Kansas Highway

After an unknown amount of time, rocked by the pickup truck's steady, monotonous bumps, old Professor Charles Xavier slowly opened his eyes.

The anesthetic had worn off, and dull waves of pain pulsed from the wound on his back. But the old man had endured too much in his life for this much pain to be unbearable.

What concerned him more was that the others had clearly encountered something while he had been unconscious.

The injury on half of Logan's face, who was driving, had not fully healed. Clear claw marks remained on his neck, and his hands gripping the wheel were wrapped in filthy strips of cloth, beneath which torn flesh could vaguely be seen. Laura in the back seat had recovered from her injuries thanks to her healing factor, but her dust- and blood-stained clothes and the exhaustion in her eyes both spoke of the brutality of the earlier fight.

Miles beside her had returned to that vacant, foolish state. His head lolled weakly to one side, drool running from the corner of his mouth. His pale face still bore plenty of grime, along with traces of blood that had flowed from his seven orifices after overusing his powers.

"Logan," Charles rasped. "What happened just now? Where did Caliban go?"

Logan glanced at the awakened Charles through the rearview mirror, and a faint, nearly imperceptible hint of relief appeared on his tense face.

Then he continued driving in silence, letting the engine's roar fill the quiet cabin. Only after a long while did he slowly speak, his voice hoarse. "He disappeared. Those people probably took him."

"Then we were attacked by a monster. Yeah, the one mentioned in that woman's recording... Codename X-24, a young clone cultivated from my genes..."

"Caliban disappeared..."

Charles let out a long sigh filled with sorrow and helplessness. "So you have another clone now, and he's our enemy... That is truly awful. So what do we do next?"

"Run for our lives, obviously." Logan answered without hesitation, but then his tone shifted. "Before that, Charles, answer me something."

"We'd already shaken those people off, but the moment we checked into that casino hotel, they found us again... So who the hell was leading them to us?"

Logan's accusation instantly froze the air inside the truck.

Miles continued to grin foolishly, completely unresponsive to everything around him. Laura, however, seemed to realize something. She leaned forward slightly and protectively positioned herself in front of Miles, glaring at Logan warily.

Seeing Laura's reaction, Charles smiled gently. He gave her hand a reassuring pat, then turned and calmly met Logan's bloodshot eyes through the rearview mirror.

"Yes, it was Miles."

Logan's gaze turned cold. With his suspicion confirmed, his anger was about to erupt.

But before Logan could explode, Charles continued, "There is a tracking device hidden in the cerebrospinal fluid extractor at the back of Miles's head. You know, that little thing embedded in his skull, extracting his cerebrospinal fluid every day."

"...Shit!!"

Logan's teeth ground together. He slammed a fist into the steering wheel, making the truck shudder. "Can't he control those 'electronic little gadgets'? Why didn't he shut it off himself?"

Charles smiled without answering directly, merely gesturing toward Miles with his eyes.

"Now?"

Logan glanced at the boy, who was chuckling idiotically with drool at the corner of his mouth. His stomach was full of rage, but for a moment, he did not know what to say.

When Miles was in that vacant state, he was truly nothing more than an idiot. There was no point expecting him to do anything besides laugh foolishly. He would instinctively shield his mind, but that did not include electronic devices... because that was potential he had only just discovered.

Logan suddenly remembered something Caliban had once said...

"I think... they might have a different future... I want to see it with my own eyes."

So this idiot was who you wanted to believe in, Caliban?!

"Fuck!!"

Logan clenched his teeth and cursed viciously, his eyes red. "Damn it, he's going to get us killed sooner or later!!"

Oklahoma, interstate highway.

After most of the day had passed, as evening gradually fell and orange-yellow light edged the clouds, Miles finally slowly woke up.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw old Charles smiling at him.

"Good afternoon, Miles. How did you rest?" Charles asked.

"I'm glad you're okay... but next time, don't get so close, Charles... I think I still have my first kiss."

Despite his weak condition, Miles first habitually spouted nonsense, announcing that his sanity had returned. Then he sighed and said in a somewhat hoarse voice, "As for me... honestly, terrible. I probably overdid it with my powers earlier."

