Anna didn't hide anything and recounted everything she knew and understood.
Just like when she talked with Hawk before.
No concealment.
No deception.
Hawk stood quietly by the side, listening to Anna's account without interruption.
His expression didn't change at all.
It was only after Anna finished that he looked at her with some curiosity: "What were you originally planning to do with that baby girl?"
Anna forced a smile: "I originally planned to take her, take her to some small country, find someone to adopt her, then find an opportunity to tell you."
Hawk raised an eyebrow at her words.
"I thought you were going to destroy her."
"Alexander Pierce had that intention."
"Oh?"
"But I didn't agree."
Anna took a deep breath and stared at Hawk, who showed no emotion: "She has your bloodline. Only you can decide how to deal with her; no one else. Not even Strucker has the right. I told Pierce that if he did that, the entire Hydra would be destroyed under your wrath."
Hawk listened to Anna's words, his face remained calm as he looked at Anna.
Anna didn't flinch or avoid.
She truly thought this way and indeed planned to act accordingly.
Their eyes met.
Hawk withdrew his gaze, laughing slightly.
"Anna, you've been missing for two years."
"What?"
Anna was stunned upon hearing this.
She had thought she might have ended up here after failing to be resuscitated and dying.
However, she originally assumed it was only a matter of days or months.
But... two years?
How could that be possible?
Hawk looked at Anna's astonished expression and smiled slightly.
Anna's story had just finished.
Now it was his turn.
"Alexander Pierce is dead."
"Anim Zola is also dead."
"Because the two of them teamed up to deceive me, guess what they lied about."
"..."
Anna looked at the smile on Hawk's face and frowned, thinking of a possibility.
"Dr. Zola was an electronic lifeform; I guess he impersonated my voice, making you mistakenly think I was still alive."
"Clever!"
Hawk smiled slightly: "Then guess how I found out they were deceiving me?"
Anna thought for a moment: "Did they make an excessive request?"
Hawk shook his head: "You were my first friend, and as I said, I owe you a favor, so for you, any request wouldn't be excessive."
Just like when Hydra came to his house to demand someone, he stayed out of the game between Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. in New York S.H.I.E.L.D. due to a phone call from Anna.
The first is always special.
Putting aside Anna's faction and her ulterior motives, at the very least, she was the first to choose to befriend him, and during their interactions, Hawk didn't feel awkward, but rather comfortable.
Not to mention, it was Anna who gave him the truckload of meteorites he needed for his start.
Meeting Hawk's gaze, Anna pursed her lips, thanked him, and then shook her head.
"What was the reason then?"
"Right now, it's noon in New York City, and if you're in Hong Kong Island, it should be night. If I said good morning, what would you say?"
"Of course, good evening."
Anna replied almost without thinking, then realized it and looked at Hawk: "Did they greet you according to your time?"
Hawk smiled slightly.
"Yes."
"I got suspicious, so I made a special trip to Japan to see you."
"Japan?"
"Alexander Pierce told me you'd been promoted and were now in charge of affairs in Japan."
As Hawk said this, he seemed to remember something and looked at Anna: "But I didn't see you in Japan. Instead, I saw another woman. She said her name was Ophelia, and she claimed to be your good friend."
Anna nodded.
"Ophelia, Lady Hydra, yes, because of Alexander Pierce, we'd met a few times, and I normally enjoy shopping in Japan, so we'd often go together. So yes, she's my friend."
"That's good."
After confirming, Hawk completely removed Ophelia from his list of people to verify and said to Anna: "It was from Ophelia that I learned you hadn't been in Japan and that she hadn't seen you for a long time. So I made a trip to S.H.I.E.L.D. Three Feathers to ask Alexander Pierce where he'd hidden you."
Upon hearing this, Anna could already guess what happened next.
"He didn't say."
"No, he did. Do you know what he said before he died?"
"What?"
"Long live Hydra!"
"..."
Anna glanced at Hawk, who was repeating Alexander Pierce's last words, opened her mouth, then seemed to realize something, and shook her head with a bitter smile: "It seems Strucker brainwashed him after I fell unconscious, making him embrace Strucker's plan and believe they could control you as long as they held your child."
Hawk chuckled softly.
"Do you think that's the only thing he hid from me? He also kept cloning a secret from me, something you likely didn't know either."
"..."
Once again, Anna looked up at Hawk, her expression shocked.
