Master and Disciple Old Dog
After hanging up, Xia Fei returned to the factory once more to work as usual. His face was devoid of any emotion, displaying an unusual calmness.
Xia Fei knew very well that Old K's men were nearby, monitoring every movement in the factory. Even if he had any emotions, he could not show them now.
Wielding the universal tongs in their hands, Boateng and Xia Fei worked as hard as they could in the factory. Meanwhile, Old Porters and Lina remained in the design room, working on the components as per usual, not slowing down at all despite the decrease in the number of workers.
When the nine of them worked together, Xia Fei did not feel that the maintenance job was that tiring. He even had time to sit together and brag and chat about his women.
Now that it was just Boateng and Xia Fei, he realized that maintenance was actually an extremely strenuous physical work. His arms were beginning to feel numb, and his two legs felt like they were filled with lead.
Xia Fei took out two White Dews from his spatial ring and gave one to Boateng while eating the other.
Boateng was an honest man, even somewhat wooden. He took the White Dew from Xia Fei and swallowed it in one gulp without even asking anything. He was pleasantly surprised at the rapid recovery of his stamina, and he gave Xia Fei a thumbs up before continuing to work.
Ever since that bitter battle with Chen Dongs, Xia Fei had been carrying a considerable amount of White Dews and Snake Eye Berries with him. If he did not have these items to support him during the assessment, there was no way he could have lasted twenty-one days.
Another shuttle appeared in the sky. This time, it landed on an empty plot of land in the factory, and a tall, dark-skinned plump man stepped out.
He looked like a younger version of Old Porters, in his forties. He was also over two meters tall, with a large beer belly protruding from his chest. He was wobbly as he walked, but unlike Old Porters, he did not have one eye missing.
Xia Fei stopped what he was doing, poured two glasses of water, and walked over to Boateng.
Nudging Boateng with his elbow, Xia Fei nudged his lips in the direction of the dark-skinned plump man, asking for his identity.
Boateng glanced at the plump man with extreme disdain. He took the glass of water and drank half of it in one gulp, pouring the rest over his head.
Hes master's oldest disciple, Murray, Boateng said in a low voice.
Xia Fei had long heard that Old Porters four disciples, but three of them had chosen to leave due to various reasons, so what was Murray doing here at this time?
Murray licked his belly as he walked over to Xia Fei and Boateng, his two hands constantly rubbing against his pants as if he was a little nervous.
Bang!
Boateng slammed the cup of water onto a steel plate and snorted coldly. He lowered his head and continued with his work, ignoring Murray's existence.
Murray didn't look too good in the face of Boateng's unfriendly actions. He was sweating profusely as he stood there in a daze. He wanted to say something a few times, but he swallowed it back each time.
Xia Fei smiled as he stepped forward and extended his right hand. Xia Fei, newcomer.
Xia Fei had no idea what was going on between the two of them, but he felt that the fact that the fatso had come to check on the factory during its most difficult time meant that he still valued the relationship between master and disciple. There was no reason for him to be too harsh on him, so he took the initiative to go up and greet him.
Mu Lei's face was filled with gratitude as he said in a low and muffled voice, "Mu Lei, go. Go. "
Xia Fei smiled as he patted his fat beer belly. Impressive. You're almost catching up to Uncle Porters. He's in the design room.
Murray hesitated for a few minutes before he picked up a pair of universal pliers from the ground and started working on the warship.
The difference between a skilled worker and a newbie was obvious. Though this was Murray's first time working on the warship, he very quickly realized what he was supposed to do.
A veteran worker would always have an endless amount of work to do, so he would be able to quickly adapt even if he were to take over someone else's job halfway through, whereas a newbie would never know what to do.
Xia Fei used his eyes to observe Murray's movements as he worked. His movements were very practiced and very rough, belonging to the type where he opened and closed. The safety screw that would normally take a long time to tighten took only a very short amount of time in Murray's hands.
Boateng was completely different from Murray. He was the slow and unhurried type, always meticulously taking his time no matter what kind of work he was doing. One of them was like a tai chi expert, stable and elegant, while the other was like a boxing master, fast and effective.
A good worker could do the job of two, and with Murray's help, Xia Fei and Boateng were able to relax a little.
It was unknown when Old Porter had appeared in the maintenance area, his eyes fixed on Murray, who was hard at work. There seemed to be something sparkling in his eye sockets.
Murray noticed Old Porter. He hurriedly straightened his back and hid the universal pliers behind his back.
I-I. I-I. Murray stuttered for a long time before he finally managed to say, Ive sent my wife and child back to their parents' place.
Old Porter was slightly taken aback, lightly nodding his head before he turned around and headed back to the design room.
Boateng put down the tools in his hand and sighed before asking Murray, Is your wife doing well?
Murray had a very interesting expression on his face. Agitation, excitement, joy, and guilt were all displayed at the same time. He nodded heavily. Yeah, she's about to give birth.
Boateng smiled kindly and lowered his head to continue working.
Murray used his sleeve to wipe his eyes as he continued to work with Boateng.
Evidently, Murray had made arrangements for his family the moment he heard that Old Porter's factory was in trouble, then he had come to his master's factory without hesitation to help out. This was probably what it meant when it came to adversity.
