Furball's Food
The heavy-assault cruiser was an epoch-making product in human warship history, known as the second-generation elite cruiser.
It had firepower and defense that far exceeded that of its peers. It was no exaggeration to say that the heavy-assault cruiser's performance was already close to that of a battleship that was two grades higher than itself, and it also had the agility and speed of a cruiser.
Battleships were currently the main force of the Pan-Human Alliance. Their thick armor and powerful firepower made them quite a threat in positional warfare. Meanwhile, heavy-assault cruisers were just as their name suggested, designed for individual soldiers to charge forward. They would use their incredible speed and powerful firepower to quickly penetrate the enemy's interior and directly attack their vitals.
There was no doubt that the appearance of heavy-assault cruisers would fundamentally change the way battles were fought, making battles more complicated and more flexible.
"I finally understand why the powerful Comet class isn't being produced anymore. It's because the Alliance already has the ability to produce second-generation warships, so the Comet class, as a first-generation elite warship, isn't that important anymore," Xia Fei said.
Nicole smiled. "Yes, that's part of the reason. Actually, while the overall performance of first-generation warships is slightly worse than second-generation warships, they're cheaper to build, and the production process is more mature. For a very long time, the military will still use first-generation warships as the main force, with second-generation warships as support.
"To be precise, second-generation warships have the greatest impact on the elite warships produced in the past, such as the Comet class, but there are also some warships that can't be replaced, such as the Anathema-class you're piloting. Its powerful energy-draining device is something even second-generation warships can't compare to."
Xia Fei smiled. "Miss Nicole, let's talk about the price now. Though I like the Deimos-class, I'm afraid I won't be able to afford it if the price is too high."
Nicole wagged her finger. "This warship is one of the three Deimos-class prototypes. For the sake of testing, the warship has already been neatly configured, and all the parts used are of the highest standard. Such a warship shouldn't be measured by money, for it's a groundbreaking prototype of a new warship. It's not for sale; it's a gift."
Xia Fei was confused. "A gift for me? We've only met by chance; is there a need for this? "
Nicole replied, "You and I are both businessmen, and you should understand the principle of mutual benefit, right? Your Quantum Holdings is already an A-list supplier for the military, and there will be many opportunities for us to work together in the future. Given my personality, I'll either not give a gift, or I'll give the most expensive one. What do you think? "
Xia Fei scratched his head. Nicole's gift theory was completely different from his own. Xia Fei was used to giving gifts to people he met, but it was only a small favor, while Nicole was much more generous than Xia Fei. A heavy-assault cruiser prototype would probably fetch an inestimable price if it were sold on the black market, so this gift was a little too generous.
Xia Fei was somewhat hesitant. He felt that there was definitely a mystery behind something easily obtained, which was why he was having a hard time deciding whether he should accept this gift or not. Xia Fei liked the Deimos-class heavy-assault cruiser very much, but if there were additional conditions behind this gift that he could not accept, Xia Fei would not hesitate to reject it.
Nicole could tell what Xia Fei was thinking, so she said, "I won't hide it from you. Though you didn't manage to win the Golden Finger Cup this time, I personally believe that you're the best candidate for the championship. The Deimos-class has already been rejected by the military, and I'm honestly very unwilling to accept this outcome after spending so much money and effort to develop this new product.
"The four major warship companies have started developing heavy-assault cruisers at almost the same time, and so far, only Gaia's Deimos-class has been rejected by the military. The other companies have more or less received orders from the military for their products. This is a great humiliation, and I'll never accept such an outcome.
"That's why I must turn this situation around. It's not just you; those with excellent warship modification skills or the most combat experience will also receive my gift. I want to let the military see that the Deimos-class that they look down on is not any weaker than any warship!"
Nicole was very serious, her words filled with conviction. Xia Fei admired her determination to not give up so easily. It must be mentioned that Nicole was only a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl.
Xia Fei asked in a deep voice, "You mean to say that you want me to redeem the Deimos-class heavy-assault cruiser?"
Nicole answered, "Precisely."
Xia Fei furrowed his eyebrows. "This is a gamble. If I can't turn the Deimos-class into a fearsome killer, then this valuable warship of yours will be gone for good."
Nicole sternly said, "I'm very willing to take this gamble. Besides, I believe that you'll surely have a way to make this warship unleash its full potential."
"Hurry up and agree! This is a heavy-assault cruiser! Stop hesitating, Xia Fei! You won't even take the meat that's right in front of your mouth! That's not your usual style! "Phantom could not help but urge him loudly.
After thinking for a few minutes, the stern look on Xia Fei's face turned into a smile. He smiled at Nicole and said, "I believe that even a fool wouldn't reject such a generous offer. I promise you that I'll do my best."
Nicole seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Very well. How do you plan on modifying the Deimos-class?"
Xia Fei answered, "Make it simpler. I'll give up on the drone bay and living space and focus on improving its firepower and defense. Since the Deimos-class is a pure gunship, it only needs to do two things: First, capture the enemy, and second, destroy the enemy."
Nicole was puzzled. "That's your idea?"
