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

Thinking of this, Holm curled up the corners of his mouth and said with a hint of sarcasm, "I really don't know what to say about him. If I say he doesn't understand my strength, he brought so many people with him. But if he did understand, he should know that even with so many people, it would be easy for me to kill him."

Hearing Holm's words, Venom laughed and said, "Hahaha, the poor old guy is really insecure. Although it's useless, those little snacks hiding in the shadows might give him some comfort."

While the two of them were talking, Garrett had gradually approached the location.

As the footsteps coming up the stairs grew closer, Holm stood up and opened the door, welcoming Garrett inside.

Garrett simply nodded in response to Holm's actions, then stepped into his house and sat down in his familiar sofa spot.

As soon as he entered, Garrett noticed the iron box, but he didn't ask any questions or open it immediately. Instead, he looked at Holm and asked, "How's the plan going? I gave you a month, but don't just use that time to get things done. I need to hear that the mission is complete in advance."

Hearing Garrett's words, Holm frowned slightly, feeling quite displeased.

This old guy is getting more and more outrageous. He called this old man over to submit a task about Bronsky, not to urge him to kill Daisy.

"It's in the planning stage. I've already mentioned the reasons before. Killing her won't be that simple. We have to be fully prepared, and no amount of caution is too much," Holm replied calmly.

After saying that, he sat down on the sofa next to him, then pushed the box on the table in front of Garrett and said, "Sir, you should worry about the mission that's right in front of you."

"This is Bronsky's blood sample. I extracted a lot, enough to support many large-scale experiments."

Garrett merely glanced at Holm as he sat down and spoke, then opened the box and said, "The mission was well completed; these blood samples are certainly enough."

"But I'm quite curious how you did it. Did that guy just lie there obediently and let you smoke so much?"

"And after he's done, what should you say to him so that he doesn't tell anyone else in S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Garrett asked these questions with a slight smile on his face, seemingly genuinely curious about how Holm completed the mission.

Holm looked up at him and replied with a standard smile, "If you're so interested, sir, then perhaps you should wait until I submit my report and read it carefully a few times."

"I don't have much time to recount my mission to my superior now; I still need to go to S.H.I.E.L.D. to submit the normal mission report."

Holm's words were undoubtedly a thorn in Garriott's side, and also implied that he should be driven away.

Upon hearing this, Garrett stood up with a cold laugh, picked up the blood sample on the table, and said coldly to Holm, "Young man, you'd better not be too arrogant. The world doesn't work the way you imagine."

"No matter how strong an individual's power is, it still has its limits. Compared with the power of an organization, it is still pitifully insignificant."

Holm's disrespect for him was already quite evident, and as his superior, he had no reason to tolerate this subordinate's insolence any longer.

Hearing Garrett's words, Holm also said with a playful tone, "Thank you for your guidance, sir. With such awareness, it's no wonder that you can still fight on the front lines at your age and contribute to the organization."

Holm's words were sarcastic, seemingly praising someone, but actually mocking Garrett for being so old yet still only being his superior and unable to advance to a higher level.

How could Garrett not understand the implied meaning? As soon as Holm finished speaking, his face turned ashen, and he glared at him, saying in a sharp voice, "Very good! Very good!"

"I hope you can maintain this attitude in the future!"

“A month is too long. I hope you can give me a definite answer in 15 days. Mr. Pierce and I will keep a close eye on your task and look forward to your performance.”

"I hope you can recognize your own identity, find your own place, and not let me and Mr. Pierce down."

After saying that, Garrett walked out the door without waiting for Holm's reply.

Watching his angry departure, Holm also curled up the corners of his mouth and smiled silently.

"Heh heh, he doesn't even know he's about to die. Changing a month to half a month will only shorten his death date," Venom said, peeking out from Holm's shoulder.

As Holm sensed the people around him quickly retreating, he sat back down on the sofa and chuckled, "He can't wait any longer, I can't wait any longer, and neither can that high and mighty Lord Pierce."

“Pierce is probably waiting for me and Garrett to fight like dogs, and then promote the ultimate winner and kick the loser into the trash heap.”

"No matter how much we fight, he and Hydra will ultimately benefit. He only needs to offer a little something, make a few promises, and paint a rosy picture, and we'll be grateful to him."

"Speaking of which, this is truly an enviable position. Sitting here watching your subordinates fight over the pieces, you can control the entire situation by occasionally flicking your fingers across the board."

"Just thinking about it makes me feel intoxicated. I can't wait to go up and sit down."

Hearing Holm's感慨 (sentiments/reflections), Venom cackled and said, "That day won't be too far away."

Chapter 199, Before Departure

There were not many days left in the seven days that Holm had given William Baker.

During this time, besides spending time with Katie, William Baker focused on training intensively according to Holm's instructions, striving to reach the level Holm required.

While he was busy, Holm did not stop either. After his falling out with Garrett that day, Holm was also preparing for the next phase of his plan.

However, while making preparations, he also needed to find time to see Gwen. After all, they had made plans on their phones for a long time after meeting at Stark Industries last time, but he only had time now.

It was the same familiar coffee shop. When Holm arrived, Gwen was already seated and had ordered coffee and some snacks for him.

"Haha, I'm so sorry, there was a bit of traffic on the way," Holm explained as he sat down.

Gwen was dressed stylishly as always, wearing a beige knit sweater with a brown skirt. The sweater was a bit short and wide at the hem, so her fair and slender waist was occasionally revealed, attracting Holm's attention.

After hearing Holm's explanation, she rested her chin on her hand, squinted slightly at Holm, and said, "Was it really a traffic jam?"

After saying that, she playfully sniffed her delicate little nose and continued with amusement, "When did you start using perfume? And it's women's perfume."

