[NPC: James Logan Howlett (Future Version)]
[Status: Consciousness Being Occupied]
Darian looked at the Logan in front of him, and the information about the other party made him raise an eyebrow.
Did Logan just get his account taken over by his future self?
Regarding the matter of time travel, Darian did not feel too surprised.
After all, that guy Wade could also use a time transporter to zip back and forth on his Universe's timeline, and could even zip off to other parallel Universes to mess around; a mere future consciousness traveling to the past was no big deal.
Darian didn't rush to pay attention to the future Logan, and said to Scott, "Your assessment has passed. From today on, you are an official member of the Brotherhood. Go find your big brother and report in; just say it's my order."
"Thank you, Leader!"
Scott instantly smiled like an idiot, his heart blooming with joy, secretly thinking that the flattery just now really hadn't been in vain.
Now he could follow in his big brother's footsteps and become a glorious member of the Brotherhood.
In the X-Mansion, the deeds of the Brotherhood could be said to be known to everyone.
Preventing the outbreak of the third season, using absolute means to deter humanity, making those who wanted to cause trouble afraid to act rashly...
Precisely because of this, the status of the Brotherhood in the hearts of Mutants was quite high. Almost all Mutant students longed to join it and considered it the highest honor, and Scott was naturally no exception.
"Then, Leader, I'll take my leave!"
Scott turned and ran away, unable to wait a moment longer.
Once he was far away, Darian finally cast his gaze upon the future Logan, discovering that the other party was staring at him with a strange expression.
"What's wrong, Logan?"
"You are... the leader of the Brotherhood?" the future Logan asked tentatively.
Darian chuckled, "Of course, who else could it be but me? That guy Erik?"
Right! The future Logan felt like his CPU was about to start smoking.
He was certain he had never met Darian; whether in the X-Men or the Brotherhood, he had never heard of such a person.
As a result, this stranger who had popped out of nowhere had actually replaced Magneto as the leader of the Brotherhood, and even Professor X and Magneto were the other party's lackeys. This sounded like absolute fantasy.
Something is wrong! It's ninety percent wrong!
Although the future Logan usually didn't like to use his brain, and the remaining bit of wisdom he had told him to use his invincible Adamantium Claws, he realized that this past definitely had a major problem.
"Logan, you don't look quite right. Why are you asking about such common knowledge?"
Before the future Logan could think it through, Darian suddenly narrowed his eyes, and a dangerous aura radiated from his entire body.
"Could it be that you are..." The future Logan instantly shuddered.
A chill shot straight up his spine, and his Beast-like instincts screamed warnings. Danger, extreme danger!
"Could my true identity have been seen through!?" The future Logan thought to himself, feeling terrible.
The other party was the Brotherhood leader. Judging by factions, he was a bona fide supervillain. Moreover, the fact that he could make Professor X and Magneto act as lackeys meant his danger level was definitely several grades higher than someone like Magneto.
A red-blooded X-Men like himself was completely in the opposing faction. Once his true identity was exposed and he fell into the hands of such a big boss, no one knew what the outcome would be.
The future Logan didn't fear death, but he bore an extremely important mission; he absolutely could not have an accident here.
Just as he was so scared that his claws were about to pop out from between his fingers, he heard Darian change the subject.
"Could it be that you have amnesia?"
Can you not gasp so heavily when you speak? It's terrifying!
The future Logan hurriedly nodded: "Ah, yes, yes, yes. My memory seems to have suddenly had some problems; I've forgotten many things."
Darian scolded, "I told you not to play by stabbing each other with claws with Victor every day. Now look, your brain is messed up, isn't it?"
Your brain is the one that's messed up!
The future Logan's mouth twitched. He wanted to curse, but for the sake of the mission, he held it back.
Although this past was outrageous... no, it was extremely outrageous, he had to figure out the current situation first.
After all, his time travel trip was one-way; he could only come over and couldn't go back. Unless Kitty Pryde from the future timeline actively disconnected, his consciousness would remain in this past body.
