Eddie decided to rappel directly down the building to the ground not only because there were possibly too many monsters inside the building, but also because he noticed that the hospital room he landed in was on the side of the ward. The area below was a rarely visited grove with no signs of any undead. It was quiet and seemed to be the best landing point.
As Eddie was tying the rope, he couldn't help but recall the zombie that was still able to shakily stand up from the ground even after Venom had bitten its head off.
As it turned out, the zombie's body could still act on instinct and lunge at him. If not for Venom's speedy reaction in throwing it away, its sharp claws would definitely have landed a hit on him.
Eddie increasingly felt that he made the right decision. Messing around with these monsters that could still move even when separated from their bodies was an awful idea. No matter how many Symbiotic Factors Venom had, it wouldn't be enough to sustain the fight.
More importantly, he understood that Venom wasn't invincible. The dense skin formed by the modified factors wasn't entirely invulnerable. They merely appeared unscathed due to the abundance of Symbiotic Factors. They quickly filled any gaps created by destruction, creating an illusion of being indestructible.
To protect the host under the mask, Venom had to sacrifice a portion of the Symbiotic Factors to counter the attacks.
With plentiful food supply, the Symbiotic Factors would naturally generate. However, without the replenishment of food over a long period of time, the consumed Symbiotic Factors would not be replaced.
Previously, Venom had absorbed massive amounts of energy on several occasions, most of which it had transformed into Symbiotic Factors. As long as the Gray Mist didn't count as a part of the symbiotes, Venom would be the most formidable symbiote up to this point.
But Eddie knew another fact: the amines extracted from the human body are the regular food source for their species. Energy is like a potent nutritional supplement. They could taste and derive pleasure from the amines.
Like the human race, which someday might satisfy all their nutritional needs through a variety of chemical substances, but under normal circumstances, no one would voluntarily do so, because gourmet food is a form of pleasure for humans. Individuals on a weight-loss diet could survive, but few could resist the temptation of good food without going crazy.
Eddie feared the use of power would increase Venom's appetite, and it was excruciatingly painful for symbiotes to be starved and unable to consume a large number of amines. Eddie hadn't yet figured out what exactly happened when the portal exploded. If they had to stay here for an extended period, Venom would have to endure the agony.
Therefore, Eddie thought it would be better to keep Venom in a semi-dormant state. After leaving the hospital, he would try to find some supermarkets with food stock to see if he could stock up on some chocolate.
While thinking about the next move, Eddie fastened the safety belt to a pole fixed in the wall beside the hospital bed. After securing it, he hung the remaining safety belt used for buffer descent on one arm.
He used the other hand to support himself, climbing up to the window and looking down. The grove was as quiet as usual, and the nearest sight of an undead was beyond two streets. This was a rare opportunity.
But as he looked down, Eddie broke out in a cold sweat. After all, he was at the height of the eighth floor, and he had a fear of heights.
Although he had already acknowledged Venom's power, he would still refuse if Venom asked him to jump from a high-rise building. Humans are such weak and fragile creatures that they have certain psychological barriers difficult to overcome.
Eddie swallowed hard and took several deep breaths. He began to think that he was not refusing out of fear, but because Venom allowed him to. Venom would take the elevator if Eddie refused to jump. They had once slowly walked down fifteen flights of stairs. Venom murmured complaints all the way but still accompanied him down.
If Venom were really a ruthless parasite, like Riot that once infected the President of the Life Foundation, he would have jumped without a second thought, completely ignoring Eddie's terror.
Eddie recalled the time when he was teaching the S.H.I.E.L.D agents who wanted to cooperate with symbiotes. He trained them to accept symbiotes and work with them in combat.
Back then, he keenly noticed that most of the First Born symbiotes lacked empathetic abilities. All they possessed was the instinct to devour. Experienced Cosmic Special Agents like Blue Spirit would only bolster the host's defenses and alter the structure of their brain regions, reducing their fear before making a "321" jump.
They really had no obligation to understand human weakness, let alone fear. Since fear would not only distress the host but also hinder work efficiency, why not just eliminate it?
But Venom was different. He'd take the stairs or the elevator if Eddie was scared to jump. If Eddie was afraid of gunfire, Venom would try to avoid violent areas. Even when Eddie was scared of cockroaches, Venom would quickly dart out of the room, rather than simply squashing it.
Although Venom often ridiculed Eddie for being a wimp, he was the chief culprit behind Eddie's continued cowardice after all these years.
Having thought through this, Eddie took a deep breath. He tightened his grip on the safety belt, leaned out of the window, and finally stepped outside the building.