Sapphire's calm voice echoed in the air. "I see."
Nathan tilted his head slightly and asked, "I saw the memories of several people… was it just one person? Or two?"
The question wasn't casual—Nathan genuinely wanted to know. Could Sapphire access the memories of a beast? If so, that would be a goldmine of information. Of course, he wasn't holding his breath.
Beasts had no tangible body and no brain; Sapphire's method of memory-reading depended on the brain of the target. Without that, the chances were slim.
As expected, Sapphire answered without hesitation, "I only saw one memory, and it belongs to that girl."
Nathan gave a faint nod, showing no surprise. He immediately shifted the topic. "Can you locate the Hand's stronghold?"
Nathan intended to investigate the beast in detail. And the best way to do that was by targeting those who understood it best—the Hand's base itself. If he knew where their leadership operated, he could not only monitor them but also prevent them from making a sudden move or fleeing.
This wasn't simple curiosity. The creature he was tracking was no ordinary foe—it was a first-generation demon, a being whose rank had once rivaled Dormammu and Mephisto. Somehow, it had fallen to its current state, and Nathan wanted to know why. A being like that was a treasure trove of knowledge. Even if he didn't have the tools to research it now, he intended to keep it contained until he did.
Recently, its silence had only deepened Nathan's suspicion.
"Boss," Sapphire replied with certainty, "I can find it. In that woman's memory, I easily traced the Hand's location. She used to be one of them. Their higher-ups and several squads of ninjas are gathered there."
Nathan's lips curved in satisfaction. "Good. Now that we know where they are, it's time to pay them a visit. Come down."
Sapphire hopped lightly off Nathan's shoulder and landed nearby.
Nathan turned toward the laboratory where the symbiote specimen was kept. Sapphire trailed close behind, almost like an eager hound.
Inside the lab, Nathan's gaze fell on the glass containment unit. The riot symbiote within was coiled protectively around something—its offspring. The young symbiote had grown rapidly, now about half the size of a human face.
"Very good," Nathan murmured, noting the progress. "It's almost fully formed. Research can begin soon." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "But it doesn't seem to have self-awareness yet."
That didn't surprise him. Not all symbiotes possessed intelligence—Venom himself had only developed true self-awareness later. Nathan's goal was to develop advanced symbiote technology starting from this offspring.
With this technology, he envisioned a squad of symbiote-enhanced fighters under his control. Imagine Zero—already enhanced through mind-modification—bonded with a symbiote. The combination of their innate strength and the symbiote's capabilities could crush almost any foe. Against Essex's operatives, especially their other Zero squads, the results would be devastating.
Satisfied with the thought, Nathan turned to leave. "Let's go. Time to find them."
Sapphire's lithe body stretched like a ribbon of living silk, one end landing on his right shoulder, then the other. Perched securely, she pointed the way as Nathan sprinted across rooftops toward the Hand's base.
---
Inside that base, several of the Hand's senior leaders sat together in a dimly lit room, gathered around a low coffee table where steam curled up from cups of tea.
They were uneasy.
"It's been too long. Why hasn't the leader returned?" one of them muttered.
"By now, the integration with Lord Cthulhu's power should be complete," another said. "Once the final step is done, he should be unstoppable."
"But something must have happened," a third frowned. "Could he have been captured by a powerful being? Maybe the one in the Himalayas… or a dimensional master?"
The thought spread unease through the group. Without their leader—and without Lord Cthulhu—their future was uncertain. An elderly woman's voice broke the tension: "If the Lord is trapped somewhere and can't return… we might never see him again."
Her words brought a flicker of panic to their faces. The Heretic God's techniques were what kept them alive far past their natural lifespan. Without him, their centuries-long existence would crumble into dust.
An old man slammed his fist onto the table. "Impossible! Lord Cthulhu will return. No one can keep him contained forever!" The others echoed his sentiment, though their eyes betrayed lingering doubt.
---
Nathan arrived at the Hand's headquarters—a remote, decaying factory. From the outside, it looked abandoned, but his sharpened senses detected movement inside. Sapphire pointed toward the room where the higher-ups were likely located.
His infiltration was brief. Even while cloaked, he was detected—thermal imaging still picked up his presence. Dropping the pretense, Nathan revealed himself. Ninjas rushed in to intercept.
With a casual wave of his hand, invisible force exploded outward, freezing them in place. Every ninja felt their limbs lock up in terror before being hurled backward as if struck by a speeding truck, slamming into walls and crumpling to the ground, coughing blood.
"Sapphire," Nathan said calmly, "take a memory."
---
Inside the upper-level meeting room, an alarm blared. A ninja burst in and dropped to one knee before presenting a tablet.
The live feed showed Nathan advancing through the base.
One of the leaders narrowed his eyes. Recognition flared. "It's him—the mysterious man!"
Shock rippled through the group. "How does he know where we are?"
They watched in disbelief as the video showed their ninjas immobilized, then flung aside effortlessly.
"This… with just a wave of his hand?"
"We can't fight him—we have to retreat!"
They hurried to their escape route, pushing aside a bookcase to reveal a heavy alloy door leading to a hidden tunnel. Slipping inside one by one, they shut the door and finally allowed themselves to relax.
"Safe at last," one of them sighed.
Their relief lasted only seconds.
A deep metallic groan echoed through the tunnel. The alloy door began to tremble.
Their smiles froze.
"No… how?"
They stared in horror as two hands forced their way between the doors, prying apart the solid metal.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The alloy groaned and warped under impossible strength until it tore open.
The leaders' pupils shrank in sheer terror.
"F—! He's opening it with his bare hands!"
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