American comics: I am full of martial virtues and I love to be kind to others.

Lynn stopped and turned to the team members. “After hearing Peter’s description, I have a concern.”

“What’s your concern?” Emily asked.

“This is definitely not the first time symbiotes have come to Earth,” Lynn said seriously. “The size and professionalism of the laboratory Peter encountered indicates that someone has known about the existence of symbiotes for a long time and has been conducting systematic research on them.”

Michael nodded in agreement. "And the fact that the scene could be completely cleaned up overnight indicates that there's a well-organized and well-resourced group behind it."

“More importantly,” Lynn continued, “if Peter saw at least four containers of symbiotes three months ago, and we’ve only encountered one today, where are the others?”

This question caused a silence to fall over the meeting room.

Chen Kai was the first to speak, "You mean, there might be other people controlled by the symbiote active in the city?"

“Not only that,” Lynn’s expression grew even more serious, “I fear the symbiotes have already established some kind of network of influence on Earth. Think about it, if someone can prepare a lab in advance, study these creatures, and then quickly clean up the scene afterward, what does that mean?”

“This means there’s a secret organization that has been researching and exploiting symbiotes for a long time,” Sarah understood Lynn’s concerns.

“Furthermore,” Carlos added, “they may have already mastered methods for controlling or directing the symbiotes.”

Lynn walked to the whiteboard in the conference room and began writing down key information. “Let’s summarize the known facts: First, people have been researching symbiotes on Earth for at least three months. Second, they have sufficient resources and manpower to conduct complex biological experiments. Third, they are capable of quickly disposing of evidence and avoiding detection. Fourth, in the past three months, there have been several suspected cases of symbiote control in New York.”

“There’s a fifth point,” Emily added, “today’s case is clearly more complex and dangerous than anything Peter has encountered before. Eddie was controlled by the symbiote for a longer period, and the damage he caused was far greater.”

“What does this mean?” Michael asked.

“This indicates that their technology is improving,” Lynn wrote on the whiteboard, “They may have learned how to better integrate the symbiote with the host, or how to enhance the symbiote’s capabilities.”

Peter then interjected, "There's something else you might not have noticed. The controlled symbiote today behaved differently than I've encountered before."

“What’s different?” Lynn asked.

“In previous cases, while the controlled individuals exhibited aggression, their behavior was relatively random,” Peter explained. “But today, Eddie clearly had a specific target—Nova Technologies’ quantum processor. This targeted behavior requires prior planning and guidance.”

Lynn realized the importance of this detail. "You're right. This means the symbiote controlling Eddie has received some form of instruction or programming."

"But the symbiotes are extraterrestrial beings, how would they know about Earth's technology companies and advanced equipment?" Chen Kai asked.

“Unless,” Sarah said thoughtfully, “someone told them.”

This conclusion sent a chill down everyone's spine.

“Cooperation between humans and alien symbiotes,” Emily said slowly, uttering this terrifying possibility.

Lynn drew a simple organizational chart on the whiteboard. "If our deductions are correct, then we are facing a criminal organization led by humans that uses alien symbiotes as tools."

“Just like the Shadow League,” Carlos remarked, “except this time they’re using alien creatures instead of artificial mutants.”

“Wait a minute,” Michael suddenly stood up, “do you think there’s a connection between the two?”

"What connection?" Lynn asked.

“The Shadow Alliance and this symbiotic organization,” Michael explained, “the timeline is suspicious. We just destroyed the Shadow Alliance, and now a mysterious organization using alien lifeforms has appeared.”

Peter looked somewhat confused. "The Shadow Alliance?"

Lynn briefly explained to Peter their recent mission and the Shadow Alliance's plan to establish a world ruled by superpowered individuals.

After listening, Peter pondered for a moment. "That is indeed very suspicious. And I've thought of a detail."

"What details?"

“When I first encountered the symbiote lab, I noticed some strange symbols on the walls,” Peter recalled. “At the time, I thought it was just graffiti, but now I think those symbols were most likely the markings of some kind of organization.”

“Do you remember what those symbols looked like?” Sarah asked.

Peter drew a few simple patterns on the paper: a symbol resembling an eight-pointed star surrounded by wavy lines.

Lynn's expression immediately turned serious when he saw the symbol. "Wait, I've seen a similar symbol before."

“Where?” Everyone turned to him.

“In some internal documents of the Shadow League,” Lynn tried to recall, “we thought it was just a decorative pattern at the time, but now it seems it may have a deeper meaning.”

Michael immediately opened his laptop. "I can access the Shadow Alliance files database we seized and see if I can find any relevant information."

A few minutes later, Michael found several documents containing a similar symbol. "Found it! This symbol appeared in at least fifteen different documents."

"What are the contents of these documents?" Lynn asked.

“Most of them are research reports, involving ‘external resource acquisition’ and ‘non-traditional capability enhancement projects,’” Michael read from the screen, “but the specific details are all encrypted.”

"Can you crack the encryption?"

“I’m trying, but it could take several hours,” Michael replied.

Lynn made a decision, "Then we'll split up. Michael will continue cracking the documents, and the rest of you will come with me to investigate the factory location Peter mentioned."

“But it’s already been cleared out,” Peter reminded him.

“That’s how it appears on the surface, but we have professional forensic techniques,” Lynn explained. “Even if the scene is cleaned up, some traces may still remain. And Sarah’s sensory abilities might detect clues that are invisible to the naked eye.”

An hour later, Lynn, Sarah, Emily, Chen Kai, and Peter arrived at the abandoned factory district in Brooklyn. Just as Peter had said, it looked exactly like an ordinary abandoned building, with no signs of anything unusual.

“Sarah, can you sense anything?” Lynn asked.

