The Calm Before the Storm
Xia Fei received a call from Pang Xing after leaving the naval headquarters, asking him to make a trip to Sunset Villa, though he did not mention the reason.
The captain in charge of escorting Xia Fei was very polite, driving his warship to his destination. Xia Fei saw Pang Xing pacing back and forth anxiously as soon as he got off the warship.
Whats wrong? Xia Fei asked with a smile.
Pang Xing rubbed his hands. Were you disqualified from the warship event?
Xia Fei answered, Well, my warship is completely damaged, so even though I won the match, I lost the right to participate in this round. However, I can still participate in the search event and the final challenge.
Pang Xing sighed. "I don't know which gossipy servant told the young mistress about this, but she was very sad after hearing about it. She was already very worried when she saw you surrounded by nine people, and now that you've won and been disqualified, the young mistress can't accept it. She's in her study right now, so you should go and talk to her. I know you'll definitely have a way."
Xia Fei nodded and followed Pang Xing up the mountain.
As soon as they got out of the elevator, they met Avrils father, Newman, in the lobby. He looked like he was in a hurry, with his secretary following behind him with his briefcase while he was on the phone.
Newman was stunned for a moment before he told the person on the phone to wait for a moment and walked up to Xia Fei to greet him. Xia Fei politely returned the greeting.
The procedure was as standard as a computer code. There was no surprise or disappointment, just like two unrelated people meeting.
Watching Newman leave, Pang Xing said awkwardly, Master has always been very busy. Actually, he doesnt hate you.
Xia Fei nodded indifferently. Such an awkward encounter would probably happen again in the future, and he needed to get used to it. He could not blame Newman, either. No matter what, he had killed his brother. Even if Xia Fei did it to protect Avrils, it would still leave a shadow in his heart.
Phantom had once asked Xia Fei, What would you do if it was her father who hurt Avrils?
Xia Fei lightly gestured with his hand, a gesture that all humans would do overnight: Kill!
Avrils was in her study, seriously writing and drawing. She had one hand on her cheek as if she was deep in thought.
Xia Fei smiled as he walked over. What are you writing?
Avril subconsciously used her hand to block the notebook on the table to prevent anyone from peeking at it. When she realized that it was Xia Fei, she immediately broke into a smile. She jumped up from her seat and pulled Xia Fei's arm as they sat down on the sofa in the study.
"I'm calculating the score for the Golden Finger Cup." Avril's eyes dimmed. "I've calculated it carefully. Even if you perform well in the last two rounds, your final score will be around 300."
Avrils voice could hardly hide the disappointment in it. Xia Fei was very touched. The feeling of being cared for was wonderful, and he could only experience it himself.
Nevermind, let me tell you a secret, Xia Fei said with a smile.
Upon hearing that there was a secret, Avril immediately became serious and curious. She widened her starry eyes and nodded lightly.
"As a matter of fact, I'm not participating in the Golden Finger Cup to win the championship. I'm here to promote a product that I've invented. It's called the energy-shield booster," Xia Fei said.
"Booster? What's that? "Avril asked curiously.
Xia Fei briefly explained the function of the booster. Avril nodded and said, "It sounds amazing. Did you invent it yourself?"
Avril was very happy. She felt proud that Xia Fei had invented such an advanced device.
"That's right. Even though I didn't get the chance to win the Golden Finger Cup this time, I've managed to achieve great publicity. If you don't believe me, you can take a look at the Interplanetary Intranet. Countless people are dying to know the configuration of my warship. After the warship competition ends in a few days, the organizer will announce every participant's configuration. The energy-shield booster will surely become famous.
"So you don't have to worry. I've achieved my biggest goal. I don't really care about the other titles," Xia Fei said.
Avril's eyes flickered. She quickly opened the interplanetary internet.
Just as Xia Fei had said, articles discussing Xia Fei's warship configuration were already all over the place. Everyone was trying to guess what secret weapon Xia Fei had used to defeat all nine opponents in one go, and the fact that the tournament had yet to announce the warship configurations of the contestants only served to whet everyone's appetite.
"It's really as you said! It seems that your plan has succeeded this time! That's great! I must congratulate you in advance! " Avril laughed heartily. She had always been an extroverted girl. The clouds of worry came quickly, but they dissipated even faster. Once she received some good news, she would forget about her troubles. This was what Xia Fei liked about Avril. Extroverted girls were easier to coax, and they would not get into a dead end.
"You must buy me a lot of things when you have the money," Avril said coquettishly.
Xia Fei said, "That's not a problem, but you don't seem to lack anything, do you?"
