Heavy Damage
Allen, where can I buy some parts? My ship needs some repairs, Xia Fei asked.
Allen raised his hand and pointed at the huge spotlight outside the window. The interior of the Nightmare Stone was pitch black. This huge spotlight was like an artificial sun, separating day from night.
It's getting dark. Red Rock Base has a rule: Everyone must return to their homes after dark and not wander around outside. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to buy the equipment you need, Allen said.
Curfew? Xia Fei curiously asked. Isnt this a free port? Why is there a curfew?
Allen chuckled. Freedom? No place is truly free. Red Rock Base is called a free port because anyone can do business here. Be they prisoners, pirates, or drug addicts, they're all welcome here.
"But this doesn't mean that there are no restrictions on the base. Here, the Ning family is the rule. Anyone who disobeys their control will be punished. Recently, the Ning family and a group of pirates called Owls have been on bad terms. More than a dozen people have died in the base, so the Ning family patrols every night. They are also very strict with strangers."
Xia Fei nodded. More than a dozen people have died, but I think the atmosphere on the streets is pretty normal. Everyone is still eating and working as usual. Nobody seems nervous.
Dont be silly. Allen patted Xia Fei on the shoulder. Theres no good people living in Red Rock Base, so the deaths of a few people is nothing. The only ones who are nervous are the Nings, for those who died were their bodyguards and mercenaries.
Xia Fei and Allen chatted for a while. From their conversation, Xia Fei learned that there were around thirty thousand people living in Red Rock Base. Only ten thousand of them were long-term residents, while the rest were passing merchants, prostitutes, and wanted criminals.
The vast Wild Star Region did not even have a planet suitable for human habitation. What they had were manmade living spaces similar to Red Rock Base.
Red Rock Base was only a medium-sized base in the Wild Star Region. Some of the larger bases even had more than a hundred thousand people living in them, and the composition of the population was extremely complicated.
The Pan-Human Alliance and the insectoids did not trade with each other, so the Wild Star Region, which connected the two major forces of the universe, became an active stage for merchants. They sold human-produced food, textiles, coffee, and alcohol to the insectoids, and also bought large amounts of ore from the insectoids to ship back to the Pan-Human Alliance.
The insectoids controlled most of the production of Hearts of Spirit and Crystal Core ores in the universe. On the insectoid side, a bottle of fine wine could be exchanged for about a gram of Hearts of Spirit, but a gram of ore could be sold for tens of thousands of Star Coins back to the Pan-human Alliance, which was a profit of several hundred times.
Most insects did not consume coffee and wine. These barbaric low-level creatures were no different from animals. However, there were still some high-level insects living among the insects. These insects had similar behaviors and habits as humans. They loved alcohol as much as their lives and lived a luxurious and debauched life.
Although this kind of illegal border trade could be said to be extremely profitable, it also contained huge risks. The Wild Star Region was as its name suggested: desolate, barbaric, and ever-changing.
Things like sudden loss of communication signals, inexplicable disappearance of ships, and being robbed by pirates were common occurrences in the eyes of the locals. In fact, it was impossible to count the number of ships that perished in space every year because there were simply too many of them.
Merchants had the nature to chase profits. Every year, many human and insectoid merchants would risk their lives to do business here. Legends of getting rich overnight happened every day, but people did not know that getting rich overnight was always the privilege of the minority. Behind every merchant who got rich overnight, there were countless losers.
A few moments later, the giant spotlight finally went out, and Allen called Xia Fei and Sarah over to the living room for dinner.
Allen took out a few old ceramic plates, which were carefully hidden in the cupboard and covered in dust. It was obvious that Allen cherished the porcelain very much and rarely used it.
Eating this again? Didnt you just earn a lot of money from Xia Fei? When can we buy some real vegetables and eggs? Whenever I speak, my mouth is filled with the smell of Blue Grass. "Sarah grabbed a handful of pudding from the bowl with one hand and shoved it into her mouth, grumbling in dissatisfaction.
Allen reached out to hit Sarah's arm, but unfortunately, he was not as fast as Sarah, and she managed to escape.
What do you mean? We have guests here today. Can't you behave yourself? "Allen said with a sigh.
"Guest." Sarah swallowed a mouthful of pudding and waved at Allen. You just said that you wanted to rip Xia Fei off this afternoon. Why is he a guest now?
Allen was a little embarrassed. He pursed his lips and said, Business is business. Those who do business with us are guests. I still have to ask you: Why are there ten White Dews missing from the fruits you gave me?
Sarah shrugged. That's my salary. Of course, I had to deduct it first.
Old Allen shook his head heavily. "This child."
Xia Fei smiled and took out a few pieces of chocolate, a few cans of beef, a big bag of plums, and a bottle of wine from his spatial ring.
