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The moment that cold voice came from behind the HYDRA trio, every trace of expression vanished from their faces.
Even their complexions turned deathly pale in an instant.
Gwen, on the other hand, smiled.
The serious, intimidating expression on her face melted away at visible speed. Her gaze swept past the shoulders of the three HYDRA agents and landed on Hawk—who had seemingly materialized out of thin air behind them—and her face gradually broke into a beautiful smile.
Of course. When she was in danger, Hawk always appeared at her side in the first instant.
Gwen smiled sweetly.
The next second, Her gaze returned to the three HYDRA agents in front of her—faces now pale, bodies visibly trembling—and she shot them a look that clearly said, I warned you.
...
Inside the house.
Sharon Carter, who had been leaning against the wall, fighting to stay conscious and already planning to walk out at the last moment to avoid dragging Gwen down with her, heard Hawk's voice. Her entire body relaxed. Then her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud.
Hearing the noise, Gwen turned around and immediately saw Sharon lying on the floor by the wall.
"Sharon!"
Gwen's face changed instantly. She spun around and ran into the house, not even bothering to close the door.
Because the man of the house was back. There was no need to close the door anymore.
When Hawk had tried calling Gwen via satellite phone and couldn't get through, he'd been worried something had happened. The moment he'd hung up, he'd rushed back to New York at top speed.
And then, From miles away, he'd spotted three federal agents standing at his front door, being blocked by Gwen. With a single thought, his body had vanished from high altitude and reappeared behind the three agents—just in time to hear what sounded like a threat directed at his fiancée.
Hawk smiled.
After Gwen had given up all pretense, shouted Sharon's name, and run back inside, the HYDRA trio standing at the door finally snapped out of their shock. Their expressions looked like they were attending their own funerals. Their heads turned mechanically, slowly rotating their bodies around.
They saw Hawk.
The man their organization had code-named "Demon King."
Hawk looked at the three HYDRA agents who had turned to face him. His expression was neither happy nor angry. Even his tone was remarkably calm. "Go on. Otherwise what? Were you planning to force your way into my home? Or were you planning to kill my fiancée first and then break in?"
The HYDRA trio shuddered violently at his words. Their heads shook like bobbleheads. Their faces were pale, their voices frantic.
"WE WERE JUST TRYING TO SCARE HER!"
"WE WERE JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS, DEMON KING—I MEAN, MR. PHOENIX!"
"Heh."
Hawk looked at the three HYDRA agents—who were on the verge of tears and ready to drop to their knees and beg—and let out a soft laugh. Just to be safe, he confirmed.
"You're HYDRA?"
"..."
The HYDRA trio—who had been desperately trying to plead for their lives—froze at the question. They exchanged glances with each other.
Finally, the lead agent looked up at Hawk, swallowed hard, and proceeded to spill everything. He laid out their entire plan—the good cop, bad cop, scary cop routine they'd been using to try to force Sharon Carter out—without holding anything back.
"Mr. Phoenix, we really had no intention of laying a hand on Ms. Stacy."
"No—we didn't even have the thought!"
"Is that so?"
Hawk listened to the HYDRA trio explain their plan, his gaze becoming somewhat deeper as he looked at the three of them. "You're saying you didn't want to come here. That your superiors forced you. Who? Alexander Pierce?"
The three exchanged glances. Finally, the lead HYDRA agent answered Hawk's question.
"No. John Garrett."
"Who's that?"
Hawk thought about the name for a moment but couldn't find any information about this person in his memory.
If he had to guess, the guy was probably a nobody.
A nobody had the balls to break into his place while he was out? Had he not killed enough people? Or had he not killed them brutally enough?
Fine...
Then he'd just kill more people. And kill them more brutally.
Hawk thought to himself.
At the same time, the lead HYDRA agent began spilling everything he knew about his direct superior, John Garrett.
"He's our boss. He's also the commanding officer in charge of this operation in New York—Operation SHIELD Struggle."
"John Garrett used to be part of SHIELD."
