"Is this a Bigfoot?"
Holloway tilted his head, looking at the giant creature in the ashes, while the wind blew his cloak high.
"Those roaming the American Forests are called Bigfoot, locally known as the Yeti here. It's said to be an intelligent animal, but unfortunately, it's still just an animal. Its willpower isn't strong enough to resist a symbiote."
Su Ming explained to the doctor while taking a few steps to separate Holloway and the symbiote, even though the thing seemed to be terrified right now, it's still better to be cautious.
Especially a symbiote with super healing capability, as you can't kill it, and if you're not careful, it can reproduce through division – quite a hassle.
Su Ming took out the Godslayer, transformed it into a large pot, and clamped the symbiote underneath, setting it aside for the time-being.
"I read about its legend in a story magazine. I thought it was a novelist's creation..." Holloway touched his mustache, today was indeed an eye-opener.
"Art always originates from life." Su Ming exhaled a breath, speaking lightly.
The Yeti, separated from the symbiote, wasn't much of a threat.
For mages, raising a Yeti was like how the Mayans raised llamas. Many Mage Commerce Associations sold Yetis, such as the Goblin Black Market or other mages, because its body is very human-like, making it prime material for magical experiments.
Even a White Mage could experiment on it without any psychological burden.
In the original work, a Yeti was priced at about 100 detached frog hearts, or ten tears of the dead. Even slightly better magical props could trade for several.
Of course, human money doesn't circulate in Magic Realm transactions, and precious metals like gold don't work either.
"Some stories say they're gentle, others say they're evil and brutal. Could it understand human language?" Holloway asked in a low voice.
"Only God knows, it's my first time seeing one too."
Su Ming shrugged, but he could already guess the Yeti's attitude.
It had been imprisoned in Kama Taiji for so long, toyed with by various means, later parasitized by a symbiote, tortured by Su Ming, and its beautiful fur was singed black. Could you expect it to be in a good mood?
As expected, the Yeti gradually regained control of its body, the connections between brain and nerves no longer blocked by the symbiote, and it slowly got up.
Then...
It touched its butt with its giant hand...
"Roar!!!!"
Red, its hand was covered in red blood! It hurt so much!
Then, its bloodshot eyes turned towards the two of them and a piece of red cloth, teeth grinding with a 'creak'.
Su Ming glanced at Holloway, who also looked at him.
Holloway scratched his head, the Yeti's recent roar made his scalp itch a bit: "It doesn't look...that friendly."
"Doesn't matter, do you like carpets?" Su Ming asked with a chuckle, twirling his wrist, making the Nightfall Greatsword spin a beautiful sword flower.
"I have a Persian rug in my study, it's quite nice... wait, you're going to..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw Su Ming and the Yeti rushing towards each other, dust kicking up from the ground, footsteps echoing among the ruins.
"Roar!!!"
"Hahaha!"
The Yeti opened its large palm towards Su Ming, seemingly planning to grab him for a 'Hugging Sister Kill', but Su Ming's expression made it clear he refused.
A simple sword thrust, delivered with lightning-fast speed, was accompanied by a cracking sound.
The jet-black Giant Sword pierced straight from the chin into the Yeti's head before its large hand could touch Su Ming's shoulder, instantly bifurcating the brainstem and brain, the sharp blade obliterating all life in an instant.
"Bang!"
The giant body of the Yeti collapsed with a crash, and Su Ming withdrew his Great Sword, flicking off the blood before sheathing it behind his back, letting the Yeti's beating heart spray blood from the wound like a fountain.
"Your rug has arrived, please sign for it."
Su Ming returned to Holloway, taking off his helmet and biting a cigarette. The Yeti had no self-healing ability and dared to act up in front of him, seeking death.
It just looked a bit dirty, and if he wanted to use it as a carpet, he'd probably need to find a professional for some cleaning.
Holloway sighed: "I almost forgot you're the owner of Midnight Express, but this primitive style fur doesn't match my study."
"Isn't that simple? Buy a stone villa near the Rocky Mountains as a vacation hunting lodge. Others display bear skin rugs, you can have a Yeti skin, wouldn't that make your heart beat a bit faster?"
Su Ming took a deep drag on his cigarette, the powerful lung capacity making it burn down in a moment. He flicked the butt away, replacing his mask.
"Uh..." Holloway was at a loss for words. Buying a house just to place a carpet, maybe he wasn't rich enough?
"Alright, let's just leave the carpet here. No one will steal it." Su Ming bent over and uncovered the golden pot, finding the symbiote balled up inside.
He picked it up; now it was about the size of a soccer ball but still pitch-black.
It had some use for Su Ming.
The most appealing point was its ability to amplify the host's strength and speed. If it parasitized him, his carrying capacity might instantly increase to an exaggerated level.
But Su Ming didn't need its other abilities.
Self-healing ability, which Deathstroke already possessed; defensive ability, the Symbiote Battle Robe wasn't as good as the Holy Statue Uniform; as for offensive capability, it couldn't compare to his two Great Swords, and might even lag behind the Promethium Metal Dagger.
The symbiote communicates with the host's body through neural connection, and the X Metal couldn't block the effects of neural contact convergence.
So the symbiote could potentially instill ideas of slaughter and evolution in Su Ming, along with the thoughts of every host it had, possibly influencing his battle thinking.
These were the downsides. Most of the time, Su Ming relied on his tactical abilities, exploiting the enemies' weaknesses was easier than a frontal assault.
Nevertheless, this symbiote wasn't 'Venom', so there was no worry of catching Deadpool's madness. There was a chance to let it take control and see for himself.
The symbiote seemed to sense Su Ming's idea, squirming a bit in his hand, gradually turning into a black and yellow color scheme reminiscent of the Holy Statue Uniform's coloration.
"Trying to please me is futile. I'll think about it. Just stay quietly in the pouch."
Su Ming smirked, stuffing the symbiote into his leg pouch. Thankfully, it was a transformative organism, so his gear could still fit it in.
Feeling it staying still, he sheathed the Godslayer once more.
Technically, this symbiote should belong to Kama Taiji, but since they didn't guard it well and it ran away, now that Su Ming picked it up, finders keepers.
Besides, even by looking at the colors, it's obvious it's Deathstroke's property. The Ancient One shouldn't complain.
"Strange, how is it that the Magic Floating Cloak doesn't have eyes, yet I feel it gazing at me earnestly..."
Su Ming felt a shiver down his spine, secretly pondering. But he had given the cloak a gemstone from Manhattan, it should have the decency of 'not biting the hand that feeds it', right?
So he continued issuing commands as if nothing had happened: "Let's go, Doctor, we move forward."
The doctor nodded, feeling that letting Deathstroke handle this dangerous item was right. To him, Deathstroke represented the government, whereas mages were dangerous people, so turning in the alien organism posed no questions.
"Alright, but hopefully we don't run into any other monsters. When that thing spat at me, I felt like I was on a battlefield."
Su Ming shrugged, glancing up at the massive pillar of light connecting heaven and earth not far away, the gray energy still roiling, turning the sky bleak.
"Who knows? But exploring the unknown is exciting, isn't it? Better than sitting in an office filling out death reports."
"Hehe..."
Holloway chuckled wryly, shaking his head. Earlier, under the spit rain as powerful as bullets, he felt like he was skirting danger with the Death God, the thrill was immense, almost making him wet his pants.