That"s what I thought.
"You dare lay your hands on me?" Tsung screamed, scrambling back to his feet.
"I didn"t lay my hands on you," I corrected him. "I kicked your chair."
Tsung walked up to me, h.e.l.lfire in his eyes, and tried to stare me down. It was a difficult task for Tsung, seeing as how I had a good six inches on him.
"You are nothing, Shadow," he spat. "Your organization is gone, stripped away from you by your own sister. You"ve been castrated. You have no more power."
"And neither do you," I said.
Tsung seethed. "You would disrespect the Triads in our own territory?"
"No," I said. "I disrespect you."
I turned to the rest of Tsung"s men and grinned. "Who"s in charge?" I asked.
"Have you lost your mind?" Tsung asked. "I"m in charge. I"ve always been in charge."
I laughed. "The Midnight Society practically invented the art of deception," I said. "You are just an oily man who sloughs down noodles and puts on a terrible song and dance." I turned and faced the other Triad members. "You have to remember that first and foremost, I"m a businessman, and a resourceful one at that. The Midnight Society keeps extensive records of all the organizations we have under our umbrella-the Triad being one of them. I investigated your organization, a.n.a.lyzing the data on all your businesses-legal and illegal-as well as your numbers, profit margins, and economic growth. After five years of stagnant growth, I noticed that in 2009, your monthly profit margins began to increase at an exponential rate. Your portfolio also diversified, expanding into business investments and real estate."
I looked at Tsung. "We all know that baby beluga over here doesn"t have the smarts to expand the Triad into these territories," I said. Tsung"s nostril"s flared. I ignored him and continued. "I also know that gangsters are loyal to the person that gives them a bigger paycheck. You have a new boss, one that"s kept himself well hidden. I want to speak to him."
After a short moment of silence, one of Tsung"s entourage stepped forward. He was younger than I expected.
He was handsome, sporting short cropped hair and a clean shaven face. What truly surprised me was that he was of mixed ethnicity, with rosy cheeks and distinctive blue eyes that set him apart from other Chinese.
When it came to race, the Triads were typically old school and traditional. They didn"t like half-bloods or "white devils", as they called them, being a part of their organization. Whoever this guy was, he was either an absolute genius, or extremely dangerous. Perhaps he was both.
The man walked up to me and extended his hand. "Nathan Tse," he said.
I eyed him suspiciously, before shaking his hand.
"How about we go for a walk, Shadow?" he asked, "Just the two of us." He looked back at the rest of his men and gestured for everyone to sit down again.
I nodded. "I can"t say no, can I?"
"No, you can"t," Nathan smiled. He definitely wasn"t a traditional gangster. I could tell from the way he presented himself.
I needed to know more about him. I needed to see if he was a potential ally down the road. But first, I had to make sure Calisto didn"t have the Triad in her pocket already.
Nathan gestured towards the Temple Street Night Market, across from the street diner. Crowds of people were filing in and out of the entrance to the marketplace with plastic bags in hand, filled with food, clothing, and other merchandise.
"Shall we?"
I nodded.
"Are you surprised that I"m a half-devil?" Nathan asked, as we stepped into the outdoor market.
I shrugged my shoulders. After the shocking revelation that Calisto had murdered our parents, I felt prepared for anything.
"I have to admit, I was surprised about recent changes to the Midnight Society, that it no longer exists," Nathan continued.
"The Midnight Society still exists," I replied. "We"re just streamlining."
Nathan laughed. "I won"t pry into family disputes between you and your sister, but I will say this: The Triad is not too happy with the recent change in direction Calisto and her Revenants have forced on us."
"Elena Zhao," I stated.
Nathan nodded. "Elena Zhao." He walked over to one of the vendors selling an a.s.sortment of foods. He pulled out his wallet and purchased two skewers filled with steaming b.a.l.l.s of meat.
"Curry fish b.a.l.l.s," Nathan said as he handed one stick over to me. "I insist."
