Chapter 1398 The Return of the Old Ones (Six) (Patreon)

In DC World With Marvel Chat Group : Table of Content/Chapter List

XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX

Brooklyn, New York, SHIELD agent training base, afternoon.

At the front of the empty staircase classroom, a man wearing glasses put down his coffee cup and raised his hand, gesturing for the classroom to quiet down.

"Okay, through these past few lessons, you should understand that these sticky creatures are not the disgusting slime you imagined. They are mainly composed of symbiote factors."

"You can think of them as a fluffy ball, well, I acknowledge it still sounds a bit disgusting, like a lump of rotten mud."

"You're the rotten mud! Apologize quickly!"

Seeing their teacher's stunned expression, the students started to giggle again, because they knew that the rotten mud belonging to their teacher was definitely complaining in his mind again.

How should they evaluate their last encounter with him? Even the most gossipy students couldn't find a good adjective to describe the relationship between the two, if they had to say, it would probably be "estranged partners."

Eddie cleared his throat, ignoring Venom's roar in his mind, and began to tidy up the books on the desk, but unexpectedly, the next teacher arrived early, and as Eddie turned his head, he saw Schiller, who was carrying a textbook on "Interstellar Society," walk into the classroom.

The students burst into cheers, obviously Schiller was very popular, and what made them feel a greater sense of security was that this Dr. Schiller was also the partner of a symbiote, which made them less disgusted about their future symbiosis with these alien sticky creatures.

Although no students had ever seen Schiller's symbiote, nor had they seen Schiller and his symbiote argue endlessly like Eddie and Venom, they believed that this doctor and his symbiote must also have a thrilling story, just like the one Eddie had told in class many times but could never finish, his story with Venom.

"Good afternoon, Eddie, how was your lunch break?"

"Not bad, how about you, doctor?"

"I'm doing well too. Do you have another class this afternoon?"

"Yes, one more in the next classroom. What's up?"

"Would you like to go to the Sanatorium tonight to chat? I'm happy that Venom and you have made up, and if you don't mind, I'd like to update your relationship status."

Eddie smiled and asked, "A jinxed guy and his rotten mud, what's there to update?"

"I think your current status is more like 'newly reunited after a short separation'." Schiller said, crossing his arms and looking at Eddie: "I'm very serious about this, especially when I just heard the janitor complaining outside about who ate seven buckets of chocolate balls during lunch time... Let's consider it settled then."

Eddie fled in a hurry.

But in the evening, he still came to the Arkham Sanatorium and sat down again in the second-floor high-ceilinged reception area, the same place where he had his last psychological consultation.

Schiller was placing a medical record on his lap and writing without looking up: "I can see you like my daytime wording, but I can't write that bluntly in the report for Nick."

"Oh, of course, don't write it that way!" Eddie covered his forehead and complained, "He's been excited all afternoon, please, doctor, I have to go home and feed the dog today, I can't let him eat my dog!"

"You have a dog?" Schiller looked up and asked.

"Does that matter?" Eddie answered a bit absentmindedly, obviously Venom was yelling loudly in his mind again.

"Keeping pets is beneficial for stabilizing one's mental state. Considering you carry a companion around... Alright, alright, Venom, I didn't call you a pet, don't torment him."

Schiller calmed the Venom controlling Eddie's erratic movements and said, "Considering you carry an intelligent life form around, I think this is a great concession on your part, after all, you can't expect a newborn alien to understand why humans still need another sharp-toothed animal as a companion."

Venom suddenly quieted down, and Eddie muttered, "Okay, I know how tolerant you are, but that's not my dog, and I didn't sleep with that girl either, we're just neighbors, I didn't intend to sleep with her..."

When Eddie regained his senses, Schiller handed him the report and said, "You can take a look at how this is written, see if there are any issues."

"No, don't patients usually not get to see their own psychiatric evaluation reports?"

"You're not a patient. Compared to having you stay in a mental hospital, Nick would certainly prefer you to go to work immediately, you know how he is."

Eddie laughed grimly and nodded, saying, "Alright, doctor, I trust you, just write it that way, as long as you don't use those 'newly reunited' words again, don't let him get smug again."

