Chapter 213: Divine Descent! (Part 2)

"Strange has already told us their plan. I must admit, it does benefit the Sanctum Sanctorum, but the gains for us are still insufficient."

Nick furrowed his brow, lit a cigarette with a lighter, and said, smoking it: "At this stage, I believe all magical plans should be kept conservative. Even those Wall Street wolves know that during the initial investment phase, you don't rush for returns."

"I have patience," Nick said calmly. "Though everyone knows I'm greedy, I know well that short-term returns may be tempting, but long-term profits are far more alluring."

"Have you ever considered taking it all?"

"What are you planning now?"

"No rush. We still have one member who hasn't arrived."

At that moment, Nick received a call. He spoke into the phone: "What? Who?... Alright, let him in."

Two minutes later, Eddie Brock entered S. . . . . .'s office. Nick walked over and shook his hand. Sitting nearby, Hill's eyes flickered with a purple glow; she twitched. Shiler placed a hand on the female agent's shoulder and said, "Calm down, Symbiote."

A raspy female voice emerged from Hill's throat—the Symbiote that had just possessed her said: "Venom?? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be stopping the riots?"

"Symbiote, long time no see," Eddie's voice was equally raspy.

The Symbiote paused, controlling Hill as she scrutinized Eddie. "Venom, what happened to you? Have you gone completely mad? Last time I saw you, you were screaming about eating brains..."

Eddie thought to Venom: "Damn it! Did you really eat brains?"

"Don't listen to her. I didn't."

Eddie didn't sit down. He stood by the table. Venom turned to Shiler: "As you predicted, Riot has gone berserk."

Shiler smiled but said nothing. Nick looked at Shiler and said, "Looks like it's time for your story again."

"There's no story this time," Shiler shook his head. "I told Venom to provoke Riot. That's all."

The Symbiote exclaimed in shock: "You told Venom to provoke Riot??"

She turned to Venom again: "Aren't you the one who wanted revenge on Riot? Didn't you keep shouting, 'I am Venom, I am vengeance'?"

"Beating him up is the lowest form of revenge," Venom's voice was flat, yet carried a peculiar rhythm, as if emanating from a unique soul.

"You..." The Symbiote stared at Venom as if seeing a stranger. "You've changed so much, Venom. Before, you only seemed to want to eat brains..."

"I still do."

"Then you—"

Through Eddie's eyes, the Symbiote saw Venom's soul—the unique ability of symbiotes to recognize their own kind. From Venom's eyes, she saw a coldness and darkness she had never witnessed in any other symbiote. Then she heard Venom say something that sent chills down her spine:

"For symbiotes, what better food is there than the brain of our creator?"

His calmness terrified her—as if she had never truly known this kin of hers.

Now she was certain: Venom was truly insane.

"We'll catch up later," Nick turned to Shiler. "Tell us your plan..."

"Asgard and the Sorcerer Supreme want to trick Nul into giving up his power, to lure the Cosmic Gods into increasing their investments and further solidify the Sanctum Sanctorum's authority. Their stance aligns with ours, but their interests aren't entirely aligned."

"In short: they play the long game. We play the short game."

"Earth is like a starving infant. It won't die if it goes hungry for a while—but I still want to eat something right now."