Chapter 466: Forming a Top-cla.s.s Fleet
Everyone was stunned. No one understood why Xia Fei said that his days were numbered. After all, he had just completed a long voyage, infiltrating the insectoid territory and then killing his way back to the Alliance. Could he be leaving soon again?
It had seemingly become a habit of Xia Fei to disappear after a period of time, and no matter where he went, he would always find himself embroiled in some sort of trouble. They were all curious, but none of them asked any questions toward that end, though they inevitably wondered to themselves.
A pen in Sarah’s hand snapped. She had yet to learn how to hide her feelings, so whenever something happened that she was dissatisfied with, her wildness would surface.
Deliberately coughing twice, Xia Fei evaded Sarah’s gaze and told Charlie, “Adding the cargo s.h.i.+ps Quantum Holdings originally owns, we should at least have a total of 1065 s.h.i.+ps. This is a lot, and Quantum Holdings will have to insert a skeleton crew to our transport fleet. I don’t wish for the new fleet to be completely in the hands of humans who aren’t from Earth.”
Charlie agreed as well. “Quantum Holdings has been nurturing a bunch of middle management people. I’ll mobilize some of those loyal to the company professionals to join them. We’ll still need your input on who the fleet commander should be; the formation of the escort and pa.s.senger fleets transporting the civilians will also require your input and arrangement.”
Xia Fei ma.s.saged his temples with his fingers and heavily answered, “If three out of the six billion Earthlings are willing to migrate to Terminus Star Region, that will require three thousand 10,000 pax large pa.s.senger s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps, and that’s too many. Contact the largest interstellar transport company and see if they’re willing to help us make this trip.”
Charlie nodded. “Understood. During the war, due to the undesirable situation, plenty of Earth inhabitants were scattered among the combined fleet of industrial s.h.i.+ps, freighters, and the few pa.s.senger s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps we have. While having people ride cargo s.h.i.+ps will save on s.p.a.ce and cost of transport, the long journey will surely cause lethargy. Besides, to travel all the way out to a completely foreign star region, fear is something ever present in the human heart, and riding on an actual pa.s.senger s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p will soothe them somewhat.”
Xia Fei then ordered, “Sarah, I designate you as Quantum Holdings’ new transport fleet commander. This is a really tough job, and it’s your duty to manage the more than a thousand cargo s.h.i.+ps, which will constantly shuttling back and forth between the Alliance and Terminus, as well as provide that star region with the materials they require. You’ll be very busy.”
Sarah stood up and nodded. “I’m more than willing to take on this task. I have no clue about construction, but I’ll do everything in my power to lead the s.h.i.+ps transporting all the materials our company needs as safely and quickly as possible.”
“Brother Wu Long and Andre. You two will have some work ahead of you; head back to Earth as soon as possible and organize the reconstruction efforts, including Quantum Holdings’ production, back there. At present, our business’s production mainly depends on the large barges which are manufactured as they travel the universe. Now that the war is over, I’ll need Earth to return to how it was in the shortest time. At the same time, transfer our production from s.p.a.ce back onto land.”
Andre laughed. “I’m already used to living on Earth, and I really can’t bear to leave, so going back suits me just fine. With Wu Long by my side, we shouldn’t run into any trouble getting the company back on track.”
Wu Long frowned. “I’m afraid that I can’t be too much help to you. The Earth Federation has quite a heavy task ahead of them with reconstruction as well.”
Now that the honest and loyal Wu Long had begun to value his position as the Earth Federation’s President, his responsibilities increased by the day. As for his idea of venturing out into s.p.a.ce, it was never mentioned again. He was completely devoted to treating the Federation as his family.
Xia Fei nodded in satisfaction before turning to Porter. “Uncle, I’ll have to rely on you to help with the initial development and construction of Terminus, so I’ll need you to head out there and be completely in charge of laying down the infrastructure construction and the management of the immigrants.”
Porter replied, “I’d volunteer to go even if you didn’t ask. It’s been a long time since Windchime left the Black Abyss, and she’s long wanted to return to see how everything is. I plan to accompany her on this trip, so as to fulfill her wishes.”
