Chapter 67: The Black Market
“This Navy-issue, Eagle-cla.s.s frigate encountered an electromagnetic storm back then, ultimately causing severe damage to its circuits; thirty percent of its mechanical components were ruined, and the four crew aboard it then lost their lives, one of whom was that best friend I mentioned.” Porter took another large swig of the strong ale as he recalled that painful memory.
Xia Fei nodded and set the tablet down. It was no wonder why the repair list had been so extensive; the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p had been subjected to an electromagnetic storm.
Thinking about it in another sense, the fact that the outer hull of the frigate remained completely intact after experiencing such a deadly storm, while only thirty percent of its mechanical components ended up ruined, it was a clear testament of the Hookbill’s durability.
“I wish to begin repairing this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p tomorrow.” Xia Fei eyed Porter, his voice resolute when he stated this.
“You’ve already decided? Do you know how much money you’ll end up spending?”
Xia Fei flashed a mild smile. “This is a top-grade frigate; its worth isn’t something that can be measured in money.”
Old Porter rubbed his moist eyes and slapped the table heavily. “Okay! As long as I can speed through the stars again, I can give it another shot!”
Porter stood up and made his way to the window, yelling to the mechanics who were still in the middle of their work, “Boateng, temporarily halt your repairs on that Incursus! Get everyone to take a rest; we’ll be starting on an important job tomorrow!”
Boateng put down the tools in his hands and asked, somewhat puzzled, “Master, we’re ten percent away from completion of our work on it. It’ll take three more days at most. Why don’t we finish this up first before we get started on a new job?”
Porter laughed uproariously. “What are you asking so many questions for?! I’m giving you guys the day off to rest! We’ll be starting promptly tomorrow morning!”
Boateng shook his head and returned to the workers’ dormitory with the others. Porter returned to his seat and told Xia Fei, “What are your thoughts on repairing the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p?”
Xia Fei and Phantom had a quiet conversation before he answered, “I plan to abandon the comfort of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p and focus on increasing its overall performance. Fit in the best warp drive as well as a high-capacity reactor. Its radar and fire-control system must be changed to the most advanced components possible, too.”
“If that’s your intention, then the crew capacity of this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p will be greatly reduced. We’ll only be able to keep two crew cabins at most, which totals to four people, and there won’t be much s.p.a.ce to hold cargo, either,” Porter commented.
Refurbis.h.i.+ng the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p with a larger and more powerful equipment would mean that they had to eat into the cargo and living s.p.a.ces of it. The Hookbill originally had five crew cabins, each accommodating up to two people. Adding the captain’s quarters, it was a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p that could hold eleven individuals.
If they were to go along with Xia Fei’s line of thought and focus entirely on improving the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p’s performance, the frigate would only be able to hold a crew of five, living and working on the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, at most, and the cargo s.p.a.ce available would also be reduced by more than half.
Xia Fei chuckled. “It’s not like I’m going to be partic.i.p.ating in smuggling operations, so what use do I have for more crew or cargo s.p.a.ce, anyway?”
Regarding the modification of the s.p.a.cecraft, it was important to first ascertain the direction they were leaning toward. There was plenty of equipment that they could fit into the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, and each of them possessed different capabilities, but a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p had limited s.p.a.ce, so it was impossible to fit everything together, which was why they needed to first pick out the suitable equipment in accordance with the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p’s purpose.
After several hours of discussion, Xia Fei and Porter finally nailed down the final blueprint for the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p’s modification, creating a most balanced and efficient framework.
It was already late into the night by the time their discussion ended, and Xia Fei decided to stay for the night so that he could begin working with Old Porter early the next morning.
Walking Sonny to his shuttle, Xia Fei asked, “What’s your bank account number?”
Sonny told him the details he needed, and Xia Fei nodded. “I’ll transfer a million star coins into your account, so you can buy this shuttle. I’ll be needing you to ferry me around everywhere during this time, and renting it out the whole time just isn’t cost-effective. Also, buy something good to eat and some good beer over. Buy the best and don’t be afraid to splurge. According to my hometown rules, it is necessary to treat the workers with a round of drinks to commemorate their start of work.”
Sonny was stunned for quite some time as he blurted out in disbelief, “A million star coins! Heavens, that’s a lot!”
Xia Fei patted him on the back. “Too much? Not at all. Had it not been for you, how would I have been able to buy such an incredible wars.h.i.+p? Just take that for now, and don’t hesitate to tell me if it isn’t enough.”
Sonny nodded vigorously and flew away on the shuttle. Old Porter had arranged for Xia Fei to stay in the cabin of an Atron-cla.s.s frigate, which was also at the latter’s request, for he wanted to acclimatize himself to living in an actual wars.h.i.+p beforehand.
The inside of this frigate was not too s.p.a.cious, and Xia Fei returned to his cabin after roaming around it a few times.
There was a porthole in his cabin, and he could see the lights from the workshop still lit up through it. A single robust figure was pacing back and forth constantly with an old-fas.h.i.+oned phone in hand.
There was no need to guess. This person was definitely Old Porter. Even though they had already decided the direction of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p’s modifications, they still needed to purchase all the components necessary, so he was due for a busy night ahead.
Xia Fei lit a cigarette and lay down on that hard single bed. He took out the VR gla.s.ses from his spatial ring and logged onto the interplanetary internet.
After transferring a million star coins to Sonny’s account, Xia Fei moved to turn off the device. This was when a window popped up for the ‘accept’ or ‘decline’ b.u.t.tons of a video-call request.
On the window was a loop of a pink bunny with large, floppy ears gnawing on a carrot repeatedly, occasionally belching.
Xia Fei chuckled and knew that the video-call request must be from that peculiar Avril, so he accepted it.
