After Xia Fei was done redesigning the Black Bat radar, he handed it off to Uncle Porter on Earth to start production. This settled one of the worries on Xia Fei’s mind. The designs of a Titan-class radar system were delicate and well-knit. Converting them into a product that could be produced by the Alliance had taken Xia Fei a great deal of effort.
The Impaler continued to its next destination. Before entering insectoid space, Xia Fei had far too many things to prepare, and it felt like he was racing against time. Xia Fei needed to resolve all problems that required addressing before his departure.
In the Hemming Star Region was a scenic and privately owned planet. An influential person lived on this planet—someone who could buy all of the ancient products and Purple Hearts of Spirit that Xia Fei had obtained from the ruins without exposing Xia Fei’s identity.
After anchoring the Impaler in the harbor, Xia Fei disembarked and was welcomed by a young female secretary wearing glasses.
“Mister Xia Fei?”
Xia Fei nodded. “I am.”
The secretary shook hands with Xia Fei. “My name is Wan Qing, Mister Fulop’s secretary. Welcome to Planet Fulop.”
Xia Fei asked, “This planet shares the same name with Mister Fulop? I presume the man named it after himself.”
Wan Qing smiled. “This planet was originally called Fulop. After my sir bought this planet, he didn’t want to reveal his identity, so he took to calling himself Mister Fulop.”
Xia Fei did not discuss this anymore. Since this mysterious character even wanted to hide his actual name, it was clear that he had no desire to reveal his identity. If Xia Fei went around asking questions, he would just make himself seem very dull and uninteresting.
“Mister Fulop has a great liking to items from ancient civilizations, particularly robots. I am sure that you won’t be disappointed,” said Wan Qing as she drove him down a seaside road.
Xia Fei lit a cigarette and lightly said, “I am sure that Mister Fulop doesn’t merely like products from the ancient era. To be more precise, he’s an absolute fanatic for them.”
“How could Mister Xia tell?” Wan Qing curiously asked.
Xia Fei squinted. “On the pier by the shore, in the center of the tarmac, there’s a magnetic fastening device that can automatically moor ships. Other than the alloy floor, the vast majority of the equipment was taken from ancient ruins—transported from there and installed on this planet.”
He pointed to the forest on his left side. “At first, I thought that there are animals in this forest, but after taking a closer look, I discovered that there are only some semi-intelligent machine creatures running in the woods. If my guess is correct, those should be robot pets of ancient humans, created for children to play with. Even this hovercar you’re driving is different from the standard. The sound of the engine is rapid and light. It’s probably made up of parts from ancient relics.
“Presumably, if I continue looking around, I will find evenmore pleasant surprises, but that’s not my concern. Mister Fulop likes ancient products and has money to buy them. This is enough for me.”
Wan Qing seemed to admire Xia Fei’s observation skills. He had one arm resting against the window, propping his head, but his eyes and ears were constantly observing. In just a few minutes, he had gained some understanding of this island and Mister Fulop.
“You are correct.” A screen suddenly appeared within the car, and a bald man with a short brown beard appeared in front of Xia Fei. There was no need to say that this man was undoubtedly the mysterious Mister Fulop.
“Mister Fulop, good day,” Xia Fei politely said.
Fulop gave a slight nod. “Please forgive me for listening in on your conversation with Wan Qing from my home. You’re Qin Mang’s most praised disciple, so I am rather interested in you.”
Xia Fei frowned. Why did everyone who knew Qin Mang take him as the old man’s disciple? He truly did not get it.
However, Xia Fei closed his mouth and did not argue. Being Qin Mang’s disciple was not a bad thing, so he would rather let them continue misunderstanding. In any case, Xia Fei did not really care about what they thought.
Ten-some minutes later, the hovercar stopped by the entrance of an old mansion. Xia Fei and Wan Qing got out of the car and walked over.
Xia Fei discovered that Fulop’s residence did not have any servants around; not even a single bodyguard could be found. From the moment he arrived on this planet, he had not seen a single human being besides Wan Qing and himself.
Glancing around, Xia Fei noticed a bashful little fellow peeking out their head from behind a wall and then immediately running away. Based on the analysis of the afterimage, it seemed to be a small robot.
Fulop was seated on a deck chair looking out at the distant sea and sky. The ocean breeze was somewhat chilly, so he had a blanket spread over his legs and held a cup of tea in his hand.
Wan Qing arranged a seat next to Fulop for Xia Fei and then left. A small robot servant brought over a cup of tea. This robot was semi-intelligent and was somewhat lower in quality compared to the ancient robots Xia Fei had found on Thousand Island Planet.
“I heard from Qin Mang that you like tea. Is that right?” Fulop asked.
Xia Fei nodded. “It’s a home tradition, and a habit picked up is hard to drop.”
After exchanging a brief casual conversation, Xia Fei asked, “Old sir, there are many ancient products of significant value in this place, but no security. Aren’t you worried about any robbers?”
