That makes sense.
Aman has professional military training, but at the end of the day, he's just a military academy dropout and can't compare to a genuine special forces operative.
Not to mention the other subordinates.
This is a drawback of Hogg United's rapid development.
Against small, ordinary gangs, Hogg United can easily overwhelm them with its size and equipment advantage. But when facing gangs of similar size with established foundations, it becomes very troublesome.
Currently, Hogg United's upper-level combat strength relies entirely on Qingshui alone.
"I can take care of the Gunner and the Armorer, but if I have to deal with every threat, what good are you all?"
Qingshui picked up a grape, popped it into his mouth, and asked with his eyes closed.
Establishing a gang was certainly a way for him to acquire Fortune, but if the foundation of his power wasn't stable, it would be very difficult to continue developing later on.
His own abilities were limited. Only by training a group of qualified subordinates could he break through the bottleneck.
"This..."
The subordinates in the office exchanged glances.
"With me here, no gang in Gotham can threaten us, but I also don't need useless subordinates. After your injuries heal, everyone's training volume will double. Aman, find a way to recruit some retired soldiers and officers. Pay them well and have them serve as instructors."
Qingshui thought for two seconds before speaking.
These retired soldiers could not only help train the subordinates but also possessed certain skill levels themselves, filling gaps in combat power. They could also instill a sense of urgency in the subordinates.
There are outsiders coming to compete for your benefits and status. If you don't work hard to climb up, you'll eventually be eliminated.
As for internal conflicts, as long as they didn't get out of hand, Qingshui couldn't be bothered to intervene.
If they couldn't even manage those people, what was the point of him hiring them in the first place?
"Boss, we could hire some people from the underground mercenary market. There are many retired veterans there, and even some tough characters."
"Just do as you're told."
Qingshui waved his hand.
He had too few capable subordinates. Although Hogg United was currently cooperating with the Two-Face Gang, it was in opposition to Falcone.
Falcone had too much established power in Gotham's underworld, and many people were waiting to see if Hogg United, this rising star, could truly establish itself in Gotham.
Before that, anyone with a bit of foresight was unwilling to get involved in this messy situation.
Unless Hogg United could truly defeat Falcone in a real fight and gain a firm foothold in Gotham.
After his subordinates left, Qingshui opened his computer and began researching information.
Information about UV technology.
In many films and TV shows, UV grenades are an excellent way to deal with vampires and other creatures sensitive to sunlight.
With the technology available in the DC Universe, producing qualified UV grenades shouldn't be a problem.
However, what Qingshui needed was for his Avatar in the Demon world to be able to create UV grenades in the 1910s.
That was a much greater challenge.
After some searching, Qingshui discovered that in the current DC Universe, at least overtly, there was no such thing as a UV grenade.
Because under normal circumstances, humanity's technological tree simply wouldn't branch in that direction.
Human development of UV light was primarily for sterilization, air purification, or medical equipment.
If Qingshui wanted to create a UV grenade, he would need to use high-power, small UV LED lights paired with high-energy batteries. But this was almost impossible to achieve in the Demon world.
LED lights only came into existence in 1969, thanks to the development of semiconductor technology worldwide. And it wasn't until 1993 that a Japanese engineer created a blue LED light with an extremely short wavelength, allowing humans to combine the three primary colors of LED lights to create color televisions and other displays capable of showing color images.
As for UV LED lights with even shorter wavelengths, that timeline would be pushed back further, until the twenty-first century.
Qingshui didn't have the ability to advance the semiconductor technology of that world to a twenty-first-century level in one fell swoop.
However, this didn't mean Qingshui hadn't found useful information.
The traditional method of manufacturing medical UV lamps involved injecting mercury vapor and inert gas into a quartz glass tube. When mercury atoms transition and return to an excited state, they release UV light.
This meant that as long as mercury vapor was charged and the voltage was controlled within an appropriate range, the mercury atoms could repeatedly jump between two states.
After having his main body package and send this memory to his Avatar in the Demon world, Qingshui searched for some other information and then returned to the garage.
When he previously created Black Gold, his funds were limited, so he could only choose relatively suitable materials, thinking he'd just make it first and worry about perfection later.
Now, things were different.
Thanks to his old friend Two-Face for robbing two bank vaults, Qingshui received fifty million dollars.
Thirty million of that was laundered by Qingshui to develop Hogg United's legitimate assets, while the rest was used in situations where the source of the money didn't matter, such as the black market.
Coupled with the value and profits from assets like Hogg's Auto Shop and Spaletta's Bar, Qingshui was now overtly a millionaire worth over fifty million.
Many things he couldn't afford or acquire before could now be purchased through various channels.
Of course, for truly good stuff, he still had to get it from Penguin.
Qingshui's current plan was to use better materials to create a Black Gold 2.0.
This didn't mean that the original Black Gold Mark I was useless.
With the main body's increased Chakra manipulation skills and the Avatar's heightened Chakra, he could now perfectly control two Puppets simultaneously.
At that point, Qingshui's strength would more than double.
Unfortunately, Qingshui wanted time to develop quietly, but reality didn't give him the chance.
The next day, late at night.
Dirk Street, Hogg's Auto Shop, Qingshui's personal engineering lab.
Qingshui had just finished the leg components for Black Gold Mark II when a group of subordinates, dressed in various outfits, rushed in from outside in a panic.
"What now? Where's Aman and the others?"
"Boss! A fight broke out!"
Blondie, the leader, said in a flustered voice.
Qingshui poked his head out from beside the lathe, frowning as he looked at his subordinates.
"Sons of the Scepter?"
"No, not just the Sons of the Scepter, Boss!"
Blondie explained:
"For the past few days, the Two-Face Gang has been seizing territory left behind after Marconi's death. When they tried to take the docks in the Sute District, Falcone also sent people to contend for the territory. As they fought, the scale of the conflict grew larger and larger. Now, the Two-Face Gang and the Falcone Family are in full-scale war."
"What does the war between the Two-Face Gang and Falcone have to do with us?"
Blondie said with a bitter expression:
"From the outside, everyone sees us as having a lot of cooperation with the Two-Face Gang, allies among allies. Plus, after the Marconi incident last time, everyone thinks we're siding with the Two-Face Gang and opposing Falcone. Just now, the Sons of the Scepter brought their people into Chic Street. Aman has already taken people to stop them."
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