Although Li Pu had no prior impression of the name "Nikolai Kravinoff," seeing the man's demeanor and noting that he brought his two sons hunting, Li Pu vaguely recalled who this person was.
The main reason was that he had two sons who would become somewhat famous in the Marvel Universe in the future.
His eldest son later became an anti-hero nicknamed "Kraven the Hunter," while his youngest son became a supervillain nicknamed "Chameleon." Both brothers were adversaries of Spider-Man.
Currently, however, these brothers were just a pair of small children, primarily following their father to Alaska to experience Brown Bear hunting.
"Seryozha."
Getting impatient from walking in the forest, the little "Chameleon" named Dimitri quietly called out his older brother's nickname.
"Look at that Hunter kid, his hair is green! Is it because he ate too much broccoli?"
"Mikhail, it's not nice to talk about people like that. Maybe he deliberately dyed his hair green so he could camouflage better in the forest."
As Sergei spoke, he pulled his younger brother, helping Dimitri jump over a stretch of deadwood on the hunter's path.
Being scolded by his older brother, Dimitri was unconvinced. "What do you mean 'camouflage better'? Didn't his dad say that kid just turned four?
He's two years younger than me! How could he possibly be a qualified hunter?"
The boy spoke his mind; the main reason he mocked Broly was simply that Broly was only four.
Yet, the four-year-old Broly was already nearly 1.5 meters tall, towering over the six-year-old Dimitri.
No one knows a brother better than his elder brother.
Sergei, who was thirteen, figured out what his little brother was thinking, smiled, and ruffled his hair.
"Mikhail, maybe you should eat more fruits and vegetables when we get home. The reason you're not growing tall is because you're too picky."
Just then, Nikolai, who was walking at the front of the group, suddenly turned around and shouted at his two sons sandwiched in the middle of the line: "Hey, Seryozha, Mikhail! Stop arguing, and keep up with the group!"
After shouting, Nikolai turned back and looked at Li Pu and his son, who were leading the way at the very front, a hint of envy showing in his eyes.
He envied Li Pu for having such a robust son.
As a Russian expatriate, Nikolai Kravinoff's business in New York was quite successful, but his dealings were far from legal.
Precisely because of this, he had to constantly project an image of toughness. Only then would his rivals fear him, and his subordinates trust him more.
However, he was now over fifty, and it was time to consider the matter of his "heir to the throne."
He had two sons.
Although they both seemed decent, Nikolai always felt that his two sons lacked the "aura of a strong man" he possessed in his youth.
Perhaps it was because their mother was a scholar.
Thus, compared to their father, Sergei and Dimitri seemed to naturally carry an air of scholarly refinement.
In other families, a father might be happy to go with the flow and raise his sons to be "social elites" with respectable professions like lawyers, Doctors, or scholars.
But Nikolai couldn't do that.
Because all the industries he was involved in followed an unwritten rule called "adapt or perish." Those who left these industries were typically doomed to complete "disappearance."
Therefore, his two sons—at least one of them—had to inherit his business.
Otherwise, the Kravinoff Family might one day be "disappeared" by others.
Even if his competitors spared them, his own subordinates would try every means to seize the wealth he left behind.
To train his two sons, Nikolai personally brought them hunting in the wilderness whenever he had the chance over the years.
Through hunting, he wanted Sergei and Dimitri to become stronger, braver, and tougher, and to cultivate the temperament of a "top-tier predator in the food chain."
After several years, Nikolai felt he had done a decent job as a "father," and his educational approach seemed to be on the right track.
Although Dimitri was still too young to show much improvement, his eldest son Sergei was gradually beginning to display the "aura of a strong man."
However, this Brown Bear hunting trip to Alaska extinguished that small sense of private joy with a bucket of cold water.
Because he saw "the child of other people's families."
The hunting guide's son, only four years old, was incredibly robust. Carrying a backpack that might have been heavier than himself, he still moved swiftly through the forest without a single complaint of hardship or fatigue.
When eating during the midday break, the child not only finished an entire pot of stewed meat by himself but also wasn't picky about food at all.
He even ate vegetables like carrots and broccoli with gusto.
He also saw a bodyguard offer Broly a can of soda. After getting Li Pu's permission, Broly took a small sip, immediately deciding the drink was terrible.
The child's reasoning was that the nutrition in soda couldn't compare to Moose Blood, let alone his father's stewed meat broth.
The bodyguard wanted to continue teasing the child and suggested a wrestling match with little Broly. Guess what Broly said?
The child seriously told the bodyguard: "You can't even defeat a Brown Bear. If you wrestle with me, I might accidentally kill you."
Everyone present, except Li Pu, thought little Broly was bluffing, but Nikolai noticed that the bodyguard, rubbing his nose as he walked away amid his companions' jeers, had genuinely shown a fleeting moment of fear in his eyes.
Broly, a four-year-old child, had actually frightened that fellow who often boasted of being a tough guy.
Nikolai was truly consumed by envy.
He even secretly tried to "trick" little Broly into accepting him as a godfather.
But little Broly answered him very seriously:
"First, I already have the best dad in the World, so I don't need another one.
Second, if you want me to call you Dad, my one and only real dad will be very unhappy, and you'll be in trouble."
Hearing the child's words, the New York crime boss was about to joke further, but he suddenly shivered involuntarily, as if being stalked by a fierce beast, and goosebumps rose all over his body.
He turned around and saw Li Pu, the hunting guide, looking right at him, and the warning in his eyes was unmistakable.
Nikolai swore that, back in New York, aside from the Crime Lord Kingpin, he would never allow a second person to make such a threatening gesture toward him.
But since they were in Alaska, when facing Li Pu's gaze, he finally, and rarely, followed his gut feeling.
He chuckled awkwardly, stood up, and casually strolled away from little Broly's side.
Although Li Pu only held a cheap hunting rifle, likely cobbled together by some small workshop, while his bodyguards were all equipped with automatic firearms, his sixth sense told him that if a fight truly broke out, his group might very well die.
"Alaska is truly a strange place. After this trip, I'm never coming back here to hunt bears. Next time I hunt, I'll take Sergei and Dimitri to Africa to hunt big lions."