"Would you mind telling me what happened before?" Charles said. "I asked Logan just now, but his explanation was too brief. You know him, he has no patience for telling a proper story."

"I understand, but honestly, I still feel exhausted." Miles sounded listless. "After you were shot and passed out, we found an underground clinic under Caliban's guidance and got your injuries treated. Then that bastard Fernando charged us way too much..."

"...So I kept looping that bastard Zander's screams through the guy's earpiece, and then he left. I only remember completely destroying the earpieces before passing out..."

"That sounds like it was a very dangerous fight," Charles said softly. "I'm sorry I couldn't stay awake then, Miles."

"No, you already helped us a lot." Miles shook his head. "Also... Caliban was probably taken away by Dr. Zander. The moment he disappeared, that monster showed up... I don't believe that was a coincidence. If Caliban had been there, we definitely would have gotten warning in advance."

"Right, that explains it..." Miles muttered to himself. "That bastard Zander sent that monster specifically for me. Since it was Logan's clone, it had a mutant response, so they had to take Caliban first. That way, none of the three of us could deal with that monster... Damn it! That had to be it!!"

Seeing Miles's nerves begin to tighten again, Charles tried to comfort him. "Relax, child. Caliban's disappearance wasn't your fault. If only... I had woken up sooner."

"No, Professor, you don't need to comfort me." Miles shook his head, then slowly looked into Charles's eyes. "Give me some time... I'll bring Caliban back. I promise!"

Charles and Logan, who was driving, both froze at those words.

After thinking for a moment, Laura beside them also solemnly nodded at Charles.

She felt the same.

"Well, it seems you truly do not need comforting." Charles smiled approvingly, then said, "But I need to correct you, Miles. What you said just now was not quite right."

"Not 'I,' but 'we.'" Charles pointed at Laura, then himself, and finally Logan in the front. "We will rescue Caliban together."

As he said this, old Charles did not forget to call out to Logan. "Right, Logan?"

"..."

Old Logan could not be bothered to answer. He kept driving in silence as if he had not heard a thing.

"Good, he agreed." Charles did not mind. He then asked Miles, "So what are your plans next, Miles?"

"We go to the nearest city and find a large hospital." Miles pointed at the cerebrospinal fluid extractor at the back of his head, now wrapped in pus and bruising. Gritting his teeth, he said, "I need to find a way to remove this thing. Otherwise, every time I exert myself even a little, my head hurts like hell... The problem is that it's embedded in my skull, and part of it is connected to some of my brain tissue. It can only be removed through surgery, or I would have ripped it out myself long ago..."

"Poor child..." Charles sighed, then added, "Then how about Wichita? I remember there's a pretty good hospital there..."

"No, we need to plan this carefully." Miles took out Gabriela's phone and tapped the side of his forehead, activating his power.

As endless streams of electronic information flowed through Miles's mind, various symbols flickered rapidly across the phone screen in his hand, eventually forming a map.

"Wichita is indeed the closest city right now, but considering we have pursuers behind us, they might predict that we'll go there... So I suggest going directly to Kansas City, which is a little farther away." Miles's tone was cold and emotionless, almost mechanical, as he rapidly browsed vast amounts of online data. "I need an extremely difficult brain operation, something ordinary hospitals cannot handle... We should go straight to University of Kansas Hospital. It's one of the best hospitals in the country, and it's also a complete academic medical center complex with all kinds of advanced equipment and a complicated environment... If we encounter enemies, there will be more I can do!"

"...Miles." Charles looked at Miles's unusual state and could not help asking, "When did you learn to access the internet directly with your brain?"

"When I was looking for a base station at the casino hotel," Miles answered.

"Doesn't your brain feel uncomfortable, handling so much data at once...?"

"My head hurts like hell all the time anyway," Miles said. "A little extra stimulation actually makes me feel better."

"...All right." Old Charles nodded.

Just then, Logan in the front suddenly asked, "...Kid, have you considered something? Do you have any money?"

