Soon, Reed Richards and Ben Grimm, inside the Iron Man suits, arrived at the Avengers' base. As they flew through the air, they had long lost their sense of direction, and not knowing their flight speed, they had no idea how far they had traveled or where the Avengers' base was located.
"Is this the Avengers' base? What will our work be?" Reed Richards asked with some anticipation as he looked around at the technologically advanced surroundings. Beside him, only Ben Grimm was present. Although the suits that had brought them there had disappeared, Reed continued asking because he knew the artificial intelligence could hear him.
"Please follow me. You'll first be introduced to the Avengers' members," Jarvis's voice quickly responded, and a robot led Reed Richards and Ben Grimm to the observation room.
"What's this?" When Reed Richards and Ben Grimm walked in behind the robot, they immediately attracted the attention of the Avengers, who quickly realized that these two were the researchers Tony Stark had mentioned.
"Mr. Stark, are these all Avengers?" Ben Grimm's excitement was evident as he saw Tony Stark and the others. Although they had been saved by Superman before, their memories of that event were vague. But now, seeing so many living superheroes in front of him, he couldn't help but feel thrilled.
"Yes, they're your colleagues now. Of course, you're not in the same department. This is Bruce Banner, who is in your department. I and a few others will likely interact with you often, but the rest, who might seem like brawlers, are mainly combat personnel. You won't have much interaction with them…" Tony Stark nodded at Reed Richards and Ben Grimm, explaining softly.
"Reed Richards is a well-known genius from several universities recently. Ben Grimm is his friend and assistant. By the way, you haven't been in contact with that Dr. Doom, have you?"
"No, after Doom left the hospital that day, we never saw him again. Mr. James said he sent people to look for him, but they couldn't find any trace of him. It seems he's no longer in the country…" Ben Grimm explained quietly, nodding. He knew that although Doom had parted ways with them, Tony Stark would still rank Reed Richards as the most important, with Doom second, and himself merely as Reed's sidekick. After all, his intellectual capabilities were far below those two. His main role was to assist Reed with tasks and handle mundane matters.
"That's fine. It's the same without him…" Tony Stark wasn't concerned about Doom. He had only asked out of curiosity. What Ben Grimm didn't know was that even though Doom's academic performance was slightly behind Reed's, in Stark's eyes, Doom and Ben weren't much different.
"Wait a minute. Whoa! Is that the genius Reed?" Suddenly, Johnny Storm seemed to recognize Reed Richards, exclaiming in surprise.
"Bookworm Reed?"
"Weakling Reed?"
One after another, Reed's old nicknames were brought up by Pietro and Barry Allen, making Reed widen his eyes in surprise.
"How do you… how do you know?" Reed asked, bewildered, as he looked at the Avengers. He couldn't understand how he, a fresh-faced student, had become so well-known.
"Oh, we've been recruiting talent, so we've learned about you," Lorna responded with a laugh, giving Pietro and the others a pointed look, which made them rein in their teasing.
"Bang!" At that moment, a loud noise erupted from outside the observation room, startling Reed and Ben. They instinctively turned their heads to look and saw a mass of red goo spread out on the training room floor. The goo seemed to be alive, struggling to gather itself back together.
"Is that also a living organism? Is this what we're supposed to study?" Reed wondered aloud, staring in confusion at the puddle that was Carnage.
"Sort of. We've finished dealing with the Skrulls, so researching symbiotes is a good next step. Of course, we haven't completed our studies on vampires and werewolves either…" Tony Stark nodded, smiling at Reed.
"Vampires? Werewolves?!" Reed and Ben weren't particularly shocked by the mention of symbiotes and Skrulls, as they were unfamiliar with them. But the mention of vampires and werewolves caught their attention—they were legends they had heard of for a long time.
Especially after the Avengers' battle with vampires and werewolves, which had become widely known. At its peak, Stark Industries had provided silver detectors at major airports, and numerous Iron Man suits patrolled the skies, searching for vampires and werewolves.
However, Reed and Ben never expected that after that incident, the Avengers would be researching these supposedly extinct creatures. Were the Avengers planning to create a new race, or were they trying to extract something from the genes of vampires and werewolves?
Despite the Avengers' good reputation, hearing about vampires and werewolves made Reed and Ben exchange worried glances. They couldn't help but fear that they might have fallen into a den of wolves.
"Hahaha!" Martian Manhunter suddenly burst into laughter, unable to contain himself. It wasn't that his patience had run out; rather, the thoughts swirling in Reed and Ben's heads were so wild that he couldn't help but pick up on their mental waves, even without trying to read their minds.
"What's so funny?" The Avengers were puzzled as they looked at Martian Manhunter, who was laughing by himself.
"Don't worry. The Avengers aren't some villain organization. You'll understand more about the vampires and werewolves later…" Martian Manhunter explained to Reed, smiling.