I took it. "Thanks."
"Always one of my favorites," he said as he took a bite from his snack.
"How is it?"
"I"m sure it"s not the savory meal you high society are used to, but it hits the spot," he said, waiting for me to take a bite.
I did.
It wasn"t half bad.
We continued walking through the market, pa.s.sing by vendors selling wooden jewelry, scarves, plastic toys, and other varieties of accessories.
When Nathan was finished with his snack, he tossed the bare stick into a garbage can, and turned to me.
"I"ll be honest with you Shadow, I do not enjoy doing business with Elena Zhao," he stated. "She is a shake-down artist, increasing the kickbacks to the Revenants by almost twenty percent. At least with the Midnight Society, the Triad could still earn a decent living. She is also vocal about how my organization should be run and sticks her nose into my business more often than I"d like."
"She"s a b.i.t.c.h," I agreed.
"The fact of the matter is, she looks down on Triad," Nathan said. "She thinks she"s better than us with her clean money, her high society lifestyle, and the fact that she"s a high ranking member of the Revenants." Nathan paused and took a deep breath. "She does have a point with her thinking though," he continued. "She is better than the Triads."
I was puzzled.
"The days of the gangster are numbered," he explained. "The world has evolved, and so too must our ways to make money. Holding a knife to someone"s throat simply doesn"t work anymore. This is where your offer is most intriguing, if you can deliver what you promised."
"I can."
Nathan smirked as he stopped by a vendor selling plastic toy knock-offs-Superb Man, Transmorphers, and G.I. Jacks to name a few.
"I can"t just take your word for it," Nathan said as he picked up a Transmorpher and examined it. "I need to know how you will free the Triads from the Revenants, the Midnight Society, and whoever else decides to sit on that throne. I need to know how you"ll free the Triads from your secret organizations."
"As I mentioned before, I looked at your record books. It doesn"t take a genius to see that you"re trying to move your business ventures into legit territories," I said. "Hong Kong is a melting pot in terms of real estate-too much demand, not enough supply. You"ve slowly taken over all the slums in terms of business and protection-the seedy parts of Hong Kong where only low-lives and degenerates hang out. I"m sure with your resources, it wouldn"t be hard to clean up and move all the filth out of these areas. Then it"s a matter of buying the land. Am I right?"
Nathan nodded.
"You"ll have enough land to build five condos, each one of them a gold mine. However, you can"t do this as long as you"re kicking back available capital to the Revenants."
"You"ve told me what I already know," Nathan said. "Now tell me, how you can make this vision a reality."
"I can set you up as a legitimate business."
"As can I," Nathan said as he dropped the toy and faced me. "I do have a Masters in economics from Stanford."
"Are you a hacker as well?" I asked.
Nathan looked at me, confused.
"Listen to me," I continued. "Currently, all the money you make is directed into one single joint account between the Triads and the Revenants. Every week, Elena automatically siphons twenty percent of the gross profits from your earnings and stuffs her own pockets. As it stands, there"s no way you can move the money from this account to another one without the Revenants finding out. However, I have access to one of the best hackers in the world-one that can surgically remove the Revenants from this account, place security measures around it, and also deposit a large sum into it, straight from Elena"s own pockets. That deposit will be more than enough capital for you to get a head start in this real estate game."
Nathan laughed. "Sounds like a wonderful dream. But as you said, Elena will realize that she"s not getting her weekly twenty percent, and she"ll definitely know that we removed a large chunk of her cash."
"My hacker is very good," I pointed out. "We"ll arrange it so that the twenty percent that lines her pocket is taken from many of her own business ventures. She"ll be cannibalizing her own profits. As for the chunk of money, we can skim it from the Zhao Corporation and make it look like overhead. We"re very resourceful when it comes to creative forensic accounting."
"I fail to believe Elena won"t notice any of this."
"Money these days is just a number on a digital screen," I said. "That number you see doesn"t necessarily have to be an exact reflection of physical dollars in someone"s bank account."
