Marvel's Venom, starting with a Hydra undercover agent.

"How disgusting, I don't want to eat this guy's head anymore, I take back my request." Venom was also communicating with Holm in his mind.

It had just spent ages trying to coax and plead with Holm, wanting to eat Nathan Landis's head.

Holm figured he'd have to deal with the body anyway, so letting Venom eat it would save him some trouble, and he agreed. But he didn't expect Venom to change its mind and withdraw its request.

"Are you sure? If we miss this, who knows where the next edible head will be? Opportunities like this don't come around often." Holm said to Venom while glancing at Nathan Landis, who had already vomited quite a bit.

Upon hearing this, Venom quickly confirmed, "I'm sure, I'm sure, this guy is really disgusting."

"I've learned a lot these past few days and have a basic understanding of human beings."

"How could this guy possibly guarantee that the thing would stay in his stomach forever? Every now and then, that thing would definitely be expelled."

"So, logically speaking, he should need to swallow it again after a period of time, which means he..."

"Stop talking! That's enough! That's enough!" Holm quickly stopped Venom from continuing. Just thinking about that scene made him feel terrible.

He was utterly disgusted by this mission.

Finally, after vomiting for several minutes, Nathan Landis picked up a silver, capsule-shaped metal object, about the size of a thumb, that had just fallen out.

He trembled as he held the silver metal in his filthy hands, then looked at Holm with a gleam in his eyes and laughed, "Come on, take this thing."

"Take it and then kill me, and your mission should be over."

"Haha, you should know that you will eventually suffer the same fate as me. Grant Ward will never let you go."

"Even if you knew nothing today, he still wouldn't let you go. He wouldn't let someone who might know his secrets live a good life."

"When he sent you to kill me, he had already set your fate. You were just a tool for him. Once it's all over, this tool of yours should be destroyed."

"I am you in the future, the only difference is the time of death. Perhaps in the near future, you will die in a much more painful way than I did."

Nathan Landis had given up struggling. He no longer begged Holm to let him go. His interest seemed to have shifted to drag Holm down with him, wanting to see Holm panic and become anxious.

Chapter 23, The End

Meeting Nathan Landis's gaze, Holm also moved off his chair and slowly squatted down in front of him.

"Although you really disgusted me just now, I still thank you for sharing such a wonderful story with me."

“I know what your purpose is in doing this, but do you think it’s possible that I had already thought these things through before I came to kill you?”

"Stop acting like you're so desperate you've gone mad. I know you're still pretending."

As Holm spoke these words with a smile, Nathan Landis's madness and smile gradually froze.

"You want to make me worry because of your words, you want to make me afraid of being purged."

"If I want to have a backup plan to save my life, the best way is to take the things back and then fake your death."

"As long as you're alive, I'll have leverage when Grant Ward wants to settle scores with me."

"If I'm not mistaken, you should have a backup of this, right?"

At this point, Holm stood up and looked down at Nathan Landis from a higher vantage point.

"Give up your unrealistic fantasies. I can tell you for sure, you're dead today."

“I know Grant Ward won’t let me off the hook, but I don’t care.”

"He won't have a chance to lay a hand on me, because I'll take care of him first."

Nathan Landis's face had completely darkened by this point. In his plan, if things had gone as expected, he still had a pretty good chance of surviving.

Everyone knew that neither of them could escape, so it was only natural to leave a backup plan in case of emergency, since there was no deep-seated hatred between them.

Unfortunately, he encountered Holm, so the matter was destined not to develop normally.

They all knew they would eventually be purged, but they didn't care at all and even said they would take down Grant Ward first.

"Heh, I doubt even Grant Ward expected things to turn out this way."

"He probably never imagined that you're even more... hah."

Nathan Landis gave a self-deprecating laugh. His face was no longer pale, but it was filled with a deathly stillness.

Compared to the madness he had just deliberately displayed, his current state, while lacking some tension, was undeniably real.

Skipping over the filth Nathan Landis had just vomited, Holm grabbed him by the belt and threw him onto the chair he had just been sitting in, then secured him to it with a rope he had prepared beforehand.

Holm originally intended to use Venom's tentacles to complete these steps directly, since Nathan Landis was destined to die anyway, and he wasn't afraid of exposing anything.

However, Venom really disliked him, so Holm still chose to use the most traditional method.

“Alright, Mr. Landis, now tell me where your remaining backup is.” Holm said as he prepared the syringe and injected it into Nathan Landis’s neck.

Nathan Landis offered no resistance during this process, seemingly accepting it all.

As the drug took effect, his vision gradually became blurry, and his consciousness began to drift.

"I'm really looking forward to...you taking down that guy..."

"I...will...wait for him...in...hell..."

After struggling to utter his last two sentences, Nathan Landis finally lost all consciousness.

Half an hour later, Holm, suppressing his nausea, picked up the metal object through the bag and put it into the bag he had prepared beforehand.

Then he took out a body bag and put Nathan Landis, whose head was already turned to the back, inside it.

