From the moment the Spaletta Family was wiped out, Hogg United officially took control of Dirk Street.
Over the course of three days, under the accountant's guidance, they largely took over the Spaletta Family's assets and brought in a wave of new recruits.
Hogg United's numbers successfully rose to fifty, and the territory they controlled more than doubled.
"Not bad. Expanding the forces under one's command can indeed boost luck."
In the most luxurious mansion on Dirk Street, Qingshui sat on the sofa, seemingly lost in thought with his eyes closed, but in reality, his attention was on the system panel.
When he first entered the DC Universe, the panel's progress bar was at 17.3%, and it slowly increased to 17.9% over time.
After taking control of the Kohl Gang, this figure surged to 19.8% within two days.
It might not seem like much, but Hogg Street, controlled by the Kohl Gang, was just one of the most ordinary streets in Gotham's slums.
Gotham had countless streets like it.
After the Spaletta Family was eliminated, it rose to 20.8%.
"I still need to proceed slowly; I can't go too fast, lest I attract the attention of Batman and his kind."
Qingshui wasn't afraid of Batman himself, but he was wary of getting into a fight with him.
Even if Batman couldn't defeat him, it would be easy for him to cause trouble, which could affect Qingshui's expansion.
Moreover, Hogg United also needed time to digest the Spaletta Family's assets, and the average quality of these individuals didn't meet Qingshui's standards.
"In that case, for now, the focus should be on acquiring knowledge. Also, I need to train these thugs under me. I don't expect them to compare to a regular army, but they should at least look like the elites of a major gang."
Qingshui had never done team training before, but he could simplify some techniques from the Ninja Academy that didn't require Chakra and teach them.
He could also combine them with the standard military training methods of this world. He could ask Aman about this, or at worst, hire some retired military officers to teach.
As for whether his subordinates would be dissatisfied, Qingshui believed they would be.
The prestige he had established with Black Gold was more than enough. Then, he would reward qualified members with bonuses. A carrot and stick approach would be sufficient.
Of the over 700,000 dollars left by the Spaletta Family, after paying a portion to Penguin, over 100,000 were distributed as bonuses to his subordinates. The remaining 500,000-plus, along with protection fees from the two streets and shop commissions, were enough to sustain the gang's training and normal operations. The surplus would be saved to purchase materials for upgrading Black Gold in the future.
Thinking this, Qingshui picked up the mechanics treatise written by Silas Stone from the table.
...
...
"*Wind Release: Turbulent Dance!*"
Streams of air swirled around the Puppet base's training ground, kicking up dust.
Qingshui had already mastered the Ninjutsu, Turbulent Dance.
"Excellent. Next is the experiment: based on the principle of Turbulent Dance, accelerate the airflow into the pneumatic device, then pressurize it using the principle of Gale Palm."
Qingshui carefully manipulated the Fatty Puppet with both hands.
He couldn't perform hand seals now, so he couldn't directly cast Ninjutsu with his body to accelerate gas compression.
However, he didn't need to fully cast the Ninjutsu. He just needed to transmit his wind-natured Chakra through Chakra Threads to roughly replicate parts of the two Ninjutsu's effects within a small area.
If the pneumatic device's charging speed and power could even slightly improve, it would be a success.
The airflow rushed into the air pump, then rapidly compressed under the action of the piston and Wind Release Chakra, finally opening the valve.
Under high pressure, internal energy quickly converted into mechanical energy, causing the Fatty Puppet's fist to shoot out instantly and strike a large rock.
Crushed rock scattered, and dust flew, causing Sasori, who was in the adjacent room, to stop what he was doing and look out the window.
"This guy's Puppet super-strength Ninjutsu has gotten stronger again."
Sasori watched Qingshui for a moment, then turned back to continue modifying Black Ant and Salamander.
"Gas aggregation speed improved from 10.3 seconds per single pneumatic pump to 7.4 seconds. The power increase is unclear, but likely significant. Next time, I can consider having the avatar learn how to make a pressure gauge and put one in. Then, the changes in pressure data can be put into a formula for calculation."
Qingshui walked over to the Fatty Puppet, removed its arm, and carefully inspected it.
"The cylinder has slight deformation. Next time, I'll need to use better materials for the cylinder and redesign the cylinder structure. I'll use multi-stage classified air valves to separate and change the pressure distribution, focusing on strengthening the high-pressure chamber and allowing for precise, graded control of punching force..."
As Qingshui inspected, he simultaneously modified the design on the panel.
After the modifications, the Fatty Puppet's rating didn't increase.
This was because it only slightly enhanced the Puppet's endurance and control capabilities. The increase in the upper limit wasn't in the Puppet itself, but in Qingshui, the one using the Puppet.
"The material costs should be covered. I had a little left over, and I also received a certain proportion of the reward from the last S-rank mission. I can also upgrade Little Boy at the same time."
The next day.
The last day of the holiday.
Through the Puppet Force's internal channels, Qingshui easily acquired the necessary materials from the warehouse and began upgrading Fatty and Little Boy.
The modifications to Fatty proceeded systematically, and the modifications to Little Boy were even simpler.
The design philosophy of this Puppet itself was extremely radical; apart from essential offensive means, all points were allocated to speed.
Therefore, deep modification was actually very difficult because Little Boy's main body was made of extremely lightweight materials, which resulted in insufficient main structural strength.
If he wanted to modify it, it would either be a major overhaul from the inside out, almost equivalent to rebuilding a Puppet, or minor adjustments around the edges. It would be very difficult to improve it further.
However, Qingshui came up with an idea.
Springs.
Springs are components used in many industrial machines and are also found in some Puppets, where they function in various mechanisms.
Qingshui's goal was to install springs in the Little Boy's feet and leg joints. When manipulating the Puppet, he would use Chakra Threads to move the Puppet, thereby storing energy in the springs.
Since the Little Boy was light enough, there was no concern that the springs would deform and fail to recover due to prolonged heavy pressure.
The only requirement was that the chosen metal had to possess both strength and toughness.
Fortunately, though the Sand Hidden Village was poor, the Land of Wind was rich in minerals, and with the Third Kazekage acting as a human ore detector, the Puppet Force had a large stock of metals that met the requirements.
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