Hawk did not know the content of the conversation between Gwen and The Ancient One.
After the librarian Wang led him into the chamber where the Time Gemstone, also known as the Eye of Agamotto, was kept, he turned and left without a word.
Hawk did not waste any time either, directly taking the Eye of Agamotto from the table, then seated himself cross-legged on the stone platform below.
The Eye of Agamotto, which housed the Time Gemstone, slowly began to open.
At first, there was just a drop of green light, but as the Eye of Agamotto opened, as the Time Gemstone blossomed, the green light instantly enveloped Hawk's entire body.
The next second.
Hawk opened his eyes and looked around.
The surroundings were as splendid as the starry sky, but among the stars, an immensely thick and magnificent time river seemed to appear beneath his feet.
And he was standing in mid-air above this time river.
His time river.
The moment Hawk saw this time river, he realized that this was his own time river.
His past.
His present.
And his future, all within this time river.
No, that's not right.
There is no future.
To be exact, his future, could be seen to be reaching the end of his time river.
But it can't be said to have reached the end.
Precisely speaking, it becomes fragmented after the end.
Looking ahead, from the moment beneath his feet, stretching outwards, among 108,657 possible futures, 107,600 have already reached the end, while beyond that point, they appear fragmented, as if they had run dry.
Good heavens.
In these 107,600 futures, is there no future for me?
Did I die?
But that shouldn't be; time must have ended.
No, that's not right.
I should have succeeded.
After awakening the Seventh Sense and stepping into the Divine Domain, upon unveiling the Eighth Sense, his Little Cosmos could use the Reality Gemstone he already possessed to truly become a Parallel Cosmos within the Marvel Cosmos.
And once the Phoenix Parallel Cosmos appeared, then, for Hawk as the Cosmic Main God, fate as well as time, would return to oneself.
So...
His time river would naturally vanish within the Marvel Cosmos, since he was not a person of the Marvel Cosmos, he was not even considered a person, the Time Gemstone would naturally be unable to perceive his time.
Just like Odin.
The Time Gemstone cannot reveal Odin's time river in the World Tree Parallel Cosmos; only when Odin appeared in the Marvel Cosmos, could the Time Gemstone reveal Odin's time river.
Hawk thought this over, watching the countless tributaries at the end of his own time river, and felt an overwhelming impulse to look toward the ends.
Because the past cannot be changed!
If he looked into the future, then it wouldn't be the future; a known future isn't the future, it's the past.
And the past cannot be changed.
Once he saw one of his futures, then he could only accept that future, regardless of whether it was good or bad.
Hawk understood this clearly.
Just like Odin and The Ancient One.
Both had glimpsed their own futures, resulting in their futures becoming fixed, serving as a lesson for others.
Odin peered into the future and saw the Twilight of the Gods, thus leading the Twilight of the Gods to become an established fact.
This was also why Odin gave up, allowing Loki to banish him to Earth.
Because the Twilight of the Gods had arrived, and he had no way to stop it.
The past cannot be changed.
The Ancient One the same.
She too used the Time Gemstone to glimpse her own future, turning a potential future into an already occurred future.
The Ancient One the same.
But whether Odin cheated, Hawk didn't know, but he knew, The Ancient One did cheat.
Although The Ancient One hadn't cheated yet, Hawk recalled The Ancient One just telling Gwen that she would be going to the Phoenix Star System for a long vacation in about a month, and was sure The Ancient One was going to cheat.
Since the past cannot be changed, then just let this event happen.
Feign death is still death!
As long as he died on an already occurred timeline, then never came out again, it wouldn't cause disorder in his own time.
After all, even while residing on Earth, he was in seclusion; leaving Earth for the Phoenix Star System would also be seclusion similarly.
No real difference either way.
Simply put.
The Ancient One saw her own future, then through the futures of others, chose a timeline that could alter her own future.
After all, in the time river, all Cosmos creatures' timelines are intertwined, forming a vast tidal wave of time.
As with the future Doctor Strange, Steve Strange.
He used the Time Gemstone and saw Thanos snap his fingers where he would vanish under that snap in the future.
This future became his past.
So no matter how many times Thanos snapped his fingers, his disappearance became inevitable.
For other beings, after Thanos snapped his fingers, there's a fifty-fifty chance between life and death, but for Doctor Strange, he would 100% disappear.
