"Where are the prisoners? You're not going to tell me you couldn't even keep a single intruder alive?" Nick Fury glared at the two. Although everything seemed normal, his intuition told him that these two had an inexplicable, unsettling rapport. Out of his instinctive suspicion, he still tentatively asked.
"I don't believe you don't have similar information. Once the invaders die, they will turn into ashes. Even those who are seriously injured will be ruthlessly killed in cold blood by their companions. In this situation, how could there be prisoners?" Luke sat in his seat, folded his hands, and rested his arms on the armrests on both sides of the chair, and said seriously.
"I think you should focus on identifying those invaders. I don't think they're normal." Tony Stark, standing nearby, was seeing this was the first time someone died without leaving behind a body, instead vanishing into a cloud of ash. This completely defied his logic. The vampires last time could at least be considered dark creatures, but this time, no matter how you looked at it, they looked human.
Of course, it is possible that they are humans similar to super soldiers born under some kind of technology.
"Of course, I will." Nick observed the two of them for a moment with his intact eye before nodding.
…
After Nick Fury hurriedly left with his men, Tony turned to look at Luke and asked him, "Is it really okay to do this?"
"What's the problem?" Luke looked at Tony doubtfully, somewhat puzzled.
"That bone looks very important to Nick, and I don't think you can keep it hidden forever. How are you going to face that guy when the time comes? I don't think he's very kind." Tony's face was full of curiosity, and he finally complained about Fury. Although Fury had returned his father's relics to him, he was not grateful at all.
Even when Luke stole the other person's things, he still felt it was quite exciting, and for this reason he was even willing to cooperate with Luke to act as a personal witness.
"What kind of person do you think Nick is? Is he the kind of person who makes impulsive decisions based on emotions? Of course not, he has his own logic. If you have something he needs more, you can just find an excuse. For example, it was lost and found again, or it was looted from somewhere else. As long as you keep a layer of face, Nick will cooperate and not expose it even if he knows it." After all, Luke has worked with Nick many times. He can't say that he can completely grasp the psychology of the cunning Nick, but he can still roughly judge the other party's bottom line.
It's just a mysterious bone. Even if it is exposed, it's not worth Nick turning against him or doing anything against him.
After all, their partnership was still in its honeymoon phase, and there weren't just two bones missing. Even if the worst-case scenario occurred and Nick wanted to do something to him, before the longevity potion was cracked, a group of people would stand in his way and stop Nick. Unless Luke had truly done something drastic that would have made everyone feel threatened.
So, as long as Luke didn't explicitly say, "I stole your things," Nick would pretend not to know, even if he knew. Just like today, if it were someone else, Heberon would at least be thoroughly searched by SHIELD to confirm there was no problem before moving on. Instead of just relying on Luke and Tony's one-sided statements and then taking no action and leaving, this behavior, in a sense, reflects Nick's attitude and intention of not wanting to pursue the matter.
He didn't want to have a falling out or any unpleasantness with Luke. Not yet, at least.
If Luke could discover something from the bones and grant S.H.I.E.L.D. certain sales rights, then Nick, with their tacit understanding, might even ask, "Do you have enough materials? Do you need some more?" Of course, if Luke truly wanted more, there's a good chance Nick would offer him a special order in exchange for Luke's technology or other items.
His current relationship with Nick was pure and tacit. They might be close friends, but when it came to the distribution of benefits, both men understood that friendship played a minimal role. Their friendship was limited to a tacit understanding that allowed them to collaborate, leveraging each other's strengths.
"Whatever you say, I'll take it with me." Tony shrugged and picked up the jar containing Venom's younger brother symbiote.
The Venom symbiote who was picked up had a confused look on his face, his eyes full of confusion. He just came back to recover from his injuries and waited for the keeper to feed him so that he could regain his strength. Why was he being taken away?
"What's going on?" The symbiote in the jar pounced on the glass, staring at Luke with wide eyes filled with resentment. It had just bled for him! It had just served him! It had just protected his home! And yet, he returned to the lab covered in wounds, just waiting for a pay raise, and now it was being sent away?
What's the meaning?
