The Ancient One came quietly.
Just as she left quietly.
Hawk couldn't really keep the Ancient One, after all, in her words, she had to go back and tidy up the timeline disrupted by some little brats.
He felt a bit guilty.
It was like when a teacher visits your home, you naturally hope the teacher leaves soon.
But...
The Ancient One's visit did explain to him why Doctor Strange could reverse time.
In fact, it's not quite Doctor Strange reversing time.
At least in the future, Doctor Strange won't be able to reverse time like this.
This time, Doctor Strange mainly benefited from the energy surge when Earth's timeline merged with the Marvel Main Cosmos.
To put it simply.
It was a harmony of time, place, and people that allowed Doctor Strange to seize a loophole in the gap between new futures and pasts, thus restoring Hong Kong Island to its undamaged state.
But this opportunity is a rare encounter, not something that can be sought intentionally.
There won't be a next time, and even if there is, Doctor Strange won't be able to reverse time and still remain so lively.
Hawk has to go through formal procedures to resurrect someone, like using technology for cloning and then retrieving the soul from Hell.
What Doctor Strange did was essentially snatching someone from Mephisto's hands.
After the Ancient One left, Hawk contacted Mephisto, who had engulfed the Heaven Dimension and recovered to his peak, to inquire about the matter.
After all, Earth's souls belong to Mephisto.
He was curious if Mephisto knew about this.
The answer was affirmative.
Mephisto's response was quite interesting.
Mephisto initially thought someone forcibly taking a soul from his Hell was Hawk. He intended to ignore it until he realized it wasn't Hawk, at which point he was furious and prepared to show the thief a lesson, but then he received a message from his superior.
"Let go!"
"Let go?"
"Yes, if I had to guess, it means my devouring of the Heaven Dimension offset the Earth's time reversal, and that's the end of it."
"Did Eternal find Death?"
"Ha."
Mephisto laughed heartily, then languidly said, "Brother, don't be like that. Even though your timeline is independent and they won't feel it, we still have to be cautious, especially since our Cosmos hasn't emerged yet, don't you think?"
Don't blame him for being so obsequious.
Any Dimension God would act this way if given the opportunity to become a 'God of Death' in a brand new Cosmos.
Progress, after all, is nothing to be ashamed of.
In a way, ever since receiving a promise from Hawk, Mephisto perhaps hoped even more than Hawk for the emergence of the Phoenix Cosmos.
Hawk smirked but moved past this topic.
"What else did your boss say?"
"Nothing, just that one sentence."
"Alright then."
Upon hearing this, Hawk ended the call with Mephisto, standing quietly on his Time Galaxy.
He actually didn't concern himself with Earth's time merging into the Marvel Main Cosmos or Doctor Strange's time reversal.
Hawk was only concerned about one thing.
When the new past was generated, where did time, this Eternal, take his good friend Peter Parker and his family?
Surely they can't just disappear.
If that's the case, then he will have to...
Hold on.
Godson.
His godson, Ben Hawke Parker.
Hawk suddenly thought of the Northern Cross Holy Armor pendant he had given his godson during his baptism, advising Peter not to touch it.
His gaze instantly turned to the glowing Northern Cross in his Little Cosmos.
Swan!
The next moment.
Hawk's figure completely vanished into the Cosmos behind him, followed closely by the formation of the current Cosmos, with the Phoenix's figure coalescing into a solid form, looking towards the Northern Cross.
Whizz, whizz, whizz—
Light receded rapidly within his golden pupils.
Hawk's pupils shone with gold, and bubbles formed from Parallel Cosmos flashed past his eyes.
Soon.
With the light of the Northern Cross that connected with his Cosmos guiding him, Hawk's gaze shot through a cosmic bubble, landing on Earth, piercing through the atmosphere, then finally settling in Osborne Manor on the outskirts of New York City.
His gaze traveled through the manor.
Ultimately!
Hawk saw Peter and Felicia in the manor, seemingly having a low-voiced discussion about some sudden change.
And...
His godson, Ben Hawke Parker, who was holding the Northern Cross Holy Armor necklace, yet unaware of what had just happened.
Just as Hawk was about to speak.
Boom!
His Sixth Sense flared, instantly retracting his gaze, then seeing a temporal trap attempting to counter his Time Galaxy.
Hawk laughed.
"So, it's aimed at me, is it?"
"Seeing that I refuse to submit and play along with your script, you throw this at me."
