Chapter Eight…..

He barely ducked in time to avoid the strike that would have knocked him out completely. Working on instinct, he executed a perfect and swift frontal kick.

His opponent was fast but he'd taught Harry not to telegraph his moves, a lesson the young CEO had taken to heart. The kick struck but only managed to push the older man a step back.

There were several reasons for this. One was that Harry's young age denied him the power to execute a kick powerful enough to do damage to a skilled veteran. But the most important reason was that this was no ordinary man. He was an ex Russian mercenary, had been schooled at an assassin guild, and a few months ago was bitten by Preverus.

This vampire was the 2IC of John Rivers and for the past two months Harry has stopped his self-taught training regimen and had made this vamp take him under his wings.

He pushed back his errant thoughts as his tutor came at him with a flurry of blows. He was lucky that Kain Kruchina was currently fighting at half his vampiric strength; otherwise he'd have been a pile of goo on the floor already.

He did his best to block and avoid the blows but it was like trying to outrun a meteor shower. They kept coming, incessantly, forceful and painful.

He dropped down and tried to sweep Kruchina off his feet. The vampire just jumped and Harry's eyes widened when he saw when he was going to land on. He rolled away in the nick of time to escape the vampire landing on his knees. But he had a surprise waiting for the man as he was landing.

Just as the man's feet were setting down in the ground, Harry's left leg lashed out flexibly and landed a solid kick to the vampire's knee.

Kain fell to his knees as his left leg buckled and his right was unable to sustain his balance. Harry saw the surprise in his eyes. He knew the vampire would soon heal from that injury. Not giving the man such a chance, he leapt to his feet and lashed out again with his leg at the vampire's head.

He wasn't expecting Kruchina to not move his head from the kick. He'd been banking on that. That Kruchina would just move his head back and he'd still have been kicked as Harry had planned it to be a 540 roundhouse kick anyway. But Kain surprised him by not moving his head. Instead he let the kick connect with his face. Since the first kick in a 540 wasn't meant to be the main kick, there was no force behind it.

Kruchina grabbed Harry's leg on his face as the young Potter was spinning to execute the main kick and used all his strength to pull Harry towards him and deliver an uppercut that made him see stars.

Harry could only thank his stars that Kain hadn't swung him down mid-spin. He likely would have broken his spine.

Raising his hand in defeat, Harry yielded and struggled to his feet after Kain let go of his feet. The vampire grunted and rose with him. Harry saw that the man's knee was already alright. Harry doubted he'd truly broken the knee, probably just weakened it, vampires were after all very durable.

John Rivers, who had been watching from the sides, stepped into the cushioned dojo mat and took Harry's head in his hand and waved his wand over all the injuries on his face, healing them with a muttered, "Episkey."

He then healed the other I juries that were on his body. When he was done Harry breathed a sigh of pleasure at his pain free body. "Magic really makes training easier. We can go all out knowing that a simple wave of a wand or a potion will set us right if there's an accident," he said, looking at his shirtless torso. Where there had been welts and even some bleeding would, now there wasn't even a scar. The only indication that he'd been injured was the redness in the spots the injuries had been.

Kain spat on the mat. "That was far from all out for me, boss," he reminded then pointed at the mat. "And if you really need to achieve your potential then you must do away with this thing. You won't have a mat cushioning the fall for you in a real fight."

"It's our job as body guards to guard the body of Mr. Potter, Kruchina, not give him advice that will make him consider harming himself," Rivers said, glaring at the Russian who just shrugged.

Harry held up his hand to stop them from arguing. "Hold on, John. I agree with Kain." When he received an exasperated look from his security chief, he carried on. "What would you prefer, for a competent enemy to get through all my security and find me an easy kill, or for the enemy to not stand a chance?"

Rivers frowned. "I'd prefer if such an enemy would find it impossible to get through your security in the first place," Rivers said, speaking in a tone that certainly didn't sound whiny. Nope, Harry was just hearing things.

Harry stepped off the mat and turned around to look at Kain. "Have them remove the mat. From tomorrow we won't use them anymore," he ordered.

The Russian vampire nodded in respect. "As you wish, boss."

Harry turned around and was heading for the locker room when a young teenage girl rushed into the room. She was wearing the Heracles staff badge and if Harry should guess, he'd say she was from the customer service department.