"It's different," Avril said seriously. Avril sternly said, "It's only meaningful if you give it to me. Besides, what I want is very expensive. You can't afford it right now anyway."
Xia Fei thought for a moment. "Expensive? What do you want? "
Avril smiled mysteriously and said softly, "It's a secret."
…
Late at night, Xia Fei, who had left Sunset Villa, returned to his dormitory to work. The truth was, he really wanted to stay over at Avril's place. Xia Fei had never denied his desire, but he felt that Avril was not ready yet, so he could only let her off the hook time and time again.
The Black Bat radar was still a problem that troubled Xia Fei. Its complicated design brought with it a powerful function, but it also brought with it the manufacturing process. Uncle Porter had spent a lot of money to buy the most advanced FN-105 smart machine tool in the Alliance, and he had even made the adjustments himself. Reality proved that even the most powerful machine tool in the Alliance was not enough to produce the Black Bat radar. Not only was the efficiency very low, but the wear and tear on the machine tool itself was also greatly increased.
Moreover, he had discovered a new problem during his experiments. The current design of the Black Bat radar was not very durable. Of the ten machines that Uncle Porter had made, two had already been damaged during the experiments, and one of them had been completely burned and could not be repaired.
The complicated manufacturing process and high damage rate meant that Xia Fei would definitely go bankrupt if this product were to be put into production. Just the compensation alone would cost him his life. If a warship equipped with this radar was suddenly damaged in battle, resulting in the death of all the soldiers on board or the loss of the battle, Xia Fei would have to pay for it with his life in the military court.
In short, the Black Bat radar was only a temporary solution. There was no way for it to be marketed as a product. Unless Xia Fei could greatly reduce the difficulty of manufacturing it and increase its durability, it could only be used as a decoration in the laboratory.
Xia Fei suddenly felt that building a Titan-class warship was much more difficult than he had imagined. Just the radar system alone was enough to make him miserable, not to mention the fact that the radar was only a small part of the warship.
However, Xia Fei was also filled with anticipation. If he could really build such a difficult warship one day, what kind of enemy would be able to contend with it? It was practically the ultimate weapon of destruction!
Xia Fei received a call from Thuram in the middle of the night.
Uncle, what's up so late at night? Xia Fei asked.
Thuram asked, "Are you acquainted with the military's chief of staff, Williams?"
Xia Fei replied, Not really. I've only met him once.
Thuram nodded. "He came to me today and asked me a lot about you. In the end, he even asked me for six energy-shield boosters."
Xia Fei was slightly surprised, muttering to himself, That's fast!
Thuram was curious, so Xia Fei told him everything that happened today.
Thuram laughed heartily after hearing the story. I can tell that Williams is very interested in the energy-shield boosters. I'm afraid that he'll immediately experiment with them when he gets back. Who knows, the military might really purchase them from Quantum Holdings. You'd better prepare your production in advance, lest you fail to deliver the goods after signing the order.
Xia Fei replied, That's not a problem. We're only taking orders according to the planned production. Besides, we don't know what the military thinks yet, so we'll have to wait and see.
…
Xia Fei was rather relaxed during the days without the tournament. He would spend time with Avrils, practice his stealth, study the technological improvements of the Black Bat radar, and enjoy the bright sunshine of the capital ring.
The military had been quiet ever since they took the energy-shield boosters from Thuram. Thuram sent a message saying that they were conducting secret experiments in the lab.
The military's requirements were completely different from the civilian's. They had an independent testing system, and any equipment that wanted to become standard military equipment had to go through a long evaluation period. Not only did the product have to be inspected, but even the factory and the workers in charge of the production were also under the military's inspection.
Charlie called to inform him that a representative from the military had arrived at Quantum Holdings and wanted to take a look at the factory that produced the energy-shield boosters, as well as the local environment. Charlie was extremely nervous about an organization as high and mighty as the Alliance's military. Xia Fei told him to remain calm and to treat them as normal customers.
At the end, Xia Fei even reminded him not to forget to send a gift, not anything valuable, just some local specialties from Earth, something delicious and interesting. Charlie was worried that doing so would affect their impression of Quantum Holdings, but Xia Fei did not think much of it.
It turned out that the officers liked the tea and local snacks very much. Once they heard that giving gifts was a custom on Earth, the officers no longer refused. After all, they understood the principle of following the host's wishes. Besides, these things were not worth much, so it was not even close to being a bribe.
They stayed on Earth for two days, taking a look at the factories of Quantum Holdings and chatting with the technical director, Uncle Porter, about technical issues. What kind of person was Porter? In front of him, the technical officers of the military didn't even have the chance to interrupt. At least in terms of technical strength, Quantum Holdings wasn't at a disadvantage.
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.
