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A question.
How long does it take for light to travel from Nepal to New York City??
The speed of light in a vacuum is constant—roughly three hundred thousand kilometers per second.
While the atmosphere caused some slight deceleration, the difference was negligible enough to ignore.
Nepal sat approximately twelve thousand kilometers from New York City.
So...
Light would take about 0.04 seconds to make that journey.
Hawk was no different.
The moment Gwen wrapped her arms around him—still thinking about asking him to fly a bit faster—before she could even open her mouth, she found herself staring at a familiar tree and familiar flowers.
She froze.
Hawk glanced at Gwen's slack-jawed expression, one eyebrow arching upward.
"What's wrong?"
"You..."
Gwen looked up instinctively. "We... we're already back?"
Hawk smiled faintly.
"I was in seclusion for all those days. Should have something to show for it—otherwise, what was the point?"
"...Fair enough."
Gwen considered this, nodded, then placed both hands on Hawk's shoulders and began circling around him, inspecting him from every angle.
Hawk laughed.
"What are you doing?"
"Checking what's different about you..." Gwen stopped circling and looked up at the man standing before her. "You don't seem any different."
Hawk's lips quirked. "My Cosmo got stronger."
He had nothing to hide from Gwen.
As he spoke, he took her hand and led her toward the living room.
Right now, a single thought was all it took to ignite his Cosmo completely and infinitely. Unlike before, when his Cosmo burned in stages, with power building incrementally.
To put it simply:
Before, Hawk needed roughly three seconds to accelerate from zero to one hundred.
Now, he could go from zero to one hundred instantaneously.
That was the fundamental difference between comprehending the Seventh Sense Gold Cosmo versus Silver Cosmo.
If a hundred Bronze Saints weren't enough to challenge a single Silver Saint, then a thousand Silver Saints weren't enough to challenge a single Gold Saint.
...
Behind the living room bar counter.
Gwen propped her chin on her hand, listening to Hawk's explanation, blinking a few times before summarizing.
"So... you got stronger again?"
"It's not really about getting stronger or not..." Hawk met those expressive emerald eyes of hers, instinctively starting to correct her—then laughed and shook his head. "Alright, fine. Yes, I got stronger."
Gwen's smile was radiant. She rose on her tiptoes, leaned over the counter, and kissed his forehead. "I'm going to check the fridge, then we'll head to the store to stock up."
Hawk made a sound of acknowledgment, watching Gwen walk toward the kitchen.
His consciousness sank into his Cosmo.
Now, everywhere his inner eye could see radiated with golden divine essence.
The Fire Phoenix that enveloped the entire universe looked as if it had truly come alive.
Its left eye—adorned by the Mind Stone—glowed with a pale yellow luminescence. Its right eye—formed by the Reality Stone—blazed with a blood-red radiance. Together, they illuminated the entire cosmos.
And from the Pure Land of the Underworld, all one could see was the crimson sky cast by the Reality Stone's glow.
At this very moment.
Outside the "Flower Shop" by the banks of the River Styx, Anna—dressed in a blood elf maiden's outfit—gazed curiously at the corner of the phoenix reflected in the blood-red sky above.
Hawk appeared silently beside her, following her upward gaze.
"Want to go outside the Underworld and see it up close?"
"..."
Anna's body tensed instinctively, but she relaxed almost immediately. She turned to face him.
"Hawk."
"Want to see it?"
Hawk smiled warmly.
Anna didn't bother with false modesty.
"Can I?"
"Of course."
With those words and a single thought, Hawk brought Anna out of the Underworld and into the space above it.
The infinite cosmos stretched before them.
Golden divine essence permeated everything.
The Fire Phoenix, its form vast enough to blot out the heavens.
Left eye—pale yellow.
Right eye—blood red.
And below them—the Underworld spread out like a flat continent suspended in the void.
Anna gazed down at the realm beneath her feet.
"I always assumed the Underworld would be spherical."
"It will be eventually."
Hawk smiled faintly.
The Underworld had been created using fragments of Law of Life and Death, catalyzed by the Reality Stone.
He hadn't mastered the complete Law of Life and Death yet.
If he had, he would have already begun distributing the souls currently residing in the Underworld across the various planets of his universe.
The more life his universe contained, the weaker the instinctive rejection from the Marvel Universe would be when his cosmos finally manifested.
After all...
One approach was freeloading your way in.
The other was buying in as an investor.
Even the Marvel Universe itself knew which option was preferable.
After a while.
Once Anna said she'd seen enough, Hawk returned them to the Pure Land of the Underworld.
Anna's feet touched the sacred ground once more. She turned to Hawk.
"Thank you."
"We're friends. That's never going to change."
Hawk said this simply, then shifted topics. "So how have things been? These past days in the Underworld."
Anna's expression was relaxed, her tone genuine.
