The next morning, the family of three had breakfast together as usual.
After sending his parents off, Meng Ran also hurried back to his room, then turned on his computer and started searching.
He wanted to check if there were any famous boxers or wrestlers in Queens, as these people's physical qualities should be among the highest for ordinary people.
The more Venom possessed, the more feedback he received, and the stronger he became.
So, he planned to find these athletes with excellent physical qualities to improve himself.
As for why he wasn't looking for extraordinary humans, on one hand, it was because these people were too difficult to find, and he didn't know where they were before Iron Man was born.
On the other hand, Meng Ran was worried that the other party's physical qualities would be too different from his own, and some unexpected situations might arise.
So, to be on the safe side, he decided to look for strong ordinary people first; after all, even a small mosquito is still meat.
After a day of data searching and screening, Meng Ran found a total of three athletes in Queens: two were boxers and one was an NBA star. These three were his temporary targets.
After dinner, Meng Ran returned to his bedroom, lay on the bed, and closed his eyes to rest, while a blob of black liquid detached from him.
Now, after being tamed by the system, Venom no longer had a strong invasive nature towards its host; it had been reforged and returned to its most initial state.
Although this initial state of Venom did not provide as much enhancement to physique and combat power as the mature, complete Venom, its advantage was that it completely accepted Meng Ran's control and would not be evil or rebellious like the mature form.
Moreover, the initial state of Venom could grow with Meng Ran's growth, possessing high potential, and would definitely be stronger than the previous mature form in the future.
Meng Ran attached part of his consciousness to Venom and moved with it.
His consciousness guided Venom towards the location he had investigated during the day.
About half an hour later, Venom stopped in front of a tall building. Here was his first selected target—the boxer, Brian.
Venom climbed up the wall of the building and soon reached the 26th floor of the target. After reaching the floor, Venom seeped through a crevice into the interior of the building, arriving at the corridor of the 26th floor.
Room 2603. Venom squeezed under the door crack and entered the room.
The large room was empty. The city's neon lights streamed in from the floor-to-ceiling windows, flickering on the floor.
The display cabinet in the living room held Brian's career achievements, including several trophies and a golden championship belt.
Meng Ran and Venom wandered around the house, waiting for Brian to return.
Not long after, with the click of the turning doorknob, the door opened.
Meng Ran watched the opening door excitedly from a corner, thinking to himself, "He's finally back! I've been waiting forever!"
The door opened, and a man and a woman, embracing and kissing each other, entered the room, then tumbled onto the sofa.
Meng Ran, in the corner, watched the two on the sofa with a black-lined face, somewhat speechless.
Venom, however, had never seen such a scene, so it watched with great interest.
Meng Ran could feel Venom's immense curiosity, as it watched intently every time they changed positions.
Meng Ran looked at the two playing on the sofa, then at Venom, and used his consciousness to block Venom's vision, telling it, "Good boy~ Little kids shouldn't watch unhealthy things; it's not good for your growth."
"Meow meow meow?" Venom was full of questions. Having been reforged by the system, it was currently regrowing and was curious about everything.
And why couldn't it watch, but Meng Ran could?
Perhaps sensing Venom's question, Meng Ran coughed lightly and said, "Ahem, I'm almost an adult. Rounding up, I'm an adult, so it's fine for me to watch; it's perfectly reasonable!"
"When you grow up, I'll let you watch."
Venom: "…"
After a long wait, Brian and his female companion finally finished their game and lay down on the bed to rest.
Meng Ran and Venom, hidden in the corner, began to move forward, preparing to possess him.
Venom moved swiftly to the bedside and then seeped into Brian's body.
The two lying on the bed were sound asleep and felt no abnormality at this time.
Meng Ran took a moment to look at Brian's female companion next to him; the thin sheet couldn't hide her hot figure.
"Focus! Focus!" Meng Ran reminded himself internally after a quick glance, as he was here for serious business today, and he had already seen what needed to be seen.
Clearing his cluttered thoughts, he focused on the possession with Venom.
A moment later, Venom and Meng Ran, having finished their task, returned the way they came, moving quickly back home.
Meng Ran, lying on the bed, now sat up, allowing Venom, who had returned from outside the window, to land on his hand and seep into his body.
The moment Venom seeped in, he immediately felt a surge of power integrate into his body.