Since he couldn't return to the future on his own, the future Logan decided to temporarily pretend to be the original Logan, deceive the other party first, and once he had figured out the situation, make further plans.
The future Logan felt this plan was very sound.
In the past, Scott and that bunch of guys always said he had no brain and would only charge in headlong, but in fact, his brain wasn't bad at all; on the contrary, he was often incredibly witty.
After making up his mind, the future Logan asked tentatively, "Um, I want to know, why did I join the Brotherhood in the first place?"
He couldn't understand it either; with his personality, how could he have joined a Mutant terrorist organization like the Brotherhood?
"You can actually forget even that? Fine, let me help you remember."
Darian cleared his throat and said slowly, "When the Brotherhood was first founded, our organization was in urgent need of manpower to prepare to deal with a very tricky opponent, so I personally went to find you and Victor and paid you to join the Brotherhood."
The future Logan asked in surprise, "So we only joined for the money?"
Darian chuckled, "At first, yes, but later you were moved by the spirit of our Brotherhood and stated that you wanted to stay even without money."
The future Logan: "?"
Did Victor and I really have such a spirit of dedication before?
Darian continued, "I felt that wasn't right; how could I let people work for free? But your attitude was extremely firm. You hugged my thighs, snot and tears running down, saying you didn't want to leave the Brotherhood, that this was your home, and that you would stay here even without money. If I didn't agree, you wouldn't let go."
"I'm the type of person who can't stand seeing men cry, especially crying so disgustingly. There was no other way, I had to agree to you."
"???"
The future Logan's eyes widened, and he felt terrible.
"How could I possibly do such a thing!?"
Darian chuckled, "If you don't believe me, I have a video right here."
He took out his phone, brought up the "Wolverine's Goofy Moments Collection" folder, and opened one of the videos near the top.
The content playing was just as Darian had described.
The future Logan's face turned black as he watched. Fake! It's definitely fake! He absolutely refused to admit that the goof in the video was himself!
But after all, he had spent many years with Charles and knew a thing or two about mind control methods.
Upon careful observation, he quickly discovered something wrong. Why did he and Victor in the video feel like they had been brainwashed by a Telepath?
The more the future Logan watched, the more suspicious he felt. Combining this with the fanatical look Scott had earlier, a bold idea suddenly popped into his mind.
Could it be that the members of this Brotherhood had all been brainwashed!? Yes! It must be like this!
Only the power of a Telepath could make members who originally belonged to the X-Men faction become die-hard fans of the Brotherhood. Scott was like this, and he himself was like this.
The future Logan felt his guess was very reasonable; everything seemed to be explained. Thinking of this, his back couldn't help but feel a chill.
The Brotherhood led by Magneto could at most be considered an extremist organization.
Although their methods were intense, they at least treated their own people decently. But this new Brotherhood right now was a completely evil organization through and through.
To actually brainwash all members into becoming die-hard loyalists of the organization—this kind of method could be described as using every possible means.
The future Logan looked up at Darian, his eyes filled with a bit more vigilance. Could this guy in front of him be that evil Telepath?
Darian watched the future Logan's expression change back and forth and asked curiously, "What's wrong? Did your face cramp?"
"No, nothing." The future Logan managed to force a smile.
It seemed Darian wasn't that Telepath; otherwise, his thoughts would have already been exposed.
Since it wasn't Darian, who was that evil Telepath?
A shiny, bald head couldn't help but appear in the future Logan's mind, but he immediately and fiercely denied this outrageous conjecture.
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Although Scott said Charles was also part of the Brotherhood, he still believed in Charles's character.
That was Charles, a Telepath who had adhered to his principles since childhood, a moral benchmark who would rather suffer himself than violate other people's thoughts.
How could he be that kind of conscience-less, despicable, shameless, insidious, and cunning person who brainwashed people at will...
"Ahem!" A cough suddenly interrupted the future Logan's wild thoughts.
He turned to look and saw a figure in a wheelchair slowly approaching. The future Logan's face lit up with joy: "Charles... no, who are you?"
The person in front of him had long, flowing hair that almost reached his shoulders, which completely didn't match the shiny bald head in his memory.
