Hawk originally thought Dr. Mallick could truly create life.
That was why he was willing to give Mallick a chance.
If he could, Hawk wouldn't mind putting aside past grievances, showing respect to the wise, and inviting Mallick to be his honored guest.
After all, his Little Universe would also need life once it materialized.
If Dr. Mallick's technology was truly viable, then the materialized Little Universe would quickly give birth to its own life.
The result—
Is that all?
He had waited for nothing.
However, he also had no intention of killing Mallick.
At least not for now.
After all, the reason he initially sought out Dr. Mallick wasn't because Dr. Mallick could create souls out of nothing, but merely because Dr. Mallick's cloning technology could create a brand new body for his sister using her DNA.
So…
Hawk thought to himself, then looked at Mallick, who seemed disheartened and thought his life was nearing its end after Hawk exposed the true nature of his cloning, and said, "I can still choose not to kill you."
Upon hearing this, Mallick's dispirited eyes once again lit up with hope for life as he looked at Hawk.
"Is that true, Mr. Phoenix?"
"As long as you can clone a body for my sister."
"But my cloning, you just said…"
"I only need the body; I don't need your soul infusion."
"No problem."
Mallick's eyes brightened, and he readily agreed without hesitation.
Seeing this, Hawk chuckled, then ignored Mallick and looked at Natasha beside him: "He's yours. Don't kill him."
Natasha heard this and looked curiously at Hawk, who was preparing to leave: "Aren't you taking him with you?"
She also knew what Hawk wanted Dr. Mallick for; after all, if Hawk hadn't been looking for Dr. Mallick, HYDRA might have remained hidden for who knows how long.
But now, Dr. Mallick had been found, and from Hawk's words, it seemed he didn't plan to take him back.
Hawk smiled at Natasha's question.
"Do you want the truth or a lie?"
"A lie?"
"What I told Sharon back then was just to borrow Dr. Mallick, so he's still yours."
"Uh, then the truth…"
"I don't have the money to set up such a cloning lab, and I'm going to Georgia with Gwen to see her grandfather first, so it's not convenient to take him back."
"Understood."
Natasha's expression cleared, and she nodded, saying, "I'll bring him safely to S.H.I.E.L.D.."
Hawk hummed in acknowledgment, preparing to leave.
However…
Just as he was about to depart, he suddenly felt a stir within him, turned around again, and fixed his gaze on Dr. Mallick.
Hawk's sharp gaze in that instant seemed to pierce through Mallick.
Dr. Mallick felt a chill run down his spine from the stare.
But very quickly, Hawk withdrew his gaze, though he said nothing.
Natasha, standing nearby, glanced at Hawk, then notified two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to take Dr. Mallick away.
After Dr. Mallick was led away, Natasha then looked at Hawk.
"What's wrong?"
"After you get back, have someone thoroughly examine this Dr. Mallick."
"What's wrong?"
Natasha frowned slightly at this.
Hawk didn't speak; he was thinking rapidly.
He had been ready to leave, but just as he was about to depart, a sudden feeling of irritation arose within him.
Hawk knew very well that this irritation wasn't unfounded; it was his Sixth Sense giving him a warning.
As for what it was warning him about.
Naturally, it was about the matter of Dr. Mallick cloning a body, and his sister finally being able to be revived.
Clearly.
The problem wouldn't be with his sister; if so, there was only one possibility for the Sixth Sense's warning.
Dr. Mallick had a problem.
Hawk's subconscious thought was that the Dr. Mallick before him wasn't the real Dr. Mallick.
But…
He had just released his Sixth Sense, seeing through the Dr. Mallick in front of him, and he could confirm that this Dr. Mallick was not the clone he had just seen.
Yet, the Sixth Sense's warning couldn't be wrong.
Since he awakened his Sixth Sense, almost every warning had been highly accurate.
Hawk was certain of this, so this Dr. Mallick definitely had a problem.
After all, sometimes, having no problem is the biggest problem.
So…
Hawk's eyes flickered as he looked at Natasha, and he didn't hide anything.
"This Mallick has a problem."
"What?"
Natasha was slightly stunned by Hawk's words, then seemed to think of something: "He's also a clone?"
Hawk shook his head.
He had already seen the clones Mallick successfully activated.
Indeed.
To the eyes of ordinary people, they could truly pass for real.
But not in Hawk's eyes.
Don't forget.
Hawk also possessed partial control over the laws of life and death, so even clones that could fool ordinary people were merely soulless walking corpses in his eyes.
