Inside a cramped apartment.
After a long, exhausting day, Eddie was trying to figure out how to deal with his lunch—or rather, what passed for dinner now.
His name was Eddie Brock.
Once a moderately famous investigative reporter, he had made quite a few powerful people suffer.
But that was the past.
Now, he had to juggle three jobs a day just to barely scrape by.
And all of it
was because of the thing living inside his body.
That thing was far too good at eating.
It was a symbiote
an intelligent extraterrestrial lifeform.
But Eddie preferred to call it—
Venom.
Today should have been like any other.
Get off work.
Go home.
Make dinner.
But something unexpected happened.
The symbiote—Venom, inside his body, suddenly became restless.
One tendril after another lashed out violently, smashing furniture throughout the apartment.
This was fear.
"Stop it, Venom! Cut it out!"
"I'm not ordering you—I'm begging you, have a little empathy!"
"I'm a guy who's exhausted, starving, and barely surviving, okay?!"
Eddie complained irritably.
He had no idea what this thing was so afraid of.
Venom was powerful enough to massacre an entire special forces unit in a hail of gunfire!
Aside from extreme heat and ultrasonic waves, it had almost no weaknesses.
It could lift dozens of tons.
Run fast enough to keep up with a helicopter.
It possessed super regeneration, healing even fatal wounds in moments.
Its liquefied body could reshape itself into countless forms—
effective at both close and long range.
It amplified its host's potential to the absolute limit.
The stronger the host, the stronger the symbiote.
Since bonding with Venom—
this was the first time it had ever behaved like this.
[Venom]: Eddie! Don't open the door!!!
Venom's hoarse, guttural voice trembled with fear and panic.
Through its biological field perception, it sensed something horrifying—
and it was coming for them.
"What? Don't tell me it's the Life Foundation again. Those bastards."
Eddie cursed under his breath.
His life was already miserable.
Lost his job.
Lost his girlfriend.
All because of the Life Foundation.
He'd been itching to beat the hell out of them for a long time.
[Venom]: No! You can't go over there!
Venom shouted frantically.
It was so terrified that it couldn't even control their body properly.
All it could do—
was helplessly watch as Eddie Brock, this idiot—
walked up to the door and peered through the peephole.
The hallway outside
was empty.
Just as Eddie reached for the door handle
a magnetic male voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"Looking for me?"
The young man's voice echoed calmly from behind Eddie.
A third presence—one that should not exist
was sitting casually on the apartment sofa.
That voice hit Eddie like a weakness curse.
His legs went weak.
He turned around—
and collapsed to the floor.
Eddie slumped against the door, gasping in shock.
His yellowed eyes widened as he stared at the mysterious man who had appeared in his apartment
without warning.
"Re… Re… Ren…"
Eddie's lips trembled.
He knew this man.
In the news industry, there existed an absolute taboo.
Never,
ever,
speak ill of that person.
Otherwise
the media outlet would declare bankruptcy by that very afternoon,
and issue a public retraction.
All out of sheer jealousy.
Trying to smear this so-called "Savior" for attention.
The newspaper owner and journalists would be arrested.
Other employees?
Blacklisted forever
abandoned by the industry.
This
was the power of Hammer Industries.
Absolute control.
Absolute monopoly.
Only positive coverage was allowed.
Not a single negative voice could exist.
The public didn't know.
And even if they did
they wouldn't care.
They enjoyed the benefits
never questioning the price behind them.
Compared to this man's power
the Life Foundation was nothing.
According to Venom's judgment
those two androids alone could kill them effortlessly.
Like tearing open a bag of potato chips
forcefully separating Eddie and Venom.
Then
like popping bubble wrap
crushing their skulls with ease.
It was precisely because of Venom's warning
that Eddie knew his place.
Never provoke this monster.
But today
this ultimate boss, hidden behind the curtain
had personally appeared in his apartment.
[Venom]: Run! Eddie! RUN!
[Venom]: The window! NOW!
Venom roared hoarsely.
It still had dozens of potato chip flavors left to try.
It didn't want to die here.
Venom seized control of Eddie's body.
He sprang off the ground
and smashed straight toward the window!
Glass shattered instantly.
Black, liquid biomass engulfed Eddie Brock's body.
The broken, terrified man
instantly transformed into a massive black monster.
Just as they thought they had escaped
a hand wrapped in black armor suddenly filled their vision
and slammed down onto Venom's grotesque head!
Renjie floated in midair, a mocking curve at the corner of his lips.
He was the master of the Space Stone.
He could come and go—
anywhere he pleased.
He increased the pressure slightly.
A spatial shockwave rippled outward
causing Venom to scream in agony.
In less than a second
Venom retreated in terror, shrinking back into its host like a cowardly turtle.
"This vibration frequency could shatter it down to the molecular level—far more terrifying than ultrasound!"
Even Venom couldn't fight back.
Let alone a mere human like Eddie Brock.
"Spare… spare me…"
Eddie pleaded in broken Mandarin, desperately trying to curry favor with this overwhelming existence.
Renjie smiled faintly.
A glowing blue spatial wormhole opened above them.
Grabbing Eddie Brock by the head
Renjie flew straight into it.
In an instant
they arrived inside a luxurious hotel suite.
Renjie tossed Eddie casually onto the carpet.
He deactivated his armor
sat down on a private sofa
and crossed his legs lazily.
"Eddie Brock… is it?"
"I know everything about you."
"Including the symbiote inside you—called Venom."
"And its home planet."
Renjie explained with a smile.
He didn't fully trust Hammer's efficiency.
So he decided to handle this personally
recruiting each future member of the Injustice League himself.
"Y-Yes… that's me…"
"No—no! Please listen! I never investigated you!"
Eddie sat frozen on the floor, panic-stricken as he looked around.
He didn't know where he was.
He was so scared he was about to cry.
Someone as insignificant as him
could never have imagined
that he would one day offend someone like Renjie,
someone important enough to intervene personally.
"I'll skip the nonsense."
"I want you to work for me."
"Join my superhero team."
"The compensation is as follows:
Ten million annual salary.
This presidential suite.
Your criminal record—erased."
"You can live wherever you want. I won't restrict your freedom."
"In your spare time, do whatever you like."
"Fight injustice. Enjoy life."
"But when the assembly order is issued
you must report immediately."
Renjie laid out the terms casually.
Eddie Brock
and even Venom
were completely stunned.
My God…
This kind of thing actually exists?
Money.
A house.
A job.
Was this man—
an angel descended from heaven?
"I… I…"
Eddie Brock jumped to his feet, trembling with excitement.
Given his current situation
this offer was irresistible.
Black liquid surged out once more, enveloping his body.
He transformed into a towering, two-meter-tall monster.
This
was Venom's complete form.
The savage creature dropped to one knee.
Right hand placed over left chest.
Head bowed.
The posture of a knight's oath.
"Mr. Renjie…"
"We are honored… to serve you."
END OF CHAPTER
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