Chapter 357: Cloaking Device
Xia Fei finally understood why this cloaking device was saved for last. It was Estamel’s personal cloaking device!
Estamel was the greatest scientist of the ancient civilization and had designed many peerless and ingenious products. Any module with Estamel’s name on it would command an impressive price in ancient times, let alone now, after the long pa.s.sage of time.
Normally, when a s.h.i.+p activated its cloaking device, its speed would plunge. At present, using a cloaking device required reducing a s.h.i.+p’s speed by ninety to ninety-five percent.
In other words, though the s.h.i.+p did cloak and vanish into the sea of stars, it also turned into a snail that could only crawl forward slowly.
When a cloaking device of the Guristas was activated, it only reduced speed by seventy-five percent, far better than ordinary cloaking devices. As for the best cloaking device in history, the Estamel model cloaking device, the s.h.i.+p could maintain seventy percent of its original speed.
If a s.h.i.+p had a cruising speed of one hundred kilometers per second, then when an ordinary cloaking device was activated, it would turtle along with a speed of five kilometers per second. When activating a Guristas cloaking device, the situation would be somewhat better, but the speed would still be only twenty-five kilometers per second. However, when activating an Estamel model cloaking device, a s.h.i.+p could maintain a speed of seventy kilometers per second, only a slight decrease in speed before the cloaking device activation.
In a chaotic battle, the ability to move away at a high speed was very important. With an unknown number of enemies and an unknown number of salvos going out, the longer one stayed stationary on the battlefield, the lower one’s chances of survival became. If one had Estamel’s cloaking device, they could escape at the first moment. This was an incredible boost to a s.h.i.+p’s survivability.
Moreover, this device had one other almost absurd advantage.
It allowed a s.h.i.+p to perform a warp jump while cloaked!
Any wars.h.i.+p outfitted with a cloaking device had to exit stealth before entering a wormhole. Only then could they establish the jump tunnel.
This made it very easy to be discovered by the enemies and attacked from all sides.
Estamel’s cloaking device did not require this. Using special energy channels and harmonizers, it could permit jumping while cloaked. When the enemy was still blindly searching for their target, one could have already moved tens of thousands of lightyears away!
This ability was unique to the Estamel model cloaking device. No other cloaking device in the universe could do it!
Xia Fei did not know how Miss Estamel had managed to develop this sort of cloaking device, but he did know that this cloaking device far surpa.s.sed the understanding of current human science.
The crowd was excited.
They were stunned!
The only Estamel cloaking device in the universe! This was a rare opportunity that no one wanted to relinquish.
Xia Fei clenched his fists. It was clear that this device would have an inestimable impact on his trip to the insectoids. If he had the chance, he would go at any lengths to acquire this module. The only problem was that he lacked the capital.
The people present were all well-known personages in the Alliance. While Xia Fei could not be said to lack his powerful backing, it could not compare to these first-cla.s.s tyc.o.o.ns.
“Uncle Thuram,” Xia Fei sternly said.
“You need something?” Thuram curiously asked.
“I want this,” Xia Fei firmly said.
Thuram glanced at Xia Fei a few times, the solemn expression on his face making Thuram laugh.
“I understand. Go in peace; I’ll put up any money that you’re lacking!”
Xia Fei nodded. “Thank you, sir. This item is very important to me.”
The middle-aged auctioneer was intentionally unmoved, allowing the audience to grow restless.
“I presume that there’s no need for me to introduce this Estamel cloaking device. I’m sure that everyone understands its value. Let us now begin the auction for this unique and peerless Estamel cloaking device!” the auctioneer excitedly declared.
“The starting price for this item is five hundred billion star coins! Any takers at five hundred billion star coins for this top-cla.s.s cloaking system? Anyone?”
Each person had an automatic bidding system in front of them. All they needed was to insert their admission pa.s.s to compete in the bidding. There was also a large screen, which indicated how large the current bid was.
Xia Fei gripped the bidding device in his hand, but he did not immediately take action. After all, this was only the beginning. The majority of the bidders had to be eliminated first. The final bidding war was what mattered the most.
