Marvel's Venom, starting with a Hydra undercover agent.

So even though Werner now has his own ideas, they scoff at them and don't take him seriously at all.

These old men even threatened Werner, telling him to keep quiet and be a mere figurehead. If he dared to have any bad intentions, Baron Strucker could simply replace him with someone else, since they had already discovered that Werner had an illegitimate child.

"I am the current Baron Strucker! This place belongs to my family, to the name of Baron Strucker!" Werner roared, venting his anger, pounding the armrests of the sofa with his fists.

Seeing his angry expression, Lister sighed and said in a low voice, "Unfortunately, this old fellow can't help you much. I have no other skills besides research."

“They are a pack of hungry wolves. When your father was alive, he could keep them in check, but now that your father is gone, they have all begun to show their ambitions.”

"Actually, the best thing to do now is to do nothing and just be a good mascot according to their requirements."

Upon hearing Dr. Lister's words, Werner's eyes widened in disbelief, his face still contorted with anger.

He never expected that Dr. Lister, who had always silently supported him, would say such a thing. Was he questioning his abilities?

Before Werner could open his mouth and question him sharply, Dr. Lister continued to explain: "Those old folks are all restless. If you show your face now, they will concentrate their forces against you. But if you stay quietly in place and quietly accumulate your own strength, they will not care about you. Instead, they will fight among themselves."

“Those guys don’t just have a simple fight; they fight until they’re all bloodied and battered before they stop.”

"When their alliance breaks down due to internal strife and their strength diminishes due to internal depletion, the situation will reverse, and you will have enough power to make them realize the truth."

Despite Werner's somewhat reckless and irritable personality, he understood what Lister was saying.

Although Dr. Lister focused solely on scientific research, he was, after all, quite old and had spent a considerable amount of time with Wolfgang.

Therefore, when faced with such a situation, he was far more insightful and composed than Werner.

"Will things really turn out this way? If I stay quiet, won't they sideline me again?" Werner said with some concern.

The anger on his face had not completely subsided, but it was clear that he had taken Dr. Lister's words to heart and was now considering the pros and cons of the matter.

Seeing that he had taken his words to heart, Dr. Lister once again advised, "The power you have gathered now is actually nothing to them. On the contrary, after this incident, they know that you still have your own temper, so these people will not care about this little bit of power."

"They care more about fighting among themselves than about you, because that's more important and a greater threat to them."

"Once you make them feel that you have settled down again, they will not care about you as much. There is no need to rush to develop your strength in secret. After all, you still have the title of Baron Strucker, so most people here still recognize you. Being too hasty will only make them wary."

"In short, time is the most important thing. Given enough time, they will collapse on their own, and you will have the opportunity to take control of this place."

Dr. Lister's words calmed Werner down. This understanding of the situation and judgment of the future made Werner re-evaluate the old man.

It seems that his father maintained a good relationship with this old man not only because he admired his research abilities, but also because the old man had a broad vision.

“Phew, I understand. Thank you, Uncle Lister. I think you might be the greatest treasure my father left me.” Werner looked at Dr. Lister very sincerely and said.

Faced with Werner's respectful and friendly attitude, Dr. Lister was flattered and quickly waved his hand, saying, "I'm happy to be of help to you, after all, this old man only knows scientific research."

“Your father used to take good care of me. He trusted me and always supported my research. Now that he’s gone, I’m just trying to help you out as a way of repaying him.”

As they were talking, the wine cabinet behind the sofa, which was against the wall, suddenly began to shake.

Immediately afterwards, with a loud bang, the wine cabinet was pushed open, and Holm and William Baker emerged from a hidden door inside.

Chapter 203, A Flexible Bottom Line

“Wernher Strucker, is that it? You do look a bit like your father.” Holm said to Wernher in a hoarse voice, his face dark.

"Who are you?" Werner asked Home and William Baker warily.

Hearing Werner's question, Holm smiled and said, "I'm an old friend of your father's. He was sitting on the sofa chatting with me back then, but it didn't end very well."

