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Chapter 213: The Second Piece of Titan’s Blueprints

Qin Mang told Xia Fei about his past as if he was just telling a story, lightly touching on yet divulging countless secrets. Especially the legends about the Titan-class superwarship and the theory regarding the eventual demise of the ancient human civilization, both strongly piqued Xia Fei’s interest.

“It was only when my master died that I found out that he was also trying hard to get to the bottom of the ancient civilization’s demise. A long time ago, a few who stayed curious about the ancient civilization discovered these secrets and knew about the existence of the superwarship Titan.

“These people formed a secret organization known as The Brotherhood, and my master was its head. For countless years, The Brotherhood has been searching for any useful information in the universe.

“Unfortunately, despite the hard work of numerous people, we’ve been unable to ascertain the truth, though one thing’s for sure: In order to escape extinction, an ultimate weapon must be created, and that’s the Titan.”

Xia Fei stayed silent for a few moments. “Are you saying that we must possess enough strength to survive in space, meaning that only the civilization possessing Titan has the rights to survive?”

“That’s right.” Qin Mang nodded. “This was the only conclusion The Brotherhood arrived at after countless years of searching. Everything else is up to interpretation.”

Xia Fei thought for a second before saying, “Old man, I’ve seen Titan.”

“What?!” Qin Mang was so shocked that he stood up from the hoverchair. “What did you say? You’ve seen Titan?”

“Yeah. When I went to look for Uncle Porter, I saw the wreckage of a Titan-class warship in the supergravity zone on the outskirts of the Black Abyss Star Region. There’s even a deserted planet there with many massive rocks spelling a text, and it’s a description of Titan.

“Other than that, Porter discovered a base left behind by the ancient human civilization, proof that they were searching for the blueprints of Titan at the time, but for some reason, those people disappeared all of a sudden.”

“Go on; what else did you guys discover?” Qin Mang’s eyes lit up, so excited that his heart was beating out of his chest.

Xia Fei quickly went through everything with Qin Mang, even turning on his microcomputer and showing the radar system to him.

Qin Mang stared at the projected screen for a bit before laughing heartily. “Not bad! This is precisely Titan’s radar system.”

After a few moments, Qin Mang turned on his computer and showed Xia Fei a blueprint. “Take a look at this.”

Xia Fei was completely shocked.

It was a massive warship.

It looked like a massive mushroom and was incredibly impressive-looking and shocking.

Just like a mushroom cloud left behind by the explosion of a nuclear bomb, dangerous yet glorious.

“This.. This is a part of Titan’s blueprints!” Xia Fei exclaimed.

Qin Mang nodded slowly. “That’s right. This is part of Titan’s blueprints. Unfortunately, this is only the structure of the ship, and even with the radar system in your possession, both still aren’t complete.”

There was then a huge gust of wind in the Pampas plains, and the grass moved back and forth like waves in the sea. Xia Fei and Qin Mang stayed silent for a few moments; who would have thought that the two of them had such a shocking intersection on Titan?

“My trip to Earth was precisely because of this,” Qin Mang said in a deep voice. “If humans want to live forever in space, we must create a superwarship like this, but I’m getting old, and with the poison of the six-winged skylord in my system that can trigger at any moment, I must find someone to do what I didn’t manage to do.

“This person must be persistent and resolute—will never cave in under the pressure of outside forces. Producing Titan is an insane move, and I believe that only the craziest person can complete this equally crazy task,” Qin Mang said in a deep voice. His eyes went up and down Xia Fei as though telling him that the person was him.

Xia Fei could barely breathe under the pressure. He felt a warm sense of faith from the old man’s words and gaze. The hope was like a huge mountain that rested on his shoulders.

Xia Fei laughed all of a sudden and the huge pressure that he felt disappeared.

“Old man, this is probably what they want, right?” asked Xia Fei.

“Yes.”

“Since you’re from The Brotherhood, and it’s always been working hard to produce Titan, why don’t you hand them this blueprint?”

Qin Mang laughed, and the tense atmosphere between them finally eased. “The Brotherhood isn’t what it used to be.”

“You know, The Brotherhood split into two major factions. The Adjudicator Union is actually a branch of it, and the other one is the Monastic Order.”

Xia Fei was shocked. Who would have thought that the two major organizations were part of The Brotherhood? What powers did The Brotherhood possess to be able to produce the two super organizations that were comparable to the Alliance’s governing body?

“Basically, handing the blueprint to The Brotherhood will only incite another round of in-fighting. Let alone the Adjudicator Union, if the Monastic Order finds out about it, they will join in on the battle, too. Although they both came from the same roots, their relationship is more competition than anything.”

