Mud and Rotten People (Part 2)

Who exactly is Stark?

As you can see from the comic's description of him, he is known as a "super genius cursed by knowledge." In the comic, he possesses the eighth Infinity Stone in the universe, the "The Curse of Knowledge," in his brain. He can master all the knowledge about black holes in just one day. It is said that Einstein would be heartbroken and Mendeleev would weep upon hearing about it.

This led to subsequent events that completely exceeded Venom's expectations.

First of all, Stark is an extremely inquisitive person, and he spent a full six days investigating Venom's background.

When Stark learned that Venom was an alien creature, his sudden surge of excitement caused Venom to stumble.

From Venom's birthplace, the Symbiote homeworld, to how he drifted to Earth and how he possessed one host after another, Stark questioned Venom in great detail.

Out of respect for his long-term meal ticket, Venom tried his best to answer Stark's questions, but a super genius is always like a walking encyclopedia of questions, able to extend one question into countless others.

Where is the Symbiote homeworld? Who is your creator? What kind of alien being is he/she? In what form does he/she exist there? How far is it from Earth? Will humanity be able to reach it in our lifetime? Will you invade Earth? Is your creator an independent intelligent being, or a collective consciousness of the planet? Why don't your brothers and sisters leave their mother? Why did you run away alone? Did you anger your creator? How is he/she different from God in human religious stories?

Stark would relentlessly pursue each of these questions from various angles. Venom could answer some of them, but Venom simply couldn't answer some of the more abstract and creative ones.

Judging by the Symbiote's age, he is still just a child. Even if he is a genius child among the Symbiote, he cannot understand the strange and highly creative questions of this super genius.

Finally, Stark's curiosity about its origins lessened a bit, and then Venom discovered for the first time that human emotions could be so complex.

Stark's overly sensitive heart and emotionally charged mind made Venom feel like he was living in a giant maze every day. Every time Stark's mood changed, the entire maze would be completely reset, and Venom, who was just about to find the exit, would be kicked back to the starting point.

Moreover, Stark truly lived up to his reputation as a brain cursed by knowledge; Venom, as a Symbiote, simply couldn't keep up with the speed of Stark's brain.

Whenever Stark starts thinking, Venom can only crouch in a corner, feeling countless symbols he can't understand bombard him—simply put, he's overwhelmed by an ocean of knowledge.

Even more terrifying is that Stark frantically resets the maze while simultaneously releasing the ocean of knowledge like a flood. Venom jumps back and forth between these two states at a speed that Venom can't keep up with. One moment Venom gets kicked in the butt by the maze, and the next he's knocked over by the ocean.

All sentient intelligent beings have requirements for their living environment, and Symbiote are no exception.

If living in an ordinary person's body is like living in a matchbox—it's a bit cramped and stuffy, but at least it's relatively quiet—then living in Stark's body is like living on a dangerous planet full of countless storms and lightning. Although the space is large enough, life here is just too exciting; Venom doesn't even get a moment's rest.

Originally, the Symbiote and the host were of one mind and body, and the ability to sense changes in the host's body and emotions at all times was a unique talent of their race and the foundation of their survival. However, now, this talent has brought Venom great trouble. Being of one mind and body with someone like Stark, Venom has to endure a life full of dangers, like Jungle Adventure.

Stark is like an unsolvable mystery. His outward appearance is only a fraction of his true nature, while his inner world, full of infinite philosophical thought and wisdom, is enough to overwhelm any outsider who tries to pry into his heart, including this Symbiote.

The first emotion Venom learned from Stark was exhaustion. This wasn't because Stark was tired, but because being Stark's Symbiote was truly exhausting.

To make matters worse, Stark was going through a period of immense stress and was unable to relieve it, so he had to find something to do to distract himself.

At this moment, an intelligent being who could communicate with him happened to appear inside his body. It was an alien with special talents. It was like a pillow being delivered when he was sleepy. Could there be a better experimental subject?

Stark treats Venom as his second personality, sharing the same brain and fully understanding him.

This is absolutely fantastic!

Originally, Stark couldn't find a good person to share his brilliant ideas. Peter was too young and he couldn't put too much pressure on him. Schiller was easily startled and could only tighten light bulbs. He used to have Obadiah to show off his new inventions, but now that Obadiah was gone, Stark's overflowing desire to share was poured onto Venom.

When Stark stayed up all night and spent three whole days explaining High-Energy Physics to Venom in his mind, Venom learned a second emotion: fear.

Is this something a Symbiote should learn?

This brilliant scientist desperately wanted to teach all his knowledge to another version of himself, so that he could truly discuss various inventions and ideas with himself, and he would have a true soulmate who could fully understand and experience everything about him.

Stark was in a state of emptiness and desperate need for release, completely disregarding the fact that there are limits to how much the Symbiote can accept. He never considered that even with brainwave communication, you can't expect a child to learn the essence of human knowledge overnight, can you?

Venom was really on the verge of a breakdown, like a student who knew nothing but was forced into a calculus class. The third emotion he learned was regret, deep regret.

