When the second HYDRA Agent frantically opened the door, preparing to leave through the emergency escape passage.
The moment he opened the door, his body stiffened, and then he saw Hawk already in front of him, his eyes widening at a visible rate.
Hawk, on the other hand, was smiling politely.
"Hello, I'm looking for Dr. Merrick!"
"..."
Standing in front of Hawk, facing Hawk's smile, the HYDRA Agent suppressed the surging fear in his heart and swallowed hard.
"Phi..."
"Poof!"
The HYDRA Agent instantly vaporized.
Following closely behind, the HYDRA Agent, who was preparing to escape, hadn't yet reacted to why the person in front wasn't moving. Just as he was restlessly preparing to stir, he saw a scorching crimson light burst forth. Immediately after, one by one, the HYDRA Agents blocking the doorway, ready to flee, all turned into white smoke and vaporized on the spot.
In just an instant, the previously congested entrance to the Command Center was completely clear.
So clean it was as if it had never been congested.
But Dr. Merrick had already fled.
Just as most of the HYDRA Agents were swarming out the main entrance, he had already taken his subordinates and descended rapidly to the lowest level using the Command Center's secret elevator.
As the elevator door, disguised as part of the mountain, opened to both sides, a speedboat lay quietly in the seawater's backwater bay.
Dr. Merrick and his subordinates went in one after another.
"Eli, untie the safety rope."
"Understood."
Eli, the assistant who had been rescued from the S.H.I.E.L.D. prison by HYDRA along with Dr. Merrick, nodded and quickly walked towards the safety rope that was securing the speedboat, preventing it from being carried away by the sea.
Dr. Merrick, with a thud, jumped into the backwater bay without any regard for his image, then climbed onto the speedboat in a few quick steps.
After all, at this point, what was the need for image?
Image, or life?
For Dr. Merrick, this was never a multiple-choice question.
Just as Dr. Merrick also knew a saying.
Escape quickly, accurately, and ruthlessly, without any burdens.
Eli, who had already untied the safety rope, looked up happily.
"Dr., we can start..."
"Bang!"
Assistant Eli's eyes widened. He instinctively clutched his chest with his right hand, looked down at his chest, which was oozing blood, and then looked up at Dr. Merrick, who was standing on the speedboat, pointing a pistol at him.
"Dr...."
"Sorry, bang!"
"Thud!"
Assistant Eli was shot in the forehead and immediately fell backward.
Dr. Merrick, a man of few words but decisive action, then started the speedboat, roaring out of the cave behind him. The moment he drove out of the cave, he pulled out a button from his pocket and pressed it hard.
Boom!
The cave exploded with a roar.
Not just the cave!
The moment Dr. Merrick pressed the button, the entire mountain seemed to come alive.
It first trembled violently, like a person suddenly feeling cold and involuntarily shivering.
The next second!
Explosion!
Boom!
The first loud bang, accompanied by a force capable of tearing the sky, caused the mountain surface to explode, like a volcanic eruption.
But what erupted was not lava, but trees and rocks.
Everything on the mountain surface was thrown high into the sky by the inward-outward explosive Impact, like a reverse downpour.
Immediately after—
Boom!!!
The second loud bang followed closely. With the complete collapse of the Base inside the mountain, the entire external structure of the mountain also disintegrated, collapsed, and reconfigured at this moment. A huge Impact swept outwards in a circular fashion... Gray gale also raged towards the sea.
Dr. Merrick, driving the speedboat and quickly fleeing towards the open sea, pushed his glasses up without looking back.
He had the feeling of a true man who never looks back at an explosion.
Of course.
The reason Merrick didn't dare to look back wasn't because he was a true man, but because he was afraid that the moment he looked back, he would see the terrifying sight of Hawk unharmed and chasing after him.
So... Merrick didn't dare to look back, with only one thought in his mind.
Go faster, go even faster.
Just like that.
Under Merrick's full acceleration, the speedboat beneath him, like a wild horse unbridled, sped towards the boundless sea.
Until the Sun set, until Molokai Island had disappeared behind him, until the last barrel of spare fuel was completely exhausted, until the speedboat lost power, Dr. Merrick, feeling utterly exhausted, finally collapsed onto the deck with a splash, completely unconcerned about his appearance.
Dr. Merrick turned his head and looked back, using the moonlight.
After confirming that he couldn't see Molokai Island and there was no trace of Hawk, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The next second.
Dr. Merrick clenched his right hand into a fist and slammed it onto the deck, venting his emotions.
"Fuck!"
"Fuck!"
"Fuck, my calculations can't be wrong."
Dr. Merrick couldn't understand why the most powerful clone he had finally created after six micro-adjustments, the Hydra Captain, would be dealt with by Hawk without even a chance to strike.
This was completely unreasonable and illogical.
Before the London incident, HYDRA had very detailed information on Hawk. As for after London, HYDRA's information on Hawk was not as complete.
Because HYDRA's only contact with Hawk, Ms. Anna Pierce, had gone missing.
