Chapter 300: Everything is possible.
The fleet departed from the capital ring. Its destination was Black Abyss.
Butcher and his men would be waiting at a border town called Honeydew before the No Man’s Zone. They would meet up with Xia Fei’s transportation fleet to join them on the journey.
Xia Fei had no idea that Sarah was going to handle the job herself. The woman from the Wild Star Region was quite stubborn. She was not willing to enjoy her peace on Earth, while her men were risking their lives.
Xia Fei had installed the Black Bat Radar on Sarah’s wars.h.i.+p. His Vampire had the same radar system, allowing them to stay in contact when the interplanetary internet was not working as intended. The truth was, the Black Bat Radar was not so durable and would easily malfunction. Using it as a backup communication tool was the last resort, but it was still better having an extra way of staying in contact. Otherwise, if the interplanetary internet stopped working, the fleet would be deaf and blind.
As for why Xia Fei was staying put in the capital ring, first, the military was picking up their pace to test the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters. The situation was slowly getting out of hand. The military might be making a huge move soon, so the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters, which would greatly increase a wars.h.i.+p’s defense, might end up as part of the standard equipment of the military. Therefore, Xia Fei had to keep himself updated with their latest decision at all times.
Second, it was soon Avril’s grandfather, Ernst’s birthday. Xia Fei had already promised Avril that he would attend it. He could not afford to break his promise.
Xia Fei clearly knew Avril had other motives when she insisted on inviting him to the party. The innocent lady thought that if they attended the public occasion together, the people longing for her might know their place and back off. She would also be showing her determination to stay with Xia Fei.
It was in fact a naïve thought. She had no clue that marriages in the upper cla.s.s were like business deals. Avril’s decision would not make much difference. A lot of things would not change according to her will.
Xia Fei was well aware of Avril’s thoughts. He also knew how tough the journey ahead was, yet he had the habit of never backing down. If even a delicate girl like Avril was doing her best, Xia Fei had more reason to straighten his backbone as a man.
…
The Golden Finger Cup was still ongoing. The wars.h.i.+p event finally ended with Li Mo as the winner. Constantine came third in the event. As for Xia Fei, he was unable to enter the finals because his wars.h.i.+p was destroyed.
Even though Li Mo came first in the event, Xia Fei still got the most attention out of it.
After the event, the organizer immediately disclosed the parts that each partic.i.p.ant had installed in their wars.h.i.+p. The people found two unfamiliar devices from the specification of Xia Fei’s wars.h.i.+p: Quantum Holdings’ energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters.
It was not difficult to tell that the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters had significantly improved the wars.h.i.+p’s defense. The hobbyists soon discovered that the energy-s.h.i.+eld booster was Xia Fei’s secret weapon other than the proton bomb.
Xia Fei, who had kept a low profile, suddenly entered the limelight. He accepted every interview from the news agencies and generously discussed the benefits of the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters. He even emphasized that the energy-s.h.i.+eld booster was the sole reason for his unprecedented achievement of eliminating nine wars.h.i.+ps in the event, making it sound as if the proton bomb was not as important as the others a.s.sumed.
Promoting the proton bomb was not going to bring Xia Fei any benefits, but every energy-s.h.i.+eld booster sold would bring him millions of revenue. Xia Fei was obviously going to strike while the iron was still hot to promote his company and its product.
It was the most effective way of promoting the product. The energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters were immediately considered G.o.dly equipment under the influence of the news agencies. Quantum Holdings was completely exhausted after Xia Fei took the interviews. They received countless calls from hobbyists and dealers every minute asking about the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters and trying to reach a deal with them. The company had no choice but to allocate a few thousand workers just to accept the calls. Several hotlines were registered for the same purpose.
Xia Fei made a surprising decision amid the fanatical hype over the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters. He would auction fifty units of the energy-s.h.i.+eld booster on the biggest online marketplace in the Alliance every day. Those with the highest bids would take them home. The businesses, which were asking for huge supplies, were told that stocks were limited for now, so they could only order in smaller quant.i.ties.
Charlie did not understand what Xia Fei was thinking. Why did he not take the opportunity right in front of him?
Quantum Holdings had already increased their product rate significantly. There was no longer the need to limit the quant.i.ties for the new orders. However, Charlie still stuck to Xia Fei’s instructions out of trust. He would only sell a third of the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters produced every month to ensure that the company had enough funds for its operations. The rest of their stocks were kept in storage.
