"...I know, the courses you've taken before might have told you that this is merely a simple case of armed conflict, so simple that you only need to perform two actions - draw your guns, fire, and take down all the rioters who dare to attack the police."
"Yes, you can also tell the symbionts in your heads to charge in and bring down all the enemies, commit mass slaughter, and no one can stop you."
"From the expressions on your faces, I can see that you're thinking, isn't this correct? The technology of air transportation is so good and beneficial to ordinary people, why would these protesters oppose it?"
"And the agents should carry out duties beyond those of the police, kill all the rebels, consume their brains, then wouldn't the problem be solved?"
"When this idea arises in your minds, you probably think that it's an influence of these cruel and brutal alien creatures on your thoughts, only aliens would disregard human life and follow their instincts to eat other people's brains."
"But I want to tell you, that's not the thought of the symbionts, but your own thoughts – you can regard the symbionts as an echo wall, they are simply amplifying some of your thoughts."
"If you are violent, they are violent. If you are gentle, they are gentle. The influence of the current host on them is much stronger than the impact left by the previous host."
"Blaming all their violent behaviours and negative emotions on the previous host is not correct, I've deeply experienced this."
A somewhat hoarse male voice came from the classroom. As Xu Shang-Chi approached the door, he saw a glasses-wearing man standing in the middle of the classroom giving a lecture, and the seats were full of trainee agents.
The male teacher adjusted his glasses, then said, "It was only after visiting their hometown that I discovered this. When I calmed down and disconnected from my previous symbiont, I found out that I could not keep calm when facing the protesters of air transportation technology, so naturally, I could not ask the symbiont to stay calm."
"When I saw those reports about the protesting crowd, anger arose in my heart because I was closer to this technology than ordinary people, I heard the inventor express every detail to me in person."
"Genius researcher Peter Parker is my friend. When he went to visit Matt, I was there occasionally. He's so pure and kind, thinking that as long as he develops good enough technology, everyone would be happy. His tone full of anticipation and hope deeply affected me, thus, I also felt so."
"But he's a scholar from an ivory tower, a young man who has just entered society not for long, while I am a journalist who has given up on respectable jobs and chooses to delve deep into the slums, he managed to maintain this idealistic dream his entire life, but I could not."
"I also don't wish to indulge in illusions, to seek truth from facts is a journalist's duty."
"I have seen the public's misunderstanding of this new technology, no one has explained it to them, no one has talked to them about its safety, no one has told these unemployed people where their future lies…"
"Yet the journalists and media who should do these works, instead of telling them the truth, they are fueling the fire and ridiculing their stupidity, they are glad that the smarter ones are leading the country."
"When I realized this, boundless rage consumed me, it was not the symbiont's rage that incited violent behavior, it has nothing to do with it in the first place. Whether anything flies in the New York sky has nothing to do with the Godtar race in the Andromeda Galaxy."
"This anger comes from me, and will also come from you, from your views on each matter, symbionts are just like mirrors, reflecting the uglier self in you."
"You will feel pain because of this, but the pain does not come from the symbiont, it comes from your ugly side that particularly stands out in front of this mirror."
"Unable to make rational judgments, directionless towards the current situation, slow-thinking, incapable of coming up with good ideas, lack the ability to ease the atmosphere, also unable to change the situation... these pains arise from a sense of inferiority from realizing the current status."
"Therefore, don't blame them, they are just letting you face your own emotions more directly, and without emotional self-control, it's impossible to master the symbionts, only causing pain for both sides."
Xu Shang-Chi didn't understand what he was saying, but the varied tones and standard English pronunciation pulled him into a trance, as if he was back in the situation of English listening exams.
Suddenly, the standard English speech that resembled listening material stopped. During the time Xu Shang-Chi was in a daze, he felt a pair of hands pushing his back to move forward, by the time he reacted, he was already standing in the middle of the classroom.
Xu Shang-Chi immediately felt nervous, like a student called to the front by the teacher to demonstrate something. At this time, the male teacher standing at the center of the podium looked at him over his glasses and asked, "You're the new assistant, right? What's your name?"
"My name is Xu Shang-Chi, you can just call me Xu."
"Nice to meet you, Xu Shang-Chi." The male teacher who clearly didn't understand Chinese pronounced the Chinese names with a bit of difficulty, and after a few times, tried to get it as accurate as possible.
Xu Shang-Chi found that most of the foreigners he met tried hard to pronounce his name correctly, but because the letters x, s, and q were inherently quite against the English pronunciation norms, so their efforts didn't yield much result, it sounded like "Sho Sho Sho" in Xu Shang-Chi's ears.