As for dealing with staying in the Alliance, the responsibility of the overall coordination fell onto Charlie’s shoulders. Everyone had been a.s.signed their roles and tasks, so they all left to get on with their business.
Xia Fei’s goal here was not exactly too complex to understand. He basically wanted to work on both Earth and the Terminus Star Region at the same time, beginning construction separately. The greatest difficulty of this task came in the form of how he would shuttle the large batches of needed materials across No Man’s Land to Terminus, and labor was hardly the crucial factor.
There were many impoverished individuals in Terminus, so if they were to be given a job that guaranteed their daily necessities, they would surely be able to round up a huge construction team in a short time.
The overall plan Xia Fei had adopted this time around utilized the point-to-surface approach. First, he would finish establis.h.i.+ng a presence on Planet Friedel; next, he would establish it as a hub and slowly extend basic infrastructure and businesses all over the star region.
Turning off the screen, Xia Fei lit a cigarette and took a few deep drags from it.
“This isn’t a simple plan. Charlie and the others will have plenty of work to do,” Phantom said.
Xia Fei nodded. “Indeed, but I can’t put this on hold anymore. No matter what happens, Earthlings must be able to be self-sufficient and effectively defend themselves in thirty months’ time. This way, I’ll be able to join Yuhua and Yujiang with a peace of mind and devote myself to the study of the power of Law.”
Next was the lynchpin of this entire immigration plan, and that was the formation of a security fleet. Without a powerful military might as support, even the greatest and most ambitious plans could not be implemented. Quantum Holdings and Earth both needed to have sufficient self-preservation capabilities, or else Earth would still be deemed insignificant and viewed as a pitiful existence in the universe, where the weak were meat and only the strong ate.
A beautiful and surprising guest appeared on the phone. Nicole Sawyer, the chairwoman of Gaia Industries, was the one whom Xia Fei had dealt the most with out of the four major wars.h.i.+p companies. She was the first Xia Fei thought of when he decided that he would form a top-cla.s.s fleet.
“Xia Fei!” Nicole was both surprised and shocked as she called his name. “I’m glad that you haven’t forgotten about me.”
Xia Fei teased. “There’s only one pretty female boss out of the four wars.h.i.+p companies; how could I possibly forget about you? There were plenty of people yesterday, so I’m very sorry that I didn’t manage to find the time to exchange a few words with you.”
Nicole laughed bitterly and shook her head. “It’s fine.You’re the Alliance Hero, after all. I take it that you have some business to discuss since you’ve reached out to me?”
Xia Fei nodded with a smile. “That is indeed so. The Alliance has a.s.signed me the Terminus Star Region to govern, which is why I need to form my own fleet to keep the peace and security of that region.”
“Speak then. What cla.s.s of s.h.i.+ps do you need? How many?” Nicole was visibly disappointed, but she tried her best to appear spirited in this conversation.
“I’ve already forwarded to you the models and number of s.h.i.+ps I need. We can chat after you take a look at them.”
Work was work, and emotions were emotions. Chairwoman Nicole was still more than capable of differentiating between the two, which was why she conscientiously inspected the order Xia Fei had sent to her as well as the general details. She was surprised. “150 Dominix-cla.s.s battles.h.i.+ps, 300 Vexor-cla.s.s cruisers, and 600 Tristan-cla.s.s frigates? Xia Fei, are you trying to build yourself an enhanced combined fleet? Including that Thanatos-cla.s.s carrier you have with you, the size and firepower this fleet possesses will definitely be considered as an ace in all of the Panhuman Alliance.”
Normally, a complete fleet would consist of only about 100 battles.h.i.+ps, 200 cruisers, as well as 400 frigates. Xia Fei’s order this time around very clearly had a higher composition than the usual fleet and would be considered as an enhanced large-scale fleet.
Xia Fei extended three fingers and said, “Not a fleet. Three.”
