Gwen looked at Natasha with an expressionless face.
"I don't know."
"..."
Natasha, observing Gwen's calm demeanor, said in a deep voice, "We really had nothing to do with what happened last night. If we wanted to find you, we would have done it already. There's no reason to wait until now."
Gwen ignored Natasha's words.
"Are you here to arrest me?"
"No."
As soon as she finished speaking,
Gwen opened the car door and got out.
Natasha also opened the passenger door, got out, and looked at Gwen closing the driver's door on the opposite side.
Gwen's voice was calm.
"Thank you for bringing my car over."
"Gwen."
Natasha frowned, watching Gwen turn away and head into the house without looking back, and after a moment of silence, she also turned around and opened the door of a black van parked not far away.
Once inside, closing the car door, Natasha immediately contacted Maria Hill, who was currently overseeing the situation at S.H.I.E.L.D. Three Feathers.
"Commander."
"How did it go?"
"She won't talk."
Natasha reported the situation truthfully.
She could have captured Gwen, tortured her for information, and forced her to reveal Hawk's whereabouts.
But…
Seeing Gwen reminded Natasha of waking up after being hit on the head, realizing she hadn't died, and she instantly dismissed that option.
Maria Hill, listening to Natasha's report, didn't seem surprised and said directly, "No need to ask anymore, we've already found Hawk's whereabouts."
Natasha was slightly taken aback.
"You found Hawk?"
"Yes."
"Quantico?"
"No, New Mexico."
"New…"
Natasha was puzzled, "Why did he go to New Mexico?"
Maria Hill, looking at the video just sent back by the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in New Mexico, paused for a moment before saying, "The Rose Clan's cemetery was destroyed."
While speaking, Natasha took out her phone to check the message she had just received.
She opened a newly sent video.
At first sight,
In the video, where the eye could see, tombstones were destroyed, graves looked like they had been hit by a shell, the blast-affected coffins and debris almost filled the entire cemetery.
Not to mention the Rose Manor in front of the cemetery.
As the video panned over, the once lavishly decorated manor was now dilapidated and had completely become a ruin.
Natasha was shocked.
"This…"
"New York agents have just confirmed that Hawk's sister Anna's grave suffered some minor damage, likely due to the fight last night. If there's no surprise, the destruction of the Rose Manor and the Rose family's cemetery is Hawk's revenge."
"Hiss!"
Natasha gasped and then seemed to think of something, subconsciously asking a question.
"Does General Ross know?"
"Yes."
"Then isn't he going crazy?"
Natasha subconsciously asked, then glanced again at the video playing on the phone screen.
Others might not know, but if it were her family's cemetery being desecrated like this, she'd certainly go mad.
However…
Serves them right!
Natasha curled her lip.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was still making risk assessments and contact strategies for Hawk, but the military went in headfirst without a word.
Did they really think Hawk was another Bruce Banner just because their names sound similar?
Bruce Banner could only avoid them despite being chased, but that doesn't mean everyone would avoid them.
And now look.
They were once so arrogant, and now they're in deep trouble.
Tsk tsk.
This probably disturbed the bones of the Mr. Ross who came off the Mayflower too.
Natasha marveled internally, then suddenly had a moment of realization.
"Commander, something's not right. New York City is very far from New Mexico. Only six hours have passed since the incident. How could he possibly get to New Mexico so quickly?"
"To be precise, it only took him less than three hours to get to New Mexico."
"What?"
Natasha was shocked: "That's impossible."
Maria Hill calmly said, "But that's the reality, and now is not the time to be hung up on how fast he is. If I'm not wrong, his next move should be heading to Quantico."
Maybe Hawk's revenge against Hulk didn't show much.
But after raising hell at the Rose family cemetery, one thing was clear.
Hawk will avenge any grudge.
So…
He raised the Rose family cemetery, there's no way he'll let go of Thaddeus Ross who supported last night's operation.
Even though S.H.I.E.L.D. had once again lost Hawk's trail.
But…
Maria Hill was quite certain of Hawk's next target.
It's Quantico.
