Chapter 114 - Vampire
After Sarah left, Allen stood up and walked around the yard. The observers had changed positions long ago and were now hiding at the intersection with bottles in hands, chatting while drowning themselves in alcohol. Clearly, they were not paying attention at all.
Allen went back inside his house and carefully locked the door. He sat down at the table again and whispered, “Xia Fei, what do you think of Sarah?”
Xia Fei was shocked as this came out of nowhere; Allen was clearly hinting at something else.
“Oh, Sarah’s not bad; why are you asking?” Xia Fei gave a vague reply.
Allen downed a glass of alcohol with a bitter look on his face.
“Sarah’s about to marry,” said Allen helplessly as he set down the glass.
“Congratulations.”
Sarah did not know much about spacecraft; in her eyes, a strong and sturdy ship marked a good one.
Xia Fei had already expected the base to be put on lockdown, so all he could do now was wait and prepare for the next big commotion.
“Oh, right; I’ve lost Andy’s ship. Could you ask him how much I must pay to compensate for it later? I’ll pay however much he asks for. Also, could you help me borrow a few tools? Pay anything he asks for, too.”
After saying that, Xia Fei tossed a bag filled with money to Sarah, so she could complete the things he asked her in his place. He decided to stay behind, preparing himself to start the work ahead. There were quite a few things that needed to be done on the ship. Since the dog-eat-dog operation was happening the day after tomorrow, Xia Fei had to complete all the work at hand before then.
Sarah took a look inside the bag. “I don’t need this much; I won’t let him go easy if he asks too many questions about that crappy ship.”
Xia Fei smiled. “Andy’s here to help us, so don’t take out the money he deserves. I’ve seen his quoted price; they’re all reasonable.”
“That won’t do,” said Sarah. “I know you have the money, but you should try and save some. Making money is harder than spending it, after all.”
Growing up in an environment like this, Sarah had naturally developed a frugal lifestyle. It did not feel right when Xia Fei looked at his pair of leather boots in awful condition.
Two hours later, Sarah returned to the hangar in a hover truck filled with parts and tools Xia Fei asked for.
Xia Fei passed Sarah a bottle of cola. “You must be tired. Have a drink and grab some rest; I’ll deal with the rest of the maintenance.”
Sarah grabbed the drink with a big smile on her face. Carefully opening the bottle, she took tiny sips all the while looking like a happy, little girl. She might look wild on the outside, but she was not much different from an average girl on the inside. It was not her fault that she had a personality like this; it was a result of the environment she grew up in.
“This is tasty. It’d be great if I could drink this every day,” muttered Sarah under her voice.
“You sure have simple wishes,” said Xia Fei while laughing. “Tomorrow will be better than today.”
Opening the carriage, Xia Fei lifted a high-density welding machine, which weighed several hundred kilograms, off the truck without much effort.
“You may not look like it, but you sure are strong. It took four people to load that machine into the truck,” Sarah said with glistening eyes.
Xia Fei was a speed ability user. Although speed and strength were two different abilities, both were closely connected, requiring the user to push the limits of their body.
It was just like a professional sprinter; although they would not be as strong as a professional lifter, they would not be weak by any means.
Xia Fei was close to Star Domain rank; it was natural for his strength to grow at the same rate. Several hundred kilograms were not heavy to him.
Though Lunar Eclipse and Anathema were both frigates of the highest tier, and Xia Fei liked both, he had to make a choice.
In the worst-case scenario, he might have to get rid of one of these two ships. Xia Fei needed to pick one main ship and another as a reserve.
Obviously, the Anathema-class frigate, which was fitted with an energy-draining device, was more practical than Lunar Eclipse. Moreover, the former was a brand-new ship, meaning that it was better than the latter in many aspects. Lunar Eclipse had sustained quite the damage in its armor and machinery, as well as in its electronic components, so it was impossible to return the warship to one hundred percent in three days.
Xia Fei took out Lunar Eclipse’s Black Mamba 130 engine and installed it on the other, then he put the Anathema-class frigate’s normal engine onto Lunar Eclipse. He took out the second-hand warship’s warp disruptor as well as its traction control module and installed them into the Anathema-class frigate.
Xia Fei stayed in the hangar for three consecutive days straight, doing work like this. Even his meals were delivered by Sarah.
At dawn of the third day, an Anathema-class special ops frigate, armed to the teeth, was in front of Xia Fei.
Because of time constraints, Xia Fei had made many temporary fixtures. Its insides were extremely messy with barely a spot to lay his feet.
The crew cabins were occupied by the warp stabilizer and the ship’s mess was taken up by the cl5 energy shield generator. The people on the ship must navigate through a maze of wires and parts just to get from one place to another.
“What do you plan to name your ship?” Phantom asked Xia Fei as he admired the frigate, which had undergone so many modifications that it no longer resembled its former self.
“Vampire,” replied Xia Fei, smiling as he wiped his sweat.
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