Chapter 83: Having an Elder is Like Having a Treasure

Firstly, after receiving full support from Nalan Bai, Phoenix Entertainment, which she almost single-handedly nurtured, once again returned to Clark's hands.

Clark immediately mortgaged the company's assets, movie rights, and character IPs to the bank upon regaining control, securing a loan of 3.8 billion.

It's worth mentioning that the manuscript for "Battle Through the Heavens" was actually completed by Clark long ago and had always been stored on his personal hard drive.

After he was caught in the time vortex, Hank Pym decisively decrypted the hard drive, ensuring the continued release of new books without any impact, with the manuscript fees directly deposited into his bank account, amounting to a total of 500 million to date.

Clark then mortgaged all related rights of "Battle Through the Heavens," including film adaptation rights and game adaptation rights, to obtain another loan of 600 million.

In total, Clark personally had access to funds amounting to 49 billion!

The Daredevil, nearly driven to poverty, also actively responded to the call, mortgaging the Hand's assets to the bank for a loan of 160 million, which he handed over to Clark for full management.

Then came Hank Pym, who claimed to be a scientist with no interest in money.

However, to support Clark's endeavors, he mortgaged his company stocks to the bank and was willing to lend this money to Clark for him to use as he pleased. As long as the principal was returned, his Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" would serve as collateral.

Hank Pym's actions were undoubtedly meant to repay Clark for saving his life, and Clark, unable to persuade him otherwise, accepted his generosity.

Thus, Clark had 49 billion of his own, plus Daredevil's 1.6 billion, and Hank Pym's contribution of 14.4 billion to round it up, totaling 200 billion in funds!

Handing this money over to Nalan Bai, the professional, Clark's strategy was to short Stark Industries' stocks!

Although Nalan Bai was not always verbally kind to Clark, she actually treated him very well. Not to mention the distant past, just the management of Phoenix Entertainment, which had grown from a mere plan into a heavyweight in Hollywood under her stewardship during these nine years.

If it were someone else, more selfish, there would have been a hundred ways to make the company theirs.

Yet, upon seeing Clark, Nalan Bai did not hesitate to return the company to him.

Moved by Xiao Bai's emphasis on integrity, Clark kept her as the CEO of Phoenix Entertainment, letting her continue to steer the company.

Clark, acting as the overall commander behind the scenes, was responsible only for setting the company's general development strategy, leaving the specifics unasked.

This arrangement, apart from his absolute trust in Nalan Bai, also allowed him more time to enhance his strength and collaborate with Hank Pym on quantum realm scientific research.

To face one formidable enemy after another in the future, he must become stronger!

After all arrangements were made, it was three days later. Just when Clark thought he could relax, Hank Pym pulled him into his lab, saying he had something interesting to show him.

When Clark saw the "interesting thing" Hank Pym mentioned, he was taken aback.

It was a black substance, about the size of a fist, continuously writhing inside a bulletproof reinforced glass container, resembling melted asphalt, somewhat disgusting to look at.

Almost immediately upon seeing it, Clark blurted out its name: "Venom! Oh, no, it should be called a symbiote."

With Clark's current strength, a mere symbiote wasn't much of a concern. After all, it's vulnerable to sound waves and fire, types completely countered by Clark.

Ever heard of the God-level BGM system? Just play a non-attribute "Opera 2," and you can teach it how to be a symbiote in minutes.

What truly troubled Clark was the familiar life force he sensed from this symbiote, identical to the black dahlia attached to the meteorite he saw at the Hand's headquarters!

After hearing Clark recount the battle with Kim Bing, Hank Pym felt uneasy.

This wasn't because he could foresee the symbiote's existence but out of a scientist's caution, inherently skeptical of all purely theoretical possibilities.

In his words, until the enemy's death is confirmed, one must reassess with an unknown status of life or death.

See the living, find the dead! And indeed, they discovered an issue.

Kim Bing had been possessed by the symbiote, becoming its host. However, the injuries Clark caused were too severe, and the impact from a 150-meter free fall made it difficult for the symbiote, which hadn't absorbed enough power, to heal him.

When Hank Pym and Matthew found them, the treatment was still in its initial stages.

Logically, most creatures are afraid of fire, so flame became Hank Pym's first method to attempt against the symbiote, and it worked.

The symbiote was forced out of Kim Bing's body by the fire, and Kim Bing died on the spot. The symbiote was captured by Hank Pym and brought back to the lab.

Then, they returned to the villa without causing a stir and discussed making money with Clark. Only after everything was ready did they show Clark their catch.

After hearing Hank Pym's description, Clark couldn't help but appreciate the saying, "Having an elder is like having a treasure."

It seems he still has much to learn from Hank Pym!

After Clark shared his knowledge about symbiotes, they decided to securely store it for now and revisit it after rescuing Aunt May, for further research.

Why did Clark refer to it as a symbiote rather than Venom? Because "symbiote" refers to the species, and Venom is just the name of one individual. Clark couldn't be sure this one was the same as in the movies.

This was another lesson learned from Hank Pym: always maintain a scientist's rigorous attitude.