Chapter 214: Full speed ahead!
Xia Fei could barely sleep as he was quite stressed by the t.i.tan-cla.s.s blueprint Qin Mang had given him.
Having only collected the structure and radar system of t.i.tan, it was far from complete. In order to produce a similar superwars.h.i.+p, he must at least gather the firing, weapons, reactor and propulsion systems.
It would be extremely difficult to build a whole t.i.tan even with just these two pieces of blueprints as building a behemoth of over fifteen billion cubic meters was no easy task by any means. Even the four big wars.h.i.+p companies in the Alliance did not have the capabilities to do such a thing, so what more of Xia Fei himself?
Either way, setting aside the long production time, the money required would also be shocking. No matter how one looked at it, the t.i.tan-cla.s.s wars.h.i.+p was still quite far out of his capability.
Xia Fei was also quite bothered by the legend of the destruction of civilizations. What kind of power was secretly controlling all beings in the universe, letting them grow only to be eventually destroyed?
It was late at night, and Xia Fei received a call from Avril. The girl shown on the projected screen looked as cute as usual. This was when Xia Fei realized: Was he not trying hard in life so he could protect the people around him?
Xiaoyu’s disappearance had greatly impacted him, making Xia Fei more resolute. As he moved on and met the cute Avril, he thought back on the dangers that might be brewing in the human-occupied areas. Xia Fei suddenly realized that he was actually quite close to all these wonderful things, which he never wanted to see hurt in the slightest bit.
It was early in the morning when Xia Fei left the tent.
There was a light fog this early in the plains, making it difficult to see far. Crystal-clear droplets slowly slipped off leaves, and the chirping of insects could be heard through the fog.
“Aren’t you up early?” Qin Mang approached Xia Fei in his hovercar.
“Aren’t you the same?” Xia Fie replied with a smile.
Qin MAng smiled, too. “It seems that you’re doing all right. I thought that you’d be too excited to sleep. When I got this blueprint, I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep for a few nights.”
“I actually didn’t sleep, but I learned something when I received Avril’s call yesterday.”
“Oh,” Qin Mang asked curiously, “what did you learn?”
“It’s nothing. A superwars.h.i.+p like t.i.tan is every man’s dream. If I ever get the opportunity to realize it, of course I’ll give it my all. It doesn’t matter that the goal is still quite far away, but it’s never a bad thing to have dreams.”
…
After having breakfast, Xia Fei returned to New York on his Vampire and arrived at Andre’s mansion.
Xia Fei was not directly involved with the running of Quantum Holdings, so he would often discuss things with Andre.
Charlie, who had gone to the third factory in Asia to check things out, hoped that work could be done as soon as possible and start production. This also meant that Andre was alone in the huge mansion.
“I’m going to leave for a bit,” said Xia Fei.
“Where are you going? The company has already entered you into the Golden Finger Cup. Plus, the production of the energy-s.h.i.+eld booster is about to start; it’s not the best idea to leave now,” opined Andre.
Xia Fei smiled. “Don’t worry; it’s still a few months away from the Golden Finger Cup, I should be back in time for it. Plus, I’m not traveling too far. You can send me an email if you have anything; I’ll be sure to check it periodically.
“There shouldn’t be any problems with the ma.s.s production of the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters with you guys and Uncle Porter overseeing it. Porter is a pro in machinery, so you guys should just pay attention to what he says.”
Andre nodded. “I know that. I heard from the factories that Porter got some people to retrofit every equipment, subsequently increasing efficiency by over thirty percent, all the while reducing the maintenance costs. Such skills don’t come around often.”
Andre did not have a clear idea of who Porter was, but he would be even more shocked if he learned that Porter was a three-time Golden Finger Cup champion.
“How’s the progress of the other three factories?” asked Xia Fei.
“Factory 2 should be entering the trial phase in a month or so. Factories 3 and 4 should take a bit longer, probably half a year later.”
“That’s too slow.” Xia Fei furrowed his eyebrows. “Could it go any quicker?”
“Quicker? It’s already quite quick; if we want to go faster, we will have to hire more people and work through the night. We also must double the number of supervisors.”
Xia Fei nodded. “Alright, let’s do that. I want the work to proceed as fast as possible; we’ll just pay them more.”
Andre silently nodded. He did not understand why Xia Fei was in such a hurry all of a sudden.
Xia Fei went over many things with Andre, most of it had to do with picking up the pace of Quantum Holdings. Since he decided to give it his all in producing a t.i.tan-cla.s.s wars.h.i.+p, of course Xia Fei had to pick up the pace.
After all, the resources a t.i.tan required were incredible. Xia Fie did not want to spend decades, possibly even over a century, gathering the funds for it. Quantum Holdings must hit the road running as soon as possible. It had been his wish all along. It was just that now there was an even bigger force driving him to move quicker.