Nathan laughed. "You must have one h.e.l.l of a hacker if he"s able to do all of this," he said. "I"m curious to know, who is he?"
I shook my head. "Give me some credit," I said. "If I told you that, you wouldn"t have a need for me anymore."
Nathan grinned. "It was worth a try."
"Do we have a deal?"
Nathan thought for a moment before replying. "I have your word that once our account is in complete control of the Triads, no one will be able to gain access to it? Not even the Midnight Society?"
I nodded. "You have my word. The Triads will be freed from the Midnight Society and the Revenants. You will have your own empire, one that is untouchable."
Nathan shrugged his shoulders, and then extended his hand towards me. "You made an offer that"s hard to refuse," he said.
Nathan"s handshake had the strength of a vice grip. He was trying to display his alpha male dominance in our business arrangement. Luckily, I had a pretty firm handshake of my own. I pulled him forward towards me, taking him off balance for a split second.
He released his grip immediately, his face displaying mild annoyance.
Nathan cleared his throat and took a step back. "Once I see evidence that the Triad"s account has been freed from the Revenant"s control, I will arrange a meeting with Elena Zhao and deliver her straight to you," he said coolly.
He walked away from the toy vendor and made his way to the rows of tables selling sweaters, scarves, and other a.s.sortments of clothing.
I walked beside him-never behind, which was a sign of weakness.
"Why are you so keen on speaking to Elena, if I might be so bold to ask?" Nathan said.
"She knows where my sister is," I replied.
Nathan smiled. "Calisto has been quite the enigma since the Revenants replaced the Midnight Society at the top of the food chain. We call her the Velvet Ghost, looking divine whenever someone manages to catch a glimpse of her. Those moments are few and far between," he said. "She has the uncanny ability to disappear into the thin air."
"She knows I"m looking for her," I said.
"There"s nothing more tragic than siblings fighting."
"There"s nothing more annoying than someone prying into my personal life." I looked at Nathan coldly. "You concentrate on keeping your part of the bargain: Elena Zhao, in a room, alone with me."
Nathan shrugged. "As long as the Triad"s aren"t affected by the fall out of your family dispute, that"s fine with me."
"They won"t. You"ll have enough money and influence by that time to hold your own against any of us." I paused, just before adding, "There was that one other thing I asked of Tsung when I contacted him."
"Yes," Nathan nodded. "He made mention of it."
"Where is he?" I asked.
"I have to admit, I was surprised that you would to speak with him so soon, especially after his father"s recent and unfortunate expiration."
"Once again, that"s my own personal business," I said. "Do you know where he is or not?"
Nathan nodded. "The Triad runs an underground fighting club, the Dragon"s Teeth," he said. "He"s a star attraction there, known as the Black Devil."
I raised a brow.
"Ever since his father"s death, he"s beaten all my fighters into a b.l.o.o.d.y mess," Nathan sighed. "I"m losing quite a bit on the gambling aspect of my business. No one wants to bet against him, though secretly everyone wants to see him lose."
"Why"s that?" I asked. "Wouldn"t people want to cheer for such a dominating fighter?"
Nathan laughed. "Do you know what I had to do to get the Triad to accept me even though I"m half Chinese? Imagine what lengths a black man must do to win them over."
"I see your point."
Nathan rubbed his hands together. "I think it"s time for me to call it a night. I dislike the cold," he said. "Consider the information regarding Cairo West a gift, to celebrate our new business arrangement. I will tell my men to give you full access into the Dragon"s Teeth. While there, I suggest using another name. No need for Elena to suspect you"re in Hong Kong."
I nodded. "Much appreciated."
"However, I must advise you to reconsider going there," Nathan said. "He"ll most likely kill you the second he sees you."
"I"ll take my chances," I replied.
"You don"t understand," Nathan said. "He"s earned his name. I"ve watched him tear three men apart in the span of seconds. In the ring, Cairo West truly is the Devil."
Chapter Eight.