Forgive the future Logan; ever since he had known Charles, the other party had always had a bald image, shiny for decades as if it were a single day. He had always thought Charles was born that way.
Charles looked at the future Logan and smiled slightly: "Nice to meet you, I am Charles Xavier."
He didn't speak, but his voice was transmitted into the future Logan's mind. The future Logan could be certain that the man in front of him was the young Charles.
But he noticed a problem in the other party's words: "Nice to meet you?"
Charles nodded, his eyes as if seeing through everything: "Yes, although I have known the Logan of this time for a long time, I shouldn't know the future him."
The future Logan's pupils shrank.
Obviously, Charles had already read his thoughts.
The future Logan reacted quickly, suddenly extending six bone claws, pointing them straight at Darian on the side.
At the same time, he shouted at Charles: "Since you already know, I'll keep it short. I was sent by the future you, and I need your help!"
"But before that, we must first defeat the evil Telepath hiding behind the scenes!"
"That guy used his power to brainwash me and Victor from this time. Maybe other members have already fallen victim to his evil hands. Hurry up and use your power to undo their brainwashing control. Let's join forces to defeat this Brotherhood leader!"
He finished speaking in one breath, his muscles tense, ready to fight at any moment.
However, after waiting for a long time, Charles still didn't move, just sitting there in the wheelchair, looking at him with an embarrassed expression.
The future Logan was anxious: "Charles, what are you doing? Hurry up and act!"
The pressure Darian put on him was too great; the dangerous aura from that moment just now was still fresh in his memory.
With his strength alone, he was likely not the opponent's match. Only by leveraging the power of Charles and other X-Men would there be a chance to defeat this unfathomable Brotherhood leader.
Charles coughed dryly, his eyes drifting: "Um... Logan, actually, I don't think that Telepath is an evil person."
The future Logan's eyes widened: "What are you saying! Acts like using abilities to manipulate others' thoughts and brainwash them are a million times more evil than Magneto!"
Charles: "..."
The future Logan grew more and more enthusiastic as he spoke: "The person who could do such a thing must be someone with a dark heart, a twisted psychology, and no bottom line. They might pretend to be decent on the surface, but who knows how many shady things they've done behind the scenes..."
"Ahem, actually, the Telepath you are talking about is me."
The future Logan: "..."
He and Charles stared at each other, and the air suddenly became terrifyingly quiet.
Darian watched this scene, first suppressing the corner of his mouth. It didn't stay suppressed. He suppressed it again. It still didn't stay suppressed.
"Hahaha!" Darian simply burst into loud laughter, laughing until he rocked back and forth, tears almost coming out.
He laughed while slapping Charles's thigh: "It really has to be you, Old Wolf. You cursed Charles to his face for so long; this is something even Erik wouldn't dare to do!"
The future Logan stood stiffly in place, his whole person looking like he had been struck by lightning.
He stared at Charles, his eyes filled with disbelief. That evil Telepath was actually Charles himself?
The future Logan felt his worldview collapsing. But deep down, he still held a sliver of hope; perhaps Charles was forced?
Thinking of this, the future Logan immediately said in his heart: Charles, if you are being threatened and forced to say this, blink your eyes.
Charles: (Q_O)
The future Logan: Charles, if you are being threatened and forced to say this, open your eyes.
Charles: (O_O)
The future Logan: Charles, if you are being threatened and forced to say this, sit in the wheelchair.
And so Charles stood up.
The future Logan: (O_O)
No, is it necessary to go to this extent!? A paralyzed person standing up, what kind of medical miracle is this!
Charles looked at the future Logan, who was still deceiving himself, and said helplessly: "Logan, the truth is not what you think. Our Brotherhood is not an evil organization."
"Then were Victor and I really controlled by you?"
"Uh, that actually wasn't..."
"Then how can you say you aren't an evil organization!?"
The future Logan's eyes widened.
"Ahem, I can explain this. Actually, there was an unavoidable reason for controlling you."
"What reason?"
"In order to not pay you."
The future Logan: "???"