately decided to set off for New Orleans.
John walked over at this moment, his tone firm: "I'm coming with you."
Logan glanced at him.
John scratched his hair and said softly, "I've done too much dirty work for Stryker; I can't live with it. Consider this my atonement."
If he hadn't heard Fred's words, he might have been able to keep deceiving himself. But now, knowing that the fellow Mutants he captured were being used as test subjects, he wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully. He'd probably wake up at night and slap himself a few times.
Logan originally wanted to refuse, as he didn't want to involve more people.
But Darian waved his hand: "Let him come. His invisibility ability is quite useful."
John corrected him: "My ability is Teleportation."
Darian was shocked: "You actually have two abilities?"
John: "....."