In just the blink of an eye, the yellow Corolla driven by Gwen disappeared from Anna's sight.
Just as the yellow Corolla vanished from view, the fiery red sports car Gwen had seen earlier came from a distance and stopped steadily in front of Anna.
Anna's expression on her face returned to its exquisite and cold demeanor.
The burly man in black stepped out of the sports car.
"Deliver it to the base."
"Understood."
Anna took out the sunglasses clipped to her chest, put them on, and handed the password-protected case containing 400 milliliters of Hawk's blood to the man in black. She then got into the sports car.
The next second.
The sports car roared and disappeared from the man in black's sight instantly.
The man in black, expressionless, turned around holding the password-protected case and walked into the port.
A while later.
Anna, having already left the port's range, dialed a phone number.
The call connected.
"Anna."
"Sir, the transaction is complete, but there was a small hiccup."
"What hiccup?"
"Gwen Stacy showed up as well."
"Hmm?"
The voice on the other end seemed a bit surprised and then continued calmly: "It seems he really cares about Gwen Stacy."
Anna nodded in response: "Yes, sir."
Just then.
A third voice came through the phone, carrying a hint of arrogance.
"Sir, shouldn't we use Gwen..."
"Shut up."
"No, absolutely not."
Anna's objection and the superior's objection were spoken almost in unison.
The third person was visibly bewildered, but dared not say any more upon hearing the order to get out, accompanied by footsteps leaving.
After the third person left, the superior's voice resumed on the phone.
"Anna, tell me your reason for opposing."
"Sir, the fact that Hawk could bring Gwen out indicates only two possibilities: either he's an idiot or he's very confident. But I don't believe he's an idiot; after all, he guessed who we were right after our conversation..."
Anna stopped talking at this point.
Even though their organization was king on the internet, and no one could eavesdrop on their conversations through phone calls, caution was always prudent regarding the organization's fame.
The superior on the other end seemed to have thought of something and chuckled.
"Spread the word, don't make any moves against that Gwen Stacy; our relationship with Hawk is good right now."
"Furthermore..."
"When a Demon King voluntarily puts on shackles, everyone is better off not touching those shackles; otherwise, the most terrifying Demon King will be released."
"Of course, we won't touch them."
"Therefore..."
"Continue as you are, Anna. At the very least, for now, our collaboration is very pleasant."
"Understood."
Anna nodded, and after reporting her work to her superior, she hung up the phone and focused solely on driving the sports car toward Manhattan.
In the opposite direction of Manhattan, Gwen also drove her yellow Corolla, carrying Hawk, headed toward Calver Lake.
Gwen glanced at Hawk, who had closed his eyes and sat in the passenger seat, feeling a bit curious.
"What are you doing?"
"Resting and conserving energy."
Hawk continued to keep his eyes closed: "Adjusting my state; Hulk isn't so easily killed."
Not only because Hulk possesses strong regeneration abilities but also because Hulk has a significant BUG.
The angrier he gets, the stronger he becomes.
From a theoretical perspective, Hulk has immortality too; Iron Man snapped his fingers and died, yet Hulk only lost an arm.
To be precise, he wasn't disabled, just injured, needing time to recover.
Fortunately, this isn't the comic cosmos but the movie cosmos.
So Hulk can still be killed.
Thanos almost succeeded; if not for Hulk being teleported back to Earth through the Rainbow Bridge, he might have been killed by Thanos.
But Hulk was beaten so badly by Thanos that he was too scared to come out, no matter how much Bruce Banner called him.
Therefore...
This setting of getting stronger the angrier he gets seems to not hold true.
Hawk recollects Hulk-related information in his mind.
Gwen, thinking about Hulk-related data she found online over the days, nodded in agreement before looking at Hawk.
"Then we..."
"He must die."
Hawk opened his eyes and turned his face to look at Gwen, driving, smiling as he spoke: "Just difficult to kill, not impossible."
The method to kill Hulk is straightforward.
Suppress Hulk from the start, end the battle swiftly with overwhelming force.
Give Hulk no chance to get angry.
Gwen, hearing this, said nothing but looked at Hawk with worried eyes.
Facing Gwen's gaze, Hawk seemed to realize something, chuckled.
"Actually, I've thought about another way to kill Hulk."
"What?"
"Kidnap Betty Ross to make Bruce Banner surrender."
"... Hawk!"
Listening to Hawk's idea, Gwen widened her eyes.
Hawk smiled slightly: "But I abandoned it later."
Gwen, hearing this, sighed in relief but looked at Hawk with curiosity.
"Why?"
"The instigator shall have no kinsmen."
Hawk explained, saying to Gwen: "Moreover, grievances have a culprit, debts have a debtor; Hulk and Abomination killed my sister, not others. If I displace my anger onto others, how am I any different from them?"
That's how he thought; that's also how he acted.
Hawk still adhered to his principles.
Revenge is revenge, but he absolutely does not wish, nor will he let revenge blind him.
"Certainly!"
Saying this, Hawk paused, then smiled at Gwen: "You asked me to be a kind person with a clear conscience, so I don't wish, nor do I need, to resort to such schemes to achieve my desired outcome. I'll tell him why I'm here, and he'll know why he dies."
Gwen looked at Hawk, brimming with confidence in both expression and demeanor, and smiled slightly.
"I trust you, Hawk."
"Thank you."
Hawk smiled, saying: "Once I kill Hulk, we can join Mary and..."
Gwen hastily interrupted.
"Hawk!"
"What?"
"Don't jinx it, you said."
"... Alright, my bad."
Hawk, looking at Gwen sternly stopping him from jinxing things, wisely chose to apologize, then while watched by Gwen, made a gesture of zipping his lips.
Only then did Gwen smile contentedly, and then withdraw her gaze, continuing to drive toward Calver Lake.
Two o'clock in the afternoon.
Thirty kilometers north of Calver Lake, above a private airport.
A Gulfstream private jet with the 'Stark Industries' emblem on its fuselage descended from the clouds and lowered its landing gear!
...