Chapter 329: Raking in Money
Yawei’s military base.
“I’ve thought about it. If we can fend off the attacks from Terminus and Evil Gulfstream this time, those veterans can elect to become your private soldiers. After all, they’ve been with me for so many years that I can’t just have them defending the base for their entire lives.” Yawei sighed. “Once the war is over, you may take as many as you wish, provided that they’re willing to follow you.”
Xia Fei laughed. “Big Brother Yawei, you’re truly a general who loves his soldiers as if they’re your children. Relax. If they’re willing to be part of my private army, I’ll definitely treat them well.”
Yawei silently sipped his coffee before continuing. “It seems to me that you’re very confident in us, certain that we will win in the Black Abyss.”
Xia Fei asked back, “Is it a bad thing if I trust you? Your victory will get me the most money, so I can only place all my hopes on your shoulders.”
Yawei nodded. “We still don’t know how s.h.i.+ps fitted with energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters will perform in battle, though. We’ll soon be joining with the rest of the army and engaging in a large-scale battle. At the moment, it’s estimated that thirty million men will be taking part, with no fewer than ten thousand s.h.i.+ps, nearly one hundred of which being capital s.h.i.+ps.
“It’s going to be an all-or-nothing battle. Victory will mean that we drive the enemy back to their homes, but a loss will make us scramble for our lives.”
Xia Fei calmly replied, “Military strategy isn’t my forte, but I sincerely wish you good luck.”
Yawei replied, “I understand that it’s in your best interests to count on us.”
The two of them laughed, understanding what the other was thinking.
“Right, I already sent over the equipment you promised that rebel army or whatever. Are those people your friends? Do you want me to give them some support from the shadows?” Yawei asked.
Xia Fei smiled wickedly as he sternly said, “Big Brother Yawei, those people certainly aren’t my friends, so let them live and die on their own. If they don’t die, Windchime will continue to have a worry in her heart.”
“Your meaning is?” Yawei was somewhat taken aback. Xia Fei clearly hoped that this rebel army would disappear!
“Yes,” Xia Fei firmly declared. “Windchime is connected to someone very important to me. I need that lady to focus and be a good wife, so she can’t have any worries weighing on her mind.”
Yawei exhaled, his brows creasing. “You’re quite the vicious person, helping someone in the open but secretly working to their demise.”
Xia Fei did not take the comment to heart, saying, “Big Brother Yawei, I’m sure that you’d do the same if our positions were switched. In truth, it doesn’t matter how vicious or ruthless it is. To reach our goals, we, at times, must resort to some small tricks.”
Yawei smiled and patted Xia Fei on the shoulder. “That’s true. Getting someone’s trust is usually a multifaceted affair, not something that one can just get with money. Leave this matter to me; I’ll make sure it’s done cleanly.”
“Thank you. If there’s nothing else, I plan to be on my way.”
“So soon? You don’t wish to stay any longer?”
Xia Fei chuckled. “The Death Tri-region is a war zone. Trust me when I say that I’ll be staying some more here, but not right now. Once the war is over, I’ll move my home here as a victor rightly should!”
…
Two months later, Earth.
The Butcher had parted with Xia Fei midway. Desiring Eden, they had joined a grandiose exploration army. Ever since the matter of Eden emerged, countless exploration teams and corporations had appeared in the Alliance overnight. Their goal was the same: Find a navigation course to Eden and establish a connection with those humans who looked like them yet had been separated from the Alliance for far too long.
This was the first time since the opening-up of the universe that humanity had made such a large move out of its domain to seek a new world. Butcher and his brothers, who had come out of the Blood Matrix, were naturally overcome with excitement. Xia Fei had a good impression of these scarred warriors. Even after experiencing darkness and oppression, they remained enthusiastic about life, indicating that they had quite the stubborn and persistent will to live.
While Xia Fei was not that old, he was very good at judging people. One principle he always kept was to look at what people did rather than what they said.
Xia Fei would get Butcher’s crew on his side one day, but before that, he would let them vent all the pressure on their chests. He would have plenty of time to recruit them once they calmed down.
The Impaler had been parked outside Andre’s mansion for three days now. In these three days, Sarah reported that she had finished her work. While Windchime was unwilling, she still decided to leave with Porter, but Xia Fei never took one step off his s.h.i.+p.
He sent everyone a simple message: “I’m in seclusion.” There was nothing after that.
More and more people gathered. The President of the Earth Federation, Wu Long, anxiously waited outside the s.h.i.+p. Each day, he would first hold his regular meeting at the presidential palace, and after the meetings were done, he would move to a bench on his lawn and look at Xia Fei’s s.h.i.+p. Charlie, Andre, Boateng, and Porter did the same. Even old man Qin Mang made a personal visit to New York.
After an entire week, Xia Fei finally walked out from his room.
“The advancement this time was very difficult,” Xia Fei muttered as he lit a cigarette.