Holm spoke as he walked forward, while Werner and Dr. Lister took a step back with each step he took forward.

Seeing this, Holm waved his hand, and William Baker, who was standing next to him, suddenly turned into a pile of sand, which then scattered and gathered behind Werner and Dr. Lister.

“Go back,” William Baker said coldly, blocking their path.

Seeing this, Werner and Dr. Lister had no choice but to stop.

“What exactly do you want? I don’t remember my father having an old friend like you!” Werner said through gritted teeth.

“It’s normal that you don’t know, after all, he was killed by me before he could tell you,” Holm said to Werner, leaning back on the sofa in a relaxed manner.

Upon hearing his words, Werner and Dr. Lister's eyes widened instantly.

"So you're the guy who killed my father! How dare you come here?!" Werner said angrily.

Holm had really fooled him just now, but after talking for so long, it turned out that the person in front of him was the same guy who killed his father.

"How dare you come here? What are you afraid of? Let me tell you the truth, I'm here to kill you. How about that? Are you scared?" Holm said with amusement.

"To be honest, you are far inferior to your father. I even said I was going to kill your father, but he still sat on the sofa, poured me a glass of red wine, and then persuaded me to join him."

"Look at you now. All you do is glare at me and yell, and you haven't even poured me a glass of water. You're so rude."

Hearing Holm's shameless remarks, Werner became even angrier. He couldn't understand how Holm could say such outrageous things so casually.

"So you want to kill me, and I should thank you?" Werner said angrily.

"Now I know who you are. You're that old man Pierce's lackey. Did he think that killing my father wasn't enough to control the situation here, so he sent you to kill me instead?"

"Let me tell you, even if you kill me, the Hydra of Sokvia will never obey Pierce's orders!"

“I am Baron Strucker! These old fogies don’t even respect me, so how could they possibly submit to Pierce and obediently follow his orders!”

"So... there's absolutely no need for you to kill me now. The entire Hydra division isn't under my control, so killing me won't make a difference."

“Why don’t you kill those old guys here, and then I can bow down to Pierce in the name of Baron Strucker? Isn’t that what he’s always wanted? I can give it to him now.”

Werner suddenly took a sharp turn, turning his previous righteous indignation into a prelude to new conditions.

Holm was almost caught off guard by his change of heart. He thought Werner would come charging in after he finished his rant, but he didn't expect him to have figured out a way out so quickly. His bottom line was indeed flexible.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I take back what I just said. You and your father not only look somewhat alike, but you also have the same shameless style of doing things." Holm clapped his hands and exclaimed in admiration.

"I thought you valued the title of Baron Strucker quite a bit, but it seems I was mistaken."

"I wonder if your father would be so angry if he knew that you would even bow down to Pierce, whom he has always looked down on, just to survive, he would crawl out of hell and teach you a lesson."

Faced with Holm's sarcasm, Werner said quite frankly, "There's nothing shameful about it. Even if my father were here right now, he would understand what I did."

"The title of Baron Strucker is indeed important, and it is indeed shameful to bow down to that guy Pierce, but compared to life, these things are not something that cannot be put aside for the time being."

"Anyway, those old guys just treat me as a mascot. I don't have any real authority here. For me, going against Pierce won't do me any good. On the contrary, it will put me in a dangerous situation, just like now."

"So what do you think of my suggestion? Killing me won't achieve any effective goal; at most, it will just keep things in chaos for a while longer."

“These old guys can always find someone to inherit Baron Strucker’s name, and because of the series of assassinations, the cohesion of the Sokovia branch will be passively increased. This is probably not what you want to see.”

"Save me, kill those old guys, it's a win-win situation for us."

“Without those old guys holding me back, I can control the situation in Sokvia, bow down to Pierce, accept his supervision and management, and make him the center of everything.”

"In this way, his long-held dream should be realized. The entire Hydra organization will revolve around him, and he will become the true leader of Hydra, without any further objections."