Upon hearing Gwen's words, Holm instantly felt embarrassed and could only sip his coffee while looking around haphazardly.

Gwen's intuition was incredibly sharp; he wasn't late because of traffic, but because he had just finished dealing with Daisy's persistent pestering before arriving.

He was about to leave, but after learning that he was going to meet Gwen, Daisy immediately pulled him back into the bedroom, clinging to him like a beautiful snake.

Faced with this situation, Holm could only teach Daisy a lesson, leaving her exhausted and with no energy left to argue before leaving the house.

He rushed here as fast as he could, but he was still a little late, and he was carrying a woman's fragrance.

Seeing Holm so embarrassed he didn't know what to say, Gwen pursed her lips, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

Her sense of smell was very keen, so she immediately recognized the scent as Daisy's.

Unexpectedly, after only a short period of not seeing Holm, Daisy had already far surpassed her.

She also wanted to see Holmdo, but they were both too busy, and she didn't have the same work advantages as Daisy, so they could only see each other once in a while.

Given such a disparity in meeting frequency, it's understandable that Daisy would leave her behind.

Even though that's the reality, Gwen still won't give up so easily.

Since we can't compare the number of times we meet, let's compare the quality of each meeting.

Thinking of this, Gwen also looked up at Holm, who was still staring blankly at his coffee cup, and then said coquettishly, feigning anger, "It's been so long since we last met, don't you have anything I want to say to you?"

Hearing Gwen's words, Holm also looked up at her, scratching his head somewhat at a loss.

Damn it, why is Gwen making him so nervous today? They don't have any explicit relationship, but looking into Gwen's eyes always makes him feel guilty.

"By the way, how are things between you and Felicia? Has that guy properly apologized to you? She's been making you uneasy for so long." To avoid further awkwardness, Holm quickly changed the subject.

Although they had already briefly discussed Felicia's situation on their phones, he still didn't know the details.

Hearing Holm's question, Gwen took a sip of her coffee and said, "It didn't cause me any major trouble, I was just startled."

"I never expected that she was the black cat, nor did I expect that she would find out my identity."

"Afterwards, when I thought about what Black Cat did, I suddenly realized that she and Felicia did have a lot in common. For example, they both liked to stick to me, whether they were in normal mode or Spider-Woman mode."

"And then there's their love of jewelry. Felicia loves buying jewelry, while the black cat loves collecting and playing with rare pieces."

"I was a little surprised by the spying, but I wasn't angry. On the contrary, I was relieved when I found out that she was the one spying."

"But she always felt she had let me down and wanted to make it up to me, so during that time she would buy me lots and lots of things and drag me shopping whenever she had time."

"Wow, you have no idea, I bought more jewelry and clothes in that one month than I've ever bought in my entire life..."

And so, Gwen spoke slowly, and Holm listened quietly.

Although Gwen complained a lot about Felicia's clinginess and love of shopping, the smile on her lips showed that she wasn't bothered by it.

"By the way, speaking of which, what I'm about to tell you is also related to her. Felicia also wants to invest in our company," Gwen suddenly said, changing the subject.

Hearing her words, Holm was also taken aback and said, "She wants to invest too?"

“Yes, the company has just expanded quite a bit recently,” Gwen nodded and said.

Holm has never really managed the company except by providing funding; Gwen has been in charge of it.

However, even though he doesn't ask directly, Gwen sometimes brings it up with him, just like now.

"I don't really know either, just do what you think is best, I'll listen to you." Holm, as usual, left the decision to Gwen.

Holm's actions both demonstrated his hands-off management and his extreme trust in Gwen.

Gwen smiled helplessly upon hearing this, then looked at the grinning Holm and said, "If you keep doing nothing like this, you won't even know if I sell the company and run off with all the money one day."

Hearing Gwen's annoyed complaint, Holm laughed and said, "Haha, if you want to take me with you, that's fine too. You can take me with you too, and we can wander the world together."

"Hmph! I won't take you with me. You don't do anything and you're useless." Gwen snorted, arms crossed.

"What kind of talk is that? How can it be useless? At the very least, I can warm the bed, can't I?" Holm said without thinking.

The words were spoken before the mind could follow, and Holm immediately regretted saying them.

He'd gotten so used to flirting with Daisy these past few days that he hadn't quite caught up, and just habitually picked up on Gwen's words.

Chapter 200, Will you always be with me?

"Ahem, well, if she wants to invest, let her invest. Anyway, I don't understand this kind of thing." Holm coughed a few times, brushing aside the awkwardness from before.

Gwen, understandingly, didn't say much, but continued to chat with him about related matters.

Time flies, and before long it was dark. Holm looked at the sky outside, wiped his mouth, and said to Gwen, "Time flies so fast, I didn't realize it was so late."

"Let me take you home. It's getting late and your dad will worry."

“He’s working overtime again today and won’t be home tonight,” Gwen said, blinking.

Holm, who was straightening his clothes and preparing to stand up, was taken aback when he heard this. Did it mean to sit for a while longer?

As he was pondering, Gwen stood up first, flicked her hair, and smiled, "Let's go, the coffee shop is about to close."

“Oh, okay.” Holm nodded and followed her. He always felt something was off, as if there was a subtle, unspoken tension between them.

Even after getting into the car, the atmosphere didn't ease. Gwen quietly looked out the window, the evening breeze blowing her golden hair, revealing her long, delicate neck and collarbone.

As Holm drove, he glanced at Gwen in the passenger seat. The orange streetlights occasionally shone on Gwen's face, like a thin veil, adding a touch of charm to her beauty in the hazy light.

Looking at him, Holm's heart was also stirred. He didn't know why, but he was always lost in thought and moved by Gwen today.

As my thoughts raced, Gwen's house came into view.