Clones.
Cloned Holy Armor.
Hawk thought about what Hydra might be up to and smiled unconcernedly. Then, with a thought, he retracted the projection of his Little Cosmos.
But...
Whether it was Sharon or Tony, at this moment, their eyes remained fixed on Hawk's back.
They seemed still immersed in the Little Cosmos he had just displayed.
As for Gwen...
Gwen wasn't seeing it for the first time.
However...
Gwen, recalling the Little Cosmos Hawk had just projected, whispered, "Why do I feel it's gotten bigger."
The last time Hawk displayed his Little Cosmos was on Kamar-Taj Snow Mountain.
But it's been a long time since the trip to Kamar-Taj.
Hawk nodded and looked at Gwen. "Not at the limit yet."
Despite having utilized the Reality Gemstone, the Four Elements of Creation, plus the Time Gemstone from the Ancient One Mage, and even acquiring life energy from Tiam to aid his practice.
His Little Cosmos still hadn't reached the potential limit of the Sixth Sense Silver Little Cosmos.
However, the gap wasn't far off.
Gwen didn't quite understand what Hawk meant by not at the limit yet, but seeing the relaxed expression on Hawk's face without any anger, she confirmed, "So, even if Hydra really clones you, they can't possibly defeat you?"
Hawk chuckled.
"Of course."
"Swear it, swear by Anya's name."
"Alright."
Hawk looked at Gwen's serious face, knowing what she was worried about, and straightforwardly swore: "Is that enough?"
A hint of a smile also appeared on Gwen's face.
She believed Hawk might intentionally hide something to avoid worrying her, but she also believed Hawk wouldn't swear recklessly by his sister Anya.
So...
Hydra's attempt to defeat or kill Hawk using a cloned Holy Armor and cloned Hawk was truly dreaming.
With Hawk swearing by Anya, Gwen was completely reassured.
But even with peace of mind, it couldn't change a fact.
Hydra is attempting to clone Hawk.
This notion deepened Gwen's disgust towards Hydra, and she looked at Sharon: "Can we locate Dr. Merick?"
Sharon heard the question, glanced at Gwen, and then gradually returned from being captivated by Hawk's dazzling Little Cosmos: "We're still looking, but we can confirm the Striated Rock Ghost Town underground base is not Hydra's cloning base."
Though the Striated Rock Ghost Town underground base is also a cloning base, it's where Hawk's Holy Armor cloning base resides.
Possibly because Holy Armor cloning is part of the cloning Hawk plan, the computer system in that base has keywords related to Hawk's cloning.
This is how S.H.I.E.L.D. learned about Hydra's clandestine cloning plan.
Unfortunately, where Hydra placed the address for cloning Hawk remains unknown.
They notified Hawk as soon as they spotted the keywords.
After all, they feared the chance Hydra might clone a Hawk with strength matching him but belonging entirely to the evil camp.
Currently...
Hawk's answer eased their concerns a bit.
Though it was only a little.
After Sharon finished speaking, she looked at Gwen and Hawk: "Commander Hand has already ordered all S.H.I.E.L.D. forces to gather, ensuring Dr. Merick is found as soon as possible after receiving the news."
Hawk wasn't worried about the remote possibility, knowing Hydra had absolutely no chance of cloning even his Little Cosmos.
But S.H.I.E.L.D. feared the possibility.
Therefore—
To prevent the emergence of an evil camp's cloned Hawk, not only did S.H.I.E.L.D. react, but the Security Council was also frightened to death upon learning this, ordering S.H.I.E.L.D. to find Dr. Merick quickly.
One sentence.
Hawk wasn't afraid.
But S.H.I.E.L.D. was.
Gwen, hearing Sharon say S.H.I.E.L.D. had cast a wide net to find Dr. Merick, nodded: "Find him quickly; this plan is too evil."
Hawk also told Sharon, "Call me when you find him."
Sharon nodded, "Rest assured, I'll make sure the news reaches you immediately."
Even if Hawk hadn't said so, they would inform him as soon as Dr. Merick was found.
After all, it concerns Hawk, and transparent communication can effectively prevent any friction between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hawk due to misunderstandings.
Unfortunately—
Even by the end of Hawk and Gwen's first-semester sophomore year, S.H.I.E.L.D. still hadn't found the suspected Hydra clone base hiding in the shadows conducting cloning experiments on Hawk.