Therefore, if Mallick were also a clone, he would have known at a glance.
But Mallick was not.
At least Mallick definitely had a soul, completely unlike those soulless, walking corpse clones.
But it was a pity.
Hawk wasn't someone who liked to look for evidence.
He preferred intuition, just as he never looked at the other person's faction when making friends.
Take Anna, for example.
To this day, Anna's original phone number is still in his contacts.
So…
Hawk's thoughts turned, and then he said to Natasha: "After you go back, investigate him thoroughly. If you can't find anything, just let him clone something to see what happens."
Natasha heard this and looked curiously at Hawk.
"You can't tell what's wrong with him?"
"No, but my intuition tells me he has a problem."
"…"
If an ordinary person had said that, Natasha might not have taken it seriously.
But for Hawk to say it, that could only mean one thing.
This Mallick truly had a problem.
Natasha's thoughts swirled, then she looked at Hawk: "If this Dr. Mallick has a problem, then it can only mean that our ability to find this place wasn't due to luck, but because someone deliberately allowed us to find it?"
After all, their success in finding Dr. Mallick this time should indeed be attributed to luck.
First, HYDRA Agents defected.
Then, they discovered living supplies in a warehouse that didn't match the usage, and immediately after, they happened to encounter HYDRA Agents emerging from the Base.
One word.
Smooth!
It flowed naturally, smoothly.
But what if this smoothness wasn't the smoothness of good luck, but a deliberately arranged smoothness?
What if this Dr. Mallick was deliberately released by HYDRA to make S.H.I.E.L.D. believe they had captured the real Dr. Mallick?
And why HYDRA would do this is also easy to guess.
Hawk might not be worried about his clone, but S.H.I.E.L.D. was genuinely worried, so S.H.I.E.L.D. was quite serious about capturing Dr. Mallick.
Even more serious than capturing HYDRA.
It could be described in one sentence.
Until Mallick is brought to justice, S.H.I.E.L.D. will not sheathe its sword.
During the time they learned HYDRA was attempting to clone Hawk, the number of HYDRA Bases destroyed even surpassed previous records.
Before, S.H.I.E.L.D. would hesitate when facing suspected HYDRA.
But now.
Sorry, if it's suspected HYDRA, it must be investigated.
They'll deal with making a mistake later; anyway, they also have Agents of Japanese descent, so they can just show the Japanese spirit and bow to apologize.
All in all.
Because of this Mallick situation, the HYDRA Bases that hadn't been destroyed during this period must not have been having a very comfortable time.
So, under these circumstances, HYDRA would definitely have to find a way to alleviate this pressure.
And what better way to alleviate this pressure than to return Mallick to S.H.I.E.L.D.?
If they couldn't return the real one, surely they could return a fake one.
Natasha explained her deduction: "…If this Dr. Mallick isn't the real Mallick, then it would explain why we were so coincidentally lucky to find Dr. Mallick this time."
As she spoke, Natasha's tone became increasingly suspicious, suggesting that they didn't find Mallick by luck this time, but rather that HYDRA wanted them to find Mallick, which is why they found him.
But…
Hawk's suspicion didn't need evidence.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s suspicion, however, needed evidence.
Natasha nodded: "Understood. When I get back, I'll immediately arrange a full set of scientific tests for this Dr. Mallick. Once I have the results, I'll tell you immediately."
Hawk smiled: "No need to rush. It can wait until I get back."
Natasha caught the key phrase in Hawk's words.
"Back?"
"Mm."
Hawk nodded, smiling at Natasha: "Tomorrow… ah no, I should say today, Gwen and I are going to Waterfall Town. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll probably spend Christmas there this year."
That was the plan.
If his sister hadn't been brought back from Hell, he would have spent Christmas with his sister as usual.
But this year was different.
His sister was in his Underworld, so it didn't matter where they went, and Gwen was also very much looking forward to visiting her grandfather.
Natasha heard this and nodded: "Alright, then after we complete all the test results and confirm everything, I'll tell you?"
Hawk actually wanted to say that he truly didn't care whether this Dr. Mallick was real or fake.
However, seeing Natasha's persistent expression, he could only nod, then prepared to leave.
"Alright, I'll be going then."
"Okay."
Natasha said with a smile: "Goodbye."
Hawk also said goodbye, then turned and disappeared from Natasha's sight.
The next second.
His figure reappeared.
Natasha blinked, looking at Hawk who had returned.
Hawk smiled slightly.
"Oh, right, can you give…"
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