Avril appeared on the screen with eyes that cried for sleep. Dressed in pink pajamas, her head of hair cascaded messily past her shoulders.
Covering her mouth as she yawned, Avril did her best to perk up. “Why are you only logging in this late? It’s almost about to be morning.”
“It’s going to be morning soon on your planet, but over where I am, it just turned night not too long ago. Why will you be notified when I log in to the interplanetary internet?” Xia Fei asked as he laughed.
Ever since he impulsively caused Avril to cry the last time, Xia Fei had felt somewhat apologetic to the little lady, so he no longer did all he could to hide from her like before. As long as she wished to chat, Xia Fei would not reject the offer, and he also changed back to his original account, with his anonymous account no longer being safe.
“Hmph! But of course. Don’t you even know who this lady is? I made some individualized settings, so I will be informed the moment you log in.” Avril pouted as she responded to his question.
Xia Fei thought about it for a moment. “Even if you did do that, there’s no need for you to climb out of bed just to speak to me, was there? Unless, of course, you’ve got something you wish to talk about.”
Avril walked over to her nightstand and drank a gla.s.s of water, complaining somewhat resentfully, “It’s been several days since you last had a chat with me. I wanted to ask if you’ve bought a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p yet. I heard that places like the wars.h.i.+p graveyard are filled with bad people, so you hafta be careful.”
“Actually, there are good and bad people anywhere in the universe. I happened to b.u.mp into some really nice people over here and even managed to get my hands on a naval-issued, Eagle-cla.s.s frigate.” Xia Fei very excitedly told her.
Avril was still a girl at the end of the day, so she did not have that same level of pa.s.sion for things like wars.h.i.+ps and s.p.a.cecrafts. She walked over to somewhere to the right of her computer. Her fingers could be heard flying across a keyboard for a while as if she were looking up information about it.
After some time, Avril turned to Xia Fei and said, “That s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p isn’t too bad, but it, unfortunately, can only hold eleven people at most. That’s too small. Anyway, since you’ve bought yourself a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, when do you plan to report to Heaven Execution Training Camp?”
Xia Fei chuckled. “The s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p’s already damaged, so I’m in the process of repairing it, so I’ll need three more months before I can leave this place.”
Avril pulled a funny face on him. “Just what kind of restoration company did you find? Why would they need three whole months just to repair a frigate?”
Xia Fei gravely replied, “The restoration company I’m working with is definitely the best of the best; it’s just that the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p is a Navy-issue, so plenty of the components we need would not be easy to come by, and we’ll have to make it ourselves. Besides, I plan to do a very thorough modification of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p as well. After all, this is my very first wars.h.i.+p.”
Avril did not seem bothered as she nonchalantly asked, “What components do you lack?”
“So many things. Basically, everything except the hull of the frigate would be replaced.”
“Oh,” Avril shook her head and sighed. “If it’s so troublesome, why not just directly buy a new one.”
“This is a naval-issued, Eagle-cla.s.s frigate. It isn’t something you can buy on the market.”
“It’s simple; I’ll just—” Avril suddenly changed what she wanted to say mid-sentence. “—I feel that you should be able to buy it.”
Xia Fei shook his head slightly. “You can’t. Besides, I intend to use this opportunity to learn s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p maintenance properly. It’ll be the training of sorts, which can be very helpful to my future.”
Xia Fei was being very serious. Avril propped her chin in her palms as she beamed at him. “Hehe! You’re like a completely different person when you’re being serious. I think you look much cooler this way and a little like my dad.”
Xia Fei spread his arms as he mischievously smiled. “Come, give daddy a hug.”
Avril’s head suddenly lowered, her expression turning slightly disturbed. “Eww! Why do you look like a pervert when you’re not being serious?”
…
Before dawn broke the next day, the mechanics had all anxiously begun their work.
That naval-issued, Eagle-cla.s.s frigate was brought into the workshop, and Boateng led eight other workers to begin inspecting every component of it, tearing out all the damaged parts they came across. This was the first step in modifying a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p: inspection and clean-up.
Xia Fei asked for a pair of universal modification pliers from Boateng, rolled up his sleeves, and joined them all in their work, his att.i.tude completely serious.
The universal modification pliers were about 0.5 meters, weighing over ten kilograms. It was shaped like a large pipe wrench, with a densely packed mechanical structure on its top half. This tool was very advanced, pretty much able to dismantle any mechanical structure when used without needing to be replaced frequently.
Xia Fei began learning from the most basic skills of dismantling screws, lying underneath the fuselage as he tried to remove the pneumatic steering gears which were more awkward to disa.s.semble.
After a while, he finally managed to remove the pneumatic valve. Sticking the universal modification pliers into his waist belt, he walked over to Boateng and wiped the sweat on his forehead as he asked, “What else needs disa.s.sembling?”
That was when a thick and rumbling voice called, “Next, you’ll bring along your bank card and follow me.”
Xia Fei turned around to find Old Porter with his two arms folded in front of him, laughing as he looked at Xia Fei.
“Heh… Uncle Porter, you’re up.” Xia Fei approached the older man and greeted him. His eyes were bloodshot, evidently a sign that he did not get enough sleep last night just so he could plan out the modification of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.
Porter’s pair of callused hands clapped Xia Fei’s back. “You really do have the look of someone intent on picking up s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p maintenance. If you truly wish to learn, I can teach you all that I know later, but for now, I need you to join me on a trip to the black market.”
“Black market?”
“That’s right. A place that sells contrabands. I contacted several old friends of mine last night, and guess what? I’ve gotten my hands on both the control and anti-control modules. I’m going to bring you over there right now to take a gander.” Porter barked out a bellyful of laughter. “Prepare your bank card; those things don’t come cheap.”
Xia Fei could feel his heart seizing. Why was it that it sounded like something Phantom often said?