Ever since Riot possessed Drake, his behavior had become increasingly erratic—ruthless and utterly unrestrained.
Short-tempered. No hesitation in killing.
In just a few days, Fenric had personally witnessed Drake kill six or seven people without remorse.
Drake's deep connections with the government, and the powerful corporate backers behind the Life Foundation, meant no one dared confront him.
Often, Fenric overheard Drake "talking to himself" alone in the office.
But Fenric knew better.
Drake wasn't talking to himself—he was conversing with Riot.
Under Riot's manipulation, Drake was now rushing to launch the spacecraft and head to the symbiote's homeworld.
Yes, the Life Foundation had its own launch base and space-worthy rockets.
From that point on, Drake focused entirely on the spacecraft's construction and lost interest in everything else.
He even abandoned efforts to retrieve Venom from Eddie, despite previously deploying people to hunt him down.
Fenric welcomed this behavior.
It was all unfolding as he'd hoped.
The only unexpected variable was the male Samsara, who still hadn't revealed himself.
The next day.
Drake suddenly left the company in a hurry, instructing Fenric to drive to the launch site on the coast.
He could no longer wait.
Upon arrival, Drake entered the spacecraft control room. Fenric remained at the door and immediately called Belle Morwyn.
"Great God?"
"Where are you?" Fenric asked.
"Just reached downtown San Francisco. I'm heading toward the Life Foundation lab now."
"Turn around. I'll send you a location. Get here in ten minutes—no delays."
Fenric ended the call and sent the coordinates.
Then, he turned and walked straight toward the control room.
"No more testing. Launch prep begins now!"
As he approached, Fenric heard Drake's furious voice from inside.
"But boss, the flight team isn't ready yet!" a staff member protested.
"We don't need a flight team. I'll fly it myself!" Drake snapped.
Just as the staff member was about to argue again, a sudden sharp pain shot through his abdomen.
A long blade had pierced straight through him—emerging from Drake's transformed arm.
"Ahhh!"
The remaining staff screamed at the horrific scene and fled the control room in terror.
In seconds, only Drake remained.
He sneered coldly and walked to the control console, ready to launch the spacecraft.
"Boss, mind waiting a moment?"
Startled, Drake looked up and saw Fenric entering.
"Ronan? I told you to stay outside!" Drake frowned.
Fenric smiled. "I was outside, and I overheard your plan to launch immediately. As your bodyguard, I should follow you at all times. Can I come along?"
"Oh?" Drake looked surprised. "You don't even know where I'm going, and you still want to come?"
Fenric shrugged. "It's in the contract. As your personal bodyguard, I'm obligated to accompany you 24/7."
Drake stared at him, slightly dazed.
Is this guy just overly loyal? he wondered.
But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Ronan was strong—he could potentially serve as a perfect symbiote host.
"Very well. You'll come with me. Don't worry—I'll take care of you."
With that, Drake turned back to prepare the launch sequence.
"Wait, boss!"
"What now?" Drake's patience wore thin.
Fenric smiled again. "I have a friend on the way."
That sentence instantly set off alarms.
Even if Riot wasn't the brightest creature, it realized something was wrong.
Without another word, Drake's right arm morphed into a razor-sharp blade and lunged at Fenric.
Swoosh!
The air cracked.
But Fenric didn't flinch. Instead, he sank his weight, raised his palm—and caught Riot's blade bare-handed!
His palm gleamed with a metallic black sheen.
"!!"
Riot's expression twisted into surprise.
At first, it mistook Fenric for another symbiote host. But upon closer inspection… no, this wasn't one of them.
"Careful, boss. If you break the console, we won't be launching anything," Fenric warned calmly.
Riot hesitated. His expression darkened. A toothy grin appeared on Drake's twisted face.
"Who… are you?" Riot asked coldly.
Just now, Fenric had caught its blade bare-handed and hadn't lost in terms of strength. His skin was like reinforced steel.
Riot wasn't afraid of fighting—but destroying the control system would doom their plan.
"Me?" Fenric grinned. "Just a human, boss. I'm not here to stop you. I want to go to the symbiote homeworld with you."
"You… know about the symbiote planet?" Riot was stunned. Then it narrowed its eyes. "Why do you want to go there?"
"To find a symbiote that matches me. I want to get stronger."
Fenric spoke without hesitation, spinning a lie as easily as breathing.
Riot thought it over and decided—for now—it was better to keep him close.
In the next moment, Riot retracted into Drake's body like a receding tide, revealing Drake's face once more.
"I didn't expect the most dangerous person… to be by my side all along," Drake muttered, eyes narrowing.
Now that his identity was exposed, he had no choice but to leave Earth immediately.
He couldn't risk damaging the control systems with a fight.
"Boss, you're mistaken. I'm not your enemy. I'm not dangerous."
Drake didn't press the issue. "When's your friend arriving? I don't have much time."
"Ten minutes."
"Fine."
Ten minutes passed quickly.
A large transport truck rumbled toward the dock.
"Boss, my friend's here. And it looks like your friend is, too."
Fenric pointed toward a distant coastal ridge.
A massive black figure thundered down the slope.
Venom!
"Boss, start the launch sequence."
Without hesitation, Drake turned to the console and entered the launch code.
"Five-minute countdown to spacecraft launch initiated."
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[TL/N: Advanced chapters are now available on my Patreon!
Depending on your chosen tier, you can read 1–3 arcs ahead of the Webnovel schedule.
Daily updates will still follow the same pace as on Webnovel.]
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