"I'm back!"
"..."
As Hawk's voice echoed in the room, his figure appeared, the space rippling slightly, and as the ripples spread, Hawk naturally walked out of them.
Wanda turned her head and looked at Hawk who appeared.
Hawk wore a dark gray suit, his expression unchanged, looking at Wanda who turned around.
"Good morning."
"... Good morning."
Wanda responded after realizing it.
The daughter, Jean, held by Anya, blinked her eyes, sprang free from Anya's arms, and rushed into Hawk's embrace.
"Daddy!"
The daughter Jean, in Hawk's arms, looked up: "Where did you go? I felt you were on a tree but couldn't contact you."
Hawk smiled slightly: "It's a beautiful place, and if you finish your semester with all A+s, I'll take you there."
Jean was excited upon hearing this.
"Really, Daddy?"
"Of course."
Hawk said with a smile, hooked his finger with his daughter's, and Jean left his arms, swaying as she ran upstairs.
To read, she said.
Study well, progress every day.
Half an hour later.
In the backyard of the house.
Hawk listened to Wanda as she narrated the major event that had just occurred on Earth, and when he heard that Blackwood Throat and Black Dwarf had abducted not only Doctor Strange but also Bruce Banner, his brow furrowed.
"Bruce Banner was taken too?"
"Yes."
Wanda nodded, somewhat puzzled: "That Doctor Strange has the Infinity Gemstones, so it's normal to be kidnapped, but what about Bruce Banner? Does he have the Infinity Gemstones too?"
Hawk shook his head.
Wanda was curious.
"Then why did they kidnap Bruce Banner? The two aliens seem to be targeting these two people."
"I don't know."
Hawk also didn't understand Thanos's intention for abducting Bruce Banner.
It couldn't be because having two Infinity Gemstones with him meant no hope of acquiring them; thus he set his sights on the Cosmos from the Multiverse where Bruce Banner came, kidnapping him, planning some sort of 'curve to save the country' scheme.
Going to Bruce Banner's Multiverse, collecting the Infinity Gemstones there, and returning to the Main Cosmos to wipe out half its life?
This...
Is it viable?
Yes!
Hawk's thoughts spun.
It's widely known that in movies, the Avengers can traverse to parallel worlds and use the Infinity Gemstones there to resurrect the half of the population Thanos erased.
So!
The Infinity Gemstones from Parallel Cosmos are viable, naturally, the Infinity Gemstones from the Multiverse are viable too.
Of course.
There is a premise.
The premise is that the Universe contains Infinity Gemstones.
It's widely known.
The Multiverse presents infinite possibilities, infinite existences, so not every Multiverse contains Infinity Gemstones, just like some people from the Main Cosmos might not exist in the Multiverse.
This Bruce Banner, from a certain Multiverse, clearly knows about the Infinity Gemstones, so there's no need for trial and error, it's certain that the Cosmos Bruce Banner comes from contains Infinity Gemstones.
Then there's only one last question.
How would Thanos traverse the Multiverse and precisely arrive in the Multiverse Bruce Banner comes from?
Time Gemstone.
Space Gemstone.
Together they form the Space-Time Gemstone, theorically capable of opening a portal to the Multiverse.
Hawk had already considered searching for Gwen during a time of crisis if necessary while observing Eitri forge his Golden Holy Armor.
The plan to combine Time Gemstone and Space Gemstone had been played out in his mind.
Unfortunately!
Thanos could use this trick to traverse the Multiverse, but Hawk couldn't.
The reason is simple.
Doing so means falling into a trap, and it would also generate a strong and dangerous misconception in the Main Cosmos.
Hawk Phoenix could be threatened using Gwen.
Therefore...
No.
But Thanos doesn't care.
He can open the space-time portal, traversing the Multiverse.
There's only one last issue.
How would Thanos accurately pinpoint the Universe from which Bruce Banner comes within the boundless Multiverse bubble?
"Forget it."
Hawk shook his head, uninterested in further pondering as Thanos's method had no application for him.
Therefore...
"Let him be."
"Let him..."
Wanda's pupils slightly contracted at his words, gazing toward Hawk: "But Bruce Banner said Thanos plans to use the Infinity Gemstones to annihilate half of the universe's life."
Hawk nodded, his tone calm.
"Yes, and then?"
"Earth..."
"Earth is not included."
"What, why?"
"Because of me."
Hawk looked at Wanda, his eyes calm: "Thanos' subordinates did not attack you, actually Thanos is having a conversation with me across the distance. He wouldn't, and doesn't dare to attack Earth."
It's not just Earth, any planet protected by Divine Spirits doesn't appear on Thanos' cleanse list.
A simple example.