…
For the second last event of the Golden Finger Cup, the extreme modding event, Xia Fei came first with a slight margin with Li Mo right on his tail. However, Constantine only scored eighty-one out of everyone’s expectation.
Xia Fei was ranked seventh from the bottom on the ranking while Constantine and Li Mo took turns to occupy the first place. However, Constantine’s poor performance in the second last round had widened the gap between him and Li Mo to a hundred and six points. The only way for him to become the champion was to have a superb performance in the last round. Otherwise, he was most likely going to come second or even third in the tournament.
The last event was the search event. It was a new event that was added to the Golden Finger Cup this year. In the past, the partic.i.p.ants’ mastery of the radar system was only tested by asking the partic.i.p.ants to repair a radar system. However, the new event not only required the partic.i.p.ant to modify their radar system, they had to search for certain objects in the galaxy, too.
It was an indication that the Golden Finger Cup was slowly evolving from a tournament, which only focused on a partic.i.p.ant’s repairing and modding skills, to a more all-around wars.h.i.+p tournament. It was difficult to win the tournament without being skilled enough in every field.
There were not many spectators today. First of all, Li Mo already had a huge lead over Constantine in the second place, so the event was less thrilling and unpredictable. Second, the event was going to take place in the galaxy; thus, the spectators would only be watching the event from a huge screen at the venue. They could easily watch the event while lying comfortably and enjoying soda at home instead of paying the expensive entrance fee to watch it at the venue.
Most spectators at the venue were pa.s.sionate hobbyists of the Golden Finger Cup. The event was not their primary concern, since they were more interested in the ceremony after the event.
Planet Conglomerate had organized a group of more than thirty thousand people to watch the event. They were ready to cheer for their prince Li Mo as he became the champion. Even the chairman, Li Mo’s father, Li Guan was among them.
The people with him were the reputable figures of various fields. Everyone knew they were not only here to watch the event. It was the Li family’s way of showing off. The Li family had never treated the Golden Finger Cup too seriously, but it was still a champions.h.i.+p at the Alliance level. It was a great opportunity for Li Mo, who did not really have any experience, to enter the bigger stage of the Alliance’s upper cla.s.s.
“Father.” Li Mo went up to his old man after putting on his outfit.
Li Guan was having a pleasant chat with a few of his old friends. He introduced his son to his friends with a smile. Everyone immediately uttered their praises to flatter the young man.
“Mm, it’s quite an impressive achievement now that you’ve won the Golden Finger Cup, but you shouldn’t lower your guard in this event since many people are watching. Make sure you don’t bring any shame to our family,” Li Guan said.
Li Mo nodded. He seemed to be in low spirits. The unpleasant memory at the altar was still bothering him. He understood that he was still a long way from reaching his father’s expectations. In other words, the scent of blood on him was nowhere strong enough.
Li Mo’s guts crunched when he recalled his father covered in blood with that semicircular knife in his hand. He said a few words of politeness and came up with an excuse to run away from his father.
Li Guan’s friends immediately went forward to congratulate Li Guan with some high-sounding words. The truth was, these people preferred to see the Li family in defeat, but none of them would dare to say it in front of others.
Only true friends would give out sincere blessings. There were never any friends when businesses were involved; there were only benefits.
Li Mo caught a glimpse of Xia Fei in the corner of his eye. He approached Xia Fei with a grin. No matter how bad of a situation he was in, he could still find some comfort from Xia Fei. After all, Xia Fei was currently ranked at the bottom. The man was basically thousands of miles away from him.
“I didn’t expect you to show up. I wouldn’t have the perseverance if I were you. Being ranked seventh from the bottom would be a great humiliation to me. Our Li family has always been the best in everything. Of course, you might already feel proud of your rank. After all, you did make it to the last event,” Li Mo said mockingly.
Xia Fei did not seem bothered at all. He was laughing instead, as if he was having a pleasant experience.
Li Mo was confused. Why would Xia Fei be laughing at a time like this? Was he already shameless to such an extent?
“Mr. Li, since we are acquaintances, I have some advice for you.”
“What is it?”
“Everything is possible.”
Xia Fei left after finis.h.i.+ng the sentence as if he was the final victor despite his current rank.
