A few days later.
At the Liberty Corner cruise port in Bayonne, New Jersey.
After parking the car, Gwen opened the door and looked at the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline in full view. She let out a gasp of amazement, then turned her head toward Hawk, who was stepping out of the passenger seat.
"I've never seen the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan from this angle before. It's beautiful, don't you think, Hawk?"
"It's alright."
Hawk glanced at the statue, then at Manhattan across the port, and gave his evaluation.
Hearing Hawk's flat response, Gwen opened her mouth as if to retort, but felt there was no point. Clearly, she shouldn't have asked him about beauty.
So…
She decisively changed the subject.
"What about that friend you mentioned?"
"You're early. We agreed on ten, and it's only nine now."
Hawk's tone was calm.
The night he had left Gwen's house, he got a call from Anna. After the call, Gwen casually asked who it was, and Hawk told her directly.
Just as he had said before—if Gwen asked, he wouldn't hide anything.
But when she learned it was Anna providing information, Gwen insisted on coming along with him.
Hawk agreed.
Which is why, early this morning, Gwen came knocking on his apartment door to get him up. They were supposed to meet at ten, but Gwen brought them here at nine.
Fortunately, an hour wasn't too long. In the blink of an eye, it was already ten.
At that moment, a plain-looking semi-truck drove into the port. After honking twice, it drew Hawk and Gwen's attention.
Hawk turned his head and looked at the truck slowing down as it approached them.
Inside, he saw the driver.
Anna.
A moment later, the truck stopped beside Hawk. Anna, with her blonde hair tied up high and wearing intellectual-looking glasses, hopped out of the cab and smiled at him.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Hawk."
Hawk smiled back. "I'm very patient with friends, Anna."
Anna's eyes fell on Gwen beside him. Her cold expression softened into surprise as she looked at Hawk. "And this is…?"
"Gwen, my girlfriend."
"Anna, my friend."
"Hello, Gwen."
With Hawk's introduction, Anna smiled brightly, removed her gloves, and extended her right hand to Gwen.
Gwen smiled and shook it. "Hello."
She had seen this woman before.
But…
She recalled waiting in the car when Hawk met Anna. That time, Anna walked with a sharp air, her face cold as ice, like a thorn-covered mountain. It was hard to reconcile that image with the smiling woman before her now.
Still, Gwen didn't say anything and pushed down her curiosity.
After shaking hands, Anna turned back to Hawk.
"Hawk, check if this is enough?"
"Alright."
Hawk nodded.
Anna led him to the back of the truck, with Gwen following close behind.
As the container doors opened, Hawk was greeted with the sight of a truck bed almost filled to the brim with iron meteorites.
Gwen's jaw dropped.
Anna patted the side of the container and smiled. "Sorry, time was tight. I only managed to find thirty tons. If it's not enough, I can get more."
Hawk's lips twitched slightly.
Tight on time? Thirty tons? And she could still get more?
Alright.
No doubt about it—this was Hydra.
In this world, only Hydra had the means to gather thirty tons of iron meteorites in just three months.
Hawk's thoughts raced, then he looked at Anna and smiled. "Enough. More than enough, in fact. I'm very satisfied, thank you."
How many iron meteorites did it take to forge a Cloth?
Strictly speaking, what he wanted wasn't the meteorites themselves, but the Silver Stardust formed after grinding them down with Microcosmos.
But…
Even so, thirty tons of meteorites were enough not only to forge the Phoenix Cloth, but also to leave extra for the next one.
Anna, hearing his answer, looked even happier. She patted the truck again.
"Are you hauling it away yourself, or…"
Before she could finish, she saw Hawk had already moved.
Her pupils shrank rapidly at the sight.
Hawk stood before the truck, inhaled deeply, and stretched out his right hand. One by one, the thirty tons of meteorites inside vanished into thin air, as if pulled by an invisible force.
From Anna's perspective, they simply disappeared.
But in truth, Hawk's Microcosmos projected itself like a slow-spinning black hole, pulling the meteorites into his inner cosmos.
The Phoenix constellation burned brilliantly within him.
There, the meteorites would be ground down by his Microcosmos, turned into silver sand, then refined by the flames of the Phoenix into Silver Stardust—one of the three key materials for forging a Cloth.
It would take time, just like when he absorbed Gamma Niain before.
That was the essence of the Cloth too—the longer the forging, the stronger it became, for the Cloth was a vessel of constellational power.
In just moments, all thirty tons vanished.
Anna's eyes widened again and again in shock.
Even Gwen, standing nearby, was stunned by the strange scene.
Hawk finished and let out a faint sigh. A trace of weariness lingered between his brows.
After all, in this world, there were no Saints. If the Marvel universe was a game, then his Microcosmos system wasn't written into its code.
He could burn his Microcosmos to project it, but compared to the Saint Seiya world, it took far more effort.
Still…
Hawk already had ideas to solve this problem—both for strengthening his Microcosmos and for enhancing the Cloth's power.
But those plans could wait until after the Cloth was made.
Exhaling another breath, the fatigue on his face faded quickly. He turned to the shocked Anna, extended his arm, and said:
"Go ahead."
Anna blinked, momentarily caught off guard.
Hawk smiled. "But no more than 200 milliliters."
Anna understood instantly.
Before her expression could change, Hawk smiled again.
"I'll give you 400 milliliters."
"…"
(End of Chapter)
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