Marvel: Awakening the Universe.

Chapter 188 The Incident in New York City (A 5K-word Chapter!)
Along the riverbank in an Iwe ethnic village.

Hawke and Peter stood side by side, chatting as they waited for Philia, who was talking to the Ivi high priest, not far away.

After Felicia and the high priest finished speaking, they could leave.

Hawke had originally planned to speak up himself.

but……

He didn't know how to bring it up, and since Peter was as introverted as he was, he could only ask Felicia for help.

In any case, the High Priest did not hide anything, and Hawke did indeed find Adamantium based on the clues given by the High Priest.

Although Hawke believes that the Iwe people today can no longer return to their so-called ancestral lands to live a new life.

After all, without King Kong's protection, and with them having degenerated into natives, if they were to return to their ancestral lands, they would likely be devoured alive by the terrifying creatures there, no less terrifying than those on Skull Island, in no time.

But Hawke cannot make decisions for the Iwe people, nor does he want to.

Respect the fate of others.

So after Hawke returned, he told Peter and Felicia about the origin and truth of the ancestral land of the Ivi people. The three of them then voted to pass a resolution by a two-to-one vote, deciding that Felicia should tell the high priest about this.

Ok.

That's very democratic.

Peter, standing to the side, said in a low voice, somewhat puzzled, "I still don't quite understand why the ancestor of the Ivi tribe, the one you mentioned named Icarus, would kill his own descendants with his own hands."

Hawke shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't want his bloodline to suffer."

As for why Icarus did this, he made some guesses based on what he had seen and heard and the plots he had watched before.

As an eternal race created by the Celestials to eliminate the mutant race and protect the final completion of the "Divine Manifestation", their memories are erased after each "Divine Manifestation", and they go to a new planet to protect the next "Divine Manifestation".

Therefore, the Eternals do not know the truth about the "divine manifestation".

The members of the Eternal Race knew that they were sent to eliminate the Mutant Race. After eliminating the Mutant Race, they would wait for the birth of a new God and then the mission would be completed.

But they did not know the true cost of the "divine appearance".

The birth of the new gods came at the cost of the destruction of inhabited planets.

However, it will be too late for them to know the truth, because their memories will be completely erased afterward, and they will enter the next cycle of "divine manifestation".

but……

Except for Ajak, the leader of the Eternals.

As the leader, Ajak's memories were preserved, and she always knew that the price of "divine intervention" was the destruction of a life-bearing planet.

This is not a joke!

For millions of years, Ajak has faithfully fulfilled his mission of "divine intervention." After coming to Earth to carry out this "divine intervention plan," he suddenly fell in love with Earth, couldn't bear to destroy it, and even began to doubt whether his mission was correct. He gradually began to want to stop the arrival of "divine intervention."

Therefore, she found Icarus and told him the truth about the "Divine Manifestation Project".

After all, Icarus was the future leader of the Eternals that she had chosen.

Therefore, she hopes that Icarus can also be like her, rejecting the mission and protecting the Earth.

but……

Icarus flatly refused and began to criticize Ajax for his wavering sense of mission.

Helpless, Ajax could only erase Icarus's memories of the truth. However, Ajax still hoped that Icarus, on whom he had placed great hopes that Icarus would succeed him as the new leader of the Eternals in the future, could rethink his actions and make a new choice during his time on Earth.

Later, Icarus followed Cersei to settle in the lost world beneath Skull Island.

And then……

Icarus's memories returned on their own, and she made her choice.

He chose to continue fulfilling the mission that the Celestials had been tasked with carrying out since they were created.

Let the divine appear!
But Icarus, having regained her memories, is conflicted.

On the one hand, he wanted to continue fulfilling his duties.

On the other hand, there are also feelings that cannot be severed.

Because he knew that if he chose to fulfill his duty, he would eventually have to fight against his comrades.

And Cersei too.

His love.

Because he knew that Sersi loved the Earth, and if he chose to continue fulfilling his mission, then in the future, he would personally destroy everything that his beloved loved.

and so……

After struggling, Icarus chose to leave without saying goodbye.

Just as depicted in the murals of the Ivi temple in the Lost World, Icarus chose to leave alone.

His greatest weakness was his love for Cersei.

Just like in the original story, when Icarus appeared in London, he still chose to protect Cersei. Even in the final battle, when he clearly had the opportunity to kill Cersei and bring down the "Gods", he ultimately chose to give up.

But that’s all in the past.

Anyway!

In this current timeline, faced with the choice between fulfilling her mission and her unbreakable emotional ties, Icarus chose the former.

But before that, he must remove any obstacles that might hinder God's plan.

Faced with the emotions she couldn't let go of and her beloved family and friends, Icarus came up with a good solution.

Mutant race.