Though during this time, equipped with a Security Council license for 'Approach first, report later, special concession for good people,' S.H.I.E.L.D. took action globally and uncovered several Hydra bases hidden in remote corners of third-world countries.
But after Jarvis collected and analyzed the computer data from these bases, not only was Dr. Merick absent, but there wasn't even a trace of the word clone.
Moreover, the captured Hydra agents, even after all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s measures were employed, would exhibit eyes like college students when asked about cloning experiments.
Clear and foolish.
The captured Hydra agents knew nothing about the so-called cloning.
However, it was necessary to continue searching, and with time passing, S.H.I.E.L.D. seemed gradually anxious.
After all, knowing a hidden Hydra clone base existed indicated Hydra remnants still lingered in the world.
Since Hydra remnants existed, it signified they hadn't completed cleaning up Hydra.
So...
Search!
Keep searching.
Even if you dig three feet into the ground, you have to find the Hydra cloning base.
But compared to the stressed-out S.H.I.E.L.D., Hawk seemed completely unconcerned, not taking the fact that Hydra cloned him to heart at all.
Fake is fake.
A sparrow can never become a phoenix perched on a branch.
However…
Sharon, Commander Hand, and Director Hill, after seeing Hawk not care at all and still attending school as usual, felt a bit more relaxed despite the urgency of not having found the cloning base.
The less Hawk cared about Hydra cloning him, the more it proved what Hawk said was true.
Hydra's cloning effort is useless.
However…
S.H.I.E.L.D. still maintained weekly phone calls with Hawk… no, with Gwen to communicate the latest updates.
Hawk often forgets to bring his phone.
This is well-known, but as long as Hawk is in New York City, finding Gwen means finding Hawk.
This is also a well-known fact.
So.
On the first day of vacation.
Hawk was sitting on the couch in the living room, applying antifreeze to the cast on his left arm, when Gwen came down the stairs with the phone in hand.
Just as Gwen was about to tell Hawk that S.H.I.E.L.D. found another Hydra base last week but still no clues about the cloning, as she came down the stairs and into the living room, she looked at Hawk rubbing the antifreeze with a strange expression and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"What you doing?"
"It's cold outside, the cast has cracked, I figured I'd apply some antifreeze to maintain it."
Hawk said without lifting his head.
Gwen's mouth twitched, she jogged over and snatched the antifreeze next to Hawk.
Hawk looked up.
"Hey, my antifreeze."
"Today's day one hundred and one. I told you last night, the hundred days are over, you don't have to wear that anymore."
"Uh..."
Hearing this, Hawk looked at his left arm, then looked up at Gwen, his expression full of reluctance.
"Can we extend it another hundred days?"
"No!"
Only God knows how many times she regretted that decision in the past hundred days.
Now it's finally over.
Still want to add more time?
Haha.
Dream on!
Gwen decisively refused and walked towards the garage with the antifreeze without looking back: "Besides, you forgot that we're going to grandpa's tomorrow, you really want to meet him with a cast and bandages?"
Hawk blinked and also remembered this.
But…
What does this have to do with his cast?
Hawk tried to argue, looking towards Gwen walking to the garage: "Can't I?"
Gwen didn't look back, opened the garage door and went inside: "My grandpa is Old White."
With these words.
There was no sound from Hawk.
Gwen didn't care; after returning the antifreeze to the garage, she turned and went back inside, where she saw Hawk pulling a quick-change act.
One moment, he was hanging his left arm, wearing shorts and a T-shirt; the next, he's in a kidney-orange leather coat, tight jeans, and tall boots, complete with a cowboy hat.
Hawk flicked his hat brim with a finger and slightly raised his chin towards Gwen, raising an eyebrow: "How do I look?"
If he smoked, he would have liked to add a cigarette for effect, but he didn't have time to get any.
Pairing this with a cigarette would enhance the feeling.
Gwen watched Hawk, who was bored of acting like a patient for a hundred days and now switching to Western cowboy, mouth twitching like crazy.
"Where did you get this outfit?"
"The store, I always kept it in the basement safe house."
Hawk said with a smile: "I planned to surprise you, what do you think, surprising?"
Listening to Hawk's words, Gwen's expression froze on her face.
But soon she recovered.
Gwen's face not only broke into a smile again.
But…
The smile grew even wider.
"Hawk!"
"Hmm."
"You look great, let's go."
"Where to?"
"I can't wait for mom to see your outfit and praise you."
"..."