Xia Fei softly said, "There's no way to make up for the ship's shortcomings, so we can only maximize its strengths. I want it to be the strongest one-on-one warship."
"What about when it's facing multiple enemies?"
Xia Fei laughed heartily. "Miss Nicole, there's no warship that's omnipotent. You just need to remember this, and it'll be easy to understand my thinking. A truly outstanding warship doesn't necessarily need to take on all the work by itself. It only needs to do one job to the best of its ability."
Nicole seemed to have understood something. She nodded lightly and said, "How confident are you?"
Xia Fei replied, "Any plan is just empty talk before it's tested. All I can say is that it's worth a try. Even if it succeeds, the Deimos-class won't be able to sell too well, but at least it won't go to waste."
Nicole said, "Give me two days, and the warship will be fully assembled according to your requirements."
Xia Fei was incredulous. "Two days? Miss Nicole, can this amount of work be completed in two days? That's simply unbelievable. "
"This is Gaia Industries, one of the four major warship manufacturers in the Alliance. Nothing is impossible," Nicole said with a hint of pride.
…
Nicole did not return with Xia Fei. Instead, she remained at Gaia's evaluation center.
Waving at Nicole, Xia Fei hurriedly entered the warship. His eyes inadvertently caught a glimpse of Nicole's wrist. The exquisite bracelet was gone, and the pink scar was exposed.
* Whoosh ~ *
The warship carrying Xia Fei entered space, and Nicole looked up at the sky somewhat dejectedly.
A hoverchair floated up behind her, and an old man sat on it. He was casually wearing a pure cotton shirt, and there was no telling how long it had been since he last shaved his beard, which was a mess.
"Nicole," the old man softly called out.
Nicole turned her head and smiled. "Father, are you feeling better today?"
Squatting down, Nicole placed her hand on the old man's. She had no idea what kind of illness the old man was suffering from, but his wrist was trembling nonstop as if he was convulsing. A closer look would reveal that Nicole's father's left eyelid was also twitching, at least dozens of times per second, far faster than the average person.
"Why are you here today?" Nicole asked sweetly. In front of outsiders, Nicole, who was the acting chairman of Gaia Heavy Industries, had to be tense at all times, but in front of her father, she could not help but reveal the gentleness of a young girl.
"I'm here to see you," Brendy Sawyer said. "You should know very well that there's only one Deimos-class heavy-assault cruiser prototype, yet you're telling him that there are three?"
"I know," Nicole Sawyer softly said.
"You gave him the only prototype?"
"Yeah."
"He's very close with Avril of the Jian family."
"Yeah."
"They've been together for almost three years, and I'm afraid that they'll be together for a very long time."
"Yeah."
No matter what Brendy said, Nicole would only reply with a single 'yeah'.
Sighing, Brendy said, "Forget it. Let's do whatever you want."
"I want to erase the scar on my wrist," Nicole casually said.
Brendy appeared very emotional, his hoarse voice stuttering, "Good … Good … You've finally gotten over it. I … I'm very happy for you."
…
The news that Xia Fei had obtained the military's A-list supplier status was reported by almost every news outlet in the Alliance overnight. Busybodies dug up Xia Fei's past and publicized it, and people very quickly realized that this ordinary-looking young man was not what he looked like. Be it his prolonged battle during the Adjudicator Assessment, his mysterious disappearance for an entire year while investigating the ancient civilization, or his breaking out of the Blood Matrix and destroying the mysterious organization that had been in hiding for decades, he had all become a hot topic of discussion. Of course, people would not forget his spectacular performance during the Golden Finger Cup.
Aside from that, there were also reporters who dug up Xia Fei's experience as a courier back on Earth. People suddenly realized that Xia Fei's journey was like an inspirational Hollywood movie. In a mere three years, Xia Fei had gone from being an unknown bicycle courier to an Advanced Star River rank ability warrior and an A-list supplier for the military. He had completed an unprecedented leap.
This rate of improvement was nothing short of miraculous. Many commoners saw Xia Fei as their goal, hoping that one day, they would become famous overnight just like him.
The news media, which had always been very sensitive, sensed the great interest the commoners had in Xia Fei. They spared no effort in searching for any news related to him to report. A large number of paparazzi were mobilized, frantically searching for Xia Fei's whereabouts. However, they had no idea that just as people were most eager to hear news of Xia Fei, Xia Fei had already left.
After bidding farewell to Avrils, Xia Fei piloted the Deimos-class heavy-assault cruiser he had just obtained and set off on a long journey. His destination was the Black Abyss.
Xia Fei had named this warship Bayonet. It was a purely offensive gunship. It only had one offensive weapon, cannons, and only one mission: offense. It only had one combat style, melee. Coupled with its long and narrow shape, it was fitting to call it Bayonet.
Xia Fei's original frigate, Vampire, was stored in the hold of this ship. If there was a need, Xia Fei could switch back to this extremely wretched frigate to participate in battle.
The Bayonet and Vampire were not necessarily the strongest warships in the Alliance, but they were definitely the most unique. The Bayonet had insane firepower, and it was like the bravest warrior. Even a battleship would find it hard to survive its violent attacks. The Vampire was even more of a thug than a veteran gangster on the streets. Its energy-draining system would drain the enemy's energy, leaving them in a state where they could neither live nor die. They could only watch helplessly as they were attacked without being able to retaliate.
