Serving The Punisher?
Joining the Fist of Shadow?
Although Skye didn't know what the Fist of Shadow was at this time.
But the name sounded cool, perfectly fitting her chuunibyou fantasies of a superhero organization.
Skye was incoherent for a while before finally adjusting her speech module and looking at Peter with expectation.
"You mean, we can become partners like Batman and Robin?"
"Emmm, you could pretty much understand it that way." Peter pondered for a moment before deciding to paint a grand vision for Skye:
"But you won't be adopted by me; after all, I'm not much older than you. Besides, your role won't just be an assistant."
Peter pointed at Skye's chest and spoke in the characteristic tone of a Riddler:
"There is a strange potential hidden within you. If it can be perfectly developed, perhaps you too can become a superhero."
Normally, a teenager like Skye would hate this kind of Riddler-esque talk.
But facing her "idol," Skye didn't find it annoying; instead, she thought her idol was incredibly cool.
Especially when she heard Peter say she had the potential to become a superhero, she trembled with excitement.
Well, one can only say Aizen was right.
Admiration is indeed the emotion furthest from understanding.
"Oh my god, this is so cool!" Skye felt she couldn't wait to become My Lord Punisher's assistant.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Peter, her mouth firing off questions like a machine gun:
"So what do I do now? How do I awaken the power inside me and become a superhero like you?"
"Awakening the power inside you is a major undertaking and needs to be done slowly. As for what we're doing now... have you heard of the Life Foundation?"
...While Peter was coaxing Skye, his little fangirl, into becoming his assistant, in San Francisco, thousands of kilometers away.
At the Life Foundation headquarters, inside an office filled with a sense of futuristic technology.
A refined-looking man in a high-end suit and gold-rimmed glasses stood before a giant floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the city's night view.
He was the founder of the Life Foundation, Carlton Drake.
In the public eye, he was a genius scientist and philanthropist who solved medical puzzles at 19 and founded the Life Foundation at 24.
He was a great pioneer dedicated to helping humanity solve resource shortages and promoting space exploration.
But in the shadows, he was a madman who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, inhumanely using the homeless for live experiments.
"Dr. Carlton."
The female assistant, Doris, pushed the door open and reported excitedly.
"The 'drake' has entered its return orbit. Our communication with the astronauts is normal. They claim they have successfully contained four unknown alien life forms."
"And it's expected to land in Houston in fifteen days."
"Very good."
Carlton Drake turned around, a near-obsessive fanaticism flickering in his eyes.
No one knew that his body had long since been parasitized by an alien Symbiote called "Riot" during an extra-terrestrial expedition.
Now, he and Riot had reached some kind of consensus.
Or rather, his mind had been unknowingly twisted by Riot.
To the current Carlton, Earth's resources were depleting, and human civilization was nearing its end.
Only by bonding with Symbiotes and evolving into a new species could humans gain the ability to acquire resources in space and sustain Earth.
And he was the chosen one, the prophet who would lead humanity into a new era!
He had unwittingly become a traitor to his own planet without even realizing it... "How is the recovery team's preparation going?" Carlton asked.
"Everything is ready, Doctor."
"What about the screening of hosts?"
This was Carlton's primary concern.
To successfully implement the Symbiote Project and show the World the bright future of bonding with Symbiotes, they had to prioritize selecting the most perfect hosts and creating several powerful "Symbiote Soldiers" as benchmarks.
Only then could his plan gain government support, making it easier for him to bring back more Symbiotes next time.
"Doctor, we conducted a preliminary screening based on the list of 'volunteers' provided by Mr. Kingpin, but... the results are not ideal."
Doris looked troubled.
"If, as you say, the Symbiote has extremely high requirements for the host's physique, then the bodies of the homeless probably won't be able to withstand the cellular assimilation brought by the bonding."
Hearing this, a hint of unnoticeable tyranny flashed in Carlton's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
He adjusted his glasses and said coldly, "If ordinary people won't do, then find extraordinary ones."
"In this World, there is no shortage of lucky ones who have gained 'talents' through accidents, is there?"
As Carlton spoke, he opened an encrypted file.
On the screen, several files slowly unfolded.
The first file at the top was a man in a green bodysuit, dragging a huge Scorpion tail behind him.
["Scorpion," Mac Gargan, mutated and gained special abilities through biological experiments. Imprisoned in Baker Island Prison due to the Stark Kidnapping Incident.]
["Rhino," Aleksei Sytsevich, gained special abilities through polymer condensation and radiation experiments. Imprisoned in Baker Island Prison due to the Stark Kidnapping Incident.]
["Executioner Twins," Luke and Henry, gained physical enhancement through biological experiments. Imprisoned in Baker Island Prison due to the Stark Kidnapping Incident.]
Looking at the four people presented in the files, Carlton's eyes erupted with unprecedented greed and desire!
"Look at them. Are there any more suitable hosts in this World?"
"But..." Doris's fearful voice came from the office:
"Doctor, they are currently serving prisoners. And because of the influence of Stark Industries and some high-level government officials, these people have been denied bail. It's impossible for us to get them to cooperate with the experiments."
Carlton suddenly turned his head. For a moment, his pupils turned a strange grayish-white, but quickly returned to normal:
"There will always be a way, Doris. There will always be a way."
"You take care of cultivating some backup hosts first. As for those four... I will personally find a way."
Noticing Carlton's neurotic behavior, Doris swallowed hard and, out of her own kindness, suggested tremulously:
"Doctor, I don't recommend you..."
"Get out!" Carlton suddenly let out a roar filled with tyrannical emotion.
Doris was so frightened she fell flat on her backside. Now, she no longer cared about any suggestions and scrambled out of Carlton's office...