"But now he barely goes on missions anymore. He works as a consultant for New York SHIELD."
"He's the one running this operation. We told him Sharon Carter ran to your place. We wanted to go back. We didn't want to come here."
"But John Garrett chewed us out."
"He insisted we capture Sharon Carter or kill her. If we couldn't do that, he'd kill us. We had no choice."
"It's true!"
"We were wrong. We'll never do it again. Please, we're begging you—spare us this once."
As the lead agent finished his explanation, the other two joined in. Between the three of them, they poured out everything they knew about John Garrett, desperately pleading for their lives.
They begged Hawk.
Begged him to spare their miserable lives.
Hawk didn't move.
When the three finally stopped talking and looked at Hawk with pleading expressions, Hawk's expressionless face broke into a faint smile.
The three agents' faces lit up with hope.
But Hawk's next words threw them straight into an icy hell.
"Thanks. But no."
The moment those words left his mouth—
[Eye beams.]
Hawk's eyes turned crimson in an instant.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Two scorching beams of scarlet energy shot from his eyes. The three HYDRA agents—who still had a trace of hope on their faces, thinking they might survive—were instantly incinerated by the Phoenix flames. They turned to ash on the spot.
To be more precise, they were vaporized. Not even ash remained.
This technique was something Hawk had figured out after facing off against Ikaris and absorbing Tiamut's massive life energy.
The principle was simple.
He used eye beams to channel his mutated Phoenix Cosmo energy.
After learning it, he'd been looking forward to the next time he ran into Ikaris.
Hawk really wanted to know whose heat vision was stronger—Ikaris's or his own mutated eye beams.
But for now, The effect was pretty damn good.
Hawk's eyes returned to their normal clear blue. He looked at the empty space where the HYDRA trio had been standing moments ago—no trace, not even ashes—and smiled faintly.
He'd never said he was going to let those three agents go.
If they really didn't have any intention of doing anything, why the hell did they knock on his door in the first place?
And they hadn't just knocked. They'd threatened Gwen.
Most importantly, There was probably some element of testing involved in all this.
Hawk had no intention of giving anyone the chance to test him.
Not even once.
If he let these three go today, what was to stop someone else from breaking into his home tomorrow with the same excuse? "Oh, I didn't want to come, really."
That wasn't going to fly.
Hawk wasn't about to give anyone that kind of false impression.
That's why he'd dug up General Ross's family graveyard, killed Ross's entire family, and then wiped out the entire Wakandan bloodline.
There was a saying.
The killing done now is to prevent even greater killing later.
Fight slaughter with slaughter.
Hawk wanted to make it crystal clear to all his enemies—whether they operated in the open or in the shadows—one very simple thing.
Don't mess with me. I'll kill your entire family. Your entire bloodline.
"John Garrett, huh?"
"Let's see if you've got nine lives."
Hawk's lips curved upward as his gaze shifted toward Times Square.
But just as he was about to head to New York SHIELD, Gwen's voice called out from inside the house.
"Hawk!"
"...Coming."
The murderous intent that had just been rising in Hawk's chest was instantly suppressed. He snapped back to reality, called out in response, and walked straight into the house.
...
Inside.
Gwen had just helped Sharon Carter onto the couch. She was feeling Sharon's weak, barely-there pulse while looking at Hawk. "Hawk, I think Sharon's dying."
Hawk glanced at Sharon Carter.
"There's still a bullet fragment inside her that hasn't been removed."
"That's impossible. I already—"
Gwen started to argue instinctively, then looked at the bullet fragments she'd removed from Sharon. Sure enough, one of the pieces was incomplete.
"Oh, crap."
Gwen sucked in a sharp breath and turned to Hawk. "We need to get her to a hospital. Now."
Hawk nodded. With a slight flick of his right hand, his telekinesis lifted the unconscious Sharon off the couch and moved her toward the garage.
Gwen immediately stood and hurried after Hawk.
"I'm coming with you."
"Alright."
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~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
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