One punch.
One punch.
Another punch.
Standing beneath the waterfall, Hawk resisted the冲刷 of the water with his pure physical body, while steadily throwing his fists against the water's resistance.
Each time he threw a punch, the cross-section of water in contact with his fist would briefly pause for less than a moment.
But…
Not enough!
He didn't want the waterfall to pause for his fist.
He wanted the waterfall to tremble beneath his fist, or even, to flow backward.
Hawk felt his demand wasn't high.
After all, this waterfall wasn't Lushan Waterfall; if compared to Lushan Waterfall, it probably wasn't even one-tenth as majestic.
So, was this too much?
It wasn't too much.
But clearly, his idea still angered the waterfall before him.
What class are you that you want me to flow backward?
Do you think you are Aquaman Poseidon?
And even Aquaman Poseidon wouldn't do; he's Aquaman, in charge of seawater, how could he possibly control my freshwater waterfall?
So…
The waterfall raged, and under Hawk's persistent punches, the speed of the water intensified almost visibly.
Hawk felt the now furious waterfall, his expression blank.
But in his Little Universe, the fully lit phoenix constellation slowly revealed the figure of a Fire Phoenix.
He had decided.
He wouldn't leave until this waterfall flowed backward.
Although there were only a few days left until school started.
But it didn't matter.
It was still the same.
He was an orphan, so even if he didn't go to school after it started, no one would likely care about him.
But that was fine too.
No one cared about him, and he had no one to care about.
So…
The fighting spirit in Hawk's eyes burned fiercely.
"Come on!"
The waterfall was completely enraged, and the water flow, under Hawk's provocation, became even more rapid and violent again.
"Rumble!"
"…Is that thunder?"
At the very edge of Cunningham Falls Natural Preserve Park, north of Hawk's waterfall location, Gwen, who had just entered the natural preserve forest, heard the distant rumble and instinctively looked up.
But the towering primitive trees blocked the sky, with only sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves, the mottled light adding a touch of eeriness to the already serene forest.
Gwen withdrew her gaze after realizing she couldn't see the sky.
Wearing a conspicuous White windbreaker and a pair of outdoor sports shoes, Gwen took out her phone, lit up the screen, and looked at a positioning map displayed.
In her sight.
Two light dots, though far apart, were faintly visible, now able to be displayed on the same screen.
One showed Gwen's current location.
The other…
Gwen took a deep breath, clutching the trekking pole she had bought yesterday afternoon after arriving in Thurmont, she encouraged herself and resumed walking in the direction of the other light dot's location.
At first, Gwen thought Hawk's phone was just stolen and didn't pay it much mind.
After all, she was also busy with her summer job.
But the next day, after Dr. Connors suddenly asked if she had given the gift to Hawk, Gwen felt a bit strange, so she went to Hawk's new apartment again after work.
The result…
The envelope she had placed on the sofa was still quietly lying there, untouched.
For some reason, Gwen suddenly felt her heart clench at that moment.
She immediately called her father, George, hoping her father could use the New York Police Department to find Hawk.
George initially didn't pay it much mind, but seeing Gwen's worried face, he thought for a moment and still greeted his colleagues at the Queens Precinct.
His jurisdiction was in Manhattan; investigating a missing person across the Queens Precinct was possible, but he still had to greet his colleagues at the Queens Precinct.
The result was that no such person was found.
Hawk seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Moreover, Hawk had no credit card, no driver's license, and now his phone was either stolen or dead, making him even harder to find.
To put it bluntly, Hawk was very much like an invisible person living in modern society.
No family.
No social life.
He didn't even have a single friend; even after the Queens Precinct colleagues opened a case, they didn't know where to start the investigation.
Because no one could provide Hawk's last known location, and even when asked, none of Hawk's classmates cared to inquire what happened to him.
Uh…
Except for Gwen.
Until the day before yesterday, George, who had just returned home, saw his daughter, who had been returning home later than him these past few days, constantly searching for Hawk's whereabouts, and finally couldn't help but ask the question he had been wanting to ask: "Gwen, have you fallen for this Hawk?"
Gwen, who had just returned from a cemetery in Queens, was stunned by George's words, then gave an answer.
"Dad, Hawk and I are just friends."
"…."
By the time George came to his senses, Gwen had already run upstairs.
George blinked, and couldn't help but look at his wife, Helen, who had been standing silently beside him.
"Friends? Do you believe that?"
"Whether I believe it or not isn't important."
Helen, who had always been a good wife and loving mother, smiled at Gwen's retreating figure as she went upstairs, then said to George: "But I know, you can't keep your daughter anymore."
George was bewildered.
And back in her room, Gwen, who had thrown herself onto her bed, thought about Hawk, who had been out of contact for over ten days, and just as she felt an indescribable feeling, her phone suddenly rang.
Gwen casually lit up the screen and glanced at it.
The next second.
She abruptly sat up from the bed.
This message wasn't spam; it was another remote login notification from her phone account.
Gwen quickly clicked on the message link.
This time the signal was no longer a rough range but was precise to a specific location.
Maryland, Cunningham Falls Natural Preserve Park, beneath a waterfall.
This was also why Gwen was here.
Soon.
As the sound of the water grew closer, Gwen, though already drenched in sweat, felt her spirits brighten, and she even quickened her pace.
And beneath the waterfall.
After Hawk threw his nine thousand nine hundred ninety-ninth punch, as he retracted his fist and threw his final punch, the Phoenix shadow behind him became almost corporeal.
The next second.
Hawk unleashed his ten thousandth punch, and the Fire Phoenix shadow behind him spread its wings and soared!
"Chirp!"
"Flow backward for me!"
"Boom!"
The waterfall before him was no longer falling three thousand feet straight down, but rather, an enraged dragon raising its head, reversing the heavenly river!
At this moment, time seemed to stand still.
But a clear and distinct voice passed through the stopped time and appeared in Hawk's ear.
The voice.
Clear.
Trembling.
"Hawk!!"
"…."
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