From the Life Foundation, it fell to S.H.I.E.L.D., and was sent to Hybern by S.H.I.E.L.D., thinking good things were finally coming, only to be sent away again? Is it really so unwelcome? Compared to Serenity and Venom, it's the relatively normal [human] among the symbiotes! Is it that aliens are the only ones who are popular now?
"Your ownership now belongs to Mr. Stark." Luke pointed at Tony who was holding the jar and said to the symbiote who looked aggrieved.
"Am I an object? Being transferred back and forth by you? Don't I have what you call human rights? I'm an intelligent being! Just like you humans! I demand a little respect!" The black symbiote grumbled in its jar. Why was it trying so hard to perform? Wasn't it just following the lead of the big brother, striving to elevate its own value and status, and ultimately achieve its goals?
The quiet leader is here for food.
Big brother Venom is for eating and getting stronger.
It also helps to become stronger and satisfy one's appetite a little bit.
If it is sent away, then its plan will be ruined, right?
"Be serious, you're just a captive." Luke corrected the black symbiote.
"So?" The black symbiote widened its white eyes.
"So I believe that Mr. Tony Stark will treat you well." Luke ruthlessly broke the other party's fantasy.
"Big Brother?" The black symbiote's eyes darted towards its elder brother, Venom. However, Venom quickly leaped back into its jar, its tentacles transforming into arms and closing it in the process. Its gaze then swept over the innocently waving goodbye to Harpoon and the bubbling, amusing Mittles. Suddenly, its entire body lost its support and slid down the glass wall of the jar, shrinking to the bottom like a puddle of mud.
"Go ahead. I'll arrange for someone to deliver food to you regularly." Luke finally softened his heart. Although this guy's combat power was not as good as An Jing's, his potential was not as good as Venom's, and there were no genes on his body that could be studied, he had contributed to Heberon after all. Seeing the other party so depressed, Luke still gave him a little insignificant kindness.
…
"Venom, stay away from 002. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking?" Luke, looking at Venom who had followed him into the vampire lab, had to warn him. 002 was able to use Holy Light because Luke had embedded a Soul Crystal within him as a power source. After all, the other party wasn't a biological symbiote like the little Habu, but a cyborg creation.
The original intention of Venom [Pollution] 002 was just for the soul crystal in its body.
"Okay, okay, keep your distance, I understand." Venom muttered a few words and jumped a few times on the metal floor like a ball of elastic slime, finally landing on a table.
"Is that him?" Venom looked at an intruder who was stabbed by a golden spear near the table, then turned to look at Luke with questioning eyes.
"It's him." Luke nodded.
"I have so many functions now. In addition to being responsible for combat and being studied by you, I also have to be your research assistant. What's even more tragic is that I don't even get paid! Things like memory detection and gene replication, don't you think I can use your technology to accomplish this? Those are all ready-made." Venom muttered to himself as the entire liquid pounced directly at the immobile invader, and then, under Luke's gaze, quickly merged into his body.
"Can you pull this spear out of my body? It makes me feel uncomfortable and it's a bit difficult to match him." Venom revealed his face, and his snake-like tongue stretched out from his gaping mouth, pointing like a pointer at the Holy Light Spear that was stuck in the intruder's body. Luke waved his hand and took the spear out of the other party's body.
"Don't struggle, don't resist, our integration is a harmonious union.
I won't occupy your body for too long, so don't panic.
Can you think of something normal in your head? Think of something I want to know! Don't make me dig through your memory; that's a lot of work! Let's both make time for each other.
Well, since you're so determined to cause me trouble, I'll have to resort to some drastic measures. If your brain gets damaged after I leave, it's none of my business!
Shit, what the hell is in your memories? They're completely polluting my mind! Don't you have any real work to do besides killing people? What if you turn me into a murderer? Okay, actually, I quite enjoy chewing on people's brains. Judging by my previous hosts, they weren't exactly good people either. Using your human moral standards to quell rebellions, they were all villains who committed all sorts of evil! But they weren't professional killers like you.
What is this? What are you hiding?
No, wait, I was wrong!"
The mumbling Venom suddenly screamed in panic, and then his entire body was thrown away from the invader by a burst of force.