While his main body was adapting to the new team, the Hog United had basically finished absorbing the territory and assets of the Spaletta family, and the first phase of training devised by his avatar had concluded.
The reason the training had to be divided into phases was out of necessity.
These guys were all street thugs used to a lax lifestyle, not soldiers—there was no way Hardy could train them by the strict standards of the military academies Aman mentioned.
The main focus was on physical fitness, strength, flexibility, some basic combat skills, and the proper use of firearms.
Honestly, just mastering these would be enough to get by in Gotham's underworld; with some talent, they might even become small-time leaders.
But Hardy's training plan also included ninja skills: stealth, disguise, the use of shuriken, daggers, blowguns, chains, team tactics, bomb and trap making, intelligence gathering and analysis, and more.
These were the bread-and-butter skills of a ninja.
Perhaps only members of a few organizations, like the League of Assassins led by ninja masters, could fully master all these abilities.
And that wasn't all—since Hardy saw himself as a crime boss, he believed they should act like one. So, they also had to learn about money laundering, evading prosecution from illegal transactions, forging documents and IDs.
They needed to deeply understand Gotham's criminal economy and financial crime, know how to exploit legal loopholes, and how to deal with the police, and so on.
If he really managed to build such a well-organized team, the mayor of Gotham probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
Hardy could easily sweep through Gotham's underworld and max out the progress bar on his stats panel.
But reality is harsh, no matter how rosy the dream.
Never mind that Hog United was just a mid-sized gang of about fifty people—over ninety percent of these thugs couldn't even keep up with Hardy's physical training.
If it weren't for the fact that Hardy paid better than other gangs, some of these guys would probably have already run off.
"Boss! Boss! Bad news!"
Inside the abandoned factory, Hardy was carefully filling the dismantled Black Gold with bionic flexible rubber when Blondie burst in, flustered.
"Speak."
While carefully fitting the composite carbon fiber shell over the rubber core, Hardy replied.
"Kerman Cole is here! And he's brought dozens of armed men with him!"
Kerman Cole?
Who's that?
Then Hardy quickly remembered the name of the former Cole gang boss, and his brother, who was a leader in Two-Face's gang.
Was he about to go up against Two-Face's crew?
Hardy frowned.
Now wasn't the best time—Black Gold was still being modified and wasn't ready for use.
It wasn't that he couldn't use it, but if he tried before the artificial muscle installation was finished, he might damage the expensive high-strength bionic materials he'd just bought, which would be a big loss.
Still, as a ninja, his strength wasn't limited to Black Gold.
On the wall hung some ninja tools made from leftover metal scraps from the Black Gold modifications.
Basically, there was a high-carbon steel...
A crafted ninja blade, a few kunai, and some shuriken.
At most, you could add the handgun placed on the edge of the table.
There weren't many weapons, but with his own skills and chakra, he already possessed combat power surpassing the peak of ordinary humans. Together with Hog's gang members, who had some basic military training, even against Gotham's top gangs, they would be able to put up a fight.
Hardy slung the ninja blade over his back, put the kunai and shuriken into his pockets, his expression cold and indifferent.
He was not the type to take a beating without fighting back. If the Two-Face Gang really wanted to start something, he didn't mind taking the risk of being targeted by those Bat brats to take out Harvey Dent.
"Let's go."
After loading his handgun and holstering it, Hardy led the blond out the front door.
"Where is Chidi Cole?!"
"Where is my brother?!"
"Where's your boss?! Where the hell did that guy go?!"
On the concrete outside the base, which had been converted from an abandoned factory, a dozen cars and dozens of Two-Face Gang thugs had gathered.
At the front of the crowd, a man wearing a gold chain and a trench coat was waving a submachine gun, shouting wildly.
When he saw Hardy leading the blond, surrounded by Hog's gang members, the man immediately looked at Hardy.
"You're the new boss of the Cole Gang?"
Hardy ignored him, instead scanning the surroundings with his eyes.
"I'm talking to you!"
