Chapter 350: How much do you know about insectoids?
Flying Snow, an Eternal rank cold dagger forged by the master swordsmith Cleveland.
The October Flying Snow was an Eternal rank cold dagger forged by Cleveland’s father, an ordinary swordsmith called Jakub.
This was the sole difference between the two daggers. Whether it was craftsmans.h.i.+p or materials, they were exactly identical.
Historical records stated that after Cleveland inherited the method for forging cold daggers from his father, he left his home and set up his own shop in the capital. With the unique cold attribute of Flying Snow and its excellent functions, he was able to win the t.i.tle of master swordsmith.
However, his father Jakub was not so lucky. n.o.body knew about this swordsmith living in a remote region developing Flying Snow, and after a furious argument with his son, he suffered a heart attack and died.
The common people only knew that Cleveland was a master swordsmith; little was known of his obscure father, whom he had developed the Flying Snow dagger with.
Only on the night of his death did Cleveland confess this secret of many years to the lawyer recording his will. The lawyer did not make this matter known, but wrote about it in his memoirs.
The memoirs of a lawyer would never sell as well as fantasy novels, so this matter was gradually forgotten.
The true developer of Flying Snow, Jakub, forged ten daggers in all, and he named them each after a month in the year: January Flying Snow, February Flying Snow, and so on.
In terms of quality, January to June were test products. It was only with July Flying Snow that the unique forging method finally began to mature, and with each subsequent dagger, there was a major breakthrough.
Jakub had planned for twelve Flying Snow daggers in all; alas, not long after October Flying Snow was done, Cleveland had a falling out with his father and set off to the capital on his own.
Jakub fell ill after this argument, and several months later, he finally pa.s.sed away from both mental and physical exhaustion.
The greatest difference between Jakub’s and Cleveland’s Flying Snow daggers could be seen in the hilt. Cleveland had carved his name onto each hilt, while Jakub had simply used the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and so on.
Xia Fei spotted a ’10’ on the hilt of this Flying Snow dagger and not Cleveland’s name, meaning that this cold dagger was not Flying Snow but rather Jakub’s final work, which n.o.body knew about, October Flying Snow!
Phantom exhaled. “I had no idea that there would be such a twisting and turning story behind this, but why did Cleveland’s dagger get the infamous reputation being a cursed blade? He used the same techniques and materials as his father, so the difference shouldn’t be that great.”
Xia Fei shook his head. “Although I don’t understand swordsmithing, I’ve come to understand a certain principle from the medicinal techniques you’ve pa.s.sed on to me.”
“What principle?”
“The smallest difference can lead to a difference as vast as that between heaven and earth. I clearly recall that the prescriptions have very rigorous requirements for the purity of medicinal fluids, and at the time of mixing, the angle and speed at which the fluids are added must be just right, and even the mixing has to be done at a certain speed. All of these requirements are very strict, and the slightest error or deviation will lead to failure,” Xia Fei said.
Phantom laughed. “That’s true. Brewing medicine and forging swords both involve taking raw materials and producing completely different products. Perhaps it’s really as you said; smithing swords is just as complicated as brewing medicine, and Cleveland didn’t have a full grasp of the technique, resulting in his Flying Snows being known as cursed blades.
Xia Fei said, “That’s only one possibility, but in any case, this October Flying Snow isn’t one of Cleveland’s cursed blades.”
…
Once he was done investigating the background of October Flying Snow, Xia Fei strolled around the trade center, looking for a suitable sheath for this dagger.
After all, October Flying Snow was abnormally cold. Not only would carrying it make Xia Fei feel cold, the excessively low temperature would expose him while he was trying to hide.
Placing it in the spatial ring would naturally prevent these problems, but Xia Fei was used to placing his dagger in his combat boots or in his sleeve while out on an operation.
A sheath made from the hide of a gentle-natured Thunder Alligator was extremely flexible and soft to the touch, just like the fur of a mountain goat.
The sheath was a perfect match for the dagger. Xia Fei traded for it using a small piece of Purple Heart of Spirit, leaving that seller ecstatic. Xia Fei suddenly realized that Purple Hearts of Spirit were even more useful than star coins. Regardless of what it was being traded for, success was very likely. Meanwhile, star coins were mostly irrelevant to the highest echelons of the Alliance.
After strolling around the second floor and finding no suitable items, Xia Fei prepared to head to the third floor.
The third floor was the premium item area. Entering it required one to present an item that could be considered premium quality.
Entering the high-cla.s.s trading area was itself a bottleneck, and the vast majority of people were unable to get in. Only one percent of people had the ability to get in.
As for the third floor and its premium items, only one in ten thousand was able to get in. The level of quality demanded was so high as to be absurd, but it did not have any requirements with regards to the level of admission ticket carried by the partic.i.p.ants, which was exactly what Xia Fei wanted.
A focus on rank appeared a little too inflexible. It was far better to present an actually worthwhile item. After all, people did not come here to see who had a higher rank but to trade, instead.
