Summer Job Cut Short, Death on the Road!

The next day.

On the subway to Osborn Bio-Industry for his summer job, Hawk was still thinking about the Gamma Stone he had left at Quantico Military Base.

He had already made up his mind.

If he wanted to storm Quantico Military Base and seize it by force, there was only one way.

End it quickly.

He could not drag it out.

After all, the place he planned to attack was Quantico Military Base, not just anywhere else.

The Federal Police Academy was there.

Even the famed Langley Headquarters was there.

To put it bluntly,

going to rob Quantico was no different from taking a dump on the heads of the Federal Military, the FBI, and the CIA.

But...

Even if he had to take a dump on the heads of the military, the FBI, and the CIA, he was still going.

The Gamma Stone.

He had to have it.

"However..."

"Those who plan ahead succeed; those who do not fail."

"I need to make a trip to Quantico first and scout the place out."

"At the very least, I need to conduct an on-site inspection and map out an escape route."

Thinking silently to himself, Hawk swiped his card, entered the Osborn Bio-Industry Building, and returned to the Biological Engineering Department.

Then...

he was summoned into the supervisor's office.

Max Dillon, the future Electro, was there as well.

The middle-aged, balding supervisor, who normally looked like he had no desires or ambitions, wore an unpleasant expression. After a moment of silence, he said to Max Dillon, "Starting today, you're being transferred to the maintenance team."

Max Dillon froze.

"Supervisor, I..."

"I'm not finished."

The supervisor cut Max Dillon off, then looked at Hawk and sighed. "Hawk, you're fired. But you'll still receive this week's pay."

Hawk blinked.

He was not as stunned as Max. Though he had already guessed the reason, he merely looked at the supervisor calmly.

"May I ask why?"

"The accident in Dr. Connors's lab yesterday."

Just as I thought.

Hawk murmured to himself.

Beside him, Max hurriedly said, "Supervisor, what does the power outage have to do with us? Our bioelectricity has always been used for the building's daily power supply. The power for each department's equipment isn't—"

The supervisor covered his forehead. "Enough. This isn't a discussion. It's a decision. You go out first. Hawk stays."

Max stood there blankly, then looked at Hawk.

Hawk shrugged.

"It's fine, Max."

"...All right."

Max looked at the supervisor as though he wanted to say something. But after opening his mouth, he lowered his head and walked out.

After Max left the office, the supervisor sighed again and looked at Hawk. "I'm sorry. I could find every possible way to keep Max, but I couldn't keep you. You've been doing well, Hawk. If you have any requests, go ahead and make them. I'll do my best to fulfill them."

Hawk smiled. "It's fine. Just explain everything clearly to Mrs. Snow for me."

His purpose in coming to Osborn Bio-Industry had been to find Gamanion. Now that he had found Gamanion, his purpose for being here had already been fulfilled.

In that case, there was no reason for him to remain at Osborn Bio-Industry.

Still, he had originally planned to ask for leave, not resign.

After all, Mrs. Snow had pulled some strings to get him this summer job. She was a good person who had always taken care of him, so he did not want her kindness to go to waste.

Now, things were perfect.

He did not even need to ask for leave.

Hearing Hawk's request, the supervisor secretly breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "Of course. In fact, I just got off the phone with Selina. After all, I know about this matter too. You and that... what was his name..."

Hawk looked at the frowning supervisor and reminded him.

"Max."

"Right, Max."

The supervisor's brow relaxed, and he sighed. "This wasn't your fault or Max's. I know that. But... there's nothing I can do."

Hawk shook his head and smiled as well.

In fact, just as Max had said, the Bioelectricity Department mainly supplied the building's day-to-day electricity.

After all, how much electricity could those electric eels generate in a day?

Not to mention all those labs, the large equipment, and the countless other power-hungry machines.

But someone had to be stupid.

To put it plainly, this whole incident had started because one of Osborn's executives thought the Bioelectricity Department could shoulder even more of the load.

Now that something had gone wrong, that executive was unwilling to take responsibility.

Yeah.

Terrible, but completely in character.

That was all there was to it.

Hawk did not linger in the supervisor's office. He collected his eight hundred dollars for the week, then casually walked out of the Osborn Bio-Industry Building behind him.

"Hawk, wait!"

Just as Hawk was about to cross the street and take the subway home, Gwen ran out of the building after him.

Hawk turned around and looked at Gwen.

"Mrs. Snow called you?"

"Yeah."

After stopping, Gwen braced both hands on her knees and took a few breaths.

She had rushed down the moment Mrs. Snow called her, only to learn from the Bioelectricity Department staff that Hawk had already left.

But luckily...

After steadying her breathing, Gwen looked at Hawk's expression. "Are you... okay?"

Hawk shrugged. "I'm doing pretty well."

He had not let Mrs. Snow's favor go to waste. He had smoothly extricated himself from Osborn Bio-Industry and could now head to Quantico.

And he had even gotten a week's pay for free.

Sweet.

Thinking this, Hawk looked at the worried Gwen and grinned. "Don't worry. I'm really fine. The supervisor said I can still come work here during winter break."

The supervisor had indeed said that.

But Hawk probably would not come back. Still, he had not refused.

What if?

Never exhaust your strength, never say everything you mean, and always leave room for future meetings.

Hawk understood that much.

Seeing that Hawk's expression did not seem fake and confirming that he was truly fine, Gwen nodded, then asked, "So what are you planning to do next? There's still more than a month before school starts."

"Stay home and read. You know how it is—with only a little over a month left, it'll be hard to find another suitable summer job."

Hawk shrugged as he spoke, then said, "All right, you should get back. I'm really fine."

Gwen nodded. "Okay. Then if you're free, we can go study at the library together."

Hawk froze slightly.

Once again, Gwen gave Hawk no chance to respond. It seemed that after practically forcing her phone number on him, she had found the correct way to talk to Hawk. After saying that, she turned around with her hands in her pockets and walked back into Osborn Bio-Industry.

Watching Gwen smile and wave to him in front of the building, Hawk could not help but frown.

The next second,

he turned and left.

Business first!

Quantico!

I'm fucking coming!

Let go of my Gamanion!!