But the other Avengers didn't know their own futures.
So Doctor Strange just had to ensure that the fact he'd disappear after Thanos snapped his finger would happen, then through the futures of others, choose a future where he'd return after disappearing.
After all, Thanos' snap carried a fifty-fifty chance.
And under this chance, wanting to ensure that Ant-Man, who provided time travel, Hulk, who built the time travel device, Iron Man, and Black Widow, who needed the Soul Gemstone, all survived under Thanos' snap was quite the difficult matter indeed.
This is why when Iron Man asked Doctor Strange how many times he succeeded.
Doctor Strange answered "Once."
In short!
The past cannot be changed.
The future cannot be seen.
Hawk took a deep breath, suppressing the impulse in his heart, turned directly to look at the unchangeable river of past time, uniting mind and spirit.
In the next moment.
The Mind Gemstone appeared at the center of his brow, emitting a faint yellow light, strengthening his mind.
Hawk then didn't hesitate, with a thud, as if in free fall, jumped straight into his own river of time and then sank to the bottom, sitting cross-legged.
He used the Mind Gemstone that could enhance the mind and the Time Gemstone that allowed freedom in the river of time, two cheat-like divine artifacts, to help himself quickly comprehend the essence of the Seventh Sense—Sense of Time!
The essence of the Fifth Sense is the Sense of Substance.
The Sixth Sense is the Heart Sense.
And the Seventh Sense is the Sense of Time.
Golden Saint Warriors are powerful because they can perceive time and transcend it, and with them, time can be unchanging, yet also ever-changing.
And the best way to comprehend time is to take a walk along the river of time.
The destination.
He was at the starting point of this cosmos.
Buzz!
Hawk's mind trembled, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a very shabby room, even emitting a moldy and fishy smell.
"Push harder."
"It's out."
"Push harder!"
"Waa, waa, waa!"
"It's out, it's out, wait, there's another one, push harder!"
Accompanied by the cry of a baby.
Hawk, who appeared in the room but was not seen by those around, witnessed his own birth and also his sister Anya's birth.
Of course.
He also saw the woman lying on the bed, with golden hair but drenched in sweat.
The moment Hawk saw this woman, he finally understood whom his sister Anya inherited those eyes from.
Clearly.
This woman was their biological mother.
As for the father...
Hawk glanced at the man who cautiously picked up the baby version of himself.
Work pants.
Scruffy beard.
Hawk then withdrew his gaze, surveyed the dilapidated room, especially the leaky roof, and roughly understood why he and his sister were abandoned.
Regarding the lack of a birth certificate, he had guessed that early on.
Only those born in hospitals had records, but in 1995, many women still chose home births due to religious or various reasons.
And this was probably due to poverty, no money to go to the hospital, so they had to give birth at home.
Similarly, because of poverty, he and his sister were placed at the church door.
Hawk understood in his heart, and there was not much emotional fluctuation.
After all, he wasn't that curious about his biological parents in this life; Anya used to ask when she was little, but as she grew, she stopped asking.
Anyway, he's doing alright now.
Hawk looked at the man, happy while holding him and Anya, and the woman lying on the bed who, although looking weak, smiled, then withdrew his gaze, passed through the shabby bedroom, skimmed through the equally old living room, walked out the door, and then turned to look at the house number.
In the next second.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already at Christmas Eve of 1995.
The house was still the same house.
The woman was still the same woman.
But this time, the woman had wrapped two swaddles and, with a numb expression, bowed her head as she walked towards the street.
Hawk watched the direction the woman left.
Reluctance.
Sorrow.
Pain.
He sensed the woman's emotions, withdrew his gaze, and returned to the house once more.
The house was still the same house, but it looked far less warm than it did during his first perception, with that warmth completely gone.
Hawk also sensed a feeling of loss.
He frowned, and with a thought, time flowed backward, the scene around him rapidly spinning in reverse in his perception.
Then.
Hawk saw the woman taking care of him and his sister at home, smiling as she opened the door and saw two police officers appear at the doorway.
And when these two police officers appeared, the smile on the woman's face vanished, followed by breakdowns and tears.
Hawk's gaze fell on the young officer on the left.
He had seen this young officer.
George Stacy.
His—
Prospective father-in-law!
...