Why Are You So Good at This? (Part 1)

"Hello? Anne, this is Eddie, Eddie Brock. Don't hang up yet, give me three minutes, I have something very important to tell you."

"Just yesterday, I was attacked by two unidentified Assassin and am now on the run. There is evidence that these Assassin may be connected to Drake, the boss the Life Foundation, whom I interviewed previously."

"The two Assassin who attacked me were from a mysterious organization called the Hand. People who were investigating this organization saved me. They told me that the Hand and the Life Foundation might be plotting a big conspiracy."

"I'm calling you because I need your help; I need more information about Drake."

"I know I should apologize to you. I shouldn't have looked at the data on your computer. But things have come to this point. They've sent Assassin to hunt me down. If I don't deal with this problem, I'll never have peace."

"So I hope you can provide me with some information you know. You don't need to rush to answer me. Take care of yourself. Goodbye."

Eddie hung up the phone, staring blankly at it for a few seconds before covering his eyes and saying, "Oh my god! How could I talk to Anne like that?? She'll think I'm crazy..."

"What am I saying? I told him my name is Eddie Brock ..." Eddie took a deep breath and said, "Who do you think I am, an FBI agent?"

"It's obvious you have absolutely no understanding of women's hearts." Venom's voice echoed in Eddie's mind. Just as Eddie was about to retort, his phone rang, and Anne's anxious voice came from the other end:

"Eddie, are you alright? Are you really being chased? Where are you now? Hey? Answer me, you should call the police..."

"Calling the police won't do any good, Anne. The police can't handle the Hand's Assassin. Their last partner was Kingpin, the ruler of the entire East Coast's criminal empire. They've got their eyes on me, so I have to leave here for a while..."

"Wait! Eddie!" Anne's voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding a little incredulous. She said, "Eddie, if your voice hadn't changed, I would have thought it wasn't you. You've never spoken to me in such a calm tone before."

"Listen, I know the Life Foundation isn't exactly a righteous organization. They asked me to help them resolve a legal dispute related to human experimentation. But you're saying they sent Assassin to hunt you down? That's hard for me to believe. But if it's true, you'd better hide right away."

Anne, as expected of an elite lawyer, spoke with some anxiety but her thoughts remained clear. She said, "I know Drake is not a good person, but my boss asked me to defend him. That's how it is in the legal profession; we don't consider the client's perspective."

"But personally, I support you punching him. The reason I was so angry afterwards was because you violated my privacy and did it without communicating with me at all. I was angry that you didn't trust me and that you acted recklessly and impulsively..."

"Anne, I'm pressed for time. We can talk about our business later."

Anne paused for a moment, sighed, and finally said, "The Life Foundation researcher I'm working with Dora wavering. When we contacted each other privately, she complained to me that her boss was too cold-hearted and only pursued profit."

"She once revealed that she didn't want to work for Drake anymore. I can give you her contact information; she should have the information you need."

Anne heard no response on the other end of the phone. She asked, "Eddie, are you alright? Eddie! Answer me... are you in danger?"

"No, I didn't." After a while, Eddie's voice came from the other end of the phone. Anne heard him say in a low voice, "I'll settle things between us after I get rid of these troubles, if I'm still alive by then."

The phone went dead. Anne took a deep breath, threw her phone onto the bed, leaned against the headboard, and covered her eyes in pain.

"Eddie, if only you had been this calm sooner," Anne whispered.

After Eddie hung up the phone, he let out a painful sigh and muttered to himself, "She gave me useful information so easily, so what were we arguing about before?"

"Why do you think she was so angry before? You don't actually think she broke up with you because she supported Drake, do you?"

Eddie opened his mouth, Venom continued in his mind, "You deserved to be dumped. Obviously, she just wanted you to explain to her, to calm down and communicate with her, to tell her why you did what you did, but you didn't say anything."

Just as Eddie was about to retort, his phone vibrated. Anne had sent him a text message with the contact information for Dora, a researcher at the Life Foundation.

That evening, in front of an apartment building in Manhattan, Dora was rummaging through her handbag for her access card when a dark figure stood at the end of an alley. The streetlight cast a long shadow in front of him, the Shade resembling a black Blade slicing across the alley's wall.

"What the hell is this thing?" Eddie looked down at his palm, where a black gauntlet covered the back of his hand. He turned his head and saw his reflection in the window of the apartment building next door.

Eddie was wearing a set of black armor. The suit was entirely black, with a soft lining and a thin outer layer of armor, and a cape on his back.

Eddie's head was completely covered by mechanical armor, with a bat-like pattern on his chest surrounded by spiderweb-like lines.

