"Heh!"
"Return?"
"I stormed all the way from New York to the Ross family cemetery in New Mexico, and then sped all the way here from New Mexico."
"What do you think I'm doing here?"
"Am I free?"
"They started this war, not me."
"They decide when the war starts, but when it ends is not their decision, but mine."
Hawke's laughter abruptly stopped, his cold eyes sweeping over the uniformed, seemingly respectable big shots huddled at the doorway not far away.
These big shots should have been imposing.
But now they were terrified.
They were uneasy.
Hah!
You know to wipe your snot from your nose.
You know to turn when your car crashes into a wall.
You know to regret it when a knife is to your throat.
But you don't regret it, you just know you're going to die.
Hawke took in the ugly appearance of these big shots, then turned his gaze back to Maria Hill standing in front of him.
"There are only two possible outcomes to this matter."
"Can I hear what's going on?"
"Of course."
Hawke smiled slightly.
Compared to those powerful figures who displayed such disgraceful behavior, his impression of Maria Hill, who remained unmoved under the oppressive aura of hatred, was quite positive.
Hawke looked at Maria Hill, his tone low and detached.
His words were low and calm, devoid of any emotion.
"Since we're already here, killing one is killing, killing two is killing, killing five hundred, killing five thousand, or even killing fifty thousand is just a matter of quantity."
"..."
Hearing this, Maria Hill felt a chill creep down her spine, and her heart turned cold.
Hawke continued speaking.
"Kill them here, then I'll go to the Pentagon. After the Pentagon, I'll go to the White House. In short, they started this war, so there can only be one winner: either they kill me, or I kill them."
"Ms. Hill,"
Hawke said, a smile returning to his face, "What do you think of this ending?"
His gaze then swept over the group of important figures gathered at the doorway, unsure whether to go in or out.
Hawke's voice hadn't been loud, but it wasn't quiet either; it was enough for these important figures to hear him clearly.
So they were stunned.
They were paralyzed.
They begged for mercy.
Before death, everyone is equal. At this moment, these important figures, slumped on the floor, saw Hawke's gaze and began to plead incessantly.
In short, there are two meanings.
The attack on him was orchestrated by Ross, and had nothing to do with them.
They hoped Hawke would ignore them, and they promised Hawke would never see them again.
Hawke didn't speak, but instead watched with great interest as these big shots made a fool of themselves, crying and sniffling.
He had no doubt that at this moment, if these people could live, they would even send their socialite wives to his bed.
After all outwardly glamorous, inwardly promiscuous.
This is the Federation.
This is capitalism.
It's normal.
Just as Hawke was enjoying the ugly behavior of these big shots, Maria Hill, who had recovered from the shock of Hawke's words, spoke up.
"What about the second ending?"
"What second ending?"
Hawke turned around, looking at Maria Hill with a somewhat surprised expression: "I suddenly realized that I don't really like the second ending. I think this ending is quite good."
Maria Hill looked at Hawke's mocking eyes.
"Can I listen?"
"…Sure."
Hawke thought for a moment, shrugged, and then looked at Maria Hill, saying, "After the war, the victors can demand war reparations from the losers."
Before Maria Hill could even speak, the powerful figures nearby, upon hearing this, all lit up.
"Pay!"
"We'll pay!"
"We're willing to pay whatever it takes."
"Shut up!"
Hawke's icy gaze swept over the noisy, disgraceful figures once more.
His gaze swept over them.
These disgraceful figures were now trembling like quails.
Hawke smiled coldly and looked back at Maria Hill: "But I don't want this ending."
Maria Hill frowned slightly.
"Why?"
"I don't like it."
Hawke shrugged.
"Anyway, after what happened today, I probably won't stay in the Federation any longer. Since I'm leaving anyway, why keep them around? Let's just kill them all once and for all, and then clean up the Pentagon too. I don't like the guy in the white building either, so I'll kill him too."
He said it casually.
Maria Hill, however, was horrified.
Because she didn't hear any sign of joking in Hawke's words, nor did she see any joking expression on his face.
Clearly,Hawke spoke casually, but he wasn't lying.
He really wanted to do it.
Hawke looked at Maria Hill's horrified expression, smiled inwardly, and then turned and walked towards the important figures.
Just then,Maria Hill, seeing Hawke move, gasped, quickly regained her senses, and ran straight to Hawke.
"Wait a minute, Hawke!"
