The Gift

The smoke gradually dissipated.

Venom stood firmly in place, his huge, powerful body riddled with bullets.

His surface suddenly rippled, swallowing the embedded bullets. Then his arms rapidly transformed into two enormous Gatling guns, their dark muzzles aimed at the enemies before him.

A savage grin spread across Venom's face. His voice was low and hoarse. "Now, let's start counting your sins."

Rat-a-tat-tat—

Countless bullets poured out like rain.

The terrorists panicked in the cramped space, scrambling to find somewhere to hide.

Some ducked behind tables, while others hugged rocks as makeshift cover.

The next second, Venom's bullets mercilessly pierced through both the cover and the men behind it, blasting them into clumps of minced flesh.

The cave filled with the overwhelming stench of blood. Combined with the screams, it was utterly horrifying.

The leader stared at the carnage before him in terror, his heart filled with fear.

He turned and tried to flee this hellish place, only to discover that his escape route had already been sealed off.

"W-what kind of monster are you?" the leader asked tremblingly.

Venom seized the leader by the head and lifted him into the air.

"We are Venom!"

As his fingers tightened, the leader rolled his eyes back and struggled like a fish, begging frantically for mercy.

"Wait... Let me go. I have plenty of money. I can submit to you. I..."

With a dull thud, Venom casually threw the corpse onto the ground.

"Urgh..."

Tony Stark was sprawled on the ground, vomiting violently. The cave was filled with minced flesh.

Venom turned his head toward Tony Stark.

Tony Stark's eyes widened. He hurriedly explained, "Mr. Demon, I'm not one of them. Hey, stay away from him, you evil—"

Seeing him walk toward Yinsen step by step, Venom slowly transformed back into Kino.

"Please calm down, Mr. Stark. I mean you no harm."

"Ah! Oh."

Stark still hadn't recovered from the shock of seeing a demon turn into a beautiful youth.

Kino crouched down to examine Yinsen's injuries. He had been shot in the abdomen and burned across the chest.

"Venom, heal him."

With his hand pressed against Yinsen's chest, symbiote tissue seeped inside and repaired the damaged tissue.

"You are an emissary of God."

Yinsen opened his eyes. He hadn't lost consciousness.

"No. Where did you get that crystal?" Kino asked. He had been inside it for quite some time.

"I found it in the cave the day before yesterday. Somehow, a voice told me that if I carried it with me, an emissary would come to save me."

Yinsen did not hide anything.

Kino frowned. It was the day he had merged with Venom.

If it was his future self, why had he done this? Hadn't The Ancient One and the people from the Time Variance Authority stopped him? Or had something happened in the future?

But if it was an enemy, there was no need to go to such trouble. With the power to travel through time, wouldn't it have been enough to return to the moment he had first arrived?

Moreover, after the crystal was devoured, it had actually appeared inside his body.

Kino touched his chest. Although he couldn't see or touch it—and an X-ray probably wouldn't help—he could feel a transparent crystal in that spot.

It was as if it existed in a separate space within his chest.

"Venom, did you experience any adverse effects after devouring that crystal?"

[No. It seems like there's an extra core inside my body, something like a storage device.]

"A storage device? What does it do?"

[It copies other people's superpowers.]

"But that's an ability you already had. What do you mean by binding?"

[It's different. Before, there was a limit to the number of abilities I could copy. With this, I can copy an infinite number of them. And you can use the abilities without relying on me.]

"Sounds good."

At the thought of this, Kino smiled faintly.

He had already figured it out. This unique crystal was a gift designed specifically for the two of them.

[Stop grinning. That guy over there looks like he's about to die.]

Kino came back to his senses and looked toward Tony Stark. Blood was pouring from both legs. He had probably injured a major artery. Yinsen was trying to stop the bleeding, but with so few medical supplies here, the results were minimal.

"Emissary, can you save my friend?"

Kino pressed his hand against Tony and continuously repaired his injuries.

Bringing him here probably had the additional purpose of saving Tony Stark. If he hadn't come, Tony Stark—with both legs severed—would have had no chance of escaping on his own.

"Oh my God!"

Tony Stark stared in shock at his wounds, which had been restored to their original state.

"Do you still want these, Mr. Stark?"

Kino handed over the shrapnel and Arc Reactor he had found inside him.

"Oh, those... Thanks."

Tony Stark did not take them.

Kino remembered his little problem and placed them on the workbench nearby.

Tony Stark stared at the shrapnel with a complicated expression. These tiny fragments had nearly cost him his life.

"May I ask who you are, friend?"

After composing himself, Tony asked. He swore he had never been this polite in his life.

"My name is Kino. You could also say I came to save you. Is there anything you need to take care of?"

"Can you destroy this armor for me?"

"No problem."

Kino walked up to Mark I, covered one hand with symbiote tissue, and punched.

Mark I exploded into countless flying parts like scattered flowers. This time, it truly became a pile of scrap metal.

"Hiss."

Tony Stark sucked in a sharp breath. Although Venom had previously withstood bullets and transformed his arms into Gatling guns, the visual impact still paled beside pure strength.

Mark I had been cobbled together by him, but it had still been built from special alloys. It had a respectable level of durability. Yet now, someone had shattered it with a single punch.

"Let's go!"

Kino led the way toward the passage, with Tony and Yinsen following behind.

As they walked through the silent passage, Kino sensed that something was wrong. If the earlier commotion hadn't alerted them, it could have been explained by good soundproofing.

But now, there wasn't even anyone on patrol.

When they were nearly at the cave entrance, Kino caught the strong smell of blood. His expression changed, and he transformed into Venom.

"Something happened outside!"

Tony Stark also sensed that something was wrong.

"Stay behind me, and don't fall too far back."

Venom spoke hoarsely as he walked out.

The moment they emerged, a violent wind carrying a vast cloud of sand swept past, burying the corpses on the ground.

Corpses lay scattered everywhere. Their faces were twisted, and despair and terror showed in their eyes. Blood had dyed the ground red, mixing with the yellow sand to form a horrifying scene.

They were all dead!!!

They hadn't even had time to send a message.