There was a model of a spaceship that was placed at the corner of the mall. It had an elegant appearance that was like an eagle extending its wings. The tritanium alloy body was flashing with a mysterious luster.
(TL Note: Tritanium is a fictional chemical element featured in an MMORPG, EVE Online.)
"This is a class 3 corvette class battleship." Phantom said as though it was nothing important, "The corvette is the universe's second smallest battleship, and it was simply not even worth mentioning. If you wish to navigate in the universe that is filled with dangers, you will need a battlecruiser at the minimum, of course, it will be better if it were a heavy assault battlecruiser."
Xia Fei involuntarily walked over while muttering, "This spaceship is wonderful. I wonder how much it costs?"
"This thing is at least 80 million star coins."
Xia Fei curled his lips. 80 million star coins was a rather big sum, and he was still very far from owning a spaceship of his own with his current ability.
"There will be a day when I will have my own space battleship!" Xia Fei said boldly.
"The corvette class battleships will require the cultivation of the Star Domain rank to purchase. 80 million is the price of a bare ship. You will still have to purchase the weapon systems and equipment, right? You will also have to install the navigation system. Without 200 million, don't even think about owning a spaceship." Phantom dealt a fatal blow to Xia Fei without any reservation.
Xia Fei swallowed a mouthful of saliva and was reluctant to leave the mall.
After reaching the medicinal ingredients market, Phantom's chronic splurging problem started acting up again. He immediately purchased two sets of concoction devices and gave the glorified reason that one was for regular usage while the other was a spare.
As for the medicinal ingredients, Phantom bought whatever he saw, and when the entire bill was settled, the total cost was actually 8.7 million star coins.
"You are rather conscientious this time and reserved some money for me." Xia Fei felt the pinch as he took out his credit card to pay the bills.
Not far ahead, there was a very unique shop. This shop didn't have the splendid neon lights, nor did they have any sexy lady attendant standing at the entrance to welcome customers. It was fit with a simple and unadorned door while the interior was desolate. In this bustling virtual merchant street, it was obviously very unconventional.
"Come, let's enter and take a look." Phantom didn't hesitate before pulling Xia Fei inside.
The shop was empty inside, and there were less than 20 counters, and each counter only displayed one item.
There was a monstrous red plant that was very eye-catching. It had a fiery red color and had a wild and unruly appearance. It was like fireworks that were set off in the sky and were resplendent and bright.
"This thing is rather interesting." Xia Fei said casually.
"Not bad, not bad indeed." It was rather rare, but Phantom was actually praising the items in this shop. When they were purchasing the medicinal ingredients earlier, he was constantly saying low grade or weak medicinal effects.
Below the fiery red plant, there was a display screen which displayed the plant's price.
Xia Fei counted, "One, two, three, four, five, six!"
"Six zeros... 9 million!!!" Xia Fei couldn't believe it. This plant might look nice, but it couldn't possibly be worth this much money!
At this moment, Phantom smiled at Xia Fei, and when Xia Fei saw the smile, he felt anxious for some unknown reason.
"This is it, buy it."
…
Andre's house wasn't in the Manhattan district; he was at Staten Island, which was located in the south. One would need to ride a ferry to reach the place.
The massive manor was surrounded by bodyguards dressed in suits. It was evident that Andre was very concerned about being wanted by the Black Snake Gang.
Andre and Wu Long had already walked out to welcome him. Beside them was a teenager around the age of 13 or 14. He had brown curly hair, his nose supported his eyes along with specks of freckles on his face.
"Welcome, dear friend." Andre was very polite.
After exchanging conventional greetings, Xia Fei asked, "He is?"
"Oh, this is my youngest grandson, Charlie. Since my wife passed away, Charlie frequently accompanies me and also learns some skills on investment and finance."
"Learning finance at such a young age!?" Xia Fei was deeply moved. "No wonder the Rothschild Family has had financial elites for generations. It seems like it is closely related to the family's culture."
Charlie appeared to be very shy, and after greeting Xia Fei with courtesy, they entered the dining hall.
Xia Fei hadn't really eaten anything since breakfast; therefore, he didn't reserve himself and tucked into the great meal. He ate at least four lobsters while it was needless to say about the veal and tomato soup.
