According to his original plan, Xia Fei did not participate in the second round of the preliminaries. Based on his outstanding performance, Xia Fei still qualified for the finals, though his rank was a little lower, barely reaching the mark.
Meanwhile, Li Mo had once again displayed his talent in the field of mechanics. In the second round of the combat simulation, his topic was fuel consumption optimization, and the results were as expected. A small shuttle's fuel consumption per hour was reduced by twenty-five percent under normal circumstances under his control. In the end, he managed to get first place in the preliminaries and entered the finals with his head held high, becoming the number one seeded participant of the tournament. Meanwhile, Xia Fei's ranking was not even a thousand.
Xia Fei was still busy in the workshop. After all, he only needed to advance to the finals; his rank was not something he cared about.
On the second morning after the preliminaries, Xia Fei suddenly received a video call from Bai Ye. They did not have a good relationship, so Xia Fei was quite surprised that Bai Ye would take the initiative to contact Xia Fei.
Xia Fei threw down the tools in his hand and crawled out from under the machine. Avril hurriedly brought him a glass of orange juice and obediently followed Xia Fei.
Xia Fei turned on the phone and saw that Bai Ye was not the only one on the screen. His cousin, Li Mo, was also there, the two of them sitting side by side.
"Avril." Li Mo immediately spotted Avril beside Xia Fei. He did not greet Xia Fei first and instead called out Avril's name, his face darkening.
Avril was a little flustered. People would first seek protection when they did not know what to do. Avril suddenly had an idea. She hugged Xia Fei's arm and looked up. "Li Mo, why are you looking for Xia Fei?"
"Hmph!" Li Mo's face was livid as he snorted and said with extreme disdain, "So you rejected me because of him?"
Avril puffed out her chest and nodded. Her face was bright red, and Li Mo felt like he was being stabbed by needles. He gritted his teeth and did not flare up.
Xia Fei did not expect to suddenly go head to head with Li Mo. He actually preferred to quietly deal with his opponents, but there was no need to hide anymore. Since it was a challenge, he just had to accept it.
"Avril, wait for me outside. Let me discuss something with Mr. Bai and Mr. Li," Xia Fei said to Avril with a smile. Xia Fei smiled at Avril. No matter what, Avril was innocent. Xia Fei hoped that she would stay away from all this trouble, so he had her stay away from it.
Avril was a little worried about Xia Fei, but she did not dare to reject him, either. All she could do was turn around and leave the workshop.
Xia Fei very casually wiped the oil stains off his hands on his work clothes before he took out half a box of Hongtashan cigarettes from his pocket. He lit a cigarette and took a deep puff.
The two of you, is there a reason you came looking for me today? Xia Fei asked with a smile.
Li Mo asked coldly, "Do you think it's appropriate for Avril to be with you?"
Xia Fei smiled. "No, but I think it's even more inappropriate for her to be with you. Besides, it's up to her to decide who she ends up with. It has nothing to do with you and me."
Li Mo suddenly laughed out loud. He shook his head and said, "Poor people like you will never understand the matters of our social class. Actually, Avril doesn't matter to my family, and our Li family doesn't care about the Jian family's money. But to you, it's a huge sum."
"It's just that I quite like Avril, or else I wouldn't have lowered myself to interact with her. I'll be honest with you. How much money do you want before you give up?"
Xia Fei found it funny. The last time Avril's father persuaded Xia Fei to leave, he had used the same tactic. Could the so-called upper class be a class that used money to oppress others? Did they all like to use money to solve their problems?
Xia Fei thought about it for a moment before softly saying, "Sure."
Li Mo snorted disdainfully. "I thought you were a stubborn fellow, but you're only so-so. Give me a number, and I'll get the accountant to transfer it to you later."
He turned to his cousin Bai Ye and said, "I already told you that there's nothing in this world that can't be solved with money. Look, this Xia Fei looks like he's putting on a show, yet he's managed to get rid of him with just a little bit of money."