"Well, the official business is done." Schiller put the report aside and said, "The main reason I invited you here is to update your mental status assessment report, to give Nick a report, but there's also a personal matter."

Schiller poured Eddie a glass of sparkling water, actually it was Venom who liked to drink sparkling water, while Eddie was like any American journalist, addicted to American-style coffee, and Schiller felt that Venom had a bit more refined taste in this regard.

Eddie picked up the glass and looked at Schiller, asking, "Is there anything I can help with?"

"It's mainly about Venom, do you still remember his great dream?"

"What?"

"To devour his creator."

Eddie's eyes widened, and he looked at Schiller and said, "You don't mean..."

"I'm afraid so."

Schiller's tone became a little colder, which made Eddie feel a chill, and he tentatively asked, "Did something happen to Grey Mist?"

Schiller sighed and said, "Recently, a certain aspect of my mind has been elevated, and the aftershock of this elevation has caused Grey Mist to enter a new state of life."

Schiller was referring to the fact that Iron Man and Batman had been building bricks for his high tower, and at that time, Grey Mist had also benefited. But in the following days, Schiller discovered some changes in Grey Mist.

"In simple terms, the symbiote Grey Mist that previously existed within me was still in a growth period, but now he has finished his development stage and has become a mature form..." Schiller explained to Eddie in the simplest terms.

Eddie opened his mouth in surprise and said, "Still in a growth period?! Oh my god, isn't he strong enough yet? There's nothing in this world that can hurt you anymore, what else does he need to become stronger?"

"Yes, as you said, Grey Mist almost has perfect defense in this world, but don't you think it comes from his own characteristics rather than his strength?"

Eddie frowned, thought about it for a while, and objectively judged, "Correct, he makes you almost invulnerable because he himself is a misty existence, who can hurt a cloud of mist?"

"But I haven't really seen him use any attack methods, you know, Venom absorbed a burst of energy before, I don't know if that was a sign of him entering maturity, but since then he has gained many more attack methods, not just using claws and fangs to tear."

"He has gained almost infinitely extendable tentacles, and they are very powerful. The tentacles can turn into wings, giving us the ability to fly without having to jump around on the ground. He can also make a portion of the symbiote factor leave us temporarily to control other people, giving me a clone."

"And the most obvious is that since he has devoured the Power of Belief evolution, he can use some Spells that I don't know how to describe. Blue Spirit can also use them, it's just that Venom has more abundant energy, so the Spells are also more powerful."

As he spoke, Eddie stretched out his hand, and black liquid spread from his upper arm to his forearm, then danced at his fingertips. As the energy light jumped, a light ball quickly condensed. Eddie smiled again and joked, "I rely on it when I walk at night."

Later, he looked at Schiller curiously and said, "Grey Mist should have also devoured a lot of energy, but I've never seen you use large-scale magic. Is it because Grey Mist is not yet an adult?"

"Actually, I don't really want to call this process 'growth', it's more like 'awakening'." Schiller frowned and said, "External forces have enhanced Grey Mist's wisdom, allowing him to see through his own nature and remember some things about his origins."

Eddie's expression became serious, and he looked at Schiller and said, "Origins? Don't all symbiotes have the same origin?"

"Are you referring to the symbiote god Knull?" Schiller raised an eyebrow coldly and nodded, then shook his head and said, "For a very long time, both I and Grey Mist thought he was also a creation of the symbiote god Knull, but don't you think there are many doubts in this?"

"Knull created so many symbiotes, they all look the same, including Venom. Do you think this ancient and chaotic being would suddenly change and produce another kind of aesthetics?"

"To be honest, I've been wanting to say this for a long time." Eddie drank some carbonated water, and with some difficulty swallowed the spicy drink, saying, "Grey Mist and all symbiotes are not in the same style. Cosmic Agent and I both think that if you hadn't insisted that he was created by Knull, we would have thought he stole him from somewhere."

"You know, Cosmic Agent is very ancient, and Blue Spirit is even one of the earliest generations of symbiotes. He understands Knull better than any of us. They all feel that he wouldn't do this, suddenly pinning his hopes on a special symbiote to free him. To put it bluntly, he hates every Klyntar because they are the culprits behind his imprisonment."

