"Gwen, where are you?"
"I just left the Hawkes."
"Oh..."
"Don't misunderstand, the city pressed Hawk yesterday to trim the lawn at the door, or he'd be fined. He doesn't know how, so I went over early to teach him."
Driving away from Palm Community, Gwen was on the phone with Mary, with whom she had arranged to go shopping in the afternoon.
Mary chuckled upon hearing this.
"Our community has specialized lawn trimmers; doesn't Palm Street have any?"
"Yes, but he doesn't want to use them."
"Why?"
"Save where you can, spend where you need to."
Gwen repeated Hawk's words while driving.
On the other side of the phone, Mary felt slightly surprised.
But Mary quickly recalled during school, Hawk was living like an ascetic with only three sets of clothes, mostly shouting for communication, and walking everywhere, so it seemed rather reasonable for Hawk to say such a thing.
However, discussing Hawk having money to buy a villa but not to hire workers wasn't the topic of the call.
Mary quickly brought the topic back: "When are you coming over? Should I go to Madam Noire's dessert shop first to get us a spot?"
Upon hearing this, Gwen quickly said, "Sure, I'm almost there, should be about half an hour."
She loved hot cocoa.
As for the hot cocoa at Madam Noire's dessert shop Mary mentioned, Gwen felt it was the best tasting in all Queens, no, all New York City.
Very soon.
After hanging up, thinking about the hot cocoa at Madam Noire's dessert shop, Gwen instinctively pressed harder on the accelerator.
The yellow Corolla beneath her sped faster toward the direction of Queens.
Behind the yellow Corolla, a nondescript Toyota also increased its speed upon seeing this.
"Has she spotted us?"
"Impossible, it hasn't been long, and it's a straight road."
"Then why did she suddenly speed up?"
"Doesn't matter, as planned, after the bridge, upon entering Queens, we'll evaluate the situation to intercept."
"Remember, the employer wants her alive. One million alive, five hundred thousand dead; don't lose the US Dollar."
"Understood!"
"Understood!"
The two black men in the back seat of the nondescript Toyota nodded, eyeing the yellow Corolla ahead greedily.
But those 'understood' weren't said by the two black men.
The different 'understood' sounds came from the walkie-talkie held by the bearded man in the passenger seat.
Clearly.
These people weren't just using one car; there were three.
Sure enough.
When Gwen was driving the yellow Corolla onto the Manhattan Bridge, two more nondescript Toyotas approached from either side.
Once on the bridge, the three cars skillfully adjusted their positions amidst traffic, forming a triangle, surrounding Gwen's yellow Corolla.
A moment later.
When Gwen got off the bridge and diverted onto the road to Mary's house, a Toyota on the left suddenly changed lanes, but seemingly misjudged the distance and inadvertently went 'bang' against Gwen's vehicle.
Gwen was startled, slamming on the brakes.
The lane-switching Toyota also stopped, while the other two Toyotas sped ahead without slowing down.
A middle-aged woman got out of the lane-changing Toyota, looking apologetically at Gwen inside the car.
Gwen opened the car door and stepped out, looking at the spot that got hit, she sighed.
As she was about to turn to get the phone and tell Mary she might be late, the middle-aged woman stopped Gwen, indicating she was entirely at fault and suggested they move the car somewhere not obstructing traffic so she could contact her insurance company to handle it.
Being interrupted like this, and seeing the woman readily admit her fault, Gwen considered it and agreed.
After all, if there's no need to call the traffic police, it's a very quick matter.
Soon.
Gwen followed the middle-aged woman ahead to guide the car into a side path that wouldn't easily obstruct traffic.
But just as she was about to turn off the engine and get out, screech — tires skidded against the road as another Toyota suddenly surged forward to block her path.
"What the..."
"Shit!"
Gwen was startled at first, then an ominous feeling welled up inside.
Robbery or kidnapping.
However, while thoughts swirled, Gwen quickly pressed the lock button; she was ready to grab the phone to call for help.
Boom!
A loud collision sounded once more.
Gwen got shocked again, and similarly shocked were the four men wearing cartoon masks who got out of the rear Toyota.
The four men instinctively turned their heads.
What they saw.
A seemingly newly acquired black Audi A8, glistening coldly under the sunlight, had rammed into the tail of their Toyota.
Right after.
Hawk, wearing a black fitted T-shirt, opened the car door and got out.
The four cartoon mask men glanced at each other, then unanimously pulled out pistols aimed at Hawk.
"Fuck!"
