Karl Family

On the outskirts of New York, near the border of Queens, far from the bustle of the big city, the area had traded it for ample comfort and tranquility.

Surrounded by lush forest, a grand Western-style manor built in an earlier era stood in a cleared open space, casting faint slanted shadows beneath the afternoon sun.

A helicopter flew directly from Washington to hover above the manor. Its roaring rotors whipped up sand and fallen leaves as it slowly descended into the clearing before the estate. Such a commotion had naturally drawn the attention of those inside long ago.

The cabin door opened. Just as Kyle stepped down from the rear seat with Yutong, a beautiful female figure rushed out from the manor entrance with a cry of surprise and eagerly threw herself into his arms.

"Kyle, you’re finally back."

"Lucy." Kyle smiled. A rare warmth appeared on his handsome face as he inhaled the scent of her golden hair and wrapped his arm around her delicate body.

Looking ahead, Logan, dressed in denim, was standing at the manor entrance. Leaning against the steps of the multi-story building, he smiled as he lit a cigarette.

"Howard, I’m home. Want to come in and sit for a while?" Kyle turned back and called to Howard in the helicopter’s pilot seat.

Howard smiled and politely declined. "You’ve just returned. Spend some time resting with your family. I’ll come find you again in a few days."

"No problem." Kyle nodded. There were too many things he and Howard planned to do, and none of them needed to be rushed.

What mattered now was seeing how well Logan had completed his test assignment.

With one arm around Lucy’s slender waist, Kyle waved for Yutong to follow with the other. As they approached the manor building, Logan averted his gaze and, surprisingly, nervously stubbed out his cigarette before heading inside ahead of them.

Hmm? What was wrong with Logan…

Kyle was secretly puzzled, but he quickly understood what had happened.

Inside the manor’s main building, understated yet luxurious antique chandeliers illuminated the room. It was fully furnished, with more than a dozen rooms of various sizes.

Three girls around fourteen years old, dressed in servant uniforms, were cleaning. Seeing Logan walk in first, followed by Lucy holding Kyle’s arm and Yutong, they were about to greet and bow to Logan as the manor’s owner.

"Wait. He’s the true owner here." Logan stopped them coldly. He gestured toward Kyle and spoke in a deep voice.

The three girls froze, then looked at Kyle timidly. Reacting quickly, they lowered their heads and bowed. "H-hello, Patriarch."

"Hello." Kyle nodded with a smile. Then, as if noticing something in surprise, he turned his gaze toward a room from which the faint sounds of many young children could be heard.

Lucy smiled and led Kyle toward the doorway. The room had actually been furnished as a separate classroom, complete with a podium, blackboard, and desks. A man in sunglasses was teaching a security class, while more than thirty children around eight years old listened attentively below.

Logan stepped forward and said helplessly, "Boss, I’ll explain this to you."

"Take your time. I’m very curious. Back then, when I told you to adopt ten children, you kept trying to shirk the task. Now you’ve actually taken the initiative to exceed the quota." Kyle blinked, somewhat astonished. How had Logan switched careers so quickly?

Uncle Wolf, where had your pride as a combatant gone? You’d really become nanny material?

On the second floor of the manor was the owner’s conference room.

Kyle and Lucy sat together on a large sofa with Yutong, while Logan sat alone across from them and began reporting on the mission.

In short, Logan had originally followed the mission plan. He bribed the director of an orphanage and prepared to adopt ten children. But then he discovered signs that the staff were abusing the children. Unable to hold himself back, he acted, accidentally killed the staff, and even tore down more than half the orphanage in the process.

With the orphanage gone, Logan had taken it upon himself to bring most of the children from there back to the manor and adopt them all.

There were thirty-two children between eight and ten years old, whom he had listed as children suitable for instruction and training. The remaining eight children, all over ten, had been assigned to handle the manor’s daily chores.

"They’re war orphans. Though they’re young, they’re all very sensible and obedient. The children over ten don’t meet the age requirements of the mission, but they’re well suited to replace the manor’s regular household staff." Logan explained with slight embarrassment. No matter what, he had still violated the mission conditions.

"I have no objections. You can’t exactly say you did anything wrong." Kyle nodded. Forty children was neither too many nor too few—just enough to form the foundation of a family power.

After a pause, he looked directly at Logan and smiled. "Besides, there’s something that makes me very happy: you’ve finally been able to let down some of your excessive guard and are willing to accept and trust other people."

Lucy smiled as well and chimed in, "Exactly. Uncle Logan is very popular with the children here."

Logan awkwardly rubbed his nose. During this time, surrounded by those children, he had indeed experienced another kind of life.

"Back to the point." Kyle spoke after some thought, asking bluntly, "Logan, what do you think I intend to do by having you adopt so many orphans?"

"The Karl family. Cultivating talent." Logan’s response was concise and forceful.

"Correct. My vision for the future Karl family is a private organization with extraordinary power, independent from the world. It will not be responsible for Earth’s crises, and it will act only on my orders." Kyle spoke confidently.

Why choose orphaned children? Because he possessed the ability to grant cards—Ability Cards of blue quality or above could only be granted one per person—so whether his subordinates had talent or ability was unimportant. What mattered most was loyalty!

Children were easy to indoctrinate when raised from a young age, allowing them to develop dependence on and trust in the family, then sincerely protect it and carry out its orders.

Otherwise, even organizations as powerful as the future S.H.I.E.L.D. and Kamar-Taj would nearly be destroyed and almost fall apart because of betrayal from within.

"But there’s one thing you got wrong. What I’m cultivating isn’t talent, but ‘heroes.’" Kyle added. By heroes, he meant the basic abilities and qualities of heroes.

Heroes in Marvel all needed talents and abilities beyond those of ordinary people. That was common knowledge.

In his plans for the future, even the lowest-ranking members of the Karl family would need combat power at least on the level of Black Widow or Hawkeye.

Otherwise, they were unworthy of calling themselves members of the Karl family.

"Once the children downstairs have grown up and completed their test assignments, only those who qualify can reside long-term in the family’s overseas territory. Even then, they’ll only be the lowest-ranking card disciples of the Karl family. The few of you here are the Karl family’s core members." Kyle’s gaze fell in turn upon Lucy, Logan, and Yutong.

There was no need to mention Lucy. She was his fiancée. Even if she were an ordinary person without any strength, her status would still surpass everyone else’s.

Logan and Yutong were both genetic mutants, naturally possessing rare blue abilities. If they drew and received suitable Ability Cards in the future, they would undoubtedly become the backbone of the family’s power.

A full roster of heroes—that was the Karl family!