Li Mo was furious. No one was allowed to act so proudly in front of him, not even Xia Fei. He already decided to perform perfectly in the event as a way to celebrate his first time of becoming an Alliance champion.
“Young master, he’s just envious of you. You happened to stab him right at the place where it hurts the most, so he could only pretend to be carefree despite the grudge in his heart. You shouldn’t let him mess with your mind. You will be falling for his tricks,” the mustachioed man said softly.
Li Mo nodded. He clenched his teeth and said, “I don’t care what he’s up to; the victory will be mine still. I just can’t stand his att.i.tude. Hmph, such a povo.”
Li Mo left in anger. Phantom said with a wry face, “I told you not to take part in the event, but you insisted on coming, instead. Do you seriously think you can score a thousand points in the event to make a comeback? Avril is watching you. You should think about her, too. If she sees you in the seventh last place and Li Mo came first, will she be happy about it?”
Xia Fei turned to Phantom and smiled. “I have some advice for you, too.”
“What advice?”
“Everything is possible.”
…
Inside the chief referee conference room, every judge of the Golden Finger Cup had arrived. Today was the final event of the tournament. They would be going separate ways after today. After all, these people had their own responsibilities, too. They were either the president of a region or an elder of the headquarters.
The judges had an unspoken rule among them. They would be extremely strict with the first and the last events of the tournament. Being strict in the first event was to remind the partic.i.p.ants not to cheat during the events. Being strict in the last event was to tell everyone that the Golden Finger Cup was fair and impartial. After all, most spectators were not hobbyists. They only watched the first and the last events, thus the att.i.tude of the officials during these two events might directly influence the reputation of the Golden Finger Cup.
A few screens were set up across the venue, allowing the judges to see every detail of the event clearly. The tablet-size computers in their hands allowed them to check any information at all times.
The event had yet to start, but the meeting room was already under great pressure. Everyone seemed very nervous.
The fatty, Blackened Vessel, suddenly burst out laughing and grabbed everyone’s attention. Everyone knew that he was the kind of person who was not fussy with trifles, but it was definitely inappropriate in a situation like this.
Everyone looked at the fatty. The chief referee was slightly enraged, too. The man with traditional thinking believed that it was ominous to break the rules right before an event.
“Fatty, what are you laughing at?”
Blackened Vessel tapped a few times on the screen and displayed the information of a wars.h.i.+p on the biggest screen.
He rose to his feet while carrying his huge stomach and pointed at the screen. “Here is the information on Xia Fei’s wars.h.i.+p. Look, that kid didn’t even modify the radar system. He only installed a triangulate a.s.sault steel plate at the front of the wars.h.i.+p. He also improved the wars.h.i.+p’s acceleration system. It’s meant to be an item search; is he thinking of charging into the enemy’s frontline by modifying his wars.h.i.+p like that?”
Many in the room chuckled. The a.s.sault steel plate was called the vanguard blade. When a fleet encountered huge obstacles, it would send wars.h.i.+ps with the vanguard blade to clean up the obstacles and open a safe path for the fleet.
The acceleration system was still reasonable since it would allow the wars.h.i.+p to reach its target in the shortest time possible to secure the advantage. However, what was the point of installing the heavy vanguard blade to the wars.h.i.+p? No one knew what Xia Fei was thinking. They did not understand how the vanguard blade would come in handy in the search.
“Xia Fei’s overall score is so low. Perhaps he already gave up on the tournament. He only installed the vanguard blade for fun.”
Blackened Vessel shook his head. “That’s not possible. He could have just quit the event if he had already given up. It’s not like you didn’t see his performance in the last extreme modding event. He significantly reduced the thickness of the armor to increase the wars.h.i.+p’s agility by 31.25 percent and won the event. Does that look like someone who has given up?”
The others fell into deep thoughts. They, too, were puzzled. They had never seen anything like it.
Years of Floating Light, who was seated at the center, coughed on purpose. “According to the rules, the vanguard blade is a tool to clear obstacles instead of a weapon, so Xia Fei isn’t breaking the rules for installing it. We shall continue to observe the event and discuss anything else later.”
“The reputation of our a.s.sociation of Machinists is at stake, so not only will you be harsh with the punishment on those who break the rules, you must be precise with your calls, too. We shouldn’t let a trivial matter like that distract us.”
