<h4>Chapter 124: Quantum Holdings</h4>


    The size andplexities of the universe had far outstripped the limits of human imagination. Xia Fei’s description of what was out there had filled the three others with curiosity and yearning, but it was a pity that none of them had the opportunity to enter the mysterious sea of stars and experience those things for themselves. All they could do was imagine the wonders of the universe through Xia Fei’s words.


    “How’s thepany operations going right now?” Xia Fei asked.


    Charlie excitedly responded, “At the moment, the scope of Quantum Holdings’ business is stuck at purchasing technology from others and investing in other business sectors through shares. Right now, we’ve sessfully acquired theputer giant IBM, energy giant Mobil, car manufacturer General Motors, industrial manufacturing giant Siemens, and a few others. Essentially, we’ve gained absolute control over elevenpanies.”


    Xia Fei nodded. Quantum Holdings was how he named hispany. Andre and the others had been taking charge of it these past six months. It was already a wondrous achievement on their part to get such good results in such a short time. After all, those establishedpanies had a great influence on Earth, each like immense and lush trees. Attempting to uproot thempletely was hardly an easy task.


    “Also, while we are Earth’s main suppliers of certain goods, our presence in interster trade is practically zero.” Charlie shrugged as he concluded his report.


    “That’s fine. Let’s first establish our base of production. This time, I’ve brought Sarah and Allen to help break grounds on the next phase of ourpany operations; they are experienced spaceship pilots and can greatly help us nurture our very own pool of spaceship pilots, forming a transport fleet of ours,” Xia Fei said.


    Xia Fei’s idea was to turn Earth into a processing base; purchasing mineral resources from extraterrestrials and processing them before selling the finished products everywhere in the Alliance. After all, Earth had cheap humanbor right now, and the production cost would be much lower than the others within the Alliance.


    Making a y for the interster trade, an efficient transport fleet would be essential, and that was the next important step that Quantum Holdings would be taking.


    Wu Long was apparently very excited as well. “That’s great! If we’re really going to establish a spaceship flight school, I’ll be the first to sign up.”


    Xia Fei chuckled. “Brother Wu, no matter how you put it, you’re the safety supervisor, the head of the product department, and vice-chairman of the board of directors. Your status isn’t the same as before. I’m afraid that being a pilot for a transport fleet isn’t suitable for you.”


    Wu Long sighed, wistfully saying, “I’m almost bored to death stuck in the office all day. If only I could fly all around the universe like you, how awesome would such a life be?”


    Wu Long was a hillbilly at heart, and expecting him to bury his head in an office to deal with matters was torture. However, he was very loyal. He viewed his promise back then to help Xia Fei manage thepany as a sort of contract, and he would never go against it no matter what; as such, he had been patiently working overtime just to process the endless mountain of documents and files every day.


    “Brother Wu, hang in there a bit more. Once we find suitable people to rece you, I’ll let you take on any role you want,” consoled Xia Fei.


    Wu Long’s eyes shone as he burst into raucousughter. “Actually, I’m just venting my frustrations. When my mother learned that I’m now the vice-chairman of Quantum Holdings, she could not be any happier. She hated my tendency to run around to unknown ces all day long and has long been awaiting me to settle down for a peaceful life.


    “In fact, she’s been nagging at me to invite you over for dinner, letting you have a taste of her best dish, osmanthus chicken. Why don’t youe over with me and do that tomorrow?”


    “I do indeed wish to have a taste of your mother’s cooking. Unfortunately, I’ll be leaving early tomorrow, so maybe next time,” Xia Fei regretfully declined.


    “So soon!” They were all dumbfounded. “You’ve only just arrived, yet you’re heading off again? Why don’t you stay for a few more days?”


    Xia Fei smiled. “I’m at ease knowing that you guys are at the helm of ourpany. Besides, we can still use the inteary inte tomunicate if necessary.”


    Charlie gave this matter some thought. “Forming our own fleet is, of course, a great idea, but all those freighters you speak of will need someone to maintain them, and ourpany funds are already stretched currently, so I’m afraid that we don’t have enough to purchase even onerge freighter.”


    “I’ve already thought about this problem.” Xia Fei lit a Hongtashan before he resumed speaking. “I’ve made some good friends in the warship graveyard, and we can purchase several freighters at a fair price from them. We will first establish a small transport fleet, and as for its maintenance, I already have someone in mind. I’ll be carrying out everything tomorrow.”


    The person Xia Fei was talking about was none other than Old Porter’s apprentice, Boateng. His loyalty had left a deep impression on Xia Fei. Both his skills and character were impable in his eyes; it was only that the man was far too loyal to Old Porter, so attempting to poach him to hispany would not be an easy task. Xia Fei would need to spend some time and effort on it.


    “How much capital does thepany still need?” Xia Fei asked.


    Charlie very quickly calcted the sum in his head. Having already tapped into his mathematics special ability, he was very sensitive to such calctions and was even faster than someputers when dealing with numbers.


    “Presently, thepany still has dozens of projects lined up, all of which involve the advanced technology introductions, that are in the discussion table, and they are all critical to rece the more energy-consuming and highly pollutant products on the market.”


    Xia Fei waved his hand to interrupt Charlie. “The reason I gave you three key positions in thepany is that I have absolute faith in you all. I have no need for details; just give me the number.”


    Charlie was touched when he heard Xia Fei’s words. Andre and Wu Long could feel their body warming as well. Xia Fei’s trust in them involuntarily gave rise to a strong sense of pride in themselves.