He said this, completely ignoring the fact that Xia Fei was on the other side of the screen, as if he was purposely saying it for him to hear. Bai Ye hurriedly nodded his head in agreement.
Xia Fei laughed. "My price tag is very high."
"I can afford it, no matter how high it is," Li Mo casually said.
Xia Fei raised two fingers and said, "What's the market value of Conglomerate Financial Group? You can just multiply it by two."
Li Mo was stunned. He finally realized that Xia Fei was mocking him, calling him an idiot.
* Bang! *
Li Mo was furious. He slammed the armrest of the sofa and said with a hoarse voice, "Very well! I heard that you're quite capable in the field of machinery. I'll be participating in the twenty-four events in the Golden Finger Cup. I hope that you'll be as strong as you were today, so that you won't lose too badly. "
Xia Fei smiled and took a puff of his cigarette before casually saying, "The same goes for you."
'Hmph!'
Li Mo turned around and left the room with a livid expression. Bai Ye called out his name in horror and was about to chase after him, but before he left, he suddenly said mysteriously to Xia Fei, "I thought that you were interested in Moon Song, but it looks like I was wrong about you. As your classmate in the training camp, I'll be kind enough to remind you that anyone who messes with Li Mo won't have a good ending."
Xia Fei smirked. "Actually, you didn't misunderstand. Moon Song is also mine."
* Whoosh! *
Bai Ye's feminine face turned even paler. He said hatefully, "You'll regret your words one day!"
Since he had already shed all pretense of cordiality, Xia Fei no longer had anything to fear. He put on a ruffian attitude and said, The woman your cousin likes is mine, and the woman you like is also mine. What do I have to regret?
Bai Ye was about to lose his mind. His hair was standing on end. He was not used to Xia Fei's unreasonable behavior as he was born in a wealthy family, so he did not know how to retaliate. That was when Li Mo's yell came from outside. Bai Ye stomped his foot and ended the video call, chasing after Li Mo.
Xia Fei flicked the cigarette butt in his hand up high. It spun a few times in the air before landing on the ground, creating a few sparks. He then slumped back into his chair, looking very relaxed.
Phantom furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Messing with someone that you shouldn't be messing with isn't like you at all. Li Mo's background isn't ordinary. If he really wants to deal with you, it'll be very troublesome. "
Xia Fei replied, "What's my style? Anyone that makes me unhappy can forget about being happy, no matter who they are. That's the biggest principle. "
Avril had been waiting outside the door all this time. When she saw that Xia Fei had ended his call with Li Mo, she hurried over and asked, "What did Li Mo say to you?"
Xia Fei replied, "He wants me to stay away from you, and I told him that you'll only leave me if he gives me Planet Conglomerate."
Avril pouted and said bitterly, "If he gives you Planet Conglomerate, you won't want me anymore?"
Xia Fei smiled and ran his fingers through Avril's golden hair. "I won't exchange it even if he gives me the entire universe."
Avril's eyes reddened, and she threw herself into Xia Fei's arms. The unique fragrance of a young lady wafted into his nose.
…
As a precaution, Xia Fei produced a total of three Black Bat radar systems. One of them was sent to the Adjudicator Union's Thuram as soon as possible, allowing him to test and evaluate it. Xia Fei planned to keep the other two for use during the tournament.
He applied for a patent for the Black Bat radar system at the Alliance's Patent and Trademark Office, and at the same time, registered it as a spare component with the tournament committee under the name of Quantum Holdings. This way, Xia Fei could use the system at any time during the tournament.
Xia Fei was careful when he registered the Black Bat radar system, so he only wrote the words "radar system" on the product description. Every tournament would use thousands of companies to send their products to the tournament committee, and the organizers would not even look at these products before throwing them into the warehouse. After all, this was a tournament for machinists. If a machinist could not distinguish between good and bad components, they would not be considered qualified.
