Marvel: Empire of Power-Chapter 76: Rebirth and Retribution, a Shadow War’s New Phase

Logan awoke with a soundless scream trapped in his throat, his mind a maelstrom of fragmented, agonizing memories – the crushing weight of Festung Niemals, the searing pain of exotic radiation, the chilling touch of a death that had felt absolute and final. Yet, he was alive. More than alive. He felt... raw, scoured clean, his senses hyper-acute but somehow less chaotic than before. His adamantium skeleton felt whole, imbued with a strange, almost vital warmth. His healing factor, once a raging inferno fighting a losing battle, was now a calm, steady, incredibly potent thrum beneath his skin. He was whole. Stronger, somehow, than before.

He found himself in a sterile, minimalist medical bay. Elias Thorne was there, watching him with those unnervingly calm, ancient eyes that seemed to hold the weight of centuries despite the youth of their owner.

"Welcome back, Logan," Elias said, his voice devoid of surprise, tinged only with a faint, almost imperceptible weariness.

Logan sat up, his movements stiff at first, then fluid as his body remembered its strength. He looked at his hands, flexed his claws – snikt – still perfect, still adamantium. "What... what the hell happened, kid? Last I remember, I was kissing a mountain goodbye from the inside out."

"You were," Elias confirmed. "Festung Niemals collapsed. You, Miller, and O'Malley were caught in its demise. The Red Skull and the Fenris Twins were also... presumed neutralized." He paused. "O'Malley managed to send a final transmission. Miller was critically wounded but alive. You... were not."

Logan's eyes narrowed. "Then how...?"

"The System I command, Logan, has... resources. And you are a resource I was unwilling to lose." Elias didn't elaborate on the Prime Essence infusion, the direct channeling of his own life force. He simply stated the outcome. "Miller is also recovered. Transformed, as you are likely sensing, but alive and... loyal." He met Logan's gaze. "Your bond with me, with the System, has deepened. You will find our connection... more profound. More intuitive."

Logan felt it then, a subtle, undeniable link to Elias, stronger than before, less a tether and more a resonant cord, humming with shared power and a strange, almost pack-like understanding. His loyalty, which had been shattered by the near-death experience, now flared anew, reformed and tempered by the miracle of his resurrection, reaching an unprecedented [98% (Indebted to an Unfathomable Degree; Primal Bond with Host as Alpha/Savior Transcends Rational Distrust; Feral Core Acknowledges Superior Will/Power)]. He still didn't like the kid, not entirely. But he owed him everything. And some deeply buried part of him, the part that had known nothing but pain and betrayal for centuries, recognized a power, a control, in Elias that was both terrifying and, perversely, reassuring.

"So, I'm your Lazarus, huh?" Logan grunted, testing his newly restored strength, a predatory grin touching his lips. "What's the catch?"

"The catch, Logan," Elias said, "is that the war continues. Hydra is still a threat, even without Schmidt's immediate leadership. Baron Strucker is alive, wounded, but likely consolidating power. Miller is in their hands. And now, we have a new complication."

Elias outlined the events that had transpired during Logan's "absence": Miller's capture, the creation of the Project Legionnaire template (though not its successful implementation yet, as he only had [2.0 Prime Essence Shards] remaining after Logan's revival), the rise of Captain America, the growing Soviet superhuman threat, and the Pacific operations of Thomas MacIntyre's Feral Striker pack, now designated "Adamantium Guard – Alpha Squad."

Logan listened, his expression grim. Miller, captured. That rankled. The corporal had become a strange, silent reflection of his own savagery, a comrade forged in the crucible of the Carpathians.

"Miller needs to come home," Logan stated, his voice flat, his meaning clear.

"Agreed," Elias said. "Krankenhaus X in Poland. Hydra bio-research. Your Feral Striker 'packmates' under Thomas, along with Namor's Atlanteans, have already neutralized its coastal access and are preparing for the main assault. You, however, have a more... nuanced role to play."