Werner became more and more confident as he spoke, and Dr. Lister, who was standing next to him, was no longer surprised at first, but instead felt that what Werner said made sense.

The suggestion he just gave Werner was indeed a way to get out of the current situation, and the one Werner is now proposing can achieve the same goal, but even faster.

They both felt that Holm should have no reason to refuse the offer, after all, they had already promised what the other wanted. However, they never expected that Holm was not representing Pierce.

"Haha, interesting. I must say, you're quite clever." Holm clapped his hands in admiration.

However, he did not respond to Werner's suggestion. Instead, he nodded to William Baker behind him and said, "How about it? The real person is much more vivid than the information. I've broadened my horizons quite a few times."

Upon hearing his question, William Baker nodded and said, "Indeed, I have corrected some of the mistakes, and I have also made an accurate judgment about his psychology and thoughts."

"Now I can disguise myself perfectly without any flaws. You can proceed."

Chapter 204, Wanda?!

Upon hearing Holm and William Baker's conversation, Werner's expression changed drastically. Although he didn't quite understand what Holm and William Baker were talking about, their implied meaning was clear: he was going to die no matter what.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly shouted, "Wanda!"

"Wanda?" Werner's shout startled Holm, who didn't understand why the other person would suddenly call out for Wanda.

Just as he was wondering, a burst of crimson energy suddenly blasted open the room door.

The energy enveloped Werner and Dr. Lister, then blasted Holm and William Baker off the periphery.

In the open doorway, Wanda stood there, her hands raised, manipulating crimson energy.

She looked much healthier than last time, but she was also much more aloof, her pretty face tense, her eyes warily watching Holm and William Baker.

"Protect us! Take care of these two guys!" Werner and Dr. Lister shouted as they approached Wanda.

"I'll handle this woman. You keep those two under control," Holm instructed William Baker, who had regrouped around him, before stomping the ground and charging towards Wanda.

He didn't know why Wanda had suddenly appeared in Hydra and already possessed superhuman powers.

Holm was also very curious about what had happened between them since he left.

"Whoosh!" With Holm's movement, countless black tentacles extended from his body. These tentacles directly withstood the strange red energy and reached out to grab Werner and Lister inside, while also attacking Wanda.

Holm rushed in front of Wanda in the blink of an eye. Despite Wanda's constant waving of her hands and using those strange red energies to hinder his progress, he still managed to dodge left and right, his hands gripping her arms like iron clamps.

“Wanda, it’s me,” Holm said to Wanda in a normal voice.

Wanda was also taken aback when she heard Holm's voice. She then connected the strange man in front of her with the handsome face and warm smile in her mind.

"You? Is that you? How did you get here?" Wanda's red power paused, and she asked in surprise.

“I was about to ask you the same thing. What are you doing here? Didn’t I leave you a lot of money? And where did your brother go?” Holm asked his own question.

Hearing Holm's question, a hint of pain flashed in Wanda's eyes, and then she said softly, "Things are too complicated. I'm sorry. Although I don't know why you came here, it's my job to protect them. I can't let you hurt them."

As she finished speaking, Wanda's body erupted with intense red energy, sending Holm, who was holding her hand, flying away.

At the same time, the red energy surrounding Werner and Dr. Lister, which had been almost dissipating, suddenly became more concentrated and abundant, helping them withstand the attack from William Baker.

"Well done! That's it, Wanda! Tear those two arrogant bastards to shreds!" Seeing that the situation seemed to have turned around, Werner also started baring his teeth and shouting loudly.

At this point, he no longer harbored any illusions. After all, Holm had just made it very clear that no matter what choice he made, he was going to die.

Since things have come to this point, there's no need for him to compromise any longer. He can only survive by killing Holm and William Baker.

"What exactly happened? You can tell me, maybe I can help you?"

"If you have any deal or cooperation with this idiot, tell me your needs."

Holm did two somersaults in the air before landing steadily on the ground, and looked at Wanda not far away, speaking softly.

His voice had returned to its hoarse state by now, after all, the recent contact had revealed his identity to Wanda.