Burst Frozen Pear! Weapon X's Old Enemy

The wind howled outside the window.

Seeing that Sing Sing had fallen silent, Ichirai Hisako Ichiki pulled up a chair and sat down.

Now everything makes sense.

These lunatics hiding in the basement of the old school building have been conducting mechanical interlocking experiments on living people.

However, the human nervous system and muscle tissue simply cannot withstand the rough implantation of metal.

Ueda Kenji is a completely out-of-control, defective product.

Organ displacement, tissue necrosis.

This kind of modification is no different from forcibly gluing raw meat and iron together; they desperately need an adhesive that can forcibly stitch flesh and machinery together.

"What a bunch of shameless beasts."

Ichirai Hisako didn't reply, silently waiting for his answer.

Despite having a surveillance camera embedded in the skin of her neck and the fear of being dragged underground, the girl still shoved the patrol route map into his hand.

"Don't be afraid." Sing Sing said seriously, "No matter what kind of monsters are hiding under this run-down school, 749 Bureau is here to deal with any dissent."

"Since you dared to reveal your secrets to me, I will never let you become one of those jigsaw puzzle pieces."

"Keep today's troubles to yourself, and go to class as usual tomorrow. I'm leaving."

Before the front door was opened, Ichirai Hisako spoke from behind.

"The Council reviews the activity records of those under its supervision every two weeks; the next review is this Friday."

"Knew."

Night.

Kabukicho Contact Point.

Sing Sing returned to his room, took out the Mini Dimensional Box, and shook it nine times.

"Open Sesame!"

The lid popped open, and he pulled out an encrypted communicator from inside, pressing the red dial button.

The static from the transnational encrypted channel lasted for three seconds.

The screen lit up, Logan sat cross-legged on the brick bed, munching on a frozen pear. "What's all this commotion in the middle of the night? Can't a person get some sleep?"

Sing Sing wasn't in the mood for arguing, nor did he care how he ended up back in Peach Mountain from Beijing.

"Enough with the nonsense. I'm going to show you something exciting."

Sing Sing pressed the Enter key.

The images of the monster taken in the air-raid shelter, along with Ueda Kenji's living modification files and other data, were all transmitted through an encrypted channel.

Logan leaned closer to the screen, his gaze sweeping over the gruesome data of mechanical interlocking and the images of monsters reassembling.

"What kind of junk is this?" Logan said with a look of disdain.

"You can't even put a jigsaw puzzle together, yet you're trying to do human body modification."

Logan casually fiddled with his phone until he saw the signature on the Ueda Kenji's file, marking the medical assessment.

That was a cursive English signature.

"Puff!"

The frozen pear was crushed by squeezing it.

"Abraham Cornelius!" Logan spat out the name through clenched teeth, his eyes quickly filling with the bloodshot veins of Beast about to go berserk.

Angry Old Goldhead

"You know him?" Sing Sing leaned back in his chair.

"I know him all too well." Logan grabbed a rag and vigorously wiped his hands, which were covered in pear juice. "I'd recognize that Lao Wang bastard even if he were ashes!"

"Back in the Weapon X Program, he was the core expert responsible for resolving rejection reactions!"

Sing Sing sat up straight; he had discovered another key point!

No wonder the Council is so eager to have Old Goldhead; not many people know the exact number of his healing abilities.

Only one organization, or rather, one person, has detailed information about him!

William Stryker!

This Abraham Cornelius happens to be a member of Weapon X.

He knew all of Logan's data, so he knew that Logan's Healing Factor could improve their living weapon program!

"Those guys tied me to the lab table and pushed me into the sink."

Logan's breathing became heavy; these memories still caused him extreme pain.

"They poured Adamantium into my bones... My blood was burning. Every nerve was being torn apart by the metal."

"That's the guy who was standing behind the glass with Stryker! He was in charge of recording data and maintaining my vital signs."

