Chapter 34: Echoes of Enhancement, Seeds of Destruction

The contents of Sturmbannführer Hessler's satchel painted a chilling, deeply disturbing picture. Elias, with his rapidly improving German (a side benefit of his supercharged cognitive abilities and access to Finch's linguistic expertise via coded correspondence), spent the next day meticulously translating and analyzing the documents with Vivienne Dubois and Henri, their faces growing progressively grimmer with each revelation. Logan, meanwhile, slept the deep, almost comatose sleep of a predator after a satisfying, if brutal, hunt, his body knitting itself whole from the minor injuries he'd sustained.

The "Subjekt Gamma" references were particularly unnerving. The notes described an attempt to replicate observed instances of "unusual battlefield resilience" from anecdotal reports (perhaps even twisted versions of Wolverine's own past appearances in other conflicts, Elias mused grimly). They were trying to artificially induce a healing factor and heightened aggression through a horrific cocktail of experimental drugs, crude surgical alterations, and brutal psychological conditioning. Most "subjects" – likely captured resistance fighters, political prisoners, or "undesirables" – died agonizingly. There were hints, however, of one or two showing… limited, unstable success before succumbing to catastrophic cellular breakdown or uncontrollable psychosis.

Chateau de Corbeau was clearly a cog in a much larger, more insidious Nazi program. The "Wunderwaffe Programm" designation was usually associated with advanced rocketry or jet aircraft, but these documents showed its tendrils reaching into biological and genetic manipulation.

The acquisition of the [+0.2 Prime Essence Shard Fragment] from Hessler was a pivotal discovery. Hessler himself, according to a small addendum in his personal effects (a medical report Logan had unknowingly grabbed), had been a recipient of some minor "performance-enhancing" stimulants and gene therapies as part of an officer augmentation initiative. It wasn't true empowerment in the System's sense, but it was enough of an "exotic energy signature" for the System to extract a fragment.

This meant Elias now had a pathway, however gruesome, to acquiring these vital Shards without needing to find and defeat naturally occurring Prime Conduits like Wolverine – a near-impossible task at this stage. He could target Nazi facilities involved in this human experimentation, neutralizing their work and potentially harvesting Shard echoes from their key personnel or even their failed "super-soldiers." It was a morally repugnant thought, profiting from such horror, but Elias compartmentalized it under "strategic necessity." The System's advancement, and his own power growth, were paramount if he was to counter these existential threats.

"They are trying to make monsters," Vivienne Dubois said, her voice tight with fury, her hands clenched as she stared at a particularly brutal diagram of a proposed surgical alteration. "To turn men into beasts for their mad war."

"And we, Vivienne," Elias replied, his voice calm but with an undercurrent of cold steel, "will ensure they fail. This Chateau de Corbeau… it cannot be allowed to continue its work. The information Logan has brought us is invaluable, but the facility itself is a cancer."

He knew a direct assault by the small Resistance cell, even with Logan, was too risky against a fortified SS position. But the blueprints Logan had acquired showed a critical weakness: the Chateau's primary power generator and its chemical storage bunker were located in a slightly less defended outbuilding, connected to the main lab by an underground tunnel. If that could be destroyed…

He proposed a plan: Logan, using his unparalleled infiltration skills and knowledge of the Chateau's layout from his previous visit, would plant strategically placed explosive charges (sourced from the Resistance's meager but useful supply of captured German munitions) in the generator room and the chemical stores. The resulting explosion and fire should be catastrophic, destroying the labs, the research, and hopefully, any "subjects" within. The Resistance cell, meanwhile, would create a significant diversion on the main road several kilometers away, drawing off a portion of the Chateau's garrison and any nearby German patrols.

Logan, when presented with the plan, merely grunted his assent. "More burning, less paperwork. Suits me." The prospect of causing widespread destruction at a Nazi facility seemed to resonate with his innate savagery and his deep-seated hatred for those who experimented on others – a hatred Elias was beginning to understand stemmed from Logan's own fragmented, horrifying memories. His loyalty ticked up another point: [34.5% (Destructive Purpose Validated)].

The night of the operation was thick with tension. Joe Tomah, had he been present, would have noted the unnatural stillness of the forest, the absence of animal sounds, as if the land itself held its breath. Elias remained at the Resistance hideout, coordinating via their short-range radio with Vivienne, who led the diversionary team. Anya, from a distant, high vantage point miles away (reached by a treacherous nighttime journey on a sputtering motorcycle), would provide visual confirmation of the diversion's success and the Chateau's response.

