After Hawk appeared in the tent, his gaze fell upon Alexander Pierce, and he began to scrutinize him.
His hair was graying but meticulously styled.
His face was intelligent, yet his eyes were gentle.
Dressed in a meticulously tailored dark suit, complemented by a pair of glasses resting on his nose, he gave the first impression of a good politician with a gentle demeanor and sincere attitude.
But…
All of this was an illusion.
Because beneath this gentle exterior hid a core leader of HYDRA, a man who was ruthless, cruel, and would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.
Here's a joke.
The Federal Director of the Security Council was one of HYDRA's core leaders.
However, this had nothing to do with why Hawk suddenly came here.
No.
It did have something to do with it.
He came here because, as he was preparing to leave, he suddenly remembered something and decided to find Alexander Pierce, the leader of HYDRA, not Alexander Pierce, the Director.
Alexander watched Hawk, who had appeared abruptly before him, his thoughts racing, and he immediately cut off communications, rose from his seat, walked around the table, and approached Hawk, extending his right hand with a gentle smile, very much a gentleman.
"Mr. Phoenix."
"Director Pierce."
Hawk also smiled, extended his hand, and shook hands with Alexander, then wasted no time in stating his purpose.
"Has Anna's vacation not been approved yet?"
"Anna?"
Alexander Pierce's heart skipped a beat upon hearing that name, but as a politician, and an experienced one at that, who had risen to his current position on the Security Council as a HYDRA leader, his facial expressions were perfectly managed.
After instinctively repeating Anna's name, a confused expression appeared on his face.
Hawk looked at Alexander's expression and didn't care.
Walls have ears, after all.
He didn't expect Alexander Pierce to readily admit he was a core leader of HYDRA just because he mentioned a name.
Hawk wasn't here to expose Alexander's true colors.
It was still the same old saying.
He had his own things to do and wasn't very concerned about the grievances between HYDRA and this World; even if HYDRA eventually took over the World, it wouldn't really affect him.
Hawk was here for his friend, Anna.
When he thought about it recently, he called Anna a few times, but the calls went through yet remained unanswered.
Hawk thought to himself, withdrawing his right hand and looking at Alexander.
"Yes, Anna, my friend, she works for your company. By the way, is your company's annual leave that long? It's been more than half a year, and Anna still hasn't returned to work?"
"…"
Alexander Pierce, hearing this, met Hawk's gaze and didn't speak immediately. Instead, he said, "One moment," then walked to the tent entrance, called his assistant, instructed him to guard the entrance and not let anyone in, and only then returned to the tent, looking at Hawk with surprise and confusion.
"Anna's annual leave finished long ago. She went to the island nation around last Christmas to take charge of the work there. Didn't Anna tell you?"
"Island nation?"
Hawk raised an eyebrow, looked at Alexander, and shook his head.
"No."
"Shit, I'm truly sorry. How about this, I'll arrange…"
"I don't want it."
Hawk interrupted Alexander directly, looking at him and saying, "My friend is Anna, not anyone else."
Alexander opened his mouth.
Hawk smiled slightly.
"Since you said Anna went to the island nation, can you call her?"
"Of course."
Alexander nodded without hesitation, then turned to retrieve the phone from the table.
Hawk stood calmly, his five senses fully open, watching Alexander pick up the phone and dial a number.
Soon.
The call was answered.
Hawk heard a Japanese voice from the other end: "Moshi moshi…"
Alexander directly asked about Anna.
However, unlike his earlier gentle voice, Alexander's voice sounded somewhat low when making this call.
But this was normal; if the identity switched, the voice would certainly follow suit.
Some of Hawk's suspicion dissipated.
After a while, as Alexander conversed with the person on the other end of the phone, accompanied by the sound of a woman's footsteps, Anna's voice came through the phone: "Officer?"
Alexander then handed the phone to Hawk.
Hawk took the phone.
"Anna."
"Hawk?"
Anna's voice, filled with surprise and a hint of confusion, came through from the other end of the phone.
Hawk smiled.
"Are you in the island nation now?"
"Yes, I got a promotion and am in charge of a Base's operations here, all thanks to you."
"Me?"
"Yes, didn't you tell me to talk to the boss and have them give me a promotion and a raise?"
"I remember now."
Hawk, hearing this, recalled indeed saying that, looked at Alexander in front of him, and said with a smile, "Thank you."