But that didn't matter, because based on the saint cloth collected after the London incident, they had confirmed one thing.
Hawk without the saint cloth and Hawk with the saint cloth had two different combat power performances.
HYDRA's data also supported this point.
Hawk without the saint cloth, his physical body's energy was at most comparable to Captain America Steve Rogers.
But Hawk wearing the saint cloth, his energy was explosive, because in several attacks, Hawk had worn the saint cloth to attack.
So—
The saint cloth was key.
They had also successfully replicated it, and indeed, the Iron Man Suit forged from Vibranium and meteorites under gamma ray exposure formed a subtle relationship. Although it wasn't enough to match their previous estimated data for Hawk's saint cloth.
But with the Vibranium energy manufacturing technology obtained from Wakanda, their Iron Man Suit was comparable to the saint cloth.
However, Hawk's clone had problems.
In the previous five cloning experiments, the clone, after putting on the Iron Man Suit, was completely unable to support absorbing Vibranium energy. Whenever the Iron Man Suit's Vibranium energy was activated, the clone would explode and die, without the slightest hesitation.
Their clone seemed unable to compare with Hawk's physical body.
But Merrick also found a solution.
Super Soldier Serum.
Although the original Super Soldier Serum formula had been lost, thanks to General Thaddeus Ross's tireless efforts over the years to replicate the Super Soldier Serum.
So they actually had a Super Soldier Serum formula, although it wasn't as good as the original.
Thus, after another failed experiment, Dr. Merrick successfully created a clone that integrated the Super Soldier Serum, with a physical body comparable to sixty percent of Hawk's.
Named, Hydra Captain.
Although not enough to rival Hawk himself, with their Iron Man Suit, even though the Hydra Captain could not support the entire Iron Man Suit, even with only half, the amplification provided by the Iron Man Suit, plus the Vibranium blades and the HYDRA Vibranium shield, had perfectly defeated Hawk in countless computer simulations.
The result... dreams are beautiful, but reality is harsh.
Hawk proved one thing with facts.
Piracy is piracy.
If Hawk himself was like 4K high-definition, then the Hydra Captain he had cobbled together was 270P quality, and it was the kind of quality recorded from a movie theater's original version.
Dr. Merrick couldn't understand.
Hawk, who was now quietly standing behind Dr. Merrick, leaning against the speedboat's railing, having used the Reality Stone to modify Dr. Merrick's perception so that he couldn't see him, also looked at Dr. Merrick, who was sometimes laughing loudly and sometimes hitting the deck, with some confusion.
He had been watching for quite a while.
Hawk was already quite sure that this Dr. Merrick in front of him was the original Dr. Merrick.
The main reason he hadn't revealed himself and acted was to follow behind Dr. Merrick and see if Angel would appear.
After all, the recent battle could at most be described as him not even having warmed up before it ended.
As for the so-called Hydra Captain.
If Hawke were to assess that guy, disregarding the equipment he was wearing, that guy didn't even possess one percent of his physical strength when he wasn't using his Little Universe.
Once again, a saint seiya who has awakened the Sixth Sense Silver Little Universe possesses physical strength capable of moving mountains and parting seas.
Moving mountains and parting seas in a literal sense.
That Hydra Captain?
If that guy wasn't wearing the Iron Man Suit concocted by HYDRA, he probably couldn't even destroy a wall cast from C140 concrete.
So... Hawke hadn't fought to his heart's content; he felt a bit stuck, so he wanted to see if, after Dr. Merrick, who believed himself blessed by God, prayed, God or an Angel would appear.
If so, perfect, chopping up an Angel would also be excellent. If he got incredibly lucky, he might even be able to kill a God for a snack.
Although he lived in a church when he was young in this life, although he even participated in the church choir, and although he even went with Gwen to the community church to volunteer.
But this doesn't mean that if God provoked him, he would be fine.
That's not happening.
Just as he told Gwen, instead of diligently believing and hoping to go to Heaven after death, he still felt it would be easier to kill Jehovah and fight his way into Heaven.
Coincidentally, Gwen also wanted a Heaven.
Mephisto also wanted Jehovah, so Hawke followed Dr. Merrick all the way, wanting to see if God would appear.
The result.
Hawke looked at Dr. Merrick, who was still sitting on the deck, crying and laughing, muttering, "This is impossible." He was tempted to reveal himself and remind him to pray.
He was already getting a little impatient.
Just as Hawke was thinking of reminding Dr. Merrick, the latter suddenly remembered something, sprang up from the deck, and fumbled all over his body. Apparently not finding what he wanted, his expression turned to one of terror, panic, and unease.
Just then.
Dr. Merrick suddenly remembered something and muttered, "That's right, my bag, my bag."
As he spoke, Merrick frantically searched the deck, looking down.
Hawke, leaning against the railing, glanced at a backpack at his feet, then looked at Merrick, who was so anxious he was almost crying. He raised an eyebrow, bent down, picked up the backpack, and handed it to Dr. Merrick.
"Here."
