Chapter 82: Fervently Looking Forward to It
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The battalion commander of Heaven Execution Training Camp, Ye Jingshan, was sitting in his office, his face as cold as an iceberg. Seated across from him was the supervisor of the mechatronics division, Rocky.
The situation was becoming stranger and stranger as time pa.s.sed. First was that conflict cropping up between the leaders, with Qiu Xiangji leading the charge, of the three major divisions. Next was that fight between Xia Fei and Chen Dong causing the vanguard division’s supervisor Li Mo to rush over and demand that the young man be given to him, claiming that he had his eye on Xia Fei’s fighting spirit.
Now, Rocky of the mechatronic division had come knocking at his door, saying that Xia Fei’s retrofitting skills with machinery had reached the master realm, so he wanted the young man to be enrolled in his division.
What set Rocky apart from the other four supervisors was that he knew his mechatronic division’s weak foundation, so it was truly rare for him to recruit cadets with special abilities related to combat. This was also why he had sought Ye Jingshan’s help in coordinating with the other divisions to have Xia Fei be a.s.signed to his mechatronics division.
“Are you telling me that Xia Fei’s understanding of machinery retrofitting has reached the master realm?” Ye Jingshan furrowed his brows in question.
“Commander Ye, Xia Fei’s technical skills haven’t reached the standards of a master yet, but his understanding of machinery and the race is already fairly high. Calling him a master realm retrofitter isn’t an exaggeration,” replied Rocky with a straight face.
“Right now, plenty of mechatronic functions have been developed to the extreme, and the biggest temptation all mechanical engineers face is discarding. Installing an additional part will give an additional function, but very few can take the time to think: ‘Do I really need this function or not?’
“That cadet, Xia Fei, is very decisive when facing the issue of what parts to discard; he’s very clear on his goal and on how to achieve it, as well as on what kind of risk he’s willing to bear to achieve his aim.
“I haven’t seen a cadet with such calmness and temerity to take on challenges in years, Commander Ye. The mechatronics division really needs talents like him, so please talk to the other supervisors; let that cadet join my mechatronics division.” Rocky was getting more and more animated as he spoke; his face had even flushed a deep shade of red.
Ye Jingshan drummed his finger on his desk and, after being silent for some time, said, “You’re not the first who have come here for him; in fact, you’re the fifth.”
Rocky was stunned, and not a word came out of his agape mouth.
The mechatronics division in Heaven Execution Training Camp was currently in decline. If the other divisions were also desiring for Xia Fei, then Rocky knew very well that the mechatronics division would not even stand a s...o...b..ll’s chance in h.e.l.l.
“Let’s not mention Xia Fei’s situation anymore. Let him decide which division to join himself; I forbid anyone from contacting him directly,” ordered mechanically Ye Jingshan. “You may leave now.”
Rocky sighed. He got up and said his goodbyes, his expression rather miserable.
After Rocky left his office, Ye Jingshan called Hou Baishan, and after several minutes had pa.s.sed, he arrived in Ye Jingshan’s office.
“I heard that you’ve been covertly investigating Xia Fei?” Ye Jinshan went straight to the point.
Hou Baishan nodded, speaking frankly on the matter, “Yes, I’ve found a bit of information about him, but I haven’t sent men to shadow him just yet.”
“Then, have you made any unusual discovery?”
Hou Baishan took a moment to collect his thoughts before answering, “Right now, I’ve only managed to get hold of Xia Fei’s movement these past few months. After the a.s.sessment ended, he went straight to the wars.h.i.+p graveyard and took part in the a.s.sembling of a naval-issued frigate. The person who helped him accomplish this was a man called Porter, the boss of a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p-a.s.sembling factory.
“Something strange, though, is regarding that Porter fellow. My investigations uncovered his ident.i.ty were falsified,” said Hou Baishan in a low voice.
“Oh?” Ye Jingshan also dropped his tone to match Hou Baishan’s. “Hand over your investigation findings to me.”
Hou Baishan took out a microcomputer and sent the information to Ye Jingshan’s inbox.
Ye Jingshan went through the material page by page when, suddenly, his eyes stopped on the photo of Old Porter; they then flickered quite a few times.
After a good moment of silence, Ye Jingshan ordered, “From here on, stop any and all investigations on Xia Fei.”
Hou Baishan nodded. Though he was very puzzled about why Ye Jingshan would give him this order, he did not question it. As the chief investigator, Hou Baishan very clearly understood what questions he could ask and when he should ask them.
After Hou Baishan departed, Ye Jingshan placed a hand under his chin and stared at the picture of the one-eyed Old Porter for the longest time.
