Another Conversation with Dusk Eagle

Chapter 191: Another Conversation with Dusk Eagle

They followed Old Barton all the way to the remains of the Sentinel Robots before finally stopping.

"How did you end up here?"

Looking at Zhang Ye’s calm face, Old Barton immediately asked the question he most wanted answered.

"Because of Moonstone. Wasn’t she the person you recommended to me?"

Zhang Ye spread his hands, but Old Barton was clearly dissatisfied with that answer.

His eyes widened as he pointed at Zhang Ye and lowered his voice. "Don’t play dumb with me. You know that’s not what I mean. Who exactly are you? Why did you come to this universe? And what are Quicksilver and that black-haired girl doing here?"

Seeing Barton’s somewhat agitated reaction, Zhang Ye could not help but smile. He slowly shook his head and pondered for a moment.

"You sure are curious about a lot of things. I know you’re very curious about my origins and my purpose, but trust me, now isn’t the best time to tell you everything. You only need to know that my goal is to change the entire wasteland and return it to the way it was before."

"What about Pietro? You can’t tell me about that either? Are you really from another universe? Why do I feel like you came here by traveling through time from a timeline more than forty years ago?"

"Don’t joke around. This world’s timeline was fixed long ago. Time travel isn’t that easy. One careless mistake could create an irrational temporal branch, and you understand the consequences better than I do."

Zhang Ye stared at Clint Barton, paused, then continued.

"As for Pietro, he’s more or less what you think he is. He isn’t from the universe you know. He may resemble the Quicksilver you remember, but he isn’t the person from your memories. His personality and experiences are completely different."

Old Barton fell silent, seemingly trying to process the enormous amount of information in Zhang Ye’s words.

He looked in Pietro and the others’ direction. After a while, Barton withdrew his gaze and continued.

"What about Ashley? You know she’s my daughter. She’s still a child and shouldn’t be involved in something this dangerous. Witch Raven, I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation!"

"I know she’s your daughter, but Barton, ask yourself this—do you really understand her?" Zhang Ye asked.

"Don’t give me that!"

A cold glint flashed through Barton’s eyes. He stared fixedly at Zhang Ye, his tone hostile.

"What happens between me and her is not for an outsider like you to judge. I only want her to grow up safely, not throw herself into danger at such a young age. This isn’t her fight, and she shouldn’t be involved in it."

"Heh, you think you’ve protected her well? Did you know she’s been running around with gangsters since she was little? I can’t see a trace of a ‘hero’ in her."

Seeing Hawkeye growing less and less able to suppress his anger, Zhang Ye crossed his arms and continued.

"Don’t glare at me like that. If you really care about Ashley, you’d better be stricter with her. I don’t care whether you’ve let her do whatever she wants because of guilt or something else. All I know is that this girl is getting more and more out of control!

She dared to attack me before with nothing but that broken Spider-Sense and superhuman strength. Now that she has Venom, she doesn’t respect anyone at all. If she hadn’t happened to run into me, she would have died in Osborn City long ago."

"Y-You said what?" Hawkeye froze.

Listening to Zhang Ye’s account, Old Barton suddenly felt that he might not understand Ashley at all. The treasure he cherished most had become so unfamiliar.

Old Barton felt as if his mind had crashed. Ashley’s drastic changes had caught him completely off guard.

"She inherited Peter Parker’s powers? That’s a good thing. But what’s this about Venom? No, I can’t let that parasite devour my daughter’s body!"

Barton clenched his fists and turned, ready to attack Venom and drive it out of Ashley’s body.

Others might not know, but Barton knew Venom well. After roaming the wasteland for so many years, he had heard plenty about the terrible things Venom had done. Countless families had been ruined and torn apart because of that thing.

"Don’t panic. Venom isn’t the problem right now." Zhang Ye hurriedly grabbed Barton.

Caught by Zhang Ye, Old Barton instinctively tried to break free. But Zhang Ye’s strength was no longer what it used to be, and Barton could not shake him off for the moment.

"What do you mean? That’s Venom! That disgusting thing affects people’s minds. Don’t you understand how revolting it is? And you knew Ashley had been bonded with Venom, so why didn’t you get rid of it?"

"I already did. Otherwise, why do you think your daughter can stand here unharmed and call you Dad?"

After a pause, Zhang Ye raised two questions in succession.

"That’s why I said you don’t understand your daughter well enough. Do you think you can just rush over there and solve the Venom problem? Never mind whether you’d succeed—even if you did, would Ashley agree to what you’re doing?"

"She doesn’t have to agree!"

Hawkeye spoke firmly.

"I’ll convince her. She has no idea what a troublesome monster Venom is."

"And then the two of you will have another huge fight and part on bad terms, just like before?"

Zhang Ye asked calmly.

Barton’s body trembled at those words. His once-straight posture sagged slightly. Ashley had always been the deepest wound in Barton’s heart. He opened his mouth, but could not say anything.

In the end, he merely let out a heavy sigh.

"Enough. Take a break. Ashley can’t really make use of Spider-Man’s powers on her own. With Venom’s help, she can barely be considered Spider-Man’s successor now, and she’s safer too. I know you’re worried about Venom, but I’m confident I can control it. You can rest assured about that."

"Are you sure?"

"It’s been like this the whole way. It’s been very obedient. If you don’t believe me, talk to it yourself later."

Hearing that, Barton sighed again. For some reason, Hawkeye felt as though his daughter was drifting farther and farther away from him. If Ashley had once merely pushed him away, she now seemed like an entirely different person, carrying countless secrets.

After a moment of silence, Old Barton silently raised his head, looked at Zhang Ye, and asked again.

"What’s going on in Osborn City?"

"Osborn—you know him. That guy has never been content to stay quiet. He formed a Villain Alliance and declared war on the so-called heroes of the wasteland. Lorelei is one of them, and she was also one of the targets you told me about. As for Ashley, she intends to overthrow Osborn’s rule single-handedly."

"Ashley… She’s a good child. I always believed she would inherit a hero’s qualities and lead the people against those villains." Old Barton’s words were full of relief.

However, Zhang Ye did not respond to that. Instead, he continued.

"Let’s not talk about that. This time, we have the same goal—we’re both here for Moonstone. If there’s anything you want to know, wait until we’ve dealt with Moonstone. After all, this is the border between Red Skull’s territory and World Master’s territory. It isn’t a safe place."