Chapter 675: Someone

While De-De-Si-Fang was discussing the specific plan, in Eddie Brock's house on the outskirts of Hell's Kitchen, Venom sat on one side of the sofa, one hand propped on his knee, speaking in a serious tone:

"... hat's roughly the situation, so I have a plan."

"Wait a minute!" Blue Spirit spoke up from among the symbiotes on the opposite sofa: "Aren't you insane anymore?... Oh, you've always been insane—I mean, you're not as hyperactive as before?"

"Hmph." Venom snorted: "You think that could trouble me for long?... What? Coward, shut up—I'm being serious!"

Venom began wrestling with Eddie inside his mind; Lei Ting rolled his eyes and said: "Why did you drag us here? Get to the point—we've got things to do."

"Things to do? What things? Skating along New York's power lines? Becoming a football goalkeeper? Fighting at Kamar-Taj?" Venom's gaze lingered on Lei Ting, Green Spike, and Blue Spirit; the three, their daily routines exposed, coughed awkwardly.

"Cosmic Agents? Yes, once self-proclaimed cosmic champions of justice—now fallen to earth, wallowing in decay. Where are your grand ambitions? Your lofty ideals? Your righteous hearts that once swept clean the chaos of the cosmos?"

"You have no right to condemn us, Venom," Blue Spirit said calmly. "You're not one of us. You were once our enemy."

"There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. I know the Cosmic Agents' position is awkward right now—especially in the Andromeda Galaxy..."

Seeing the expressions of the Cosmic Agents, Venom knew he'd hit the mark. Indeed, their status was now awkward: after the great power realignment in the Andromeda Galaxy, the entire symbiote race had nearly broken ties with every surviving species in the galaxy.

And once other races learned the truth—that their homeworld imprisoned a terrifying chaos monster—the Cosmic Agents' moral standing became ambiguous.

If they were truly an advanced and noble race, they should have first dealt with the bomb on their own planet. Ignoring a being capable of endangering the entire universe while wandering the cosmos preaching justice and peace? That's hypocrisy.

But the symbiotes had no way to explain: N'al was not a being that could be killed. As long as chaos energy existed in this universe, he would never die—even imprisoning him was extremely difficult.

Yet if they revealed this truth to all races in the universe, those races would only panic further and grow even more hostile.

Moreover, though N'al was imprisoned by the Cosmic Agents, he surely hated them with every fiber of his being; yet the races that survived because of his imprisonment didn't necessarily thank them either.

They saw it as the Cosmic Agents' duty. And if even a fragment of N'al's power escaped, those survivors would curse them, accusing them of negligence.

In short, it was a thankless task. Survival and competition among cosmic races were always life-or-death—morality had no place here. Practicing morality and justice here was destined to be an unbearably hard path.

"I know you want to reverse this situation," Venom said in a hoarse voice, "but you're thinking too narrowly. You keep asking how to kill N'al once and for all—but you should first strengthen yourselves."

"Honesty now—are the Cosmic Agents truly strong?" Venom posed a question, then answered himself: "Perhaps. Among many ordinary races, symbiotes who can travel the cosmos, freely alter their forms, and adapt to their hosts' strengths are indeed a very powerful species."

"But compared to cosmic demons who were born wielding primordial energy, endlessly accumulating soul strength, or possessing their own dimensions—what are symbiotes?"

"Not to mention the demon who descended above the symbiote homeworld—what was his name? Siseon? He nearly destroyed the entire planet, and symbiotes couldn't resist at all."

"When battles reach this level, whether Cosmic Agents or ordinary symbiotes—we're powerless."

"But..." Venom narrowed his eyes. "Do you want this situation to continue? Or are you willing to take a gamble when an opportunity arises?"

"What exactly are you planning?" Green Spike's voice was always deep—he was the most level-headed of the Cosmic Agents, and thought most deeply.

Since first pursuing Venom, he'd never held much hostility toward this unique symbiote; even now, he believed a newborn, driven mad by its host due to the race's own failure, was a collective responsibility—and so he preferred to listen to Venom's advice.

"During the previous confrontation with N'al, I gained a large portion of energy from someone. I used it to strengthen myself—I can now use magic." Venom stunned them. Blue Spirit stared, wide-eyed: "You can use magic? Then why have I never seen you use it?"

"You rely too much on magic," Venom said dismissively. "You're a symbiote, not a mage. A symbiote's greatest strength lies in evolution—and you're stagnating."

