Logan couldn't help but wonder why Charles trusted a stranger he had just met so much. However, Ethan finally understood why Charles had no fear of anyone plotting against his mental power.
Now that Charles was free from the limitations of his physical body, he could do far more than he ever could in his weakened state.
Even without actively using his mental abilities to probe, he could still sense whether Ethan harbored malice or goodwill toward him. At the same time, his spiritual body had been drawn out of his physical form but was not entirely severed. For now, Charles retained his human consciousness, his emotions and personality remained intact. And without the burden of his body, his psychic power could be unleashed to its full, terrifying potential.
If Ethan had any ill intentions, Professor Charles could easily kill him at this moment.
In the end, Charles' trust stemmed from his absolute confidence in his own strength.
"What a sly old man."
Having lived for decades, Charles was far from naïve. There was no way he would be completely unguarded or fail to make any precautions. It was only now, after being entirely certain of Ethan's goodwill, that he fully cooperated—completing the separation of his mental body from his physical form.
"I will leave my emotions and most of my memories within my body so that you may obtain pure psychic power, along with all my knowledge and insights into the crises that mutants may face in the future."
Charles' voice echoed directly in Ethan and Logan's minds. Now that he had nearly returned to his peak strength, he easily established a psychic link for effortless communication.
"Professor, have you really given up on continuing to live? You could personally travel to the other world and guide another version of yourself."
"There's nothing I need to guide. My own approach has already proven unsuccessful. I only hope to leave another me with a reference, something that might help him avoid the mistakes I made."
He refused to preserve most of his memories. His psychic power was simply too overwhelming, if he retained clear memories, whoever received his mental energy would be consumed by his identity and ultimately become another version of him.
Charles was doing everything he could to erase his mental imprint, ensuring that his successor could inherit his legacy without being influenced by his own personality.
Ethan retrieved a box from his storage space. He often carried one or two of these containers in case he needed to store high-energy objects or pure energy sources.
Of course, the intense spiritual essence of Charles wasn't an issue, though it required some additional modifications—nothing too difficult for Ethan in his current state.
"It's time to say goodbye, Logan."
Charles turned to his old friend. "Thank you for your care and companionship all these years."
His body could no longer hold on. As he initiated the final division, he was essentially signing his own death warrant. Once the separation was complete, Professor Charles would be dead in the conventional sense. And because his spiritual body was being split apart, his memories and knowledge extracted, his soul would be left fragmented and incomplete, making even resurrection nearly impossible.
Just before the final severance, Charles left Logan with his last words:
"That child… I hope you can find her and take good care of her..."
As Ethan's hands came to a stop, Charles' mental body and physical form became two completely separate entities. The once-emotional spiritual body suddenly turned indifferent. Now devoid of expressions or sentiment, it calmly gazed at Ethan and Logan before being sealed inside the small box without resistance.
With his body abandoned and his emotions cast aside, what remained was a pure psychic entity—containing most of Charles' knowledge and a portion of his memories. It could no longer be called Charles in any sense, but rather a precious inheritance left behind by him.
Having lost these core aspects of himself, Charles had effectively destroyed his own soul. Though his body was not yet dead, it was only a matter of time. For now, he was little more than a vegetative shell, one that would never wake again until his life fully faded away.
Logan wiped his face and forced himself to stay composed, but Ethan could see the tremor in his hands.
He didn't offer any words of comfort. He wasn't a mutant, nor had he been a lifelong friend of Charles—he couldn't fully understand what Logan was feeling. Any attempt to console him now would sound insincere. Instead, he simply stored the box containing Charles' psychic inheritance into his storage space.
At that moment, Logan gently pulled a quilt over Charles. He knew this was merely Charles' lifeless shell. Though the body still breathed, Charles was already gone.
Once he finished, Logan turned and saw Ethan putting away the professor's legacy. Out of habit, he asked:
"Is it safe?"
Ethan was momentarily stunned before realizing what Logan meant.
"At present, there should be no safer place to store the professor's spiritual body."
