Gwen led Caroline and Hawke into the house.
Stefan, Elena, and the black Witch Bonnie were still outside.
Oh.
And in another hour, Damon, who would turn to ash and die in endless pain and wailing with the sunrise.
But... Damon didn't want to die yet.
"Stefan, Stefan..."
Damon, whose mouth had only been unbound by Hawke, but whose limbs remained restrained, looked at Stefan, who was walking towards him with an unreadable expression, and quickly called out, seemingly wanting Stefan to save his life.
Stefan came before Damon, looked at Damon, whose eyes revealed an endless desire to survive, and shook his head with a bitter expression: "Damon, you've kicked a hornet's nest this time."
This was also why he never used hypnosis to win a woman's heart.
Of course.
The main reason was that he didn't need to; secondly, hypnosis was a despicable and criminal act.
If no one pursued it, then so be it, but once someone did, and the person pursuing it was far more powerful than them, they wouldn't even have the right to resent it.
Because Damon was in the wrong first.
Damon had hypnotized Caroline first. Caroline might not have the strength to seek revenge on Damon, but Caroline's cousin... she had a terrifyingly powerful fiancé who could knock him and Damon unconscious with just a glance.
So... Stefan shook his head and looked at Damon: "I have no way this time."
If he were stronger than Hawke, he might have been able to forcibly rescue his brother, arguing that Damon was ignorant and Caroline hadn't suffered any serious injuries.
This had nothing to do with morals, only with strength.
If he were stronger than Hawke, he really would have done it.
After all, no matter how much of a scumbag Damon was, he was still his brother.
Unfortunately, Hawke, who could knock him out with just a glance, was terrifyingly powerful.
And Hawke could also take Damon away from a distance.
Such an existence was not someone he could defeat.
The most important point.
He couldn't even stand on the moral high ground to criticize Hawke, as Hawke had a legitimate reason.
Who told Damon to make the first move?
He always liked to hypnotize this and hypnotize that. Now look, he finally hypnotized a big shot he couldn't afford to offend and hypnotized his own life away.
Elena, who was beside him, looked at the bound Damon, opened her mouth, and finally chose not to say anything.
Little black Witch Bonnie shrugged, looking at the bound Damon: "Be a good person in your next life, Damon."
Damon was stunned.
He looked at Stefan, who said he was finished this time, the speechless Elena, and Bonnie, who told him to be a good person in his next life, and was completely bewildered.
Wait a minute.
This wasn't right. Shouldn't the three of them be trying everything to save him? But putting Stefan aside, why did Elena and Bonnie look at him with a sense of disgust?
I just hypnotized Caroline.
He didn't just hypnotize Caroline; he had hypnotized many women in the past years.
Such a big deal, and for this, he had to die?
Why?
Damon's thoughts raced as he looked at the brightening sky and shouted in the direction where Hawke and the other two had left: "Caroline, I..."
His mouth was open.
But his mouth was seen opening and closing, yet no sound came out.
Hawke, who had returned to the sofa on the first floor, smiled slightly after re-silencing Damon, and looked at Gwen sitting beside him: "Continue."
Gwen frowned: "Is there a way to turn Caroline back into a normal person?"
Hawke's sword-like eyebrows raised.
Caroline heard this and looked at Gwen: "Cousin, I don't want to go back."
Gwen looked at Caroline.
"But you're only seventeen."
"I know, but compared to being an ordinary person, I prefer who I am now. I can hear very far, I can run very far, and I can even live forever."
Caroline described to Gwen her heightened five senses after becoming a Vampire and the nearly eternal lifespan of a Vampire: "Moreover, I've seen another World, and I don't want to go back."
Gwen listened to Caroline's words, remembered something Hawke had said earlier, and subconsciously looked at Hawke.
Their eyes met.
Hawke shrugged, as if saying, "See, I told you."
It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality!
Once again.
A normal ordinary person, after becoming a Vampire and experiencing the Vampire's superhuman strength and speed, would basically not choose to revert to an ordinary person who gets out of breath after running a few steps.
Just like in the X-Men World.
After the Mutant healing serum was developed, which Mutants went to inject the serum and wanted to return to an ordinary life?
Those Mutants who wanted to return to being ordinary people were the lowest-level Mutants who had mutated but had no abilities, only changes in appearance.
Even Professor X, who protected humans so much, why didn't he go from being a Mutant who could know everything with a thought to being an ordinary person?
Most of human nature is driven by self-interest.
Although Vampires have many drawbacks, compared to their drawbacks, a nearly eternal lifespan alone is enough to offset all of them.
Furthermore—
Hawke glanced at Caroline, met his fiancée's gaze, and shook his head, saying: "Vampire conversion is irreversible, and even if I could, you wouldn't want me to turn her back."
Gwen frowned.
"Why?"
"She was already dead before the conversion, remember? That's what triggered the Vampire conversion process to revive her."