Logan slammed the rag on the table. "He's a madman! He's only interested in one thing: how to keep a piece of meat alive after extreme, destructive modifications."

Sing Sing stood up and took a few steps around the room.

"The biggest technical bottleneck in the live chimerism experiments I discovered at school is rejection and tissue necrosis. This Ueda Kenji is a defective product; his organs are misplaced, and his nervous system is ruined."

"You mean..." Logan's voice trailed off.

"This group lacks something that can force flesh and iron to grow together. Guess whose blood they've set their sights on?"

"I'm asking you," Sing Sing leaned closer to the communicator, "After Cornelius left Stryker, have you heard from him?"

"No. My own memory was fragmented back then; my brain was completely reprogrammed. By the time I remembered that name, Weapon X had already disbanded."

Sing Sing Chow counted on his fingers, "Turning a high school in the heart of Tokyo into a living laboratory, that would cost money, wouldn't it?"

"Um."

"Someone needs to cover for his kidnappings and disappearances, right?"

"Um."

"Shouldn't the school administration turn a blind eye and openly send the mutant students underground?"

What are you trying to say?

"This isn't something Cornelius can handle alone. The Council is a community of interests, with financial backing, political and business connections, and even underworld channels."

Logan lit a pipe, took a deep drag, and said, "I'm coming to find you right now."

"What the hell are you talking about!" Sing Sing retorted immediately.

"What's the difference between your face here and your naked backside? How many people hate you? The moment you show your face, they can move all the evidence, and everyone underground will have to be silenced."

"So you're going to leave me here waiting?"

"I told you to patrol the mountains and feed the chickens. I'll take care of that."

Logan stared at the screen and took another deep breath. "You can't handle it. You have no idea how difficult Cornelius is! That guy isn't just any madman, he's a patient madman!"

"What a coincidence, I'm a patient madman too. Stay calm, don't cause me any trouble."

After cutting off communication, Sing Sing went outside to the bar, poured himself a beer, and pondered how to break the deadlock while drinking.

Before he could think for long, the door was pushed open from the outside.

Liu Jianyi, wearing a trench coat, stomped his feet as he entered the room.

"Found it?"

"We've made some progress with Itsu."

Liu Jianyi took the beer that Sing Sing handed him.

"I visited three villages and forced two kilograms of cheap sake on a few old men before I could finally get them to talk."

"Itsu is an extremely gentle and traditional Japan woman. That old wolf did indeed have contact with Itsu for a period of time."

"And according to the older folks, the two were quite close; Logan even helped repair the roofs of the neighbors."

"And then?" Sing Sing asked.

"Logan disappeared without a trace not long after. A scumbag running away, the same old story," Liu Jianyi scoffed.

"What about the baby?" Sing Sing pressed. "Is Itsu pregnant?"

Liu Jianyi put down his wine glass and shook his head repeatedly.

"I don't know. The villagers in the countryside are very tight-lipped. Whenever the topic of children comes up, they all stammer and hesitate."

He handed Sing Sing a cigarette, and Old Zhou thoughtfully took out a lighter to light it for him.

They each took a deep breath.

Jianyi said, "Some people say that Itsu couldn't stand the rumors and moved away overnight. Others say that she went into the mountains to collect herbs and had an accident, and her body was never found."

"Some people say they saw Itsu in Tokyo a few years later, but whether that child still exists is now a complete mystery."

"I still need to spend time going through the old household registration records to see if there are any records of moving out."

Sing Sing rubbed his temples; the more he investigated the case, the more it seemed to turn into a complete mess.

Mariko daughter, Yukio's concealment, and Itsu's disappearance—several storylines are all intertwined.

But he didn't have time to unravel the mystery slowly; Cornelius had already set his sights on the school.

The Council's ultimate goal is to create a perfect monster that doesn't reject anything, and they might take action against Kobayashi Amiko at any time.

The best solution is to cut the Gordian knot!