The numbers rapidly soared, and the bids soon exceeded one dun!
Once the bids reached the dun stage, many people were eliminated.
“1.2 dun!” a dark-skinned man excitedly shouted. The veins on his neck were bulging, and he was panting for breath, but his bid was quickly crushed in just a few rounds, the bid pus.h.i.+ng at the astronomical sum of two duns!
Two duns were two trillion star coins, enough to buy the best supercarrier the Alliance could produce! It was clear that many people had already thrown aside everything else in pursuit of this Estamel cloaking device!
Xia Fei was so nervous that his palms were sweating. He only had a total capital of 2.5 duns, and the price was about to break past his range, but the bidding was showing no signs of slowing. There were still ten-some people crazily driving up the price.
Finally, the scene Xia Fei was most unwilling to see took place. Someone called out a bid of three duns!
“…3.1 duns!”
Xia Fei’s heart sank. To reach this price, he would have to borrow a sixth of a dun from Thuram. Was it really worth it for a unique cloaking system?
“…3.5 duns!” Xia Fei clenched his teeth and shouted, raising the bid to a crazy level. An entire year of profits from Quantum Holdings was thrown away just like that.
Thuram patted Xia Fei on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Something like this can’t be compared to anything. Putting a value on it is actually a sort of disgrace. If you want it, bid as high as you want. I’ll take responsibility for it all!”
Xia Fei firmly nodded. No longer hesitating, he made up his mind to get his hands on this cloaking system!
“…3.6 duns!” A middle-aged woman wearing a pair of gla.s.ses raised her hand and casually said. She inadvertently glanced at Xia Fei, as if grumbling over how he had raised the price so much in one go.
At this time, Nicole and Williams looked at Xia Fei. It did not take much thought for Xia Fei to understand why Williams was looking over, but Nicole’s look left him baffled.
“Four duns!” Williams sternly said. “This price is high enough. Does someone truly wish to challenge the military over this?”
The crowd was struck dumb. No one had expected that Williams, who had been a quiet bystander this entire time, would suddenly make a bid and even bring out the military’s name!
“The military wants this cloaking system?”
“Forget it! One of the military triumvirate, Williams, has already spoken. There’s no point in quarreling with the military over something like this.”
“True. Plus, four duns is no small sum. Spending so much money and offending the military at the same time? We’re certainly not doing that.”
There was no need to explain the status of the Alliance Military. While some people were willing to contend with the Adjudicator Union or Monastic Order in the shadows, few would dare to do so to the military. This was someone in charge of the entirety of the Alliance Military. Even the President had to see what the military triumvirate had to say before taking action.
The auction house suddenly fell silent. No one dared to outbid the military. The middle-aged auctioneer felt very sullen and helpless. The military had started swinging around its name, and no one here was a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t.
However, at this moment, Xia Fei raised his right hand and unhurriedly said, “4.1 duns.”
“Is he crazy?”
“How bold is this guy to try outbidding a member of the military triumvirate?”
“He’s Xia Fei, someone who’s recently become a military supplier.”
“That means he’s basically half-owned by the military. It seems that we’ve got a good show coming up! I wonder how he’s going to explain himself to the military triumvirate.”
The crowd quickly went from shock to amus.e.m.e.nt, unkind eyes turning to Xia Fei, but Xia Fei was unmoved, appearing not to notice a thing.
Nicole paled, and she gave Xia Fei a slight shake of the head, trying to warn him to not make an enemy of the military.
“4.2 duns!” Williams angrily glared at Xia Fei.
“4.3 duns!” Xia Fei brusquely replied, maintaining his composure.
“4.4 duns!”
“4.5 duns!”
Xia Fei was slowly growing nervous. The look Williams had given him said that he would support Xia Fei and help him get the Estamel cloaking system, but no one was bidding now, so why was Williams still driving up the price?
It had to be understood that each time he raised his placard, another one hundred billion star coins was going up in smoke!
