Chapter 65

Early the next morning, Xia Fei got out of his bed on time and did some simple tidying before he headed downstairs for breakfast.

Planet ACG-21 was about twice Earth’s landmass, so it took thirty-six hours for a full day’s revolution.

With thousands of spaceship assembly factories scattered all across this planet, finding a spaceship capable of exceptional performance on a planet of this size would not be an easy task, and he would have to spend plenty of time and effort searching.

Sonny’s mother had baked some fresh bread and some onion and egg soup. Seeing Xia Fei coming downstairs, she kindly ladled a bowl for him as well as a whole basket of little round bread rolls.

“Eat as much as you want if you’re able to. You and my son will be setting off for a long drive, and I’ve prepared plenty for you two to eat, so you can bring it along with you for the trip,” said Sonny’s mother even as she brought out two plates of snacks similar to seasoned pickles.

Xia Fei ate his fill, asking thereafter, “Is Sonny not up yet?”

She chuckled. “My son already finished his breakfast and left. You’ll be going to many places today, and that hover car of his is too worn down to get you to your final destination. As such, he went out to rent a shuttle.”

Xia Fei nodded. Last night, he offered a job of ferrying him to the various major spaceship assembly factories here to Sonny, and the latter readily agreed.

Sonny’s whole family was of good character and trustworthy. Besides, it was always better to have a guide rather than randomly making his way around in a foreign land like here.

After finishing his breakfast, Xia Fei brewed and drank two more cups of tea with the leaves he had brought with him. This was when he heard a huge racket coming from the backyard.

Xia Fei looked through a nearby window and saw Sonny driving a small shuttle which vertically landed.

This was a small shuttle of no more than six meters in width. It was somewhat shaped like a bullet, though it had a stubby wing on each side, and could fit four passengers at most.

Sonny parked the shuttle and pulled out wiping cloth to clean the fuselage adoringly.

Xia Fei made his way over while holding his cup of tea. “How much did you spend renting this shuttle?”

Sonny was very conscientiously wiping the fuselage as he answered, “I’m very familiar with the guy who rents out shuttles, so I got a discounted price of three thousand star coins a day.”

“Oh”—Xia Fei nodded—”and how much will it cost if you buy it?”

“This little guy will need three hundred thousand star coins; look at just how pretty it is.” Sonny stopped wiping its body and stood to the side to admire the shiny red shuttle.

“Alright, let’s head out.” He tossed the cloth to the side.

Xia Fei nodded and got on board the shuttle. That was when Sonny’s mother came out from the abode holding a basket.

“Son, there’s food inside for the both of you. The sausage and ale are for Old Porter, so don’t forget to bring Xia Fei over to his factory to look. He will always have some strange but good spaceships on hand.” She handed the basket over to her son along with this instruction.

Sonny took the basket and placed it in the backseat. “Though Uncle Porter’s spaceships are really good, his stuff is also the most expensive. Besides, it’s not like you don’t know about that weird rule of his.”

His mother was unfazed by this. “Porter’s factory is the best on this planet. Since you’ve already agreed to help Xia Fei, you ought to bring him to the best factory to look. Remember not to bring him to those shabby and indecorous places.”

Sonny helplessly waved his hand. “Got it, mom; I’m not a child anymore.”

The sky of the warship graveyard was shrouded in constant dark-gray fog, appearing to be gloomy and overcast even if it was daytime. The red shuttle very quickly lifted off the ground and appeared like a long streak of fire that shot through the clouds.

“What sort of spacecraft do you plan to buy?”

“An Eagle-class,” answered Xia Fei without a moment of thought. He had seen that model while he was using the interplanetary internet and fell in love with it.

“The Eagle-class frigate is a pretty top-grade spaceship out of all the frigates… There are a few in stock here in this warship graveyard, but it probably won’t be easy finding the best, and it will be priced astronomically as well,” said Sonny.

Xia Fei thought about this. “Just how many assembly factories are there on this planet?”

“So many. Just those that I know numbered up to several thousands. It’s going to take us a whole month at least if you wish to visit each of them.”

Xia Fei nodded. “Then, let us first head to the very good ones. What I need is a space vessel with exceptional performance, able to fly far and fast out in the cosmos. Not only must it be of quality, more importantly, it needs to possess outstanding assembly skills.”

Sonny nodded, chuckling. “Understood, boss.”

The shuttle was able to achieve a speed of 4000m/s, so they quickly arrived at that first factory.

Sonny slowed down his speed and circled around the factory.

