Magnared Alloy
Chapter 478: Magnared Alloy
Four days later, in the exclusive spaceport of the Blood Candle Kingdom.
As a small country on the fringes of the Alliance, the Blood Candle Royal Spaceport was nothing to write home about. In fact, it was much simpler than Earth's Denver Interstellar Spaceport. However, the piece of Magnared Alloy on the ground had piqued Xia Fei's interest. This light alloy was an excellent material for building warships, and he had no idea why the impoverished Blood Candle Kingdom would use such an expensive light alloy to build a spaceport.
"Did your journey go smoothly?" Constantine asked as he stared at Xia Fei's Anathema-class frigate. This hybrid warship had an exquisite leech-shaped design. It was inconspicuous yet contained a murderous aura, which made his eyes light up.
Xia Fei shrugged. "The asteroid belts and electromagnetic storms are the natural barriers of the Blood Candle Kingdom. If not for your star map, I would have to go around in a big circle to get here. From this, I can see that your kingdom is easy to defend and hard to attack."
"It's my father's kingdom," Constantine softly corrected Xia Fei.
Smiling, Xia Fei nonchalantly said, "It's his now, but that might not be the case in the future."
"Let's go. I'll take you around the city. My father will host a banquet for you tonight. Honestly, how did you get that Thanatos-class carrier? When the border guard reported that a capital ship had entered his territory, even my father was shocked, thinking that a powerful enemy had invaded."
Xia Fei smiled. "Since I'm here to cheer you on, I naturally have to put on a show. After all, I'm also benefiting from your ascension. We're in a mutually beneficial relationship."
Constantine knew very well that Xia Fei was not someone who would easily trust anyone. He was far from becoming Xia Fei's confidant. Xia Fei was only willing to help him because of the benefits.
Outside the spaceport, a soldier drove a plain Swallow VII hovercar. This commoner's hovercar looked very normal. Let alone luxurious, it was so plain that it was a little excessive. It did not match Prince Constantine's status.
However, Xia Fei soon calmed down. Constantine had always kept a low profile. When Xia Fei first met him, he was dressed as if he had come from the slums. Now that he was back in his own country, he was dressed simply and did not put on any airs. It was obvious that he was someone who was very close to the people.
The soldier handed the car keys to Constantine. Xia Fei observed carefully and discovered that every soldier in the royal spaceport was disabled. If they were not missing an arm, they were missing an ear. These soldiers were all burly, and when they spoke, they were like claps of thunder, demonstrating their decent cultivation.
"Stop looking. I already told you that Blood Candle is a cursed land. All ability users are crippled, and those who aren't crippled are normal people."
Xia Fei nodded and got into the small Swallow hovercar. Constantine did not have a driver, so he revved the engine a few times and sped toward the royal capital.
Both sides of the road were wastelands where not even a blade of grass grew. When the wind blew, yellow sand would fill the air, and the occasional passerby would be poor people dressed in rags. Dilapidated and barren — this was Xia Fei's first impression of Blood Candle.
"Is there a lot of wastelands in the Blood Candle Kingdom?"
"How should I put it? If we had to rely entirely on the land to grow crops, most of the people of Blood Candle would have starved to death long ago. Fortunately, we produce a lot of Magnared Alloy, the metal you saw laying on the spaceport's floorboards. Every year, the Alliance uses food and daily necessities to trade for this alloy, allowing the kingdom to survive," Constantine said.
Xia Fei replied, "Magnared Alloy is a good material for making crucial parts of engines, and it's not cheap in the Alliance. How can you people of Blood Candle be poor when you have so many precious ores?"
Constantine replied, "Because this is the cursed land. Everyone here is the descendant of criminals, and the blood of criminals flows in their veins. The successive Presidents of the Alliance have never trusted the people of Blood Candle, so there are restrictions on exports. Every year, there is a lot of alloy that can be traded, but the price is kept very low."
"What about smuggling? Smuggling alloy is a small investment, but it's very profitable. Why don't you go deal with those smugglers? "
Constantine bitterly smiled. "The Death Tri-region has its own specialties, but the sea routes have never been smooth, so those smugglers go directly to the nearby tri-region. Taking a detour through Blood Candle takes even more time and effort, so they'd rather go to Black Abyss or Evil Gulfstream Star Regions to ship their goods than risk coming to Blood Candle."
Xia Fei nodded. The Terminus Star Region was remote, and Blood Candle was located on the edge of Terminus. Without a sea route map, it would take forty to fifty days to get there. Thus, transportation truly was a very serious problem. They could only rely on the official trade fleets sent by the Alliance.
His lips curled into a smile, Xia Fei looked out the window at the barren land and had an idea.
"The development of the Terminus Star Region requires a large amount of high-grade metal. We can make a deal. Blood Candle's Magnared Alloy can be exchanged for food and daily necessities," Xia Fei sternly said.
"That's not a bad idea, but Magnared Alloy is a high-grade metal that the Alliance restricts from trading. Aren't you afraid of being reported if you take the risk of bringing it to the Alliance?"