"Not right now, but that's not a major problem..." Miles said indifferently. "Once we reach Kansas City, I'll take this phone into a bank. The main servers of the major banks will be within my perception range... It won't take long for me to empty all their online deposits."

"..." Old Logan was genuinely stunned this time.

"Miles!" Charles gave Miles a look. "Don't do that."

"Tch..." Miles curled his lip. "Fine, then I'll only take a little, just enough to cover the surgery..."

Listening to Miles mutter, Logan could not calm down for a long time.

Before this, old Wolverine had never really understood Miles's ability to manipulate "electronic signals." But now, hearing what Miles said... he finally realized just how terrifyingly powerful "electronic signal manipulation" was in modern human society!

After all, the order of human civilization in the current information age... was built almost entirely upon electronic communications. And Miles... could take whatever he wanted from it without restraint through his powers!

To him, money was literally nothing but numbers!

With that thought, Logan suddenly became irritated.

So what was the point of all the effort he had spent saving money before?

As he watched an unmanned truck speed past them, Logan could not help cursing, "Fuck... goddamn driverless trucks..."

It was currently 2029. Self-driving technology had matured, and autonomous vehicles could often be seen on the roads.

"Logan, watch out!!"

Charles's cry snapped old Logan out of his distraction. Only then did he see that the autonomous truck beside them had apparently gone mad and was swerving toward them!

Logan quickly steered the pickup away, sending it into a circle across the fields beside the road before it finally came to a stop amid a teeth-grinding screech of tires.

Then Logan saw that, across the road, a horse trailer had overturned while trying to avoid the collision and now lay on its side along a slope.

"We need to help them," old Charles said.

"No, we need to keep moving. Someone else will help them." Logan answered impatiently, clearly unwilling to meddle.

"Wouldn't that be us?" old Charles countered.

Logan sighed, started the truck again, and drove toward the overturned trailer.

As the vehicle had been damaged, several strong horses had broken free in panic. They galloped down the busy highway, whinnying wildly.

Just then, an unmanned cargo truck drove past and nearly struck two of the horses dead.

The owner was frantic. He could only continue trying to soothe the horses in a fluster, but unfortunately, he was alone and could not possibly gather so many horses in such a short time.

Charles rolled down the window and watched the scene with concern before slowly closing his eyes.

An invisible yet calm and gentle spiritual force swept over the frightened horses like a spring breeze. The agitated animals gradually calmed down. They stopped running, snorted softly, and finally, under Charles's guidance, safely gathered in the grass beside the highway.

Then Logan got out with a dark expression and went over to help pull the trailer free from the dirt slope.

Watching the horses be led back, Charles smiled and turned to Miles. "See, Miles? Communicating with animals is not that difficult."

"They do not lack souls. They simply do not think about such complicated things. All you need is a little patience and gentle reassurance, then become their friend..."

"Is that so?" Miles asked, somewhat puzzled, only half understanding.

The accident was quickly resolved. The rescued Munson family was deeply grateful to Charles and the others, warmly inviting them to visit their farm and enjoy a hearty dinner.

"I'd like to invite you to my home for dinner as thanks. Our place isn't far from here."

The hostess, Katherine, invited Logan.

"No need." Logan shook his head and called to Laura, who was standing outside the trailer and curiously watching the horses. "All right, Laura, we need to go..."

Charles in the pickup wanted to raise his hand and agree. It had been far too long since he had felt the warmth of such a simple family. But this time, Miles desperately stopped him.

"Charles, listen to me just once..." Miles grabbed Charles's arm and said seriously, "Don't drag them into this!"

Miles truly could not remember much of the original movie's plot anymore, but he vaguely remembered that this family had not met a good end in the film.

"Ah, all right." Charles sighed and said nothing more.

After Logan led Laura away from the regretful Munson family, they hurried back into the truck.

"University of Kansas Hospital, right?" Logan asked.

"That's right. Need navigation?" Miles asked.

"No. I know the way." Logan said flatly. "Hold on."

The pickup started again, carrying them onward toward Kansas City.