Feeling the power gradually merging within him, Meng Ran clenched his fist and thought, "Although it's not a huge change, I can feel my strength and physique have become stronger."
Opened data panel:
host: Meng Ran
Age: 17
Height: 180
Intelligence: 30 (Average for ordinary people is 20, a relatively smart young man)
Strength: 120-150 kg (A very strong young man)
Speed: 15 (A very agile young man)
Current Abilities: None
His strength, originally 80-110 kg, increased to 120-150 kg, and the evaluation changed from "relatively strong" to "very strong."
His speed also increased from 10 to 15, from "relatively agile" to "very agile."
His intelligence, however, remained unchanged, likely because the boxer's physical qualities offered no improvement to intelligence.
After reviewing his data panel, Meng Ran proceeded with a full battle suit coverage.
"This feeling of sudden power growth is indeed very comfortable," Meng Ran thought to himself, feeling the strength in his body.
"However, after strength increases, I still need to get used to it. The current improvement isn't particularly huge. Later, when there's a sudden massive improvement, just adapting to the strength will be a troublesome matter."
Through this possession, both Venom and Meng Ran had grown to a certain extent.
And as Venom continued to grow, its overall combat power amplification for Meng Ran would also become greater and greater.
After this possession, Meng Ran also learned a piece of information from Venom's feedback: at this stage, Venom needed a certain buffer time between each possession before it could perform the next one.
However, as Venom's abilities improved, the rest time it needed would become shorter and shorter.
Understanding this situation, Meng Ran pondered, "It seems I'll have to wait a bit for the other two. This period is just right for me to adapt to my current strength."
"Maybe I should go out and try my skills. I remember recently, it seems people have often been robbed at night."
People who possess extraordinary strength always want to try it out, and Meng Ran was a man of action.
He first carefully confirmed that his parents were asleep, then jumped out of the window, merging with the night.
New York is the most developed city on Earth, but even its most glamorous exterior cannot hide its deep-seated evils.
In places untouched by the city's light, darkness runs rampant.
Under the dim streetlights, Rachel was walking quickly.
"Damn it, it's all that pig-headed boss's fault. Why did he put his work on me, making me miss even the last bus?"
She cursed her pig-headed boss in her heart while hurrying home.
The more Rachel thought, the angrier she became, and she also felt a little afraid of something unexpected happening.
After all, New York at night was not that peaceful, and lately, people had often been robbed in these few blocks.
Thinking these thoughts, Rachel's steps became more hurried; she didn't want to encounter any unfortunate incidents.
However, reality is often unreasonable; some things you fear the most tend to happen.
In the direction Rachel was heading, several men with "I am a hooligan" written all over their faces were talking amongst themselves, occasionally letting out strange laughs.
Just as Rachel noticed them, they also saw Rachel.
"Oh! Damn it!" Feeling the gaze of that group, Rachel cursed under her breath, then quickly turned onto another street.
She jogged, occasionally looking back to see if she had shaken off the group.
At the same time, she prayed silently, "God help me! Please don't follow me! Please don't follow me!"
Perhaps God had already gone off duty and was resting, as Rachel's prayers were of no use.
Just as she was about to exit the street, the hooligans had already blocked her path from both ends.
Watching the approaching hooligans, Rachel slowly retreated.
Finally, she was cornered, slumped against the wall, and pleaded in a trembling voice, "All my money is in my bag, take it all. Please don't hurt me!"
A lamb to the slaughter had no right to negotiate. The hooligans not only ignored Rachel's pleas but even began discussing the order of things.
"This chick is really pretty."
"Yeah, that figure is like those model sluts, just looking like she's asking for it."
"Oh, look, she's so scared she's crying, hahaha! Don't worry, we'll be very 'gentle' with you, guarantee you'll be in ecstasy and never forget us your whole life, hehehehe!"
Rachel's face was covered in tears, and her body trembled uncontrollably from fear.
She looked at the approaching hooligans, regretting why she had to endure that damn pig of a boss, why she had to work overtime so late, leading her to suffer such a thing.
"Ahem, I'm sorry to interrupt you all, but treating a lady like this is indeed very rude."
"If you sincerely apologize to her now, I might still consider letting you off the hook."
A hoarse voice sounded behind them; this was Meng Ran's voice, altered.