Schiller sighed lightly and revealed the reason, "Just after Grey Mist awakened due to the enhancement of his wisdom, he told me that in his only vague memory of his origins, Knull did not create him, but 'condensed' him."

As a journalist, Eddie carefully pondered these two words and tried to analyze, "Do you mean that Grey Mist already existed, and Knull used his own power to condense him into a being that looks like a symbiote but actually isn't?"

"Grey Mist is a symbiote." Schiller's firm tone made Eddie confused again. Schiller quickly explained, "Or rather, Knull reshaped Grey Mist using the same method he used to create symbiotes, because he didn't know any other way, so Grey Mist had to have a host."

"Do you mean he didn't need one before?"

Schiller nodded and said, "Grey Mist had a predecessor who scattered for some reason. Knull used his own power to condense and reshape him, making him think he was a symbiote, at least during his early years."

"And now he has awakened and glimpsed some truth from his own memories, but we still can't determine where he came from, so I plan to go find Knull first and ask."

"The word 'ask' shouldn't be very accurate, right?" Eddie narrowed his eyes, feeling Venom's intense hunger coming from within him.

"Yes, it's just ask, eat first and then ask."

Not long after, two figures, one black and one gray, appeared in a vast and dark space. The black monster floated in the universe, as if merging into the endless darkness, while the gray mist was particularly conspicuous.

Schiller didn't say much, but Venom couldn't wait and directly pounced on the only star in the dark space. His endless violent factors and the instinct to devour made him eager to kill his creator and completely merge with him.

Knull was already very weakened, Schiller was sure. Stark and Batman couldn't have just left him here without doing something. What would happen to him in the hands of two genius scientists, it's not necessary to mention.

Knull's screams only lasted for a moment, and Schiller didn't need his power either. Venom ate the part it could, but there was still a large portion left. When Grey Mist floated over, Schiller asked him, "Eating your creator, do you feel sad?"

"He's not my creator, you are."

The gray mist soon covered the planet. Schiller didn't know what Stark and Batman had done to Knull, but he was completely powerless to resist. After the last bit of strength and memory were devoured, he completely returned to the chaos of space.

Knull did not have Death. This kind of existence that represents a part of the rules will not be completely destroyed. The Realm of Death also has no place for him to stay. He will only sleep, or perhaps when Space is destroyed and reborn, he will still exist in the form of the most ancient being.

When Grey Mist devoured the last memory fragment, on the top of the high tower, he stood with Schiller, gazing at the projected memories of Knull overhead.

They saw the black figure imprisoned in Klyntar, looking up at the stars in endless loneliness and silence, hearing the Call of the Stars.

He instinctively sniffed out the secret in the depths of the stars and responded to the Call of the Stars, reaching out his arms to embrace the endless space.

But the Old Ones did not descend upon him. He only felt a wisp of ethereal mist drifting from his fingertips. He captured this wisp of mist and condensed more mist.

At the same time, in the real world, endless gray mist surged from Schiller's body, forcing Venom to retreat. Because he could feel that a terrifying yet grand and magnificent thing was descending.

The mist floating out of Schiller's body was much more than before, and also more concentrated. They formed an endless Gray Mist.

As the mist gradually dispersed, a bright starry sky appeared before Schiller - he heard the Call of the Stars.

It sounded like a baby's cry, clear and full of vitality, as if marveling at this world that he could clearly understand after leaving the cradle, and feeling joyful.

Schiller stared intently and fascinated at the starry sky, at a part of the stars, the most magnificent and mysterious part. He did not fall into darkness or madness, and those terrible murmurs did not shake him at all.

Schiller slowly stretched out his hand, responding to the Call of the Stars, even wanting to actively touch them, but the Stars did not respond.

Only the thick gray mist stretched out a tentacle, touching the gray ring on Schiller's finger.

Schiller and Grey Mist are in a binding contract. He, they together face the truth of all this, gazing at the endless starry sky, Schiller called out her true name -

"Nameless Mist..."

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX

Next Chapter ->Chapter 1399: The Return of the Old Ones (Part Seven)