Increased pressure
The engine was one of the core components of a spaceship. It was like the heart of a human body, and without a healthy heart, it would be impossible to maintain a high-intensity operation.
The parts used to repair this naval-issued Eagle-class frigate were all configured according to the highest standards, and the engine was no exception.
The Black Mamba 130 engine came from one of the few top-notch parts manufacturers in the Alliance, Dark Sky Serpent Corporation. Regular frigate engines could produce a maximum of one hundred standard units of thrust, but the Black Mamba 130 engine could produce a maximum of one hundred and thirty standard units of thrust through the optimization of its energy system and mechanical structure, which was thirty percent higher than a regular frigate engine.
With the development of science and technology, many technologies had already been utilized to the extreme, and to improve even the tiniest bit of performance would require an extremely high price.
Though the performance of the Black Mamba 130 engine was only thirty percent higher than a regular engine, the technical difficulty involved was unimaginable to the average person.
It was said that in order to increase the engine's power, Dark Sky Serpent Corporation had made over ten thousand improvements to the regular engine, spending over a hundred years to design such a top-notch engine.
It was precisely because the manufacturing process for such top-notch equipment was extremely complicated that the production rate was very low and rarely found on the market. Even if one or two Black Mamba engines were occasionally sold, the price would far exceed the regular models.
All the top-notch manufacturers had a rule: The products they produced would first cater to the privileged class of the universe before they would be sold to the general public.
Xia Fei knew very well what it meant to miss out on a top-notch engine. He was silent for a while before he smiled. Uncle Porter, dont be too discouraged. We can think of another way to get the engine. The universe is so big; I dont believe that we cant even buy a top-notch engine.
Porter nodded silently and followed Xia Fei back the way they came.
The atmosphere was somewhat heavy on the way back. Xia Fei kept thinking about Old K. He did not know this person, nor did he want to know him, but this stranger had interfered with Xia Feis spaceship assembly plan, which made Xia Fei somewhat unhappy.
The parts that Porter had ordered were constantly being delivered to the factory through various interstellar express delivery companies, but these parts were not enough to assemble the spaceship. The factory design department had to design a 3D model of the missing parts and then send it to a high-precision automated machine to process the parts.
Although this method could process the missing parts, the efficiency was not high, because each part required a lot of time to be redesigned, and the progress was slow.
The person in charge of the design room was a distant niece of Old Potter, Lena. She was a black girl in her twenties with thick glasses and a meticulous attitude. Old Potter spent all day and night in the design room, working with this girl on the design of the components.
Xia Fei, on the other hand, picked up the universal pliers and repaired the warship with Boateng. A month went by in the blink of an eye, and Xia Fei had grown from a newbie who knew nothing about warships to a qualified mechanic.
He worked fifteen hours a day, eating the same meals as the workers, and they would occasionally gather for a drink or two. Xia Fei had never complained no matter how hard or tiring the work was.
At night, when everyone else was resting, Xia Fei would still spend six hours cultivating. Occasionally, he would satisfy Avrils curiosity, chatting with her, talking about the progress of the project, listening to her complain about her music teacher or art teacher. Every day was a busy but fulfilling one.
Very soon, this group of workers, led by Boateng, took a liking to Xia Fei. They would often give Xia Fei some local snacks, and Xia Fei would also share the cigarettes and tea leaves he brought with them.
Everyone liked the tea very much, but they could not help but shake their heads at the mention of cigarettes. They could not understand what was the point of inhaling such a pungent substance. Seeing Xia Fei lighting up a cigarette every time he took a break and enjoying it, everyone laughed and said that Xia Fei was spending money to get himself into trouble.
All Xia Fei could do was smile and ignore their laughter.
It had to be said that this group of workers trained by Old Potter were all elites in maintenance. Each of them had their own specialty, with some specializing in electrical systems and others in air filtration systems.
Slowly, Xia Fei gained another task in addition to his daily maintenance work, and that was to learn from different people what they were good at.
As the knowledge of maintenance continued to grow in his head, Xia Fei also began to ask his own questions and put some of his ideas into practice.
