Yes.
Right beneath their feet, this cliff connected to the mountain.
Hawke could feel it, and he was certain of it.
Because… he saw it.
The inside of the mountain beneath their feet was completely hollowed out, forming a giant dome about a hundred meters high.
Platforms and corridors crisscrossed within it like a spiderweb, connecting one area after another.
There were no windows inside, no natural light, only artificial cold light illuminating everything.
There wasn't even any sound, only the breathing and footsteps of the crowd.
One after another, staff members in White coats held their tablets, without any communication with each other, not even eye contact, simply looking at the cultivation pods in front of them, recording their observations like robots.
And the occupants of those clone cultivation pods were none other than Hawke.
So many Hawkes.
Hawkes of all ages.
Hawke's Sixth Sense swept over them without any fluctuation, his heart devoid of anger, only a sense of absurdity rising within him.
The next second.
He no longer hesitated.
Boom!
The moment Hawke looked down, a scorching Phoenix Ray instantly shot out, blasting a perfectly circular hole in the ground beneath his feet.
The large hole extended continuously inward as the Phoenix Ray shot forth.
Hawke's body also plummeted rapidly, until with a bang, the dome of the laboratory within the mountain shattered, and accompanied by the Phoenix Ray descending from the sky, Hawke was already suspended in the massive laboratory within the mountain.
The piercing alarm of the clone Base instantly blared.
On the ground below, one emotionless experimenter after another heard the commotion, and instinctively looked up at Hawke, who was suspended above their heads.
Their expressions remained unchanged; instead, after seeing Hawke, they revealed a slight smile, then uniformly turned around again and pressed the self-destruct button on the clone cultivation pod in front of them without hesitation.
The next moment.
Accompanied by a dazzling orange-red light, as the flames, no longer suppressed, surged out of the clone pod.
An explosion occurred.
Boom, boom, boom, boom—
One orange-red flame after another, as if precisely timed, exploded the clone pods while devouring the experimenters who seemed to have no fear of death, then connected with the opposite exploding flames to form an even more terrifying blaze, beginning to sweep through the massive clone cultivation area.
In just a blink of an eye, the entire clone cultivation area was instantly filled with flames, then, as if finding a vent, swiftly ascended through the pilfered hole Hawke had just created, roaring out.
The flames glowed like a torch on the highest peak of Willow Canyon.
Hawke did not stop any of this.
Because even if these people didn't self-destruct the place, he would have; their current self-destruction saved him the trouble of doing it himself.
Besides.
A bunch of small fry, he wasn't in the mood to talk to them.
Enveloped by flames, but unharmed by them, Hawke floated amidst the blaze, his gaze fixed on the gates that had dropped around the clone cultivation area the moment the alarm sounded. After a sweep, he precisely locked onto one of the gates.
"Eye Impact!"
"Boom!"
The gate shattered in response, and the flames raging in the clone cultivation area seemed to find a vent once again, like a fire dragon, roaring towards the passage behind the gate the moment it opened.
The next second.
Piercing screams echoed from inside the passage. Eight security guards, armed with weapons, who had just arrived at the passage when the alarm sounded, faced the rushing flames head-on. They instantly turned into Pyros, instinctively dropping their weapons, shouting and screaming, and turning to run desperately back.
This gate led to the clone memory implantation area.
Rows of clones sat in specially designed chairs, helmet-like devices covering their heads, their eyes rapidly moving beneath their eyelids, and their facial muscles occasionally twitching.
Like the clone cultivation area, there were also staff members in White coats here.
However, the staff here were more human; although they had heard the alarms and explosions from the clone cultivation area, they were still chatting and laughing, as if unaffected.
Until—
Six Pyros screamed and burst through the gate, stumbling out of the passage. This sudden change finally frightened the experimenters inside.
The first Pyro to emerge had already fallen to the ground, his burning right hand raised in a dying gesture, his throat moving, seemingly trying to call for help.
But he could no longer utter a single word.
Most importantly.
Hawke had also arrived.
Bang!
Under the scorching Phoenix Ray, the Pyro attempting to call for help was instantly vaporized. Hawke, who hadn't even had time to change clothes and was still in a suit, looking quite gentlemanly, smiled slightly at the experimenters in the memory implantation area who were looking at him with shocked expressions: "Surprise!"
As he spoke.
Hawke's eyes instantly turned crimson again, and the scorching Phoenix Ray instantly draped this already bright area in a crimson veil.
Ten seconds later.
The memory implantation area was also completely clean, with no clones, no experimenters, and no bodies to be seen, only rows of clone chairs and various electronic devices scattered on the ground, proving that there had once been many people here.
Many, many people.
Hawke picked up something from a clone chair that looked very much like a VR device, raised an eyebrow, and then put it on his head.
Instantly.
A series of images flashed by like slides: an infant just born and left at a church door, a child singing with a church choir, a child living in a foster family, and then a boy kneeling in ruins, roaring helplessly, vowing to become stronger… These were his memories.
