Chapter Forty-Two: The Primordial Venom

Luck was on his side in the most spectacular way! The moment the purple card was drawn, Kyle’s mind went completely blank, overwhelmed by a dizzying wave of joy. Happiness had struck so suddenly, so unexpectedly, that he had no time to prepare himself.

Stunned for a brief moment, Kyle’s mental projection quickly seized the purple card and examined the information displayed upon it.

[Colossal Ancient Dragon Turtle]: A massive ancient sea monster from a bygone era, resembling a giant alligator snapping turtle. Purple-grade creature card.

With a natural lifespan of tens of thousands of years, its defensive capabilities are astonishing—it can easily withstand the bombardment of large-scale modern weaponry. Gentle by nature, its combat prowess is relatively low. While its movement on land is extremely slow, it can swim through water at the speed of a modern speedboat with a favorable wind.

Its most remarkable trait is its sheer size—both length and width exceed two thousand meters, making it one of the largest known creatures in the galaxy. Because of its immense bulk, the ancient dragon turtle feeds only once every hundred years, sustaining its vitality through extended periods of slumber and a diet of oceanic microorganisms. Sometimes, it can sleep for several months at a stretch, and over the ages, its shell accumulates sediment, forming the bedrock for vast tropical forest islands.

Current status: Can only be summoned in regions with abundant water resources.

“This isn’t just a creature card—it’s an entire movable fortress island,” Kyle marveled. As expected, the purple card far surpassed those of blue quality.

The only slight disappointment was that this was merely a creature card. If it had been a purple ability card, he could scarcely imagine how much stronger he would have become.

Though he could still draw more cards in the future, the energy factory bases in Germany had mostly been destroyed, and blue-grade spoils of war would be much less common from now on.

“Perhaps for a long time to come, this will be the only purple card in my card space,” Kyle sighed, torn between pride and regret, and placed the [Colossal Ancient Dragon Turtle] at the very top of the creature card section.

His gaze naturally fell on another new card, this one of rare blue quality. The moment he saw its name, he was completely stunned.

[Primal Venom Symbiote]: An intelligent extraterrestrial organic symbiote, usually appearing in liquid form.

Venom must bond with a host to survive, typically mimicking clothing to wrap around the host’s body, enhancing their strength and abilities, while being extremely vulnerable to ultrasonic waves and high temperatures.

Its learning ability is extraordinary—it continuously absorbs the host’s language, personality, and skills, and rapidly grows stronger as the host does.

Current status: Rapid learning, can mimic any seen clothing, bulletproof against standard ammunition, powerful adaptability, liquid regeneration.

Number of prior hosts: 0 (the higher this number, the greater Venom’s power)

His mind withdrew from the card space.

Kyle, still propped against the headboard, retrieved the [Primal Venom Symbiote] from the card space and held it in his hand, staring at it blankly, unsure what to do.

“Venom? Of all things…” Kyle muttered. He was familiar with this entity: in the Spider-Man films outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man had once been overtaken by a symbiote like Venom, which altered his mind and temperament, turning him into the black-suited Spider-Man.

It was hard to say whether Venom was truly harmful to its host; its symbiotic nature placed it somewhere between good and evil. Particularly in its primal state, Venom was like a dry sponge, absorbing the thoughts and abilities of every host it bonded with.

If the host was just, Venom would be just; if the host was evil, Venom would be evil. If the host was strong, the host ruled; if Venom grew strong, Venom dominated. Such was the nature of a symbiote: neither slave nor master, but a liquid lifeform that entered into an equal cohabitation contract with its host.

For this reason, Kyle felt a hint of anxiety. Venom, unlike Blue Eagle or the Ancient Dragon Turtle, had a limitless potential. As it grew, it could eventually affect his personality and thoughts.

“Still, there’s no reason for me to fear a mere card creature,” Kyle said resolutely, gripping the card tighter, his eyes shining with unshakeable confidence.

As Venom’s host, he was also its cardholder!

Within the card-drawing system, all creatures from creature cards were bound to obey the cardholder’s command. At worst, even if a summoned creature refused to follow orders, he had a final recourse—the forced recall!

Within a certain range, Kyle could forcibly recall any summoned creature, reverting it back into card form.

“You’re nothing but the result of a sacrificial draw. You will always be beneath me, never master of your own fate,” Kyle decided. With that, all hesitation vanished, and he summoned the card into its living form.

In the next moment, a ball of jet-black, rubbery liquid appeared in his palm.

Gurgling softly—

The primal Venom seemed like a newborn creature, regarding Kyle as its parent, gleefully covering his hands with its cool, black liquid, wriggling about in an expression of delight.

A part of its liquid body transformed into slender black tendrils, which affectionately brushed Kyle’s chest, abdomen, and face, while others stretched out to touch his boots, bedspread, chair, mirror, and the combat uniform hanging on the rack.

Venom was like an infant, insatiably curious about everything in the world.

“From now on, your name is ‘Venom,’ understood?” Kyle tried, and the liquid creature instantly secreted more fluid, joyfully spreading up his arm.

Kyle had no desire to be wrapped up as a black, amorphous blob, so he pointed to the uniform on the rack and ordered, “Mimic that one.”

Gurgling softly—

Venom seemed to understand. One tendril stretched to wrap around the uniform, and after a brief pause, its main body swiftly covered Kyle’s entire body from the neck down.

Before his eyes, Venom rapidly morphed into the black combat suit designed by Howard, perfectly imitating it in every visible detail.

“This feeling…” Kyle rose abruptly from the bed, stretching his arms experimentally. The Venom-mimicked combat suit felt not only more form-fitting and comfortable, but also filled him with a surge of amplified strength.

His power had increased by nearly a fifth.

Kyle estimated, clenching his fist encased in the Venom glove, and could clearly sense the tangible boost in his abilities.

And this was only Venom in its primal stage. As it followed him into battle and adapted to his body, it would only grow stronger.

“When we’re out, you must always maintain the appearance of the combat suit. Never reveal your liquid form in front of others, understand?” Kyle instructed, tugging the cross insignia on his chest. The Venom suit, as if woven from highly elastic fiber, snapped playfully back into shape.

The original combat uniform was decent enough, but after every battle it needed washing to remove blood and stains. Plus, Kyle’s habit of blocking energy blasts with his right vibranium bracer meant the right sleeve always needed Howard’s repairs after each mission.

In all respects, a self-repairing, learning, power-amplifying Venom was the world’s finest combat suit.