Finally, Williams stopped bidding. He looked at Xia Fei for what seemed like ages, and then a few cold words left his mouth. “Good, Xia Fei! Very good!”
…
In Williams’ room, Xia Fei took a cup of tea and sat smilingly on the sofa. As for Williams, he was drinking sweet grape juice.
“Are you perhaps very sullen today, grumbling over why I bid the price so high?” Williams asked.
Xia Fei hastily replied, “Not at all! If not for your help, I would’ve never been able to get the cloaking system for just 4.5 duns.”
Though Xia Fei was smiling, he was extremely bitter deep down. Not only had he put down all his capital on this one purchase, he had also ended up having to borrow two duns from Thuram. Considering that he already owed the banks two duns, Quantum Holdings was now in debt by four duns! Fortunately, if the company were to scrimp and save for a year, it should just barely be enough to repay the debts.
The remaining one dun of capital available to him was prepayment from the military. Half of it was to be used for his trip one month later to the insectoids, and the other was to maintain the operation of the company.
After going back and forth with the calculations, Xia Fei suddenly realized that he had nothing on his hands but debts. An ordinary person would have long ago filed for bankruptcy, but with those several hundred tons of Purple Hearts of Spirit as support, Xia Fei was not worried about bankruptcy. His only concern was finding a merchant that had sufficient buying power and was tightlipped enough for him to cash out. It was not a good thing for other people to find out that he had so many valuable ores, and Xia Fei had no other choice except to take this seriously.
Williams smiled. “I don’t care what you think, for you’ll understand once you hear what I have to say.
“In truth, the insectoids have spies in the Alliance,” Williams sternly said.
Xia Fei was stunned. “Are you certain?”
Pine Williams replied, “One hundred percent. There are special kinds of insectoids that have appearances almost identical to humans, impossible to identify unless carefully examined. From what we understand, the insectoids had widely infiltrated the Pan-human Alliance, far more than we initially predicted.”
Xia Fei said, “You bringing this up makes me remember something. Several years ago, I blundered into the Wild Star Region and discovered that an elite division of the insectoids, the Blood Raiders, was secretly smuggling corpses out of the Alliance. These corpses were all those of criminals who had committed serious crimes. Some of them had cultivated abilities to extremely high levels. When smuggling them out, the Blood Raiders seemed to be very concerned about these corpses, even regarding them as more important than their lives, though I still don’t know why.”
Pine Williams deeply frowned. “I’ve heard some rumors about this. Alas, the investigation produced nothing concrete. If the insectoids have already grasped the technology of borrowing human corpses that allows them to fraternize the Alliance, that’s just too frightening.
“In truth, my open show of hostility with you today in front of so many people was actually for show.”
“For show?”
“Correct. I am sure that news of your quarrel with the military will soon be sent back to the insectoids. Once you enter the insectoid territory, this might be of some help to you. They might even pay a high price to hire you.”
Xia Fei helplessly shook his head. As expected, Williams’ motives were not so simple. Everything was for the sake of the military, but thinking about it now, that was normal. As a member of the military triumvirate, Williams had no reason to help him out of the goodness of his heart.
“I’ve already talked it over with Tai. The military’s data archives will be completely open to you,” Williams said.
Xia Fei was taken aback. “The data archives? Open to me? Why?”
Williams replied, “You are currently researching the Black Bat radar system. This will be of great benefit to the Alliance Military, and we hope that you can swiftly complete this generation-defining project. The military’s data archives are extraordinary and contain a great deal of valuable information reaching back to ancient times. All of the military’s secrets and technologies are contained within.”
Xia Fei replied, “I need to discuss this matter with my research team.”
Pine Williams patted Xia Fei on the shoulder. “Drop the act. We already know that both the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters and the Black Bat radar are your handiworks alone. No one else is involved.”
Xia Fei could not help but bitterly smile. As expected, the military’s strength was not all talk. It was simply impossible to hide this fact from them. Did they even know about the wanted fugitive Harris?
The profound smile on Williams’ face made Xia Fei break out in a cold sweat.
