Nick's voice was neither loud nor soft, and held no emotion. He was simply stating a fact.
Drake's pupils contracted sharply when he heard this.
Ever since his research into symbiotes had borne fruit, he had been captivated by their power. In his eyes, nothing in the world was more powerful than a symbiote.
But the battle with Spider-Man had completely shattered that belief. The Shadowkhan had actually killed the symbiotes outright with nothing more than conventional melee weapons, leaving Drake stunned.
Clearly, the Shadowkhan countered symbiotes, so when Nick told him that Spider-Man belonged to Stark Industries, he immediately grew uneasy.
That meant if Stark Industries targeted them, the Life Foundation would likely suffer devastating losses because of that disadvantage.
At that thought, Drake's outlook began to shift without him realizing it.
"What kind of partnership do you have in mind?"
Drake spoke in a low voice, but Nick did not answer the question directly. Instead, he asked one of his own.
"How is your research into symbiotes progressing?"
"If you don't mind, could you tell me about their abilities and characteristics?"
"After all, we need to understand both sides before we can work out the best plan for cooperation. Don't you agree?"
Nick smiled, asking for the Life Foundation's core research data right off the bat.
If the symbiotes had not proven vulnerable, Drake would not have given him the time of day. He would have told him to get lost without hesitation.
But now, with the threat of Stark Industries looming, he could not refuse to cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D., however unhappy he was about it.
He knew perfectly well that symbiotes posed little threat to an enemy who could counter them. If they went up against Stark Industries, they would take a severe beating even if they