Xia Fei saw over hundreds of spaceships in different shapes and sizes all neatly parked at the compound; all these had already been polished and waxed by the workers so that they looked as good as new.

There were several workers on the ground wearing tattered work clothes, busy with the tools in their hands as they worked on a midsize spaceship.

“Look, there’s an Eagle-class here.”

Xia Fei looked over to where Sonny was pointing and spotted an Eagle-class frigate, which seemed almost new, lying quietly on the ground, likened to a steel eagle that was about to spread its wings.

This was actually the first time Xia Fei had lain eyes on an Eagle-class frigate in person, though he had this feeling that there was something off about it, as if its newness was overdone. This gave him a sense of distrust.

“This won’t do. It’s a refurbished model, so while its exterior looks new, its interior has actually already corroded to a problematic degree. This will likely give you headaches not long after you take it out,” heavily commented Phantom.

Xia Fei nodded to Sonny. “Alright, on to the next one.”

The latter was shocked. “Boss, are you actually an expert? You’re able to ascertain that it won’t do just by glancing at it from this distance?”

“It’s a refurbished model, so while it looks pretty on the outside, I’m certain that it’s terrible on the inside.” Xia Fei repeated what Phantom had just told him.

Sonny was very surprised, flashing an approving thumb at him. “Great eye, boss. This factory is indeed one that deals with refurbished spaceships. That portly, middle-aged fellow over there is this factory’s big boss, and his skills are dreadful, only able to do superficial bodywork. He’ll just make do with whatever he can get away with when it comes to internal circuitry or key components of the engine.”

Xia Fei furrowed his brows. “Since you know all these, why did you bring me here?”

Sonny revealed a cheeky smile. “I’m only testing your judgment. If I really wanted to bring you to this factory, I would have already landed and not just hover above the place.”

The second factory had three Eagle-class frigates, and the size of the place was much larger than the first factory, but the spaceships were all average, not at all meeting Xia Fei’s requirements.

From morning until afternoon, not one space vessel had caught Xia Fei’s eyes.

“This next factory we’re heading to can be considered as the top assembly plant here in the warship graveyard. It’s the one my mother mentioned, Old Porter’s factory, but he’s a bit of an oddball and all his prices are on the high end.” Sonny emphasized these last two words.

Xia Fei did not mind. “I’m not concerned with spending money as long as I’m able to buy a good spaceship.”

Old Porter’s factory was located in a very remote area, requiring a full thirty minutes of flight before they could reach it. Several dozens of spaceships were arranged around the not too large clearing, each of them covered with canvas sheets so as to avoid corrosion from the elements.

This was a factory standing amid the endless sea of disused spaceships, and the canvas-covered spacecrafts were all very conspicuous against such a backdrop.

Sonny guided the shuttle and landed on an empty spot right in the heart of the factory. He took the basket from the backseat and walked toward the only workshop with Xia Fei.

An Incursus-class frigate made by Gaia Corps was inside. The captain of this spaceship had designed it to look like a black beetle, and there was a long cannon to its side. Several of the factory workers were busy repairing it, displaying a very conscientious attitude toward their work.

Xia Fei was very satisfied with the factory equipment and the attitude of the workers, immediately giving them an 8/10 score deep down.

“Where’s Uncle Porter?” Sonny appeared to be very familiar with the busy workers, warmly greeting them as he came over.

A dark-skinned man in work overalls came crawling out from underneath the spaceship, pointing toward the glass room on the left side of the factory floor. “Master’s discussing matters with some of the people Old K brought over. Why are you here?”

Xia Fei looked where the man had pointed and saw several burly men standing inside the glass room. They all looked prim and proper with their shirts buttoned all the way up despite the hot weather.

They were standing right across a dark-skinned old man wearing blue overalls. The person was over six foot five with wide shoulders. His weathered face was stern and did not betray any emotions. There was a black eyepatch covering his left orb, which made him look like a pirate from those movies.

“Old K? When did Old Porter begin working with such people?” Sonny wondered.

The worker wrinkled his forehead. “I don’t know, either. Old K has been bringing people to visit master several times recently, and each time they will depart unhappily. It’s as if they wish to buy something from the master, but he refuses to sell it to them.”

Sonny called Xia Fei over to his side. “This guy is an off-worlder called Xia Fei. He wishes to buy an Eagle-class frigate.”

“Xia Fei, this is Uncle Porter’s apprentice, Boateng,” Sonny introduced.