"I feel at peace. This kind of carefree existence—I never could have imagined it before."
"As long as you're happy."
Hawk smiled. "If you ever want to pardon Alexander Pierce, I won't object, Anna."
He'd actually expected Anna to grant Pierce one of the Underworld Blooms.
But...
Anna hadn't pardoned Alexander Pierce.
Hawk refused to believe someone as sharp as Anna hadn't understood the implication behind his gift of the flower shop.
His anger toward Alexander Pierce had already faded the moment Anna arrived here safely.
For the sake of the monk, show mercy to the Buddha.
Because Anna was his friend, he'd given her the power to grant clemency.
Hearing this, Anna shook her head.
"I want to wait a little longer."
"Alright."
Hawk nodded with a smile. "The Bloom is yours to do with as you please. I'm heading down to the Third Prison first—Strucker's been here quite a while now, and I haven't properly welcomed him yet."
Anna blinked, looking at Hawk.
Hawk read the meaning in her eyes.
"Want to come along?"
"Thank you."
Anna nodded without hesitation.
...
The Third Prison of the Underworld.
The Grinding Stone Prison.
An endless wasteland stretched beneath three colossal stone pillars that rolled eternally, each one massive enough to crush anything in its path.
Strucker, Namor, the remnants of Wakanda, and the survivors of Talokan—all served their sentences here.
By the time Hawk arrived, these prisoners had been crushed to death by the stone pillars over one hundred thousand times.
Yet they still ran desperately across the infinite wasteland. Not just because of the excruciating agony of being ground to paste beneath those pillars—but because they clung to a sliver of hope. Maybe, just maybe, if they ran far enough, they could escape the pillars' reach.
But...
That was impossible.
They would never reach the end. Because in their perception, they felt like they were always sprinting forward.
But from where Hawk and Anna stood, watching from above, these prisoners were running in circles across the endless wasteland.
The stone pillars rumbled onward.
Strucker sensed the thunderous grinding behind him. He glanced back—and saw the pillar bearing down like a mountain blotting out the sky.
The next instant.
He was crushed to death.
Then, accompanied by agonized screams, Strucker and the others resurrected once more—and resumed their desperate flight.
Hawk hovered above the Third Prison, silently watching Strucker and the others die and revive beneath the grinding stones.
Anna stood beside him, observing quietly. After a while, noticing Hawk hadn't moved or spoken, curiosity got the better of her.
"Weren't you going to talk to Strucker?"
"Changed my mind."
Hawk withdrew his gaze and laughed softly. "Seeing me would give him hope. I don't want to give him hope anymore. Let him stay here and suffer for eternity. Oh—and don't give him one of your flowers. He's the kind who doesn't get pardoned even when pardons exist."
Anna let out a small laugh. "I wouldn't give him one anyway. If not for him, you might have discovered what he was doing sooner."
Hearing this, Hawk recalled what he'd seen of Anna in the past while contracting his timeline. He thought for a moment, then looked at her. "Actually, that was partly my fault."
Anna blinked in surprise.
Hawk chuckled. "Didn't you ever wonder why the Hydra agents who faced Jean's Phoenix Fire head-on were all incinerated—but you, who was holding her, only ended up in critical condition instead of dead?"
Anna's eyes widened slightly.
Hawk didn't keep her guessing. He gave her a brief explanation of how, during his recent journey through the timeline, he'd instinctively shielded her from part of the Phoenix Fire.
It had been pure reflex at the time.
So...
Anna's two-year coma was technically on him.
After finishing his explanation, Hawk changed the subject. "Hey—I saw your expression when you were holding Jean. You really like kids, don't you?"
Anna paused at the question, but didn't press further about the previous topic. She nodded. "I've always wanted children of my own."
Becoming a mother was something most women dreamed of.
Childless cat ladies notwithstanding.
Hawk saw the look on Anna's face and smiled. "Maybe you'll get that chance someday. My universe is only going to get better. Maybe before long, you'll meet the right man."
Anna turned her head to look at him.
"Is that a blessing from the Lord of the Underworld?"
"No."
Hawk's expression grew serious. "It's a blessing from a friend."
He didn't linger in the Underworld. After abandoning his plan to meet with Strucker, he escorted Anna back to the Pure Land, spent some time chatting with his sister, then departed.
His consciousness ascended.
Hawk opened his eyes. A thousand tangled threads sorted themselves one by one. Then—as if he were hovering above all of New York City—compared to the speed of his Sixth Sense, the Seventh Sense blanketed the entire city the instant his eyes opened.
Seventh Sense—Contemplation.
A flash of gold flickered through Hawk's pupils, and a church materialized in his mind's eye.
Inside that church, before a statue of Jesus, stood a priest who appeared to be around sixty years old. His hair had gone completely white, and his face radiated benevolent warmth as he murmured what seemed to be a prayer.
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~# 70 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
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