Chapter 170: Chapter 170: Venom Symbiote?! Getting Ready to Go Public with the Relationship!
Hearing Gwen’s words, Lorien curled his lips.
Getting Chinese tattoos?
Just the thought gave him goosebumps.
Imagine permanently inking words like "the love of your life,""dragon," or simply "love" on your body. How awkward would that be?
Too awkward.
Even imagining it made Lorien’s scalp tingle.
And yet Gwen said Chinese looked and sounded beautiful.
Was that reasonable?
It actually was.
Lorien suddenly realized that every country had its own sense of aesthetics. Some thought hip-hop was trashy, while others thought it was stylish. The same went for beatboxing.
And with languages too—some thought French sounded beautiful, some thought Japanese did, some thought Russian did. Of course, there would be people who thought Chinese sounded beautiful.
Characters worked the same way.
After all, Chinese characters were among the most unique scripts in the world. So if people tattooed them on their bodies, it wasn’t all that strange.
Think about it. Plenty of people tattoo English words on themselves.
Wasn’t that the same as tattooing Chinese characters?
So Gwen wasn’t wrong at all.
That’s exactly how it was.
"Alright." Lorien sighed.
"But just don’t get this tattooed."
Gwen nodded. She wasn’t planning to anyway—she was just talking.
Still, she asked curiously, "What’s wrong with this tattoo?"
Lorien was about to explain when the auntie finished the five pancakes.
Wanda picked them up and handed them to him.
Only then did Lorien continue.
"Because it’s super lame."
"Huh?" Gwen looked shocked. "So that’s how it seems to people who actually know Chinese?"
Lorien nodded.
"Not everyone, but at least seventy percent would think so."
Hearing that, Gwen thought of her classmates back then.
She suddenly felt sorry for them.
...
Lorien paid the bill and divided the food "three, one, three" among everyone.
"Here, eat."
"Let me try, let me try!" Hela, spotting the food, quickly grabbed two portions and passed one to Devourer Girl.
Lorien handed one to Gwen.
"Let’s go, keep looking around."
So they continued strolling deeper inside while eating.
The auntie watched them leave, waving as she called out,
"Come back often, handsome!"
Lorien didn’t reply.
Wanda turned, waved her hand, and spoke the only Chinese she knew.
"Xie xie."
The moment she said it, the auntie froze!
Her hand lifted slightly, as if she wanted to point at Wanda and say something.
"Scar... Scarlet..."
Her lips moved, stuttering twice.
But once they left, the image in her mind faded more and more—until it was gone completely.
She blinked back to reality and went on running her little stall.
Gwen glanced back at the aunt, then looked at Lorien.
"I thought you’d chat with her for a bit."
Lorien just smiled and shook his head.
"Back home, there’s a saying: ’At home, rely on your comrades; away from home, fear your comrades.’"
"Fear here means caution. Not that this aunt is a bad person, but you can’t trust people too easily."
Gwen looked surprised.
Wanda didn’t understand either.
"Why?"
Lorien shrugged.
"Guess that’s just human nature. That’s how it is. Otherwise, why would there be sayings like ’strangers scam you for half, friends scam you for all’?
Bottom line—be cautious. Take time to really know people before you trust them."
And so, the group kept walking deeper inside.
Chinatown was crowded, full of people chatting, laughing, and moving through the streets.
The noise never stopped, even as they walked.
Looking at the bustling scene around them, Gwen exclaimed,
"So lively! It feels so full of energy."
Wanda, watching the talkative crowd, agreed.
She couldn’t put it into words, but the feeling was real—vibrant.
"That’s right." Lorien nodded.
It was true: when Chinese people gathered, their chatter made the atmosphere burst with energy.
That was why the streets here felt so alive.
Different from the rest of New York.
Even when crowded, New York streets usually felt indifferent.
But in Chinatown, people stopped to talk, some even chatting with stall owners for ages.
It really did feel a little like the festive energy of New Year.
...
The five of them passed a fish stall.
Gwen pointed at the fish on display and asked,
"Lorien, isn’t this character ’fish’?"
"Hm?" Lorien chuckled. "How did you figure that out?"
Hearing she was right, Gwen’s face lit up.
"Because I suddenly thought—the shape of this fish looks like the character for fish! So I figured it must be that character!"
Lorien glanced at the fish being sold.
She wasn’t wrong.