Xia Fei courteously shook Boateng’s hand as Sonny continued. “Don’t let his youth fool you; he is actually an expert when it comes to spaceships. I brought him to Portly Jin’s refurbishing factory, and he could tell at a glance while seated in the shuttle that something fishy was going on with those spaceships.”

Boateng barked out an honest laugh. “Is that so? An expert eh? There happens to be an Eagle-class frigate in the northwest corner which we’ve just fixed with all the original parts, spending two months worth of time to repair it.”

“You guys head over and take a look. No clue whether my master will sell it to you or not, though,” frankly admitted Boateng.

Sonny patted Boateng on his back and handed him the basket he brought. “I know all about those d*mn rules Uncle Porter has. Help me put in a few good words to your master later.”

Boateng nodded as he received the basket from him.

Just as the duo was leaving the workshop, they heard an excited cry coming from Boateng behind them. “These are sausages!”

“Sonny turned around and laughed. “That’s for your master!”

Boateng blinked at Sonny as he shoved a portion of the sausage into his mouth with his oil stained hands. The other youths in the workshop also dropped their work and surrounded Boateng the moment they heard him shout ‘sausages’.

“What did Boateng mean? That his master will decide if he wants to sell it to me?” quizzically asked Xia Fei as they walked away.

“Uncle Porter is really strange in that he will only sell something he feels is suitable for the spaceship. If not for that quirk of his, he’d have been rich given his skills by now. There’s no way he’d still be stuck in this small factory like today,” Sonny explained.

“Is that how he does business?” Xia Fei shook his head. He felt that it was somewhat perplexing for a businessman not to have money at the forefront of his concerns.

“Uncle Porter originally had four disciples, but now, only Boateng is left. The other three felt that there’s no money to be made under his tutelage, so they left for other factories,” shared Sonny bitterly.

The two arrived at the northwest corner of the factory and, sure enough, saw an outline of an Eagle-class frigate sitting there coolly. It was easily distinguishable even with the canvas draped over it.

Both men proceeded to pull off the canvas to reveal the frigate beneath.

The spaceship looked eighty percent new in terms of outer appearance, and the heavy smell of fuel was still permeating its surroundings. The surface of the spacecraft exuded a dull luster, giving a sense of reliability to anyone who set eyes on it.

“Yes, this spaceship is good. Repairing it to such a degree must’ve taken quite a lot of skills, and the hydraulics system has even been upgraded. Is that sealing door modified as well?”

Phantom circled around the spaceship as he kept inspecting it, becoming more and more taken aback the more he looked. Not only had the spaceship been repaired, but it had even been modified in all the critical components. Though the spaceship was not new, it actually boasted a performance that was better than some of the newer spaceships.

“The person who modified this spaceship is a true expert! Amazing! Marvelous skills!” Phantom was flabbergasted. “Xia Fei, I know why that Porter fella is unwilling to sell his spaceship so casually to anyone.”

“Why is that?”

“Because he spends so much effort and care on each spaceship that it’s become not just a spaceship but also a work of art. No one without extraordinary skills will be able to modify a spaceship to such a degree, and what’s more important is the degree of knowledge he possesses when it comes to spaceships, knowing just how much he can modify in order to make a spaceship perfect.”

Phantom was uncharacteristically heaping praises after praises to the wizened factory owner. Even Xia Fei felt that the spaceship was really good, making up his mind to buy it at all cost.

There was another spaceship further in the corner which looked very similar to an Eagle-class from its profile.

Xia Fei curiously made his way over. “Guess what sort of spaceship is this?”

Sonny scratched his head. “Strange… This spaceship looks like an Eagle-class as well, yet Boateng clearly said that they only have one, and he isn’t the sort to lie.”

Xia Fei chuckled and pulled off the canvas sheet on the spaceship. “We’ll know once we lay our eyes on it.”

With the canvas sheet pulled off, what appeared before Xia Fei’s eyes was an indescribable warship, which bore a strong resemblance to an Eagle-class frigate, that gave off a completely different feel.

If he tried to describe this feeling, he would use the word ‘valiant’!

Indeed, anyone would feel a sense of spirited dauntlessness the moment they laid eyes on this spacecraft!

The hull of the Eagle-class frigate consisted of several large sections that were welded together, but this spaceship’s hull was sculpted entirely out of a large triple-titanium alloy plate; it was a whole!

“This isn’t a space vessel meant for civilian use but a naval-issued warship, instead!” Phantom exclaimed. “It’s a Hookbill frigate, the naval-issue for the Eagle-class! Where did he get this from? Such a spacecraft will never be available for outside sales!”