His guards by the door tried to stop her by spreading their arms but she ducked under them and approached Harry. Fast like the wind, Rivers and Kruchina were behind him but the girl stopped five feet before him. She bent over and placed her hand on her knees, breathing heavily.

They all watched, surprised by the suddenness of the last few seconds. By the time she regained her breath, the guards by the door had already moved behind her, boxing her in, and Rivers had calmly waved for Harry to stand behind him and Kain. Harry did this reluctantly, he didn't take a step back in action but the attack on his convoy by Silbern had beaten a lot of sense into his ego and recklessness. There was now wisdom to his ego and he was no longer senselessly reckless.

"Why did you force yourself into the gym, Miss?" Rivers asked the girl, not taking his eyes off her. Harry did notice that the chief and Kruchina weren't as tense as the others guards and it could even be said that both were relaxed. He wondered if that meant they had read the girl's body language and didn't see her as a threat. "Clear orders were given for no one to intrude on the boss' training."

"Sorry, Mr. Rivers, but I had to hurry over. There is a fight in the cafeteria. Potterans are beating two new recruits to pulp for unknowingly insulting the boss," she reported.

Harry blinked. "Potter what?" He looked at Rivers who sighed in frustration and looked like he was restraining himself from rolling his eyes.

The teenage girl on the other hand gave Harry a disbelieving look in shock. "You don't know?" She then realized her error and added, "sir."

Rivers sighed again. "Return to your post, we will take care of things from here," he said and gestured for her to leave. With a last look at Harry, the young girl left. Rivers turned to Kruchina. "Go break up the stupid fight. Please, don't break any bones."

Kruchina chuckled darkly. "No promises," he said and sped into the shadows. Instantly he was gone.

"What is this about Potter what-ever-she-said?" Harry asked, pretending to not remember the name to add levity to the situation and bleed off the tension the other guards still held.

"Potterans," Rivers said, looking at Harry stoically. Harry had known him enough now to know that he was hiding a smile behind his stoic mask. "They are a cult. Your cult."

Harry blinked again and frowned. He wondered if Rivers was on drugs. Then again such things were supposed to affect wizards except extremely high dosages.

"My cult, are you alright?"

"It's a cult of fanatics, sir. Formed by all the riffraff thugs you took off the streets and gave jobs here at Heracles. They swore on their lives to protect you and your interest till the day they die. They read your columns everyday and paste them and your pictures in their rec room. They created medallions with your face on them. It's quite nice, it's like a coin. They are very protective of you and take personal insults if they even perceive a slight towards you from anyone."

Harry opened and closed his mouth. He couldn't believe this. He'd of course known that he had people fanatically loyal to him in Heracles but he hadn't been aware of the depth of their fanaticism.

Or had he? He thought, remembering the guards that had died for him during Silbern's ambush.

He recollected himself from that vexing memory and fixed his attention back on Rivers. "Do you have any idea how this whole fanaticism started in the first place?"

River pointed at one of the two guards the young girl had rushed past. "He knows a lot about it," he said and the guard bowed his head at Harry in reverence.

"He does?" Harry asked, staring at the man in shock at the deference.

"I do, Sire," he said and Harry was taken aback by the vampire title. Then again he didn't know how he'd have reacted if the man had called him alpha instead. He gestured for the man to explain. "My name is Edge, Sire. I'm one of the first fourteen Potterans. It all started a week before Wilde hired us, sir. We were grunts for a local drug boss in Chelsea but then he was bursted by bobbies. We had been hiding in a warehouse by the Thames, trying to keep away from the coppers who were tearing apart the area looking for anyone who'd worked for our former boss. We were becoming hungry and had lost hope of surviving, but one of us, a bastard of one priest kept telling us to not give up hope and rely on God's guidance. Some of us asked him how God could possibly help us in such a situation and he told us that God works in mysterious ways and sometimes through people. The next day one of our friends found us and told us that he had a way out of the warehouse for us. That way was through Wilde, who you had sent to us. Ever since we started working here in Heracles we have made sure to make the others from the streets see how you are God's blessing to the dregs."