The maintenance work was slow and boring, but Xia Fei was improving at a rapid pace, especially when it came to some of his unique ideas. Even Old Potter was full of praise when he heard of them.
Recently, the supply of spare parts had begun to fall behind the maintenance progress. Often, he would work for an hour and rest for an hour. Every time a new part came out, he would be busy for a while, and after the installation was done, he would have to rest again until the new part was produced.
Xia Fei did not say a word as he watched Old Potter getting more and more anxious. He did not even ask about the progress of the parts, for he knew that Old Potter was already doing his best to repair the ship.
No matter how difficult the parts were, they could always be produced. It was just a matter of speed. Xia Fei was facing a more realistic and important problem: the engine.
During this period of time, Xia Fei would often search for a suitable engine on the interplanetary internet. He even spent ten million star coins to upgrade his interplanetary internet account to the point where he could access the three nearby star regions.
Unfortunately, there were very few top-grade engines on the market. Even if there were, they would be prioritized for those so-called big shots, so Xia Fei had no chance to purchase them. Occasionally, he would come across a few top-grade engines that were not suitable and could not be installed on the ship.
When designing the ship, Xia Fei had already made up his mind to improve all of its performance to the highest level. If he could not find a suitable engine, it would be like a sprinter missing a leg, which would greatly affect the overall performance of the ship.
Over the past month or so, Old K did not come looking for trouble with Porter again. However, there would often be some fighter jets flying at extremely low altitudes in the vicinity of the factory for no apparent reason. The loud noises and turbulence caused the factory to rumble. There was even one time when a warship in the factory was blown over by a fighter jet, and the workers had to expend a great deal of effort to prop it up again.
There were also a few burly men peeking at the factory. Xia Fei had encountered these people several times during his night training, but he had always held back and did not make a move.
Everyone might be laughing and joking around as usual, but everyone knew that a storm was about to arrive, and everyone was feeling repressed.
One morning, Xia Fei got out of bed as usual. He washed his face and carried the universal tongs to the factory, ready to start work for the day.
Boateng was sitting alone at the entrance of the factory, looking helpless.
Xia Fei walked over with a smile and asked, What's wrong? Did you quarrel with your wife again?
Boateng shook his head heavily. Nobody came to work today. In the past, they would have started by now.
Xia Fei was slightly taken aback. He looked at the time displayed on the microcomputer on his wrist. He had chatted with Avrils until quite late last night, so he had woken up just in time to go to work today.
Old Porters workers all had a strong sense of time. They would start work at least fifteen minutes earlier every day, so they should already be busy by now.
Lighting a cigarette, Xia Fei sat down beside Porters and looked up at the thick, dark clouds in the sky. Does Uncle Porters know?
Boateng nodded silently, not saying a word.
Looking around, Xia Fei noticed that there seemed to be someone far away in the northwest corner of the factory, using a device to monitor the situation in the factory.
Hmph! Xia Fei coldly snorted, standing up and patting Boateng on the shoulder. Someone is watching us. Lets get to work as usual, or else others might think that we are afraid of them.
Boateng abruptly got up from the ground with a serious look on his face. Youre right. The more they want to see us make a fool of ourselves, the more we must persevere.
Silently picking up their tools, Xia Fei and Boateng began their work for the day.
What should have been a workload of nine people was now reduced to two people, so it was easy to imagine how much pressure Xia Fei and Boateng were under.
However, they were not overwhelmed by it. Instead, they worked even harder, sweating profusely.
Old Porters came out of the design studio twice, and seeing Xia Fei and Boateng working hard with sweat all over their faces, Porter sighed and shook his head before going back in with heavy footsteps.
By noon, Xia Fei and Boateng were sitting on the ground with lunch boxes in their hands, wolfing down their lunch.
A full morning of high-intensity work had left them so tired that they did not even want to talk. After all, the energy of two people was limited, and even if they worked their hardest, they could only complete half of their usual schedule.
A khaki-colored shuttle landed in the factory in a hurry, and Schneider, who was in charge of the circuitry, got out of the shuttle in a panic, jogging all the way to the factory.
Where is Uncle Porters? Schneider anxiously asked.