"Oh, God, thank you."
Dr. Merrick subconsciously took the backpack, glanced at Hawke, and thanked him. He then opened his backpack, took out a seemingly unremarkable, reddish apple that looked like someone had taken a bite out of it, and after putting the backpack down, held the apple in both hands, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness..."
Dr. Merrick muttered, then seemed to remember something, his body stiffened, and then like a zombie, his head mechanically, with wide eyes, slowly looked to the side.
In his line of sight.
Hawke smiled brightly at Dr. Merrick and said, "Hello."
The next second.
He reached out and snatched the bitten red apple from Dr. Merrick's hand.
Dr. Merrick was stunned.
Then he went mad, roaring and pouncing at Hawke, trying to snatch the red apple back.
"Give it back..."
"Crunch!"
Hawke glanced at Dr. Merrick, who was pouncing like a mad dog. With a thought, he froze him in place, then examined the bitten red apple in his hand.
He hadn't noticed the backpack at his feet at first.
But now.
Looking at the bitten red apple in his hand, he suddenly noticed that this red apple seemed to have a taste similar to the Infinity Stones.
However, this red apple wasn't an Infinity Stone, but rather, how to describe it?
A divine object?
Hawke thought to himself, then looked at Dr. Merrick, who was agitated and flushed with blood, then at the red apple in his hand. As if remembering something, he raised an eyebrow and looked at Dr. Merrick: "This wouldn't be that apple, would it? The one bitten by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden."
Legend has it that after Adam and Eve were created, they lived in the Garden of Eden, unclothed and carefree, until Eve was tempted by a snake and, with Adam, ate the apple from the Tree of Knowledge. From then on, they felt shame, and then God discovered them and expelled them from the Garden of Eden.
So—
Is this the legendary Fruit of Wisdom?
Hawke looked at Dr. Merrick, but didn't expect Dr. Merrick to answer, nor did he want to hear Dr. Merrick's answer. He focused his six senses on the red apple in front of him.
The next moment.
A hum!
Hawke's mind suddenly felt as if it had pierced through something, arriving in a circular space with a missing corner.
Then.
After his six senses swept the surroundings of the space, Hawke subconsciously gasped.
So many people.
No, no people. To be precise, so many souls.
Dense, countless souls almost filled the entire space, but unlike the restless souls in the Hell Dimension, the souls here were pure and white like paper, as if they had been formatted.
Wait.
Brand new, pure white, formatted souls?
Hawke's mind left the red apple in his hand, and he looked at Dr. Merrick again: "Is this why your clones were successful? You used the souls from here to give the clones their own souls?"
Just as Adam and Eve bit this apple and from then on had a sense of shame.
But what shame?
It's more accurate to say that Adam and Eve, when first created, didn't actually have souls. But under the serpent's temptation, they bit the apple, and from then on had souls. And with souls came self-awareness, and with self-awareness naturally came souls.
So—
"This isn't an apple of good and evil."
"It's an apple of souls."
Hawke thought to himself, then without hesitation, he unleashed his Little Universe and directly threw the red apple in his hand into his Underworld.
In short.
This was his trophy.
Thank God, with this apple, even if he hadn't made a deal with Mephisto, and hadn't fought his way into Heaven, at least after his Little Universe materialized in the future, the initial life in the Universe would be settled.
Hawke smiled, then unfroze Merrick.
Thud!
The next second he unfroze Merrick, the latter, still maintaining his pouncing posture, stumbled directly and hit his head on the deck.
But Merrick still had his red apple on his mind, and with a bloodied face, he got up and lunged at Hawke.
"Give me back the apple, it was a gift from God..."
"Thud!"
The moment Hawke vanished from his spot, Dr. Merrick pounced through Hawke's afterimage, directly hitting the speedboat's railing, and with a thud, he flipped over the railing headfirst, feet up, and splashed into the sea.
After Dr. Merrick emerged from the seawater, he desperately thrashed the water. The seawater stung the wounds on his face, sobering him up considerably. He looked at Hawke, who was standing on the speedboat's deck, his expression terrified.
"Hawke."
"You can pray now, Dr. Merrick. I give you the hope to pray to God."
Hawke had no intention of saving Dr. Merrick. With his hands in his pockets, he stood on the deck, smiling at Dr. Merrick in the sea: "I'll give you five minutes, that's enough, isn't it? That should be enough for you to expect your God to appear or send his Angels to save you."
It was already night, and the seawater had turned cold.
Dr. Merrick, soaked in the seawater, shivered: "Haw... No, Mr. Phoenix, I was wrong. HYDRA coerced me into cloning you for them. I was wrong, please, spare me."
Hawke smiled brightly: "I told you to pray to your God, Merrick, not to me. I am not your God. Time is ticking, Merrick, pray."
Saying that.
He no longer looked at Dr. Merrick, but at the ticking second hand on his wrist watch.
Five minutes meant five minutes.
He would only give God five minutes. Either appear and give him an explanation, or he would fight his way into Heaven and demand an explanation from God...
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