“The details on trade relations with the insectoids will be announced in two days. Are you still lacking in anything?” Williams asked.
“Money, people, wars.h.i.+ps,” Xia Fei directly said.
Pine Williams replied, “You don’t need to worry about these things. You’ll be going as a trader but serving the military in secret during this foray into insectoid territory. Once the trade regulations come out, everything you need will be ready and waiting. When the time comes, I’ll secretly send everything over. This matter must be kept secret. You can’t tell this to anyone.”
Xia Fei nodded. “This is the price, an insane price.”
Pine Williams smiled and comfortingly said, “Don’t forget; once this is done, you will also receive an insane reward.”
…
The Brotherhood’s fifteen-day trade carnival smoothly wrapped up. Xia Fei was in no rush to leave. He used the excuse of making adjustments to his s.h.i.+p to remain on Thousand Islands.
Monkey, Bean, and that pack of brothers very reluctantly said their goodbyes, arranging to meet again in the capital ring. To Xia Fei, it was not a bad thing to become acquainted with these scions of the upper echelons of the Adjudicator Union. While these kids did not have much strength right now, in the future, they would undoubtedly form a faction that could not be underestimated. After all, their parents were prestigious and influential characters. No matter how incompetent they were, they would be able to squeeze their way into the upper echelons of the Union and work in some ill.u.s.trious post.
Sun Zhan also left with Bean’s group, preparing to head to the capital ring and join the Adjudicator Union. After several days, Sun Zhan had grown very friendly with Monkey and the others. Xia Fei told them to take care of this young brother of theirs, and Bean immediately agreed, thumping his chest and swearing that no one would bully Sun Zhan around.
Sun Zhan was not useful to Xia Fei at the moment, but one had to look toward the future, not the present. Xia Fei was very interested in the mysterious Nanming a.s.sociation, and as Sun Zhan was the son of the Nanming a.s.sociation’s president, there was bound to be a point when Sun Zhan would be needed.
Among these youths, Mosquito was the strangest at departure, his mouth pursing as if he were unhappy to leave. Xia Fei casually said that he would go to the capital ring to seek him out in a few days, which made him overjoyed, his face turning red.
After sending off Bean’s group, Xia Fei welcomed Thuram and Nicole.
“You really shouldn’t have fought with General Williams over the Estamel cloaking device. If he says the military wants something, a normal person will give him some face. Getting on bad terms with them over a cloaking device isn’t worth it.” Nicole sighed.
Thuram added. “That’s true. Nicole is right. Williams rarely opens his mouth. You were too brash this time.”
They did not know about Xia Fei’s private deal with the military, so they believed that Xia Fei was being rather unreasonable. However, Xia Fei simply smiled and said no more.
His trip to the insectoid territory would be extremely dangerous. This cloaking device would increase his chances of survival, so even without Williams backing him, he would have still tried to get that cloaking device at any price.
“Right, you wanted me to give a discount. After some thought, I’ve decided that I can sell you some wars.h.i.+ps at cost,” Nicole said. For some reason, this young lady had suddenly changed her mind and agreed to Xia Fei’s request.
Xia Fei repeatedly expressed his agreement. Someone who did not take this deal was a fool. Regardless of her reason, it still benefited him.
…
The partic.i.p.ants of The Brotherhood’s trade carnival gradually departed, and Thousand Islands regained its usual peace and quiet. Xia Fei took the Impaler to the point he had arranged in advance, secretly picking up the robot Pod and the large batch of Purple Hearts of Spirit
The capital ring, Xia Fei’s new home.
Avril, having already learned that Xia Fei would be coming home, was waiting at the door. When she saw him, she ran over and used her slender fingers to cover his eyes.
“Don’t look! I have a surprise for you!” Avril mischievously said.
With his eyes covered, Xia Fei walked into the room. As Avril withdrew her hands, he was greeted with the sight of a neat and fully furnished living room.
The walls had been painted in Xia Fei’s favorite ocean blue, and the carpet was as soft as silk. The sofas and curtains were exquisitely selected, and a large crystal chandelier illuminated the room with snow-white light.
