Taking the banknote Blackbeard had stuffed into his hand, Lin Qi examined it carefully by the lamplight.
He paid no attention to the amount printed on it, first checking the quality of the paper. The unusually tough, stiff paper wouldn't tear even when he tugged at it with some force. It was indeed the special paper the Empire had custom-made for banks to use exclusively for issuing banknotes.
The watermark on the banknote was also clearly visible beneath the light: three silver-white elephants, trunk to tail, walking beneath a towering metasequoia tree. It was the watermark of the Silver Fir Elephant Bank, the largest, oldest, and most prestigious of the Empire's family banks. The distinctive markings on the silver elephants and the leaves on the metasequoia were perfectly clear. This was obviously a banknote issued by the Silver Fir Elephant Bank.
Next, he checked the writing on the banknote. It was clear, with no signs of alteration. More importantly, there were no bloodstains or other suspicious marks on it, which showed that it had indeed been obtained through legitimate channels. It wasn't stolen property or loot from some robbery.
Once he had confirmed that it was a genuine banknote, payable on demand, Lin Qi finally focused on the most important part: the amount.
One hundred thousand gold coins!
Happiness had struck so suddenly that Lin Qi's blood surged straight from his heart to his brain, making his vision swim. One hundred thousand gold coins—that was several years' net income for some middle-ranking noble families in Berely City. And Blackbeard had generously offered him one hundred thousand gold coins in exchange for a stake!
At the thought of taking a stake, the blood rushing through Lin Qi's brain swiftly flowed back to his heart, and he regained his composure. As he tucked the banknote into his inner pocket, Lin Qi glared at Blackbeard and sneered, "Dear Father, a stake? Did I hear that right? One hundred thousand gold coins for a stake in my Iron Fist Brotherhood? What the hell, is that something a father would do?"
Blackbeard casually pulled a thin bronze flask from his sleeve, unscrewed the cap, and took a swig. Grimacing, he shouted at Lin Qi, "Nonsense! I care about my only son. I'm putting up a hundred thousand gleaming Ooh-ooh-calls to invest in the gang my only son founded. That's proof of a father's love for his child!"
"I'll take the money, but there's no way you're getting a stake!" Lin Qi fastened the three buttons on his inner pocket and sat down beside his mother's coffin. Stroking the cold, smooth crystal coffin with both hands, he said icily, "This is shameless. You think a mere hundred thousand Ooh-ooh-calls can buy a piece of my business? Absolutely not. Mother will never forgive you! This is Mother's tomb, and you're extorting her only child right in front of it. That's utterly disgraceful!"
Blackbeard's face reddened with anger. Waving his hands wildly, he roared, "Not a single Ooh-ooh-call fell from the sky! Every copper was earned through your old man's blood and sweat! I just saw that your Iron Fist Brotherhood had great potential, and our Black Tiger Family needs eyes and ears of its own in Berely. That's why I'm investing in your little gang!"
He raised the flask and downed the remaining half-catty of hard liquor in one gulp, then howled, "Otherwise, with your bunch of hooligan students and three hundred bottom-rung thugs, would I, Blackbeard, really put up a hundred thousand gleaming Ooh-ooh-calls?"
Throwing the flask to the ground, Blackbeard raised his two enormous palms and slowly folded down his fingers, counting, "Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand... one hundred thousand! Look carefully. It's a hundred thousand Ooh-ooh-calls, not ten, not a hundred—a hundred thousand!"
Waving his huge fist, Blackbeard roared, spraying spit everywhere, "A hundred thousand Ooh-ooh-calls! Do you know what that means? In a tavern down by Berely's docks, you could take out three or five Ooh-ooh-calls and get a pack of tough guys to kill an enemy for you! This is a hundred thousand Ooh-ooh-calls, worth twenty thousand lives! I'm putting up that much capital and only asking for a little return. Can't I take a stake?"
He smacked Lin Qi hard on the head and bellowed, "I'm taking over your business? Hell, one day I'll hand over everything I own to you! Damn it, you brat, you idiot—is that any way for a son to talk? You've really broken my heart!"
Lin Qi rolled his eyes and snorted. "You'll hand over everything you own to me? Then how about I go kill Arthur first?"
Blackbeard choked on his breath and couldn't get it back for a long while.
He pounded his chest, letting out a tremendous belch, then frowned and grumbled, "How did we end up back on this again? I told you, I'll send him away in a while and have him take over his father Red-Haired Ghost's territory. Naturally, all the family's assets will go to you. Why do you keep harping on this?"
Lin Qi narrowed his eyes contentedly and raised one finger with a sneer. "Because I don't trust him! Do you think he'll obediently crawl back to that dead mother of his territory? Will he happily go back to being a pirate, sleeping rough and living off the sea? Hell, if he can kill me, then he can take over the entire Black Tiger Family. He'd be sitting pretty!"
Blackbeard shook his head vigorously and sneered. "How could he possibly get that chance? Don't talk nonsense!"
He gave a firm wave of his hand and declared, "Drop the subject of Arthur. You bullied him enough back then. You dug out one of his eyes with your own hands—what more do you want? Don't bring it up again. One hundred thousand gold coins, plus a group of the family's best men sent to Berely to take your orders. I want the Iron Fist Brotherhood to grow tenfold within two years."
Clenching his fist, Blackbeard pondered for a moment, then said, "As for the Iron Fist Brotherhood, you get six shares and your old man gets four. You're getting the better deal!"
One hundred thousand gold coins as an investment, plus a group of the family's best men to go with him? That would be enough to make the Iron Fist Brotherhood grow rapidly in a short time.
Because Berely was the Empire's capital, its underground forces were relatively weak compared with a powerful family like the Black Tiger Family. A tenfold-larger Iron Fist Brotherhood could even surpass long-established powers like Cripple's and Hunchback's. There was no doubt that it would bring in enormous profits.
And Lin Qi had already managed to get close to a noble like Mr. Grong. Once the Iron Fist Brotherhood had grown tenfold, perhaps his contacts would include barons, viscounts, or even more influential figures. That, too, would advance Blackbeard's plans!
Perhaps that was Blackbeard's real goal—he wanted to cultivate his own representative in the capital!
After pondering for a moment, Lin Qi raised one finger. "We're father and son, but we'll keep the accounts straight. The hundred thousand gold coins are mine. If more investment is needed later, you'll have to give me enough gold, Old Man. The men the family sends must follow my orders. You can't pull their strings from afar! I call the shots in the Iron Fist Brotherhood!"
Blackbeard gave his shrewd son a helpless look, then sighed with both pride and sadness. "All right, Lin Qi. You've finally grown up! You know how to bargain with your own father now. You really have grown up!"
He slapped Lin Qi's hand, and father and son sealed their formal agreement.
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