Clones.
Cloned saint cloth.
Hawk thought about what HYDRA might be doing, smiled indifferently, and then, with a thought, retracted his projected Little Universe.
But...
Whether it was Sharon or Tony, their gazes were still fixed on Hawk's back at this moment.
They seemed to still be immersed in the Little Universe he had just displayed.
As for Gwen...
It wasn't Gwen's first time seeing it.
However...
Gwen recalled the Little Universe Hawk had just projected and whispered, "How come I feel like it's gotten bigger?"
The last time Hawk displayed his Little Universe was on the Kamar-Taj snow mountain.
But a long time had passed since the trip to Kamar-Taj.
Hawk nodded, looking at Gwen: "It hasn't reached its limit yet."
Although he first used the Reality Stone, the genesis four elements, and Sorcerer Ancient One's Time Stone, and even later received Tiamut's life energy to aid his cultivation.
But his current Little Universe still hadn't reached the limit that a Sixth Sense Silver Little Universe could reach.
However, the gap was not far off.
Gwen didn't quite understand what Hawk meant by 'not yet at its limit,' but seeing the relaxed and unangered expression on Hawk's face, she made a final confirmation: "So, even if HYDRA really does clone you, they absolutely can't defeat you?"
Hawk chuckled.
"Of course."
"Swear it, swear on Anya's name."
"Alright."
Hawk looked at the serious Gwen, knowing what she was worried about, and quickly finished his oath: "Is that good enough now?"
A smile also appeared on Gwen's face.
She believed Hawk might intentionally hide something to prevent her from worrying, but she also believed Hawk wouldn't casually swear on his sister Anya's name.
So...
HYDRA's attempt to use a cloned Hawk, plus a cloned saint cloth, to defeat or kill Hawk was truly a pipe dream.
After getting Hawk's oath on his sister Anya, Gwen completely relaxed.
But relaxing was one thing, it didn't change a fact.
HYDRA was trying to clone Hawk.
With this thought, Gwen's disgust for HYDRA deepened, and then she looked at Sharon: "Can Dr. Mallick be found?"
Sharon heard this, first glanced at Gwen, and then her consciousness, which had been immersed in Hawk's brilliant Little Universe, gradually returned: "We are still investigating, but we can confirm that the HYDRA Underground Base in Rhyolite Ghost Town is not HYDRA's cloning Base."
The Underground Base in Rhyolite Ghost Town, although also a cloning Base, was Hawk's saint cloth cloning Base.
Perhaps because saint cloth cloning was also part of the Hawk cloning project, the keyword 'Hawk cloning' was found in the computer system of that Base.
It was precisely because of this that S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to learn about HYDRA's secret cloning project.
Unfortunately, they currently had no clue where HYDRA had placed the Hawk cloning facility.
They had immediately informed Hawk after seeing the keyword.
After all, they were also worried that HYDRA might truly clone a Hawk with similar strength but entirely belonging to the evil faction.
At present...
Hawk's answer had put them somewhat at ease.
But only a little bit.
After speaking, Sharon looked at Gwen and Hawk and said, "Commander Hand, upon receiving the news, has already ordered all S.H.I.E.L.D. forces to concentrate, and to find Dr. Mallick as quickly as possible."
Hawk wasn't afraid of 'what ifs,' because he was absolutely certain that HYDRA would never be able to clone his Little Universe as well.
But S.H.I.E.L.D. was afraid of 'what ifs.'
Therefore—
To prevent the emergence of an evil Hawk clone, not only S.H.I.E.L.D., but even the Security Council, upon learning of this matter, were extremely nervous and immediately ordered S.H.I.E.L.D. to find Dr. Mallick as soon as possible.
In a word.
Hawk wasn't afraid.
But S.H.I.E.L.D. was.
Gwen heard Sharon say that S.H.I.E.L.D. had cast a wide net to find Dr. Mallick, and nodded: "Find him quickly, this plan is too evil."
Hawk also said to Sharon: "Call me when you find him."
Sharon nodded: "Don't worry, we'll notify you immediately."
Even if Hawk didn't say it now, if they really found Dr. Mallick, they would still notify Hawk immediately.
After all, it concerned Hawk, and open and transparent communication could effectively prevent any friction between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hawk caused by misunderstandings.
Unfortunately—
Even until the end of Hawk and Gwen's first semester of their sophomore year, S.H.I.E.L.D. still hadn't found the hidden HYDRA cloning Base that was suspected of conducting cloning experiments on Hawk.
Although during this period, S.H.I.E.L.D., having received the Security Council's 'shoot first, ask questions later, good person special permission' order, launched attacks all over the World, eliminating several HYDRA Bases hidden in obscure corners of some third-World countries.