…
A few hundred Caldarian Kestrel-cla.s.s frigates were parked at the airstrip at the center of the venue. Li Mo lifted his gaze and waved at Avril. He was proud and aloof as if he had already won.
Avril twisted her lips, turned away and ignored him. She seemed a little down. She was not too fussy with Xia Fei’s rank. Everyone knew that Xia Fei had missed ten of the events. Otherwise, he would surely be a strong contender in the tournament. However, she was not feeling comfortable knowing that Li Mo would win the tournament, and she disliked him even more because of it.
“Miss, isn’t it better if we watch the event at home? It’s unlikely Xia Fei’s rank is going to change. He won’t have a spot on the stage during the ceremony later,” Pang Xing said with a hint of pity. He hated seeing Avril in a bad mood.
Avril said, “I’m here to cheer for Xia Fei. I want to tell him that, no matter what his final rank is, he is still my Xia Fei.”
Avril proclaimed her determination with her immature voice. Pang Xing was startled. He took a step back and thought, ‘When did the lady become so tough? Was it because of him?’
…
Every partic.i.p.ant had received a map, which had the rules of the event in detail and the area where the items were placed.
The rules were very simple; there were twelve items in total. Whoever found them and used the towing beam to retrieve them would win the event.
These items would be emitting a faint signal. The partic.i.p.ants must pick up the signals first before using their radar systems to determine their exact locations.
The event was not too difficult. It basically came down to how long the partic.i.p.ants had used to pick up the signals. Their radar system would also need to carry out complicated calculations. Whoever with the most sensitive and accurate radar system had the highest chance of winning the event.
Xia Fei put the map away without looking at it. He activated the wars.h.i.+p’s ignition system and slowly adjusted its force and control.
Phantom was puzzled. “Shouldn’t you be looking at the map while you still have the time now? It’s going to be a race once the event starts.”
Xia Fei smiled. He simply ignored Phantom and continued to tweak his wars.h.i.+p as if he was not concerned about the event at all.
“I remember you mentioning that you can accept losing a compet.i.tion but not by a huge margin. Avril is still watching you. Aren’t you going to try your best at least?” Phantom asked.
Xia Fei said, “Maybe, maybe not.”
Following a clear beep from the main control system, the wars.h.i.+ps immediately set off, striving to get a head start over the others. Xia Fei fixed his eyes on Li Mo’s wars.h.i.+p in the distance. He maximized the energy output of the engine and waited.
Li Mo’s battles.h.i.+p took off rapidly. Xia Fei immediately pushed the level and followed him.
Xia Fei caught up to Li Mo and intentionally positioned his wars.h.i.+p right behind Li Mo’s wars.h.i.+p. The bow of Xia Fei’s wars.h.i.+p was facing Li Mo’s stern while maintaining a distance of around fifteen thousand meters.
“Alert! The wars.h.i.+p has been locked on,” the main control system warned.
Li Mo glanced at the radar with a frown. The event did not allow the use of weapons. Who would even bother to target his wars.h.i.+p now?
“It’s Xia Fei!” Li Mo exclaimed.
He recognized it right away as he remembered the serial number of Xia Fei’s wars.h.i.+p.
Xia Fei’s wars.h.i.+p suddenly accelerated and went right at Li Mo’s wars.h.i.+p.
Xia Fei had modified the acceleration system, so Li Mo’s wars.h.i.+p was no match against its speed.
“Alert! A collision will occur in five seconds. Please brace yourself,” the main control system warned.
Li Mo glanced at Xia Fei’s wars.h.i.+p on the screen. The vanguard blade at the front was glittering murderously.
Li Mo finally realized what Xia Fei was truly referring to with his advice. “Everything is possible.”
It turned out Xia Fei had long been planning it. Xia Fei was going to unhorse him even if it meant disqualifying himself.
How vicious of him! His father and friends were still waiting to see him being crowned the champion on the stage.
“What should I do? What should I do?” Li Mo’s face turned extremely pale and his lips turned purple.
The two wars.h.i.+ps collided fiercely.
The vanguard blade cut through Li Mo’s s.h.i.+p like it was some fruit or vegetable.
Sparks instantly soared into the sky.
Xia Fei smiled. His lips curled upward in an eerie angle. “Whoever wants to mess with me, I’ll mess with them, too.”