Of course, the body couldn't just be left here. He had to take it to the bay under cover of night to dispose of it and give some warmth to the fish and shrimp there.

Nathan Landis's disappearance caused no ripples.

The only impact was that the factory where he worked lost a worker who could repair the machines, which made the factory owner quite sad.

However, this boss was very lucky, because a few days later, a well-mannered-looking foreigner came to his factory to make a living. This person also knew how to repair machines.

......

“You did a great job on your mission. This will be very helpful for your future advancement.” Grand Ward said as he put down his phone, the video on which was showing Holm filling a body bag with stones.

The image clearly shows Nathan Landis's head, which has been twisted 180 degrees.

Upon hearing Grand Ward's words, Holm sat up straight, seemingly both nervous and excited. He appeared eager for the promotion mentioned in the conversation, but also somewhat afraid and hesitant.

Grant Ward discreetly observed Holm's expression, then picked up the bag beside him and examined it.

The transparent evidence bag contained the metal object, which was covered in slime and vomit, making Grant Ward frown.

"Why didn't you wash it before putting it in?"

Upon hearing Grant Ward's words, Holm lowered his head slightly, looking somewhat awkward, and then explained, "I'm sorry, it was my oversight."

“Never mind, it’s nothing.” Grant Ward relaxed his brow and put the bag back on the table.

That concludes the report on the secret mission.

Although Grant Ward gave Holm three days, Holm completed the task on the second day.

So there was still one day left before he told Daisy to start investigating the lizard man incident.

After reporting on the secret mission, Grant Ward asked Holm about his recent mission progress.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Grant Ward suddenly asked Holm about Daisy.

Have you noticed anything unusual about your partner?

Holm shook his head and said, "Still the same as before, a complete novice, agent level unknown, and seems to have deep connections with the higher-ups of S.H.I.E.L.D."

After Holm finished speaking, Grant Ward pondered and said, "It is indeed strange that Coulson's tone and manner when he called him were only used on a select few."

"Should I try to get her to talk about it? Given her level of expertise, she shouldn't be able to detect anything wrong," Holm asked proactively.

Hearing Holm's words, Grant Ward waved his hand and said, "No need, don't do anything unnecessary. It's precisely because she's a complete novice that she's so tricky."

"We don't know how many people are watching her, so we can't do anything unusual."

"You should still interact with her normally. Remember not to make any unnecessary movements, and be careful not to let her notice anything unusual. Don't let your guard down just because she seems harmless."

"An imbalance in mindset is the most common mistake that many veteran agents make, and because of this mistake, they often have to pay the price with their lives."

“I understand.” Holm nodded in response to Grant Ward’s guidance, his slightly lowered brown eyes concealing a deep, dark light.

Chapter 24, The Investigation Plan

"This is the information I've been investigating and compiling over the past few days. Here's another set of data I've recently compiled, which is a list of missing persons from the past year."

"I don't think that mysterious person would go out on the street to recruit volunteers willing to become lizards, so the lizard people like last time must have been people he found himself."

"The bureau has already started genetic comparison. Although that guy doesn't look human at all now, he's a complete lizard monster, but there are still traces of humans in his genes."

"However, they told me that this comparison is somewhat complicated and will likely take a long time, so we can proceed according to the original plan for now..."

After briefly recounting her recent achievements and new ideas, Daisy picked up her water glass and took a sip to moisten her slightly dry throat.

As Holm flipped through the report, he glanced up at Daisy's dark circles, which she had tried to conceal but still showed some traces of, and then asked, "Are you sure you don't want a cup of coffee to perk you up?"

Upon hearing this, Daisy sat up straight, her eyes wide with energy, and replied, "Really, no need. I just drank some, so I'm full of energy right now."

Seeing this, Holm said nothing more and just kept looking at the report.

He could tell that Daisy did seem very energetic, but that energy was actually forced out of her by the coffee.

Although her eyes were large and bright, the deep weariness in them could not be hidden.

Holm guessed that Daisy hadn't slept well these past few days; she had organized these materials in great detail and in a very organized manner.

She even listed and compared the newly conceived list of missing persons according to time and region, making it easy for anyone to spot the anomalies.

Seeing Daisy's diligence and hard work, Holm felt a little embarrassed, since there was actually some work he should have done, but he had left it all to Daisy.

Yesterday, he even had some free time to go to a bar for a drink to relieve the tension he had been feeling lately.

Thinking of this, Holm looked up at Daisy's dark circles again, and the feeling of taking advantage of an honest person grew stronger.

"Your work is getting better and better. If you can keep it up, I think your reward this year will be substantial, and a promotion in the future is just around the corner. I will also do my best to put in a good word for you then." Holm put down the materials in his hand with great satisfaction and looked at Daisy with encouragement.

Hearing Holm's words, Daisy smiled happily, her joy and smugness evident.

She wasn't happy about any reward; what she cared about more was that she had gained Holm's recognition and sincere praise.

Seeing Daisy's smiling face, Holm's guilt dissipated considerably.