I'm working on Marvel's Spider-Man in American comics.

Chapter 201 Ward's Dream
At 6:42 PM Wednesday, it will have been 48 hours since Riot possessed Ward. It is now early Wednesday morning, and Riot is enjoying Ward's dark memories.

A juvenile delinquent from an unhappy family, a young man without his own opinions, is brought out of poverty because of his extraordinary talent. His mentor is not someone who can save him; on the contrary, Garrett, a Level 8 agent of Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D., is a very... interesting person.

The riot touched upon Ward's deeper memories: Ward had chosen to burn down his own home due to family issues, leading to a lawsuit from his entire family and his imprisonment in a juvenile detention center. Garrett, believing in Ward's potential, then led his S.H.I.E.L.D. squad to raid the detention center, violently removing him. Garrett gradually manipulated Ward, revealing that his family didn't want him alive, and that he himself could protect him…

Father, this is what the riots sensed from Ward's memories, what Ward longed for.

Riot didn't understand what this "father" thing really was, but he knew very well that the role of father was essential in order to completely control the person in front of him.

So the riots began to interfere with Ward's dreams.

Ward had a dream in which he saw Garrett, who was like a father to him. He remembered everything, including the day Garrett told him that S.H.I.E.L.D. had decided to recruit him, and the moment when Garrett gave him a test.

"Kill your dog."

This is something incredibly simple, but even Ward can't do it. He was abandoned by his family and left to survive in the wilderness by Garrett. Only this dog is with him, only this dog will never leave him, and now Garrett wants him to kill it.

Ward couldn't do it.

Looking at his dog, whom he had raised for years, Ward took a deep breath and fired a shot into the air. He hoped his dog would leave safely and never return. In the end, he couldn't bring himself to betray his conscience and hurt his friend.

He watched the dog leave and breathed a sigh of relief.

Then came the sound of a sniper rifle.

"You didn't do it."

Garrett appeared before Ward. Ward remained silent for a moment, then sighed helplessly. Garrett, however, didn't seem to mind and gestured for Ward to sit down at his wilderness survival camp. He then said, "You need to know, Ward, what I like most about you?"

"I...I don't know."

“I taught you how to protect yourself. You fought for your freedom, but that freedom needs strength to protect it.”

Garrett shared his thoughts with Ward: "That's why, in order to protect your own freedom, you need to get rid of anyone who might be in your way."

"That Billy isn't..."

"If you and it are both short of food, can you guarantee your dog will never attack you?" Garrett looked at him intently. "When you'd rather starve to death than eat it, can you guarantee it won't betray you and ultimately tear you apart?"

"I……"

Ward hesitated. He was certain he was good to Billy, but could he really be sure Billy would always trust him?
It seems not.

Ward woke up, turned off the alarm, went to the bathroom to wash his face, and then looked at himself in the mirror. Today seemed particularly special. Garrett appeared in the mirror, looking at Ward and saying, "Protect your freedom, boy." "Protect your freedom, Ward."

Ward took a deep breath. He felt a change within himself, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. So he went to the gym and began a frantic workout. As if possessed, he turned on the TV next to him and started exercising. The TV started showing Spider-Man's heroic deeds one day. He began to think about what he would do if Spider-Man became the one who hindered his freedom.

Humans must live freely, and only those with sufficient power can attain freedom. Conversely, freedom belongs only to the powerful—this is the essence of Hydra. In pursuit of security, people willingly relinquish their freedom and submit to the powerful, and ultimately, only the powerful possess freedom.

However, since the era of superheroes arrived, freedom no longer belongs to those who are "powerful" in the traditional sense.

These extraordinary individuals became the new powerful ones. Some chose to satisfy their own desires, while others chose to help others. However, no one chose to stand with Hydra. On the contrary, everyone else became "trouble" for Hydra.

What should you do if Spider-Man gets in your way?
Ward remained silent, but began to think about how to deal with Spider-Man.

The most effective way to defeat Spider-Man is undoubtedly to acquire greater power than Spider-Man, and then you will be able to defeat him.

Gain power greater than Spider-Man's...

"This power is within your grasp."

Ward heard Garrett's words again and was pondering their meaning when he suddenly heard footsteps. He turned around and saw Melinda getting up. He simply nodded and continued hitting the punching bag. After getting up, Melinda made herself a cup of coffee and then asked, "You seem a little out of sorts."

"Have it?"

As Ward spoke, he punched the punching bag: "I was just thinking that we're encountering more and more superpowered people and other weirdos. One day, we'll meet enemies we can't defeat. What will we do then? The Avengers won't always be around to help us."

“This is the meaning of our existence. Perhaps we are no match for those superpowered individuals, but we can build a barrier between them and ordinary people. Even if it is not very helpful, at least we have tried our best.” Coulson also stood up and gestured with the tablet in his hand: “Yesterday, Fitz taught me how to use this thing... To be honest, I am still not very proficient, but it can roughly show the location where the symbiotes are sending signals.”

"Are they still sending signals?"

“Yes,” Coulson replied to Ward. “Not only them, but the symbiote that Director Fury froze has also been sending signals. They probably won’t be back until the day after tomorrow. In the meantime, we’ll have to rely on ourselves.”

"Where is the symbiote that escaped?"

"No news at all."

Ward nodded, roughly understanding: "So, all the symbiotes are sending signals, but only the one that escaped hasn't said anything."

"So what exactly are they sending?"

(End of this chapter)