Leaning back in his chair, Ye Jingshan let out a heavy sigh and mumbled, “To be capable of executing implausible dodges and a.s.sa.s.sination techniques and to get the Machine G.o.d Porter’s direct help in fix a s.p.a.cecraft for you. Xia Fei, oh Xia Fei, just how many secrets are you hiding?”
…
Night had unknowingly descended, and the garage for the extreme racing still had plenty of people, most of them vehicle enthusiasts, gathered inside, quietly discussing with one another.
A prototype build of an extreme racing hovercar had appeared here, but none of them could make any sense of it.
There was no denying Xia Fei’s expertise; it was impossible to consider him as an outsider regarding this stuff, yet despite looking like an old hand, he had done work the experts on this field would never do.
The three-layered, anti-destabilization system had been modified so that there was only a single layer.
The pa.s.sive defense system was completely exempted from the build.
The air regulator had been altered so that only a mere two-thirds of its original size remained.
Installing two fuel injection systems, he even added manual control to them, expanding the main injection nozzle by 0.4 millimeters…
Every time Xia Fei did an insane alteration, the onlookers would all explode into a bout of exclamations and skepticism.
“Bro, you can’t modify the cooling system anymore! This is a ‘racing’ hovercar, not a ‘death’ hovercar. Do you actually have a death wish?” A man with a thick beard could no longer resist it and loudly reminded Xia Fei this. In his opinion, Xia Fei’s modifications were already too much and it might very well cause the hovercar to fall apart
Xia Fei was unmoved. He could not care less about the opinions that these so-called experts had been offering him. With him so deeply engrossed in the work at hand, he could not even hear what these people around him were saying.
The man shook his head and told a curly-haired man beside him, “Old Pang, d’you think this hovercar could still start?”
This curly-haired man shrugged. “No idea, but there’s no way I’d drive such a dangerous hovercar on the race track.”
Only a minority of cadets bothered to warn Xia Fei out of kindness, while the rest felt only schadenfreude, happily hoping that Xia Fei would make his racing hovercar more and more dangerous to ride.
Actually, Xia Fei knew all the risks he was taking far better than anyone else. According to his calculation, what he was risking thus far had yet to cross the threshold of what he had in mind.
Nothing in the world would ever be one hundred percent safe, for safety was just relative, which was why it was important to find a balance between safety and the best performance.
A certain amount of risk would always exist when aiming to maximize performance—this was Xia Fei’s retrofitting philosophy.
Moon Song was beside herself with joy, pouring a gla.s.s of water for Xia Fei one moment and helping him wipe the sweat off his forehead the next.
Unfortunately, Xia Fei was like a madman when he worked, so he did not respond appropriately. Often, Moon Song would end up being pushed far away to prevent her from disturbing him.
Women were a strange bunch. The more Xia Fei ignored Moon Song, the more she wanted to stay close to him; even his impoliteness had been interpreted as his obsession toward the work by her.
Bai Ye could no longer stand watching this anymore. He tossed the tool in his hand down to the ground and stalked off with a stony face.
The man, who had always thought of himself as a prince, not only failed to win the princess’s heart but also had to witness the princess actually giving all her attention to a frog! Bai Ye, who had completely been put off by the situation, almost suffered a mental collapse.
“Food.” Xia Fei did not raise his head as he uttered that one word.
Moon Song immediately slid beside Xia Fei, all excited. “Crazy Xia, you finally acknowledged your hunger! What do you want to eat? I’ll buy it for you immediately.”
Xia Fei’s arm was rhythmically working on a screw, all focused on the task. “Anything.”
Moon Song turned to Beihai and Manjun. “You guys heard him. Xia Fei wants food; go buy it for him at once.”
Manjun frowned. “Why should it be us? Weren’t you the one who agreed to buy food for Xia Fei?”
Moon Song coldly harrumphed. “Did the two of you hear what yours truly said? It’s all thanks to you two fools, claiming you know how to a.s.semble a racing hovercar, only for it to turn out to be a joke. If not for you, Xia Fei would not be working so hard now.”
Trying to argue with a woman using logic was a fool’s errand. Beihai dragged Manjun out of the garage and hurried off to buy something to eat as instructed.
Bai Ye felt even angrier when he saw this. With his hands behind his back, he marched off the garage and did not look back even once.
There were still plenty of ardent fans waiting for Bai Ye outside, and some of the more extreme female groupies began to crowd around him the moment they saw him appear, showing much care and concern for him.
Bai Ye did not say a word and quickly walked toward his dormitory.
A fairly unattractive female cadet pressed her hand against her heart dramatically, looking smitten as she exclaimed, “To think Prince Bai would actually have such a cold side to him—I simply love him to death!”
Soon, Beihai and Manjun brought back several boxed meals, which contained fried chicken and cornbread.
