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Anna held nothing back. She laid out everything she knew and understood, point by point.
Just like every conversation she'd had with Hawk before.
No concealment.
No deception.
Hawk stood beside her without interrupting, listening quietly as she recounted the events.
His expression remained unchanged throughout.
Only after Anna finished did he look at her with some curiosity. "You were planning to deal with that baby girl?"
Anna smiled bitterly. "I was going to take her away. Bring her to some small country, find a couple to adopt her, then find the right moment to tell you."
Hawk heard this. His eyebrow rose.
"I thought you were going to get rid of her."
"Alexander Pierce wanted to."
"Oh?"
"But I refused." Anna took a deep breath, meeting Hawk's calm gaze—which revealed neither anger nor pleasure. "She carries your bloodline. How to handle her is your decision alone. No one else—including Strucker—has the right. I told Pierce that if he went through with it, all of Hydra would be annihilated by your wrath."
Hawk listened to Anna's words, his expression still calm as he watched her.
Anna didn't look away.
This was genuinely what she'd thought. What she'd intended to do.
Their eyes met, Hawk withdrew his gaze and chuckled softly.
"You've been missing for two years, Anna."
"What?"
Anna's expression instantly turned to shock.
She'd assumed she'd died and ended up here because they couldn't save her.
But she'd expected a few days at most. Maybe a few months.
But... Two years?
How was that possible?
Hawk watched Anna's stunned expression and smiled.
Anna's story was finished.
Now it was his turn.
"Alexander Pierce is dead."
"Arnim Zola is dead too."
"They teamed up to deceive me. Want to guess what they lied about?"
"..."
Anna looked at the smile on Hawk's face. She frowned, considering a possibility.
"Dr. Arnim Zola was a digital consciousness. I'm guessing he faked my voice to make you think I was still alive."
"Smart."
Hawk smiled. "Now guess how I discovered their deception."
Anna thought about it. "They made unreasonable demands?"
Hawk shook his head. "You were my first friend. And I said I owed you a favor. So nothing you asked for would be unreasonable."
Just like when Hydra had come to his home demanding someone—he'd been at S.H.I.E.L.D. New York at the time—but one phone call from Anna had made him choose to stay out of it again. To not participate in the game between Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.
First would always be special.
Setting aside Anna's faction. Setting aside her ulterior motives. At minimum, Anna was the first person who'd chosen to be his friend—and throughout their interactions, Hawk had never felt uncomfortable. Quite the opposite.
Not to mention, Anna had given him the truckload of meteorites he'd needed to get started.
Anna met Hawk's gaze, pressed her lips together, murmured a thank you, then shook her head.
"Then what was it?"
"Right now in New York, it's noon. If you were in Hong Kong, it would be evening. If I said 'good morning,' what would you say?"
"'Good evening,' of course."
Anna answered without thinking. Then it clicked. She looked at Hawk. "They matched your time zone when greeting you?"
Hawk smiled.
"Yes."
"I got suspicious. So I made a special trip to Japan to see you in person."
"Japan?"
"Alexander Pierce told me you'd been promoted. That you were handling Japanese operations now."
Hawk paused here, as if remembering something. He looked at Anna. "But I didn't find you in Japan. Instead, I found another woman. She said her name was Ophelia. Said she was your good friend."
Anna nodded.
"Ophelia. Madame Hydra. Yes—because of Alexander Pierce, we'd met several times. And I like shopping in Japan, so we'd go together often. So yes, she's my friend."
"Good to know."
Having confirmed this, Hawk mentally removed Ophelia from his "pending verification" list. He continued. "It was from Ophelia that I learned you'd never been to Japan. She hadn't seen you in a long time either. So I paid a visit to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion to ask Alexander Pierce where he'd hidden you."
Anna could already guess what happened next.
"He didn't tell you."
"No—he did. Want to know what his last words were?"
"What?"
"Hail Hydra."
"..."
Anna looked at Hawk reciting Alexander Pierce's final words. Her mouth opened, then something occurred to her. She shook her head with a bitter smile. "Seems like Strucker got to him. After I fell into my coma, he must have bought into Strucker's plan. Thought that controlling your child would let them control you."
Hawk laughed coldly.
"You think that's the only thing he hid from me? He also concealed the cloning. You didn't know about that either, did you?"
"..."
Anna raised her eyes to Hawk again, her expression shocked.