"Cloning, I remember Pierce agreed with my view at the time, saying he wouldn't clone you, especially since you'd stated in advance that cloning wasn't allowed."
"Who caused your coma?"
"...Sorry."
"It's not your fault."
Hawk waved his hand and then seemed to recall something, looking at Anna: "Want to see Alexander?"
Anna was slightly stunned.
Hawk then had a thought and instantly moved Anna from the Pure Land to the Frozen Nether Prison.
Ice and snow everywhere.
Snowflakes swirling down.
Visible to the naked eye, two souls were in front and behind, moving mechanically like zombies, wearing only a thin coat, hugging themselves as they shivered and walked.
Each time the soul at the back tried to stop, the Blood Elf behind would whip down, making Merrick cry out miserably.
In contrast, Alexander Pierce was much more self-aware.
After dying and resurrecting repeatedly, Alexander Pierce continued walking with a numb expression towards the endless horizon.
Hawk led Anna and stood on a distant ice surface, watching Alexander Pierce from afar.
"See that? Merrick."
"I know him."
Anna nodded, not hiding anything: "This person was once targeted by Pierce as a recruitable research subject."
Hawk smiled and then looked at the mechanically moving Alexander Pierce in the distance.
"I never give chances to ordinary people."
"But Alexander Pierce, because he is your adoptive father, I've given him two opportunities."
"The first time, at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Three Feathers, I told him, tell me your whereabouts and I might spare his life."
"Not only did he refuse, but he also shouted 'Long live Hydra.'"
"So he died."
"I threw him in here, intending for him to suffer here eternally."
"But after capturing Merrick, I gave him another opportunity, do you know what he said?"
"He said nothing, directly ignored me, and chose to continue suffering here."
"I'm not planning to give him a second chance."
Hawk said so, then looked at Anna with a smile that wasn't quite a smile: "Now, Anna, what do you say I should do with you?"
Anna's heart trembled; meeting Hawk's eyes, she smiled, then withdrew her gaze and prepared to step out of the protective circle before her.
The next moment.
Anna's vision blurred, and she once again stepped onto the grass of the Pure Land that was like Heaven.
"Eh?"
"Haha."
Hawk's voice came from behind: "I never said you were going to suffer alongside Alexander Pierce, you're my friend, Anna."
Anna turned to look at Hawk.
"But we..."
"Not us, them, not you."
Hawk smiled slightly: "You are you, Hydra is Hydra, if you know about cloning me and don't tell me, only then would I throw you into the Nether Prison, ensuring you properly taste my meticulously designed Eight Great Nether Prisons."
Anna opened her mouth.
"But the baby, I didn't..."
"Do you remember my warning when you took my blood?"
"I remember."
"What did I say?"
"You said, no matter what research we use your blood for, just don't do cloning."
"Yes, cloning, my warning only included cloning."
"..."
Anna was silent for a while, somewhat uncertain, looking at Hawk with a smile: "So, you don't mind Strucker doing this at all?"
Hawk shook his head.
"No, I still mind a lot."
"Then..."
"But that is something between Strucker and me, it has nothing to do with you, but I am indeed angry that you knew about the baby and didn't tell me, you should have told me immediately."
"...Sorry."
"Too late, I plan to punish you."
Hawk smiled at Anna and then seemed to remember something: "I recall you saying that if you weren't with Hydra, you would want to open a flower shop."
Anna nodded in response, not quite understanding Hawk's words, but nodded anyway.
"Yes."
"Good."
Hawk smiled slightly, then turned and snapped his fingers.
Next moment.
Along with the manifestation of Little Cosmos' two Eyes of Reality's Ethereal Ability, the earth of the Pure Land surged, in the blink of an eye, a delicately shaped flower shop full of flowers appeared near the Nether River.
Hawk instantly moved Anna to the entrance of the flower shop.
Anna looked at the flower shop before her, identical in shape to the one she imagined, her mouth gaped wide.
"As punishment for you, you cannot leave the Pure Land in the future."
"You must take good care of these flowers."
"If any suffering soul in the Nether Prison receive a flower from you, they will be able to leave the Nether Prison and live on the Pure Land."
Hawk smiled, revealing his punishment for Anna.
As his words fell.
The Netherworld shook instantly, as if recording Hawk's words.
Meanwhile.
The flowers inside and outside the shop began to bloom completely at that moment.
...