    “The ideal figures amount to 93,150,000 star coins, enough for us to properly tackle every detail. If not, we can temporarily ce a portion of these projects on hold, resuming them once we have enough cash at ater date,” Charlie said.


    “No problem. I’ll be transferring two hundred million star coins to thepany ount in just a while. I’ll bear the cost of the freighters myself and won’t be touching thepany’s liquid funds,” Xia Fei said. “Furthermore, I have a personal bank ount that gains interest every month. Though it isn’t much, every bit counts; I’ll leave this ount for thepany to manage in case of emergencies.”


    Xia Fei’s ount currently held 1.04 billion star coins, so it was no problem taking out a few hundred million topletely cover the cost ofpany operations. Besides, thepany’s current form was like that of a little chick; one day, when it grew up and was finally capable ofying eggs, the investment he had made would not be lost.


    As for that bank ount that Xia Fei had mentioned; those were the ie he got from the poems. Now that the storm his poems had created in the star region passed, the monthly ie from its sales were steadily decreasing. A few millions of star coins were nothing to Xia Fei at the moment, so he figured that it was better to just leave that for thepany to manage.


    The three men were slightly taken aback by this development. Xia Fei actually spoke of two hundred million star coins with much ease, so it seemed that his worth might be much higher than what they had expected.


    “Two hundred million star coins is a lot; thepany has no need for that much yet,” Andre very cautiously said.


    Xia Fei was unperturbed by this. “The most important thing apany needs is sufficient liquid funds. Do your jobs well and don’t worry about the resulting expenditure. As long as you’re spending it in the right avenues, we’ll most definitely be able to earn it all back.”


    Andre seemed to have thought of something, so he somewhat hesitantly raised it. “Xia Fei, the Federation President Pandev has mentioned many times that he wishes to have a meeting with you. Plus, he has intentions of acquiring Quantum Holdings’ equity under the name of the Earth Federation. I feel that since thepany is under the Federation’s rule, it might do us good to consider his suggestion.”


    Xia Fei shook his head. “What do we have to see him for? I have no interest in politicians. As for the matter of acquiring thepany’s equity, you can go ahead and reject it, too. I have my ideas regarding thepany’s development, and having more shareholders will just be more restrictions; I have no wish to exin every action I take to a host of shareholders. That will be far too troublesome.


    “So what if Quantum Holdings is under Federation’s rules? We’re running businesswfully and reasonably, paying tax as per regtion, here. There’s no need for us to mind those politicians. Honestly, judging from the performance of the federal government so far, they are hardly satisfactory. Especially considering that it has been over three years since we joined the Pan-Human Alliance, Earth is still hardly developed from what our beginning.”


    What Xia Fei had said was a fact. The current federal government was being run by obstinate conservatives who were scared and unsettled by the extraterrestrial civilization. All they cared about was protecting their wealth and status, seemingly unconcerned that there were actually plenty of crises to capitalize on in the Pan-Human Alliance.


    Regarding Earth, what was most important should be a reckless pursuit to develop their strength. The universe was a realistic ce, andcking in strength meant they would have no right to speak. As a native Earthling, Xia Fei was absolutely disappointed by the Earth Federation’s present rate of development.


    Wu Long coldly harrumphed. “Those politicians only know how to p their lips and mislead the masses, not even taking any actual action at all. At present, the entire Federation has yet to have their own warship, yet they actually imed that the federal defense capabilities have greatly improved in their reports. The military budget remains the same every year, but where’s theirbat strength? Are they really nning to depend only on soldiers who use rifles to do battle during wartimes?”


    Xia Fei patted Wu Long’s shoulder. “Forget it. There’s no use getting all frustrated here. Why don’t we just focus on making sure that we can do with what’s right in front of us?”


    Charlie agreed. “That’s right. The matter we’re dealing with is far more important than all Earth politics. The next stage of ourpany’s development will have us entering a period of strategic expansion. Right now, the products we can produce aren’t many, and most are just obsolete trinkets. We won’t be able to bring back massive profits even if we can sell them to others. What we urgently need right now is apetitive product of our own to build our own brand.”


    Xia Fei voiced his opinion. “Let’s not be too hasty on this just yet. Even though our products are low-end, there will always be a market for them as long as they’re cheap enough. What we need now is to acquire a firm foothold. We can focus on industrial upgrades after we’ve carved a name for us on the market.”


    The four discussed for a long time and decided that they would establish a spaceship pilot school and a logistics reserve center near the federal interster spaceport.


    The federal spaceport covered arge area, and many of its facilities are in an idle state. Building their flight school and logistics reserve center nearby would greatly reduce costs and construction periods.


    The teaching would of course be handled by Sarah and Allen, and after Xia Fei returned with the first batch of industrial ships, they could immediately begin forming their transport fleet.


    Early the next morning, Xia Fei set off for the warship graveyard. Having delegated everything on Earth to Andre and the others to be busy with, Xia Fei was more than happy to walk away from it.


    Sarah and Allen very readily agreed to help Xia Fei with the formation of the transport fleet. In their eyes, being able to get out of the Wild Star Region alive was already a very fortunate turn of events. Though Earth was a very low-level civilization, it was like heavenpared to the barren Wild Star Region, and at the very least, there was no need for them to worry about making a living.


    Two dayster, Vampire slowlynded in Old Porter’s factory over at the warship graveyard, but only Boateng and a handful of mechanics came out to receive him.


    “Hmm? Why isn’t Uncle Porter here?” Xia Fei smiled, casually handing over the gifts he had prepared for these men.


    Boateng sighed, pulling out a letter and handing it to Xia Fei. “Take a look for yourself.”