Lin Qi's Old Acquaintances

The host and guests alike were thoroughly pleased, and Baron Miro personally escorted Blackbeard and his party out through the gates of his residence. In Dunkirk, very few people had the standing to make Baron Miro move his noble feet all the way to the front gate to see them off. Had he not misunderstood Blackbeard's intentions, and had the gifts Blackbeard presented this time not been so exceedingly valuable, Baron Miro would at most have seen them to the doors of the hall.

After bidding farewell to the delighted Baron Miro, Blackbeard took Lin Qi to visit several more prominent figures in Dunkirk.

Among them were the chairman of the Dunkirk Bankers' Salon, several directors of the Dunkirk United Chamber of Commerce, the head of the Dunkirk Ocean-Going Freight Ship Association, and others. He solemnly introduced Lin Qi to these people, while the strange pairing of Lin Qi and Enzo gave these shrewd grandees much to ponder.

Anyone with even a little sense misunderstood Enzo's identity, taking him for a military representative cultivated by the Black Tiger Family. With the wealth Blackbeard held in his hands, along with two outstanding young men like Lin Qi and Enzo, the Black Tiger Family's rise and prosperity seemed impossible to stop.

And since it could not be stopped, these shrewd merchants naturally had to follow in its wake and seize as much profit as they could.

Thus, Blackbeard casually brought up the matter of becoming mayor, and these people, just like Baron Miro, gave him firm assurances. So long as Blackbeard declared his candidacy for mayor, everyone he had visited today would become his right-hand support. They would all wield their greatest influence to ensure that Blackbeard took office.

As dusk approached, the thoroughly satisfied Blackbeard returned to Black Mountain Beech Mountain with Butcher Knife and the other attendants; many matters still required his attention. Lin Qi, however, did not return with Blackbeard. In Lin Qi's words, he was going to let Enzo see Dunkirk's bustling splendor—and pick up a little pocket money while he was at it.

Treading over snow that crunched beneath their feet, Lin Qi and Enzo walked along the busiest Dockside Street in Dunkirk. To their left lay the sea, where several enormous fishing boats were entering port. Numerous fishmongers shouted as they rushed aboard, selecting catches that interested them. One lucky vessel had caught a colossal tuna, weighing at least two thousand jin. This rare prize immediately set the entire dock in an uproar, and every fishmonger frantically bid for ownership of the tuna.

"Such a huge fish!" Enzo, seeing the sea for the first time and witnessing such a scene for the first time, could not help crying out in amazement. Everything here was far too new to him.

"What's so remarkable about that? It's only a big one among tuna. You haven't seen a truly big fish yet!" Lin Qi stood beneath a lamppost with both hands in his trouser pockets, watching the fishing boat in the distance. Curling his lip disdainfully, he said, "When I was eleven, someone caught a fin whale. Now that was a real giant!"

Smacking his lips, Lin Qi described the fin whale's enormous size to Enzo, then said with no small amount of pride, "My father had that fin whale's bones made into a specimen and donated it to City Hall. It's still displayed in the City Hall lobby. As for that poor fellow's meat, it tasted pretty good—better than the most tender veal. And in its belly, I found a huge pearl oyster. I took seven thumb-sized pearls out of it!"

"Pearls?" Enzo raised his brows. "Thumb-sized pearls? Those must be worth a fortune!"

Spreading his hands, Lin Qi sighed. "When my personal maid Maria got married, I gave her those seven pearls as her dowry!"

"Personal maid?" Enzo cried in astonishment. "You had a personal maid? Damn it, Boss, you really are some young master from a wealthy household!"

Enzo's eyes had gone red with jealousy. Lin Qi's ancestral home had been astonishing, but Enzo had not reacted too strongly to it. No matter how wealthy Lin Qi's family was, that wealth belonged to Lin Qi. But Lin Qi actually had a personal maid—this left Enzo feeling terribly unbalanced! A personal maid! The sort of personal maid who, according to legend, always shared both emotional and carnal exchanges with young noble masters!

Lin Qi shrugged, let out a shrill whistle, then sighed deeply. "Maria and I were pure! Utterly pure! She started taking care of me when I was five, and she was a full seven years older than me! She was a maid my mother had taken in. We were pure!"

Suddenly turning around, Lin Qi stared at Enzo and sneered. "Do you know why I gouged out Arthur's eyeball? Because he dared lay a hand on Maria! He dared entertain that kind of thought toward the personal maid my mother left me, so I went after him. Unfortunately, my old man came too quickly. Before I could finish him off, my old man saved him."

With a vicious laugh, Lin Qi muttered in a low voice, "His violet eye was very pretty. I remember soaking it in preserving fluid and making it into a specimen, but I don't know where it was lost afterward. What a pity. It was such a beautiful violet eye!"

Enzo's scalp prickled in waves. Looking at Lin Qi, he could not imagine that a teenage boy would personally gouge out someone's eyeball alive simply because the personal maid his mother had left him had been bullied. Enzo could not help sighing. "Boss, I'm really curious what you were like when you were young. At least, when I was your age, I couldn't have done something like that!"

Curling his lip, Lin Qi burst out laughing. "Isn't that exactly why I'm taking you to see for yourself? Meet a few friends, then pick up some pocket money, and you'll know what I was like back then!"

The fish in the fishing boat's hold were carried out basket by basket by the fishmongers, and a pungent fishy stench began to spread through the air. Lin Qi drew in a blissful breath of the scent unique to the harbor district, then laughed loudly and led Enzo darting into a narrow alley.

The alley twisted and turned, secluded yet very clean. Salt had been scattered over the ground, and anti-slip patterns had been carefully carved into the pavement, making it comfortable to walk on. Every few steps, a streetlamp made from polished translucent shells was set into the wall. Its light was not very bright, but it was just enough to reveal the path ahead.

After following the alley for a while, they found a golden gate at its end. Complex rose patterns were carved upon it, and under the lamplight, the gate gleamed with a brilliant golden radiance. Enzo's eyes suddenly widened. He instinctively reached out and touched the gate. No mistake—this gate was actually cast from pure gold.

Lin Qi rubbed his hands excitedly, then kicked the gate with smug delight.

"Hey, hey, open up! Master Lin Qi is here to collect his pocket money! Oh, it's been three years. You must have missed me terribly, right?"

A full minute passed before the gate slowly opened with evident reluctance. Two young men with exceedingly ugly expressions cautiously poked their heads through the gap. The instant they saw Lin Qi, both cursed at once.

"God, it really is Lin Qi! Damn it!"