A Problem
The streets of Red Rock Base resembled the stands of a football stadium, with many layers surrounding the interior of the base. Sarah and Xia Fei exited the warehouse and followed the circular streets to the exchange point to exchange currency.
Star coins could not be used here, so he could only use items to exchange for them. Xia Fei currently had the White Dews and Snake Eye Berries in bulk. These two fruits could replenish his stamina in battle and were extremely important to a warrior. Xia Fei always carried a Ziploc box filled with these two fruits with him.
"There are three shops with the best reputation in the base. The boss is not bad and the price is reasonable. I'll take you there now," Sarah said.
Xia Fei's candy attack was very effective. Sarah had already begun to put herself in Xia Fei's shoes. Primitive women had a very strong sense of self-preservation, but once this line of defense was broken, a completely different scene would unfold.
Xia Fei thought for a moment. I will split the fruits into three portions and sell them to the three shops. If I sell too many at once, it will be hard to avoid suspicion.
Sarah nodded hurriedly. Thats good. You have to be careful here. Youre becoming more and more like someone from the wilderness.
Hearts of Spirit were extremely expensive in the Pan-Human Alliance, but they were much cheaper here. One Snake Eye Berry could be exchanged for ten dollars, while White Dews could be exchanged for four.
Xia Fei sold three hundred of each type of fruit for four thousand and two hundred dollars.
Interstellar smuggling was indeed a lucrative business. Xia Fei estimated that although these Hearts of Spirit were just small pieces, they could be exchanged for at least seventy to eighty million star coins in the Alliance, while the fruits he sold were only worth twelve million star coins. There was more than a sixfold profit margin in between.
Actually, Xia Fei could also use food of lower value to exchange for Hearts of Spirit, and the exchange rate was shockingly high. A few pieces of chocolate could be exchanged for one dollar, which was much more cost-effective than Snake Eye Berries.
However, Xia Fei had other uses for these foods. Plus, he needed a lot of food to replenish his nutrients every day. The repairs to Lunar Eclipse would take some time, so these foods were an important strategic reserve for him.
After exchanging the currency, Xia Fei and Sarah went to the maintenance factory on the lowest level of the base. This was the only maintenance factory in the base. It was not small, with six berths and two workshops, and there were more than twenty workers.
Xia Fei casually took a look around the factory and discovered that the equipment here was very old. Many of the machines were produced hundreds of years ago and were still in use.
"Sarah, how come you have time to come here? I missed you so much. "
"I'll treat you to some kebabs and two glasses of wine tonight. “
As soon as the workers saw Sarah, they crowded around her and began to joke with her. Sarah, with a cold face, punched and kicked the lecherous workers.
"Get back to work!" A middle-aged man in his fifties roared at the workers in a loud voice. The workers hurriedly ran back to their posts and busied themselves with their own work, but their eyes were still sweeping back and forth between Sarah's full buttocks.
"Uncle Andy," Sarah said to the middle-aged man.
Andy nodded and led Xia Fei and Sarah into his office. Sarah introduced Xia Fei to Andy, insisting that he was Allen's distant nephew.
Taking the repair list from Xia Fei, Andy furrowed his eyebrows. "The things on this list are all high-end goods. I'm afraid it'll be hard to find these parts in the Wild Star Region."
Xia Fei lit a cigarette and said, "Can you find some from the other bases?"
"That'll be difficult." Andy glanced at Xia Fei and said, "My factory is considered big in the entire Wild Star Region. Many of the ships that other bases can't repair will be sent here. I can help you ask around, but dont get your hopes up."
"If it's possible, I still hope to repair it. If that doesn't work, Ill think of something else," Xia Fei said.
Andy placed the repair list on the table and stood up to send Xia Feis out the door. You should know that the interference in the star region is very strong. Ill need two days to search the entire star region for these parts. Come back the day after tomorrow to take a look.
Xia Fei nodded and handed him a bag containing five hundred dollars as a deposit. Then, he and Sarah walked back the way they came.
"Is Andy a reliable person?" Xia Fei asked. Anyone who was an expert in the field of repairs could easily deduce what grade Lunar Eclipse was from Xia Fei's repair list. There was no guarantee that a valuable naval-issue Eagle-class warship would not be tempted.
"I heard from the old man that Andy escaped here because he accidentally killed his wife's lover. He started out as a repairman and ended up owning one of the best factories in the entire Wild Star Region because he is very tight-lipped and knows how to avoid making enemies with others. Us permanent residents can't compare to those wanderers. If we don't know how to keep secrets, there's no way we can survive in the Wild Star Region, Sarah said.