Phantom shrugged. “That’s how cultivation is. The higher you go, the more difficult it gets. This time, you increased the Beast Spirit Codex to stage 4 and your psychokinesis to stage 3. All together, you only took a little more than two months. In truth, that’s astonis.h.i.+ng speed.”
Xia Fei nodded. “I want to bring the Beast Spirit Codex to stage 6 as soon as possible. Only then will I have a chance against the Blackstar Phantom Bat and get my hands on that Thanatos carrier.”
Phantom replied, “The Blackstar Phantom Bat isn’t going to be an easy opponent. You’ll have to make many preparations before you go after it. At the very least, you need a decent expedition fleet, not like this time, where you just had Butcher’s men fill in your ranks. Moreover, you also need several high ranked warriors to support you. That’s the only way you can have any chance of killing the Blackstar Phantom Bat and seizing the carrier.”
Xia Fei brewed a cup of tea for himself. “I already have an idea of who to pick.”
Phantom chuckled. “You’re thinking about Moon Song and Chen Dong, aren’t you? Moon Song’s illusion ability will truly be a big help. The Blackstar Phantom Bat is skilled in illusory attacks, and Moon Song’s illusions should be able to confuse it for a while. As for Chen Dong, his frost ability can restrict the Blackstar Phantom Bat’s movements and attack range. Teaming up with them is truly a good choice.
“Still, that’s not good enough. Moon Song’s cultivation isn’t that high, and her illusions aren’t guaranteed to be effective on the Blackstar Phantom Bat. To increase your odds of success, you should add a few more high-ranked warriors to the team.”
*Gurgle…*
Xia Fei’s tummy rumbled. Patting his shriveled stomach, Xia Fei said, “Returning to the Wild Star Region is a long-term goal that we have plenty of time to think about. Let’s fill my stomach first.”
…
Eerie. The mood was truly eerie.
Xia Fei was alone in the dining room, eating, while several dozen pairs of eyes watching him from nearby.
“My G.o.d! Xia Fei’s appet.i.te has increased again! That’s a Mexican turkey weighing eight kilos! Sometimes, I really don’t understand how you can eat so much,” Wu Long said in shock.
Xia Fei smiled. “Since so many of us are here, let’s have a meeting. I have some matters I need to discuss with everyone. Anyway, there are no outsiders here, so there’s no need to be so uptight.”
All of them had many matters to consult with Xia Fei about, so everyone voiced their agreement to this idea. Qin Mang tried to back out, saying he was not a member of Quantum Holdings, but Xia Fei refused to accept this excuse and made him stay.
“How many energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters can we produce right now?”
Charlie took out a prepared form and pa.s.sed it to Xia Fei. “The military’s requirements are truly too shocking. Want to guess how many they ordered?”
“Ten thousand?” Xia Fei casually said. “The military uses the most wars.h.i.+ps in the entire Alliance. Not even they can say how many fleets they have under their command. A group like the Adjudicator Union has nearly two hundred fleets, so I will conservatively estimate that the military has at least two thousand.”
Xia Fei glanced at the contract copy and cried out in alarm, “One million! The military made an order for one million!”
Charlie seemed incredibly excited. “Right? The military is incredibly interested in the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters. By the looks of it, they plan to outfit every one of their s.h.i.+ps with it!
“We’re selling the energy-s.h.i.+eld boosters to the military at a somewhat lower profit margin than with our ordinary customers, but the profit margin for each one is still a million star coins. If we complete this order, Quantum Holdings will make a profit of one trillion star coins!”
Besides Qin Mang, Porter, and Phantom, everyone else was flabbergasted. This was one trillion star coins! Someone of Qin Mang’s status did not care that much about money, but Xia Fei was different. As someone who used to scrimp and scrounge even when he went out to eat fried paste noodles, when had he ever heard of such an astronomical sum? When he had come to possess one million star coins, he had been so excited that he could not speak for several days and nights, and when his account broke to one hundred million, he had been over the moon with excitement.
Now, his capital was about to break through the one trillion mark, and Xia Fei found it hard to conceal his ecstasy.
In truth, Xia Fei did not need much money to fund his lifestyle. Someone who ate fried paste noodles and smoked Hongtashan as much as they could would not even spend ten thousand dollars every month.
The greatest benefit of this capital to Xia Fei was not dignity or luxury but rather dreams!
With money, he had the chance to realize his dreams!
One needed the support of enormous capital to purchase high grade medicinal ingredients and equipment. The Thanatos carrier seizure plan, the Death Tri-region development plan, and even the far-off plan to build a t.i.tan—which one of these things that Xia Fei had dreamed long ago would not cost an astronomical amount of money?
There was also Avril. Xia Fei did not want the woman he loved to be in poverty because of him. She deserved a better life. Avril might not care about money, but Xia Fei had to.
“Heavens! This much money is enough to buy several dozens of Earth!” Wu Long exclaimed. “Xia Fei, you can now consider yourself a part of the wealthy cla.s.s of the Alliance!”