Xia Fei's introduction of the Black Bat radar system was very simple, and since Quantum Holdings was not famous, there was no way anyone would be stupid enough to choose this system. Besides, Xia Fei had set a very high price for the Black Bat radar system, even reaching the standard of the best parts in the Alliance. The Golden Finger Cup had strict requirements for the total cost of the participants, so if anyone still chose it, it could only be said that Xia Fei's luck was terrible.
The twenty-four events encompassed everything a machinist should know. In past tournaments, the champion of the twenty-four events would usually become the overall champion, and there were very few exceptions.
The first round was the energy system optimization. The participants needed to optimize the energy system of the warship to increase the total energy output without affecting the lifespan of the reactor. Xia Fei chose to install a quantum collider to increase the energy output, and he won by just one point, with Li Mo in second place.
The second round was the armor resistance adjustment. The participants were required to adjust the four main resistances of the armor system, striving to achieve the strongest defense and most balanced resistances.
All weapons would have four main causes of damage. For example, laser cannons could damage the armor of the warship in an instant with extreme heat. If the heat resistance of the deck was strong enough, it could more or less offset the damage from the laser system. Magnetic railguns converted metal into ions and used their speed to impact the armor. This was called kinetic damage, and if the armor was strong enough, it could better withstand the damage from the magnetic railguns.
The organizers required the armor to be able to withstand all four types of damage — explosion, kinetic energy, heat, and electromagnetism. This was a universal problem. If the armor was strengthened with one type of resistance, it would inevitably lose its defense against the other types of damage.
Xia Fei did not have a good solution to this, either. He played a little trick and changed the shape of the armor into a rhombus shape. This way, any impact from any direction would be weakened by the tilt of the armor, preventing it from unleashing its full potential.
Actually, this was a loophole in the rules of the tournament. It did not specify the shape of the armor, and Xia Fei had taken advantage of this loophole to leave Li Mo behind by twenty-seven points in the second round.
This made the organizers feel very awkward, for no one would really pilot a rhombus-shaped warship on a long voyage. Not only would it waste a lot of space, but it was also very ugly. There was no need to make a warship like this just to increase its resistance by five percent.
Since it was a loophole in the rules of the tournament, the organizers could not deny Xia Fei's claim. All they could do was quietly record the matter so that they could make changes in the next tournament.
On Earth, after the regular meeting at the headquarters of Quantum Holdings, everyone was discussing Xia Fei's performance in the previous two rounds. Charlie excitedly said, "Xia Fei has won two rounds in a row and is now ahead of the runner-up by twenty-eight points. He's ranked first among all the participants. I think he might become the overall champion of the tournament if he continues like this."
Porter shook his head. "The Golden Finger Cup has been going on for more than a month. The tournament schedule is very complicated. Only two rounds have been held so far, so it's still too early to predict who the champion will be. However, Xia Fei's performance in the first two rounds is not bad. He was able to find the loophole in the rules and use it to surpass the other participants by more than twenty points. It's also the result of his meticulous thinking.
"It's just that I haven't figured it out yet. A few days ago, he said that there were too many tournaments and that he did not want to waste his time by participating in all of them, but why did he sign up for the twenty-four all-rounder without anyone noticing? It's obviously the opposite of his original intention. "
Andre was also confused. "Xia Fei's main goal is to promote the energy-shield booster and bring more orders to the company. It's indeed a little inappropriate for him to do so."
Sarah had been listening intently to the conversation. It was no secret that she liked Xia Fei. As someone from the Wild Star Region, she was a lot more passionate when it came to expressing her feelings than a girl from Earth.
"Don't overthink it. Xia Fei must have his reasons. All we need to do is believe in him," Sarah said confidently. Perhaps it was because she loved Xia Fei, but Sarah always obeyed Xia Fei's decisions without hesitation. She was a model employee.