But… they had been modified, similar yet not quite, as if someone had specifically conducted a detailed investigation into his past, and then created them based on the information obtained.
Hawke took off the helmet and casually tossed it aside.
He described this fabricated memory with just two words.
Idiotic.
Just then, a dazzling red light instantly filled the entire memory clone area.
Hawke's mind moved, and his figure instantly vanished from his original spot.
The next second.
Boom!
A violent explosion, like a volcanic eruption, instantly destroyed the entire memory implantation area.
"Did it succeed?"
In one of the most secluded silver rooms, which connected to the entire mountain like a spiderweb, a huge screen displayed the memory implantation area currently engulfed in flames.
Dr. Merrick, a thin, tall Dr. with glasses, looking somewhat refined and wearing a White coat, quickly asked.
The technician sitting in front of the computer did not speak, but instead pulled up the ubiquitous surveillance footage of the memory implantation area, capturing Hawke, who was in his original spot in the previous frame but gone in the next when the explosion occurred. He shook his head at Dr. Merrick, who turned to look with an expression of fear mixed with anticipation.
"No!"
"Where did he go?"
"…The dormant zone."
The technician's hands were on the keyboard, constantly switching between surveillance footage of various areas. Finally, the large screen's display locked onto the clone dormant zone.
Hundreds of clones stood silently in transparent pods, completely naked, like exhibits in a museum, or like tools awaiting use. Their breathing was slow, and their restless heartbeats were maintained at the lowest level to ensure they would not die.
And Hawke, the real Hawke, was in the dormant zone.
Hawke's figure swiftly moved through the entire clone dormant zone, which resembled a warehouse, finally standing in the center of the warehouse, his gaze sweeping around at the dense dormant pods, and himself, seemingly asleep inside them.
Just then.
A hiss.
Hawke instinctively looked up at a certain spot that had suddenly made a sound.
The next second.
Dr. Merrick's voice echoed through the loudspeakers above the clone dormant zone.
"Mr. Hawke Phoenix, I didn't expect you to actually find this place."
"…Merrick?"
"It's me."
"Heh."
Hawke chuckled lightly and looked in the direction of the voice: "You're quite something. I thought by now you would have already fled in a panic."
Dr. Merrick smiled.
"Why should I flee? You may be terrifying, Mr. Phoenix, but I have God's favor. I serve God."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, otherwise, why do you think my cloning technology succeeded while others failed? Because I received an oracle and guidance from God. This World is defiled, and God has come. He wants to evolve the entire World."
"Then you'd better pray your God can come and save you when I catch you."
After Hawk finished speaking, the Phoenix Ray shot out, and with a bang, it pierced the loudspeaker hanging on the wall. Then, he lowered the Phoenix Ray and began an indiscriminate sweep of the area.
Clone stasis pods vaporized instantly under the Phoenix Ray, including the clones inside, which were being kept at minimum survival conditions.
In just the blink of an eye, the warehouse, which a second ago was filled with dense rows of clone stasis pods, became so empty that a horse could run through it.
"Hiss!"
Dr. Merrick, who was currently at what he called the Eden Base Command Center, gasped as he watched Hawk standing in the empty warehouse on the large screen. Then, without any hesitation, he immediately gave an order.
"Activate HYDRA Captain."
"Yes!"
"Put on the replicated Iron Man Suit as well."
"Understood."
HYDRA Captain was their most successful Hawk clone to date. Originally, there were six earlier clones, but they all exploded and died upon activation due to various cloning parameters being too low or too high.
After that, all their subsequent clones were based on this perfectly cloned HYDRA, which they used for further cloning experiments.
Soon.
Just as Hawk finished clearing another area and was about to turn and leave, suddenly, not far away, the ground cracked open, and a hidden underground clone stasis pod emerged.
As countless mists poured out of the stasis pod, Artificial Human Number Seven, who was inside, abruptly opened his eyes.
The next second.
Just as Artificial Human Number Seven stepped out of the stasis pod, the ground beneath him cracked again, and a life-sized Iron Man Suit opened up for Artificial Human Number Seven.
Hawk watched this scene, stopping his steps to leave, and looked at the clone in front of him, who, after putting on the Iron Man Suit, was staring at him with glowing green eyes hidden beneath the faceplate.
Dr. Merrick's voice sounded again.
"Mr. Phoenix, allow me to introduce you, HYDRA Captain, my Hawk!"
"HYDRA Captain?"
Hawk looked up in the direction of Dr. Merrick's voice: "So, you're cooperating with God, and also with HYDRA?"
Dr. Merrick said with a smile: "I know what you want to say, Mr. Phoenix. You think HYDRA is bad, but God doesn't think so. My cooperation with HYDRA has God's permission."
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, what did God tell you?"
"God said that the Earth has been occupied by demons, and it needs to be evolved. He forgives HYDRA's mistakes."