After calling his name twice, the male teacher turned around and introduced to the other students, "This is our new assistant, he will be in charge of your homework and after-class enquiries. Oh yes, Blue Spirit..."
Xu Shang-Chi thought the professor was calling him, so he turned his head and replied. Unexpectedly, the male teacher waved his hand and said, "I wasn't calling you."
The male teacher hesitated in the center of the platform, and waved at Xu Shang-Chi, saying: "All right, without a full physical examination, it is indeed impossible to determine whether it's suitable for symbiosis. Not necessary for an assistant anyway..."
"Xu, you can go sit in the back, or you can go look around elsewhere. Around 11:30 my class ends, then you can come back and tidy up the lesson plan."
"Very well, professor," Xu Shang-Chi replied politely.
"Great, professor! Eddie must be thrilled, he's a professor now, huh!"
A daunting voice suddenly emerged in Xu Shang-Chi's mind, making him jump. He was about to scream when he heard the devilish voice, with a sour tone, say:
"'Separation will make us both better!' Yeah, he sure did get better, completely forgot about me, threw himself into the arms of those damned Cosmic Special Agents, and even became a professor!"
"Who are you?!" Xu Shang-Chi shouted at the air in terror.
"You airheaded fool, who's smarter than a dung beetle! Couldn't you figure out why Captain America was naked without his Shield? Who allowed you to fumble around with the Shield?"
"Listen up, I'm the greatest genius from the Andromeda Galaxy - Venom! Now, go to Eddie's office at once. I want to see if he's been crying for me!"
"Venom?!" Xu Shang-Chi was about to scream, with countless movie scenes running through his mind. He shouted: "Why did you come to parasitize me instead of Eddie?! Are you going to eat my brain?!"
"Shut up, kiddo! To me, your brain is about as nutritious as health food - that's right, just like all health food. It's small, it's tasteless, it's not filling at all, because you do not have a shred of wisdom, barely better than lettuce!"
"You..." Just as Xu Shang-Chi had somewhat overcome the shock of being parasitized by Venom, he complained: "Since when did Venom become such a chatterbox, and so sharp-tongued?"
"Less talk, hurry up and take me to see Eddie, I want to see him sob!" Venom hurried him incessantly.
Xu Shang-Chi stood still, hands on hips. After some thought, he said: "So, you've broken up with Eddie, now want to get him back, that's why you came to me, because I'm his assistant?"
"Good, your brain has a few more folds than lettuce! Seeing as I've just complimented you, hurry up, kiddo! Get to him before he returns to his office, go through his phone contact list and find that goddamn editor's number!"
"You want me to steal?!" Xu Shang-Chi raised his voice: "No can do. And are you trying to kill these people by finding their phone numbers? Not a chance, you wicked Alien Symbiote!"
With a deep sigh, Venom could only explain: "Haven't you heard of the protests in the Bronx District? We are going to resolve that, it's a righteous cause, we must save the world, got it? I'm going to take you to be a superhero, a great hero!"
Xu Shang-Chi opened his mouth, then hesitated to ask: "So can you help me solve the problem of erratic energy flow in my body? I haven't seen the Iron Fist yet, but I feel that even if he teaches me his methods, I'm not cut out for it. Can you solve it?"
"Let's see..." Venom drew out his word, then said: "No big deal, done! I've repaired your internal organs, as long as you don't use this power, you won't damage them."
Xu Shang-Chi breathed a sigh of relief as a longstanding problem was finally solved. But Venom began to hurry again: "Quick, let's grab the documents from the office and leave."
"No," Xu Shang-Chi rejected again: "Captain America just invited me to lunch. I have to go eat first, then go get my work clothes and ID, then report to HR and clock in for the day, help Eddie clean up his lesson plan, then collect assignments from the students after class."
"Could you wake up?!" Venom roared: "We're off to save the world, is that not more important than clocking in?!"
"Can't I clock in first and then go save the world?"
"Why do you want to clock in?!"
"Because there's a base salary, and there's performance-based pay. If I'm not full-time, my pay gets docked. And it's currently my probationary period, attendance is essential. Even though this is a secure job, I can't skip work on my first day, that's just outrageous."
"For God's sake, just go!"
"Stop nagging me, it won't work! Being a superhero is cool, but only after I've clocked in. Don't drag me, I'm not going! No one is going to ruin my job security, I need to ask where the clocking machine is!"
Venom's anguished scream echoed in Xu Shang-Chi's mind.
"Help!! How are there so many crazies in the human race?!!!"