Meanwhile, in a dilapidated apartment in San Francisco, far away.
Eddie was arguing with Venom about whether to go to a buffet.
"Enough! We can't just eat people, and we certainly can't go to a buffet. At most, I'll let you eat two bad guys."
"Then let me eat two people right now. I'm hungry, I'm hungry, hungry, hungry." Venom muttered incessantly.
He felt that if he didn't eat brains to supplement phenylethylamine, his own brain would go haywire.
"Absolutely not! Our situation is very dangerous right now. The Police are monitoring us because of the Life Foundation incident. We absolutely cannot let them discover anything unusual, especially since you are a brain-eating alien." Eddie shook his head repeatedly.
He had clearly seen Venom eating brains. Every time he thought about a brain, one after another, going down that big mouth into his stomach, Eddie felt a wave of nausea.
"Didn't you say Aaron is the CEO of Aaron's Group? With him in charge, wouldn't those damn Police behave themselves? Now, if we just go find him, we can have a free buffet. I can't hold back anymore."
Eddie was about to refuse when—
A golden light suddenly streamed in through the window and enveloped him.
Eddie was still in a daze, the world spinning around him, and soon he arrived in an unfamiliar place.
"Mr. Aaron!"
Eddie looked at the familiar face, incredibly surprised.
Venom was shouting in his head, "Buffet! Brains! I want to feast!"
"Shut up!"
Eddie shouted, his head buzzing from the noise.
He quickly saw Felicia's face darken and immediately explained, "Sorry, I wasn't talking to you two. I was talking to Venom."
Eddie pointed to his head.
Felicia's expression remained displeased. Even if you're insane, you shouldn't be so arrogant.
"Venom, I have something to tell you to do. Go kill someone for me."
Aaron's eyes flashed, and William's face appeared in the air.
Eddie's face changed drastically. "He's a Colonel."
"Not for long."
Aaron saw his fear and said, "William will soon be discharged from the army for unauthorized and inhumane experimentation."
"Oh, I like it. He sounds like an evil and terrifying bad guy. I want to eat his brain." Venom was extremely excited.
Eddie ignored Venom and hesitated. "What's the exact timing?"
Killing a high-ranking military personnel...
The consequences were unimaginable.
"Probably right after he dies."
A trace of chill mixed in Aaron's smile, making Eddie feel a shiver down his spine.
Carlton of the Life Foundation could get him and his girlfriend fired with just one sentence, he already found him terrifying.
Yet, Aaron could control William's fate with a single word. Is this world really so dark?
"Um… can I refuse?"
Not long ago, Eddie had asked some inappropriate questions during an interview with Carlton, which led to him and his girlfriend being fired, and even breaking up.
Now, Eddie had been beaten down by society and was unwilling to easily get involved in disputes of this level.
But...
"Eddie, this isn't a discussion, it's an announcement."
Aaron's tone left no room for refusal, then he said playfully, "Besides, I don't think Venom will refuse this opportunity. There are many of his accomplices there."
Accomplices equal brains!
I like accomplices!
Venom was already eager for a big feast.
He emerged from Eddie's body, forcibly taking control of his body, raising both his arms and legs high.
"Oh yeah! I support this with both hands and feet!"
"Where is he? I want to eat him!"
"Wait a moment."
Soon, a faint engine sound came from outside the villa.
With several neat and orderly footsteps, a team of ten men in black, led by Norman, entered the villa.
"Boss, they are all retired Marine SEALs, currently employees of Aaron's Group's Security Department. They only recognize money, not people." Norman walked up and whispered.
Aaron nodded.
He spread his right hand, and used the power of the Primordial Furnace to create ten Symbiote tissues of Riot and Venom.
Symbiotes reproduce asexually. If a part of their body separates from the main body and successfully parasitizes another person in time, it can quickly grow into a new individual. They are complete individuals, not controlled by their "parents," and they also possess some of their parents' memories. Generally, they also have different abilities depending on the host.
After Aaron got Riot and Venom's abilities, he could naturally easily replicate different individuals from the database.
Ten Symbiotes were sent by Aaron into the bodies of ten security personnel.
These people had been informed in advance of what they would face, knowing that Aaron would bestow powerful strength upon them, and thus offered no resistance.
Eddie and Venom watched in a daze.
Eddie questioned his life, "Is Aaron also a Symbiote?"
Venom shook his head repeatedly. "Impossible, he has no Symbiote characteristics."
"He's more like… that man."
That man was Knull, the Dark Dominator who created the Symbiotes.
Aaron's casual manner of creating Symbiotes made him feel like he was facing Knull. But he was certain that if Aaron truly was Knull, he would not be so "amiable."
"Although I don't know where he got the Symbiotes, he won't succeed this way. Such offspring have different personalities, and sometimes some 'oddities' are born."
"Moreover, Symbiotes and hosts don't necessarily bond well. Often, things like eating the host happen."
Venom did not think highly of Aaron's actions.
Eddie nodded after hearing this, immediately realizing. "What about your compatibility with me?"
"To be honest…"
Eddie's heart tightened.
"It's perfect."
"It seems we are the best partners."
Eddie sighed in relief while saying something he didn't truly mean.
However, events did not unfold as Venom had imagined.
When these Symbiotes grew, there were no issues of incompatibility or mental derangement.
"Master!"
The ten Symbiotes all shouted at Aaron in unison.
Venom watched, stunned.
This scene felt a bit off.
Looking closely at these Symbiotes, he saw that their white eyes were filled with a hint of fear.
Venom suddenly understood. It wasn't that they were gentle, it was that they all feared Aaron. They perfectly inherited the characteristics of that coward, Riot.
"Looks like they're all Riot's offspring, no wonder they're like this."
Venom comforted himself this way, deliberately ignoring that five of the Symbiotes had some similar characteristics to himself.
He was not a coward. So those Symbiotes were definitely not his children, and he would never admit it.
Aaron explained the matter of William to the group.
Although they were retired military personnel, the past was the past, and now was now.
Now, Aaron was their boss and he had also given them powerful strength.
Who was William? They weren't familiar with him.
Moreover, William was a scoundrel in the military. They were acting on behalf of justice.
"Eddie, these ten people will act with you. I will now teleport you to the mission location."
Aaron glanced at the time and said, "You have three hours. I don't want him to live past midnight, understand?"
"Don't worry, Master." The ten Symbiotes responded in unison.
Seeing this, Eddie had no choice but to agree.
What could he do? He could no longer control Venom's urge to feed.
Even if he disagreed, Venom would agree.
Aaron then activated teleportation, sending all eleven individuals to the outskirts of Alkali Lake Industrial Complex.
Norman hesitated at this point and said, "Boss, if you have any arrangements, I can actually go."
"Eddie is an outsider, and those bodyguards… they might not be reliable."
Aaron motioned for him to sit down and wait patiently. "I don't care if they are reliable or not, the Symbiotes will teach them 'loyalty'."
From beginning to end, Aaron didn't trust any security personnel. He only trusted himself and his women. He wouldn't trust these outsiders with their emotions and desires.
What he wanted to do was to use both carrot and stick to make them obedient.
As long as the Symbiotes didn't act recklessly, even if these people had ulterior motives, they couldn't do anything.
These Symbiotes were born in the Primordial Furnace, and from the moment of their birth, Aaron instilled endless fear in them. They would feel an innate fear whenever they saw him, making rebellion impossible.
Coupled with the fear of Aaron's powerful strength inherited from Riot and Venom's memories, these Symbiotes would be incredibly obedient, at least in the short term.