Drake watched him for a second.
"...Fair."
Then chaos truly began.
Black tendrils exploded outward like living snakes.
One man got tied upside down instantly.
Another flew across the warehouse and smashed into a wall.
Several more crashed into weapon crates.
One especially unlucky guy somehow ended up hanging from the ceiling.
The entire battle lasted less than two minutes.
Then silence returned.
Bodies were scattered everywhere.
Groans filled the warehouse.
Drake casually walked deeper inside while looking around.
Rows upon rows of weapon crates filled the storage area.
He opened one.
Rifles.
Another.
Shotguns.
Another.
Explosives.
A grin slowly spread beneath his mask.
"...Jackpot."
The black symbiote immediately spread from his body. Countless small tendrils extended outward and covered the weapons completely.
Then, instead of simply touching them, the weapons slowly sank into the black substance itself and disappeared.
The giant sniper rifle slowly disappeared into the black symbiote as it spread across its surface like liquid darkness.
Absorbed.
Immediately, information flooded Drake's mind.
Internal systems.
Long-range targeting mechanisms.
Scope technology.
Customized attachments.
Heavy-duty construction.
The symbiote quickly analyzed every part of it and copied the complete structure.
Analysis complete.
A grin instantly appeared beneath Drake's mask.
Now this was a worthwhile find.
Compared to the rifles and shotguns from earlier, this thing was on an entirely different level.
Then Drake looked around the warehouse again.
Rows of crates still filled the place.
Weapons.
Boxes of ammunition.
Magazines.
Grenades.
Attachments.
Equipment.
Drake crossed his arms and stared for a few seconds.
Then he shrugged.
"...Might as well."
The next moment, black tendrils burst outward from his body and spread through the warehouse in every direction.
They covered everything.
Crates.
Bullets.
Weapons.
Attachments.
Nothing escaped.
Then the objects slowly began sinking into the black substance.
Entire boxes disappeared.
Shelves emptied.
Crates vanished one after another.
Not even a single bullet remained behind.
Drake simply stood there and watched with satisfaction.
Every object absorbed by the symbiote strengthened it slightly. Metals, materials, internal structures, mechanical designs—everything was analyzed and integrated into the suit.
The upgrades kept stacking.
But Drake wasn't finished yet.
Near one side of the warehouse, he noticed a small office area.
His eyes moved across the room.
Computers.
Laptops.
Monitors.
Phones.
Smartphones.
Storage devices.
Immediately, Drake's eyes lit up.
"Oh?"
A few seconds later, black tendrils covered the room.
Then everything disappeared.
Absorbed.
Information instantly entered Drake's mind again.
Electronic structures.
Storage systems.
Basic software architecture.
Hardware components.
Circuit designs.
More and more data poured into his head.
Within moments, the office became completely empty.
Drake looked around.
The warehouse barely looked like a warehouse anymore.
No weapons.
No equipment.
No electronics.
Nothing.
Only unconscious gang members remained lying everywhere.
Then the symbiote slowly retreated and returned to his body.
Everything became quiet.
Drake blinked before looking down at his arm.
The black suit covering his body shifted slightly.
He narrowed his eyes.
Something felt different.
Raising his hand, Drake touched the surface of the suit.
His expression changed.
The texture had changed.
Before this, the suit felt more like steel armor.
Strong.
Heavy.
Durable.
But now...
It felt different.
Lighter.
Flexible.
Still durable.
Almost like some kind of advanced fiber material.
Drake immediately understood what happened.
Bulletproof materials.
Kevlar-like structures.
Lightweight protective designs.
The symbiote had integrated all of it.
His suit had evolved again.
Drake slowly clenched his fist.
"...Nice."
Then a random thought suddenly entered his head.
He rubbed his chin.
"...Now I really wonder if I should rob a police station."
Silence.
A few seconds later, he laughed.
"Nah."
He still had standards.
Probably.
Soon black wings formed behind his back again.
Whoosh.
Drake shot into the sky and continued hunting.
One gang hideout became two.
Two became three.
Three became four.
Throughout the night, Drake moved from place to place.
Whenever he found a gang base—
Boom.
Crash.
Screams.
Silence.
Weapons disappeared.
Technology disappeared.
Money disappeared.
Drugs, however, remained untouched.
Drake had no interest in those.
Money was a different story.
That absolutely disappeared.
The symbiote had started acting like a living storage space now. Almost like a dimensional pocket hidden inside itself.
Weapons.
Cash.
Equipment.
Everything could be stored inside.
By morning, police sirens echoed across different parts of the city.
Officers arrived at one location.
Then another.
Then another.
Then another.
Four gang hideouts in one night.
At every location, unconscious gang members could be found lying everywhere.
Some were hanging from ceilings.
Some were stuck inside walls.
Others looked like they had mentally given up halfway through the fight.
But that wasn't the strangest part.
All the weapons were gone.
All the computers were gone.
Money gone.
Equipment gone.
Entire storage rooms had been emptied.
Only the drugs remained untouched.
Police officers stared at the scenes with complete confusion.
One officer slowly looked around.
"...What the hell happened here?"
Meanwhile, high above the city, Drake flew through the early morning sky.
A grin remained on his face.
Tonight had been productive.
Very productive.
As Drake flew across the city, the sky slowly began to brighten. Morning was coming soon.
Drake looked toward the horizon and stretched his arms.
"...Okay. Time to head back."
A few minutes later, he arrived near his apartment building.
He landed silently on a nearby rooftop and looked around carefully.
People were starting to wake up.
A few lights had already turned on.
Some early workers walked through the streets.
One old man was jogging nearby.
Drake narrowed his eyes.
"...Stealth mode."
The black symbiote immediately shifted around his body.
Then Drake slowly disappeared.
Not completely.
But almost.
The symbiote manipulated its surface and absorbed surrounding light.
Without reflected light, people simply couldn't properly see him.
No reflection.
No visible shape.
No obvious outline.
From a distance, it looked like empty space.
Drake looked down at himself.
"hmm, working perfectly fine"
This ability had become much easier after absorbing all the new materials and technology tonight.
The symbiote adapted incredibly fast.
Satisfied, Drake jumped from rooftop to rooftop and was soon back in his room.