"…"
Hawke raised an eyebrow, looking at Maria Hill, who stood protectively before these important figures like a mother hen guarding her chicks.
Maria Hill's voice was urgent.
"This matter won't be known to the outside world."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Maria Hill nodded emphatically.
And that was indeed the case.
Despite Quantico being a battlefield recently engulfed in flames, very few people knew what had happened there.
Because S.H.I.E.L.D. intervened from the very beginning, immediately cutting off all communications and signals in Quantico.
So apart from the locals of Quantico, the Pentagon, the White House, and S.H.I.E.L.D., not everyone knew what was happening.
The people of Washington D.C. still thought it was just another ordinary holiday, let alone elsewhere.
Hawke listened to Maria Hill's words, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
But Hawke finished thinking and shook his head at Maria Hill.
"Not enough."
"Reparations."
Maria Hill quickly said, "You just said it, this is a war. Since they lost, they have to pay reparations."
Hawke's gaze swept past Maria Hill's shoulder, looking at the important figures behind him who were now silent, wanting to say something but daring not to speak.
His gaze fell upon them.
These important figures instinctively avoided his gaze.
Clearly,they were truly afraid.
Hawke's thoughts raced as he looked at Maria Hill and smiled slightly.
"How much?"
"How much do you want?"
"Ha."
Hawke scoffed. "I want a trillion. Can they afford that?"
Maria Hill's lips twitched.
Hawke shook his head, his tone calm.
"A million."
"?"
"Everyone!"
"..."
Maria Hill instinctively turned to look at the thirty-odd important figures behind her, trembling like quails.
Ten minutes later.
Hawke looked at the balance in his Stark Bank account displayed on the tablet Maria Hill had handed him and then looked away.
He looked at the important figures who, after transferring the money, were all staring at him with pleading, yearning eyes.
"Get out!"
"Yes."
"We're leaving right now, right now."
"Hurry up, hurry up."
"Thank you, thank you."
"..."
In the blink of an eye, the thirty-three important figures, pushing and shoving, cheering and thanking, disappeared from Hawke's sight.
Soon.
The huge military base was now left with only two people.
Hawke handed the tablet back to Maria Hill.
Maria Hill took the tablet, thought for a moment, and looked at Hawke.
"You never intended to kill them in the first place, did you?"
"..."
Hawke, who had put his right hand back into his pocket, heard this, glanced at Maria Hill, chuckled, and didn't reply.
"You should go."
"And you?"
"I'll stay here for an hour."
Hawke said calmly, then his gaze swept past Maria Hill and landed on the surveillance camera at the entrance of the command building: "Within an hour, you can use any weapons at your disposal to try and eliminate me.
Of course, everything comes at a price, as long as you can bear it.
If you don't make a move within this hour, don't blame me for not warning you.
From now on, stay away from me.
If there's a next time, Washington will be razed to the ground!"
After saying that,he glanced at Maria Hill: "You can leave too, Ms. Hill.
Perhaps your S.H.I.E.L.D. can also try within this hour, since you're already here."
Upon hearing this, Maria Hill quickly said: "This is an internal matter of the Federation. S.H.I.E.L.D. is only responsible for world peace."
Hawke chuckled, said nothing, and closed his eyes.
Seeing this, Maria Hill didn't say anything more, but turned around and quickly ran towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. private jet not far away.
While boarding the plane, she had already made a phone call to the Pentagon.
As the SHIELD aircraft took off, the vast Quantico base was truly deserted.
The sun set, flames raged, and ruins littered the entire Quantico military base.
Hawk stood in the open space surrounded by ruins and debris, hands in his pockets, eyes closed, resting.
Apart from the sounds of the remaining flames, nothing else existed at the military base.
On the perimeter, the surviving soldiers watched intently in the direction of the base.
Time ticked by.
The air was still.
Soon.
An hour, neither long nor short, passed in the blink of an eye.
Just then.
"Ring ring!"
A cell phone on the ground in front of Hawk rang.
Hawk opened his eyes, looked at the ringing phone, bent down, picked it up, and answered.
"Hello!"
"Hawk."
Gwen's voice came from the other end of the line.
Her voice was as gentle as ever.
"Are you done with work?"
"Almost."
"Then come back early, don't forget you have driving practice tomorrow."
"Okay."
"Okay, I'll be waiting for you in New York!"
"...Okay!"
"..."
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