Sarah had asked Xia Fei to hide the ring before, but Xia Fei felt that it was inconvenient to do so, so he only wore the side with the spatial stone inlaid the other way around. This way, it looked like a normal ring from the outside. Unless someone flipped Xia Fei's palm open, no one would notice it.
"Chocolate!" Sarah exclaimed in surprise. She tore open the package and stuffed a big piece of chocolate into her mouth, excited like a child.
"Eat slowly. Don't choke. I still have more here." Xia Fei chuckled.
Girls like Sarah were the easiest to satisfy. A few pieces of chocolate could make her happy. If she had grown up in the city, she would definitely frown and say, Sorry, I'm on a diet. I only eat an apple a day.
Without a car, a house, or money, it was impossible to satisfy them. Even if you satisfied them, they would think that it was what you should do and would not be grateful.
Sarah licked her lips in satisfaction after eating a piece of chocolate. She put the remaining pieces in her pocket for later.
Allen took out two glasses and poured some wine into them. He took a sniff and gulped it down.
Good wine. Old Allen greedily recalled the taste.
Early in the morning, Xia Fei and Sarah walked side by side on the streets of Red Rock Base.
They first went to the dock to check on the damage to Xia Feis Lunar Eclipse. Xia Fei already knew the internal damage of the ship, but he still needed to figure out the condition of the armor and external components.
The once spirited Lunar Eclipse was now in ruins. It had turned from a soaring young eagle to a drenched chicken in the rain.
After dragging the ship into a hidden warehouse, Sarah wiped her sweat with her sleeve and said, That battle must have been brutal. It's already a miracle that your ship managed to survive.
Xia Fei nodded. A frigate and a destroyer fighting side by side was simply insane. The consequences were, of course, severe.
Im going to help someone transport some slaves in the morning. Ill be back before lunchtime, Sarah said.
Xia Fei was a little curious. Slaves?
Sarah said indifferently. Those insectoid nobles like pretty human girls and boys. A slave can be traded for ten grams of Heart of Spirit in insectoid territory. It's very profitable.
Xia Fei did not say anything. He could imagine the scene of human traffickers collecting young boys and girls from all over the Alliance and putting them in cages to be sold like animals.
In fact, there were also slave trades on some of the wild planets in the Alliance. Although the humans living in the universe had formed a powerful Alliance society, there was still a huge gap between them.
Humans had always been a chaotic race, with countless religions, cultures, and customs mixed together. They all looked like two eyes and a mouth, but what was behind each pair of eyes was different.
Sarah had lived in the Wild Star Region since she was young. Everything here was normal to her. There was no such thing as good or evil. Whoever was stronger was the boss; that was the only law in the Wild Star Region.
"I'll lock this door so no one will disturb you. I'll pick you up at noon," Sarah said as she walked out.
Xia Fei took out a can of peaches from his spatial ring and tossed it to her. Eat on the way.
"Fruit!" Sarah hugged the can in her arms happily. She turned around and gave Xia Fei a sweet smile before running out.
The Chinese had always emphasized reciprocity since ancient times, and Xia Fei realized that gift-giving was a time-tested trick even in the galactic society.
Money, women, and violence. These were the three deadly weapons in the universe. As long as anyone had a good grasp of these three deadly weapons, they would be able to get by no matter where they were. Facts had proven that these methods would always work as long as there were people.
Xia Fei took the damage list provided by the warship's self-assessment system and checked Lunar Eclipse from inside out.
The AI self-assessment system was very advanced, and the report rarely made any mistakes, but Xia Fei felt that he needed to check it himself to be at ease. After all, this was a warship sailing in space, not a small boat on a man-made lake where couples were lovey-dovey.
Xia Fei had to make sure that he knew his warship like the back of his hand when he was sailing in space. Not a single screw could go wrong.
Xia Fei received a long repair list when it was close to noon. It was sixteen pages long, and the top four pages were for the parts that needed to be replaced immediately. The rest could be repaired when they got back.
Xia Fei sat on the ground and smoked a few cigarettes. When he put out the fifth cigarette, Sarah opened the door and walked in.
How is it? Can you fix your ship? Sarah asked happily. It seemed that she was in a good mood today, and her work was going well.
There was a trace of yellow substance hanging from the corner of Sarah's mouth. Xia Fei knew that it was a drop of juice from a can of peaches. She was like a wild cat that had not had a feast, and a box of canned peaches that cost three dollars and fifty cents was enough to satisfy her for quite some time.
Using his sleeve to wipe the peach juice off the corner of Sarah's mouth, Xia Fei passed the sixteen-page list to her.
Oh my god! That's a lot! Sarah exclaimed.
Xia Fei shook his head. Not all of them are needed. As long as I have the items on the first four pages, I can make it back alive.
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