He planned to use the mutants to assassinate Ajak, their leader who had begun to question their mission.

But the mutant race had already been wiped out by them at the beginning, so where were they going to find new mutants to hatch?

Fortunately, Icarus found two mutant eggs under the Antarctic ice sheet.

But the egg was no longer alive.

But it doesn't matter, he knows a place with abundant life energy, which is the lost world where he once spent happy times with Cersei and then chose to leave without saying goodbye.

So he returned here and successfully hatched a new mutant race using the life energy here.

And his first partner was undoubtedly the Ivi tribe, the offspring of him and Cersei.

Rather than let himself and Circe's descendants perish in the divine manifestation, it would be better for him to bury them himself.

Of course.

These are all deductions made by Hawke based on the murals he saw in the Lost World and the plot of the Eternals movie.

After all, Icarus hadn't said more than a few words to him.

But Hawke felt that the story should be roughly as described.

Peter opened his mouth.

"Therefore, there really is a cosmic god in our Earth, and in the future, he will be born and destroy our Earth at the same time."

"almost."

"hiss!"

Peter gasped, then looked at Hawke: "Hawk, we have to stop this from happening."

Hawke, upon hearing this, smiled at the somewhat agitated Peter and said, "Alright, how do you plan to stop him? Thiam is down there, and there are indeed ways to kill him."

Peter's eyes lit up.

"what?"

"Destroyed the Earth."

"what?"

"Thiam is being conceived at the core of the Earth. The only way to prevent his birth is to interrupt his life energy. The only way is to destroy the Earth before Thiam destroys it, just like Icarus did to his and Sersi's descendants."

"No."

Upon hearing this, Peter shook his head vigorously, saying, "This won't work, this is impossible, this is not acceptable. Isn't there any other way?"

Hawke, seeing that Peter seemed genuinely eager to know the answer, dropped his playful expression.

Peter is still Peter.

That spider demon, whose abilities may be limited, but whose responsibilities are limitless.

Hawke thought to himself, looking at Peter who really wanted to know if there was a way to stop the "divine manifestation".

"Have!"

"what!"

"Trust in the wisdom of future generations."

"..."

Peter, somewhat bewildered, looked at the serious-looking Hawke and asked, "What... what kind of method is this?" Hawke glanced at Felicia, who had finished speaking with the High Priest and was walking towards them, and smiled at Peter. "Then let me give you a different answer. Do you believe me?"

Peter nodded without hesitation.

"of course."

"That's fine then. Don't worry, I'm here for you. I'm not in a hurry, so why are you?"

"Right."

Peter nodded subconsciously, then breathed a sigh of relief.

at this time.

Felicia also came over.

Because of Hawke's seemingly unreliable guarantee, Peter, who had put aside his worries about the future destruction of Earth, looked at Felicia as she approached and wondered about the High Priest's choice.

"So, will they go back?"

"will not."

Felicia shook her head, walked in front of the two, turned to look at the high priest who was leaning on his cane and walking towards the Ivi tribe's temple, and then looked at Hawke and Peter and said, "The high priest also understands that they can never go back. He probably just wants to know the truth that has troubled his people for generations."

Hawke's gaze also fell on the back of the high priest, who was heading towards the Ivi tribe's temple but whose figure was hunched over: "The high priests have already guessed this in their hearts through generations, otherwise, the first high priest would not have left with them but would have waited to die down there."

He thought of the first high priest who had died in the temple of the Ivi people in the lost world, sitting in front of the ten Adamantium metal statues that resembled gods.

That is, Icarus and Sersi's first child.

He must have known something, which is why he chose to enter the temple and then calmly and respectfully greeted his father, who walked in from the outside and ultimately took his life.

You gave me my life, so if you want to take it away, come and take it yourself.

Hawke speculated on the thoughts of the first high priest before his death. This was also why, when collecting adamantium, he only collected the mountains and did not collect the temple made entirely of adamantium, nor the ten adamantium statues.

It wasn't because of Icarus or Cersei, but because of the first High Priest.

Fear is an instinct for all living beings when faced with death.

But the courage to face death is a hymn to being human.

Icarus may not be human, but the first high priest was.

It's just a bit old-fashioned.

If it were Hawke, there would be no doubt about it. As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood. Of the thirty-six stratagems, the best is to run away first. A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. Three thousand Yue soldiers can conquer Wu. He should endure hardship for decades and wait until he is fully developed before emerging to personally kill Icarus.

That's what he thought, and that's what he did.

Before he has the ability to take revenge, the best thing to do is not even have the thought of revenge, just like he never exposed his hatred to anyone before his inner universe was activated.

but……

Although he did not agree with the choice of the first high priest, one thing was certain.

He's got guts!

