After Hawk and Gwen left the restaurant, they hailed a waiting taxi at the entrance.
Once inside, he tapped the driver's seat in front, pointed at the red family car that had already started moving, and then took out two hundred U.S. dollars and handed them over.
"Driver, follow that car in front."
"No problem."
The driver, seeing the two Franklins in front of him, his eyes lit up, took the money, shifted gears, and pressed the accelerator in one fluid motion.
Instantly.
The taxi shot out, following the red family car carrying Jane Foster that was driving ahead.
Gwen, sitting in the back seat, nudged Hawk's shoulder, then, meeting Hawk's gaze, spoke in a very low voice.
"We are…"
"The key to hell!"
Hawk smiled slightly.
Still the same words.
If he wanted to go to hell and get his sister's soul back from Mephisto, and he didn't fight Mephisto, it would be a pipe dream to expect Mephisto to obediently hand over his sister's soul.
But with his current strength, going to hell to find Mephisto would be no different from seeking death.
After all…
Even Mephisto had seen it; his Little Universe did not exist in this Universe, and after being relayed through Phoenix and projected onto Earth, he could only display about seventy to eighty percent of his full strength.
He might be able to deal with some minor characters.
But against a character like Mephisto, who could already be called a god, there was no chance.
Therefore!
From this perspective, Hawk was not wrong in saying that the Reality Stone was his key to hell.
After all, only by obtaining the Reality Stone and completely transforming his Little Universe into reality would he have the confidence to go to hell and fight Mephisto.
Because once his Little Universe materialized, it would be at the level of a Gold saint seiya.
Gold saint seiya against Mephisto.
There was still a chance.
Half an hour later.
The red family car in front stopped at a container terminal.
The taxi driver also stopped the car.
Hawk and Gwen opened the car doors and got out.
The next second.
Gwen looked at a container standing upright on the ground not far away and tapped Hawk beside her.
"Hawk, look."
"Hmm."
Hawk also saw the container standing upright on the ground, and the one lying horizontally on top of it, nodded, and then looked at Jane Foster, her assistant Daisy, and her assistant Ian who had gotten out of the red family car not far away.
Jane and Daisy also saw Hawk.
Daisy looked at Hawk and Gwen with some uncertainty, then said to Jane beside her, "Are they… following us?"
Jane did not speak.
Because the two people Daisy mentioned had already walked over.
Hawk looked at Thor's girlfriend who was watching him, and smiled as he extended his right hand: "Dr. Foster, hello."
Jane frowned and shook Hawk's hand.
"You are…"
"Hawk."
Hawk smiled slightly, then fixed his gaze on a half-finished building not far away: "There's something of mine in there; I'm here to take it."
With that said.
Hawk politely smiled and nodded to Jane Foster in front of him, then said to Gwen beside him, "Let's go."
Gwen responded.
Hawk then pulled Gwen and walked towards the half-finished building not far away.
He no longer needed Dr. Jane Foster to lead the way.
Because…
His trembling Sixth Sense was telling him that what he wanted was inside that half-finished building.
Jane Foster looked at Hawk and Gwen walking towards the half-finished building, paused slightly, then reacted and looked at Daisy beside her.
"Say that again, what's in here?"
"Infinity Stones."
Gwen, who was following Hawk towards the half-finished building and had also learned their purpose for coming from Hawk, paused slightly: "What are these?"
Hawk walked towards the half-finished building while explaining to Gwen.
"There are two versions of the origin of the Infinity Stones."
"The first version is that the Infinity Stones were formed from the self-sacrifice of the Goddess of Vengeance."
"Let's not talk about that version for now."
"The second version is that, according to legend, before the Big Bang, there were six singularities, and after the Big Bang occurred, the remnants of these six singularities condensed into six gems possessing the fundamental forces of the Universe."
"The Space Stone, which can control, warp, and even rearrange space!"
"The Mind Stone, which can control minds, enhance mental power, and project energy beams!"
"The Reality Stone, which can warp reality and reorganize matter."
"The Power Stone, which possesses infinite power and energy."
"The Time Stone, which controls all time."
"And the Soul Stone, which can establish a soul domain."
Hawk did not hide anything, briefly explaining the Infinity Stones to Gwen, then said to Gwen, "You've seen one of them."
Gwen, still stunned as to whether Hawk was telling a story, instinctively looked at Hawk upon hearing this.
"I've seen it?"
"The Tesseract."
Hawk shrugged: "It's described in history textbooks; it's what Captain America snatched from the Third Germany back then. Oh, and the wormhole above New York City last year was also opened by the Tesseract. The Tesseract is the Space Stone I just mentioned."
Gwen suddenly understood, then shook her head: "That's not right, the Tesseract isn't a gem, I remember."
Hawk chuckled: "The Tesseract is just a carrier for the Space Stone; you can think of it as a box for the gem."
Gwen nodded, seemingly understanding yet not fully.