Logan nodded. His expression was completely different from before, no longer the look of someone who had seen through everything and was simply waiting to die. Instead, he once again carried the unyielding spirit of the man who refused to be killed, the one always full of energy—Wolverine.
"You said you had a way to cure me. How long will it take?"
Ethan glanced at Logan's face, still marked by age, fatigue, and weakness, but what truly caught his attention were his eyes. They were completely different from before.
Even if he hadn't done much, at least he had stopped Wolverine from simply waiting for death.
"Soon."
And it really would be soon.
Ethan simply gave Logan a mouthful of the Fountain of Life and used the healing magic circle he had used on Tony in the past. Combined with Logan's own self-healing factor, his recovery would be swift.
In fact, it took even less time than extracting Professor Charles' spiritual body. Within an hour, Logan saw that his body had fully healed. The scars that had never completely faded were now gone.
His blurred vision had cleared, and his long-dulled sense of smell had returned.
He never imagined that just drinking a sip of ordinary-looking water and standing in that magic circle for an hour would actually restore him.
However, Ethan wasn't completely satisfied. Looking at Logan's graying beard and temples, he had originally thought he could restore him to his peak.
"It seems the Fountain of Life isn't omnipotent."
He had long known that vitality and lifespan were not the same. Logan's deteriorating condition over the years had taken its toll on him—though, given his regenerative abilities, his outward aging might be more closely tied to his mental state.
After all, he had lived for nearly two centuries, witnessing and experiencing far too much. The past few decades had exhausted him completely, and his mental aging had inevitably affected his appearance. It wasn't surprising.
Ethan himself was proof of this. His mental state had been improving over time, which had, in turn, influenced his body. Not only had his physical condition strengthened, but his appearance had also been affected, his current face was an optimized blend of both his past and present lives.
Logan, unaware of Ethan's thoughts, noticed the way he kept staring at his face. Confused, he grabbed a nearby mirror.
Looking at his reflection, he saw that while his temples and beard were still streaked with gray, they had improved significantly. Even the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes had faded considerably.
"Your treatment can make me younger too?"
He frowned slightly, misinterpreting Ethan's expression—assuming the man was disappointed that he hadn't miraculously turned young again.
"No, I just didn't expect you to recover only this much. I thought you'd be fully restored to your prime."
Ethan pulled a cigar from his storage space.
"Celebrate your new life, Logan."
Unlike Ethan, Logan was a true smoker. His love for cigars had remained unwavering for centuries. It was only in recent years, when his body had been failing and money was tight, that he had turned to alcohol instead—to numb the constant pain.
Bringing the cigar to his nose, Logan took a slow sniff. His enhanced sense of smell immediately told him that this was no ordinary cigar—it was infused with something. However, he couldn't quite determine what had been added.
"Good stuff. It'll restore your strength and energy, you need one right now."
Although the Fountain of Life and the magic circle had seemingly restored Logan to a healthy state, his body wasn't completely problem-free.
The process had pushed his self-healing factor to its limits, completely depleting his body's reserves. Right now, Logan was essentially running on empty. If he were to suffer a serious injury at this moment, he wouldn't recover instantly as he usually did. Instead, he would need an extended period of rest.
For the time being, he had to take it easy and allow his body to replenish itself. Once his self-healing factor returned to normal, he would gradually regain his peak state.
Logan didn't know these details. His focus was elsewhere—what came next?
"Rest for now. Wait until your body has fully recovered... And after we bury the professor, we'll do what needs to be done."
The first part made sense to Logan. The second part, however, confused him slightly.
"I mean… getting revenge for your friends."
That, he understood.
Not long ago, he had resigned himself to death, so thoughts of vengeance never crossed his mind. He had simply been waiting to walk the final stretch of his life quietly.
But now, things were different.
His body had recovered. He had a reason to keep living again.
He had become Wolverine once more.
And Wolverine was not the kind of man to take a beating without striking back.
(To be continued.)
***
For every 200 PS = 1 extra chapter. Support me on patreon to read 30+ advanced chapters: patreon.com/Blownleaves.