Harry was speechless. This was his second time experiencing this feeling of unworthiness, of unexplainable gratefulness. What had he done to deserve this amount of reverence? He could understand them though as he had somewhat been in their shoes. If someone had rescued him from the Dursley's then that person would have commanded his loyalty for the rest of his life.

He gave the guard a polite nod. "It is surprising that this is the first time I'm hearing this. You all are in a way a reflection of my past. We are brothers now. Tell the others that they have a new brother now."

The guard, Edge, looked confused and his confusion was shared by Rivers. "Sire?" He prodded.

"I"m as much a Potteran as you, my friend. We all have a reason to be grateful to Harry Potter's rise in status," he said and immediately saw when Edge gained a look of understanding. "So when will I be getting my own medallion?"

He pretended to not hear Rivers whisper, "Oh goodness, let this not become narcissism."

~Break~

"We really should stop meeting like this," Harry said to the man who sat across from him in his office in Heracles.

Preverus raised a brow. "Like how?"

Harry gestured around. "Meeting in offices."

The Director of AK-07 shrugged. "Your offices are very secure. Faraday cages, steel shutters, defense turrets. It might be a coincidence that most of our meetings happen in your offices or mine, but I think it'd be good judgment to keep the coincidence going."

Harry chuckled. "As you say." He said, admitting defeat. "So what is the purpose for this requested meeting?"

Preverus placed a tablet PC he was holding on the desk and slid it over to Harry. "There is a digital presentation for Project Kriegsbeute."

"Loot?" Harry asked as he picked up the tablet.

"Close, spoils of war," Monty answered in correction.

Harry wondered why the man became obsessed with German since they gave the agency a German name. Ignoring it for now, he turned the table on and tapped a file that popped up on the screen. He settled into his cushioned leather seat and began to read. As he read, his mind became a whirlwind of thoughts. This was quite a daring plan Preverus had devised.

When he was finally done reading it through and going over it two times extra, he set the tablet down and looked at Preverus who was waiting for him to speak.

"I can see that you have put the satellite to good use," was the first thing he said.

"I told you it'd help in the Knights' business," the Director said.

Harry sat up straight. "Why didn't you tell me you are still capable of other forms of divination?"

Preverus shrugged elegantly. "It never came up."

"So how does it work?"

Preverus looked like he was contemplating divulging his secrets to Harry. He did in the end, probably assured that it didn't matter as Harry was a Squib. "Dowsing," he informed, "it's actually a ritual unlike what muggles think about it just being seeking water. I use my wand for the seeking. Sadly though I can't control what I want to see so sometimes it can be pretty useless and the ritual items cost a pretty penny."

"Then it's really fortunate that you saw the end of the USSR in your latest dowsing," Harry said. This complicated a lot of plans he'd had in mind for Preverus. He barely held back his sigh, he'd just have to adjust his plans to exploit this new information. "So the basics is that we need to time it to destroy the Knights of Rodina when the USSR goes tumbling down like a deck of cards and then prepare to to reap some benefits from the dissolution from the seeds we are going to plant now?"

"Indeed," Preverus confirmed, then gave Harry a questioning look. "You don't like the plan."

"I'm not sure I can wait that long to do away with Silbern and his people. The longer we leave them be, the more they demand more outrageous things from me," he told the man tiredly. "From your last report, you said you have managed to infiltrate his underworld society and can destroy every blackmail material he forged for me. Why don't we destroy him and his Knights now and then make a separate plan on how to benefit from the fall of the Soviets?"

Preverus sighed and winced before he gave Harry a serious look. "There are two reasons for that. First, we destroy the Knights now and the KGB will just send someone else to take command of their chains on you. Also we don't know if they have copies of the blackmail materials in Russia. We need the Knights destruction to coincide with that of the Union and KGB, this way we will be able to do proper sweep and make sure none of those damned blackmail materials are hidden in anyone's secret closet."

Harry thought about that. All Preverus was saying was true but he couldn't stand Silbern any more. He needed to cut off that leach from himself. "Can't we just make them believe the Knights were killed mean while we capture them and torture them for all KGB secrets? This way we will know if KGB have copies, where to find them, and how to stop the KGB from interfering further in my life."

Preverus snorted at that and shook his head. "That's assuming the Knights have as much clearance to know these things you just listed. Also, my second reason for why we should not kill the Knights also explains why we can't capture them and torture them either."