Fulop stroked his beard. “Heh, not just anyone can come to this place of mine.”
He clapped his hands twice, upon which over a dozen steel figures emerged from the ocean!
Their laser guns were aimed at Xia Fei, the black barrels making one shiver in fear.
Fulop clapped his hands twice again, and these war machines quickly sank back down into the water. If one did not look carefully, one would take them for reefs on the shore, pitch-black and covered in kelp.
“Ancient war robots, semi-intelligent ones. With them around, no ordinary person will ever have a chance to get here! Looks like my worries were unfounded.”
Fulop nodded. “I only hate that I wasn’t born in that ancient era and couldn’t witness that legendary robot rebellion for myself. No matter how much evidence in the Alliance points to the robots as the cause of ancient humanity’s destruction, I still couldn’t believe that the robots would ever betray humans. It must be said that they are far more loyal and outstanding than humans. Compared to filthy humans, the robots are more worthy of living in this universe.”
Xia Fei was speechless. It was clear that this old man was an extremist. He fanatically loved the ancient civilization and had a crazed admiration for robot technology that he believed them to be superior than humans.
There was no point in reasoning with crazy people. Xia Fei was well aware of this principle, so he had no plans of continuing his chat with the old man and turned the conversation to business.
Xia Fei turned on his microcomputer and opened up a video, which recorded the items he wanted to sell to Fulop.
“Thirty cleaning robots, ten semi-intelligent service androids, one hundred seven multifunctional integrated communication hubs, one omniflavor ice cream machine, one food processor unit, nine semi-intelligent office integration hubs, and 3100 miscellaneous household goods from the ancient era.”
These were a portion of the ancient relics he had found on Thousand Island Planet. He did not sell any of the most important mining and mineral survey robots. What he had offered were just items that he did not have much use for.
The mining robots would be a huge boon to Xia Fei’s development of the Terminus Star Region, while Xia Fei had little use for these office systems and cleaning robots.
Fulop’s eyes gleamed, but his mouth spoke in an unhurried tone. “Their level isn’t bad, even a bit higher than what I currently have. Their condition is also rather good, seemingly having just excavated. Where did you get such good items from?”
Xia Fei shook his head. “Old sir, that is against the rules, right?”
Fulop lightly knocked on his forehead and smiled. “Ah, I’m getting old. How could I ask you about such a thing? State your price. This Fulop may not have anything else, but he does have money. Name your price and I’ll pay it.”
Xia Fei smiled. “Old sir is truly easy to work with, and Xia Fei truly admires this, but you may want to wait until you see something else.”
Xia Fei began playing another video, which showed a crate of Purple Hearts of Spirit, flashing with crystalline luster.
“Purple Hearts of Spirit?” Fulop gasped. “So many?”
Xia Fei said, “Old Sir has gathered many ancient products, and ancient humanity primarily used Purple Hearts of Spirit as energy cores. Old sir must require many Purple Hearts of Spirit to keep all this ancient machinery running. I happen to have an excellent batch of high-quality Purple Hearts of Spirit, so I came to you.”
Fulop was elated, his eyes transfixed on the screen. “You’re right. I truly have a dire need for high-level Purple Hearts of Spirit, so I want it all. Fifteen duns.”
Xia Fei was somewhat startled. Fifteen dun was fifteen trillion star coins, and Fulop offered this astronomical sum without hesitation! From this, one could see that this man was unfathomably wealthy.
Xia Fei had kept all the useful ancient relics for himself, and he had also specifically chosen smaller Purple Hearts of Spirit with somewhat dimmer lusters for this crate. These were not truly the top-class products. Xia Fei would have been satisfied with ten duns, so Fulop’s price was far beyond his expectations.
Xia Fei smiled and shook his head, causing Fulop’s brow to crease. “Young man, greed is one of humanity’s inferior qualities. No one has ever refused my first offer, for I’ve never cared about money, not now or in the future. You are the first to believe that my offer is low.”
“Old sir, I admit that your offer is very high, much higher than I expected, but there are times when money can’t solve everything.”
Fulop laughed. “I understand. You want to trade with me. Speak frankly. What do you have your mind on?”
Xia Fei calmly showed three fingers. “I heard that you have three Stars of Ruin?”
Fulop jumped from his deck chair, casting the blanket on his lap into the sea in fury, his voice trembling as he asked, “Qin Mang told you?”
Xia Fei nodded, saying nothing as he waited for Fulop’s decision.
“You want to trade for my three Stars of Ruin? Do you know of their power?”
Xia Fei continued to nod and say nothing.
Fulop walked back and forth on the beach. Stars of Ruin or Purple Hearts of Spirit? He found it very hard to make a decision. He needed a very long time to calm himself down.
“I can give you the Stars of Ruin, but I must warn you that you must bear any of the consequences alone.” Fulop stopped pacing and coldly told this Xia Fei.