Xia Fei shook his head. “Old man, I still don’t understand; why are you so bent on giving me this piece of blueprint? No matter how I look at it, I don’t have the power to hold onto it.”

Qin Mang looked at Xia Fei profoundly and said, “Because you’re vicious, sly, and crazy.”

Xia Fei pursed his lips. These did not seem to be the nicest words to describe someone.

“Most importantly, I see potential when I look at you. Be it you as a person or your Quantum Holdings, it’s only a matter of time before you take an important position in the Alliance. I handed over the Introduction to Robot Coding, and it didn’t take long for you to develop the energy-shield booster; that isn’t something everyone can do.

“Although the people at the Adjudicator’s Headquarters are strong, they are already positioned highly and have since lost their initial desires when they first started. To them this blueprint is no different from a way of gaining power. I’d rather give it to you; at least, you are resolute and won’t be shaken because of temptations such as money and power,” Qin Mang said in a deep voice.

Xia Fei let out a hearty laugh. “Old man, that’s not exactly right. I actually quite like money.”

“I know that. There’s nothing wrong with liking money; I like it, too, but you have control of yourself. If you cling onto money like you cling onto life, you would’ve agreed with Avril’s grandfather and spared Barty.”

Xia Fei was left speechless. It seemed that Qin Mang knew everything that had happened at the capital ring. It was not anything out of ordinary as he was quite close with Thuram; it was something that was bound to happen.

“If I died then, how they intended to fight it out would be of no concern to me anymore, but I unfortunately didn’t. You should know how they were treating me before I breathed my last; how could I hand this blueprint to the people who were secretly wishing me ill?”

This explained everything. The reason Qin Mang did not want to give the blueprint to The Brotherhood was due to the greed they displayed when he was on the brink of death. Xia Fei, on the other hand, tried everything in his power to save his life; therefore, Qin Mang was willing to get on bad terms with everyone else and hand the blueprint to a nobody like Xia Fei.

It was completely an accident. Xia Fei, who simply did not want to see Qin Mang die, just so happened to have become the most important person to the old man. Some might say that Xia Fei was lucky, but nobody could deny that it was his hard work that allowed him to take such an important spot in Qin Mang’s eyes.

Xia Fei smiled. “Old man, you did not plan to give me this blueprint originally, did you?”

“Yes.” Qin Mang nodded. “I only wanted to leave a few books to you, thinking that you may have some use for them in the future. I planned to leave the blueprint to The Brotherhood, but I changed my mind upon seeing that they were out for it before I even died.”

Xia Fei paced along the lake for a bit and took a drag from his cigarette. Obviously, he was interested in the superwarship Titan, but if he really accepted this blueprint, it would be like accepting a ticking time bomb; he would automatically be on everyone’s list.

Qin Mang took out a memory card, the size of the fingernail, from the microcomputer.

“This is a copy of the superwarship’s blueprint,” said Qin Mang. “I’ve told you what I need to, and now, you have two choices.

“If you reject this offer, you will lose the only chance you have of getting it. If you accept it, from today onward, it’ll be your goal to produce the Titan-class warship, and you’ll never steer away from it,” Qin Mang said in a deep voice.

“Copy?” Xia Fei asked.

“Heh. You couldn’t be thinking that I’d give you the original, could you? That’d do you more harm than good. The original will always be with me; it’ll be like a double failsafe. If the people at The Brotherhood fail to complete the construction of Titan, at least you’ll be working toward that end, allowing me to rest in peace.”

Xia Fei thought for a few moments and grabbed the tiny memory card from Qin Mang’s hands. Although the chip was tiny, it weighed a ton in Xia Fei’s heart. It was not just a memory card or a blueprint but all of Qin Mang’s hopes.

“I promise,” Xia Fei said plainly.

Qin Mang smiled. “We’ve chatted quite a bit today; I’m a bit tired now. Could you take me back?”

“Sure.”

Xia Fei quickly pushed the hoverchair back to the camp. Qin Mang then rested on his bed without a mention of it, whereas Xia Fei was deep in thought outside.

“Congratulations,” Phantom said, smiling.

“Why?”

“You got the blueprint to the Titan and found out about so many secrets; isn’t that worth congratulating?”

Xia Fei shook his head. “It’s not always a good thing to know more. Moreover, I’m afraid that I may never be able to take a break with the blueprint in my hands.”

Phantom smiled. “It’s not that bad. Since it’s such an important thing, it may be a good thing if you try to finish it.”

Xia Fei felt that he had gained a new mission in life. Although the Titan-class superwarship was still quite far away, Xia Fei could not help but be excited for it.

“Building the strongest warship in the universe—what an incredible goal,” Xia Fei pensively pursed his lips as he muttered to himself.