"Is that so?"
"Absolutely."
"Again, you'd better pray your God appears when I get to you."
"You'd better pray you can defeat our HYDRA Captain first."
"Heh."
Hawk sneered, looking at the clone in front of him, whom Dr. Merrick called HYDRA Captain.
"You mean this? This is what you cooked up after half a year, thinking it could defeat me? Just this, a fake?"
"Kill you, and HYDRA Captain will be the genuine article."
"Really? I don't believe it."
"Show Mr. Phoenix your strength, HYDRA Captain."
"Buzz!"
As Dr. Merrick's voice fell, the Vibranium energy in the chest of the Iron Man Suit worn by the clone, called HYDRA, instantly surged.
The moment HYDRA Captain bent his knees, the metal floor beneath him cracked, and his entire body shot towards Hawk like an explosion.
Seeing this, Hawk raised his right hand.
Clang!
With the contraction of his Sixth Sense psychokinesis, HYDRA Captain, who was a blur in mid-air, was instantly frozen.
Hawk lightly waved his right hand, and in an instant, HYDRA Captain, frozen in mid-air, flew backward like a cannonball, crashing with a bang against the wall, which was also covered with a layer of metal.
The next second.
Hawk squeezed his right hand again.
HYDRA Captain, who hadn't even fallen from the metal wall yet, was instantly pulled towards Hawk like a kite being yanked.
Hawk was amused.
He looked up in the direction from which Dr. Merrick's voice had come: "Again, what did you just say?"
The technicians next to the Command Center watched this scene on the big screen, their eyes wide, and looked at Dr. Merrick.
"This is impossible, Dr.."
"We have achieved 65% comparability for HYDRA Captain's strength."
"And there's also the Iron Man Suit."
"Comparing the data, our HYDRA Captain, after putting on the Iron Man Suit, has energy values that can match the data of Hawk's strength without his saint cloth."
"But…"
"This is impossible!"
Dr. Merrick looked at the big screen, at Artificial Human Number Seven, on whom he had placed such high hopes, believing that even if he couldn't defeat Hawk, he could at least give him a hard time. But now, he was subdued by Hawk without even making a move. Dr. Merrick couldn't help but exclaim in a lost voice.
Hawk looked at the clone floating before him, directly at the familiar yet strange eyes hidden beneath the faceplate, and chuckled softly.
The next second.
Boom!
Under Dr. Merrick's shocked gaze, HYDRA Captain, on whom he had placed such high hopes, and the Iron Man Suit adapted for HYDRA Captain, turned into white smoke and vaporized instantly.
"Do you have any other tricks up your sleeve, Dr. Merrick?"
"If you do, I can give you a chance to use them."
"After all, I gave you half a year to create something that could impress me."
"But if your trump card is just that kind of junk."
"Again."
"Now you can pray to God to save you."
After vaporizing the clone in front of him, Hawk put his right hand back in his pocket, looked up at Dr. Merrick with a slight smile, and calmly suggested.
"This is impossible!"
Dr. Merrick exclaimed, his voice sharp: "Data doesn't lie. Without your saint cloth, you absolutely cannot defeat my HYDRA Captain."
Hawk sneered, listening to Dr. Merrick's broken voice, and already understood one thing.
He had no other tricks, or rather, his only trick was the HYDRA Captain he had just extinguished with a flick of his finger.
Data?
Data my foot.
Clearly.
Dr. Merrick was comparing his physical strength to that of the clone.
But... his power source was not the saint cloth, nor his physical body, but came from his Little Universe.
The stronger his Little Universe, the stronger he was.
So... Hawk was too lazy to respond to the distraught Merrick, a sarcastic smile on his lips: "You can start praying to God now, Dr. Merrick. I'll give you time to pray to God, but you'd better hurry, because I'm in a rush."
With that.
Hawk's figure instantly vanished.
The next second.
Dr. Merrick and the HYDRA Agents in the Command Center saw on the big screen that Hawk, who was in the clone stasis area one second, had appeared in the Iron Man Suit research and development area the next. In just the blink of an eye, the Agents in the Iron Man Suit R&D area instantly vaporized, and then Hawk moved to another area.
A massacre, but a bloodless one, was rapidly spreading through this secret Base.
The entire Command Center watched Hawk on the big screen, clearing one area after another and rapidly approaching them, and a sense of stunned silence fell over them.
A HYDRA Agent standing at the very back took out his phone, lowered his head, composed a text message, and then, looking at the others whose eyes were fixed on the big screen, he quietly and stealthily opened the door and slipped out.
Until—
With a bang, the sound of the door closing naturally startled the HYDRA Agents present.
The next second.
All the HYDRA Agents fully awakened from their shattered dreams and, by common accord, rushed towards the exit.
Would God come to save them?
They didn't know, but they knew one thing.
If they didn't run now, when the demon king arrived, they probably wouldn't even leave behind ashes.
But... it was too late!
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