"One."
Hardy spat out a number.
The little giant who had just been struck on the chin, together with another little giant, lunged at Hardy from two directions.
To avoid being flanked—and to end the fight quickly—Hardy manipulated Heijin to charge at the one on the left.
This would create a time gap, allowing him to take down one first.
"Two!"
The Level 2 pneumatic punch valve was activated.
A black steel fist collided with a muscular one, and a crisp sound of bone cracking rang out from the latter.
Hardy quickly anticipated that the opponent's next move would be to raise his other arm to defend. Controlling Heijin, he stepped forward, seized the opponent's arm with an iron grip, spun around, and threw him over his shoulder, pinning him down so he couldn't move.
"Three."
Heijin's left arm launched another pneumatic punch, striking the opponent's chin. As the giant fell unconscious, Heijin lifted his right arm to block another charging little giant.
"Four."
The cylinders at the legs and ankles activated, powerful mechanical energy transmitted through levers. Heijin's right leg shot up, swinging the massive black steel giant in a circular motion in midair.
The glossy black metallic foot landed squarely on the little giant's head.
"Five."
Two taken down in five seconds.
"Ugh—ah!!!"
The little giant who had previously been punched so hard he vomited blood charged at him again from behind.
Even under the siege of three Titan little giants, Hardy had needed only five seconds to take out two. This last one was no threat.
He sidestepped the punch, and as his opponent, carried by inertia, had yet to stop moving forward, Heijin ducked and delivered an uppercut, launching the giant into the air. He then reached out with his right arm, grabbed the giant by the ankle, swung him around like a windmill a few times, then hoisted him high with both hands and slightly raised his left knee.
Harvey Dent, seeing this move, cried out immediately:
"Stop!"
"You think I'll stop just because you say so? Wouldn't that make me look weak..."
"I'll rob another bank tomorrow! The haul will be even bigger than this time!"
"And then?"
Hardy tossed the little giant aside like a dead dog.
If Two-Face couldn't offer a high enough price, this guy would end up with the same broken back treatment as Batman.
Harvey Dent didn't have Wayne Tech's miraculous technology, nor did he have connections to anyone with supernatural healing abilities to treat his men.
"This is the formula and production process for the Titan serum, restored by Victor. But the organic compound Victor named No. 27 propanol is very difficult to synthesize. It can only be produced in small quantities in high-spec laboratories, and large-scale production is currently impossible."
Harvey Dent pulled a small notebook from his pocket.
Hardy stepped out of Heijin, snatched the notebook, and flipped through a few pages.
He didn't know much about biochemistry, so he couldn't make sense of it.
"This should have been mine in the first place."
"Yes, yes, I know."
Harvey Dent could only accept his bad luck.
He had miscalculated—the Puppeteer's combat strength was far higher than he'd imagined.
"In addition to the compensation I mentioned earlier, I want some territory."
"Fine. How much do you want?"
Hardy had his men bring a map and began calculating in his mind.
His fortune progress bar had now reached 92.6%.
Judging by the territory gained from the last two expansions, plus the assets and new recruits...
"Gordon Street should be your turf, right? From here all the way to Morel Alley—I want this entire area."
Hardy's finger traced across four streets and two neighborhoods.
Digesting this much territory should still leave him with some surplus.
"Fine, but Chike Street and the Deler Community aren't mine. The first one is controlled by a gang called the Jack Gang, and the Deler Community belongs to a group called Sons of the Scepter."
Jack Gang?
Never heard of them, but Sons of the Scepter sounded vaguely familiar.
"Boss, the Sons of the Scepter are a subsidiary of Falcone. They have a male and a female leader, known as the Gunmaster and the Gunsmith—both are firearms experts. Falcone's weapons often get sent to them for modification. They're quite strong. As for the Jack Gang, they're just a small-time group. Our guys could wipe them out in a day if they're armed!"
The accountant adjusted his glasses and stepped up behind Hardy.
As Hardy's self-appointed assistant, he had already memorized the details of all the gangs in the dozens of districts around Hog United.
"Gunmaster and Gunsmith?"
Just from the names, they sounded impressive, but they couldn't be too famous—otherwise, he would have heard of them.
"Alright then."
Hardy waved his hand.
Even without the Deler Community, it should just barely be enough.
Now wasn't the time to clash with Falcone too soon.
That old man's power was too great. To avoid having his hard-earned territory suffer a major blow, it was better to let Harvey Dent and his large Two-Face Gang act as a buffer.
"Oh, right, Mr. Dent."
Hardy suddenly called out to Harvey Dent.
"Is the compensation money enough to build a lab capable of producing Titan serum?"
Hardy was quite tempted by the Titan serum.
It wasn't the strongest thing out there, but it wasn't weak either. It could turn an ordinary person into a super-soldier. While it might not help much in boosting his own strength, it would be very useful for expanding his influence.
Harvey Dent felt a headache coming on.
"You're dreaming. That money would barely cover a fraction of the cost."
Two-Face replied.
"Even if I threw in all of the Two-Face Gang's assets, it wouldn't be enough to build even half of such a lab. In all of Gotham, probably only Wayne Enterpri—"
...kind of lab with those specifications."
"Then how did you manage to make it?"
Hardy asked curiously.
"Victor has an old classmate working at Luthor Group in Metropolis. We pulled some strings and spent a fortune just to rent their lab for a while."
"Alright then."
Hardy waved his hand disinterestedly.
Looks like I'll have to find another way in the future.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."
"Take care, I won't see you out. Remember to withdraw your people tomorrow so mine can take over your turf!"
Harvey Dent's face darkened as he turned and got into the car.
"Boss, looks like we lost out this time," the driver said.
"No, Paul, we haven't lost. As long as we take over Maroni's territory, we'll still come out ahead!"
Harvey Dent glanced at Maroni, who was tied up in a sack and stuffed in the back seat, and spoke in a low voice.
With Titan serum in hand, even if we can't beat the Puppet Master, we can certainly beat the others.
But tonight, I'll start by giving Maroni a taste of sulfuric acid.
Thinking of this, a faint smile appeared on Harvey Dent's face as he happily played with the coin in his hand.