Venom wouldn't, and Stark even scolded him. Venom felt wronged, but Stark still thought there was nothing wrong with him.

What's so difficult about that? You can see all my memories, can't you? Isn't that just an open-book exam? You can't even do an open-book exam? What kind of trash are you?

For a Symbiote with top-notch learning ability, learning physics and mathematics is not difficult. What is difficult is keeping up with Stark's wild creativity and invention ideas that are closer to philosophy and metaphysics. Ninety-nine percent effort is not difficult. What is difficult is that one percent inspiration.

Stark's thought process is so unpredictable that even the Symbiote cannot fully comprehend it. Venom has been wondering for a long time: Is Stark really human? How can a human be so complex and difficult to understand?

You could say that Stark is just intelligent, but his personality is also terrible.

Stark left the hospital and walked down the street. Venom, who was finally free from being Venom in the lab with Stark, kept muttering in his head, "Let's go eat a human head, just one. We'll bite off their brains; it'll be delicious..."

"Has anyone ever told you that an ordinary person's brain is like uninspected zombie meat, and you can't eat that kind of unsafe food?"

Venom conveyed a sense of confusion.

"You need to eat healthier, just like me, don't you know that? The average person's brain doesn't really work very well in their entire life, just like rotten fish that hasn't been preserved at all."

"Taste! Taste is very important! Understand? I will absolutely not allow you to consume zombie flesh and pollute my genius brain."

"Fine, I know you aliens haven't eaten anything good, yet you're interested in the brains of ordinary humans. A lump of meat made of water and protein—not a single genius idea in it can change the world like mine. Eating this kind of thing, do you Symbiote races live by scavenging garbage?"

Venom emitted a series of extremely intense and angry brainwaves, which Stark completely ignored, and continued with considerable disdain, "Is this all the taste of aliens? Or is it that human brains are considered pretty good in the universe? How stupid must other aliens be? Are humans the only ones in the entire universe with brains?"

"I can't believe how scarce resources a race must have to be to treat the brains of ordinary humans as delicacies? Would you like some cheese balls? They're a specialty of Earth. You can also take some back to your poor brothers and sisters. I'll pay for them."

"We are not poor!" Venom said angrily.

"But you're acting like a country bumpkin who just arrived in the city, seeing everything as something great. Weren't you just interested in those chocolate balls in that convenience store? Come on, are those snacks that only cost a few dollars really edible? Stop looking, I'm not going to buy anything from that kind of low-end convenience store..."

"What? Eat the employees in that office building? What are you thinking? People who can't even earn enough to pay the rent for a cheap apartment in a month, you want to eat them too?? People like that wouldn't even pass the first round of interviews at our Stark Industries!"

"That guy who was just sitting in the Porsche? No way! His hair was blonde, I bet he used some kind of fancy dye, it was disgusting, it smelled like chemicals, I'm going to avoid him..."

"Turn your head back, don't look like a country bumpkin," Stark thought to himself. "Don't embarrass me. Stark, a genius scientist and the world's richest man, isn't some silly kid who looks around like a fool while strolling down the street."

After saying that, he complained to himself, "Aren't there any rich, handsome guys like me in your race? I think they'd be a better match for me. As for you, you could just go to the Football Team at the high school next door and find any big guy there. You know, those jumpy white guys, they'd be happy to buy you those cheap chocolates..."

Venom said, "I want to eat now! I want chocolate! And I want human heads! Right now! Or I'll drag you and slam you against the wall!!!"

"Not now, wait a minute, Jarvis? Jarvis? Are you there? Go order some special chocolate from the original manufacturer in Italy..."

"Yes, let them use the best cocoa beans... No! Don't use those mass-produced lines! They're too dirty! I'll buy a separate production line..."

"How long? Three weeks? That's pretty fast."

"Tell them to hurry up and finish... Oh, and make sure it's a fully mechanized production process, so no dirty hands get on what I'm going to eat..."

"Packaging? No, no, no! Their gold leaf packaging is so tacky. Hire a designer from Italy specifically to design something nicer, preferably with the Stark Industries logo on it, using a gold and red color scheme, and the gold must be real gold, not some dye to fool people..."

Venom said, "I'll starve to death in these three weeks."

"How can you be so fragile? Are all you Symbiote such idiots who only know how to eat?"

"No! Let me go! Don't go into that kind of convenience store! It's shit! And the air freshener smells like lemon! Get out of here, I hate that smell!!"

Stark, swaying like he was fighting with both hands simultaneously, crashed into the glass door of the convenience store. He gripped the edge tightly and yelled, "I'm not going into this hellhole!!!! It's full of garbage from industrial production lines!! Just looking at it pollutes my brain!!!"

"Let me in!! Let me eat!!"

"No, I won't go in!!"

"Go!!!" Venom roared.

"Don't go in!!!" Stark roared even louder than he could.

"Go in!!!" Venom was on the verge of collapse.

"No!!!!!" Stark also went hysterical.

In the end, Stark sat outside the glass door, winning the battle with unwavering will, or perhaps extreme sentimentality.

Venom was completely exhausted. The fourth thing he learned from Stark was never to underestimate a rotten person.