"..."
Gwen remembered the conversion process Caroline had told her about and looked at Caroline, who was also very resistant to becoming an ordinary person again.
Just then.
The phone rang.
Gwen took out her phone, glanced at it, and then handed it to Hawke: "It's Natasha."
Hawke reached out, took the phone, got up from the sofa, and put the phone to his ear.
"Natasha."
"Gwe... Hawke, the results are in."
"You were right."
"Dr. Merrick, whom we captured, has DNA telomere lengths that do not match normal DNA lengths."
"His bone age test is also off."
"Although the Dr. Merrick we captured appears identical to the Dr. Merrick in the database from external examinations, his bones show no bone damage, nor any subtle traces left by his life experiences."
"His bones are as smooth as a baby's not yet a month old."
Natasha, who was at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, looked at the two test results displayed on the computer screen in front of her and spoke to Hawke with some disbelief: "But I can't understand; you said clones don't have souls, but he has a soul."
Hawke smiled.
"Clones indeed shouldn't have souls."
"Then he..."
"I already know why."
"What?"
Natasha was slightly taken aback, a little curious. Hadn't Hawke gone on vacation to Georgia? How could he suddenly know the reason?
Hawke smiled and didn't hide it from S.H.I.E.L.D.: "It's related to the Dimension War. As for why it involved me, I'm still investigating. When I find out, I'll tell you when you ask me."
Dimension War?
Natasha understood Dimensions, but not much, but she understood War.
Her heart instantly became alert.
"Does S.H.I.E.L.D. need to do anything?"
"Not for now."
Hawke said with a smile: "Alright, that's all for now, hanging up."
With that.
He directly hung up the phone, then looked towards the lawn, which was gradually brightening with the rising Sun.
In sight.
With the rising Sun, Damon, who was restrained in place, also met his end.
Wisps of smoke began to emanate from Damon's body.
Damon's mouth was wide open.
He seemed to want to shout, to scream, but his voice seemed to be sealed off; his mouth was open, but no sound could be heard.
Hawke glanced sideways at Gwen, who had walked to his side, her arms crossed, calmly watching everything.
"Do you need to hear his screams?"
"Will Grandpa be woken up?"
"No."
"...Forget it."
Gwen thought for a moment, shook her head, and then looked at Caroline: "This is a Vampire. A Vampire who loses that ring and is exposed to sunlight will die completely. Do you still insist on being a Vampire?"
Caroline looked outside at Damon on the lawn, his mouth agape, his expression twisted, and thick smoke billowing from his body. Then she turned to Gwen and said, "Cousin, the human Caroline is dead."
Gwen looked at Caroline.
After a while.
She sighed, took out the daylight ring that Hawke had just retrieved from Damon's hand, grabbed Caroline's cold right hand, and then pressed the ring into Caroline's palm. Then she looked at Caroline, her tone tinged with helplessness.
"Remember to always carry a spare ring."
"...Thank you, Cousin."
Caroline looked at the daylight ring in her palm, heard Gwen's words, first paused, then reacted, looked up at Gwen, and showed a brilliant smile.
At the same time.
Damon also disappeared from the lawn.
He disappeared in a physical sense, but compared to being directly vaporized by Hawke's Phoenix Ray, at least Damon, who was killed directly by ultraviolet rays, still left traces of his existence on the lawn.
Stefan looked at the white mark left on the lawn with an unreadable expression.
Elena also felt a strange sensation in her heart.
Only Bonnie, the little black girl, looked at the white mark on the lawn, with only one thought in her mind.
Thank goodness, that menace is finally gone.
God can attest, in Bonnie's opinion, the reason why Waterfall Town had so many disasters was largely due to Damon's provocations or creations.
Now that Damon was dead, Bonnie sincerely felt that the troubles in Waterfall Town could instantly decrease by more than ninety percent.
Gwen also withdrew her gaze at this moment and looked at Hawke: "I'm going back to my room to rest for a while."
Hawke raised an eyebrow: "I'll accompany you."
Gwen smiled, did not refuse, and turned to walk towards the stairs.
Caroline, standing in place, saw this and looked at Gwen as she turned: "Cousin, then I..."
Hawke glanced at Caroline from the side.
"You should say thank you."
"Thank you."
Caroline subconsciously said thank you, and then watched Hawke, who also chased after his cousin without looking back.
"Then I..."
"You do whatever you want. We're here to accompany grandpa and for a vacation."
Hawke said without looking back, then caught up with Gwen, and walked with Gwen towards their room, preparing to quickly catch some sleep.
Soon.
Hawke and Gwen's figures disappeared into the stairwell.
Caroline did not withdraw her gaze until their figures disappeared, then she walked out of the manor again and came to the side of Bonnie, the little black girl, and Elena.
