Lockseed had been very clear. He would only cover all the costs for the training facility that was equipped with gravity manipulation. If Jiang Fei wanted to use the other facility that would grant him more time, he would have to pay for it himself.
If he was just intending to use it for a day or two, Jiang Fei could still bear the costs. But such a short time was not going to cut it, not when all his girls were going to use it!
Jiang Fei sighed, feeling defeated. “0541, show me the way back.”
He followed 0541’s guidance back to the hangar bay and took off on his shuttlecraft, heading back to Hyur. However, when he landed at his designated port, the one at which Braveheart was currently docked, he was surprised to see a mass of people. It was so crowded that there was hardly any space to walk.
“What’s this about… 0541, contact Bison and Isabella. Ask them what’s going on here,” ordered Jiang Fei.
0541 accepted the order, “Aye, Captain.”
Just when Jiang Fei had managed to push and squeeze his way through half the hangar bay, he noticed two distinctive silhouettes and bellowed, “Lucius! Rais!”
“Huh? Who’s calling my name?”
“I hear that too!”
The two jokers turned around and spotted Jiang Fei vigorously waving his hands.
“It’s the boss! You’re back! We wanted to see you but had no way of contacting you,” said Rais as he dragged Lucius’ smaller figure through the crowd.
The two had the utmost respect for Jiang Fei and revered him as their boss. It was a pity that Jiang Fei did not have any such thoughts about them. One could only imagine how the two felt when Jiang Fei had actually called out their names.
The last time they met was in the City of the Mass. After the gathering of the elites, the status of the two jokers had risen up beyond expectation. Their position in their own family rose to a higher stance, and it was all thanks to Jiang Fei and General Lockseed.
Jiang Fei was the newest superstar in the Trade Federation. After being seen with him and General Lockseed, many had started to respect Lucius and Rais, thinking that they were Jiang Fei’s subordinates.
Rais had it better, as he rose from a position so low that no one had even heard of his name, to becoming the second in line to inherit his family’s fortune.
Rais and Lucius may have been ambitious in the past, but they had only been aiming to inherit the wealth of their respective families. Now that they had another opportunity, the two re-evaluated their goals. Instead of just aiming to inherit their families’ wealth, they would now think about what to do in order to leave something for the next generation.
So long as they had ambition in their hearts, the two of them would always seek to stick with Jiang Fei. So long as they remained under Jiang Fei’s shadow, they would surely inherit their families’ wealth.
“What are these people gathering here for?” asked Jiang Fei.
“Huh? You don’t know?” said Lucius, as if Jiang Fei had just asked a silly question.
“If I knew, I wouldn’t ask.”
Rais gasped. “How could you not know the hottest topic that is being discussed?!”
“Enough jibber-jabber! Spill the beans!” roared Jiang Fei.
These two jokers were testing his patience.
“I’m joking! I’ll spill the beans!” said Rais, even though he had no idea what ‘spilling the beans’ meant.
“There is a rumour going around that an ancient starship is docked on Hyur. Someone found it, and when word got out, everyone came here to take a look at the magnificent piece of ancient technology!”
“Ancient starship?” said Jiang Fei.
Somehow, he had a hunch about where this was going.
“Yeah! It’s so old that they say the ship came from ten thousand years ago! And since the ship was kept in such a pristine condition, they say that it could fetch prices worth a whole city!” said Rais, his round, fish eyes glistening with admiration.
Jiang Fei pointed his index finger at Braveheart. “Are you talking about that ship?”
“That’s right! So you do know about it! Apparently, the ship was made by the best technology the Namekians ever had. If they hadn’t gone extinct, they would still be the most technologically advanced race in the entire universe. Now, that title falls to the Emmarians,” explained Lucius.
“So it seems,” said Jiang Fei.
He of all people knew just how powerful the Namekians and their technology were. If it wasn’t for their advanced biological tech, Isabella and the others would never have been reborn into this world.
“Boss, just so you know, this ship has garnered the attention of a lot of rich folks. I’ve even heard about someone offering one billion aetherytes to buy it! I’m afraid people like us could never outbid that price,” said Rais.
He sounded dejected but his eyes were still glistening with admiration. His family may be amongst the rich but they weren’t one of the richest.
“One billion, you say?” asked Jiang Fei.
That got his attention fast. The idea of selling Braveheart for aetherytes was exactly what he needed now! To be honest, the ship was not as useful as it had been before.
In the current stardate, Braveheart had outlived its purpose and could never compete with any other starship. That being said, Jiang Fei never wanted to let go of the biotech facilities in the ship. Then again, he could always remove all the important laboratories and facilities, since those rich folks simply wanted the ship itself, and not its technology.
Jiang Fei had kept one secret to himself—Braveheart was not the same ship that the Namekians built.
This ship shared the same structure and function, and some of its equipment came from the original ship, but the others… the others were built on the moon. However, if no one could spot the difference, he would not bother to reveal it either.
“How do you know that the ship is ancient? It still looks brand new!” said Jiang Fei.
“Ahh. That’s where you’re lacking. See, the Namekians have been extinct for ten thousand years. Their technology is a long lost treasure, no one could build such a ship now. It probably looks new because the owner cared for it. Like storing it in a time-deceleration field, for example. However, this ship is indeed from ten thousand years ago. Even I can see that,” said Rais confidently.
“Is that so?”
If these two truly believed that the ship was indeed ten thousand years old, there must be a lot of rich fools like them begging to own it.
Lucius chimed in, “It is so! Why do you ask? Do you want to join the bidding as well? Boss, I don’t want to burst your bubble, but even if you have money, there is always someone else that has more.”
What he didn’t realize was that Jiang Fei didn’t want to buy it, he wanted to sell it!
“0541, with our current tech and enough resources, do you think you could build another Braveheart? How long would that even take?” asked Jiang Fei.
He had an idea. If the ship was truly worth so much, he could sell it to fund the training Isabella and the other girls’ training. When comparing Braveheart’s price to the cost of the training, one could only hope that the ship would fetch a price higher than one billion aetherytes.
