Chapter 112: Dog-eat-dog World
Allen signaled Xia Fei with his eyes, pleading him to listen to the young master. Sarah, on the other hand, was a bit worried, yet she bit her lower lip and kept her mouth shut. The lady who could not hide her emotions conveyed her thoughts clearly through her face.
Xia Fei smiled. “Young master Ning, what does the old master seek from me?”
Ning Dian showed impatience as he looked at Xia Fei. “Why are you asking so many questions? You’ll know once you come with me.”
The others standing next to this young master with slanted berets were also arrogantly staring at Xia Fei, even flexing their chest muscles. It appeared that if Xia Fei did not cooperate, they would make sure that he would.
Xia Fei did not care about these guys at all. However, Allen and Sarah were tied into this now, and if he killed them before leaving, Allen and his family would certainly pay the price for it. Moreover, Lunar Eclipse was still moored in this base’s hangar; Xia Fei did not have plans to give that up any time soon. Among other things, he was unwilling to part ways even if it was just the Black Mamba 130 engine.
“Alright, I’ll come with you,” Xia Fei said with a smile.
Allen breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing his previously tense body. Sarah, for her part, still looked quite worried.
“I’ll be back in no time. Prepare some food for me; I’m kind of hungry,” Xia Fei said, patting his stomach.
The Ning clan lived on the highest level of this base, taking up the entire floor in fact. As the owner of the Red Rock Base, their clan was on a completely different level than the average residents.
There were various plants in their yard grown using nutrient fluids. The flouris.h.i.+ng leaves and branches gave the residence quite a bit of life.
The ground was made of alloy with a layer of red slate on top of it. The paths had lines of trees and shrubs on both sides as well, reminding Xia Fei of what it was like back on Earth. It was a rare sight to see something like this in the dark s.p.a.ce, and this suggested that the Ning clan knew how to enjoy life.
Other than operating various businesses and trade, the Ning clan also collected twenty percent tax on all commodities that pa.s.sed through Red Rock Base, resulting in a huge annual income.
Outside of spending it on maintaining the base, they had over a thousand or so mercenaries under their employment to maintain peace around here. They even had a few wars.h.i.+ps to help with security. It could be said that the Ning clan was in charge around here.
Ning Dian brought Xia Fei into the living room and pointed casually at it. “Wait in there.”
The living room was extremely big, with a floor s.p.a.ce of about three hundred square meters. There were seven or so round tables in the center, and dishes filled with various nuts and snacks placed on top.
There were already twenty or so people in the living room. They looked like tough, brutish men with their intimidating appearances. Many of them had weapons hanging off their waists, huddled together while chatting and laughing with one another.
The room was immediately silent the moment Xia Fei stepped in, and many sets of doubtful eyes focused on him.
Xia Fei smiled to show that he was harmless.
He appeared completely average by how young he was in his worn-out work overalls, looking just like any average Red Rock Base resident.
These men did not seem to mind his presence as they went back to their conversations, stuffing themselves with the fruits taken from their tables. The way they did so made it seem as if it would be their loss to miss a piece. It did not take long before the floor was filled with skins of fruits.
Xia Fei sat down at a secluded corner. Perhaps it was because of all the a.s.sa.s.sination techniques he had learned, but he now liked to sit in inconspicuous corners just like Phantom. No matter where he was, he would find the best spot to hide and blend in fast.
A chubby lady served Xia Fei a cup of tea with a few oranges and apples. It was extremely difficult to grow fruits and vegetables in the wild regions, so the prices of these were extremely high. A piece of orange could be sold for at least twenty cents, which converted to about a few thousand star coins, which in turn would have been enough to buy several hundred catties of fruits.
Xia Fei nodded before peeling and eating an orange. His eyes darted around the room as he tried to listen in on what these men were discussing.
Xia Fei got a good idea of what was going on a few minutes later.
It turned out that the third eldest of the Ning clan, which was also Ning Dian’s dad, and the Owl Pirates’ Scar had their eyes on a new girl at a brothel. The two fought over the girl, verbally at first which then turned physical.
The Ning clan was the owner of Red Rock Base, after all, so seeing as Scar was on the back foot, he and his men chose to take the short stick and retreated.
From then onward, the two had held a grudge for each other. Scar had been sending men to infiltrate the base time and again to kill the third eldest Ning, but the opportunity never came, and all they ended up killing as revenge were a few of the Ning clan’s men, instead.
The Ning clan decided that Scar should be rid of sooner rather than later, so they moved to gather a few people from nearby bases that they had a good relations.h.i.+p with and several pirates who were on bad terms with Scar to end his life once and for all, and those were the people in attendance.