Xia Fei smiled. "Who said that I'm going to ship it to the Alliance? At present, Terminus's metal supply mainly relies on large mining and smelting barges. Our own metal processing factory is still under construction, so there's still a gap in metal production and usage. Magnared Alloy is light and hard. Although it's a little extravagant to use it for construction, it's not impossible. In any case, you have so much of it, and it's all used for flooring. It's not too much for me to use some to build a house. "
Constantine firmly nodded. "That's a good idea. Alas, Blood Candle doesn't have a family as powerful as yours, or else it would be quite a good place to build up. Tonight, when you see my royal father, you should have a good discussion with him."
Xia Fei shook his head. "Not me, but you."
"Me?"
"Yes. Now is a crucial time for you to accumulate capital. Completing this deal will be a merit in your royal father's eyes."
Constantine was enlightened. Xia Fei was doing him a favor at little cost. If he succeeded in this deal, it would be a very important bargaining chip for him when he inherited the Blood Candle Kingdom.
Phantom guessed at Xia Fei's thoughts and said, "Using the expensive Magnared Alloy to build a house? You're trying to fool a fool. Once the alloy arrives, you'll definitely store it and use it to build warships. If there's enough of it, you might even be able to build a Titan. "
Xia Fei smiled. Titan-class warships truly had become a sore point in Xia Fei's heart. He knew that this warship was one of the strongest warships in the universe, and even Law Adepts feared it. He had the blueprints, but he had no way of building it. This was a severe blow to Xia Fei.
Xia Fei had given Constantine a large gift as soon as he arrived, so he was clearly in a good mood. As the car drove through Blood Candle City, the guards respectfully saluted Constantine and let him into the city.
"Even the walls are made of Magnared Alloy? Blood Candle's production of the alloy must have reached an astonishing level, "Xia Fei said in an exaggerated manner.
Constantine sighed. "It can't be helped. The Blood Candle Kingdom has a total of three planets suitable for human habitation, and Magnared ore is the most abundant. Thus, they use the local materials to refine large quantities of the alloy. Let alone the walls, look, many of the houses of the commoners are made of Magnared Alloy."
Xia Fei looked out the window. Sure enough, many of the shops on the street, from their signboards to their tables and chairs, were made of Magnared Alloy. In the Alliance, this would definitely be labeled as extravagant and wasteful, but in the Blood Candle Kingdom, it was a sign of poverty. Only the rich could afford to live in brick and tile houses.
Although Blood Candle King City was large, it was in ruins. There were beggars, drunkards, and prostitutes everywhere. It was clear just how uncivilized the city was. Two large men on the side of the street started fighting over a disagreement. One of them took out a knife and stabbed his opponent in the chest, causing blood to flow everywhere. The soldiers standing to the side only glanced at it a few times, but they didn't care at all.
"In Blood Candle, private fights are legal. Even if you kill someone, you won't go to jail. On the contrary, the weaker side will be mocked by the commoners," Constantine explained. "Not having strength in Blood Candle is a very shameful thing. After all, we've always been a tough folk, and we have a much higher rate of ability users than the rest of the Alliance. Look at those beggars on the street. They might even be former warriors who ended up living on the streets because they got drunk."
Xia Fei nodded. "I now understand why no one is fighting over this part of space. Even if you take over Blood Candle, you won't be able to manage so many ability users, let alone warriors who are used to fighting and killing.
"Speaking of which, since Blood Candle has such a powerful army, why has it never managed to conquer this part of space?"
Constantine pointed to the west of the royal city and said, "Six hundred li west is the symbol of the Blood Candle Kingdom, the Accursed Tower. The reason it's called the Accursed Land is because of this tower.
"The people of Blood Candle have the highest ratio of warriors in the Alliance because of this tower, and it's also because of this tower that ninety percent of them are crippled. Once we leave this part of space and the Accursed Tower, the warriors of Blood Candle will become no different from ordinary people. Thus, we are fated to live here."
Xia Fei was flabbergasted. A tower could determine a person's ability and physical disability? Their ability would disappear if they were too far away from it? This was simply unimaginable!
"Why is it like this? What are the mysteries of the Accursed Tower? "
Constantine said, "The abilities of the people of Blood Candle do not come from cultivating the Starlight Mantra, nor do they come from using gene optimization fluids. Rather, they are obtained through an exchange with the Accursed Tower.
"Every person of Blood Candle will be sent to the Accursed Tower after they are born. If they come out with a disability, it means that the curse has taken effect, and they have used a part of their body to exchange for a powerful ability. In the desolate Blood Candle Kingdom, it is very difficult for a person to survive without martial strength. Thus, children will be sent to the Accursed Tower to exchange for abilities so that they can protect themselves as quickly as possible.
"Any family that obtains an ability, especially a combat ability, will be overjoyed, because from now on, the family will have another warrior. The few children who do not obtain an ability will mostly be abandoned by their parents, becoming street children, and in the end, die tragic deaths. This is the fate of the people of Blood Candle," Constantine said sorrowfully.
Xia Fei nodded. In order to survive in this desolate land, the people of Blood Candle truly had paid a terrible price. Perhaps this was why the Blood Candle Kingdom was a special existence in the Alliance, despised and spurned by the people of the world. Even this part of space was called the Accursed Land.
"What a wondrous tower. If I have the chance, I really do want to see it," Xia Fei muttered to himself as he looked to the west.
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