Yu Yongyou fell silent for a moment.
Although he had never maintained an army himself, he had some idea of how much money his family's enormous Security Force burned through every year. He could imagine something of Qin Siyang's predicament.
"How much money do you need?"
"Money isn't the main thing." Qin Siyang immediately seized the opening. "If you could help your brother out with a batch of... basic, unranked God-Hunting Artifacts, Young Master Yu, that would really save my bacon! I'd be eternally grateful!"
Yu Yongyou said, "Qin Siyang, haven't I already given you all the revenue from the mines in the Sigma District?"
"Wang Xugong only just arrived in the Sigma District. He hasn't found his footing yet. It's too soon to ask him for money. If he makes some shortsighted decision and ruins the mines' foundations, we'd lose far more than we'd gain!"
"You don't want to pressure him, so you came to pressure me?"
"Oh, my dear Young Master Yu! How could you say that?" Qin Siyang immediately protested, as though he had suffered the greatest injustice imaginable. "What kind of bond do we have? We're brothers who've put our lives on the line together! I only came to you first because we're so close! Of course, if you think I've been imagining things, and we're not close enough for you to lend me anything, then... then I'll accept that. I won't blame you at all!"
"...Qin Siyang, has anyone ever told you that sometimes you're a real shameless thug?"
"How can you say that? We're as close as brothers! If I'm a shameless thug, what does that make you?"
Yu Yongyou sighed. "How many artifacts do you need?"
"Armor and weapons for four thousand men."
"Are you kidding me? Basic artifacts for four thousand men?