There were clearly much fewer people on the third floor. On the contrary, there were numerous young ladies weaving through the guests, offering drinks and refreshments, making the place seem like an elegant reception party.
To Xia Fei’s surprise, the moment he walked in, he saw the silver-haired General Tai of the military sitting by the window, and by his side were the two other members of the military triumvirate, Layton and Williams.
“They’re also taking part in the trade fair?” Xia Fei was somewhat taken aback.
At this time, Williams spotted Xia Fei and waved him over. Turning to Tai and Layton, he said, “I saw him and suddenly had an idea.”
Tai frowned. “Williams, you’re not planning on bringing in Xia Fei, are you? He only became a military supplier a few days ago.”
Williams simply smiled. Xia Fei went over to the three generals and exchanged greetings, after which he prepared to take a look around.
Williams asked, “What’s the hurry? Trades in the premium item area aren’t that easy to make. In truth, at this level, trades are secondary. It’s primary function was for people to converse with one another. Take a seat. It just so happens that I wanna talk to you about Quantum Holdings’ recent operations.”
“Yes, sir! After all, it’s not every day that one gets an opportunity to sit down with the highest military commanders of the Alliance,” Xia Fei smiled and said.
The always strict Layton did not like Xia Fei’s flippant and insincere att.i.tude, but Williams and Tai did not mind.
Williams asked if Xia Fei wanted to drink anything, and Xia Fei asked for a cup of tea.
“Your company’s first batch of products had already arrived and pa.s.sed the military’s quality checks. One hundred percent of the batch met the quality standards, and I hope that all the other batches are like this. No matter what, the quality of the products used by the military must always be at a certain quality,” Tai said.
Xia Fei hastily replied, “Naturally! The military is Quantum Holdings’ largest client, and we have our reputation as an A-list military supplier to uphold. It’s only right that we do our best. Besides, how is offending the military any different from suicide? I’m certainly not that bold.”
“I heard that you have a radar system that is capable of hyper long-distance communications and can resist any sort of disruption?” Tai asked.
Xia Fei waved his hands and smiled. “General Tai, I won’t hide it from you. The blueprints for the radar have already been drafted, but it will take a long period of testing and modification until the designs can be turned into an actual product.
“At present, the research team has run into a roadblock in a practicality sense. The difficulty of production and the costs remain high, so ma.s.s-production is still impossible in the short term. Moreover, the Black Bat Radar is not as incredible as you make it out to be. I reckon that for hyper long-distance transmissions, the majority of disruptions can be blocked, but definitely not something as exaggerated as all sources of disruption.”
“That’s already excellent!” Williams excitedly said. “Hyper long-distance communication has always been a challenging problem for the military. The military primarily uses a dual communication method which relies on specialized military lines and the interplanetary internet, but ordinary signals are unstable, and once a fleet leaves a service area, communication between members of a fleet becomes abnormally difficult.
“This sort of backward communication system has greatly restricted the speed of the Alliance’s fleets, and it’s not as if we can just set up signal transmission arrays on demand! Let alone the costs, the construction time is considerable, and this will greatly delay the army’s advance.”
Xia Fei shrugged his shoulders and helplessly said, “I truly wish to resolve these problems for you gentlemen, but this new style of radar isn’t something that can be finished in a day. Quantum Holdings does not have the ability to increase its research speed any more than this.”
Admiral Layton was a very forthright person, and as soon as he heard this, he hurriedly said, “What’s so difficult about that? The military has tons of researchers just idling away. You can take out your designs and jointly research them with the military. I don’t believe that the 113 first-cla.s.s research labs and several thousand second-cla.s.s research labs under the military can’t set a single radar system straight.”
Xia Fei, Tai, and Williams all chuckled, but Xia Fei’s chuckle was done very softly. He did not dare to be rash in front of the triumvirate.
Layton grew rather frustrated. “What are you laughing about? You don’t think that the military can do it?”
Williams shook his head. “It is Xia Fei who personally developed the new radar system, and it’s almost at the production stage. If the military were to step in at this time, who would the fruits of labor belong to?
“A company’s research ability is the foundation of its survival. It’d be outrageous if one were to steal the research results of someone else. The Alliance has always promoted a private economy and free trade. While we are the military, we can’t take advantage of our position to bully others.”
Layton appeared rather vexed and angrily slapped his thigh.
Xia Fei replied, “Admiral Layton, I know that you’re only thinking about the military and have no selfish notions, and I appreciate your kind intentions, but this design is extremely complicated and involves the idea of a friend, making it extremely inconvenient to make public. I will do everything within my abilities to accelerate the pace of research. On this, you can be a.s.sured.”
Xia Fei was very polite, not contradicting Layton while also avoiding the problem of making the design public.
Williams furtively glanced at Tai. Tai frowned in thought for a few moments before reluctantly giving a nod.
Upon getting Tai’s support, Williams immediately changed the topic, sternly asking Xia Fei, “Xia Fei, how much do you know about the Pan-human Alliance’s old neighbor, the insectoids?”