Natasha listened to Maria Hill's speculation and frowned.
"Then I..."
"Stay over there."
"Hmm?"
Maria Hill said in a deep voice, "Find a way to stay by Gwen's side until this is over."
Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"Commander, are you saying..."
"It's not certain yet, but better safe than sorry. Oh, and don't mention this to anyone, understand?"
"Alright, then..."
Natasha nodded, lifted her gaze, and surveyed the three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents working in the van.
Maria Hill seemed to know what Natasha wanted to say, shaking her head, "The people sent this time are agents both Victoria and I trust. They will be responsible for perimeter security until this is over."
Natasha was enlightened.
"Got it, Commander."
"Hanging up."
Maria Hill, in her office at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Three Feathers Headquarters, hung up her phone after saying this, placed it aside, then leaned back in her chair, subconsciously massaging her trigeminal nerve.
She originally planned to call Natasha back.
But...
Just as she was about to say for Natasha to return, for some reason, her heart suddenly skipped, and she thought of something, which made her change her mind to have Natasha stay and protect Gwen.
Because she felt that the military might use Gwen as bait, unable to win against the Hulk directly.
This was not an illusion but a judgment based on her experience serving in the military as an intelligence officer.
The military, to win a war, uses every means possible.
And this is a war.
Back then, Hulk's girlfriend was Betty Ross, General Ross's daughter. If it were any other girlfriend, Ross would have likely already captured Hulk's girlfriend and set a trap waiting for Hulk to walk into it.
Now Hulk has desecrated General Ross's family cemetery.
So...
Better to be cautious.
Also...
After finishing her thoughts about General Ross, another name appeared in Maria Hill's mind; she instinctively looked towards the office where Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was located.
Her intuition told her that Nick Fury was also involved in the sudden military attack on Hulk.
After all, among the seventy-seven federal soldiers found on the scene, one soldier's identity was detected by New York S.H.I.E.L.D. as an imposter.
That body was not a military soldier, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s.
And few within S.H.I.E.L.D. knew of Hulk's existence. Even for those who did, she had ordered them not to contact or investigate Hulk without her orders.
Yet a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent still appeared.
And coincidentally, it was a black-skinned individual.
Maria Hill strongly suspected this black-skinned agent who died on the New York battlefield was sent by Nick Fury.
The reason is simple.
Yesterday afternoon, the Security Council suddenly announced the unfreezing of Nick Fury's operational authority.
Operational authority was unfrozen in the afternoon.
The military attacked in the evening.
Is it possible there's no connection between the two?
Possible?
As Maria Hill frowned, pondering who knows what, the phone on the desk rang.
"Hello."
"Commander, we've found signs of Hulk."
"..."
At these words, Maria Hill immediately stood up and left the office.
By chance.
The door to the opposite office also opened.
Nick Fury, whose operational authority had been restored, walked out from inside.
Maria Hill didn't wait, instead taking the exclusive commander's elevator directly down to the operations command center.
After a while.
She and Nick Fury entered the operations command center almost back to back.
"Hul..."
"Where's that damned criminal now?"
Before Maria Hill could speak, the triumphantly returned Nick Fury came from behind, his voice regaining its former resonance, and as he passed Maria Hill, he chuckled, "Sorry, it's not wartime now."
Maria Hill gave a formal smile and said nothing.
She is the Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and wartime commander, meaning when S.H.I.E.L.D. enters a wartime state, her authority automatically overrides Nick Fury's.
But usually, when not at war, without his operational authority, Nick Fury, as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., has more say than she does.
"Director."
"We've just found a suspected Hulk sighting in Maryland."
"Bring it up."
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent nodded, and then the big screen displayed what seemed to be an ATM photo, though the Hulk in the picture was almost a blur.
Nick Fury, looking at the photo, regained both his operational authority and his catchphrase.
"WTF, are there any other photos?"
"No."
"Analyze his tar..."
"Sir!"
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent at the big screen, appearing to have just received significant information, turned to report loudly to Nick Fury and Maria Hill.
"An explosion occurred at Quantico Military Base five seconds ago."
"..."