After leaving Andre’s manor, Xia Fei gave Thuram a call.
“Uncle Thuram, I heard that you had returned. Why didn’t you say anything to me? I could’ve at least sent you off,” Xia Fei said, smiling.
Thuram let out a cold snort. “You boot-licker. You just need to take care of that old thing Qin Mang. I still have my arms and legs; I don’t need you to send me off.”
“Alright, what do you need this time around?” asked Thuram.
“Uncle, I’ve arranged for the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters that you ordered to begin production. I’ll send over the first batch once it’s done being produced. Technically, you’re Quantum Holdings’s first major client, so I’d like to thank you for that,” Xia Fei said humbly.
Thuram quickly waved his hands. “No… Something’s not right. Absolutely not right. You must have something to ask of me.”
Xia Fei smiled. “Uncle, is it possible for you to make the payment prior to receiving the goods? Quantum Holdings is a small company, and we are having some issues with our finances. Either way, you’re supervising all the purchasing of arms of the entire Union; it won’t be much anyway, will it?”
Thuram let out a hearty laugh. “I knew you had something in mind. The products haven’t even shown up, yet you’re already asking for money—what a company you have.”
Xia Fei pouted. “That’s because I’m in a bit of a pickle. If I had the money, I wouldn’t mind gifting the batch to you.”
Thuram had a serious look on his face. “Well, what’s it about?”
“I plan to build another four factories on top of the four we currently have to produce other projects, so we are a bit short on funds.”
“What other projects?” Thuram asked curiously.
“It’s a radar system. I can’t really go into detail, but I can tell you that this radar system is even more impressive than the energy-s.h.i.+eld booster. Plus, we may even consider adding a firing system extension, so I’m really in need of funds,” Xia Fei said in a deep voice.
“Even more impressive than the energy-s.h.i.+eld booster?” Thuram was utterly shocked. “Are you being serious, Xia Fei? How confident are you?”
Xia Fei nodded. “Nothing’s absolute in this world, but I’ll say eighty percent.”
Thuram rubbed his bald chin and said in a deep voice in a few moments, “If that’s the case, I’ll make an exception just this once and pay you in full, but we’ll need to make a deal. Once the super-radar system you describe enters production, I’ll be the first to get the goods. The price will be up to you, and the quant.i.ty will be up to me.”
“Deal,” agreed Xia Fei readily.
…
Five thousand standard edition energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters, each priced at four million, and one thousand enhanced editions, each at ten million. The sum of thirty billion star coins arrived a few minutes later into Quantum Holdings’ account. It was the first time the company had seen such an enormous sum.
“What’s going on? The Adjudicator’s precinct has transferred thirty billion to the company account. According to the contract, they should be paying fifty percent three days before the first batch of goods are delivered, then the rest will be paid after all the s.h.i.+pments.”
As the chief financial officer, Charlie called Xia Fei as soon as he could once he noticed the change in the company funds to find out more. Charlie was flushed from all the emotions he was feeling. Thirty billion star coins was an astronomical figure for a small company on Earth.
Xia Fei smiled. “It’s nothing; I spoke to Uncle Thuram and asked him to pay first for the second phase of the project.”
“Second phase? Why haven’t I heard of it?” asked Charlie.
“Oh, I’ve just spoken to your grandfather about it and have yet to get a chance to tell you about it. Basically, we need to pick up the pace of the company’s growth. Just start preparing a new production line for radar systems. Uncle Porter will tell you what equipment we need,” Xia Fei said firmly.
The radar blueprint Xia Fei possessed was found by Old Porter, so he had a good grasp of the details. There was no better choice than having him tackle the technical troubles.
Charlie felt dizzy. Before the excitement from the first major order of the company died down, Xia Fei had already started a second project. This was an incredible speed as, a few months ago, Quantum Holdings was still a small company producing low-value-added products with an average profit margin of less than ten percent; now, there was a sum in tens of billions. How could Charlie not be excited for it?
“Alright, I trust that you have made your decisions. I’ll start a team to prepare for the radar product, and I’ll try and begin building the factories as soon as possible,” said Charlie.
Charlie trusted Xia Fei’s decision. Quantum Holdings had become what it was today under Xia Fei’s lead, after all.
“Alright, but don’t bother building a new factory; it’s a huge waste of time. We can stop producing the low-profit projects. The growth of the company will no longer rely on the low-valued products. Haven’t you been thinking about doing a product upgrade? Now’s the time,” Xia Fei said in a deep voice.
Charlie was shocked as he felt an unusual force in Xia Fei’s tone in his confidence to bring the company to new heights.
“Understood. From today onward, Quantum Holdings will go full speed ahead!” Charlie said excitedly.