Elias's plan for Logan was audacious. While the Feral Strikers and Atlanteans created a massive, overt diversion, attacking Krankenhaus X from its subterranean canal access points, Logan – now with his healing factor fully restored and perhaps even subtly enhanced by the Prime Essence infusion – would make a solo, high-altitude, low-opening (HALO) insertion directly above the facility. His target: not just Miller, but any high-value Hydra scientists (like the captured Dr. Ilsa Haupman, who was still being debriefed by Thomas's team after her capture at the U-boat pen disaster, revealing crucial details about Krankenhaus X's internal defenses), advanced research data, and specifically, any remaining samples or development notes related to the "Fleischpanzer" bio-mechanical abominations. If he could also locate and neutralize Baron Strucker, who was rumored to be recuperating or overseeing operations from a heavily fortified command bunker within Krankenhaus X itself, that would be a strategic decapitation of immense value. freeweɓnøvel.com

"You will be a ghost in their machine, Logan," Elias explained. "While they focus on the assault from below, you strike from above, cripple their command, rescue Miller, and secure their darkest secrets. O'Malley, who also miraculously survived Festung Niemals and made his own escape, is already en route to a neutral airbase to prep your insertion craft. He's... quite motivated to assist in Miller's recovery." (O'Malley's loyalty was now absolute, bordering on terrified worship after witnessing both the horrors of Hydra and Elias's ability to snatch Logan from death's door).

Logan just nodded, a predatory light in his eyes. This was his kind of mission: impossible odds, a high-value target, and a chance to unleash his full fury.

The System confirmed: [LOGAN (WOLVERINE) – OPERATIONAL STATUS: FULLY RESTORED (HEALING FACTOR OPTIMAL – ENHANCED BY PRIME ESSENCE RESIDUE). NEW ABILITIES (FROM HOST'S INFUSION/BOND): MINOR PSIONIC STATIC DISRUPTION (CAN TEMPORARILY CONFUSE WEAK MINDS/SIMPLE ELECTRONICS IN CLOSE PROXIMITY DURING RAGE STATE); ENHANCED EMPATHIC SENSE FOR SUFFERING/DECEIT. READY FOR DEPLOYMENT.]

He was more than ready. He was reborn, and he was hungry for retribution.

While Logan prepared for his Polish assignment, Elias turned his attention back to Project Legionnaire. With [2.0 Prime Essence Shards], he couldn't create a full Legionnaire unit yet. But he could begin the next phase: selecting and preparing the first candidates from Thomas's handpicked Thorne's Guard veterans. This involved intensive physical and psychological conditioning, overseen by Thomas, Finch (who developed advanced mental aptitude tests), and Anya (who screened for loyalty and potential psionic weaknesses). The men chosen were unaware of the ultimate transformation awaiting them, believing they were being groomed for an "elite special operations unit." Their dedication was absolute.

Dr. Finch also made a breakthrough with Erskine's serum. While full, stable replication was still impossible without Vita-Radiation, he had managed to synthesize a counter-agent to the unstable "Serum Berserker." This counter-agent, if administered swiftly, could halt the psychotic break and cellular degradation, albeit leaving the subject permanently weakened and often psychologically scarred. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it made Serum Berserker a slightly less suicidal option, a "rage induction" tool that could now, theoretically, be reversed, turning temporary monsters back into manageable, if damaged, assets. Elias filed this away; it was a dark tool for a darker day.

Anya's intelligence from Washington continued to be invaluable. Captain America was rapidly becoming a living legend, his exploits against Hydra in North Africa and now Italy inspiring Allied troops. But the internal OSS tensions over "Project Rebirth" were also escalating. A faction led by a ruthless, ambitious senator named Brandt, with ties to certain industrialists, was pushing for more aggressive, less ethically constrained methods to replicate the Super-Soldier effect, even if it meant... "appropriating" Dr. Erskine's research from other nations, or even "retrieving" Captain America himself for intensive study. Brandt was becoming a problem, a potential threat to Elias's own plans for the serum. Anya began to discreetly investigate him, looking for leverage.

The global shadow war was entering a new, more ferocious phase. Elias Thorne, armed with a resurrected Wolverine, a developing Legionnaire program, an Atlantean alliance, and the secrets of both Erskine's genius and Hydra's depravity, was no longer just reacting to events. He was shaping them, his influence spreading like an unseen web. The board was set for his most audacious moves yet. The rebirth of his deadliest asset was complete; now came the retribution. And the world would soon learn the true extent of the quiet Canadian landlord's terrifying ambition.