Chapter 96: Symbiote Battle Suit! To Mars!
Chapter 96: Symbiote Battle Suit! To Mars!
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Natasha Romanoff was about to leave, but before she did, she gave Lorien a sudden smile while holding the zipper of her outfit.
"Do you want to see it again?" she teased.
Lorien curled his lips, about to reply, "I have something better to look at..." But before he could finish, Natasha had already unzipped her outfit and reached inside.
For a moment, Lorien thought she was about to pull out something else entirely, but to his surprise, Natasha took out a warm bank card from the gap in front of her and held it out to him with a smile.
"Swipe the card," she said.
Lorien picked up the bank card, still warm from her body heat.
"Is it still warm?" Natasha asked with a playful smile, not bothering to zip up.
"You're not a corpse," Lorien replied as he swiped the card, transferring a few thousand dollars into her account before handing it back.
"Here you go, still warm and fragrant," he said, the transaction complete.
The amount was just a fraction of what Natasha's missions usually earned, and it had only taken four hours. For most people, this kind of money would be significant, but neither of them seemed to care much about it.
After getting the card back, Natasha stuffed it back into her outfit, zipped up, and with a final smile, said, "Let's go, Lorien. See you next time."
With the zipper closed, she returned to her composed, goddess-like demeanor, stood up, waved goodbye, and left.
"Goodbye," Lorien said, standing to see her off.
As the door closed with a soft "pata," Hela, who had been sitting nearby playing a game, commented, "That woman is really bad."
"Huh?" Lorien looked back at Hela. "What's wrong?"
"Bad woman."
"Tsk," Lorien thought for a moment. "But bad women can be pretty good too."
"If she wasn't bad, how would I change?" he added, his mind wandering back to the recent encounter.
The scene with Natasha in her one-piece outfit left a lasting impression, so much so that his thoughts were now filled with that memory.
But as he glanced at the time—4:50 PM—he realized it was time to get back to work.
"Okay, enough reminiscing," he thought, deciding to leave the rest for another day. Gwen's Spider suit also had its own appeal.
At 4:55 PM, Lorien reminded Hela, "Pause the game, it's time to get off work."
"Ah~?" Hela responded, thinking Lorien was going to make her stop playing.
"I clock out at 5 o'clock sharp. Go upstairs to make a call," he explained.
"Got it," Hela replied.
5:00 PM.
"Time to clock out!" Lorien announced right on time, leading Hela out and closing the gate behind them.
As he did, he muttered to himself, "Punch the card."
[Ding~!]
[Obtain: Symbiosis battle suit x1!]
"Hmm?" Lorien raised an eyebrow. This reward seemed a bit special.
First off, it wasn't called a "Venom battle suit," but a "symbiote battle suit." Venom was just one of many symbiotes, a collective term. This suit seemed to be a pure version, just a piece of equipment, not a creature.
But what really caught Lorien's interest was the suit's ability to shapeshift—cough, cough, cross-dress, to be exact.
He quickly checked the details of the battle suit.
[Symbiote battle suit: A battle suit made from the original symbiote. It is immune to high-frequency sound waves and flames, and can transform into any form of battle suit. However, it must start from scratch and evolve by devouring higher-level life forms.]
"Interesting," Lorien thought, impressed by the suit's potential for evolution. This was a suit made from the original symbiote, which was not afraid of fire and sound waves—traits that were later encoded in symbiotes created by Knull.
But the most satisfying feature was the suit's ability to "transform into any form!"
Which made him think... the form Natasha was wearing earlier?
"Yeah," Lorien mused, "I'll save it for Gwen."
At that moment, the elevator behind him chimed.
He turned to see Gwen stepping out, schoolbag in hand, cheerfully saying, "Lorien~! I'm back from school~!"
Lorien opened his arms, and Gwen jumped into them for a hug. Little Hela, nearby, pouted.
"Hmph, beast, students are off-limits!" Hela muttered.
Her comment made Gwen realize there was another presence in the room. She knelt down to look at the little girl, then pinched her cheek and asked, "And who are you~?"
Lorien couldn't help but smile at the scene.
Hela, however, was too annoyed to respond.
Suppressing a laugh, Lorien said, "Guess who she is. You've seen her before."
"Have I?" Gwen was puzzled. "I've never seen such a cute little girl."
"Let me give you a hint," Lorien raised a finger. "You met her on the roof."
"!!!" Gwen's eyes widened as she connected the dots.
"Are you... Hela?! How did you become so small?"
"Hahaha, so cute~!" Gwen exclaimed, now pinching Hela's face with both hands.
"Hey~!" Hela protested, pulling Gwen's hands away. "You're laughing at me! I hate you!"
"I'm not laughing at you," Gwen said, stroking Hela's hair with a smile. "I genuinely think you're adorable, like a little princess."
"Calling me cute is the same as laughing at me," Hela grumbled, turning away. "I don't want to be cute; I want people to be afraid of me!"
Gwen giggled, and even Lorien couldn't hold back his laughter.
Hela glared at them both before stomping off to play games upstairs.
Gwen was still laughing as she let go and started to follow Hela, but Lorien stopped her.
"Huh?" Gwen turned to him, curious. "Aren't we going out to play?"
"We are," Lorien replied with a smile. "But we're going to play with something special."
"Something special?" Gwen's eyes widened in surprise.
"But first, I have some new gear for you to try," Lorien added.
With the symbiote battle suit, Gwen wouldn't need to worry about breathing, temperature extremes, or cosmic radiation. It would protect her even in the harshest environments—perfect for their upcoming trip.
Not that Lorien was eager to see her in it right away—cough, cough.
"Come on, try it out."
Ten minutes later, Gwen emerged, dressed head-to-toe in the sleek black leather suit.
Lorien crossed his arms, explaining, "This symbiote battle suit can change its shape at will, and you can even alter the color. Give it a try."
"Really!?" Gwen was thrilled.
She began experimenting with the suit, starting with the original hooded design. Eventually, she discovered the mask could be opened and closed instantly, so she removed the hood altogether. The suit still hugged her curves like her previous Spider suit, but the overall look was drastically different.
Where the old suit had been primarily black and white with pink accents, this new one was mostly black with pink highlights. The white now outlined her figure in sharp, striking lines, giving Gwen an even more ghostly appearance.
Then, with a quick switch, she reverted to the original black-and-white pattern. "It's like a Ghost Spider. Anyway, I can change it whenever I want."
Lorien, satisfied with the suit's shapeshifting capabilities, nodded. "Alright, let's go."
"To Mars."
Gwen blinked, taken aback. "Huh~!?"