Hawke thought of the first high priest who remained seated even after being completely reduced to a skeleton, and after giving him the highest praise among men, he shook his head, ending the conversation. He looked at Peter and Felicia and said, "Alright, things are settled here. Are you ready? Let's go."

Peter and Felicia exchanged a glance, then nodded to Hawke.

"Ready."

"What do you plan to do..."

"what!"

Before Felicia could finish speaking, Hawke screamed, and instantly, using his telekinesis to envelop Peter and Felicia, he soared into the sky.

boom!
A sonic boom cloud suddenly appeared over Skull Island, and Hawke, moving at supersonic speed, plunged headlong into the enormous storm system that seemed to connect the sky above and the sea below, carrying Peter and Felicia, who were enveloped by telekinesis on either side.

next second.

Rumble!
The massive storm system seemed to be enraged at this moment, with all sorts of colorful lightning constantly striking the three people, led by Hawke, who were rapidly passing through the clouds in a triangular formation.

Red linear lightning.

Blue ball lightning.

Thick, black lightning.

Amidst the flashes of countless lightning bolts, Peter and Felicia, protected by telekinesis, gradually calmed down from their initial panic.

The massive storm system, neither long nor short, appeared almost in the blink of an eye. With the spewing of a huge storm cloud, Hawke had already broken through the clouds with Peter and Felicia, who were enveloped in telekinesis.

It felt like a lifetime ago.

The Pacific Ocean was turbulent, and the constant howling of the wind, the thunderclaps in the sky, and the torrential rain hitting the water's surface completely pulled Hawke, Peter, and Felicia into the real world.

Hawke continued his rapid advance, carrying Peter and Felicia, who had been successfully found, towards Osborn's experimental base platform in the Pacific Ocean.

The power system of the Osborn experimental base platform has now been repaired.

From a distance.

Despite the raging storm, the Osborn experimental platform, built on the Pacific Ocean, remained brightly lit, like a guiding light on the vast sea.

quickly!

Boom!
Hawke's feet touched the ground firmly, and then Peter and Felicia, who were enveloped in telekinesis, also landed firmly on the platform floor beneath their feet.

next moment.

A group of ten armed guards rushed out of the platform base, the infrared beams of their weapons landing on Hawke, Peter, and Felicia.

Just then, a voice came from the base behind them, accompanied by hurried footsteps: "Stop! Put your guns down!"

Not long after.

A woman rushed out of the base, hurriedly ordering the guards to put down their weapons. She then ran quickly to Felicia and embraced her excitedly: "Boss..."

The person who arrived was none other than Felicia's personal assistant.

Although the old butler contacted Hawke immediately and Hawke set off, the old butler later contacted the assistant and recruited an international security team, which the assistant then led to the location.

They met the experimenter who had miraculously survived, and learned from him that Hawke had come and left again.

So the assistant led the international security team to repair the power system here, and then stayed here.

The international security team said they didn't care, since they were paid by the hour anyway.

This is not.

I stayed there for seventeen days.

In the room at the experimental base, Hawke raised an eyebrow as he listened to his assistant announce his departure time.

"Seventeen days?"

"Pretty much. You stayed there for a day and a night, and then we left around 10 a.m., so there really is a time difference."

Peter explained from the side, and then Hawke, with a somewhat puzzled expression, said, "So, am I a year older now?"

Although he was only missing for a little over a month, he actually spent a full year on Skull Island.

Hawke listened to Peter's sudden question and said with a smile, "I think you should worry about how to tell your Aunt May that she's going to be an aunt in six months."

Peter's expression visibly froze upon hearing Hawke's words.

Hawke chuckled, then turned his gaze back to the assistant who was with them: "Has anything special happened in New York City these days?"

The assistant thought for a moment and shook his head: "As far as I know, nothing particularly sensational has happened."

Hawke nodded upon hearing this.

at this time.

Felicia also returned from outside the door, clutching the satellite phone.

She just went out to call the old housekeeper at home.

The old housekeeper had originally planned to go too, if it weren't for the worry that his old body might die halfway through the flight.

So the old butler was incredibly excited when he received Felicia's call.

"Hawk, are you going back by yourself, or are you coming back with us?"

"I'll go with you."

Anyway, nothing major happened in New York City, and flying back would be exhausting, especially since I had just fought a tough battle with Icarus.

Therefore, being able to hitch a ride back on a plane would be ideal.

As Hawke spoke, he borrowed Felicia's satellite phone, intending to let his fiancée at home know he was safe.

Although he had mentioned beforehand that he might be delayed, now that he was out, he still needed to make the call to avoid Gwen worrying further.

result……

The call could not be connected.

Hawke raised an eyebrow as he listened to the dial tone on the other end of the satellite phone.
……

(End of this chapter)