The hooligans heard the voice and turned around, only to be startled by the scene before them.
In the darkness, no one could be seen, only a pair of narrow, pale eyes reflecting an eerie light.
Just as they were unnerved by these eyes, they suddenly vanished from their sight.
At the same time, the familiar hoarse voice sounded behind them again.
"Looking for me? I'm here."
Upon hearing the voice, the hooligans instantly turned around again, only to see a black figure appear before them.
The black combat suit provided natural concealment in the night, and the terrifying eyes under the hood stared coldly at them.
Rachel's face was streaked with tears as she looked at the figure that suddenly appeared in front of her. She wasn't sure if she was going to be saved.
One of the more timid hooligans swallowed hard at this point, then asked with a trembling voice, "Who are you?"
Another hooligan, with a scar on his face, was infuriated by his fearful question and slapped the timid hooligan hard on the head.
"Are you an idiot? What's there to be afraid of? This is just some fool in a costume, pretending to be a god, trying to be a hero and save the beauty!" Scarface yelled at the hooligan.
The surrounding hooligans, hearing Scarface's words, also watched Meng Ran with heightened vigilance, and the timid hooligan regretted being scared so easily.
"Who the hell is a fool in a costume? This is a combat suit, alright!" Meng Ran cursed inwardly upon hearing Scarface's words.
At the same time, the hooligans finally couldn't hold back and all pulled out their weapons at him.
Meng Ran looked at the batons and knives before him and couldn't help but become serious. After all, he currently had no combat skills, only brute force. The possession of the boxer only granted him physical qualities, not boxing techniques.
Just as a hooligan with a knife rushed towards him, Meng Ran began his counterattack.
He first sidestepped to dodge the knife, then took a large stride forward and sent one person flying with a punch.
After knocking this hooligan flying with a punch, Meng Ran then kicked another person away. This flying person also incidentally pinned one of his hooligan teammates beneath him.
Meng Ran's fast striking speed gave him an advantage in the fight; in just two short seconds, several hooligans had already lost their combat ability.
The remaining hooligans, realizing what was happening, also rushed towards Meng Ran together.
Facing the swarming hooligans, Meng Ran could only throw a series of wild punches based on his instincts.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Indeed, brute force works wonders. Although the fighting process wasn't particularly graceful, Meng Ran crushed them purely with his formidable physical qualities and meager childhood fighting experience.
In less than a minute, all the hooligans were lying on the ground; some could still groan, while others had already been knocked unconscious.
Although Meng Ran had intentionally held back his strength, he still didn't control it perfectly, and it was estimated that several hooligans had quite a few broken bones.
He said coldly to the hooligans lying on the ground, "I hope you remember this lesson. If I ever encounter you again, it won't be as simple as a few broken bones."
After delivering his warning, Meng Ran turned to Rachel, who was still slumped on the ground and hadn't reacted yet, and said, "Madam, the trouble has been resolved. You can go home safely."
Rachel heard the voice and quickly stood up, steadying herself against the wall. She said to Meng Ran with a trembling voice, "Thank you for saving me, boo hoo hoo, thank you so much."
Having just experienced such a rollercoaster of emotions, she was still a bit unstable. Meng Ran could only offer a few words of comfort, then urged her to go home quickly.
Seeing Rachel's uneasy demeanor, Meng Ran knew she was worried about encountering such things again later.
Thinking of this, Meng Ran softly said to her, "Don't worry, I'll be following behind you. You won't be in danger."
Hearing his words, Rachel gradually calmed her uneasy heart and then quickly walked in the direction of her home.
It wasn't until she finally reached her doorstep that the anxiety she had felt along the way finally dissipated.
Thinking of her encounter tonight, Rachel looked back at the deep night and then gratefully said to the darkness, "Thank you for seeing me home."
After speaking, she pondered for a moment, then bravely asked, "Can you tell me your name?"
The darkness in the distance did not reply; only the sound of the wind echoed in the street under the black night sky.
Finally, after a moment, a hoarse voice came from the wind: "Ghost. My name is Ghost."
Rachel, who had initially been disappointed, lifted her head joyfully upon hearing this response. She gratefully said to the night again, "Thank you, Mr. Ghost! I will forever remember your life-saving kindness!"
This time, there was no reply.