Volume 1 – Chapter 1.2
The Old Nest at night was the favorite place for Fabian. Although not being very old, he was the foreman of "golden fingers" of the Old Nest.
The old man was called Pym, the head of this place, the leader of the "golden fingers".
Fabian didn't know that in these three months, a few new guys had joined in. Now there were at least thirty even forty people in the Old Nest. It looked like they were going to split up a new nest and go to other cities to seek a living，like what happened two years ago.
Fabian looked at his men and thought it over. The old man told him not to drink too much because there was something to tell him.
Did they want him to lead a group of brothers and establish their own life?
Fabian thought about how he known the old man at the age of six, then steal on the street. From the informer, to the transporter, and finally bacame the "golden finger", and it had been twelve years, the Old Nest had split up four times.
The former foremen had already been split up from the Old Nest, some of them had been quite successful, some failed.
What kind of fate awaited him if he were to get out of the Old Nest?
Fabian wondered.
If that happened, who would want to follow him? In which place would it be appropriate to open a new nest?
The South Port was the best pier nearby, but the security was very strict. The second foreman who split up from the nest failed there. Fabian still remembered his miserable look when they took the corpse away secretly.
The Thethnburg had the largest group of rich people, but it was the Count's territory. It's under strict managment, and not to mention that they had to keep guard against the war.
Pitton and Bart were too poor to live in.
As Fabian thought about it, he frowned. It would not be a good time to split up.
He could only move forward step by step.
Just as he losing in thought, a brother walked over with a bowl of grilled meat and said, "Boss, if you still sit here, all the good stuff won't be left."
Fabian smiled. Indeed, at this time, they should enjoy the day until there was no another day. This was the way to live as a "golden finger". If the worst came to the worst, he would go to prison. It wouldn't be so easy to starve to death.
Fabian relaxed, joined in the fight for food. After all, today was the day of his homecoming, and he was the star of this banquet.
It would be inappropriate if the star of the banquet had not eaten anything good.
But he remembered the old man's order. Although the beer was quite satisfying, he took it in contorll. However, for forty or fifty people, a barrel of beer wasn't necessarily enough, so he didn't have enough beer to drink after all.
Luckily, the quantity of the food was enough to fill the stomachs of these people.
The Old Nest was as noisy as usual. Every day in this place was like holiday, because everyone knew how to enjoy today. Tomorrow would be tomorrow.
For everyone who had successfully passed through today, it was worth celebrating.
When the stomach was filled, Fabian had not forgotten the old man's order. He went up to the third floor and open the old man's door.
This bedroom was the most tidy room inside the nest, and there were some paintings hanging on the walls.
Fabian knew that the old man was hiding things behind those paintings.
The bookshelves was lining the walls on the westside, Fabian never understood why the old man collected so many books?
Fabian knew his stories.
The old man didn't have much knowledge, only knew a few words, was able to read the public notice of the government at most.
He didn't know so much like Eckert, the books were more for show.
Fabian noticed that there was no one in the bedroom. He took a book from the shelf.
Reading was not a pastime that Fabian liked, he preferred to sleep.
But he was quite interested in the old man's books.
Fabian looked at the cover of the book: The Relationship between Divinity and Rationality.
He couldn't figure out what Divinity was, and what Rationality was.
He opened the book and read, but felt dizzy after seconds.
He hurriedly tossed the book back to the bookshelf, and thought, It must be beyond the old man's ability of understanding.
As he pondering, the door opened and the old man came in.
"What are you going to tell me?" asked Fabian.
"Ah, just a small matter." The old man closed the door, peered cautiously out of the window.
When he was sure there was no one on the stairs, all his men gathered around the table to eat, the old man closed the window and drawed the curtains.
When Fabian saw the old man's actions, he knew that it wouldn't be a "small matter".
As expected, the old man was still not at ease. He walked up to Fabian and whispered, "The Boss asked us to find a new face. Pretty, smart, but a bit cowardly, easy to control."
"Girl?" he asked.
"No, man, few years younger than you and looks clean." The old man replied.
"Eckert, again?" Fabian knew immediately what it was.
It had happened several times before, and Eckert was going to make a big deal with new face.
"Why didn't Eckert find by himself?" Fabian asked.
"We can't let too many people know. Eckert is not in a position to show up. He is the think-tank, we are the hands. There aren't many people knows about this matter. Except the Boss, Eckert, only you and me. Your mouth is tight, the Boss trusts you, so assign this mission to you." the old man said.
"Give me a range. If the new face gets recognized by the target, that will be interesting." Fabian said. In fact, this kind of worry was very necessary. A few years ago, thay made a mistake. The substitute was recognized by the other side. The two unfortunate fellows were still in jail.
"just seek nearby. Don't ask anything else. Find someone with clean background and no trouble." the old man warned.
"How much time do I have?"
The old man pondered for a long time and said: "Three days."
With a load off his mind, Fabian asked nothing more and left the old man's room.
Fabian's bedroom was beside the aisle between the third and second floor. Except the old man's room, his bedroom was on the highest floor. It had always been the place for the foreman of "golden fingers".
He went back to his bedroom, which he hadn't returned for three months.