Alexander, with a gentle expression, waved his hand.
Hawk then asked Anna about the main topic.
"But why did you suddenly transfer to the island nation without telling me, and why couldn't I reach you by phone?"
"I came here on short notice and didn't bring anything. And, the phone, it shouldn't be unreachable. Hmm, wait, I did send you an email telling you I changed my number. Didn't you see the email?"
"Email?"
"Yes, it was sent a few days around Christmas."
"…"
Hawk said nothing, took out his phone, opened his email, and then searched for emails around last Christmas.
What he saw.
An unknown email was surrounded by telemarketing emails.
And this email was marked as read.
Hawk opened it and looked at the timestamp; it was indeed from around last Christmas.
But he had no recollection of this email whatsoever.
"Hiss!"
"Could it be that I was busy looking for the Four Demon Lords of Creation in Texas at the time, so I just glanced at it and then forgot?"
Hawk looked at the email, his thoughts racing.
Just then.
Anna's voice came from the phone: "Did you find it? I remember sending you an email. It was Christmas then, and I was afraid of disturbing your holiday, so I sent an email."
Hawk snapped back, put away his phone, and hearing Anna's words, chuckled.
"We're friends, Anna. You can call me anytime."
"Alright, my mistake."
Anna on the other end of the phone readily admitted her mistake: "I still have something to do here. If you don't mind, I'll come to New York in half a month and treat you to afternoon tea as my apology?"
Hawk chuckled: "Alright, I'll remember that afternoon tea."
Anna laughed in response, then steered the conversation back to the present: "Oh, by the way, Hawk, did you need something from me? I'm in the island nation now, but I can recommend a…"
Hawk interrupted: "No need, this matter isn't urgent. It's not too late to talk about it when you come to New York City in half a month."
The Mind Stone is different from the Reality Stone.
In a word.
When he obtained the Reality Stone, time was of the essence; if he missed that time, the Reality Stone would have been taken by Malekith, and even if Thor defeated Malekith according to the original plot, the Reality Stone would likely not have ended up in his hands.
And even if the Reality Stone had been given to The Collector according to the original plot, with his strength at the time, he wouldn't have been able to go and demand it from The Collector.
So…
The window for acquiring the Reality Stone was limited; he could only obtain the Reality Stone during that specific period.
But the Mind Stone was different.
It had no time limit; getting it now or in half a month made no difference.
And!
To be honest, he really missed Anna, his good friend, after not seeing her for so long.
It would be nice to meet up next month when his old friend came to New York City.
After all, he had initially thought Anna might have died.
But then he thought it was unlikely.
Because Anna hadn't reported to his Underworld.
Don't forget, Hawk had made a deal with Mephisto that anyone he knew, who invoked his name, would not enter hell but only the Underworld.
So…
If Anna had died, by virtue of being Hawk's friend, she would have been directly transported to the Pure Land of the Underworld.
But Anna hadn't appeared in the Underworld, which meant Anna hadn't died.
Yet he couldn't contact Anna before, so he thought of what Sharon said in New York City about Director Alexander Pierce overseeing negotiations in Wakanda, and simply came to ask why Anna wasn't answering his calls.
Anna on the other end of the phone, hearing Hawk's appointment for next month, also didn't hesitate.
"Alright, then I'll see you in New York City in fifteen days."
"Alright, then I won't disturb you. You go ahead and be busy."
"Alright…"
Hawk then hung up the phone and returned the phone in his hand to Alexander.
Alexander, still with a gentle expression, took back his phone.
Hawk said again.
"Thank you, sorry to bother you."
"You're welcome. I'm very happy that Anna can be your friend."
"I won't disturb you anymore. I'm leaving."
"Take care."
Alexander, hearing this, didn't say anything more.
The occasion wasn't right.
Hawk didn't care about that either.
He came here just to confirm Anna's situation with Alexander, and since the matter was settled, it was time to go home.
The next second.
Hawk's figure instantly vanished, reappearing thousands of miles high in the sky, then accompanied by the appearance of a sonic boom cloud, he transformed into a red light and flashed towards the direction of New York City.
Alexander Pierce, standing outside the tent, watched the disappearing red light in the sky, then retracted his gaze, turned, and re-entered the tent.
In the instant of his entering and exiting.
The expression on his face completely darkened.
His face was so dark—
Terrifying!
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