"You know my time is contracted, the past is fixed, you cannot erase those from the past who have intersected with me."
"So you sent them to the Parallel Cosmos."
"And then you thought I'd be anxious, go looking for them, so you ambushed me there."
"Let me guess, once I just projected over, you would immediately show me the future images, right?"
"Sss!"
"I'm giving you a choice now."
"Bring my Peter Parker back. I'll pretend nothing happened, and you can still take the World Tree Cosmos timeline into your pocket, turning it into another of your Multiverse."
"..."
After Hawk finished speaking, he calmly looked at his Time Galaxy, and after realizing it, he retreated back into the future time trap once again.
The time trap remained motionless, attempting to disguise itself as a dead object.
"Alright!"
"We'll see."
Hawk laughed, but didn't care much, and after leaving a harsh word, he centered his mind and slowly opened his eyes.
And then…
Back home, Gwen, who had been at the bar, was looking up some information on the computer. Hearing the noise, she turned her head to see Hawk opening his eyes on the sofa, and her eyes lit up.
"How is it?"
"Peter is no longer in this Cosmos."
"What do you mean?"
"A new future, a new past."
Hawk briefly recounted his conversation with The Ancient One, who had come from the future, in the Phoenix Cosmos.
After Gwen listened, her expression became quite interesting, then she gritted her teeth.
"Damn time."
"Hmm, you're right. It will eventually pay the price for this."
A gentleman takes revenge, no rush even after ten years.
Back then, Hawk had persistently fought for four years to avenge his sister, and he finally succeeded.
He's not a fool, never doing dumb things like seeking revenge without enough strength.
Hawk has already marked the Eternal of time on his little notebook, waiting for the moment when he becomes strong enough.
Heh.
The Eternal of time will know his anger not only has intensity but also force.
However…
Gwen frowned: "Didn't The Ancient One mention something about it being a Peter we don't recognize?"
Hawk shrugged: "She meant to say."
Gwen blinked, looking at Hawk, who fell silent after saying this, and glared at him.
"And then?"
"She hurried back to the future to fix the timeline messed up by some little brats."
"Messed up…"
Gwen heard this, opened her mouth, then looked at Hawk somewhat speechlessly: "I mean, you almost got played by time, and in the future, can't you manage the time well? How can you let some little brats mess up the timeline, and time should be sacred. How could those brats…"
Hawk interrupted calmly: "The Ancient One said, they are our children."
Gwen, who was rambling on, raised her eyebrows instinctively with an 'oh,' then met Hawk's seemingly amused gaze, couldn't help but cough, and adjusted the hair that fell to her ear, her voice somewhat aloof.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you really should educate our children better, in the future."
Hawk said expressionlessly, then walked behind the bar, opened the cabinet, and took out a bottle of Thunder Bourbon that Mephisto had given him this year on the first day of the year to celebrate his coming of age.
This year he turned twenty-one and could drink legally.
Just then.
Gwen, sitting on a high stool with her back to Hawk, suddenly seemed to think of something, turned around, and stared intently at Hawk pouring wine for himself.
Hawk remained expressionless, leisurely pouring himself a drink.
Abruptly.
"Hawk."
"Hmm."
"The wine's overflowing."
"Oh, sh*t!"
Hawk realized it, quickly raised the bottle, and grabbed a towel to wipe the bourbon spilled on the counter.
Gwen smiled, corners of her mouth upturned: "What exactly did The Ancient One say, Hawk."
Hawk glanced up: "What do you mean, just what I said."
Gwen didn't speak, using her gentle eyes that seemed to see through Hawk's soul, she stared at him.
Their eyes met.
Hawk opened his mouth, admitting defeat first, held his glass, and while drinking, said softly: "The Ancient One said you were going to manage it, but I stopped her, saying that children's playfulness is natural, anyway, if the timeline is messed up, there's the God of Time to sort it out."
Gwen burst into laughter on the spot.
"Well, that's your problem. Why push it on me? I just thought it was unlikely. If it were my teaching, I definitely wouldn't have educated our children to be brats."
"Alright, I was wrong."
Hawk decisively chose to apologize.
Gwen shook her head: "You were indeed wrong, so now you know, in the future, when it comes to educating our children, you're not allowed to intervene."
Hawk blinked, didn't respond, set down his glass, looked at Gwen, and changed the subject.
"Let's go."
"…Where to?"
"Aren't you curious who Peter Parker became in the new past?"
"..."