What none expected was for Scar to catch wind of this and sent a group of pirates to attack Red Rock Base today. However, since Scar failed in his a.s.sault, the leaders of nearby bases and some pirates all felt that it was a good time to get rid of him.
They were currently discussing how to split the spoils after this operation, as well as how much money the Ning clan was willing to pay.
Xia Fei lit up a cigarette, quickly figuring out why he was called here.
As he destroyed one of the enemy pirate s.h.i.+ps, accidentally aiding the Ning clan, while all along thinking that he was Allen’s distant nephew, they automatically treated him as part of their force.
The strength of the Ning clan was mainly concentrated here in Red Rock Base, but once they went outside, it was all in favor of wars.h.i.+ps. The wars.h.i.+ps the Ning clan owned were completely average, so including Xia Fei would greatly strengthen them.
This band to deal with Scar had been gathered at the last minute. Everybody here had their ideas, but they only had one thing in mind: money.
If Scar was willing to pay a higher price, it was entirely possible for them to turn around to kill the Ning clan, instead. This was the Wild Star Region, after all; killing someone was as easy as stomping on an ant.
Moreover, Allen and Sarah were residents of Red Rock Base. They more or less guaranteed that Xia Fei was not a mole; the Ning clan would have forced him to follow them either way.
At this moment, a few entered the hall. First was a man in his seventies with a white goatee; following him were three middle-aged men. The youngest, Ning Dian, walked behind them.
Everyone in the hall stood up in greeting to the old man of the Ning clan. The old man sat down at the main seat in the living room with his three sons on either side of him.
“I’m sorry that you guys had to wait so long. Scar and his cronies have just tried to attack my Red Rock Base. Thankfully, the excellent defense system of this base managed to withstand and defend against their a.s.sault. Nonetheless, Scar has been stirring up sh*t in the Wild Star Region for a long time now, so I don’t think that this will be the end of it but, rather, just the start. I urge everyone to take care,” the old man said slowly.
What he said was almost poetic. Owl Pirates had sustained heavy losses and barely escaped with their lives, but the Ning clan’s old man said that he had barely held on, not taking any credits for the victory this time.
He then quickly switched topics and urged everyone to take care, not forgetting to attack Scar for he knew they were gathered here to deal with that notorious pirate leader. Since everyone in the room was on the same boat, there was no point in fighting with one another.
“Old man Ning is right. I’ve never liked Scar; he’s done terrible things in these few years. Luckily, his side sustained heavy damage today, so now is the best chance we have of getting rid of him!” declared a short-haired bloke as he stood up.
“We, as the leaders of nearby bases, have to guarantee the safety of our residents. I wholeheartedly support old man Ning’s plan to get rid of Scar,” chimed in a leader from a nearby base.
Everyone there called out Scar and his bunch of pirates as sc.u.ms who did terrible things; they all thought that they should deal with him to return peace in the Wild Star Region.
Xia Fei thought this was funny. Was this not a case of dog eat dog? Why made it seem like it was justice-driven? In the Wild Star Region, pirates were the people and the people were pirates; there was no distinguis.h.i.+ng them at all. Who here had not taken a few lives? In terms of terrible things, these guys were not much better either.
The matter was obvious. This was just a bunch of pirates banding together to rob another bunch of pirates. No matter which side they were on, they were still pirates.
Without any obstacles, the Ning clan and these representatives quickly formed an alliance. The bunch had the Ning clan’s old man to be the commander of this operation, coordinating everybody’s movements and strategy.
Since everybody already understood their aim, next was how to split the spoils. This was what everyone was here for. Nothing else mattered in the Wild Star Region other than money.
The hall became exceedingly quiet, waiting for the old man to announce how the plunder would be split. Everyone thought to themselves that they would give up if the pay was not satisfactory; they were not about to give up even a penny.
Old man Ning was wise, of course; he knew what these guys were thinking of. He waved his hand at his youngest son, who then walked out of the hall. Not long after, he walked in with a metal plate.
It was covered with a piece of red fabric, so who knew what was underneath it?
The third eldest Ning placed it on the table before returning to his seat. Old man Ning stood up and scanned the room with a hint of slyness in his murky eyes. It was just like an old sly fox looking at a bunch of young sly foxes.
“Everyone, if this operation succeeds, the Ning clan won’t take a cent. Plus, I’ll give this to whoever takes Scar’s head.”
Old man Ning spoke with a straight back before removing the red cloth with his right hand. The silence in the hall was deafening as surprise and greed could be seen in everyone’s eyes. The hall now was filled with nothing but heavy breathing.