The Almighty Ring

“Keep in mind that the abandoned hangar is too far away. It would take me a while before I could even send a transport ship to courier them here.”

“How long?” Someone closer to Jiang Fei asked.

“It would take several months. I cannot promise anything yet,” he answered as vaguely as he could. It was the same ETA 0541 told him.

“That long…”

“Uncertainty is unfavourable in a business transaction.”

“Indeed. Nevertheless, time is but relative. One might not realize when this good sir arrives with the ships in tow.”

“Easy for you to say, I do not have the luxury to travel here again and again!”

Many of them were not happy with the untimely arrival of the ships. To be fair, none of them had ever needed to wait to get what they wanted. Such was the life of the rich and wealthy.

“It can’t be helped. It’s just that far,” Jiang Fei shrugged. He was not afraid of offending his buyers as he was the sole supplier of any Namekian ships!

“Very well. We shall wait for the good news.”

One by one, the rich came before Jiang Fei and handed over various methods of communication for him to contact them in time to come. There were those who simply left a card, while others left him actual beacons. For some, it was an exchange of respect. Who wouldn’t want to befriend the same man Wagner did?

Once Jiang Fei sorted out all the means of communication, both Jiang Fei and Wagner excused themselves out of the mansion to arrange the trading of Braveheart and the handing over of actual chucks of Ultralisk meat.

“Where will you be heading to now?” Wagner asked all of a sudden.

“Right now, nowhere. After this, I think I need to talk to Lockseed for a bit.”

“General Lockseed? Is there any particular reason why?”

“Truth be told, I need a place to call a base of my own. I’ve been living in my own ship for too long. Resources are scarce and I need a planet to mine them.”

“In general, you needed a planet! Leave this to me. We need not bother the great General for this menial matter. I’ll browse through my list of planets and give you one!” Wagner pounded his chest confidently and declared. Jiang Fei giving him a huge chunk of Ultralisk meat was considered a deed that he must repay. In return, giving Jiang Fei a planet would be considered as a deed to reciprocate his kindness.

“We’re talking about a planet here. Isn’t that a little too much?” Jiang Fei said.

Jiang Fei had become someone of a certain amount of power and status in the universe. That being said, there were still certain aspects of lifestyle practised by others that he could not accept. One of which was the fact that a planet was treated like nothing but an item.

“Too much, you say? It’s not like I’m giving you the power to rule over a governing planet!” Wagner rolled his eyes as he snorted.

What Jiang Fei had failed to assume was the fact that there were just too many planets and systems in the entire known universe that had never hosted life. While there were a few that were suitable for habitation, fewer had managed to evolve organisms into sentient beings, and even fewer had evolved intelligent species like Humans. These planets, characterized as Goldilocks planets, were undoubtedly worth more than one could imagine and some even waged war to rule over those planets. The scale of which could even escalate to galactic warfare.

While some had prioritized ruling over intelligent species, many had placed value over planets that could not host life. Those planets were not valued enough to have war ensued for them. No one would want to tarnish their own name just to wage in useless warfare for the sake of a few planets. But, uninhabited planets still held a certain value to them that even if they couldn’t “own” the planet itself, they would not seek to destroy it. Resources were limited after all.

Compared to planets that had intelligent species and a ruling government, planets classified as resource planets were not highly sought after. There were literally too many in the universe to look for. Although claiming one would still pose a challenge for some, many powerful families or individuals could possess one, two, or even more than a handful of planets to their name.

Naturally, planets that could produce rare metals, such as the lethal Valium, were marked as valuable. What Jiang Fei needed was a planet that would simply provide him enough resources to build his ships. What he was looking for was a planet that would be valued at 500 million aetheryte at best. Such a price was but small when compared to the value for the amount of Ultralisk meat Jiang Fei had just given to Wagner.

“I see now…” Jiang Fei hummed to himself after listening to 0541’s explanation. With that knowledge in mind, he happily accepted Wagner’s offer of a planet, saving him the trouble of talking to Lockseed.

“Hmmm. I have here a Class-C planet. This is a planet that produces common resources if that is what you want. To be frank, planet C195 doesn’t have any rare or valuable resource but it does produce a hunk of common minerals. I have already installed mining facilities all over the planet. All you need to do is activate the system once you’re there to start the mining process,” said Wagner.

Planet C195 was located not far away from Hyur. Most importantly, the planet was located close to another system where Wagner owned another planet that had the extra-large training facility. Naturally, Jiang Fei had to bear the cost of activating the Chrono accelerator.

“Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it,” Jiang Fei thanked Wagner. He liked Planet C195 a lot as it had all the minerals he needed to build his ships. Besides, the planet was close to where Wagner’s other planet was. If he needed any extra supplies, he could get it from there in a jiffy. Not to mention, Planet C195 was close to the training facility. Although he was offered another facility by Lockseed, that training facility was located on a planet too far away from Hyur, making it tedious for Jiang Fei to travel back and forth from Hyur.

All was settled and Jiang Fei only had to wait for Wagner to transfer the money to him. Once he had enough money to purchase the necessary resources, he could immediately start training the girls.

“I’ll have the money ready by tomorrow. I’ll see you at the docks then,” Wagner said as he reached out his hand for a handshake.

“I take your word for it. The ship is ready for you anytime,” Jiang Fei said as he shook his hand. Wagner had no reason to trick Jiang Fei and even if he did, there was no way he could get away without tarnishing his name.

“A gentleman’s agreement. I’ll be off then,” Wagner said and left with a satisfied smile on his face. Jiang Fei then returned to Meteor.

“How was the gathering?” Jiang Fei was surrounded by the girls once he arrived.

“Everything went smoothly. We will start the training session in just a few days!” Jiang Fei declared happily.

“This is great news! We can finally be useful again!” Ariel cried. Of all the girls with Jiang Fei, Ariel was the only one that had been making the least progress. Until now, she was still in the pseudo-Level 5 stage. Even after consuming Ultralisk meat and gaining a substantial amount of power, she was making the least amount of growth when compared to the other girls. Thus, she was in dire need of training, more than the others.

“It is comforting to know that we could finally fight side-by-side again,” Hua Mulan said. As a woman in the military, knowing that everyone was holding Jiang Fei back disappointed her the most. The others were also happy about the news, although not as happy as Ariel and Hua Mulan.

A day after, Wagner came to the hangar bay as promised and handed over cases filled with aetheryte in exchange for the captain’s authority over Braveheart.

With money in hand, Jiang Fei felt a large amount of weight suddenly removed from his shoulders. Although money was not all, he could not do anything without them. The first thing he was going to do was make certain purchases and head straight to Planet C195 to start establishing his base of operation! Then again, he did not need to do it all on his own. He called for Lucius and had him make the necessary purchases while Jiang Fei went over to Planet C195 to start the mining process.

The handover was smooth as Wagner had already informed the workers he had placed on Planet C195 about Jiang Fei’s arrival. After a quick handover of information and authority, the planet was now left with automatons and big machines.

“0541, do your thing. Start the construction of the shipyard as soon as possible.”

“Aye, captain!”

0541 was particularly excited about this. This was his first step into developing his own power, the first step of many to true success.