Charlie agreed. "I think so too. Xia Fei is a person who knows what he's doing. Besides, it's a good thing if he really becomes the champion of the Golden Finger Cup. Xia Fei will become famous, and Quantum Holdings will benefit from it, too.
Everyone nodded, thinking that Charlie was right.
It was the second day of the tournament. Today was a speed race. Xia Fei and Li Mo had surprisingly lost the gravity system inspection race in the morning. They were five points behind the first place and tied for second place. Xia Fei did not care too much about the result of the race. He focused on preparing for the heavy drone repair race in the afternoon.
Walking out of the arena, Avril was already waiting for him outside. Beside her were dozens of bodyguards led by Pang Xing. Though they had intentionally hidden themselves in the crowd, Xia Fei still managed to spot them. He nodded at Pang Xing and walked right up to Avril.
"Xia Fei, you're awesome! You got second place again today! "Avril said excitedly.
Xia Fei smiled. "What's there to congratulate about second place? Constantine, who got first place, was two minutes faster than me."
Avril said seriously, "You have to know that you're the best in my heart, whether you're first or not."
Xia Fei used his finger to scratch Avril's nose. "Got it. Let's go for lunch. The drone repair race in the afternoon is my specialty. Let's hope that we can get a good result this time."
That was when a voice came from behind them. "The result in the afternoon will be the same as before. I'll still beat you."
The voice was as cold as a knife. Xia Fei looked up and saw a skinny young man walking over with his head lowered. He had a head full of messy long hair, and he was wearing an unclean white shirt that was crooked on his body. Even the buttons on his shirt were buttoned wrong.
He was wearing a pair of dirty basketball shoes, as if he had never cleaned them since he bought them. They were covered in dust and some kind of oily substance, making him look very unkempt.
The scrawny young man raised his head, and Xia Fei saw a face that was as pale as death. To be precise, this face looked rather artistic, with a touch of sadness. His eyebrows were drooping, and he had a pair of golden glasses perched on his tall nose bridge.
"Everything is possible. No one can predict the result, not even you," Xia Fei said softly. This man was Constantine, who had made a name for himself today. As the winner of this morning, Xia Fei of course remembered him.
Constantine looked at Xia Fei and then at Avril. Suddenly, his lips curled into a wicked smile. He walked up to Avril and bowed, giving her a standard aristocratic etiquette. He said with a slightly sad voice, "Miss, my name is Constantine. I come from a country cursed by the world. Please accept the most sincere love of a sinner. I'm willing to devote my life to you."
Constantine's voice was not loud, but it was very clear. The match had just ended, and thousands of spectators were leaving the stadium. No one could have imagined that Constantine would confess to Avril in front of so many people.
The crowd was curious. They all stopped to look at the two men and one woman. Those with sharp eyes recognized Avril and began whispering to their companions.
"Isn't that the young lady of the Jian family?"
"What Jian family? But this lady sure is pretty. "
"You don't even know the Jian family? They're the founding family of Starlink Corporation. You log on to the interplanetary internet all day, yet you don't even know who the Jian family is? She's Avril, Jane Avril! "
"Oh! So it's her. That young lady seems to be in trouble. "
"Isn't it obvious? The two boys beside her are both trying to woo her."
"They sure have some guts, even daring to woo the only daughter of the Jian family."
* Whoosh! *
The Jian family's bodyguards, led by Pang Xing, quickly surrounded the crowd. Pang Xing even turned on his communicator and pressed a button, most likely to deploy more men.
Avril was a little flustered. This was the first time someone had confessed to her on the street, and she had never seen this person before. He was a stranger.
Avril forced herself to calm down and grabbed Xia Fei's arm. "I don't even know you. Please show some respect."
Unexpectedly, though Constantine looked very cultured, his personality was no different from a hooligan on the streets. He smiled and said, "My dear lady, please tell me your name. I'm willing to duel this brave warrior for you. I won't stop until one of us dies."
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