“Aside from these wars.h.i.+ps from Gaia Industries, I’m also buying Amarr company’s Abaddon-cla.s.s battles.h.i.+ps, Caldari company’s Drake-cla.s.s battlecruisers, Blackbird electronic cruisers, and Condor-cla.s.s frigates, as well as Mittal’s Stabber-cla.s.s cruisers and Rifter-cla.s.s frigates.
“Fifty Dominix-cla.s.s multi-purpose battles.h.i.+p, fifty Abaddon-cla.s.s a.s.sault-focused battles.h.i.+ps, 200 cruisers of various makes, and a mix of 400 frigates to form three huge fleets on such a scale; the first as peacekeepers of Terminus, the second for patrolling the surrounding borders, and the third and last dedicated to escorting the transport fleet traveling to and from the Alliance.”
Nicole was both completely shocked and filled with admiration when she heard Xia Fei’s fleet conception. She nodded her head repeatedly, “That concept you’ve come up with will definitely be ideal, with you including the best products offered by all four major s.h.i.+p manufacturing companies. Presently, all four companies, including the two major warrior organizations Adjudicator Union as well as the Monastic Order, have their strength greatly weakened as a result of their forces being requisitioned by the Alliance military for the war. If you successfully form these three fleets of yours, you’ll become the fourth strongest military presence if you include the Alliance Military and the two major warrior organizations—one that is solely focused on escorting transport fleets coming and going from the Alliance.”
Nicole was right on the money; top-tier companies like the Starlink Corporation had been reduced to just a single fleet after the war, so Xia Fei’s three fleets would become a force to be reckoned with in the Alliance.
Changing the topic, Nicole chuckled. “You selected the best s.h.i.+ps from the four major companies in one go, but don’t forget that they’re also the most expensive s.h.i.+ps. Just the Amarrian Abaddon-cla.s.s, known to be the best artillery battles.h.i.+p in the entire Alliance, costs almost fifty-five billion star coins before the war. Even though the prices of materials drastically fell after the war, causing the prices of wars.h.i.+ps to decrease as well, it will still at least cost you thirty billion star coins each. Just this type of wars.h.i.+p which will be your main firepower costs 4.5 trillion star coins, or 4.5 duns, already, and that’s just the price for the bare s.h.i.+p. You’ll need at least seven duns if you want them fully kitted out.
Xia Fei helplessly shrugged. “Can’t do anything about that. Fleets have always been the most costly, but that’s also a one-time investment for me. After forming three top-cla.s.s fleets, I believe that they won’t technologically fall behind others in the next hundred years or so.”
Nicole hesitated slightly after hearing what Xia Fei said. “Actually, if you don’t care about the price, I have a better proposal that I want to pitch to you.”
Xia Fei was curious. “What proposal do you have? Could the four major companies have contrabands?”
Nicole nodded seriously. “You’re absolutely correct. The four major companies weren’t idling by while the war raged on, and we’ve made a breakthrough with the research and development of the T2 wars.h.i.+ps!”
Xia Fei was stunned. “T2 wars.h.i.+ps? You mean the Deimos heavy-a.s.sault cruisers I once piloted? A new generation of practically omnipotent heavy-a.s.sault cruisers?!”
The heavy a.s.sault cruisers were of course worth Xia Fei getting shocked over. It was only the size of a cruiser, but it was capable of unleas.h.i.+ng a damage output equivalent to that from a battles.h.i.+p, and it was even more agile than the usual cruiser!
Take the Gaian s.h.i.+ps they produced as an example; the Dominix was called a level one battlecruiser, the Megathron a level two, and the Hyperion a level three. The higher the level, the greater the combat strength, and of course the higher the price.
However, the heavy-a.s.sault cruiser was no longer an issue of level, but tier! It was a second generation T2 wars.h.i.+p! It was a completely new product which was a whole generation ahead of the usual cruisers!
Nicole was completely calm as she sent a top secret doc.u.ment to Xia Fei.
Xia Fei carefully read through the details within and chuckled to himself. “No wonder humans say that war is the foremost propellant for technological advancement. To think this war would actually expedite the Alliance’s research and development into new models of wars.h.i.+ps. The four major companies’ second generation of wars.h.i.+ps has quietly descended upon us.”