Admittedly, this suit looks incredibly cool—the sleek lines, the futuristic mechanical joints, the eerie yet gothic patterns. Eddie thinks wearing it to save the world would be absolutely awesome. The One problem is...

"But what's wrong with this ear?" Eddie asked Venom, puzzled.

The Helmet of the suit completely covered Eddie's head, making him look like a robot, but this robot's head had two pointed ears.

"That's the point," Venom told Eddie firmly. "As long as you have these two ears, you'll never die, because you're the bat... Venom-Man."

"Venom-Man? That name sounds way too evil... Okay, what do we do next?"

"If you don't know what to do, look down at the pattern on your chest and follow your instincts; it will give you the answer."

Ten minutes later, Dora was taking out her keys to open the door to her apartment when she heard some noises behind her. She turned around and saw a tall, dark Shade appear in the shadows of the hallway.

Just as Dora was about to scream, the black Shade appeared behind her, covered her mouth, and said, "Don't make a sound, let's go inside and talk."

As he spoke, he pulled Dora into her apartment. After the door closed, Dora collapsed to the floor in fright. Eddie removed the mechanical Helmet covering his head and said to Dora, "You should know me. I'm the reporter who punched Drake a few days ago during his interview. My name is Eddie, Eddie Brock."

Dora's eyes widened. She stood up, gripping the back of the sofa, and said, her voice trembling slightly, "You... you really do seem to be that Brock, but..."

Eddie's voice was low as he told Dora, "Because I exposed Drake's despicable practice of experimenting on human bodies, I'm now in trouble. He's working with another evil organization, and their Assassin are after me."

Dora adjusted her glasses, straightened up, and said, "Actually, I was planning to come find you, but I didn't expect you to come find me first."

Why are you looking for me?

Dora sighed. After realizing that Eddie wasn't a kidnapper, she gradually relaxed. Then she pointed to the wall behind Eddie and said, "Press the switch over there and turn on the light, Thank you."

Eddie then realized that there were no lights in the apartment, but he could see very clearly. When did he develop night vision?

As Dora had instructed, he turned around and turned on the light. The sudden brightness made Eddie shield his eyes with his arm, realizing that he was actually not used to the light.

Dora sat down on the sofa, but Eddie didn't move and remained standing in the corner of the room. Dora turned to him and said, "Although I don't have much to offer our guests, could you at least sit down and have some water?"

As she spoke, she wiped her hands on her pants somewhat awkwardly and said, "I don't have many friends, and I don't often have guests at home. Please forgive me if I haven't been a good host."

Eddie shook his head silently. Dora turned around, held onto the back of the sofa, looked at Eddie, and said, "You're completely different from what I imagined. I thought you would be the kind of person who... you know, the kind of person who is... has a strong sense of justice."

"You can just say I'm the kind of person who's impulsive."

"No, that's not what I meant. Actually, I think you did the right thing. That punch you gave him was really satisfying."

"You seem to be very dissatisfied with your boss."

Dora pursed her lips, her expression complicated. She turned back Facing Away Eddie and said, "I don't know how to describe it. As a boss, he's actually not bad. He paid me a very high salary."

"But he wasn't a good person, you could even say he was evil. You have no idea what he did in the lab..."

"I'd like to hear that part."

Dora bit her lip, seemingly conflicted, when Eddie's voice came through. "You don't need to worry at all. If I had even the slightest chance of agreeing with Drake's actions, I wouldn't have risked ruining my career by punching him in front of so many people."

Dora seemed to have come to this conclusion as well. She sighed and said, "He was indeed experimenting on human bodies, and some of those experiments were extremely cruel and inhumane."

What specific experiment was it?

"You should know about Immortality Factor, right?"

"I've heard many people mention it."

"Drake is extracting Immortality Factor from an unidentified creature."

"But I heard that it's extracted from vampires, isn't it?"

"That's true for normal Immortality Factor, but vampires are strictly controlled by the authorities. The few that exist are all with Stark Industries or Osborn Group. The Life Foundation can't get them."

Dora pushed up her glasses again and continued, "But Drake saw the huge profits in the field of Immortality Factor, and he wanted a piece of the pie too."

"The Life Foundation and the Osborn Group are competitors. They are both developers of biotechnology, and the Osborn Group would never give them valuable vampire raw materials."

"But I heard that the Life Foundation has also developed an Immortality Factor drug."

"That's right, but that potion wasn't extracted from vampires, but from another alien creature."

"What exactly is that?"

Dora turned to Eddie again and said, "I can't describe it to you, but I can show you."