Kerman Cole pointed his gun at Hardy.
Only then did Hardy silently turn his gaze to the man, and then—
"Whoosh!"
A shuriken flew out, striking the man's hand, making him cry out in pain and drop his submachine gun.
In unison, the circle of Two-Face Gang thugs raised their guns and aimed at Hardy.
Hog's men were a beat slower, but quickly turned their guns as well.
"I don't really like being stared down at gunpoint."
Hardy chuckled softly, glancing around.
"At this point, none of you have made a move yet. That means this guy can't give you direct orders. But you've still shown up in force, so I'm guessing you're here too, Harvey Dent."
The door of a luxury car in front swung open, and out stepped a man in a half-black, half-white suit.
The right half of his face was that of a handsome man, while the left half was completely burned, exposing bone and teeth—a terrifying sight.
Gotham's top-tier villain, Two-Face: Harvey Dent.
"The coin toss came up tails, which means I shouldn't choose to be your enemy, Puppet Master. Boys, lower your guns."
Harvey Dent deftly flipped a coin through his fingers, smiling at Hardy.
Hardy's eyes flickered.
"You got that from Penguin?"
Only Penguin knew the intel about him being the Puppet Master.
"Of course. I spent a little money. In fact, I even robbed a bank yesterday just for that."
Harvey Dent turned to look at Kerman Cole.
"My dear Kerman, I've always believed you're a talented and loyal subordinate. I even turned a blind eye when you skimmed a little off the protection money as a reward. But why, when I sent you to talk to my Watt brothers—and I emphasized it should be a normal conversation—why did you want to talk with guns?"
Kerman clutched his injured right hand with his left and replied,
"Sorry, Boss. My brother, Chidi, he—"
"Didn't he die in the conflict with the Spalletta family? And my Watt brothers avenged him for you."
Kerman lowered his head, hiding the anger in his eyes.
"You know, Kerman, I've given you plenty of chances. Skimming a little money isn't a big deal as long as it doesn't affect my business, provided you listen and get things done. Unfortunately, you didn't."
Harvey Dent flipped his coin into the air, catching it on the back of his right hand, then covering it with his left.
"Let's let the coin decide whether I should spare you."
---
Chapter 40: Negotiation (Please add to your reading list, please vote for me!)
"If it's heads, you're still my good subordinate. If it's tails…"
Harvey Dent slowly lifted his left hand.
"What a shame. It's tails."
Harvey Dent shook his head.
"Mr. Puppet Master, consider this man my apology for dropping in unannounced. Now, would you be willing to have a chat with me?"
"What do you want to talk about?" Hardy asked Harvey Dent.
The latter elegantly opened the car door and gestured for Hardy to get in.
"Shall we talk in private?" Harvey Dent said.
Hardy pondered for two seconds, then placed his left hand behind his back, flicking out a few chakra threads to ensure he could summon the modified pneumatic arm from Heijin at any time. Only then did he get in the car.
The window was open, so the chakra threads could pass through easily.
Harvey Dent sat beside Hardy, motioning with his hand.
The car slowly drove a short distance away from the crowd. The driver soon got out, ensuring their conversation would not be overheard.
"There was originally only one thing I wanted to discuss, but after seeing you in person, there are now two. The new question is: what's your relationship with Ra's?"
Ra's, also known as the Demon's Head, is the leader of the League of Assassins, whose Chinese name is Lei Xiaogu.
Harvey Dent probably thought Hardy's ninja skills meant he was from the League of Assassins.
"I have nothing to do with him. My skills are just similar to those of the League's members."
Hardy looked at Harvey Dent's twisted face as he spoke.
Whether Two-Face really believed him or not was unclear. He simply nodded, then took a newspaper from the front seat and handed it to Hardy.
"For this matter, you were there in person. I want to know if there's still any of that stuff left—the kind that can turn people into monsters like that."
The newspaper's front page was a striking image: Batman facing off against the Titan Joker on the rooftop of Arkham Asylum.
