Border Factory

Hearing Wolverine say that, George did not worry. Instead, a faint smile appeared on his face.

Since Wolverine was already considering it from that angle, it meant George had guessed right. Wolverine was all bark and no bite; deep down, he still wanted to help.

"What kind of person Tony Stark is, we'll have to judge after meeting him.

If he isn't trustworthy, you can still use this matter to earn enough money to leave.

With money, you can take the Professor and live the life you want. You won't have to worry about us anymore.

What do you think?"

"I need to think about it."

Wolverine picked up a bottle of hard liquor from the car seat and drained it in one gulp. Then he closed his eyes and thought for a long while before slowly replying:

"Fine, I'll help you, but on one condition: the Professor can't come with us.

The Professor's condition isn't as good as you think. He can't actively control his powers at all, and if he appears in New York, it'll cause panic in the government. That would only make things more troublesome!"

"No problem."

George thought about it and nodded.

He had only been thinking about using Professor X's powers, forgetting the consequences of bringing this "weapon of mass destruction" into New York. It might even draw S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention.

Rather than that, it was better not to bring him.

At worst, they could torture Obadiah. Under the threat of death, he would surely reveal Tony Stark's whereabouts.

Actually, this was better. The Professor had limited mobility anyway. With only Wolverine and himself acting, they would be much more efficient.

"Then let's get out of here quickly. Those punks fired guns just now, so the police will probably be here soon."

Seeing that George had reached an agreement, Gabriella finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then, looking at the corpses of those thugs on the ground, she hurriedly reminded them.

Wolverine bent down again, preparing to put the wheel back on.

"Don't worry. It's precisely because there were gunshots that those cops won't get here so quickly."

"Fine, then they're really devoted to their duty."

George crouched down as well, his hands continuously shifting through gestures.

"Reparo!"

The repair spell took effect, and the removed wheel immediately restored itself.

This was the second spell he could currently cast through Gesture Casting.

"So there's more than just the Professor's and Magneto's genes in your body?"

Wolverine's face showed surprise at the sight.

George smiled and shrugged.

"Honestly, I'm not sure how many different genes they fused into me."

"Your situation reminds me of a very chatty friend from long ago. They implanted many mutant genes into his body too, then sealed his mouth shut."

Wolverine recalled a memory buried deep in his mind and could not help sighing.

"Unfortunately, they're all gone now."

"Friends come and go. Life has to go on, so don't be so pessimistic."

George casually offered some comfort.

In truth, he had always had a question: had this Wolverine experienced the reversal of the future? Did he have memories from two different timelines, or did this universe simply not have two timelines at all?

In X-Men: Days of Future Past, changing the past would change the present as well.

But in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, changing the past merely created a new timeline and did not affect the present.

Still, this was not something he could ask now. He could only wait until they knew each other better.

Wolverine looked at him in surprise.

"Looks like you really do have some of the Professor's genes in you."

Once the car was repaired, Wolverine drove the luxury stretch car ahead, while Isabelle drove the truck with George and the children following close behind. They headed toward the border.

The Professor's situation was special, so Wolverine had hidden him in a sparsely populated border region.

"This used to be a factory owned by a multinational smelting company headquartered in Shanghai. It was eventually abandoned because the security situation became too chaotic. Normally, no one comes out here."

The cars stopped in front of an abandoned factory near the border, and Wolverine introduced the place to George.

El Paso bordered Mexico, and large numbers of Mexicans had crossed over illegally to make a living there, leaving public safety in complete disarray. That was why they had been able to stay hidden without being discovered.

In a city with good security, there was no way they could have remained concealed.

"Logan, who are they?"

At that moment, a man wrapped in a scarf and wearing a hat, with only his eyes exposed, cautiously emerged from the factory. He looked at George and the group of Mutant Children in confusion.

"Calliban, these children are all mutants. Let's go inside first, and I'll explain everything to you properly later."

Wolverine waved a hand and led everyone into the factory.

George glanced at the scarf-wrapped man, and the relevant information immediately flashed through his mind.

Calliban was a mutant capable of tracking the locations of mutants. He had once been a black-market dealer, profiting immensely by selling information on mutants' whereabouts.

For money, he had also helped Arkley Gene Company hunt down mutants.

Later, he developed albinism and could no longer be exposed to sunlight. He began to repent for his crimes and started helping Wolverine and Professor X hide their tracks.

In the end, after seeing Professor X murdered, grief-stricken, he detonated two grenades and died together with the enemy.

So, for now, he counted as a mutant who could be trusted.

"No wonder. No wonder he was always saying he was communicating with some people in his mind, saying there were many new mutants out there. So they really do exist. But Logan, have you really decided to do this? It's dangerous."

Inside the factory, after hearing Logan's explanation, Calliban frowned tightly.

He sympathized with those mutant children, but he was even more worried about Wolverine's safety.

Only the three of them remained from the older generation of mutants. Over the years, he had long since come to see Wolverine and the Professor as his only family.

"George is right. Maybe this is the only way to truly cure the Professor. You know as well as I do that the water tank can't hold him forever. This can't go on.

We need money. We need better equipment and medicine to treat him.

Besides, I don't believe the Canadian government will treat those children well. Human governments don't have any good people."

Wolverine tossed a bag of medicine and a card to Calliban.

"These medicines are enough for the Professor for a month. This card contains all the money I've saved over the years. I originally planned to buy a Yacht and take you and the Professor to live at sea.

If something happens and I don't come back, I'll have to trouble you to look after the Professor."

"Fine. I know I can't stop you. But I can only tell you this: if you don't come back, I won't look after that troublesome old man by myself. I'll leave him behind and take this money with me."

Calliban took the medicine and card, fell silent for a moment, then replied with a smile.

Wolverine also smiled, for the first time in a long while.

"You won't. Otherwise, you wouldn't have given up all the money you saved back then to help us."

"It's your turn to give him his medicine. I've been dealing with him all night."

Calliban helplessly shook his head, took out a bottle from the bag, and placed it in Wolverine's hand.

Clearly, Wolverine had hit the mark.