But after Jarvis collected and analyzed the computer data from these Bases, these Bases, let alone Dr. Mallick, didn't even have a trace of the word 'clone.'
And those captured HYDRA Agents, even after S.H.I.E.L.D. employed various methods, when asked about experiments related to cloning, their originally fearful eyes would still turn into the eyes of a college student.
Clear and foolish.
These captured HYDRA Agents knew nothing about the so-called cloning.
But they had to keep looking, and as time went on, S.H.I.E.L.D. seemed to be getting increasingly agitated.
After all, knowing that there was a hidden HYDRA cloning Base out there meant that there were still HYDRA remnants in this World.
Since there were still HYDRA remnants, it meant their cleanup work for HYDRA was not yet complete.
So...
Search!
Keep searching.
Even if they had to dig three feet into the ground, they had to dig out HYDRA's cloning Base.
However, compared to the agitated S.H.I.E.L.D., Hawk appeared completely unconcerned, not taking HYDRA cloning him to heart at all.
Fake is fake.
A sparrow can never become a phoenix by flying onto a branch.
However...
Sharon, Commander Hand, and Director Hill, seeing Hawk's complete indifference and his continued attendance at school as usual, felt their urgency regarding the unlocated cloning Base slightly relax.
Because the more indifferent Hawk was to HYDRA's cloning, the more it proved that it was indeed as Hawk had said.
HYDRA's cloning efforts were useless.
However...
S.H.I.E.L.D. still maintained weekly calls with Hawk... no, with Gwen, to communicate the latest updates.
Hawk often forgot to bring his phone.
This was well-known, and fortunately, as long as Hawk was in New York City, finding Gwen would surely lead to finding Hawk.
This was also a well-known fact.
Just like this.
On the first day of vacation.
Hawk was sitting on the living room sofa, applying antifreeze to the cast on his left arm, when Gwen came down the stairs, holding the phone.
Just as Gwen was about to tell Hawk that S.H.I.E.L.D. had found another HYDRA Base last week, but still no cloning clues, Gwen, who had come down the stairs and entered the living room, looked at Hawk, who was rubbing antifreeze on his hand, with a strange expression, and her eyebrows couldn't help but twitch.
"What you doing?"
"It's cold outside, and the cast is cracking. I'm thinking of putting some antifreeze on it to maintain it."
Hawk said without looking up.
Gwen's mouth twitched, and she jogged a few steps, snatching the antifreeze Hawk had placed nearby.
Hawk looked up.
"Hey, my antifreeze."
"Today is the hundred and first day. I told you last night, the hundred days are over, you don't have to wear that thing anymore."
"Uh..."
Hawk heard this, looked at his left arm, then looked up at Gwen, his expression full of reluctance.
"Can it be extended for another hundred days?"
"No!"
Only God knew how many times she had regretted her decision in the past hundred days.
Now it was finally over.
Still want an extension?
Hehe.
Dream on!
Gwen refused decisively, grabbing the antifreeze and walking towards the garage, saying without looking back: "Besides, you forgot, we're going to Grandpa's tomorrow. Are you sure you want to meet Grandpa with a cast and bandages?"
Hawk blinked, remembering this matter as well.
It's just...
What did this have to do with him wearing a cast?
Hawk tried to struggle a bit, looking at Gwen who was walking towards the garage: "No?"
Gwen didn't look back, opening the garage door and walking in: "My Grandpa is Old White."
The words fell.
No sound came from Hawk.
Gwen didn't care either. After putting the antifreeze back in the garage, she turned and returned to the house, and then saw Hawk performing a 'living person transformation' act.
One second, Hawk was hanging his left arm, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and the next, he had changed into a kidney-orange leather coat, tight jeans, high boots, and a cowboy hat.
Hawk took his left hand out of his pocket, flicked the brim of his cowboy hat with his finger, raised his chin slightly at Gwen, and raised an eyebrow: "How's it look?"
It was just that he didn't smoke much, and there wasn't enough time to buy cigarettes.
Otherwise...
Saying this line with a cigarette would have felt even better.
Gwen looked at Hawk, who hadn't had enough of playing the patient for a hundred days and was now directly playing a Western cowboy, her mouth twitching wildly.
"Where did you get all this gear?"
"The store, I've always kept it in the Underground Room's safe house."
Hawk said with a smile: "I was planning to surprise you. How is it, a surprise?"
Gwen heard Hawk's words, and the expression on her face instantly froze.
But she quickly recovered.
Not only did Gwen's face bloom with a smile again.
And...
The smile was even wider.
"Hawk!"
"Hmm."
"You're so handsome, let's go."
"Go where?"
"I can't wait for Mom to see your outfit and praise you."
"..."
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