Chapter 65 (1/2)

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.