After all, Chinese characters included pictographs and phonetic symbols. And pictographs were the easiest to recognize.
He smiled. "Gwen, you really have a knack for learning Chinese."
"Right~~~"
Gwen lifted her little chin proudly.
She really was clever. A true top student.
But just then, she frowned and turned to the side.
Lorien and the other three women noticed it too.
All five of them turned toward the fish stall.
More precisely—at the old woman slowly approaching it.
The old woman shuffled closer and stared intently at the fish swimming in the oxygenated tank.
The stall owner spotted her.
He walked over, wiped his hands, and asked, "What kind of fish would you like?"
The old woman didn’t answer.
She just kept staring at the fish.
Seeing her like that, and noticing her shabby clothes, the owner assumed she was crazy.
So he quickly waved his hands and said—
"Move along, move along. Just looking is fine, but don’t touch."
To be fair, the shopkeeper wasn’t bad. He didn’t treat the old woman like a lunatic and force her out.
But that wasn’t the issue here...
Gwen turned to Lorien.
"I can feel... something inside her. Something very familiar to me."
Wanda nodded.
"This old woman isn’t controlling herself anymore. Her mind has already been replaced by another being."
Hela took a bite of her pancake.
"Do we kill her?"
Devourer Girl sniffed the air.
"She smells a bit better than normal humans."
All four women gave their assessments.
Lorien raised an eyebrow, his expression turning strange.
Wasn’t this basically Venom’s opening scene? Why was it only showing up now?
No—that couldn’t be right. This universe didn’t even have Venom.
And in the Venom movies, the villain was the Life Foundation. That company didn’t exist in this universe either. Lorien had confirmed that back on the yacht when he knocked Gwen unconscious.
But now... it appeared.
Had a spaceship crashed recently?
Lorien pulled out his device and searched.
There had indeed been a crash.
But it wasn’t a Life Foundation ship.
It was... an Osborn Corporation ship.
Ah... that explained it.
The Multiverse had begun merging in chaos!
One by one, different Marvel elements would bleed into each universe. Every universe would get them—but not necessarily in the same way.
And the first one Lorien had seen with his own eyes... was Venom.
There had already been plenty of earlier signs too.
Like Black Panther’s sudden illness.
Like the Infinity Stones not behaving as they should.
So...
The infinite chaos of the Multiverse had begun.
Lorien glanced at the old woman and spoke calmly to Gwen.
"Your instincts are right, Gwen. What’s inside her is from the same source as yours. But yours is progenitor-level. Hers is just a weak, worthless descendant."
In a sense, Venom was supposed to be one of the strongest symbiotes on its planet.
But even the strongest of that world... were nothing compared to Gwen’s symbiote suit.
Truly nothing.
Because Gwen’s suit was a progenitor-level, primordial symbiote.
It could grow infinitely stronger.
It had only been forged into a suit and stripped of consciousness.
So Lorien was absolutely right.
Gwen quickly understood.
"She has a symbiote inside her?"
No wonder it felt familiar.
So it was a symbiote.
Wanda frowned.
"Do symbiotes all have consciousness?"
"Ones made into objects don’t. But the original forms do," Lorien explained. "Otherwise, they wouldn’t be called symbiotes."
Just then—
Splash~~~!
The old woman, who had been staring at the fish, suddenly plunged her hand into the tank and grabbed one.
Under everyone’s shocked gaze, she yanked it up.
Then, without hesitation, she sank her teeth into its head.
Crunch~!
A sickening crack echoed as the fish’s skull was bitten clean off.
The old woman chewed noisily, swallowing chunks of raw flesh.
Wanda and Gwen recoiled in disgust.
Even Lorien felt nauseated.
The surrounding crowd, realizing what was happening, broke into panic.
"What is she doing?!"
"Ugh!"
"She’s disgusting!"
"Let’s get out of here! Don’t stick around!"
Seeing someone gnaw on a fish’s brain raw was too much. People fled, gagging as they went.
Even Lorien pulled the four women back a few steps, not wanting blood splatter anywhere near them.
The stall owner nearly vomited, then shouted angrily,
"What the hell are you doing?! Are you insane?!"
The old woman slowly looked up at him.
The moment their eyes met, the shopkeeper froze, his voice dying in his throat.
He backed away quickly.
Reality check—he wasn’t stupid.
This was the Marvel world now. He could tell something was seriously wrong with this person.
Losing a fish was nothing. Losing his life would be a waste.