The planet where God-Slayer Gel resides, his planet is not within the range of Thanos's snap.
But this is almost impossible.
Because Thanos's snap covers the entire universe, and there's only one possibility for such an outcome.
Thanos's snap does not include the Planet of Life extremely protected by Divine Spirits.
Let's put it this way.
If Thanos's snap included those Planet of Life protected by Divine Spirits, after snapping his fingers, it would be absolutely impossible for Thanos to retire and enjoy life.
Not all Divine Spirits are as indifferent as those on the same planet as God-Slayer Gel.
Most Divine Spirits take great responsibility for their Planet of Life.
If Thanos dared to do this, the moment after he snapped his fingers, all the Divine Spirits would likely rush in front of Thanos and slap him to death in anger.
But Thanos didn't die, instead, he began a retirement life, leisurely picking chrysanthemums to the southeast, calmly meeting the southern hill.
So...
Thanos's snap, unrelated to Divine Spirit, only concerned those life planets without the protection of Divine Spirit, which have been seeded by the Celestial God Seed.
This is also why in the original script half of Earth was still extinguished.
Not only because there was a Celestial God Seed inside Earth.
But more importantly, because Earth lost the protection of Divine Spirits.
Whether it's The Ancient One, whose mortal form is comparable to a Celestial God,
or Odin, who conquered the Nine Realms and claimed to be King of Gods,
both of them have exited the stage of history, with no Divine Spirit protection, and a developing Celestial God Team inside Earth, so Earth is definitely included in Thanos's cleansing plan.
But this time it's different.
Hawk is still alive, and right when Thanos left Nidavellir, Hawk boldly took action and directly snatched the World Tree from the Main Cosmos.
Thanos isn't a fool, in this situation, unless Thanos's brain is the size of a T-Rex, otherwise, he wouldn't dare to cleanse Earth.
Just like how, with Odin and The Ancient One still alive, he dared not appear in the Milky Way Galaxy; this time, Thanos would rather choose to detour through the Multiverse to collect reality and mind Infinity Gemstones that he cannot possibly obtain, than risk appearing in front of Hawk.
So...
"No need to worry about him."
"...Alright."
Listening to Hawk's affirmative response, Wanda thought for a while and no longer pursued the topic, switching to another topic.
"Gwen..."
"I know."
"Wait, you know?"
Wanda couldn't help but look at Hawk: "Did you already know Gwen would disappear?"
Hawk nodded.
Wanda instinctively spoke out.
"What happened?"
"Time."
Hawk looked at Wanda, whose eyes were filled with shock, thoughts briefly turned, then he simply explained how he snatched the World Tree that the Main Cosmos was readily about to consume, causing a natural temporal disturbance, which imprisoned his closest person in the timeline into the Multiverse.
Listening to Hawk's explanation, Wanda's mouth gradually opened wide.
After Hawk finished speaking.
Wanda instinctively asked: "Then what are you planning to do, go to the Multiverse to retrieve Gwen?"
Hawk's tone was deep.
"Thought about it."
"But..."
"That way, it would fall into time's trap, Gwen's temporary sacrifice would have no meaning then."
"Then..."
"Don't worry."
Hawk chuckled lightly, seeing a bit of concern on Wanda's face: "I've already thought of a way to bring Gwen back."
Just as on Earth, encountering problems, he'd straightforwardly seek trouble with the Pentagon.
The same goes for Gwen's matter.
Although this incident was caused by the natural instincts of time, he doesn't care, he just fixates on the Celestial God Team; as long as Gwen isn't back, he'll keep clobbering the Celestial God Team.
One sentence.
When in doubt, beat the Celestial God Team.
After all, the Celestial God Team can freely traverse the Multiverse too.
However...
Hawk didn't believe that just by crippling one Griss the Shaker, he would make the Celestial God Team obediently submit, he still needed a spectacle.
He was aware, and he knew it well.
Hawk released Griss the Shaker just to hasten the timing of this.
When the Celestial God Team becomes furious, mobilizing dozens or even several Celestial Gods trying to encircle him, he won't hold back then.
Barbarians, fear power not virtue!
The same goes for the Celestial God Team.
By that time, however many Celestial Gods come, he'll slay; as long as he slays them into fear, slays them until they don't dare to breathe, by then, the Celestial God Team will obediently bring back his Gwen for him.
After all...
Time is unconscious, naturally without fear.
But the Celestial God Team is alive, and being alive means fearing.
This is the law.
Wanda looked at the confident expression on Hawk's face, and the deepest killing intent flashing in his eyes, nodded in agreement, remaining silent.
Just then.
Anya, who was standing in the living room, knocked on the glass.
Wanda turned her head and saw Sharon, who rushed over as soon as she heard the news of Hawk's return.
…