Logan, a shadow among shadows, slipped back into the grounds of Chateau de Corbeau. This time, he wasn't just a scout; he was a demolition expert, his movements precise, his intent lethal. He bypassed patrols with contemptuous ease, his enhanced senses picking out tripwires and sentry positions in the inky blackness. The SS guards, overconfident in their remote fortress, were unprepared for a phantom with adamantium claws and a profound talent for mayhem.

The diversion, when it came, was a cacophony of gunfire, small explosions (mostly repurposed farm dynamite), and a burning barricade that sent plumes of smoke into the night sky. Anya's signaled report confirmed German troop movements towards the disturbance. This was Logan's window.

He planted the charges with a grim efficiency, setting their timers for a staggered detonation designed to maximize chaos and prevent easy firefighting. He moved through the outbuildings like a ghost, leaving silent sentries in his wake where necessary, their throats slashed or necks broken before they could raise an alarm.

As he was making his final withdrawal from the tunnel connecting to the main lab, he heard it – a low, animalistic moan, filled with pain and a terrible, unnatural strength, coming from the basement level of the Chateau. The "special cells" he'd seen before. Were they no longer empty?

Curiosity, or perhaps a deeper, more primal instinct to confront something similarly afflicted, made him deviate. He found one of the reinforced cells occupied. Inside, strapped to a heavy steel gurney, was a massive, horrifically scarred man, his body wracked with tremors. Wires and tubes snaked into his flesh. Even in his tormented state, Logan could sense a faint, distorted echo of the same kind of raw, misused power he himself carried – a crude, failed attempt at creating another Wolverine. "Subjekt Gamma," or one of its successors.

The creature – for it was more creature than man now – sensed Logan. Its eyes, wild and bloodshot, fixed on him. A guttural roar tore from its throat, and it thrashed against its restraints, the steel groaning.

Logan felt a surge of revulsion, but also a strange, bitter pity. This was what they did. This was what they made.

The first of his planted charges detonated – a muffled whump from the generator room, followed by the power in the Chateau flickering and dying, plunging the basement into near-total darkness, save for the emergency lights.

Logan made a decision. He couldn't save this thing. It was too far gone, too broken. But he could end its suffering. And perhaps, deny the Nazis their prize.

With a snarl, his claws extended.

When he left the basement, the creature was silent, and the cell reeked of blood and ozone.

He was clear of the Chateau grounds, melting back into the bocage, when the main chemical storage bunker went up. The explosion was immense, a blossoming fireball that lit up the night sky for miles, followed by a series of secondary chemical detonations that ripped through the main laboratory wing. The ancient Chateau de Corbeau became an inferno.

Anya, watching from her distant post, reported the spectacular destruction with cool professionalism. Elias listened, a grim satisfaction settling within him. He had struck a significant blow against the Nazis' inhuman research, gathered vital intelligence, and further solidified his own clandestine power.

The System pulsed:

[Key Nazi Research Facility (Chateau de Corbeau) Destroyed by Associated Asset (Wolverine). Experimental "Subjekt Gamma" (Alpha-Stage Artificial Augment) Terminated by Wolverine. Significant Disruption to Wunderwaffe Programm – Biologische Kriegsführung (Biological Warfare) Section.]

[Combat Data Acquired (Wolverine – Stealth/Demolition/Close-Quarters Neutralization vs. Fortified Target & Alpha-Stage Augment). Conduit Integration +2.5%. Loyalty (Wolverine): +3% (Total: 37.5% – Mission Success & Confrontation with Mirror-Trauma). Analysis for "Feral Striker" (Tier 2) Template: Advanced Progress.]

[Prime Essence Shard Echo Acquired: +0.8 Shard Fragment (from terminated Subjekt Gamma & residual lab energies). Total Shards: 1.0/5.0 for "Feral Striker" Prototyping.]

One full shard. By destroying the Nazis' monstrous creation, Logan had unwittingly brought Elias closer to creating his own, System-guided "Feral Strikers." The irony was not lost on him. The seeds of destruction sown at Chateau de Corbeau were also, in a dark way, seeds of creation for his own growing arsenal. The war in the shadows was escalating, and Elias Thorne was learning to harvest its bitter fruit.