"Your ability to switch between cold weapons at will is quite impressive—but unfortunately, your weakness is all too obvious."
"You need to be transformed by my boss. With his abilities, he could make you nearly perfect."
"You might even become a decent weapon in our hands," 2B said thoughtfully, eyeing Riot before him.
"Weapon?" Riot's voice dripped with outrage. "I am the leader of an army of five million symbiotes—and you see me as nothing more than a tool? Woman, you gravely underestimate me."
Hearing 2B's words, Riot felt utterly humiliated. As one of the highest-ranking figures in the symbiote hierarchy, he had never been so insulted.
The insult sent him into a frenzy. Though the high-frequency sound waves still lanced through him with excruciating pain, they couldn't kill him—not yet.
As long as he drew breath, he still had a chance to turn the tide. And he would never surrender easily.
In that instant, he slammed both hands down on the Miao knife piercing his torso, halting its vibrations.
Then, with a sudden twist, he lunged sideways—heedless of the blade tearing through his flesh—and wrenched himself free.
Unshackled from the Miao knife, Riot surged back into action. One of his arms twisted into the shape of a scimitar, and he swung it with brutal force at 2B's head.
2B didn't dodge. She let the strike land.
The blade struck true—but instead of cleaving her skull, it shattered on impact.
"Damn it! What kind of body is this? How can it be so tough?!" Riot snarled.
Unable to breach 2B's defenses, he retreated in haste, smashing the glass containment units holding other symbiotes as he fled.
Over the past month, Carlton had exploited the symbiotes' asexual reproduction to cultivate several new specimens.
Unlike Venom, these symbiotes had willingly sacrificed themselves for the greater good of their species.
All they had to do was merge with human test subjects—and once the experiments concluded, they were permitted to consume the subjects' brains. It was, by symbiote standards, a comfortable existence.
Coupled with Riot's overwhelming presence as a deterrent, they had eagerly sworn allegiance to his cause.
Having witnessed 2B's terrifying strength firsthand, Riot knew he couldn't defeat her alone. He needed allies.
So he did the only logical thing: he released his legion of subordinates to overwhelm her and ease the pressure.
As the glass shattered, symbiotes of varying hues shot out and latched onto the nearest lab personnel, following the instinct of proximity.
In the chaos, Venom seized the opportunity to escape—slithering swiftly toward the chamber where Peter Parker was imprisoned.
Peter, battered beyond recognition, lit up with desperate hope at the sight of his old partner.
He thrust his remaining arm through the bars of the iron cage, straining to reunite with Venom.
But in that moment, a sickle flashed through the air—severing his arm clean off.
"Aaah!!!" The fresh agony twisted Peter's face into a mask of snarling pain.
"You think you're reuniting with that piece of trash Venom?" Riot sneered. "Keep dreaming."
With a mocking glare, he stomped down on the crawling symbiote, then seized Venom in his grip—preparing to devour him whole.
But at that moment, 2B rushed forward, her Miao sword flashing like lightning, easily severing the arm Riot had used to grip Venom.
The severed limb immediately dripped venom onto Peter's wound, and the symbiote's tendrils latched onto the injury without delay.
In the blink of an eye, Venom reattached Peter's arm—and Peter fully transformed into Venom.
This time, he didn't become Venom-Spider-Man as before. Instead, he emerged as Venom himself.
"Silly boy… Didn't I tell you that being a hero comes at a price? Do you believe me now?"
Venom's voice—laced with mocking amusement—echoed instantly in Peter's mind.
He hadn't fully believed Venom's warnings before… but now, he was a true believer.
From this moment on, let all those damn heroes go to hell!
He nodded silently, a surge of murderous intent erupting within him—coalescing into a single word:
"Kill!!!"
Venom roared and blurred into motion, charging straight at Riot. The two clashed in a chaotic frenzy.
Meanwhile, the other four symbiotes had each found new hosts and transformed into four monstrous forms: blue, gold, green, and purple.
No sooner had they appeared than they launched a coordinated assault on 2B.
Each symbiote wielded distinct abilities. The blue one could liquefy its body like water, rendering 2B's Miao sword strikes ineffective.
The golden symbiote could harden its form into a metallic substance of terrifying durability. Though it still couldn't fully withstand 2B's Adamantine Blade, it managed to deflect enough blows to avoid being cleaved in two.
The green symbiote sprouted countless vine-like tentacles, each stretching up to fifty meters—dramatically extending its combat range and making it a formidable long-range threat.
But the most dangerous of all was the purple symbiote, capable of moving at supersonic speeds. Even 2B's ground mobility couldn't match its velocity, and without closing the distance, she couldn't land a hit.
All four symbiotes demonstrated terrifying combat prowess, and even 2B couldn't dispatch them quickly.
She'd originally intended to capture Riot alive—but now, besieged by four monstrous symbiotes, she had no chance to spare attention for him.
Just as the situation grew dire, the hooded Spider-Lady arrived.
She landed beside 2B and immediately took up a back-to-back stance with him.
"Never thought I'd see the day you'd get surrounded and overwhelmed. Now you know what it feels like to suffer!" Gwen teased, her earlier hostility toward 2B having softened through their repeated encounters.
"When have you ever seen me suffer? A few symbiote monsters are nothing to me," 2B shot back defiantly.
"Really? Then let's see how you handle having such a hard time. You're so stubborn!" Gwen retorted, already engaging two of the symbiotes while keeping up her playful jabs.
Hearing that, 2B fired back without hesitation—clearly unconvinced.
"Shut up! You're the stubborn one. The boss
always says my lips are soft, moist, and he really likes them!"
"??????" Gwen blinked, utterly baffled.
Visit patreon.com/ShiroTL to gain access to 40+ chapters