Chapter 1163: The Shattered Timeline (Second Update!!)

In the somewhat murky air of the sewer.

After Hawk had followed this woman named Andy through the sewer for some distance, they arrived at their shelter.

Calling it a shelter was generous; it was really just a converted cistern within the sewer.

Several dozen survivors, men and women in threadbare clothing, were sheltered here.

Though their skin tones varied, the one thing they shared was that they were all struggling to stay alive—cutting any unnecessary movement wherever possible—and they seemed to obey the rules of this place; even their exchanges were not done with words but with the gentlest possible hand gestures.

Andy beside him swallowed lightly and began recounting what had happened in this timeline.

Hawk listened quietly at his side.

According to Andy's account, in this timeline the Avengers did indeed exist as an organization.

Iron Man, Tony Stark.

Captain America, Steve Rogers.

Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff.

Including Lei Shen Thor, and Scarlet Witch Wanda—all of these existed; only the Vision Hawk had mentioned did not.

It was as though, on this timeline, the Vision had never existed at all.

Clearly.

On the main timeline, the traces of Vision Hawk's existence had been erased by the Celestials with the tacit approval of the 616 universe itself.

This was a possibility Hawk had guessed after introducing himself as Zibaojia Sect and seeing Andy's bewildered expression.

And Andy's words now confirmed exactly that.

However…

Hawk was somewhat puzzled—even though the Celestials could manipulate time, directly erasing an entire timeline was no easy feat.

And in Andy's words, everything in this timeline now, every catastrophe, traced back to this one person.

"Superman!"

"…"

Hawk's sword-brows rose as he listened to the name Andy uttered, and he looked at her.

"Who?"

"His code name, Superman."

"Uh…"

Hawk blinked. "Does this Superman have a name?"

Andy shook her head. "Some people know, but I don't."

Hawk frowned deeply.

"So this Superman and the Scarlet Witch you're talking about?"

"The apocalypse we experienced was triggered by those two."

"Hiss—"

Hawk drew in a sharp breath.

Andy then began to recount the origin of this catastrophe.

It all had to be traced back to the Blip.

"After the Blip was resolved perfectly by the Avengers, almost everyone came back—except Superman. So the Scarlet Witch…"

"Wait."

Hawk had barely let Andy begin before he hurriedly interrupted: "You're saying the Blip was resolved perfectly?"

Andy nodded.

"Yes."

"Iron Man and Black Widow didn't die at the time?"

"No, they didn't."

"Got it."

Hearing this, Hawk nodded, the confusion in his heart resolved.

He had initially assumed the Celestials had erased his existence at the root.

But that was practically impossible.

Same as before.

The past cannot be altered—let alone a past that contained him. So even if the Celestials, who controlled time, wanted to alter his past, it was impossible for him not to notice.

Clearly.

The Celestials had not reset the past, but had rewritten time on the basis of a past that had already occurred.

So the story of this timeline only began to change after he and Wanda left this timeline.

Hawkeye already understood how the Celestials had cobbled together that specious version of himself.

To be precise, that specious version of himself was not something the Celestials had cobbled together.

It was Wanda.

Yes.

Another Wanda—but this Wanda was indeed created by the Celestials. And that specious version of himself was something the Celestials had created indirectly by first creating Wanda, pulling him out of Wanda's timeline.

Same as before.

Hawk's time had already contracted, so no matter what the Celestials did, the moment they touched his time he would sense it.

But Wanda was different.

Although Wanda existed at every moment of his timeline, Wanda's own time had not been contracted.

Therefore, the Celestial Group could not create Hawk through Hawk's own timeline, but they could create an alternate version of Wanda through Wanda's timeline, and then, through Wanda's timeline, create a Hawk existing on Wanda's timeline.

This is why Hawk felt that so-called "Hawk" seemed similar yet different.

As for why Andy had just said she had never heard of Vision, Hawk also guessed a possibility from Andy's subsequent words.

It was not that Vision Hawk's existence had been erased, but that Andy had never heard of Vision.

Literally never heard of him.

Because the current timeline is a full ten years after the Snap event ended.

Time is both the cure and the poison.

Because time can make you forget all unpleasant memories, yet time can also cause a person who has not appeared for a long time to be forgotten by the entire world.

Let alone when this person is someone others want to deliberately forget.

Although Hawk had joined forces with Wanda at that time to help the humans of this timeline resolve the Snap event, humans are the creatures least capable of gratitude.

Especially since these were Westerners.

Perhaps the Avengers were grateful to Hawk and Wanda, but for the Federal Government at that time, they might have been grateful at first, but as time passed, they would grow wary of Hawk.

After all, Hawk came from beyond the stars, and having dealt with several Federal Governments, Hawk could easily guess their thoughts.

In their view, today's Hawk might be able to help them, but tomorrow, he might arrive here to colonize them.

As everyone knows.

Petty people always judge others with petty hearts.

So—

It was quite normal for the Federal Government to deliberately conceal Vision's existence in their post-event propaganda.

The most important point.

Andy was not a native of the Federation; according to Andy, she had moved from Europe to Texas here three years after the Snap event.

Hawk was somewhat curious: "Are there any people here who were here before the Snap event?"

Andy shook her head, looking at Hawk.

"This place is called New Frankfurt."

"So?"

"The people living here are all foreigners who immigrated from Frankfurt after the Snap event."

After the Snap event, although half of the lives that had vanished at the time returned,

yet this place is the Federation. During the years the Snap event occurred, while the populations of other countries might have been growing, in the Federation, the population continued to decline; therefore, the Federation once again raised the slogan of the New American Dream to attract a large number of immigrants to come here.

And the foreigners who immigrated from Frankfurt are the ones now settled in this city, which has already become a ruin.

Hawk thought to himself, nodded, and looked at Andy.

"Please continue."

"..."

Andy looked at Hawk, whose expression was somewhat strange, and felt somewhat curious in her heart, but she did not ask anything; instead, she continued speaking further down.

After the Snap event ended, everyone returned, except for the Scarlet Witch's lover, that so-called Superman, who did not return.

Therefore, the Scarlet Witch cast black magic to retrieve her lover.

And in this process, the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, who tried to stop her, was directly killed by Wanda; even Kamar-Taj was flattened by Wanda.

The final result was that Wanda successfully resurrected her lover, and at that moment, Iron Man Tony, who had originally announced his return to family life after the Snap event, stepped forward and declared Wanda and Superman wanted criminals.

And then...

the situation escalated further, becoming uncontrollable afterward, evolving into the current state.

"So, the apocalypse of this world was concocted by this Superman and the Scarlet Witch?"

"No."

Andy continued to shake her head, then looked at Hawk: "It was Hydra."

Hawk raised an eyebrow.

Andy spoke in a deep voice: "The full name of Superman should be Hydra Superman. It is said that this Superman was once of Hydra origin. After Hydra was destroyed again by Captain America back then, it was not truly annihilated but merely went underground again. When the Avengers declared Superman and Wanda wanted, Hydra rose from the ashes once more, burning the entire world into its current state, especially the Purifiers loyal to Superman."