The Gram family's earth-shaking wails drew countless poor folk. These men and women who lived at the very bottom of Port Vias gathered timidly and cautiously at a distance, peering this way with care.
Some bolder children slipped over beside the little courtyard. People came and went from time to time, carrying news of what was happening inside back to the others.
And so the poor suddenly learned that a family of noble lords had actually been living secretly in the slums. They had even dug out a hidden vault for storing gold coins beneath an abandoned courtyard in the slums. No one knew which valiant hero had pulled off this great score, but "tens of millions" of gold coins had been snatched clean away, and the noble family had split apart just like that.
Aside from the inaccurate number of gold coins—which only grew larger and larger as word passed from mouth to mouth—the Gram Family's sudden calamity spread swiftly. Among the original poor folk, burly men in sailor uniforms began to appear like ghosts, their faces savage and ugly, their bodies knotted with muscle, their movements furtive.
Lin Qi, also dressed in a sailor's uniform and cap, with a small steel axe hidden up his sleeve, had concealed himself among the crowd. He grinned viciously, using his height to look over everyone's heads at the activity in the courtyard, his heart brimming with indescribable delight.
This was his revenge on Gram. No matter why Gram had betrayed him, for someone who valued money as dearly as his own life, taking away his money was the cruelest revenge of all. Of course, it was not enough. That bastard actually had another two million gold coins deposited with the Goldshell Family?
Fine. He would have to find a way to