Moon Song narrowed her almond-shaped eyes. “I sent you guys to buy food, and you come back with boxed meals. How could this type of food be nutritious?”
Just as she said those words, Xia Fei took a box and dug in fast, absolutely unbothered by what he was eating.
Xia Fei was not picky when it came to food as long as he ate his fill. The chicken and cornbread were no different from delectable delicacies in his eyes.
The five boxes were all finished in three minutes flat, with Beihai gasping in shock. “Heavens! Even the speed he ate could qualify him for the big eater compet.i.tion.”
Wiping his mouth, Xia Fei patted his half-filled stomach and dove back into work. Every piece of the machinery in front of him held him enthralled; If he did not complete this work soon, Xia Fei would not be sleeping well tonight.
Time pa.s.sed quickly, and Xia Fei’s speed remained the same. Just the zeal he had shown toward this work was enough to make people sweat.
All of a sudden, Chen Dong stood up and headed for the exit.
“Crazy Chen, what are you doing?” Moon Song asked. “The racing hovercar isn’t a.s.sembled yet.”
Chen Dong did not turn back and merely waved at her. “Seeing him go all out like this makes me feel encouraged. I’ll head back to do some training.”
Night descended. Xia Fei had been hard at work for ten hours since lunch, and aside from those three minutes he had spent eating, he had not stopped even for a moment.
People in the crowd began to yawn, but no one was willing to leave. They all wanted to see just what kind of racing hovercar would the final product be.
Xia Fei of course did not disappoint. After repolis.h.i.+ng the sh.e.l.l of the racing hovercar, it was lighter and more streamlined and aerodynamic than before.
By the time it was almost 1 a.m., and when the final screw was put in place, Xia Fei concluded his a.s.sembling of the extreme racing hovercar.
Lighting a cigarette, Xia Fei exhaled and looked all around, only to realize that he had gotten surrounded by thousands of people unknowingly.
“Bro, I really commend your guts to modify the energy system. Aren’t you afraid it will overheat and explode?”
“Eleven hours to finish a.s.sembling an extreme racing hovercar, making alterations to every part… The speed you accomplished this feat is a new record in itself.”
“Will you be the one driving this dangerous racing hovercar, or will someone else do it?”
The curious onlookers all began throwing questions at Xia Fei, making it appear as if this was some sort of press conference.
Xia Fei smiled but did not answer their questions. Swiftly squeezing his way out of the crowd, he headed back to his dormitory for some much-needed rest.
“Xia Fei, you’re really amazing. Did you know that everyone was stunned while watching you a.s.semble that racing hovercar? You didn’t see them then; some even nearly drooled.” Moon Song excitedly recounted what she had seen as she caught up to Xia Fei.
Xia Fei nodded, still silent. He was recalling the process he a.s.sembled the racing hovercar, searching for any possible mistakes he might have made.
Though a.s.sembling such an extreme racing hovercar would improve its performance by leaps and bounds, there were still many unstable factors that he had to consider.
Moon Song grabbed Xia Fei’s arm and whispered, “You even touched me today.”
Xia Fei furrowed his brows, hurriedly extracting his arm from Moon Song’s grasp. “Why would I touch you? You’re not a woman.”
“B*st*rd!” swore Moon Song, her expression fierce. “You’ve already touched me. Are you trying to deny it?”
Right at that moment, a wave of coldness washed over Xia Fei’s back, and he could feel himself breaking out in a cold sweat.
Moon Song broke into a weird smile. “Hahaha! This madam was just messing with you; did you actually fall for it?
“Speaking of which, seeing you being all serious today really suits my taste. If there comes a day I no longer prefer the company of women, you may just very well be in luck.”
Xia Fei was speechless, muttering to himself with a frown, “Oh, dear G.o.d, please make sure that day never comes.”
…
Early the next morning, Prince Bai Ye arrived early to a.s.semble his hovercar, and that smile he usually had was back on display.
From early in the morning until sundown, the woman whom he had hoped to see never did appear.
Meanwhile, that red extreme racing hovercar, which was parked quietly across him, would have people coming by to inspect and talk about it with excitement.
The hovercar’s exterior did not look any different from the usual extreme racing vehicles, but everyone was well aware that there was a lot of craziness hiding underneath this ordinary exterior.
Many heirs of wealthy families would bring their servants or experts along the training camp to serve their needs, and this third prince was of course no exception.
With him was a fifty-year-old man, who looked extremely skinny and listless, seemingly having just woken up.
Bai Ye threw a furtive glance at the old man. “It’ll be with the extreme hovercar race in a few days; I’m really looking forward to it.”
He intentionally placed emphasis on the word ‘really’, and that old man nodded knowingly.
“Young master, this old man is fervently looking forward to it as well.”