Link Town was not far from Nevada, and by mid-afternoon, the group had already entered Nevada.
Logan drove to Victor's apartment and parked at the entrance.
"A big city," murmured Caliban, practically glued to the window, contemplating the skyscrapers of Las Vegas.
The city bustled with skyscrapers and traffic, the afternoon breeze seemed to bring the scent of money, but this very scene was deeply disconcerting to him.
"Las Vegas, it's still the same as I remember," murmured Charles, while his pupils reflected the casino signs, whose slogans gave the impression that entering a casino would make you a multimillionaire.
"I'm going to look for Victor. Wait for me in the car, don't go out," Logan said, turning to leave.
But Laura, in the passenger seat, patted him on the arm with eyes full of hope, pointing to a paper.
The paper contained an address: "Eden—North Dakota—48.97033N, 102.155491".
Seeing the address, even marked with latitude and longitude, Logan nodded. He understood what Laura meant; the girl wanted to go to the place where she could meet her friends as soon as possible.
"Don't worry, since I promised Gabriella, I will certainly take you, but not now. Give me a few days; I need to see your uncle now."
Logan ruffled Laura's hair, reassuring her gently.
Laura put the paper away, nodded obediently, and then continued looking out the window, observing the bustle of the city with curiosity.
Having grown up in the laboratory, she felt a great curiosity about everything around her.
Logan got out of the car and ran to Victor's apartment.
The apartment was still as ruinous as before. He knocked on the door, but after waiting a while, no one responded. Logan couldn't help but knock harder, making the door frame vibrate.
Click.
The door next door opened, but it wasn't Victor's; it was his African American neighbor's.
The neighbor poked his head out impatiently and said: "What are you looking for? What do you want!"
Logan asked quickly: "Where has Victor gone?"
The neighbor responded with annoyance: "God knows if they've already thrown him into the sea to feed the sharks!"
Hearing this, Logan's gaze turned cold instantly.
The black man visibly panicked upon realizing Logan's formidable appearance, and his attitude softened quickly. He hurried to say: "He might have gotten into trouble. They took him away a few days ago and he hasn't come back yet."
Logan was startled and asked quickly again: "Who took him?"
"Brother, you can't expect me to know everyone in Las Vegas."
The black man gestured with his chin, paused, and then, as if remembering something, added: "By the way, I think I saw the people who took your friend in a casino. They fought, threw a lot of plates and made a ruckus. By the time I went out to check, they were already gone. Your friend probably owes a gambling debt to the casino, but it's been so many days. They've probably already sold him to some suspicious establishment. Even if you pay the ransom, you probably won't be able to get him back."
With that said, the black man turned around quickly and slammed the door.
Logan took a look at Victor's door and noticed a thin layer of dust on the knob, which indicated that it had not been touched in several days.
Remembering the black man's words, Logan frowned, went down to his car, briefly told Charles the situation, and took the group to a nearby hotel for them to stay temporarily.
Then he returned to his car, considering the possibility that Victor's forces were gone.
He had to find Victor; after all, Victor was his only relative in this world. After so many deaths, he didn't want his last relative to die at all.
At dusk.
Logan parked his car in front of a casino, turned off the engine and lights, sat inside smoking, and stared at the casino through the smoke.
As night fell, the casino was at its busiest point, with customers arriving from all over, clinging to their gambling funds, dreaming of getting rich overnight. Crossing the casino doors, the dazzling neon lights gave them the illusion of reaching the peak of life.
The owner of the casino was Notland, Victor's boss. At that moment, the lights were on in his office on the second floor, and from time to time shadows were seen between the curtains.
Logan observed the office. If there was someone most likely to have taken Victor, even if it wasn't Notland, it was certainly someone who knew.
But Logan had no intention of entering to interrogate him directly; it would be foolish.
After all, the casino's security was not to be underestimated. If they discovered that he was pressuring their boss, a conflict was inevitable, which might not save Victor and, instead, attract Dr. Rice or S.H.I.E.L.D.
Right now, he shouldn't cause a big ruckus.
While the cigarettes became butts, the night grew deeper and the lights on the second floor finally went out.
Logan put out the cigarette with his head down and made his way through the crowd, circling the room to the back door. He climbed up the drainpipe to the second floor and entered the hallway.
Downstairs, music filled the air and gamblers shouted like crazy, but the second floor was in silence; the soundproof building prevented any noise from entering.
Logan crept up to the door of Notland's office, pressed his ear to it and listened carefully to the sounds inside.
After confirming that not a single breath could be heard, Logan pushed the door and entered.
The room was unusually dark; thick curtains blocked the passage of outside light. A normal person would probably be completely lost in the darkness.
Luckily, Logan saw much better in the dark than in daylight.
He went straight to Notland's desk.
It was evident that Mr. Notland had had problems recently; the ashtray was overflowing with cigarette butts, several empty bottles of red wine lay on the desk, and several documents were scattered randomly: financial reports and tax rates of various casinos.
Logan was not interested in whether he was evading taxes. He opened a drawer carefully, searching slowly for some clue about Victor.
After searching for a while, Logan found a report at the bottom of the drawer: a debt notice indicating that Notland owed fifty million dollars. Such a large debt meant that even selling all his casinos would not be enough to settle it.
Logan carefully examined the documents and understood that the debt came from a loss Notland suffered in an investment project. If it was not paid in a month, the wealthy businessman would be bankrupt.
"This is useless?"
He was not interested in whether the businessman was bankrupt or not; however, another document underneath caught his attention instantly.
It was titled "Cross Auction", probably just a simple official auction announcement. What really caught Logan's attention was the content that indicated the object of the auction: "mutants".