She looked at Stefan, who had found a plastic bag from somewhere and was collecting the white ash from the lawn into the plastic bag. She had intended to say sorry.
But Caroline suddenly remembered something.
She was the victim.
So... Caroline, realizing this, looked at Stefan, who was bending over in front of her, opened her mouth, and swallowed the words she had originally intended to say.
Bonnie, the little black girl, walked to Caroline's side and whispered, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were controlled by Damon before."
She didn't like Damon, and at that time, Caroline was helping Damon, so Bonnie, the little black girl, also didn't like Caroline.
But now she knew why.
Caroline looked at Bonnie, the little black girl, who was apologizing to her, and smiled.
Elena, on the side, hugged Caroline and also apologized.
As for Stefan.
Stefan, after collecting the ashes of his brother Damon, stood up, looked at Caroline, and with a twitch of his mouth, also said.
"Sorry."
"It's over, Damon..."
"He was never a good person."
Stefan looked at Caroline, who was about to speak but hesitated, and interrupted: "So, perhaps death was a release for him."
Although Damon was his brother.
But... if Damon had been killed for no reason, he would have avenged Damon no matter what.
However, Damon's death was his own doing.
Once again.
You hypnotized someone, their relatives found out, got angry, and killed you.
How could he avenge you for that?
The most important point.
When Stefan said that death might be a release for Damon, he actually added silently in his heart, that it might also be a release for him.
No way.
Damon was too much of a troublemaker, and he only caused trouble without cleaning up after himself.
To put it bluntly, which young and beautiful female tourist visiting Waterfall Town hadn't been bitten by Damon? And which time wasn't he busy running around, making the female tourists forget that memory, to clean up Damon's mess?
The most important point.
His brother used to fight him for Katherine, and now he was fighting him for Elena.
It's good that he's dead.
It's fine that he's dead.
It's just... Stefan thought, putting away the plastic bag and looking at Elena: "But without Damon, what about the Original Klaus..."
They had already learned Original Klaus's purpose from Original Elijah.
And they had already made a deal with Original Elijah: as long as they helped find the moonstone, Original Elijah would ask his brother to forgive their transgression and pardon their disrespect.
But now, without Damon, their strongest combat power.
The moonstone... they probably wouldn't have a chance to get it.
Elena's expression also stiffened slightly when Stefan mentioned Original Klaus.
Caroline, seeing this, said to Elena: "Don't worry, Hawke will help."
Elena heard this and looked at Caroline.
"He'll help?"
"Why?"
"He said so."
"Uh..."
Caroline looked at the three people staring intently at her, told them her cousin Gwen's answer of "no longer needed," and then said to Elena: "So, don't worry."
Elena nodded: "Thank you, Caroline."
Caroline smiled slightly: "We are friends. Once my cousin has rested, I will confirm this with her."
Elena forced a smile and nodded.
"What?"
"You said that Katherine is an Angel?"
"But isn't she a Vampire?"
In Hawke and Gwen's room.
Gwen pulled the quilt over herself as Hawke rolled to the side, then looked at Hawke lying next to her, blinking: "Also, didn't you say before that Heaven had been driven out by Hell?"
Hawke, who was in a temporary sage state, glanced at Gwen, who, even wrapped in the quilt, still exuded an alluring scent, and smiled: "Obviously, they've made a comeback. Also, Katherine isn't an Angel. I just said her soul came from the Heaven Dimension."
Gwen heard this, nodded, and then was a little curious.
"What does this have to do with you? Seizing the power of life and death on Earth, isn't that a matter with Mephisto? How did you get dragged into it?"
"Yes, I'm curious too."
Hawke chuckled, then, feeling recovered, he shifted his body, pulled Gwen into his arms, and while sniffing Gwen's hair, he voiced his conjectures.
"First, this is an accident."
"The real Dr. Merrick might have made a deal with the Heaven Dimension, using cloning technology to help the Heaven Dimension release more souls onto Earth, thereby accelerating their silent progress in conquering Hell and Earth."
"Second, without a doubt, this is intentional."
"Dr. Merrick is the spokesperson for the Heaven Dimension. He covets my power, so he also wants to replicate my power for his own use."
Gwen was his fiancée, and as he told Gwen, as his fiancée, the future Mrs. Phoenix, Gwen shared everything with him.
Gwen and he started from humble beginnings, so he had nothing to hide.
Hawke was not a civil official.
He was a saint seiya.
Since ancient times, only civil officials were heard of replacing their 'old wives' after entering the capital, not military officials.
Gwen listened to Hawke's two conjectures, raised her eyes, and looked at Hawke, whose eyes were flickering.
"Which one do you think it is?"
"I hope it's the second one."
"Hmm?"
Gwen heard Hawke's answer, raised an eyebrow: "You hope the Heaven Dimension deliberately makes an enemy of you, why?"
Hawke's mouth curved upwards.
"Because--"
"The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish!"
"..."
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