"Hey, buddy, I never thought you'd own such a huge castle…"
In the vast and empty corridor of a grand ancient castle, Rocket and the others looked around at the luxurious furnishings and the classically styled murals on the walls, unable to suppress their amazement.
However, their astonishment wasn't just because of the grandeur of the castle. They were more shocked that Jasper, an unreliable spirit, turned out to be its owner.
After all, Jasper neither looked like a wealthy tycoon nor a fallen noble from a declining family.
Hearing Rocket's comment, Jasper assumed it was praise and immediately became animated, his expression smug:
"Honestly, this magnificent castle originally didn't belong to me."
"It was an inheritance gifted to me by a beautiful, elegant, and, most importantly, adoring countess before her death."
"Her death is also one of the reasons I find this world so dull."
"But it was precisely through her death that I got to witness the perfect, stunning Goddess of Death from the other side…"
Zane, knowing Jasper was about to go off on another romantic tangent, interrupted him forcibly. Grabbing Jasper's spirit form, Zane shouted sternly:
"Stop rambling and take us to the 'scene of the incident' now!"
"Boss, isn't this a bit harsh? You're making a victim relive the trauma of…"
Before Jasper could finish his protest, Zane's red-glowing triangular eyes flashed, and with a swoosh, everyone was transported to a bedroom.
The bedroom was in disarray—a bed with crumpled sheets and an environment not overly dusty or dirty, just as Jasper had mentioned.
"Dead for only a day, and the Celestial Order has already sent judgment…"
Zane scanned the room with his Sharingan, mumbling as he observed:
"It seems Jasper's death, along with that black liquid, was intentional on their part."
"Too bad the Celestial Order in this universe has been completely wiped out, so there's no one left to confirm anything."
At that moment, Skynet, accompanied by Bone and the others, rummaged through the spacious bedroom and finally brought over a glass with black fingerprints on it.
Handing it to Zane, Skynet said, "Master, this is the only suspicious item we found."
"I've already tested it. The fingerprints on this glass belong to an Englishman named Mad Jim Jaspers."
"So that confirms it—the black liquid indeed took over this guy's body," Zane remarked. "But how do we find him now?"
"The real issue is we still don't know what that black liquid even is…"
Just then, Roma walked over, took the glass, and emitted a black glow from her hands.
She gently extracted all the black fingerprints from the glass, compressing them into a powdery mass.
Then she poured it into a magic cup she had conjured.
Bang!
A burst of flames erupted.
From the flames, a grotesque face emerged, shrouded in what looked like thick, ink-like fluid cracked across its features.
"This really is Venom!"
Roma exclaimed in shock upon seeing the figure.
"Venom?"
Zane froze when he heard this. Back in his previous life, before he crossed over into the Marvel Universe, the movie *Venom* hadn't been released.
Hearing Roma mention the name, it took him quite some time to recall the black goo that made a brief appearance in Spider-Man.
"The unidentified liquid that corrupted Spider-Man?"
"Is it really that powerful?"
Roma was taken aback. She hadn't expected Zane to actually recognize *Venom* and even provide a specific example.
But from her observations of Zane's original primary universe, the timeline hadn't reached a point where *Venom* appeared on Earth, let alone corrupted the young Peter Parker who resided there.
Roma gave Zane a meaningful look and calmly explained:
"Yes, in a certain dimensional universe, Venom indeed became an archenemy of your Earth's Spider-Man."
"Moreover, in the greater Omniverse, it didn't just corrupt a single Earth superhero—it nearly corrupted every superpowered individual on Earth."
"It even managed to corrupt Thor from Asgard."
"Venom has a particular preference for beings with extraordinary abilities who harbor deeply suppressed negative emotions, whether they're human or lower-dimensional gods."
At this point, Roma, dressed in a white gown, cast a disdainful glance at Jasper, who was staring at her intently. She then addressed him:
"However, it's obvious that even in this Ultimate Universe timeline, *Venom* couldn't possibly have been something you created."
Zane quickly interjected before Jasper could reply, suggesting:
"Could it have something to do with the Celestials?"
Roma didn't catch Zane's underlying meaning but instead recalled ancient texts and continued:
"It's possible…"
"According to ancient records, the earliest *Venom* in the *Omniverse* appeared around the same time as the primordial members of the Celestial Order, even before the birth of the Watchers."
"There's a rumor that says the first Celestial Order members directly caused the birth of *Venom*."
"Another, more detailed version of the tale suggests that one of the *Omniverse's* five primordial deities, *Eternity*, left behind a pile of unused energy materials after creating the first batch of Celestials."
"That discarded pile of negative energy eventually evolved into the *Venom Source* in the *Omniverse*."
"Because it's formed from chaotic and intertwined negative energies of the universe, *Venom* lacks a unified consciousness. It's driven by a simple desire for vengeance against the Celestials. To achieve this, it parasitically targets hosts with divine abilities to absorb more powers and refine its fragmented consciousness."
"Based on what this guy says, the *Venom* that invaded his body can break through dreams to descend into reality and instantly displace a powerful soul like his."
"This level of power is something *Venom* in other dimensional universes wouldn't be capable of."
"So, the *Venom* appearing in this Ultimate Universe 1610 is likely the *Original Venom Source* or the *Ancestor of Venom*."
"After all, the Ultimate Universe itself is different from all other dimensional universes, with some unique characteristics."
"And considering that, following the ancient Watcher Wars, the 'Fate' Celestial Order—those chaotic troublemakers we recently wiped out—migrated to this universe to take control, this kind of event isn't entirely surprising."
"Finally, let me remind you: we must locate this *Venom* as soon as possible."
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