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"Harry, here I come!" Ryan gave Harry a slight smile and, without giving him a moment to prepare, leaned forward and charged at him!
After all, it wasn't enough for Harry to simply possess Venom's power; he also needed the corresponding fighting skills!
So... an hour later.
Harry lay on the ground, staring at the ceiling, questioning his life choices.
For one whole hour, he had been beaten without any ability to fight back!
During that time, even when he and Venom transformed into their full form, they hadn't been able to touch so much as a single hair on Ryan's head!
He knew there was a gap between him and Ryan, but he never expected it to be this massive!
The other guy hadn't even used his Symbiote!
Ryan tossed a box of chocolates onto the panting Harry and laughed, "Hungry? Eat some chocolate to replenish your strength."
"Chocolate? No thanks, I'm not in the mood. Brother, this isn't special training at all; this is just me getting beaten up..."
Harry looked at the chocolate on his body with zero appetite, feeling only the frustration of being pummeled into helplessness.
Ryan walked over to Harry, looked down at him with arms crossed, and said indifferently:
"This is today's first lesson. If you want to learn how to fight, you must first learn how to take a hit. Otherwise, if you don't even know where it hurts most to be hit, how will you know where to strike others to make it most painful and lethal?"
"Also, you know too little about the Symbiote on your body. Taking a beating allows you to better understand more of its abilities."
"For example, its super-regeneration beyond just strength amplification, and..."
Before Ryan could finish, Venom, who had been constantly repairing Harry's physical damage during this hour of combat, couldn't wait any longer. A large, pitch-black head extended from Harry's body and swallowed the box of chocolates on Harry's chest in one gulp!
Seeing this, Ryan said calmly:
"Appetite."
"This is your second lesson for today, and the most important one. No matter what, you must never let the Symbiote on your body go hungry. Otherwise, it will turn on its host and absorb your life force instead, leading to organ failure. Do you understand?"
Harry was startled. Looking at Venom, who was licking its lips in front of him and looking unsatisfied, he didn't worry about the potential organ failure. Instead, he asked in surprise:
"So its food is actually chocolate? Aliens eat chocolate too? Is there chocolate in outer space?"
Ryan:...What a bizarre train of thought... E
ven Venom looked at Harry with disdain and intentionally intimidated him: "Kid, it's not that this Great One likes eating chocolate; it's just that chocolate contains the energy our Symbiote race needs: phenethylamine!"
"Compared to chocolate, I prefer eating fresh brains—especially brains filled with fear. That really works up this Great One's appetite!"
"So when this Great One is hungry, you kid need to take me to hunt for fresh brains, or else I'll eat yours. Understand?"
However, Harry didn't feel scared at all. Instead, he dotingly patted Venom's black head:
"Of course. Stay with me, and I'll never let you go hungry. I can give you a full meal tonight, the brains in fear that you like most..."
Venom froze, looking at Harry. Its menacing expression could no longer be maintained, and its gruff voice softened: "Harry..."
Watching the man and Symbiote who looked like they were about to kiss, Ryan massaged his temples, feeling exhausted. Not wanting to stay and watch this display of affection anymore, he sighed:
"Forget it. The strength gap between us is too large for the next combat lesson to be meaningful. So, I've found someone whose strength is similar to yours but whose skills are superior to fight you."
Harry's eyes lit up, and he immediately guessed who Ryan was talking about: "You mean Peter?!"
Knowing full well that Peter was Spider-Man, Harry would have to be brain-dead not to guess who Ryan had found as an opponent.
Ryan nodded slightly, a smirk appearing at the corner of his mouth:
"Exactly. He's just finished taking his little girlfriend for a ride and has returned. Right now, he's kissing her goodbye next door. He'll be home in about a minute, and then he'll come down."
"And your mission is to defeat him with everything you've got."
"You'd better give him a surprise. Otherwise, if Peter knows it's you, given his personality, he'll probably keep holding back."
After speaking, Ryan swung his hand to manifest a chain blade, sliced through a layer of webbing at the entrance, and walked toward the second basement level.
As he reached the entrance, he looked back halfway and gave Harry a mischievous smile:
"Oh, by the way, I'm looking forward to seeing who my strongest brother is—who between you and Peter is the second brother and who is the third..."
Provoked by Ryan's words, Harry, who was already looking forward to a unique reunion with Peter, now felt his competitive drive fully ignited.
"I am definitely the strongest brother. I'll be the second brother below Ryan and above Peter!"
The Venom on Harry's body seemed infected by his emotions and flared up as well. The black Symbiote instantly covered Harry's entire body, leaving only half of his gloomy face visible.
The half of the face covered by Venom gave a ferocious grin: "Yes! That's it! We can't beat the big spider of the parker family, so let's give the little spider of the parker family a damn good lesson!"
At this moment, the man and the Symbiote shared a single goal, and their synchronization seemed to rise by another level!
Harry leaped up and crouched upside down on the ceiling by the entrance of the first basement level, quietly waiting for his 'prey,' Peter, to arrive.
Meanwhile, in the laboratory on the second basement level, Ryan was watching this scene on the monitors with Dr. Connors.
Dr. Connors looked at the black Symbiote on Harry and felt his trigeminal nerve starting to throb again.
His own Lizard Man ordeal had finally reached a conclusion, but he felt like he was now sinking into an even deeper quagmire... and this quagmire was related to the man beside him...
No, not just this quagmire; it seemed every quagmire was related to this man!
It was as if the closer you got to him, the deeper and larger the quagmire you'd be pulled into... but if you didn't stay close and seek his help, you couldn't even escape the initial small puddle...
Finally, Dr. Connors reached a conclusion in his heart.
That was, this man was like the legendary Mandrake; it could be used as medicine to provide temporary relief from pain, but it was also poisonous, making people sink into beautiful hallucinations brought on by its toxins, unable to extricate themselves...
He, Harry, Gwen, and even Peter had all been poisoned without realizing it...
As the saying goes, the bystander sees clearly while the participant is blinded.
Although he was also being led by the nose by Ryan, Dr. Connors, who actually had relatively little contact with Ryan compared to the others, was the most sober person around him and the closest to the truth.
But Dr. Connors did not attempt to tell the others his suspicions about Ryan being a master manipulator.
After all, he was an adult who had spent decades struggling in society.
He knew that even happiness built upon lies was a rare kind of happiness.
It was better to enjoy a World of happiness carefully woven for you than to return to the real World and face those cruel and helpless realities...
Ryan glanced at the conflicted Dr. Connors beside him, smiled slightly, and withdrew the Symbiote tentacle quietly attached to him.
Congratulations, Doctor. You've made the right choice and officially joined my elaborately woven 'Web of Happiness'...