"Professor, why is this happening?"
Caliban looked at Logan curiously, even feeling a pang of envy at his changes; everyone wished to be younger.
"Perhaps the Healing Factor has adapted to the suppressor," Charles guessed, looking at Logan.
Without diagnostic equipment, he didn't know the cause of Logan's changes. After a pause, Charles suddenly became serious and warned:
"But whatever it is, you must be careful from now on. Never let anyone know about the changes in your X-gene."
A change in the X-gene, especially in the famous Wolverine, was explosive news for any laboratory researching the X-gene. If word got out, the pursuit awaiting them would be one hundred times worse.
Logan nodded.
He understood this, which is why he only used his Heat Vision as a last resort.
After the conversation, Logan looked out the window.
It was already night, and outside was completely dark, with stars scattering their light across the night sky.
He took his change of clothes and went to the bathroom; he needed a shower.
Several days of travel had left him covered in sweat, and his sticky body made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
But as soon as he turned on the shower, not a drop of water came out.
Logan patted the pipe, but it was in vain.
"Looks like the water is cut off."
He frowned and walked out of the bathroom. Just as he finished speaking, there was a sudden knock at the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
The men instantly turned and stared at the door; Caliban even drew his pistol.
Their journey was far from over; hundreds of people could be searching for them. Everything had to be done with extreme caution.
Logan walked to the door and cautiously looked through the peephole. Seeing only a middle-aged man, he opened it with a sigh of relief.
"Hello, sir, my name is Jack, I'm the innkeeper's son," Jack introduced himself with a smile as the door opened.
Logan looked at Jack, frowned, and asked: "What's wrong?"
Jack smiled awkwardly and said: "I'm so sorry, there's a problem with the inn's pipes, and the entire inn is temporarily without water. The inn staff should be taking care of this, but my father has problems with his legs. You know, older people often have discomfort in their legs, and working is very uncomfortable for him. But I need someone to help me. I wonder if you would be willing to help me, sir."
After a pause, Jack added: "It doesn't have to be very difficult. We just have to walk a few miles to replace a small section of the pipe. It will only take half an hour."
Logan thought for a moment and nodded.
After all, he had finally secured a night to rest during his entire escape, and he didn't want to spend this precious night without water for a shower.
Jack nodded gratefully. "Then, let's go. Thank you for your help."
After saying that, the two went downstairs, collected their hunting rifles and toolboxes, and ventured into the night, passing through a grove of trees.
"Are you traveling?" Jack asked, tilting his head while turning on his flashlight.
"Mmm."
Logan looked at the dense woods around them and continued naturally: "My name is James. My father's lifelong wish was to see the North. Before he passed away, I decided to fulfill his wish. My brother and daughter are traveling with me."
"I envy you," Jack said with a smile, and then sighed with a hint of regret in his voice. "I want to travel too, but there are too many things to do at home."
"You can find time," Logan said, shrugging and chuckling.
"We don't have time," Jack said helplessly. "My family has lived here for generations, managing an inn for over twenty years. My mother passed away years ago, my father has difficulty walking, and my son and daughter are quite demanding. My wife and I have been exhausted these past few years."
Logan paused briefly, looking at Jack with a touch of melancholy. This was the life he yearned for, not the life of a fugitive guiding a group of people on a journey across the country.
With a sigh, Logan smiled ironically: "Sometimes a happy family is more important than any beautiful scenery. I'm sure many people envy your life right now."
Jack smiled.
Bang!
However, just as he finished speaking, a dull thump sounded beside them, accompanied by an animal's cry.
"Oh, no!" Jack exclaimed in alarm, quickly pulling Logan down to crouch, turning off the flashlight, and hiding behind a tree. He put a finger to his lips, signaling Logan to be quiet, and whispered: "It's a wild boar."
"A wild boar?" Logan asked, somewhat surprised.
Jack nodded. "Wild boars are common around here. They always like to break into the town, smashing storefronts and even injuring people, causing headaches for the residents. Someone organized a hunting season and the number of wild boars decreased a bit, but they still appear frequently. They are extremely aggressive; being attacked by them is never good news."
As he spoke, Jack raised his shotgun, alert to any movement around them. After waiting for a long time and confirming there was no more activity, he stood up and said: "It seems they got away. Let's go!"
Logan nodded and followed Jack.
Their destination was the control room in the forest, the place where the water from the main pipe was distributed to each home.
As soon as they arrived, Logan noticed the broken pipe, with water gushing out and splashing, forming streams on the ground.
Seeing this, Jack ran into the control room and turned off the water valve, finally stopping the flow.
Looking at the damaged pipe, Jack sighed: "This should be the government's job, but the Link Town government never repairs the water supplies. Those guys only collect taxes. Even if we go to the officials, it's useless; they just find ways to ridicule us."
With that, Jack knelt down, opened his toolbox, and asked Logan to help him remove the broken pipe and replace it with a new one.
"To keep the town's water supply running smoothly, the sheriff and I usually have to repair these pipes, sometimes even in the middle of the night," Jack complained while installing the new pipe. "Damn it, if the government doesn't take care of this, I guess we'll have to go out of business!"
With that, the pipe was reassembled, Jack reopened the valve, and the newly installed pipe worked normally, with water flowing back to the town.
"Perfect!"
Jack looked at the repaired pipe with satisfaction, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Bang!
But he had barely spoken when a wild boar suddenly burst out of the night from the trees. The boar looked enormous; its imposing body resembled a water tank, and its black coat almost completely hid it in the darkness.
The wild boar lunged at Jack, thrashing its snout.
Startled by the noise in the dark, Jack stumbled and fell to the ground, panicked.
Given the boar's speed and size, a collision would undoubtedly injure him seriously!
Watching the boar charge, Jack was terrified, with no time to react, his eyes wide with shock.
Just as the wild boar was about to hit Jack, Logan suddenly threw a kick. A deep, guttural roar resonated from the boar, its abdomen sank, and its 70-kilogram body flew through the air, completing a perfect parabola before crashing to the ground.