Chapter 158: Professor X Loses Control (Patreon)

The process of searching for Wolverine was not easy.

As Caliban had said, his abilities had degraded to some extent; someone who could initially pinpoint the exact location of any mutant could now only navigate approximately.

Sometimes he even lost track of Wolverine entirely.

Furthermore, Wolverine and his companions still believed that Caliban was dead and that they were being hunted by the Alkali corporation. Because of this, his phone was turned off, and Caliban could not contact him.

At this moment, Caliban could only rely on his vague perception of Wolverine and his group to track them down.

Fortunately, there were three mutants on Wolverine's side, which made it significantly easier for Caliban to locate them.

"If we keep moving along this road, we will be able to find them. It seems their destination has remained unchanged since they got here."

As night fell, after refueling and getting back on the highway, Caliban pointed at the road ahead and said this to Kevin.

Kevin glanced at the already exhausted Caliban and asked, "Do you want to rest a bit?"

This man was getting old, and his body was no longer what it used to be. The intense use of his abilities caused him to tremble slightly.

Kevin did not like to torture people, so seeing that Caliban looked like he could not endure it any longer, he considered letting him rest a bit so he would not suddenly die in the car.

"What if they change their route halfway? If we get too far apart, I really won't be able to continue tracking them."

Caliban was afraid of losing sight of Wolverine and his companions. Based on Kevin's description, he could confirm that Wolverine and the others were in huge trouble. They needed help, not from someone like Caliban, but from Kevin, whose abilities appeared to be incredibly strong.

Thus, despite the severe discomfort in his body, Caliban continued to use his ability to track Wolverine and the others.

Kevin looked at his slightly trembling body, took out the map he had just bought at the gas station, pointed to a large city, and asked, "The largest city along this road is Oklahoma City, right?"

"Yes."

"And the largest casino in the entire state of Oklahoma is located right there?"

"I don't know about that, but there are indeed several casinos there... Do you think they will go there?"

"Let's give it a try. It doesn't cost anything anyway, so you can rest until I reach the destination. I will figure out how to find them."

Kevin put the map away and started navigating toward Oklahoma.

Although Kevin had watched the movie Wolverine 3 quite a long time ago, he vaguely remembered that, according to the plot, Wolverine once took Laura to seek refuge near a casino. He remembered it so well because Kevin had wondered at the time whether it was really acceptable to let a little girl into a casino.

This led to a highly debatable question: did the actress playing the little girl, Laura, actually visit a casino during filming?

That was exactly why Kevin remembered this plot point so clearly.

Wolverine and his companions had to pass through the casino. Kevin remembered this, so if he searched all the nearby casinos before tomorrow evening, he would be able to find them.

Perhaps Kevin's confidence infected Caliban.

Caliban also could not resist and leaned back the passenger seat, saying, "Alright, then I will rest for a while. Wake me up when we arrive... As you get older, you just want to sleep..."

He muttered something, then whispered a few more unintelligible words, and after that, silence fell.

He had literally fallen asleep.

"Sigh."

Looking at Caliban in this state, Kevin sighed.

Thinking back to the old Caliban, he had at least been a significant figure in the underground world. Thanks to his ability to locate mutants, he had gathered many of them around him, conducting related underground deals.

Even when Apocalypse appeared, he had first sought out Caliban to find the mutants Apocalypse wanted.

But now, all he could do was curl up and sleep in a car.

In fact, if Kevin had not shown up, Caliban probably would not even have had the chance to sleep here; he would have simply lain in a cold car and eventually died alongside his enemies.

Caliban was like this, and Professor X and Wolverine were the same.

The dignified Professor X was actually suffering from Alzheimer's disease; the world's greatest mind was afflicted by an illness where he remembered no one.

Wolverine had also aged, sometimes his adamantium claws would not even extend, and what used to be a passive healing ability now required active effort.

This was the twilight of the heroes.

Thinking about them, Kevin could not help but recall the Alkali corporation and his own Vought international.

In fact, Kevin's future actions in The Boys universe were similar to what the Alkali corporation had done. First, by analyzing Compound V, he could develop a genetic agent capable of removing Compound V from the bloodstream, and then distribute these agents worldwide, causing supes to gradually lose their powers.

In the end, only a limited number of supes would remain to work for Kevin, becoming the heroes who guarded The Boys universe.

This was Kevin's plan, and before this, he did not think there was anything wrong with it. But now, having entered Wolverine's world and seeing the aging heroes, Kevin felt that his actions were no different from those of the Alkali corporation.

Kevin pondered this difficult subject, his thoughts gradually drifting away. He was so lost in thought that he almost missed the highway exit.