"Cloning—I remember Pierce agreed with me at the time. Said they'd absolutely never clone you. After all, you'd made it clear that wasn't allowed."
"That was before you fell into your coma."
"...I'm sorry."
"It wasn't your fault." Hawk waved his hand, then seemed to think of something. He looked at Anna. "Want to see Alexander?"
Anna blinked in surprise.
Hawk's consciousness stirred. Instantly, he transported Anna from Pure Land into the Frozen Prison.
A world of ice and snow.
Blizzard howling.
Two souls were visible, trudging one after the other like zombies. Mechanical. Each wore only a thin jacket, arms wrapped around themselves, shivering as they walked.
Whenever the soul in back tried to stop, a Blood Elf behind them would crack a whip, making Merrick howl in agony.
In comparison, Alexander Pierce was clearly more self-motivated.
After dying and respawning countless times, Alexander Pierce continued forward with a numb expression, walking toward a horizon that never seemed to get any closer.
Hawk led Anna to stand on a distant ice sheet, watching Alexander Pierce from afar.
"See that one? Merrick."
"I know him."
Anna nodded, still not concealing anything. "Pierce once flagged him as a potential scientific recruit."
Hawk smiled, then looked at Alexander Pierce's mechanical march in the distance.
"I don't normally give people second chances."
"But for Alexander Pierce—out of respect for the fact that he raised you—I gave him two."
"The first time was on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion. I told him: tell me where you are, and I'll spare his life."
"He refused. He even shouted 'Hail Hydra.'"
"So he died."
"I threw him in here. Originally planned to let him suffer for eternity."
"After I captured Merrick, I gave him another chance."
"But he said nothing. Completely ignored me. Chose to keep suffering here."
"I'm not giving him a third chance."
Hawk said this, then turned to Anna with a half-smile. "Now, Anna—what do you think I should do with you?"
Anna's heart trembled. Meeting Hawk's gaze, she laughed softly. She withdrew her eyes, preparing to step outside the protective barrier.
The next second, Everything blurred. She found herself standing on Pure Land's grass again—a realm like Heaven itself.
"Huh?"
"Haha."
Hawk's voice came from behind her. "I never said you'd be suffering alongside Alexander Pierce. You're my friend, Anna."
Anna turned to look at Hawk.
"But we—"
"Not 'we.' Them. Not you."
Hawk smiled. "You are you. Hydra is Hydra. If you'd known about the cloning and hadn't told me—then yes, I would have thrown you into the Blazing Prison. Made sure you thoroughly experienced all eight levels I've designed."
Anna opened her mouth.
"But the baby girl—I also didn't—"
"Remember the warning I gave when you took my blood?"
"I remember."
"What did I say?"
"You said... whatever research we did with your blood was fine. Just no cloning."
"Exactly. Cloning. My warning only covered cloning."
"..."
Anna was silent for a moment. She looked at Hawk's smiling face with some uncertainty. "So you don't mind at all what Strucker did?"
Hawk shook his head.
"No. I do mind."
"Then—"
"But that's between me and Strucker. It has nothing to do with you. Though I am upset that you knew about the baby and didn't tell me. You should have told me immediately."
"...I'm sorry."
"Too late. I'm going to punish you."
Hawk smiled at Anna. Then something seemed to occur to him. "I remember you once said that if you weren't Hydra, you'd want to open a flower shop. Right?"
Anna heard this. Though she didn't quite understand what Hawk meant, she nodded.
"Yes."
"Good."
Hawk smiled, then snapped his fingers behind him without looking back.
The next moment.
As the Aether power from his Cosmo's two Reality Eyes manifested, Pure Land's earth rose and fell like writhing serpents. In the blink of an eye, an exquisitely designed flower shop—overflowing with blooms—appeared near the banks of the River Styx.
Hawk teleported Anna directly to the shop's entrance.
Anna stared at the flower shop before her. It wasn't just similar to what she'd imagined—it was as if someone had plucked it straight from her dreams. Her jaw dropped.
"As your punishment, you can never leave Pure Land."
"You must care for these flowers."
"From now on, any soul suffering in the Blazing Prison who receives a bouquet from you will be permitted to leave the Prison and live in Pure Land."
Hawk smiled as he pronounced Anna's sentence.
As his words fell.
The Underworld trembled, as if recording Hawk's decree.
At the same time.
Every flower inside and outside the shop burst into full bloom.
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