"How did you…?" Ben's eyes widened in shock. He and Reed hadn't said anything aloud, yet Martian Manhunter seemed to have heard their thoughts.
"Yes, I can hear your thoughts. It's one of my abilities. As you can see, I'm not from Earth; I'm from Mars. If you weren't joining the Avengers, I wouldn't be so open about my powers…" Martian Manhunter explained softly as he began subtly calming their emotions with his abilities. "And don't worry, I usually don't read people's thoughts unless necessary. Rest assured, the Avengers are indeed the good guys."
"Pfft!" Just as Martian Manhunter finished speaking, a sound of something being pierced echoed from the training room. Inside, Robert released a blade of energy from his fingertip, slicing through Carnage's body and lifting every inch of it.
Carnage could feel that there was no psychic force suppressing him this time, but the energy blade piercing his body somehow still left him powerless to resist. He could only gaze helplessly at Robert.
"So, have you surrendered now?" Robert asked calmly, looking at Carnage, whose aura had weakened to the point of near death. "This is your last chance. If you don't take it, you have no reason to live…"
With a hum, a terrifying energy wave formed in Robert's other hand. Carnage could clearly feel that this energy could obliterate him completely.
"I surrender… I surrender!" Carnage gritted his teeth and finally muttered in defeat.
"..." Hearing Carnage's surrender, Robert gave him a long, hard look, but didn't dispel the energy wave or blade. He could still sense the cold malice within Carnage, and though Carnage's eyes had dimmed considerably, Robert could still detect a faint hatred.
This lingering hatred nearly exhausted Robert's remaining patience. Initially, Robert thought that since Venom had been subdued by his power and now behaved obediently within Peter Parker, Carnage, as Venom's offspring, should be able to meet the same standard.
Robert could feel that Carnage's aura was even stronger than Venom's, tinged with Hulk's power, indicating that Carnage had greater potential. If he could subdue Carnage, it would be a significant boost to the Avengers, not to mention aiding the future Symbiote Army plan.
But if he couldn't even subdue Carnage, how could he implement the Symbiote Army plan? Robert recalled Venom's earlier words, realizing that only symbiotes like Venom, who were more malleable, could be subdued, while most symbiotes were stubbornly evil.
"Sayian, Carnage plans to lie low, regain his strength, and then find a way to devour Venom to increase his power. He intends to take over Hulk's body again before plotting further…" Martian Manhunter's voice suddenly echoed in Robert's mind, causing Robert to smile slightly as he retracted the energy wave and blade, letting Carnage's limp body fall to the ground.
"Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!"
This time, even though Carnage was free from any restraints, he couldn't muster the strength to move. He could only lie there, gasping heavily—not because he needed to breathe, but because Robert had genuinely frightened him. He had thought he was going to die.
But in the end, Robert had been fooled. Carnage's plan had succeeded in its first stage; now, he just had to wait for the right moment. He didn't believe Robert would stay by Venom and the others forever. Once Robert left, it would be his time to act!
"Have Venom come over. The rest of you shouldn't watch this—it might scare the newcomers. Let them leave," Robert said, eyeing Carnage with interest as he communicated telepathically with Martian Manhunter.
"Peter, let Venom in. We should go," Martian Manhunter nodded, understanding, and addressed the Avengers and the frightened Reed and Ben.
Martian Manhunter had just reassured Reed and Ben that the Avengers were the good guys, only for them to witness Robert's threat against Carnage. They didn't know what Carnage was, but Robert's
cold voice and terrifying aura had clearly shaken them. Now, hearing Martian Manhunter's suggestion, Reed and Ben didn't hesitate to leave the observation room, eager to avoid getting entangled in anything else.
"Heh, it looks like my time has come!" Unlike the anxious Reed and Ben, Venom was now extremely excited. He knew exactly what Robert intended—Robert wasn't planning to let Carnage go but rather wanted Venom to devour Carnage to increase his own power!
After all, Venom was part of the Avengers. If Carnage couldn't be subdued, then it would be better to let Venom grow stronger, right?
"Hmm?!" Carnage, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly tensed up as he sensed Venom's presence. His heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Robert with a mix of suspicion and fear. "I already surrendered…"
"I know," Robert replied calmly, nodding. He then turned to Venom and asked, "Venom, do you think the Symbiote Army plan is feasible?"
"Heh heh, Sayian, to be honest, it's really difficult. Even if you let me gradually breed a new generation of symbiotes, or even if you conquered the symbiote planet, it would be hard to find symbiotes as obedient as me…" Venom replied with a fawning smile, looking at Robert.
"Most symbiotes are like Carnage. Even if you defeat them, they won't truly submit. I don't even need to read minds to know that he's already plotting to get back at you. He's planning to devour me, then take down a few Avengers, and finally find a way to ambush you!"
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