Chapter 45: True Father and Son, Clear Accounts

Receiving the gold note that Blackbeard pressed into his hand, Lin Qi examined it closely by the lamplight. He did not immediately pay attention to the amount inscribed on its surface; his first concern was to scrutinize the quality of the paper. It was an unusually tough and resilient special stock, so firm that even a forceful tug from his fingers failed to tear it—certainly the kind of paper custom-made by the Empire for the exclusive use of its banking institutions.

The watermark, too, was clearly visible under the lamp: three silver-white elephants, trunk to tail, striding beneath a towering dawn redwood. It was the watermark of Silver Redwood Elephant Bank, the largest, oldest, and most reputable of the imperial family’s banks. The special markings on the elephants’ bodies, the veins on the tree’s leaves, all were sharply defined—evidence enough that this was indeed a genuine note issued by Silver Redwood Elephant Bank.

He next examined the handwriting on the note. The script was clear and showed no signs of alteration. Most importantly, there was no trace of blood or any suspicious stains on the note, suggesting it had come through legitimate channels—not loot or the spoils of some crime.

Only after confirming the note’s authenticity and reliability did Lin Qi finally shift his gaze to the all-important sum. One hundred thousand gold coins!

Happiness arrived so suddenly that Lin Qi’s blood surged straight from his heart to his brain, and dizziness swept over him. One hundred thousand gold coins—this was the net annual income of some middling noble families in Borrelli for several years running. Yet Blackbeard had generously given him this sum as a stake!

The word “stake” brought Lin Qi abruptly back to his senses. The boiling blood in his head flowed swiftly back to his heart. As he tucked the note into the inner pocket of his coat, Lin Qi glared at Blackbeard and sneered, “Dearest father, did I hear you right? One hundred thousand gold coins, a stake in my Iron Fist Brotherhood? By all that’s damned, is this the sort of thing a father does?”

With an air of indifference, Blackbeard drew a slender bronze flask from his sleeve, uncorked it, and took a swig. Grimacing, he bellowed at Lin Qi, “Nonsense! I care deeply for my only son. I’m investing a shiny hundred thousand cacklers in the gang my only son has founded—what better shows a father’s love for his child?”

“I’ll take the money, but a stake is out of the question!” Lin Qi buttoned the three fastenings on his hidden pocket, then sat down, leaning against his mother’s coffin, his hands stroking the cold, smooth crystal. His voice was icy as he continued, “Such a move is despicable. A mere hundred thousand cacklers and you want a share of my enterprise? Absolutely not. Mother would never forgive you! You’re trying to extort her only child in front of her tomb—shameful!”

Blackbeard’s face flushed with anger. He waved his hands wildly, baring his teeth and roaring, “Not a single cackler falls from the sky! Every copper was earned through your old man’s hard labor! I simply see potential in your Iron Fist Brotherhood, and our Black Tiger Clan needs eyes and ears in Borrelli—hence my investment in your little gang!”

He raised the bottle and drained half a pound of fiery liquor in a single gulp, howling, “Otherwise, do you think I’d put down a hundred thousand shiny cacklers for that rabble of unruly students and three hundred petty thugs?” Tossing the bottle aside, Blackbeard raised his enormous hands, bending his fingers one by one as he counted, “Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty… a hundred thousand! Take a good look, that’s a hundred thousand cacklers—not ten, not a hundred, but a hundred thousand!”

Brandishing his fists, Blackbeard sprayed spittle as he roared, “Do you know what this means? In the dockside taverns of Borrelli, three or five cacklers will buy you a band of toughs to kill a foe! Here are a hundred thousand—worth twenty thousand lives! For such an outlay, I deserve a little return, don’t I? Surely I can have a stake?”

He thumped Lin Qi hard on the head and shouted, “Me, encroaching on your enterprise? Damn it, everything I own will be yours one day! You wretch, you fool—is this how a son should speak to his father? You break my heart!”

Lin Qi rolled his eyes and replied coldly, “You’ll leave me all your holdings? Well then, how about I take care of Arthur first?”

Blackbeard’s breath caught in his throat, leaving him speechless for a moment. He pounded his chest, belched loudly, and complained, “Why must you always return to this subject? I told you, in a little while I’ll send him off to take over his father Red-Haired Ghost’s territory. The family’s assets will naturally all be yours—why do you keep harping on this?”

Lin Qi narrowed his eyes with satisfaction, raising one finger to sneer, “Because I don’t trust him! Do you think he’ll obediently slink back to his dead father’s patch? Will he really become a pirate, braving the elements? By damn, if he manages to do away with me, he could seize control of the entire Black Tiger Clan—he’d be sitting pretty!”

Blackbeard shook his head vehemently, sneering, “How could he ever get such a chance? Stop talking nonsense.” With a decisive wave, he snapped, “Let’s leave Arthur aside. You bullied him enough as a child—plucked out one of his eyes with your own hands, no less. What more could you want? That’s the end of it. Not another word. A hundred thousand gold coins and a company of the clan’s best men at your command in Borrelli—I want the Iron Fist Brotherhood to grow tenfold within two years.”

He clenched his fist and after a moment’s thought declared, “As for the Iron Fist Brotherhood, you get sixty percent, your old man forty. You’ve got the better end of the deal!”

A hundred thousand gold coins for a stake, plus a company of the clan’s elite—such power could swiftly swell the Iron Fist Brotherhood’s ranks. Because Borrelli was the imperial capital, its underworld was not as powerful as that of great families like the Black Tiger Clan. A tenfold expansion would allow the Iron Fist Brotherhood to surpass even the ancient powers of the Lame and the Hunchback. The profits would be staggering.

What’s more, Lin Qi could now establish connections with nobles like Lord Glan. If the Brotherhood grew tenfold, perhaps future dealings would be with barons, viscounts, or even greater lords. This, too, would serve Blackbeard’s designs perfectly.

Perhaps this was Blackbeard’s true objective—to nurture his own agent in the imperial capital.

After a moment’s thought, Lin Qi raised a finger. “Father and son, accounts must be settled clearly. The hundred thousand gold coins are mine. If more investment is needed, you’ll provide it. The men you send must follow my orders—you can’t command them from afar! I call the shots in the Iron Fist Brotherhood!”

Glancing helplessly at his shrewd son, Blackbeard sighed with equal parts pride and melancholy. “Very well, Lin Qi, you’re truly grown up—bargaining with your own father. Yes, you’ve grown up indeed!”

With a firm handshake, father and son sealed their formal agreement.