Gwen looked at Sharon's serious expression and thought about the cloning expert Dr. Merrick, who Sharon mentioned again being switched, when a terrifying thought suddenly appeared in her mind.
Just as she was feeling somewhat shocked and incredulous.
The voice of Tony Stark interrupted her and also confirmed the guess that had just flashed in her mind.
"Hiss!"
"Cloned Hawk."
"But they don't have..."
Gwen gasped, looking at Tony who had just walked in, instinctively wanting to deny this frightening suspicion, but suddenly paused in her words.
She had originally intended to say that Hydra didn't have Hawk's DNA information at all, so how could they clone Hawk.
But at that moment, Gwen suddenly remembered an experience she had accompanying Hawk for a blood sale.
That was before Hawk went to seek revenge on Hulk.
She remembered very clearly.
And it was Anna who came to buy the blood at that time.
That being said...
Gwen reacted, instinctively looking at Hawk.
"Anna..."
"She wouldn't lie to me."
At this moment, Hawk's mind had returned at the time when Tony Stark mentioned that Hydra seemed to be cloning him.
After saying this, Hawk sighed inwardly.
Not because of the cloning issue.
But because he found he couldn't return to the depths of the Seventh Sense.
However...
Forget it.
Acting too hastily is not advisable.
Let it be.
What's achieved is fortunate, what's lost is fate; anyway, he still had the Mind Gemstone as a backup, obtaining the Seventh Sense was only a matter of time.
Hawk thought to himself, then got up from his seat, looked at Gwen, and said with a smile: "If Anna deceived me, do you think Alexander Pierce would rather die than reveal Anna's whereabouts?"
Gwen's eyebrows raised at his words.
Hawk said nothing more, looking at the large screen where the files Jarvis had recovered were displayed, and appeared directly in front of the screen.
Sharon instinctively looked at Gwen.
"Does this Anna have a sample of Hawk's blood?"
"Yes."
Gwen nodded, glancing at Hawk who was watching the files on the large screen, and then spoke softly: "Hawk once made a blood transaction with Anna."
Upon hearing this, Sharon exchanged a glance with Tony beside her.
Their expressions turned to realization.
After recovering the file suspected to be about the cloning of Hawk, they were curious how Hydra obtained Hawk's DNA data.
It couldn't possibly be by disguising as a cleaner, collecting trash from Palm Street No. 521A, and extracting it from used items inside.
The most important point.
The timeline doesn't match.
According to the data Tony and the others recovered, it seemed, apparently, Hydra had started considering the possibility of cloning Hawk long before Hawk moved to reside on Palm Street.
Hearing Gwen's explanation now, the confusion in their hearts finally got clarified.
Then—
The three of them simultaneously directed their eyes towards Hawk not far away.
At this moment, Hawk had already browsed through all the files Jarvis had managed to restore from Hydra's system.
Yes.
Hydra was indeed trying to find a way to clone him.
However, Hawk was not surprised by this.
After all, he had already heard from Gwen about the motive behind Hydra's actions and had learned that the Merrick he was looking for had been switched by Hydra.
When he heard about this at that time, he had already thought of Alexander Pierce's attitude of preferring death over speaking, then combined it with a conversation in Sokovia with Strucker, and remembered Strucker's words, "No one in this world is immortal, and you're no exception," and formed a rough guess in his heart.
Now it was merely a complete verification of his inner speculation.
It also explained why Alexander Pierce clearly had the chance to befriend him but chose to foolishly offend him instead.
Clone!
After switching the cloning expert Dr. Merrick, Hydra intended to clone Hawk—a true Hawk that belonged to them and was under their control— thereby killing the real Hawk who was friendly with them but also with S.H.I.E.L.D.
Cloning, once discovered by him, would completely enrage him and lead to Hydra's ultimate destruction.
After all, Hawk had once said personally, do whatever with his blood, just don't clone him.
Thus, Alexander Pierce would rather die than surrender.
Even now, endlessly trapped in the Frozen Nether Prison, dying over and over again, never begging for mercy.
Only...
All of this was just Alexander Pierce, Hydra, and the others' self-initiated intentions.
Hawk?
Yet again.
