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Ch. 2 Venom Symbiote
🕑 Added 2023-08-27 06:37:44 +0000 UTCRussell initially believed that he had only crossed over into a non-divine timeline of the Marvel Universe.
After all, in this world, Captain America had been unearthed prematurely, and there were also superheroes like the Fantastic Four and Spider-Woman.
However, Diana's appearance and the rewards displayed by the system proved that things were not as simple as he had imagined.
Both Wonder Woman and Kryptonian heritage were unique to the neighboring DC universe.
By the day he met Diana, he had been living in this world for over three months.
So he was certain that superheroes like Superman and Batman didn't exist in this world.
This raises the question: why did Wonder Woman, Diana, appear in this world?
Although he later successfully courted Diana and started living together with her, he hadn't asked her how she came here.
In fact, he didn't need to ask to know. It was just crossing over, nothing particularly extraordinary.
Comparatively, his own crossing over from his universe to this one seemed even more peculiar.
After all, in the universe he came from, there were no so-called superheroes.
For the past two years, both Russell and Diana had kept their individual secrets, leading a cohabiting life not much different from that of a normal couple.
Of course, during their cohabitation, there were moments when they almost slipped up.
But those instances were "mutually ignored" by them, as if they had an unspoken understanding.
In life, who doesn't have a few small secrets of their own?
As long as they both knew it in their hearts, it was fine.
...
"Don't change the subject. I'm asking you now, what exactly is this thing on you?"
Diana repositioned the sharp tip of her sword back at the black head emerging from Russell's left shoulder.
"Well... like I told you before, I'm a metahuman, and this thing is my second awakened superpower!"
Russell pointed to the black head with sharp teeth protruding from his left shoulder as he explained.
This black head was none other than the brain of the symbiote, Venom.
Wait!
Strictly speaking, this head wasn't the brain of the Venom symbiote. It was a part of his own body.
Russell was now somewhat uncertain about how to explain the "Venom symbiote" on his body.
"Infinite Reward System!"
"Activated Rewards: Blessing of Wonder Woman, Venom Symbiote!"
"Reward: Blessing of Wonder Woman; Status: Activated; Activation Conditions: Become the boyfriend of Wonder Woman; Activation Effect: After activation, you will possess a physique far surpassing that of an ordinary person and possess a faint demi-god power."
"Reward: Venom Symbiote; Status: Activated; Activation Conditions: Spend 24 hours in a confined space with Eddie Brock; Activation Effect: After activation, you will gain all the abilities of Venom's symbiosis."
...
Even though Russell had been living in this world for three years, it was only a week ago that he had truly activated rewards, with "Blessing of Wonder Woman" being the sole one that had been activated until then.
While the system presented a considerable number of rewards, most of them remained in an unactivated state, with no clear indication of how to trigger them.
When the activation conditions for the "Venom Symbiote" were finally triggered, Russell didn't hesitate much. He immediately set out to formally activate the reward.
After careful planning, two days ago, he successfully "kidnapped" Eddie Brock, a reporter from the Daily Globe, and confined him in a prepared enclosed space.
Because the plan required him to be absent for a few days, he deliberately prepared an excuse and told Diana that he had to go to Washington to handle a commission.
By the way, his publicly known identity was that of a private detective, and he operated a private detective agency named "Octopus Monster."
Of course, besides this public identity, he had some hidden identities as well.
For example, he was a direct operative killer for Continental Hotel.
Even though he had not received any formal assassin training before crossing over and had only been in this world for about three years, he had an unparalleled advantage.
The Blessing of Wonder Woman bestowed upon him physical attributes far beyond that of ordinary humans, including but not limited to strength, speed, endurance, recovery, and learning ability.
If it weren't for this reward, which granted him a physique much superior to a regular human, living together with someone like Diana, who was a stunning beauty, would have turned him into "scum" a long time ago.
Leveraging his superhuman physical attributes, he didn't require much effort to evolve from an ordinary person into a proficient killer and earned the approval of the Continental Hotel.
Diana knew he was an assassin, but she hadn't said much about it. It was because he was a professional with a strong sense of ethics in his field.
Unlike some colleagues who were motivated solely by money, Russell was somewhat unconventional in the assassin world. He executed contracts not just based on payment, but sometimes also considered the nature of the target, taking on jobs that involved combating wrongdoers.
Perhaps due to his style being somewhat akin to righting wrongs, Diana chose to turn a blind eye to his actions.
Returning to the reward he had recently activated, "Venom Symbiote." Despite its name, the system rewarded him with the abilities gained after bonding with the Venom symbiote.
More importantly, since he didn't possess the actual Venom symbiote inside him, he needed to control these abilities himself.
When Diana discovered it, he had activated the reward less than an hour ago.
He hadn't even had a chance to release Eddie Brock.
At that time, he was practicing how to control this new ability when the wall was suddenly smashed through by a Rhino in steel armor.
To make matters worse, the Rhino, carrying bags of money, was followed by Diana in her battle armor.
The subsequent events were quite straightforward.
Diana easily dealt with the Rhino, released Eddie Brock, whom Russell had "kidnapped," and then brought Russell back to their home.
"Do you think I'll believe this explanation?"
Diana arched her elegant eyebrows and said slowly.
"It's true!"
Although Diana was his girlfriend and they knew each other inside out, Russell didn't think it was wise to reveal the existence of the system to her.
"Seems like you're not planning to tell the truth!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Diana put away her sword and shield, and took off the Lasso of Truth from her waist.
The seemingly ordinary Lasso of Truth emitted a golden light the moment Diana picked it up.
Did she have to go this far?
Diana's wrist flicked, and the golden-shimmering Lasso of Truth fell onto Russell, tightly binding him.
"Once you're ensnared by the Lasso of Truth, you can only speak the truth! Tell me, what exactly is this black head on your body?"
As Diana finished speaking, a sudden urge to confess everything surged through Russell.
However, just as he was about to speak and reveal everything, that uncontrollable urge vanished in an instant.
