Chapter 165: Late Night Plot

Late at night, in a small tavern near University City, a dim lamp glowed faintly.

Lin Qi and Yulian sat in a corner of the small tavern, speaking mysteriously. The tavern owner, a deaf and mute old man, sat behind the counter with eyes like a dead fish, occasionally making strange grunts through his nose—it was unclear whether he was awake or asleep.

This tavern, much like Lin Qi’s spending habits, was cheap, very cheap. Beer as light as water, Black Bread frozen hard as a rock, plus a few slices of sausage cut so thin they were almost transparent—this was Lin Qi and Yulian’s late-night snack.

Those sausage slices were indeed cut very thin; Yulian had the illusion that he could blow them away with one breath. On a foot-and-a-half-wide iron plate, there were only seven such heartbreakingly thin slices! While admiring the deaf-mute owner’s superb knife skills, Yulian could only suppress his appetite, avoiding looking at them too much, and quietly gnawed on the bread and drank the beer.

The richer Lin Qi got, the stingier he became—Yulian had already deeply understood this.

“Hmm, that Elham is calculating something. Tolin, that pretty boy, haha, a family mage? Do you believe it?” Lin Qi muttered on and on: “They definitely have a conspiracy, I’m sure of it. They are connected to the Church, no doubt. But after such a big mess, they didn’t seek help from the Radiant Cathedral. That’s worth thinking about, Yulian!”

Yulian nodded repeatedly in agreement; Elham and his group’s actions were all very strange. Even though Lin Qi and the others were scheming behind their backs, Elham’s group shouldn’t have ended up so miserable. Ya and Ling were clearly Divine Art Masters skilled in fire Divine Arts; they must hold high positions in the Church. Normally, having lost all their money and belongings, with their Church background, they should have directly asked the Radiant Cathedral for help.

The Radiant Cathedral had substantial power, very substantial power. Just the three major violent organizations under its jurisdiction—the Tribunal, the Penitentiary, and the Knight order—had over ten thousand powerful Clergy. Given Ya and Ling’s status, if they just informed the Radiant Cathedral, they could have at least dozens of Earth Knights guarding them.

With dozens of Earth Knights, even if Lin Qi and the others wanted to strip No.1 Shenghui Street bare, it wouldn’t be so easy.

“They are definitely plotting something!” Lin Qi said solemnly to Yulian: “Keep a close eye on that Tolin. Tixiang actually agreed to make him a Clerk Official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Damn it, everyone knows what powers a Clerk Official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs holds. Although those two women are good-looking, Tixiang shouldn’t take such risks.”

Yulian shrugged: “But boss, Tixiang doesn’t face any risk.”

Lin Qi sighed: “That’s right, the one at risk is me! If Tolin really becomes a Clerk Official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and if Tixiang, because of Ya and Ling, places the others around Elham into court positions, then I’ll have trouble on my hands!”

Shaking his head wearily, Lin Qi narrowed his eyes and took a big gulp of beer: “But before squeezing out all their remaining value, I really can’t bear to kill them. At least, by getting those two women into Tixiang’s bed, we can still make two million Wowo Call! Two million Wowo Call, Yulian, that’s a huge sum of money. We absolutely cannot waste a single Copper Coin!”

Looking deeply at Yulian, Lin Qi’s expression was serious: “Gold mountains and silver mountains are built one Copper Coin at a time. We cannot overlook any bit of profit! Even if it means taking some risks, we must squeeze the last Copper Coin out of them!”

Yulian quickly nodded and also smiled: “Besides, those five positions for my family haven’t been settled yet. Let’s get them into bed as soon as possible!”

Lin Qi also nodded seriously. Yulian was one of his own brothers; if his five family elders could take up the positions Tixiang promised, it would be extremely beneficial for the future development of the Iron Fist Brotherhood. So, for now, they couldn’t kill Elham and his group, even if they suspected them of colluding with Arthur—they couldn’t be eliminated yet.

Squeeze every last bit of profit from them, then cleanly finish them off—that suited Lin Qi’s character.

The tavern door was suddenly pushed open, and Enzo, covered in snow, walked in cursing: “Damn it, those instructors grabbed me for duty. Good heavens, on a winter night in an empty campus, they made us dig snow holes to hide and stand guard according to field scout standards.”

Rushing to the table, he grabbed Lin Qi’s glass and took a big swig of beer. Enzo let out a long sigh and grinned mischievously at Lin Qi.

Lin Qi raised an eyebrow: “Good news?”

Enzo laughed lewdly, pulling a brand new reserve shoulder board from his pocket and attaching it to his shoulder: “Reserve Major, boss, I got promoted. The military merits we earned were confirmed by the Military Department. During Bai Tian, the Military Department’s official document arrived at the school, so the instructors grabbed me to stand guard all day!”

Sighing dramatically, Enzo smugly tossed a few Silver Coins behind him, which landed perfectly on the counter: “Beer, meat, Old Rook!”

The deaf and mute tavern owner beamed, picked up the Silver Coins, quickly brought Lin Qi and the others a glass of strong liquor each, and also cut them a huge plate of smoked goose and beef.

Lin Qi exclaimed in amazement: “That’s great! The Military Department’s efficiency is really high! Any medals?”

Enzo laughed heartily: “Yes, the Empire’s Second Class Bravery Medal. With this medal, when I graduate, I can join the regular army with my reserve rank! Boss, let’s have a drink! When spring semester starts, the principal will award me the medal and ribbon at the opening ceremony. You must come to see the excitement, you absolutely must!”

Lin Qi happily agreed to Enzo’s request, raised his glass, and clinked it hard with Enzo’s.

Yulian’s eyes turned red with envy. Although he already knew about what Lin Qi and Enzo did in Dun Er Ke, when Enzo was promoted to Reserve Major, Yulian was so jealous he felt like stripping Enzo of his last Copper Coin.

Lin Qi excitedly rubbed his hands: “Well then, now we really need to discuss things carefully. Yulian, send someone tomorrow to bring Vic back; we have a lot to start doing. First, the issue of developing and expanding our Iron Fist Brotherhood. Second, the issue of our graduation one year from now. Lastly, the issues of what we should do and be cautious about recently.”

Taking a deep breath, Lin Qi laughed uproariously: “Wonderful days await us, more shiny Wowo Call awaits us. We must be careful, we must be cautious. Tomorrow, we’ll all attend the gathering at Tixiang’s place!”

Under the dim light, the three of them huddled together and began whispering in low voices.