So after a quick decision, he backed up further—and called the police.
Meanwhile, the old woman finished gnawing the fish brain.
She chewed, then spat it out in disgust.
"Pfft!"
Tossing the fish aside, she slowly turned her gaze toward the others.
Wanda watched carefully.
Scanning her with magic, her expression darkened.
"This old woman’s organs are already failing. We can’t let the Symbiote keep possessing her."
"And it wants to eat human brains."
Gwen grimaced in disgust.
"Eat human brains? Then we should separate them first."
Exactly.
Symbiotes weren’t completely self-sufficient.
If they didn’t consume phenylethylamine to maintain energy, they would instead devour their host’s organs—like the liver—to produce it.
So once bonded, the host’s diet had to be carefully managed.
Of course, driving it off was simple.
Lorien glanced at Gwen.
"Deactivate your presence shield, go say hello, and you’ll see."
"Really?" Gwen asked curiously. "Alright, I’ll try."
Her symbiote suit manifested instantly.
She stepped away from Lorien and walked up to the old woman.
Then, clearly but softly, she spoke.
"Hey, little guy inside. What’s your name? I’m Gwen Stacy."
Her voice was controlled—only the Symbiote inside the old woman would hear it.
The very instant it did, the old woman’s eyes flew wide!
She stared at Gwen in horror.
With a sickening rip, a glob of black liquid burst out of her body!
With a wet smack, it first latched onto a fish.
Then, springing violently, it launched into the air—and dove straight into a nearby sewer.
Gwen: ....
Watching it flee like that, Gwen was dumbfounded.
She turned back to Lorien.
"Am I really that scary?"
Lorien chuckled.
"It’s not you being scary. It’s called bloodline suppression. The moment it sensed your aura, it ran for its life."
Gwen folded her arms, looking helpless.
How could this be?
How could something see a beautiful girl and just run away?
She’d actually wanted to say hello and learn more about it.
Thud~~~
The moment the Symbiote left, the old woman collapsed.
Her organs had already been in decline. With the added toll of possession, her frail, aging body couldn’t take it.
Wanda glanced at Lorien.
"Should I extend her life? Restore her to the state before possession?"
Lorien nodded. "Go ahead."
Wanda took out the Wand of Watoomb Lorien had given her.
She gathered magic into it, channeling the energy into healing light that flowed into the old woman’s body.
Hum~~~
A soft green glow spread across her.
When it faded, her organs had fully recovered to their pre-possession state.
That was enough.
Wanda put away the wand and slipped her hand back into Lorien’s.
Gwen returned too, taking his other hand as she prepared to dismiss her suit.
Everyone was just about ready to leave when—
Whoosh~~~!
"Wow~!"
"Wait!"
Gasps and shouts erupted.
Lorien felt eyes turning toward him. He looked over—and saw phones and cameras raised.
Only then did it hit him.
When Wanda saved the old woman, she had lifted her presence shield.
And then she and Gwen had both hugged him.
Hela and Devourer Girl, still behind, hadn’t been exposed.
But the three of them... were out in the open.
Click~
The faint snap of a camera shutter sealed it.
"It’s Scarlet Witch! Scarlet Witch!"
"Whoa! And Spider-Woman! Why are they hugging a guy?!"
"So close! What’s going on? Why are they all clinging to one man?"
"Don’t tell me...!!!"
The commotion grew, voices rising in shock.
Lorien turned helplessly to Wanda.
"So... do we alter their memories?"
At this point, it was the only real option.
Either alter their memories, or rewind time.
But Lorien hated rewinding time on himself.
And memory alteration was far simpler.
Just pick a radius, select the option, snap—done.
But Wanda thought for a moment.
Then she shook her head.
"No, Lorien. Let’s go public. They’ll find out sooner or later, so let’s just announce we’re going into seclusion."
Oh, seclusion again?
But it wasn’t unreasonable.
Wanda had said before that she wanted to openly acknowledge her status and their relationship.
This would be a bold, upright declaration.
After all, as the saying goes.
If a woman won’t even acknowledge you in public, then she doesn’t see you as a man.
She might even think being with you is embarrassing—like she’s just settling for a stray dog.
So when Wanda suggested making it public, Lorien nodded.
"Alright."
Anyway, Gwen hadn’t been exposed. Nothing lost there.
If anything, Lorien secretly felt a thrill... ahem.