"Alright, go on," Harry said, despondently. He already knew that this was an argument he was not going to win.

"You read that in the visions I saw that there is a chance of the USSR not breaking, a slim one but one we must take into account."

Harry perked up. "Really? It wasn't on the file?"

Preverus rolled his eyes. "You didn't slide to the next page did you?"

"I thought it's scroll mode. Scroll modes don't have next page…" His words died in his mouth as he picked up the tablet and slid over and saw that there was indeed a next page. Sighing at Monty's strange software, he read through it and when he was done he checked to see if there were other pages. There wasn't so he dropped the tablet back on the desk and looked at Monty. "I can see why that could indeed stop their fall. So it's not just one Winter Soldier."

"No," Monty said, shaking his head. "We still don't have an exact number but it'd be best to assume a full unit."

"And this says you saw that in the case the Russians try to use them to stop the dissolution that I'm the only one who can stop them?" Harry said, looking dumbfounded.

"Indeed," Monty confirmed. "And for that we need a plan that involves Markus Silbern. He is going to be our in into Russia."

"This is mad," Harry surmised what he thought of the whole Project Kriegsbeute, expelling a breath of frustration. "How am I even going to decommission not one but multiple Winter Soldiers?"

Preverus grinned. "Well, have you heard of the Kelpie Crystal?"

~Break~

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, coming to stand behind him and take in the computer that looked like an ATM machine made entirely of glass, keyboard included.

They were currently in one of the labs in the castle and Harry was making use of something that had been a long time coming.

"I came into ownership of a wonderful machine years ahead of its time." Harry was speaking of the LMD, but he wouldn't tell Wilde about the docoy robot as it could lead the man to figuring out that Harry was Puma. Only Harry was meant to know of Puma's true identity and it'd be best if things stay that way. "Studying this machine gave me the knowledge to create this computer."

Jack hummed in passive interest. He knew by Harry avoiding to say more about the machine that he shouldn't ask about it so he asked about the computer instead. "And what is so special about the computer?"

"This computer was created from the results of a thorough biomimetics of the human brain. Its functions number in six digits. Its time complexity is almost at the level of a Quantum Computer, it has a neural interface that works like a WiFi equivalent of telepathy. I can create program packages with it using the Neural interface. With the interface I'm like an AI with this computer and can use all its functions in nanoseconds. Its network is so advanced and quick that its activities does not register on other computers; meaning I can use this computer to go through any firewall without hacking because with its speed lesser computers won't even sense its presence, it won't register for their securities to kick in. Think of it like a speedster trying to steal from a bank. He'll be too quick for security or cameras to even know he was there. What will clue them on something being wrong is their missing cash. This computer is all this and more."

Harry was still surprised by the things he could derive and invent from studying the LMD. So many techs had gone into perfecting that decoy robot and Harry was glad he'd discovered it.

"Do you intend to market it?" Wilde asked, looking at the computer with more interest now.

Harry scoffed. "That would be pretty stupid."

"Right." Jack agreed wholeheartedly. "What do you intend to do with it?"

Harry considered telling the man what he was currently using the computer to do. No, he wouldn't. That information should best be kept to himself. "With this computer nobody's secret will be safe from me," he told Jack instead, letting him make what he will of that. What he'd implied was the least thing he planned to use the computer for anyway.

What he was doing with the thing now was hacking twenty-three thousand banks from all around the globe. He wasn't doing something as foolish as hacking active back accounts. No, that would draw too much attention and he may even be discovered as it'd be the biggest heist of the century. What he was hacking was the accounts of the deceased that were now dormant. Their accounts weren't being thoroughly monitored and Harry's heist might never be discovered because of this.

Already he'd stolen over nine billion and he was only just sixty percent done. When he'll be done he would transfer the money to different international accounts that he'd also used this computer to create via the internet and then he will have the owners of half these accounts invest in the holding company he had in plans.

Five hundred and twenty thousand accounts later and he was a proud multi billionaire.

He was glad that this plan had finally been put to work and had succeeded. Looking at the figures of 15,000,000,000, he grinned.

With this I will finally be able to set aside all Puma's illegal businesses and make him just a harmless casino king.