"So what are we looking for this time…"
"The Reality Stone."
Hawk said, looking at the half-finished building in front of him, listening to the exclamations coming from inside, and pulled Gwen inside.
He initially didn't want to bring Gwen here.
But…
Gwen understood him well, which made him change his mind and bring her here.
Once the two entered the half-finished building, following the sound of exclamations, they immediately saw a miraculous scene.
A boy standing on the stairs threw a wine bottle into the stairwell, but instead of falling to the ground and shattering as expected, the bottle suddenly disappeared halfway down, only to reappear in the air and continue its descent.
Round and round.
At this moment, a perpetual motion machine had come true.
Gwen's pupils contracted.
"This…"
"Hiss!"
Jane Foster, who had followed behind and was now also walking over, looked at this scene with a shocked expression, involuntarily taking a deep breath.
Her assistant Daisy beside her said with a smile, "Now you know why I called you here, right?"
Jane Foster came back to her senses, said nothing, and instead took out her handheld device and walked towards the stairs.
Hawk also smiled at Gwen beside him.
"Hold me tight."
"Huh?"
Hawk said nothing, pulling Gwen into his embrace.
The next second.
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, Hawk, holding Gwen, had swept past Jane Foster and her assistant Daisy, as well as the three little kids who were having a blast playing with the wine bottle. With all five senses fully engaged, he followed the unknown fluctuations in the air to the fourth-floor corridor of the half-finished building.
After Gwen got out of Hawk's embrace, she involuntarily covered her forehead.
"Hawk!"
"Hmm?"
"Don't do that again."
Gwen, suppressing her discomfort, said to Hawk seriously, "Unless it's an emergency, you're not allowed to do that."
Hawk readily complied: "Okay, you stay here."
He looked at the positional fluctuations coming from the front of the corridor, thought for a moment, and decided not to let Gwen continue following him.
Because, while the effects of the Infinity Stones were infinitely powerful, similarly, the side effects of each Infinity Stone were also infinitely powerful.
No Infinity Stone was safe to touch.
However…
Just as Hawk was about to go forward alone, his Sixth Sense suddenly stirred.
He instinctively looked at Jane Foster, who had also climbed up the stairs.
Their eyes met.
It was Hawk who spoke first.
"Dr. Foster intends to go inside and take a look?"
"…"
Jane looked at the direction her instrument was pointing, then at the smile on Hawk's face, and frowned: "Are you planning to block the way?"
Hawk smiled, said nothing, but simply moved aside, making a gesture of invitation.
His recently triggered Sixth Sense suddenly reminded him of something.
That was…
In the original plot, it was less that Jane Foster found the Reality Stone, and more that the Reality Stone found her.
The Reality Stone was right in front of them, and there was only one chance.
Therefore.
Just in case, he decided to let Jane Foster help lead the way, act as a guide, and bring him to the Reality Stone.
Jane looked at Hawk, who had moved aside, and hesitated instead.
After all, offering kindness without reason implies ill intent, and while this was an East Country idiom, there were similar ones in the West; the meaning was the same.
Seeing this, Hawk chuckled, leaned his mouth close to Gwen's ear, and whispered, "Don't be surprised if I disappear later; I'll probably be out in about six hours."
Gwen's pupils slightly contracted as she looked at Hawk upon hearing this.
Hawk smiled slightly, kissed Gwen, then glanced at Jane, and then stepped forward towards the corridor.
After Jane saw Hawk and Gwen kissing, she couldn't help but think of her divine boyfriend, who had time to participate in the Battle of New York but no time to come find her. She gritted her teeth, looked at Gwen with a hint of envy in her eyes, and then also stepped forward to follow.
Gwen was a little confused by Jane's gaze, but quickly looked at Hawk walking ahead, a hint of worry appearing in her eyes.
Hawk, walking down the abandoned corridor, could clearly feel the unknown energy fluctuations around him contracting.
But soon.
This energy, which had just contracted, suddenly became agitated again.
Jane had caught up.
Just as Jane caught up, and seemingly to prove she wasn't scared, even walked in front of Hawk, the unknown energy around them completely surged.
The surrounding space instantly twisted due to this chaotic energy.
The next second.
Boom!
A singularity appeared, and then, as if causing a spatial collapse, in just the blink of an eye, Jane, who was walking ahead, and Hawk, who had placed his right hand on Jane's shoulder at the last moment, both instantly vanished from reality.
Gwen's eyes widened, Hawk's voice echoing in her ears.
"Don't worry, I'll be out soon!"
"…"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On my Patreon, I have several advance chapters available if you're interested in more than 100:
- For $1, you get 20 fewer chapters than the $2.50 tier.
- For $2.50, you get 40 fewer chapters than the $4 tier.
- And for $4, you get them all.
The number of chapters is updated every 7 days and increases by 7 to 8 chapters.
My Patre*n: pa*r*on*com/FanTranslator