What Sarah said made sense. Long-term residents of the Wild Star Region relied on working for pirates and thugs. None of them were easy to get along with, and they could lose their lives at any time if they were not careful.
Xia Fei was just a stranger here, but who could guarantee that a stranger would be a good person? No one knew Xia Fei's background, which actually protected him.
A group of soldiers came from the opposite side of the street. They were wearing yellow uniforms with crooked hats and had laser guns on their shoulders, each of them looking very fierce.
This group of people was rampaging on the street. A beggar who had lost both his legs was begging on the street. When he saw the soldiers, he hurriedly crawled to the side with his two hands. One of the soldiers walked up and kicked him, causing him to fall to the ground. "Old man, can't you crawl a little faster?"
The pedestrians on the street all avoided them, not daring to say a word to these unreasonable people.
Behind the soldier was a young man who was less than 20 years old. This young man could be considered handsome, and his skin was very fair. Unfortunately, his body had already been hollowed out by wine and women at such a young age. His waist was slightly bent, and when he walked, his footsteps were somewhat unsteady.
Sarah pulled Xia Fei into an alleyway by the side of the street.
"These are the Ning family's guards. I heard that two of their bodyguards were killed last night when I was transporting the slaves. They're looking for the murderer right now. You're a stranger, so it's best if you avoid them," Sarah said nervously.
Xia Fei leaned against a dark corner and pointed at the fair-skinned young man. "Who's that?"
"Ning Dian. The old man of the Ning family has three sons, but he's the only boy in his generation, so he's very arrogant. The people in Red Rock Base all avoid him." Sarah's voice was slightly trembling as if she was very disgusted with this Mr. Ning.
The next morning, Xia Fei went to Andy's factory as promised.
"Why isn't Sarah with you?" Andy asked.
"She's been helping someone else with the slaves recently. She'll only be back at noon," Xia Fei answered honestly.
Andy nodded and took out the list from his desk and handed it to Xia Fei.
Xia Fei took a look at the list and saw that every part was labeled in detail, such as whether they had any stock in the star region, where they could be found, when they could be transported, how much they would cost, and so on. It was written very carefully, which showed that Andy had put in a lot of work.
However, the first four pages were missing thirty-four of the most important parts. These parts were related to the core performance of Lunar Eclipse, and without them, it would be impossible for Lunar Eclipse to fly out of this star region.
"Thank you!" Xia Fei smiled. It was not Andy's fault that he could not find the parts. He had already put in enough effort, so Xia Fei had no reason to blame him.
"What are you planning to do now?" Andy asked.
"I'm planning to try my luck at the ancient battlefield. If it doesn't work, I'll buy an industrial ship and tow it to Pan-Human Alliance territory for repairs," Xia Fei said.
Andy shook his head. "Let's not talk about salvaging the ship from the ancient battlefield. Using an industrial ship to tow it to Pan-Human Alliance territory is not an option."
"Oh, is there something wrong with that?" Xia Fei asked curiously.
"The industrial ship is slow and clumsy. It takes at least two hours to adjust after each warp, and the longer the warp distance, the longer it takes to recharge. Plus, the industrial ship's signal is bigger, so it's easy for those people to discover it."
"The natural environment of the Wild Star Region is very harsh. Electromagnetic storms and proton explosions are everywhere. How can a clumsy and weak industrial ship avoid these dangers?" Andy said.
The number of pirates in the Wild Star Region was unimaginable. Many of them worked during the day, and once they were out of work, they would change their clothes and go out into space to rob others. In the eyes of the residents of the Wild Star Region, working and robbing were the same thing; they were both jobs.
"Do you know why Sala only goes out in the morning?" Andy asked.
Xia Fei shook his head. He had never asked about Sala's job, nor did Sala mention it.
"Thats because Sala is only responsible for delivering the goods to the nearest safe point. As for how to get it out of this star region, that's up to the buyer. In the Wild Star Region, industrial ships are only used for transportation between safe points. They will never be used for long-distance voyages.
"If you want to transport the goods over long distances, you will need a small, agile frigate, and each warp can't be more than a hundred lightyears away. That's because a warp within a hundred lightyears requires the shortest charging time and is the least likely to be detected by long-range radars."
Xia Fei furrowed his eyebrows. He knew that the warp engine would release a large amount of energy the moment it was activated to create a temporary wormhole. The closer the warp, the weaker the energy release would be, making it harder for radars to detect.
"Isnt such a small warp a lot of time?" Xia Fei asked.
Andy laughed heartily. "There's no other way. No one dares to make a large-scale warp in this area. Even if they move very carefully, less than three out of ten ships can make it through the Wild Star Region. Thats why the goods here are so expensive.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