"Die."
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!"
Four bullets flew flamboyantly out of the chambers, instantly shooting at Hawk's face, chest, and right arm.
And then...
No and then.
Accompanied by four metallic clanging sounds, four bullets flattened upon impact with Hawk's figure and clatteringly fell to the ground.
Hawk glanced down at the bullet on the ground.
The next second.
In the blink of an eye, Hawk vanished from his original spot and reappeared in front of a masked man. As he raised his right hand, there was a momentary pause at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, followed by his left hand extending out, both hands twisting the masked man's head directly.
Crack.
The crisp sound of skulls twisting echoed through the alley.
Another masked man quickly snapped back to reality.
"Ah…"
"Crack!"
He followed his brother's footsteps in quick succession.
Of course.
The other two were no exception.
From Hawk getting out of the car to the four masked robbers dropping to the ground, all their heads twisted, it all happened within three breaths.
By the time Gwen reacted, Hawk was already in front of the car.
The engine of the Toyota in front was roaring wildly.
The two rear wheels kept rubbing against the ground in place.
Smoke rose abruptly, yet the car didn't move.
Hawk gripped the trunk of the Toyota single-handedly, his four fingers dug into the trunk as if penetrating tofu, his arm muscles not tensed at all, still firmly holding the car.
"Fuck."
"Move, damn it."
"Hurry up!"
The middle-aged woman inside the Toyota shouted furiously, flooring the accelerator.
Hawk raised an eyebrow and released his right hand.
The next second.
Vroom!
Like a burnout, the moment Hawk let go of his right hand, the Toyota shot out like a meteor, and then with a bang, the car crashed into a nearby wall, the airbags inside instantly popping out.
The middle-aged woman, who had no time to react, was immediately knocked out by the airbags.
As Hawk let go of his right hand, he turned and arrived at the driver's door of the Corolla, knocking on the car window.
Inside, Gwen was holding a phone, listening to the knock, she stared blankly at Hawk outside the car, instinctively lowering the window.
"Hey, Gwen? Did you arrive? I've ordered your favorite hot cocoa."
Mary Jane's voice came through Gwen's phone.
But...
Gwen seemed dumbfounded, staring blankly at Hawk.
After all, when Hawk fought Hulk, most of the battle happened underwater. By the time Hawk reappeared, the outcome was already decided.
But this time, she witnessed the whole process firsthand.
Her mind was still replaying Hawk with his icy demeanor, ignoring the bullets hitting him, appearing in front of the four robbers in a blink, snapping those criminals one by one, and the image of him holding the speeding car bare-handedly.
Gwen was stunned, but Hawk wasn't.
He looked at Gwen sitting in the car, staring blankly at him, smiled, and reached over to take the phone from Gwen's hand.
"Hey, Mary."
"...Hawk?"
"Gwen has something to deal with, could you pack up the hot cocoa for her?"
"Wha—"
Hawk didn't pay attention to Mary, he hung up directly, then seemed to think of something, looked at Gwen thoughtfully: "So, hot cocoa? Didn't you say you didn't like it?"
Gwen snapped back.
"Hawk?"
"Yeah."
Hawk said with a smile: "The chief's daughter has let her guard down, or is it because the allure of hot cocoa made you less vigilant?"
Listening to Hawk's teasing, Gwen's face turned red, she didn't speak, hurriedly pushed open the car door, and got out.
"There's still another car."
"What?"
"There are supposed to be three Toyota cars, there are only two here."
Recalling the scene at the Manhattan Bridge, where she was flanked by three Toyota cars, Gwen quickly said: "At the time, there were three Toyota cars following me."
But she would never admit her decrease in vigilance was due to the temptation of Madam Noire's hot cocoa.
Thinking about it, Gwen looked at Hawk with a serious expression: "And, I don't like hot cocoa, I'm already eighteen."
Hawk laughed.
"But I heard Helen say your biggest dream as a child was to live in a chocolate house…"
"Shut up."
Gwen's brow twitched, interrupting Hawk, she brought the topic back to the third car.
"There's still the third car."
"They ran."
Hawk smiled slightly, then looking at the faintly startled Gwen, he added: "Don't worry, they won't get away."
Gwen blinked.
As she pondered the meaning behind Hawk's words "they ran, they won't get away."
From afar, came the sounds symbolizing the arrival of justice.
Getting closer and closer.
"Woo, woo, woo!"
"Thud, thud!"
"Holy shit!"
"Don't move, hands up, now, immediately!"
"..."