What Xia Fei did not expect was that another shuttle would land in the factory about an hour later. It was a skinny middle-aged man with a baseball cap and a moustache.
This was Old Porter's third disciple, Collins.
Just like Murray, he took off his clothes and immediately threw himself into the work.
The efficiency of four people was obviously much higher than that of two people. Moreover, Murray and Collins were both good at the job. Watching them work was a very enjoyable thing. Gradually, the speed of the repairs could catch up with the production speed of the spare parts.
Before the sky turned dark, a frigate landed in the factory, and a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes walked out. He looked to be in his twenties.
This was Xiao Tian, whom Xia Fei had met in the black market before, Old Porter's youngest disciple.
Xiao Tian had long since stopped working as a mechanic, but he still kept his uniform, washed and dry.
After putting on the uniform, Xiao Tian and the other disciples quickly threw themselves into work.
Within a day of Old Porter's factory's crisis, the four disciples had reunited.
No matter why they had left back then, the truth was that even though they had left, their hearts were still here.
Xia Fei and Boateng sat on the ground, holding a cup of water in their hands. Xia Fei even lit a cigarette as he watched Murray, Xiao Tian, and Collins work.
Boateng had a rare smile on his face, looking very excited.
Even that dying old dog, Eternal Star, slowly moved from its den to the factory's entrance as if it had a terminal radiance. It lay on the ground and stared at the four brothers, its murky eyes seemingly shining.
Many years ago, Eternal Star had watched the four brothers work every day. Now that it was about to leave, it could still relive the scene of the past, which was something to be happy about.
The old cripple, Songsan, who was in charge of cooking, chuckled as he brought over a large bowl of black drink. Xia Fei had tasted this drink before. It was a sweet soup used by the locals to cool down. It tasted sweet and sour, very much like the sour plum soup back on Earth.
He first served a small cup to Eternal Star and placed it in front of it. Eternal Star had not been eating or sleeping well for the past few days, but today, it was out of the norm. It used its tongue to lick the sweet soup in the cup, looking much more energetic.
"Come, have some sweet soup." Song San called out with a smile.
Murray, Xiao Tian, and the others greeted Songsan with a smile. Songsan was so happy that he could not wait to come over, talking about the past.
The four brothers worked together seamlessly, finishing the day's work not long after sunset. If it were just Xia Fei and Boateng, they might not even be able to catch up even if they worked through the night.
Old Porter walked out of the design studio and looked at the familiar faces before him. He smiled and said, Don't leave; let's have a drink together tonight.
The four brothers nodded.
That was when Eternal Star suddenly got up from the ground and roared toward the north of the factory. Unfortunately, it was no longer as elegant as before, and its roar sounded more like a low whimper.
Eternal Star took shaky steps toward the north. Its steps were messy, and it kept roaring as it ran.
Everyone looked at Eternal Star strangely, unsure why it was so angry.
All of a sudden!
Bang! A loud explosion came from the north, and flames soared into the sky!
A destroyer that had been docked in the north suddenly exploded!
The huge explosion shattered the glass of the factory, and several ships in the factory could not withstand the violent shockwave and fell to the ground.
Everyone hurriedly grabbed fire extinguishers and rushed out to extinguish the fire.
Fortunately, the fire was not too big, and it only took a few moments for it to be extinguished. The thick smell of burnt flesh spread everywhere.
Xiao Tian threw the fire extinguisher in his hand to the ground and gritted his teeth as he rushed toward his ship. It must be Old K's doing! This is too much! I'll f * ck his grandma! "
Collins could no longer stand still. He rolled up his sleeves and followed closely behind Xiao Tian, yelling, Me too! At worst, we'll fight it out with them!
"Stop right there!" Potter shouted with a cold face.
Xiao Tian and Collins were stunned when they heard Old Porters words, their eyes filled with indignation.
Long time no see. If there's anything, let's talk tomorrow, Porter said after a pause.
Xia Fei did not pay much attention to what they were saying because he noticed that Eternal Star was lying motionless on the ground.
Xia Fei hurried over to Eternal Star and touched its nose. It was cold, and it was no longer breathing.
A piece of shrapnel from the explosion was lodged in its heart. In the end, this poor old dog had still lost its life because of its loyalty, unable to die in peace.
Patting Eternal Star's head, which only had a few strands of fur left, Xia Fei softly said, You clearly don't have any strength left, so why did you run so fast?
Everyone gathered around Eternal Star in silence. The introverted Murray even secretly wiped away tears.
Everyone dug a pit in front of the factory, where Eternal Star usually stayed, and buried its body.
It was as if they were burying a comrade, solemn and respectful.
After the ceremony was over, Old Porters patted Xia Fei on the shoulder. Lets go to my office.
Xia Fei looked very tired as he rubbed his shoulder. Uncle Porters, Im a little tired today. Id like to rest early.
Porter nodded. That's fine too. There's a lot of work today, and it's already not easy for you to hold on.
Returning to the cabin, Xia Fei took a shower and changed into his Windshade Mark IV combat suit, tying Chasing Light tightly to his right arm.
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