As a fellow rich kid, Harry had his own advantages compared to Tony Stark.
While Harry's talent for scientific research wasn't as strong as Tony's, he had his own gifts. For example, in athletics, Harry was much better than Tony.
Harry and Peter began learning under Marcus's guidance. Despite having no superhuman advantages, Harry wasn't being outpaced by Peter, who had spider abilities, when it came to learning fighting techniques.
Although he'd started studying a few days after Peter, Harry quickly caught up, using various fighting techniques with growing proficiency.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Muffled sounds echoed through the warehouse as Peter blocked Harry's attacks with his arms.
To maintain his secret identity in front of Harry, Peter could only hold back constantly, training with strength similar to Harry's normal human level.
"Is that all the strength you've got, Harry?"
Feeling the harmless attacks, Peter said mockingly, trying to disturb Harry's focus.
This was something Marcus had taught them—language was also a weapon in fighting. Using words to disrupt an opponent's mindset and rhythm was key to defeating enemies.
"Nice try, but that doesn't bother me, Peter."
Harry ignored Peter's taunts, completely unaffected by his words.
His fists kept swinging continuously while his footwork remained quick, ready to kick out at any moment to defeat Peter.
The two were training reasonably well, but to Marcus, it looked no different from children playing around.
Both had only learned the basics. If they wanted to complete all their training, they'd need many more years of practice.
Glancing at the pair, Marcus turned to open Harry's laptop and browsed news websites.
There had been some interesting developments in recent days, including reports about an "octopus monster."
In the website videos, tentacle shadows were visible, and at the base of those tentacles was a connected human figure.
The octopus monster was hiding somewhere in New York, preparing for its next move.
"Interesting. Looks like Wild Dog's operations are going smoothly. I wonder if he can put up a fight against the little spider?"
Marcus knew very well that the octopus monster was Wild Dog, who'd obtained the mechanical tentacles. The reason he appeared in news videos was because Wild Dog was searching for energy treasures.
These days, Wild Dog had been hunting for treasures containing energy, occasionally using the lotus symbol to make sacrifices.
Unfortunately, the energy contained in those items was negligible—it couldn't even meet the minimum requirements for extracting Aya Stars.
Rather than waste those energies, Marcus returned them all to Wild Dog to supplement his burning body and slightly increase his power reserves.
However, compared to what Wild Dog's body was already consuming, the added energy was completely useless—it could only temporarily delay his death.
And that was before Wild Dog used his more powerful abilities. If Wild Dog unleashed his full strength, the supplemental energy wouldn't even keep him alive for an extra breath.
Looking at the information about Wild Dog, Marcus glanced thoughtfully at Peter, who was sparring with Harry.
"Doctor Octopus has changed. I wonder how the little spider will handle this."
The Bar
The position that should have belonged to Hyena was now occupied by Wild Dog.
The mechanical tentacles on Wild Dog's back waved menacingly around the space, making the gangsters in the bar afraid to speak.
In front of Wild Dog, several people lay prostrate on the floor—all loyal Hyena supporters.
"Hyena is dead. You seem very unsatisfied with me!"
Looking at the Hyena loyalists before him, Wild Dog smiled sinisterly. It turned out that being a real boss wasn't much different from before.
The only troublesome thing was dealing with these die-hard Hyena supporters.
"Wild Dog, check your attitude. None of us are beneath you. What kind of person do you think you are, wanting to take over Boss Hyena's bar?"
A fierce-faced gangster stepped forward, very displeased with Wild Dog's arrogant attitude.
CRACK!
A mechanical tentacle slammed directly into the thug's head, and his skull exploded instantly like a watermelon being smashed.
The spray of blood and brains made everyone go silent. Although they were all gangsters used to life and death, this was still too brutal.
"Wild Dog, you—!"
Seeing his companion's head blown off by the mechanical tentacles, another gangster shouted angrily.
"What about me?" Wild Dog approached the gangster, supported by his mechanical tentacles. "Do you want to end up like him too?"
Seeing Wild Dog's arrogant expression, the gangster was furious.
"Without Boss Hyena's mechanical tentacles, what are you?" the gangster said angrily.
"I'm nothing, huh?"
As he spoke, Wild Dog raised his hand and grabbed the gangster's neck, lifting him into the air.
The scene looked completely wrong—after all, compared to Wild Dog's thin frame, the gangster was much more muscular.
"Even without these mechanical claws, killing you wouldn't be difficult."
Energy spread from his hands as faint blue light radiated from his eyes.
Crack.
The strong-looking thug stopped breathing on the spot, his neck crushed by Wild Dog's grip.
"Anyone else have objections?"
Wild Dog's voice echoed through the bar, but the space remained silent. Everyone held their breath, afraid of becoming another casualty.
Seeing no one raise objections, Wild Dog nodded with satisfaction.
With the powerful abilities granted by the Lotus God, combined with these mechanical tentacles, he truly was a chosen one.
"Since there are no objections, then listen carefully. From today forward, this gang will be called the Octopus Gang.
Your only job is to find various items that store energy."
"Remember—don't look for things like car batteries. I want high-tech items!"
Wild Dog's voice rang in everyone's ears, warning all his subordinates.
Originally, he'd planned to change the gang name to the Lotus Gang, but a lotus couldn't reflect his viciousness. So he used his recent nickname to rename the group the Octopus Gang.
"Also, don't call me Wild Dog anymore. From now on, call me Kraken!"
Kraken looked around, telling everyone to use his new name.
This wasn't his real name, but one he'd found in Norse mythology—Kraken, the giant sea monster of the North Sea.
Now that he had mechanical tentacles combined with the power granted by the Lotus God, he could do everything the legendary North Sea monster could do.
Kraken?
The gangsters in the bar were momentarily taken aback, then returned to calm.
When a new boss took power, they always issued lots of orders. A simple name change was nothing unusual.
Besides, for a new boss, "Wild Dog" did sound pretty pathetic and low-status.