Sarah closed her eyes and focused on sensing her surroundings. A few minutes later, she opened her eyes, her expression somewhat strange.

“There’s some very faint residual energy,” she said, “but it’s not ordinary superpower energy; it’s more like…exotic, ancient, yet very powerful.”

“Ancient?” Peter asked doubtfully.

“Yes, it’s as if this energy has been here for a very long time,” Sarah explained, “and I sensed that there used to be a lot of this energy here, not just one or two symbiotes, but many.” This discovery made everyone even more alert.

"Can you pinpoint the exact location?" Lynn asked.

Sarah pointed to the underground portion of the factory building, "Mostly underground, deeper than the lab Peter mentioned."

They searched carefully and eventually discovered a hidden underground entrance behind the building. The entrance was well disguised and would have been difficult to find without Sarah's guidance.

“This entrance was definitely built later,” Chen Kai observed. “The construction technology is very advanced.”

They carefully entered the underground passage. The passage was deep, stretching for about twenty meters before reaching the bottom. At the bottom was a huge underground space, larger than the factory on the surface.

“My God,” Peter exclaimed, looking at the sight before him, “this is ten times bigger than the lab I’ve ever seen.”

Indeed, this underground space was a complete research facility. Although most of the equipment has been moved, its original scale and complexity are still evident.

“There are at least thirty culture tanks here,” Emily examined the markings on the ground, “if each tank contains a symbiote.”

“That’s thirty symbiotes,” Lynn finished her sentence. “That’s a number that poses a significant threat.”

Sarah stopped in the center of the space. "The energy here is the strongest; it must be some kind of control center."

At the location she indicated, they found the remnants of a complex control console. Although the main equipment had been removed, it was still clear that this was a high-tech command system.

“Look at these connection ports,” Emily pointed to the console, “this system can monitor and control multiple targets simultaneously.”

"In other words, they can control multiple people possessed by the symbiote at the same time," Chen Kai explained.

Just then, Peter noticed something in a corner of the room. "There are some fragments of documents here."

They gathered around to examine the paper and found some torn pieces. Although most of the contents were illegible, some words and numbers were still visible.

“‘Phase Three,’ ‘New York Deployment,’ ‘Quantum Technology,’” Lynn read the legible passages, “and a date. Today’s date.”

“Today’s date?” Sarah repeated.

“Yes, this means that today’s Nova Tech robbery may just be part of a larger plan,” Lynn analyzed.

Emily found more information on another piece of paper. "It says 'Ultimate Host' and a name, but it's not clear."

“Ultimate host,” Peter repeated the word, “sounds like they’re looking for some special candidate.”

Just then, Lynn's communicator rang, and Michael's voice came through: "Lynn, I've made an important discovery!"

"What discovery?" Lynn asked immediately.

“I cracked those encrypted files and discovered a project called ‘Symbiosis Project,’” Michael reported excitedly, “and this project is much larger than we imagined.”

“We’ll go back right away,” Lynn decided, “and continue talking on the communicator.”

“According to the documents, the Shadow Alliance began contacting an alien organization calling itself the ‘Symbiotic Council’ as early as two years ago,” Michael continued. “They reached some kind of agreement.”

"What kind of agreement?"

“The Shadow Alliance provides Earth with technology and resources to help the Symbiote establish a base on Earth. In exchange, the Symbiote helps the Shadow Alliance gain abilities beyond human limits,” Michael explained.

This information shocked everyone.

“But the Shadow Alliance has already been destroyed by us,” Chen Kai pointed out.

“Yes, but the Symbiotic Council still exists,” Michael replied, “and according to the documents, they have established multiple outposts on Earth, New York being just one of them.”

"Which other cities are there?" Lynn asked seriously.

“Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Washington, D.C.,” Michael listed, “each location has a different mission and objective.”

“Washington, D.C.?” Emily said nervously. “There are important government departments there.”

“Furthermore,” Michael’s voice grew more serious, “the document mentions an ‘ultimate assimilation program,’ the goal of which is to assimilate one thousand humans with special abilities or important positions within a month.”

“A thousand?” Peter exclaimed in shock.

“If this plan succeeds, the symbiote will control significant parts of human society through these key figures,” Lynn analyzed. “Governments, the military, tech companies, and even groups of superhumans.”

They quickly returned to the FBI field office, where a strategy to deal with this enormous threat needed to be developed immediately. In the car, Lynn contacted Deputy Director Stone, giving a brief briefing on the seriousness of the situation.

“Summon all available agents immediately,” Deputy Director Stone ordered. “This is no longer a local case; it is a major threat to national security.”

Back at the precinct, Lynn found that the conference room had been filled with more people, including some senior officials he had never seen before.

“Agent Hall, please report your findings in detail,” a senior official said.

Lynn gave a concise report of all the key information: the threat of the symbiote, the connection with the Shadow Alliance, the discovery of the underground facility, and the existence of the ultimate assimilation project.

After the report was finished, a solemn silence fell over the conference room.

"If this information is true, we are facing the most serious threat since the alien invasion," a senior official said.

“We need to act immediately,” another official added. “We need to contact FBI field offices in other cities and warn them of the potential symbiote threat.”

“Furthermore,” Lynn added, “we need to find a way to quickly identify individuals controlled by the symbiote. If they have already infiltrated the government or military, our traditional security measures may be completely ineffective.”

Peter then spoke up, "I might have a suggestion."

Everyone turned to him.

“While symbiotes can mimic the appearance and behavior of their hosts, they have a weakness,” Peter explained. “They are extremely sensitive to sound waves of certain frequencies. We could develop a portable detection device.”

“That’s a great idea,” Michael agreed. “I can make improvements based on the acoustic equipment we use today.” (End of Chapter)