Setting aside the problems of The Boys universe for a moment, Kevin opened the map to find nearby casinos.

But to Kevin's great surprise, there was more than one casino in this city.

Because of this, Kevin could not help but rub his forehead.

'Looks like I will be busy tonight.'

This time, Caliban slept more peacefully.

Mainly because the mysterious mutant did not wake him up all night. But when he woke up, he found that he was no longer in the car, but in a hotel room.

Sitting up in bed, he turned his head to look at the window, which was completely covered by curtains.

Faint rays of sunlight peeked through the gaps in the curtains, falling onto the patterned carpet. Judging by the sunlight, it was already the morning of the next day, but he did not know where he was.

"Oh, you're awake?"

The very moment Caliban made this judgment, he heard the mutant's voice coming from the bathroom.

He looked up and saw Kevin sticking his head out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth, telling him, "I noticed you were sleeping very soundly, so I didn't wake you up. This is Harrah's Casino in Oklahoma City. Later, you can help me determine if Wolverine and his companions are here."

"I spent the whole night searching the other two casinos, and no one there saw an old man in a wheelchair. Now this is the only place left. If they aren't here either, then maybe we will have to look somewhere else."

"You didn't sleep all night?"

"Is there a problem?"

"No, I just thought how great it is to be young," Caliban said, sighing slightly.

The older he got, the more exhausted his body became. Kevin had not slept all night and felt rested, while Caliban had slept the whole night but still experienced aches and pains.

It was at this moment that Caliban truly felt old.

However, Caliban only sighed. He said nothing more, but closed his eyes to sense the presence of mutants nearby.

After a short while, Caliban opened his eyes, smiled, and said, "You are incredibly lucky; they are indeed here."

"Oh? On which floor?"

Caliban looked up.

"Probably... three or four floors up?"

The closer the mutant was, the more accurately Caliban could sense them. Now he could determine the approximate location of Wolverine and his companions, rather than just a general direction.

However, after saying this, Caliban frowned again and said, "But it seems there are only two mutants upstairs... Wolverine does not seem to be here."

"He probably went out to buy food. It's almost noon now," Kevin casually replied, walking out of the bathroom in his jacket. "I will go upstairs to check. If you want something to eat, go to the restaurant downstairs. If you don't want to go out, call room service. I will come back for you when I find Wolverine and his companions."

"Alright, and I also..."

Caliban was about to say something, probably something along the lines of 'I'm hungry too.'

But suddenly he froze on the bed, his body perfectly still, his movements constrained, as if time had stopped.

Kevin looked at him, meeting Caliban's gaze.

His eyes moved slightly, proving that at this moment he was still conscious, but unable to control his body.

"... Is Professor X having a seizure?"

Kevin asked Caliban an obvious rhetorical question. Caliban, already immobilized by Professor X's abilities, could only roll his eyes, which served as his answer to the question.

Ever since Professor X was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, his abilities periodically spun out of control if they were not suppressed by medication.

In an uncontrolled state, he would indiscriminately attack everything around him using his abilities, forcing an opponent to freeze in place and endure the invasion of his mental vortex.

The reason Kevin possessed immunity was that ever since he learned this world was the X-Men universe, he had feared Professor X would read his mind, so he had always used [Attachment (Defense)] to strengthen his mental defenses.

Professor X, whose abilities had deteriorated so much, produced jumbled thoughts that would not affect Kevin.

But, except for Kevin, everyone else in this casino was probably already immobilized by Professor X's abilities.

If this issue was not resolved quickly, by the time Professor X recovered, it was highly likely that everyone in this casino, except for Kevin, Wolverine, and X-23, would be killed by Professor X.

The situation was critical, and there was no time for idle chatter. Kevin quickly left the room and ran upstairs.

Initially, Caliban had said that Professor X was on the third or fourth floor, and Kevin was not sure how to find him.

Now that Professor X was having a seizure, with the help of the Deep sea heart, Kevin vaguely sensed the source of his psychic abilities.

Following the source of this ability, Kevin was able to pinpoint Professor X's exact location.

Counting three floors up from Kevin's current floor, that would be Professor X's floor.

Convinced of the correct location, Kevin ran upstairs without stopping. Upon seeing Wolverine struggling to get into a certain room in the corridor of the target floor, he confirmed his premonition was correct.

Without greeting Wolverine, Kevin ran to the door of one of the rooms, right before the shocked man's eyes.

The door was locked, and Kevin had no time to pick it open. He kicked the door down.

Behind the door, the figure of Professor X sitting in a wheelchair appeared before Kevin.

In Kevin's line of sight, a little girl next to Professor X also appeared, holding an injection needle in her hands and lying on the ground.

This was Laura Kinney, the bearer of the title X-23.