“You did this all yourself?” asked Xia Fei with joyful excitement.
“How is it? Do you like it?” Avril teased.
“I do! I love it! If it were me, I would never be able to furnish this home this well.”
“You don’t need to disparage yourself. Men are meant to do big things, so how can they waste their time with minor matters like this? You just need to do what you’re good at.”
Actually, there was a second part that Avril had left unsaid. ‘You have me for domestic affairs.’
Xia Fei felt blessed. This was home—a sensation that he had never felt before. As he looked around at this comfortable home and this peerlessly beautiful woman by his side, Xia Fei felt like the luckiest man alive, and to his surprise, Avril had learned to make fried soybean paste noodles!
Although it was not as tasty as the kind that could be bought in old Beijing, it contained Avril’s good intentions. The most difficult thing in the world was to accept a woman’s kindness. Knowing that he was about to go on a distant journey, Xia Fei became extremely unhappy.
After dinner, Avril did not go home. Holding Xia Fei’s arm, they sat on the sofa together and watched videos.
“This is a recording of my cousin Witherspoon’s wedding. Look how happy they are.” Avril tilted her head and looked up at Xia Fei, her eyes somewhat unfocused.
Xia Fei suddenly felt an intense unease. There was clearly something strange about Avril today. Could it be?
“This is a recording of the wedding of a good friend of mine’s, Miss Su Yun. I was even her bridesmaid. They had their wedding in the romantic city of Yunhai. The bride’s name is Su Yun and the groom’s name is Bo Yihai. The setting matched their names perfectly.
“Right! Miss Su Yun got married just when she was about as old as I am right now,” Avril smiled and looked at Xia Fei. “Look at how happy they are.
Xia Fei suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He got it now; he really did. His heart constricted and he suddenly felt like he was suffocating.
For the rest of the night, Avril kept hold of Xia Fei as they watched the wedding videos of her friends with him, frequently commenting about how happy they were.
Xia Fei frowned and sternly said, “Avril, I suddenly recalled some things I have to take care of. Could you go home for now?”
Avril was taken aback, and then she became extremely disappointed.
“Alright, I’ll come and see you tomorrow.”
“I need to go to the military to discuss some matters tomorrow. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“Oh, then I’ll stay at home and wait for you to call,” Avril pursed her lips and said.
Watching Avril leave, Phantom sighed. “Why are you doing this? Avril has already shown the most restraint a woman can. How can you just ignore her words?”
Xia Fei lit a cigarette and took in a deep breath of the night air. “Trust me. I know that I’m not a good person, but in everything I do, I won’t let down myself, and I certainly won’t let down those at my side.”
With his head hung low, Xia Fei walked back into the house, ignoring Phantom.
…
The next day, Avril did not receive Xia Fei’s phone call and was very disappointed.
On the third day, Xia Fei simply said that he was busy and did not have time to be with her.
On the fourth day, there was no call.
On the ninth day, Avril received a call from Xia Fei. He had already left the capital ring.
Avril asked when he would be back, and Xia Fei said that it would probably be a very long time. Avril did not dare to believe it. Xia Fei was leaving just like that? Not even letting her see him one last time? For the first time in her life, she understood what it meant to feel indescribable bitterness.
On the thirteenth day, Avril suddenly received a call from a stranger.
“Miss Avril, I am a lawyer representing Xia Fei, Fang Zhengdong. I have some things that I need you to look over. According to Mister Xia’s will, he’s made you his number one beneficiary to all his a.s.sets, but there are still some things regarding your ident.i.ty that I need you to verify.”
“What? Xia Fei made me his number one beneficiary?” Avril asked in shock.
“Yes. Mister Xia said that he’s about to go to a very dangerous place, so he wrote a will in case anything happens. Didn’t you know about this?”
At that moment, Avril understood everything. Xia Fei’s feelings for her had never changed. He was still that man who was always doing things for her, quietly cheris.h.i.+ng her in his own way.