Xia Fei had realized a long time ago that a truly outstanding warship did not lie in how comprehensive it was but in how it had its own distinct characteristics. If a person could learn everything but could not learn anything, it was far better to focus on one field of study for the rest of their life and reach the pinnacle of it.
On the screen were Butcher and Sarah. Xia Fei smiled and greeted the two of them before asking Sarah, "How's the purchase of the cargo this time?"
Ten thousand energy-shield boosters were not enough to fill two Iteron-class industrial ships. Xia Fei had arranged for the remaining space to be used to store some daily necessities. The Death Trio Star Region was already barren, and now that it was in the midst of war, he should be able to make a decent profit by selling these necessities. In any case, the cargo hold was empty, and Xia Fei was not about to miss out on a chance to make some money. Though it was not a lot of money, it was still meat no matter how small it was.
"Everything's been loaded. We're just waiting to set off," Sarah said.
Butcher pursed his lips. "That's not all. Even our frigates have been stuffed full of goods by Miss Sarah. Look."
Saying so, Butcher grabbed a handful of compressed ham from the table. There was even more food next to him, piling up the hold so tightly that it looked like a food warehouse.
Sarah furrowed her eyebrows. "My orders were to load as much as possible. Your ship has plenty of space, so of course, we can't waste it."
Butcher shrugged and did not say anything. Xia Fei knew that Butcher was only joking, but Sarah was taking it too seriously. After all, she had grown up in the Wild Star Region, so she did not know how to be flexible.
Xia Fei chuckled. "Isn't that great? Brother Butcher has so much food with you, so you can eat as much as you can. Who knows, you might even gain a few pounds of fat from this trip.
"I'm already on my way to the rendezvous point. You guys can take this time to rest and give your brothers a few days off. We'll set off once I meet up with you."
Butcher hesitated for a moment before saying, "Xia Fei, I have something to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
"Your Quantum Holdings has already become an A-list supplier of the military. The brothers from the Blood Matrix are all very happy for you. You know that we want to set up an exploration team specifically to search for a route to Eden."
"According to the Alliance's regulations, our exploration team is a paramilitary organization, so it's very troublesome to register. Furthermore, we'll have to file it with the military every once in a while, so we're thinking of putting the exploration team under your Quantum Holdings' name and calling it Quantum Exploration. It'll save us a lot of trouble. What do you think?"
Xia Fei had originally wanted to recruit Butcher and his men for his own use. After all, these warriors had all seen blood before, and when it came to a critical juncture, these old warriors were far more capable than the new recruits. Judging from Butcher's words, they still wanted to form an exploration team and go on adventures in the universe.
"No problem, Brother Butcher. Leave it to me. I'll get someone to submit the form and file it with the military," Xia Fei said. Recruiting was not something that could be rushed. Xia Fei decided to follow Butcher's request first and slowly convince them when he had the chance in the future.
Butcher nodded. "That's great. We'll make sure that we do a great job. Don't worry."
…
The voyage was very long. Aside from eating, sleeping, and cultivating, Xia Fei suddenly realized a very serious problem. The little monster, Furball, did not eat?
It had been more than ten days since Furball was born, and the little fellow had not eaten anything aside from licking his fingers. Xia Fei had racked his brains to provide it with all sorts of food, but it did not even look at them, proudly raising its head and putting on a look of disdain.
There were some creatures in this world that did not need food to absorb energy from the environment. Xia Fei had no idea what Furball was, but he guessed that Furball was like those strange creatures that did not need to eat.
It was only in the past few days that Xia Fei realized the severity of the problem.
Furball lay in Xia Fei's palm with its eyes half-closed, looking very listless. Its originally beautiful silver fur had turned dull, and its body was much thinner than when it was first born. It looked very weak now.
Xia Fei panicked. He got some milk and forced it into his mouth, but the little fellow looked extremely disgusted. He did not even vomit much after drinking it. He looked at Xia Fei with pleading eyes, as if begging Xia Fei not to let him drink the milk.
"This fellow is too picky. I didn't even get to drink low-quality milk when I was young," Xia Fei said somewhat angrily.
When Furball saw that Xia Fei was angry, it used its furry body to rub against Xia Fei, as if trying to curry favor with him, leaving Xia Fei unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"Could it be that this exotic beast's eating habits are different from humans'?" Phantom muttered to himself. "According to the Beast Spirit Codex, some exotic beasts rely on metals or ores to survive. Why don't we give these things a try?"
Xia Fei dashed into the hold of the ship with a whoosh, taking out all the metals and ores he could find and laying them out on the table. He then opened his spatial ring and poured out everything inside, even Celestial Moon.
He placed Furball in the middle of all these random items, only to see Furball looking around listlessly. All of a sudden, its eyes became extremely bright, faintly glowing with a green light!
* Whoosh! *
Furball excitedly moved its body, rushing toward a purple ore, saliva nearly dripping from its mouth.
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