Hardy did, in fact, still have a sample of the improved Titan formula.
Back then, the Joker needed some powerful cannon fodder to keep Batman occupied, so he gave Hardy and the other Arkham inmates each a vial of Titan II.
To escape from Arkham, Hardy injected his Titan II into a guard to distract Nightwing and managed to get away. He still had about half a vial left—maybe only ten or twenty milliliters.
"The Joker already proved for us that this stuff can't take down Batman or his little bat-brats,"
Hardy leaned back in the leather chair, raised the newspaper, and said,
"But that doesn't mean it's useless, does it? At the very least, the monsters it creates can definitely hold Batman up for a while. That alone makes it a pretty good card to have."
Two-Face toyed with his coin, locking eyes with Hardy.
If Hardy didn't say anything, he couldn't be sure whether Hardy actually had any left.
All the improved Titan formula was destroyed by Batman that day. The only people who might still have some were those who escaped Arkham that night.
He'd done his homework. The Puppeteer had used the Titan formula to draw Nightwing and the guards' attention, then slipped out of Arkham during the chaos of Batman's showdown with the Joker. So, he was the most likely to have any left.
But Hardy's strength made him wary—not just the power of that black metal robot he'd heard about, but Hardy's own abilities were also an unknown factor to Harvey Dent.
Otherwise, he'd have just taken it by force.
Hardy was weighing his options as well.
Keeping the Titan formula for himself was of little use in the short term.
You needed a certain level of expertise in biology and chemistry to even attempt to crack the sample. Hardy didn't have those connections, nor the time or energy to study it himself.
But Harvey Dent might.
As Gotham's former district attorney and now a crime boss and supervillain, Harvey Dent's network and influence far surpassed Hardy's.
But Hardy wasn't bound to choose Harvey Dent—unless the latter made it worth his while, meaning a better offer than anyone else.
And Harvey Dent clearly understood that.
"I don't know if you really have the stuff, but let me lay out my terms."
Two-Face pulled out a map of Gotham and laid it in front of Hardy.
"I know you've got two streets now, but that's too small. From here to here—two streets, a small neighborhood—it can all be yours. Your turf will be connected. How you manage it after that is your problem."
Hardy remained silent.
Given enough time, he could easily take that territory himself.
"I'm confident I can get Victor to help us study this stuff. When it's done, the results will belong to the three of us. And in the meantime, I'll draw attention away from you."
Victor?
Hardy quickly searched his memory and soon matched the name to a notorious Gotham villain.
Victor Fries, the infamous Mr. Freeze—a renowned cryophysicist and biochemist in the DC universe, with a solid grasp of engineering as well.
The fact that he could build his own cryo-armor and freeze weapons spoke to his scientific prowess.
If it was him, it might actually work.
"Not enough."
The moment he heard Mr. Freeze's name, Hardy had already made up his mind.
Not just because of Harvey Dent's offer, but because Mr. Freeze was a top-tier scientist, even by DC standards.
Harvey Dent's scarred face twisted into an ugly grin.
"Not enough, but not impossible. That means you really do have a sample of the Titan formula—and that there's room to negotiate."
"One million in cash. It's all from yesterday's bank job, so you'll have to launder it yourself. Plus, a batch of second-hand firearms from the GCPD, and two armored, modified cars. With that, you'll be able to hold your new turf."
Hardy still shook his head. As Two-Face's expression darkened, he spoke:
"I want you to make the introduction—to Victor."
"You can't go behind my back to deal with Victor directly. I'm funding his experiments to revive his wife. That's the only reason he agreed to work with me.
As for you, I doubt you have that kind of capital."
Harvey Dent flipped his coin, staring at Hardy and speaking in a low voice.
"No, no, Mr. Dent. I'm not that interested in the Titan formula. It's nowhere near as strong as my own creations."
Hardy's left hand, hidden behind his back, clenched tight.
Two seconds later, with a thunderous crash, Black Gold smashed through the wall and stepped out amid a cloud of dust.
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