Boateng glared at Schneider fiercely before lowering his head and eating his lunch as if he was blaming the man.
Schneider sadly lowered his head, his face full of shame.
Xia Fei smiled, putting down his lunch box and walking over to Schneider. Uncle Porters is in the design studio as usual. Have you had lunch?
That was when Schneider lowered his head and called out behind Xia Fei, Uncle Porters.
Xia Fei turned around and saw Old Porters standing behind him.
Me, me. Schneider choked on his sobs for a good while, unable to say a word. He was so upset that all he wanted to do was cry.
Old Porters took out a stack of envelopes from his pocket and handed them to Schneider. His calloused palm patted Schneider's head twice, as if he was patting his own child.
This is your salary and bonus. With your skills, it won't be hard to find a job in another factory. You guys haven't been earning much after following me all these years, so I'm giving you guys an extra three months of salary as compensation, Old Porters melancholy said.
"No, no, no, I'm not here to ask for my salary. I just feel that after following you for so many years, I should at least let you know when I'm leaving. Otherwise, I won't be able to forgive myself." Schneider started crying as he spoke, like a wronged child.
Old Porters shoved the envelopes containing the salary into Schneider's hands and turned around to head back to the design studio.
* Thump! *
Schneider fell to his knees, his two hands slapping himself furiously. Very quickly, his face began to swell up.
Xia Fei really wanted to stop him, but he endured it. Schneider needed to vent at a time like this, or else his heart would surely be tormented.
Uncle Porters! We really can't hold on any longer! Their … Their methods! Schneider was sobbing uncontrollably. I've let you down! I'm a bastard! I'm not human!
Old Porters footsteps came to an abrupt halt, his voice trembling as he said, I know, I know everything. You don't have to blame yourself. Let's go.
Schneider beat himself up like a madman, fresh blood gushing out of his mouth as he stood up and left in a daze.
Boateng watched as that earthen yellow shuttle disappeared into the horizon, spitting out a mouthful of saliva. I wish you a happy job at Old Ks factory.
Xia Fei lit a cigarette and furrowed his eyebrows. Boateng, why didnt you leave?
Boateng gritted his teeth and firmly said, Ill never leave my master.
All of a sudden, the old-fashioned phone in Boateng's pocket started beeping. Boateng took it out and glanced at it before standing up. Im going to take this call.
He took the phone and walked toward a corner of the factory. Xia Fei pondered for a moment before using his Breath Control technique to quietly follow behind him.
There was a woman's voice on the other end of the phone, most likely Boateng's wife. At this moment, she was already somewhat hysterical as she frantically screamed at Boateng.
Boateng silently stood where he was like a block of wood, allowing his wife to cry and yell at him. He remained motionless, not saying a word.
Xia Fei had no idea what kind of pressure this wooden man was currently under, but what Boateng said next deeply stirred him.
Let's get a divorce. Send the paperwork to the factory for me to sign, Boateng said in a hoarse voice. No matter what happens, Ill never leave my master.
With that said, Boateng hung up the phone and gripped his hair in pain, letting out a low whimper.
After a long time, Boateng stood up, straightened his clothes, and took a few deep breaths. With bloodshot eyes, he walked toward the factory.
Things were very clear by now. This man called Old Ks was constantly pressuring the workers in the factory in order to get his hands on the item in Porter's hands.
Though these workers did not say anything on the surface, they were all quietly enduring it.
When the pressure grew to the point where it was unbearable, some of them chose to give in, and even a man as tough as a rock like Boateng had no choice but to shed tears and break his arm.
The once bustling factory was now empty, leaving only Boateng, Old Porters, the cripple Songsan who was cooking, Lina who was in the design studio, and Xia Fei.
There was also the old dog guarding the door, Fixed Star. Fixed was so old that it could no longer walk. Most of its fur had already fallen off, and it lay on the ground all day, not eating or drinking. It would not be long before it too left.
Xia Fei leaned against a warship, smoking a few cigarettes as his mind worked furiously.
Throwing the cigarette butt on the ground and stamping it out, Xia Fei pressed the communication button on his microcomputer.
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