Venom struck at the core: "I pursue infinite possibilities—not trapping myself on a single path of magic."

Blue Spirit fell silent. Then he heard Venom say: "Magic isn't the point. What I'm saying is, because I can use magic, I noticed the anomalies in myself early on."

"While meditating, I saw part of the bat totem—and heard prayers directed toward it."

"I realized: through these prayers, I could harvest faith energy. That's why I was so hyperactive before—this energy is extremely active, greatly enhancing my host's soul vitality—and affecting me too."

"So?" Lei Ting asked.

"I discovered I can respond to their prayers. The more focused their prayers, the more faith energy I gather—and I can convert that energy into power usable by symbiotes."

At this, the other symbiotes exchanged glances. Blue Spirit's eyes lit up: "Can my magical energy be converted too?"

"Of course—and far more than you imagine." Venom extended a sticky tendril, touching Blue Spirit's arm. Instantly, magical light flared. Blue Spirit's eyes widened in shock.

The other two symbiotes stared at him. After recovering, Blue Spirit slowly nodded: "If this is true, then this faith energy is extremely valuable."

"Correct. But I'm willing to share it with you—on one condition: you must help me." Venom revealed his ultimate goal.

The other symbiotes exchanged glances, whispered briefly, then Blue Spirit spoke: "Tell us your plan first. If it's viable, we're not unwilling to help."

"When I respond to prayers, they provide me with more faith energy. But I noticed—they have ulterior motives. They don't pray because they truly believe in the totem."

"Perhaps they want to control this newborn totem, then use it to gain more power. But as long as they desire something, they're manageable." Venom concluded.

"People driven by profit are far easier to manipulate than those with true faith." Venom's tone now sounded eerily human—low, hoarse: "They'll be blinded by greed, lose their reason..."

"Once they see hope of success, they'll pour in more. And when they realize it's a fraud, having invested too much, they'll have no choice but to keep going."

"So if I respond to them, keeping the faith energy just barely enough to control the bat totem—and every time they're about to truly seize control, I withdraw the power—they'll go mad trying to push that final step..."

ahzww.

Blue Spirit nodded, signaling he understood. "So what do you need us to do?"

"From my observations, perhaps due to their unique race or special methods, they extract this faith energy very quickly."

"The energy accumulates rapidly—but my body, or rather my host's body, can't absorb so much so fast. So when I draw this energy, you must help share the burden—otherwise, my host and I will be overwhelmed and burst."

Lei Ting flexed his fingers, brushing his back tentacles. "And our reward?"

"I'll absorb as much faith energy as possible. The portion you help carry is your payment—but you must promise me: half of what you take must be given to all symbiotes."

As Venom spoke the first half, the others' eyes gleamed. But when he said the second half, they frowned. Blue Spirit asked: "Give it to all symbiotes? Why?"

"I've said it: compared to truly superior races, individual symbiotes are too weak. If we don't unite, evolve collectively, or radically transform our life form to seek greater possibilities, one day we'll be eliminated by this universe."

Venom's tone was deep, tinged with sorrow—unlike him at all. He continued:

"Humans are weak, aren't they? When you encountered them, you must have thought so—this race's body and soul are so fragile, they collapse at the slightest touch."

"But what truly lets them endure in this universe, beyond intelligence, is one other thing: boundless ambition."

"Greed—a word that sounds ugly. Yet it's the most crucial trait any race needs to climb the path of competition and transcendence. Without greed for power, without the obsession to exhaust every ounce of strength to grow stronger, you're doomed to extinction."

Silence filled the room. It lasted a long time. The symbiotes seemed to be pondering: where was the future of the Sintal race?

An ancient god-created race, uniquely gifted yet peculiar. Over countless ages, their evolution had been painfully slow. Though they adapted differently depending on their hosts, their core remained unchanged.

The cosmos was ever-changing. No one knew when the next tide of the new era would come. The events in the Andromeda Galaxy had sounded an alarm for these ancient beings: when facing cosmic dangers and other powerful lifeforms, they were no different from ordinary races—utterly defenseless.

Realizing this, the other symbiotes felt crushing pressure. For the Cosmic Agents not only faced competition among cosmic races—they had a greater enemy: N'al.

If that ancient chaos being awoke, and they remained powerless, their fate was clear.

After a long pause, Blue Spirit looked at Venom and said:

"We'll help you—for the future of Sintal..."

Venom looked back at him and said:

"For the future."