Symbiotic Agent

After Jameson's foul-mouthed outburst, Eisen responded sharply, and the already frightened prisoners became even more disheartened. They struggled to understand how they had suddenly become pawns in such a malicious scheme, aiding the rise of the Lizardmen.

Neil and Eisen didn't allow them any more chances to speak and kept pushing them forward.

Upon reaching the first circular cell, Neil, who was maneuvering a large iron cage, waved to Eisen behind him. "Come on and keep an eye on them. I'll get them inside."

As Neil spoke, he opened the cage door and prepared to act. But Eisen, who should have moved up to help, neither responded nor approached.

When Neil turned his head, he was met with a horrific sight—Eisen's head and body were separated. The grotesque lizard head rolled across the ground, blood trailing behind it. Eisen's heavy body hit the ground with a thud, and a torrent of blood spurted from his neck, blooming like a morbid flower.

The suddenness and violence of the scene made Neil's yellow eyes shrink in shock, his entire body tensing instantly.

In that moment, Neil finally sensed that something was very wrong. He recalled that there had been other prisoners locked in cells along the way—yet now, all of them had vanished.

"Someone broke in and freed the test subjects!" Neil muttered, realizing the situation in an instant.

But before he could react further, a large, dark hand clamped over his mouth with brutal force.

A sharp blade pierced his skin and sliced into his neck. As the blade twisted, his head was severed, and, in his last moment of awareness, Neil's head turned to reveal Holm's cold, blood-spattered face.

"Damn human!" Neil cursed Holm silently in his final moments.

Though rage filled him and his eyes bulged, his body was split in two; he could only open his mouth in silence as his consciousness blurred and faded into darkness.

Holm dropped Neil's head to the ground, and as he did, venom wrapped around his arm seeped back into his body. His right hand, which had transformed into a dark blade, returned to its normal form.

"Haha! These ugly lizardmen are nothing special!" Venom boasted triumphantly. "We'll cut that Dr. Lizard into pieces next!"

Accustomed to Venom's boasting, Holm only smirked, securing the iron cage door. He pulled his FBI badge from his pocket to reassure the prisoners.

Holm told them the escape route, the same instructions he had given others earlier, urging them not to panic and reassuring them that they would be safe.

"FBI? Why did you take so long? That creature nearly killed us!" one of the prisoners shouted, exasperated.

With the lizardmen dead and Holm now in control, Jameson, previously subdued, regained his voice, beginning to tremble again.

He might not have dared challenge the Lizardmen, but he still had the audacity to complain to the FBI.

"Mr. Jameson, right? I've seen you on TV," Holm said coldly, fixing Jameson with an icy stare. "If you've got complaints about the FBI, go ahead and file them. I don't want to hear you barking like a dog here."

Jameson's face flushed with anger. "How dare you insult me! I'll file a complaint, and I'll expose your disrespect for taxpayers on live television!"

"Ugh, what an insufferable man. I'd love to slice his head off and see what's in there," Venom muttered. "If you give me the go-ahead, I'll devour him whole. I promise there won't be a scrap left."

Venom's offer sounded almost thoughtful, as if mindful that Holm wouldn't want to deal with the mess.

"Let's leave him be for now. If you're really itching to chew on his head, I'll make it happen another time," Holm responded mentally, his tone unconcerned.

He met Jameson's threats with a calm indifference, shrugged, and replied, "Do as you please. My name is Nick Fury. Complain all you want—it won't change anything."

"Oh, and if you'd prefer to stay here, be my guest. But I have other matters to attend to, so if more Lizardmen come, I hope you're ready to confront them like the bold taxpayer you are."

"Who knows? Maybe they'll grant you the exclusive honor of being experimented on."

With that, Holm turned his attention away from Jameson, starting to clean up the scene.

Jameson, fuming, shook his fist in frustration. Holm's taunts had struck a nerve.

He wanted badly to retaliate, but as he ranted, nearly everyone else had quietly followed the route Holm had shown them, leaving him alone.

Of course, Jameson saw himself as a righteous figure who feared no evil, but he also couldn't shake his fear that the Lizardmen might return or that the FBI agent might turn on him.

After all, Holm had dispatched two Lizardmen as effortlessly as swatting flies. Now, with Jameson as the only one left, he worried Holm might decide to kill him too and blame it on the Lizardmen.

The more Jameson dwelled on this, the more he convinced himself it was possible. At last, he hurried toward the open passage and scrambled through without a backward glance.

As he began crawling forward, a figure emerged from the passage, forcefully pushing him back out.

Gwen looked down at Jameson, who had tumbled out of the passage, then looked over at Holm, who had turned around at the noise. Standing on the carpet, she shifted awkwardly, at a loss for words.

She had entered because she noticed most people had already left, and no one had come out for a while. Unexpectedly, the ever-lingering Jameson had crossed her path.

"Ah! You wall-crawling menace! Wanted criminal! So, you're all working together!" Jameson shouted, glaring at Spider-Woman as if he had just uncovered their conspiracy.

But to Holm, it seemed like Jameson was simply venting his frustration over his earlier run-in with him.

'This old man,' Holm thought, 'is really insufferable. Complaints all the time, has a bad temper, and a knack for getting under everyone's skin.'

Now Holm fully understood the frustration of those who had been on the receiving end of Jameson's outbursts.

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