Natasha and Lorna ascended to the fifth floor, stepping onto the scorched corridor. Although the fire had been extinguished by the firefighters, a faint burnt smell still lingered in the air.
Some police officers were still going in and out of rooms affected by the explosion, taking various photographs for evidence and collecting materials for sampling and analysis.
Upon seeing Natasha and Lorna, the local police leader, Officer Allen, a tall and burly African-American officer, took the initiative to approach them. With a smile on his dark, square face, he greeted, "I'm Officer Allen, in charge here. You must be Deputy Director Natasha and Secretary Lorna?"
"Deputy Director of SHIELD," Natasha nodded, taking out her identification, which bore the SHIELD-specific anti-counterfeiting mark.
"Supernatural Incident Bureau, Advanced Secretary," Lorna sneered, her hands in the pockets of her trousers, showing no intention of producing identification.
Officer Allen paid little attention to this. Even though Lorna was just a secretary, the weight behind her alone could rival several SHIELD agents.
"Let's go over some details," Natasha retrieved her identification and went straight to the point.
Officer Allen gestured around, briefly explaining, "We have collected a large amount of evidence. Based on the overall analysis of the fifth-floor tenants of this apartment building, about half an hour ago, around 23:00 New York time, there was a battle between two humanoid monsters in Room 508. The fight later extended to the opposite Room 509, and the gas explosion that followed originated from Room 509. It is currently preliminarily judged as intentional."
"Who are the tenants of these two rooms?" Lorna asked assertively.
Officer Allen took out a handheld device, flipping through the personal data that had already been queried by headquarters. He said, "The tenant of Room 508 is Owen Weir. He's 36, English, used to work at a barbecue joint in Boston, now unemployed, arrived in New York downtown the day before yesterday, and rented this room for a month."
He paused, then continued, "In the 509 room where the gas explosion occurred, we found Owen Weir's body. He died quite tragically, and his body has been basically reduced to charred bones."
"And the tenant of Room 509?" Natasha got to the point.
"That's the strange part." Officer Allen shrugged, speaking seriously, "The tenant's name is Eddie, 24 years old, a recent graduate from the University of California, officially hired by a famous New York news agency not long ago. He arrived in New York the day before yesterday, reported to the company yesterday, and returned to the rental room after working until 20:00 tonight."
"What's strange is that he didn't die at the explosion site, right?" Lorna remarked.
Officer Allen nodded, saying solemnly, "There's no trace of Eddie's body remains at the scene. Furthermore, Eddie hasn't left this building. He mysteriously disappeared during the explosion with those two monsters. We've issued a search warrant and mobilized local law enforcement to full strength to find Eddie's whereabouts."
Natasha and Lorna exchanged glances, both wearing thoughtful expressions on their faces.
"Officer Allen, right?" Natasha smiled slightly, stating unequivocally, "You can now evacuate people from the scene on the fifth floor. Just maintain the lockdown of this building. This matter is beyond the capabilities of the police force. All the case files should be handed over to SHIELD."
"And the Supernatural Incident Bureau," Lorna added.
"Alright, I understand," Officer Allen readily agreed.
SHIELD's authority, to some extent, even surpassed the military in New York. Giving orders to the police was a normal course of action.
In a short while, Officer Allen led a dozen police officers to orderly evacuate the scene, leaving only a small team to maintain the lockdown of the building.
SHIELD agents then began to take out various high-tech instruments from their briefcases, conducting detailed and in-depth research and examination of the explosion site. They worked to reconstruct the video data of the Symbiote battle.
Natasha looked at Lorna, who always had her hands in her pockets, and asked, "Lorna, what's your take on this?"
"Are you insulting my intelligence? Since I learned some characteristics of the Symbiote from Boss, the conclusion of the battle here can be reached just by looking at all of this." Lorna spoke with confidence, "Fire has the ability to completely erase the Symbiote, and the fact that a body is left at the scene proves that the outcome of the battle was decided in an instant - one dead, one escaped."
"That's exactly what I was thinking. And that escaping Symbiote is now parasitic on Eddie, who mysteriously disappeared," Natasha added.
As Natasha spoke, she licked her lips in slight surprise and said, "Even the Boss probably didn't expect that these Symbiotes, which invaded the Earth from outer space, would engage in internal struggles and battles."
Meanwhile, in the New York City area, over the Hudson River...
*Splash!*
A dark and tall humanoid monster sprinted and climbed from the elevated bridge. Finally, it leaped down from a hundred meters high into the river. The night-colored river surface immediately surged with waves, reflecting the faint brilliance of the lights.
Ten seconds later...
A young man's head emerged from the shallow waters, followed by his shoulders, waist, and finally, his feet.
Eddie gasped for breath as he walked from the shallow water to the shore, collapsing onto the concrete ground in exhaustion. His entire body was soaking wet and in a miserable state.
"What happened to me? Just now, I turned into a black monster?" Eddie trembled in the night wind, his hands constantly feeling his body, clad only in a pair of shorts.
He even checked his private parts but found nothing unusual.
Just as Eddie was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a black liquid oozed out from his chest, forming a serpentine shape with a miniature head model resembling Venom.
"Are you looking for me?" Venom grinned, revealing a row of uneven and fierce teeth.
"How, how, how did you end up on me?" Eddie retreated in horror, but Venom, connected to him symbiotically, followed every step of the way.
"Young man, if it weren't for me, you would have died in the explosion just now." Venom sneered.
"So, it was you who saved me." Eddie's emotions calmed slightly, but he quickly reacted with anger. "Are you forgetting that the explosion occurred because of you? You insisted on me igniting the gas. Now, look, my home is blown up, and I've become a murderer!"
"The one you just killed wasn't human," Venom corrected.
"Do you think the New York police will believe the nonsense you're saying? My life is over." Eddie knelt on the ground in despair.
"At least you have some potential. You can become my new host. Please, pull yourself together," Venom consoled Eddie, proudly saying, "You saw my strength. You saw what I am capable of. With us combined, you'll be an unstoppable force. Are you really afraid of cops?"
"Host? Please spare me." Eddie became even more desperate.
"Sorry." Venom grinned and confidently declared, "You are now the spare host. Until I find a suitable host, I'll be residing in your body!"
(End of this chapter)
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