20 Chapter 20: Paul Mark

In Queens, inside a seemingly beautiful house, a middle-aged man frowned as he looked at the unanswered calls on his right hand.

His appearance seemed quite ordinary, but upon closer inspection, there was a hidden ruthlessness in bus eyes. This man was none other than Paul Mark, who had received the delivery from Maverick at the door.

"Damn it! Why isn't that bastard answering the phone? Did he run off to play on his own without listening to orders?" Paul Mark's brow furrowed as he looked at the screen showing the unanswered calls.

He had already made two calls, and even if the guy was with a woman or asleep, he should have heard the phone ringing.

In the few years that Rick Frey had been working under him, such a situation had never occurred.

"Could something unexpected have happened?" Paul Mark wondered as he gently rotated the glass in his left hand.

As his wrist turned, the amber-colored liquid in the glass shimmered, and the round ice cube inside kept colliding with the glass, emitting a crisp sound.

After thinking for a while without coming to any conclusions, Paul Mark decided to make one last call.

"Ring... Ring... Ring..." The call connected, but still, no one answered.

Originally, he had called today to inquire again about the specific situation that day. A few days ago, Rick Frey had assured him that those two people would definitely not survive.

But today, one of his close associates told him that he had seen that kid on the street again.

To figure out what was going on, he had been tirelessly making calls.

If that kid had really managed to survive, then Paul Mark would have to make Rick Frey deal with it again. After all, this matter was personally instructed by Harvey Hammond; there couldn't be any mistakes.

With no one answering the phone again, Paul Mark hung up before the voicemail could play.

Based on his years of experience in the underworld, Rick Frey was likely in trouble. Although he didn't know what exactly had happened, the situation didn't seem good.

To him, that guy was just a tool; if he died, he died. But he had hoped to get a bit more use out of him. It seemed like he would have to rearrange his manpower to deal with it now.

Although Paul Mark felt that Rick Frey might be in trouble, he didn't immediately think of revenge. Instead, he focused on the aspect of who was trying to kill the bastard.

After contemplating for a moment, Paul Mark finished the drink in his glass and dialed another number.

"You said you saw that kid on the street, right? Go check the situation again tomorrow, figure out what's going on, and deal with him after you understand, got it?" Paul Mark instructed his subordinate who had reported the situation to him earlier.

After arranging this matter, he hung up the phone.

Deciding that he would personally go to Rick Frey's hiding place the next day to see what was going on, Paul Mark thought to himself that the guy might have offended someone by gambling or fooling around with women, resulting in getting knocked out or worse.

The next morning, in Maverick's home in Brooklyn.

Venom was having breakfast with Maverick, drinking milk.

Maverick was eating his fried dough sticks slowly, taking a sip of milk every now and then, appearing very methodical and elegant, which sharply contrasted with Venom's demeanor.

In front of Venom, there was a large plate piled high with fried dough sticks like a small mountain, and next to it was a cup resembling a water cooler, divided into two sections - one side containing milk and the other side holding rich hot cocoa.

Venom rolled up a few fried dough sticks and stuffed them into its mouth while holding a large straw, taking a sip of soy milk and then a sip of hot cocoa.

"Ah, human food is really delicious," Venom exclaimed as it slouched in the chair after quickly finishing its meal.

Thinking about the hardships it endured before when it was with Peter Parker, living in a small house and eating poor quality food like pizza and hot dogs, Venom appreciated the spacious and clean environment now, along with the delicious food and unlimited chocolates.

"By the way, you mentioned something called pudding before, when can we try it? I'm really interested in it," Venom asked eagerly, looking at Maverick, who was also almost finished with his meal.

Maverick took a sip of milk and then explained slowly, "Pudding is not what you think it is. It's made from other ingredients and has nothing to do with brains. There shouldn't be any similarity in taste either, although I've never tried it."

Upon hearing Maverick's explanation, Venom was evidently disappointed. It had been looking forward to trying pudding, thinking it was made from brains.

"Oh, I see. That's too bad," Venom sighed.

"But there are indeed dishes made from brains, but they're from animal brains, not human ones," Maverick said, recalling some culinary knowledge.

"Oh?!" Venom's eyes lit up again upon hearing Maverick's words, showing its genuine excitement.

After finishing the last piece of fried dough stick, Maverick wiped his mouth and continued, "For example, there's pig brain, which can be used for some dish like grilled, though I haven't tried that yet. And there's also rabbit head, chicken head, and lamb head. Although I've never tried them, I've heard they're delicious, but I'm not brave enough to try."

"Hmm!" Listening to Maverick's description, Venom licked its lips and said with anticipation, "They must be delicious. Just listening to it sounds good. Although those animal brains are small in quantity, I can eat more."

"When can we go try them? Just thinking about those delicious brains makes my mouth water," Venom said eagerly.

Maverick paused for a moment and pondered, "Hmm, probably not anytime soon, especially since school is starting soon, and all those dishes I mentioned are from other places."

"But if we can find them in New York, I don't mind buying some for you to try. We can also look around carefully. There are so many people in New York, so asking around might yield some results," Maverick suggested.

"Alright, we're done with the meal. Take the plates back to wash them," Maverick instructed Venom, pointing at the dishes on the table.

Initially excited, Venom became unhappy upon hearing this. "I'm Venom! How dare you ask me to wash dishes? You're insulting a noble symbiote," it complained.

"One piece of chocolate," Maverick said calmly, holding up a finger.

"Just one piece of chocolate to placate me? Do you think I'm easily appeased? You underestimate me," Venom scoffed.

Maverick didn't say anything more. He raised his hand and continued, "Five pieces, with hazelnuts."

"Hehehe, deal!" Venom's demeanor changed from rebellious to cheerful. It gathered all the plates and took them back to the kitchen, humming a tune while happily washing the dishes.

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