When he sold his blood at that time, he had already considered that Hydra might try using his blood to concoct all sorts of bizarre things.
Among them, cloning was included.
After all, Hydra wasn't made of saints; preparing so many meteorites and gifts meant they had big plans.
But!
Hawk didn't care at all. The reason he told Anna not to use his blood for cloning was just a casual remark, a reminder to Hydra.
His implication was straightforward.
If you want to clone, do it quietly, just don't let me find out.
In the end...
It seems like Hydra misunderstood his intentions.
This—
Hawk pondered for a moment, then chuckled lightly after realizing this, withdrew his gaze, shook his head, and turned around.
The next second.
He saw the three people looking at him with tension, worry, and curiosity.
Hawk looked at Gwen, who was so nervous, raised an eyebrow, and approached her.
"What's up?"
"...Hawk, are you alright?"
Gwen snapped back, looked at Hawk's calm expression, and cautiously asked.
After all, it was cloning.
It's no wonder Alexander Pierce would rather die than speak since Hydra was secretly cloning Hawk.
After all, not speaking would get you killed anyway, and speaking might lead to an even worse death. So why bother?
Hawk looked at Gwen, who was nervous, and chuckled: "Don't be so tense. It's just cloning. I guessed this possibility when Alexander Pierce would rather die than speak."
Hearing this, Gwen was slightly taken aback and looked at Hawk: "You guessed it long ago?"
Hawk touched his chin with his good right hand: "It was just a suspicion back then. Now it's just proven. Why else would Hydra swap Dr. Merrick so well if not for the cloning technology Merrick controlled?"
Cloning technology isn't that difficult.
Especially in the tech-crazy Marvel Cosmos, cloning technology is advanced but not top-tier.
It's just that life is a scientific taboo.
Other scientists haven't tried cloning experiments, but when they clone humans, it ends up being just a pile of flesh.
But Dr. Merrick is different.
Let's put it this way.
Dr. Merrick is currently the only one who has successfully cloned humans and given them consciousness.
Science can't explain all this.
But through metaphysics, simply put, Dr. Merrick seems to be able to give these clones their souls.
That's why S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't capture other cloning experts but targets Dr. Merrick.
Sharon standing nearby, also somewhat curious, watched Hawk, whose demeanor and tone were normal.
"Hawk, aren't you angry that Hydra is cloning you?"
"Look at my left arm."
"What?"
Sharon instinctively looked at Hawk's still suspended left arm.
Hawk laughed and said: "If I were angry, I would have already unsealed."
Hearing this, Sharon was surprised.
That's true.
If Hawk were angry about this, he wouldn't be standing here but doing something else altogether, anyway, not here.
Meanwhile, Tony was more concerned about something else.
"If Hydra really cloned you, then the combat power of your clone body..."
"You're asking whether he's stronger or I am, right?"
"Yes."
"Do you remember my Holy Armor?"
Hawk saw Tony nod and laughed: "I remember you asked me the same thing last night, whether Hydra's cloned battle armor would compare to my Holy Armor."
Tony frowned.
"What if it's your clone and cloned battle armor?"
"Hahaha."
Hawk burst into laughter.
Next second!
Chirp!
With a cry of the phoenix, an enormous, clear, and vividly real Fire Phoenix projection appeared behind Hawk.
Within the embrace of the Fire Phoenix's wings, there seemed to be a huge, utterly clear universe full of stars.
"This is the true source of my power."
"My blood descendants can inherit my power."
"But cloning?"
"Fake is just fake. He might clone my face, but he can never clone the source of my power."
Thinking they can obtain the power he struggled to get just by cloning him?
What a Greek joke.
It's like how no one can perfectly replicate his Holy Armor.
Because the key to the Holy Armor is the Saint Warriors.
Likewise!
The key to the Saint Warriors is the Little Cosmos.
So...
Even if Hydra could clone him, could Hydra clone the Little Cosmos too?
Even if Hydra could...
Not a chance!
There's absolutely no possibility.
In a word.
If Hydra could mass-produce cloned Little Cosmos, wouldn't they have conquered the universe by now instead of failing consecutively on Earth?
If Hydra had that technology, they would've conquered the cosmos long ago.
...