Natasha and Barton, along with the others, couldn't believe how easily the symbiote agents, whom Nick Fury had pinned high hopes on, were defeated by an enemy who looked exactly like Captain America, Steve Rogers.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have believed it.
However, whether they liked it or not, this was the truth.
After abducting two symbiotes, only the one who had been sent flying by Russell's punch at the beginning remained among S.H.I.E.L.D.'s symbiote agents.
Natasha and Barton exchanged glances and quickly made a decision.
Although the invading enemy was more formidable than they had imagined, S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't in the habit of retreating voluntarily.
Unless they had absolutely no options left, Natasha and Barton wouldn't easily give up this base.
With only one symbiote agent left, Natasha, Barton, and the others didn't care if they accidentally harmed their own team members. They started providing remote support to the remaining symbiote agent.
Natasha and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents fired wildly at Russell.
Barton also unleashed special arrows, firing them relentlessly at Russell.
Russell wasn't too concerned about the attacks from Natasha and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
His main focus was evading Barton's arrows.
Natasha and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were using conventional firearms, which couldn't penetrate his defenses.
But Barton was different.
Who knew what effects his arrows might have.
Although Russell was confident in his own physique and the regenerative abilities of his Serum, he still had no intention of using his body to withstand Barton's arrows.
Despite the remote support from Natasha and the others, the last symbiote agent couldn't hold on for much longer.
Amidst the hail of bullets, Russell seized the opportunity and once again carried out the brutal act of tearing apart the symbiote agent.
After sending the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, who served as the host, flying, Russell abducted the third symbiote.
After sending the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, who served as the host, flying, Russell abducted the third symbiotes.
After completing all this, instead of rushing towards Natasha and Barton, he returned to the Hydra soldiers' ranks.
Although he had accepted Hydra's commission, he didn't plan on doing all the work himself.
Though Bakshi, Bucky and the others didn't quite understand why Russell wasn't continuing to attack the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, they didn't say anything and continued firing relentlessly at Natasha and Barton.
Including Bakshi, the four Zaku battle armor advanced toward Natasha and Barton like a tide of steel.
Hydra soldiers, including Bucky, followed behind the Zaku battle armor, using them as cover as they advanced towards the laboratory.
Both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra were fully engaged in the battle.
Blood and bullet marks covered the scene, and shells and bullets flew everywhere.
Although both sides were engaging fiercely, displaying a scene of near total destruction of the base, Russell currently had no intention of intervening.
At this moment, he was evaluating the symbiotes confined within his right hand's Serum.
Currently entwined around his right hand were the second-generation symbiotes, based on lineage.
Although their birth wasn't the will of the symbiote dragon, these symbiotes were, in a way, the dragon's offspring.
Using Serum's power, Russell forcibly suppressed the frantic will of these symbiotes and imprisoned them on the gloves created by Serum's transformation.
He had a slight germophobia and couldn't accept symbiotes with their own consciousness attaching themselves to his body.
Though these imprisoned symbiotes were from a higher "generation," their abilities weren't particularly strong.
Compared to Serum or even the Venom, they fell short.
Having a higher "generation" didn't equate to having stronger abilities, especially for a race like the symbiotes that could constantly evolve.
After evaluating the second-generation symbiotes imprisoned on his glove, Russell shifted his gaze back to the ongoing battle.
Although Natasha, Barton, and the others were currently at a disadvantage, they were still achieving considerable results thanks to the various gadgets developed by S.H.I.E.L.D.
Through cooperation, Natasha and Barton managed to disable two of the Zaku battle armor, considerably weakening Hydra's firepower.
Though the number of Zaku battle armor was reduced to two, Natasha and Barton had also paid a price.
Aside from the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that were ruthlessly killed by Hydra's powerful firepower, they had retreated from the corridor outside the laboratory and were now inside.
Although Natasha, Barton, and the others were putting up a strong resistance, their defeat was only a matter of time if new reinforcements didn't arrive.
Upon entering the laboratory, both sides tacitly reduced their firepower output.
It wasn't that they didn't want to fight, but the laboratory environment wasn't suitable for them to continue such intense firepower.
In the center of the laboratory was the frozen symbiote dragon, Grendel.
Whether it was Natasha and Barton's group or Bakshi and Bucky's group, none of them had the intention to awaken the symbiote dragon, Grendel.
The symbiote agents, although only a little over two meters tall, displayed incomparable strength.
Ignoring the battle that was still going on around him, Russell's gaze shifted to the frozen Grendel
From its appearance, the symbiote dragon Grendel looked exactly like the evil dragon from mythological legends.
Sharp teeth, claws, a massive body, bat-like wings, and a sturdy tail.
While Russell was observing Grendel, the system suddenly displayed a message visible only to him.
"Evolution Reward: King's Serum; Status: Inactive; Activation Conditions: Defeat the Symbiote Dragon Grendel; Activation Effect: Serum evolves into King's Serum!"
After reading the system message that suddenly appeared, Russell furrowed his brow slightly.
When the system initially divided rewards into regular rewards, evolution rewards, and free rewards, he knew that evolution rewards could continue evolving.
After all, the note behind the symbiote reward clearly indicated "Number of Evolutions: 1!"
He wasn't surprised that evolution rewards could continue evolving.
However, he hadn't expected that the system would directly release an evolution reward.
Serum was something he had evolved by combining Mr. Negative's negative energy ability with the Venom symbiote. It wasn't an originally existing system reward.
Yet now, the system was demonstrating that it could further evolve Serum, regardless of whether he had created it himself or not.
King's Serum!
That name sounded quite impressive!
Though Russell didn't know the exact abilities of King's Serum yet, the name alone had piqued his interest.
For the system to specifically attach the prefix "King's," the effect of this evolution reward wouldn't be weak at all.
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