"His Majesty's divine power makes such things trivial."
The praise came naturally, almost instinctively, from everyone present. None of them doubted it. The power Ethan wielded wasn't just overwhelming—it was absolute.
The power of the Mind Stone was terrifying in its scope. It allowed its wielder to invade consciousness, overwrite thoughts, and implant ideas as easily as breathing. Against such force, individuality itself became fragile.
Erasing a living being's awareness was nothing more than a passing thought.
Ethan's gaze settled on the symbiotes suspended within their vacuum-sealed glass tubes. His eyes flickered faintly, and an invisible wave of mental energy spread outward, silent and unstoppable.
It reached them instantly.
And in that moment, something unexpected happened.
He heard them.
Fragments of thought, chaotic and raw, surged into his awareness. The symbiotes weren't mindless—they were fully conscious, aware of their situation, aware of the danger. They had already observed the Kryptonians outside, already understood what was about to happen.
And they resisted.
Violently.
"Damn Kryptonian… you dare open your mind to me?"
The voice wasn't spoken aloud, but it slammed into Ethan's consciousness like a blade. It carried defiance, hostility, and something deeper—pure, unfiltered malice.
The symbiote called Riot.
Unlike the others that trembled under the pressure, this one fought back. Its thoughts surged outward, attempting not just to resist, but to invade in return. Its mental presence was chaotic, saturated with violence, slaughter, and an almost suffocating darkness.
It didn't believe it would lose.
It tried to corrupt him.
But the moment it made contact—
It shattered.
A faint hum echoed through the space, inaudible to anyone but Ethan.
The crushing force of the Mind Stone obliterated Riot's consciousness instantly. There was no struggle, no drawn-out resistance. One moment it existed—the next, it was gone.
Erased.
Completely.
Ethan's expression didn't change much, but his eyes narrowed slightly as he processed what remained. The fragments of Riot's thoughts lingered just long enough for him to extract information.
"So… Riot."
The name clicked into place.
And with it, a memory surfaced.
Venom.
A meteorite. Symbiotes arriving on a new world. The parallels were too precise to ignore.
His attention shifted.
With a subtle movement of his consciousness, he scanned the remaining symbiotes—and found it.
Venom.
So this was where it had ended up.
What was supposed to reach Earth had been intercepted by him instead. A deviation from the original path, caused entirely by his intervention.
Interesting.
For a moment, Ethan considered simply erasing them all. Several symbiotes had already lost their consciousness under his mental pressure, dissolving into empty biological shells.
But before he could decide—
A voice broke through.
Desperate.
Urgent.
"Please! Great monarch of the Kryptonian Empire, spare me!"
The symbiote called Venom practically screamed its thoughts into Ethan's mind. The tone was completely different from Riot—there was no defiance here, no pride.
Only survival instinct.
"I understand your plan! The symbiote army—it's brilliant! Your Majesty, you're a genius!"
It spoke rapidly, words tumbling over each other in panic.
"If you spare me, I can help you! I know where more symbiotes are—entire planets full of them! Their numbers are far greater than this! You can replace your symbiote battle suits endlessly!"
Ethan almost laughed.
The contrast was absurd.
One symbiote had chosen defiance and been erased without a trace. The other immediately surrendered, offering everything it knew just to survive.
"I've traveled across multiple star systems," Venom continued frantically. "I know secrets—locations, species, hidden worlds! Please, let me serve the empire!"
Its thoughts trembled with desperation.
Ethan's lips curled slightly.
"You're entertaining," he said.
Then his tone sharpened.
"You know I can read your mind. Do you really think you can hide anything from me?"
Venom froze.
Panic surged.
It broke instantly.
"They're on Sagittarius!" it blurted out. "A group of them—they're searching for another inhabited planet! And Klyntar—that's our origin! There are many symbiotes there, but… but it's not necessary for you to go!"
It rushed to clarify, almost tripping over its own thoughts.
"I told you first! You didn't have to read it from me—I said it willingly! Please, give me a chance!"
Ethan watched silently.
This thing…
It really was something else.
Even among its own kind, Venom was clearly an outlier. Compared to Riot's aggression, Venom was opportunistic, self-serving, almost shameless in its willingness to betray its own species.
A survivor.
And potentially useful.
Ethan tapped his fingers lightly against his arm, already arriving at a decision.
"Alright," he said.
"I'll give you a chance."
The relief that followed was immediate.
"Your Majesty! You're incredible! I knew you would understand!" Venom's thoughts flooded forward, overflowing with exaggerated gratitude. "I'll serve the empire! I'll prove my worth!"
Then, without hesitation, it added:
"I can guide your forces to Sagittarius. There's no need for you to handle it personally—I'll lead them straight to the symbiotes."
The betrayal was so casual it was almost impressive.
Ethan chuckled softly.
"Relax," he said.
And then—
The mental pressure returned.
A tidal wave.
Venom's consciousness was engulfed instantly. It felt the invasion, felt its mind being overwritten, branded, altered at the deepest level. There was no pain, but there was something far worse—
Control.
Absolute control.
By the time the process ended, Venom understood one thing with perfect clarity.
Its life no longer belonged to itself.
Ethan's voice followed.
"I don't trust you," he said calmly. "So your life stays in my hands. Do your job well, and bring me every symbiote you can find."
Venom didn't dare resist.
"Yes… Your Majesty."
Ethan withdrew his mental presence, the invisible pressure receding like a tide pulling back from shore. His attention shifted away from the containment units as though nothing significant had happened.
Then he turned to Faora.
"I've kept one," he said. "It'll guide you to Sagittarius."
There was no need for him to personally handle the next phase. That was the point of building an empire—delegation, execution, expansion.
Faora understood immediately.
Ethan paused briefly, another thought forming.
"There's one more thing."
His mind drifted back to the recent battles, to the soldiers who had suffered injuries during the raids. Some had survived—but not without cost.
Lost limbs.
Permanent damage.
Until now, recovery options had been limited.
But not anymore.
"Assign Venom to a wounded Kryptonian soldier," he said. "Someone who's lost a limb."
His gaze hardened slightly.
"The symbiote will restore it."
....
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