Wu Long was big in size, so he also had a huge appetite. Charlie and Andre only ate a small serving while smiling and watching as Wu Long and Xia Fei gorged themselves.
Xia Fei was rather satisfied as he used the napkin to wipe his mouth. "I have been exercising a lot recently, so my appetite is bigger now. It must be a funny scene."
Andre shook his hand and didn't mind.
Wu Long burped and said, "Good, your skinny body can actually eat more than me. No wonder you have such a fast speed."
Everyone laughed heartily.
Wealthy people had plenty of rules. A conversation couldn't be held over the dining table, and they had to shift to the smoking room.
Andre asked young Charlie to read some books upstairs, while the trio came to the smoking room and sat opposite each other.
Andre took out a box of exquisite cigars from the shelf. It was obvious that this box of cigars was very expensive because of the looks of the walnut wood box and the delicate golden decorations.
"Try one of them. These are top-notch handmade Cuban cigars, each of it is crafted by a maiden's breasts." Andre handed the cigar box to Xia Fei and said.
Xia Fei chuckled and took out a wrinkled box of cheap Hongtashan and said, "You guys should, I..."
Before Xia Fei could finish talking, Wu Long and Andre continued the statement. "We know, you only smoke Hongtashan."
"I don't understand. You are young and rich, why would you like to smoke this thing? This kind of cigarette is too pungent, and when it goes into the lungs, it feels like eating gunpowder. Don't even talk about how uncomfortable it feels." Wu Long lit the cigar and commented.
Xia Fei picked up one cigarette and lit it up himself while responding, "I can't do anything about it. I am already used to it after smoking for so many years. I can't change it even if I want to."
As the trio blew out puffs of smoke, the room started swirling with smoke.
"Our family's urgent conference has already decided that the controllable nuclear fusion power plant will use collaborative funds to construct it. First, we will construct an experimental power plant in North America. The location of the plant will be using the family's land in Kansas. If this power plant turns out to be a success, entire America's problem of power source will be completely resolved." Andre said.
A single power plant to solve the power source problem for entire America! It was evident that the controllable nuclear fusion power plant had great potential.
"According to the tentative plan, we still have to construct three more power plants in East Asia, North Africa, and Australia. When the four power plants have completed their construction, the entire Earth's power source will step into a new era of safe and clean energy." Andre was extremely excited as he explained the beautiful blueprint of Earth's future.
"You will invest 4 million star coins, and our Rothschild Family will invest 80 billion federal dollars to set up the new company. As for the shares, we will each possess 50%."
Xia Fei shook his hand, "You have calculated it wrong. 80 billion federal dollars translates to 8 million star coins. Your family should have 70% of shares and 30% of shares for me according to that ratio."
Andre laughed. "Our Rothschild Family never miscalculates finances. According to the exchange rate, we are indeed investing more, but we also need a place to use the funds. You don't have to consider too much. 50% of shares is the unanimous decision of the family, everyone agreed to do it like this."
After a series of refusal, Xia Fei insisted that the final confirmation was with the Rothschild Family taking 60% of shares and Xia Fei taking 40% of shares.
Xia Fei drank a mouthful of red wine and said, "I don't have much money right now. I might need another two days before making the transfer."
Andre was a little puzzled. "Didn't your account have over 11 million star coins yesterday? Did you exchange them with someone else?"
Xia Fei let out a peal of helpless and bitter laughter. "That was yesterday. I just spent all of them this afternoon."
"Over 10 million star coins! All spent in an afternoon!!" Andre nearly fell off his chair.
10 million star coins was 100 billion federal dollars! It was a sum that was impossible for an ordinary person to spend in 100 lifetimes!
Wu Long rubbed his huge bald head. "Oh my god. What did you buy with so much money?"
"A flower."
"A flower!!!"
Wu Long and Andre were speechless. They had seen money being wasted, but not the method that Xia Fei was using. Spending 10 million star coins to purchase a flower. This world was truly insane!
'I better quickly earn more money. According to Phantom's pace of spending, even an entire mountain of gold would be used up by him in no time.' Xia Fei took a puff of smoke while thinking about the 'Fire Dragon Millennial Flames' that made him feel sore and made his account balance pitiful.
"I only have a little over one million star coins now. I will transfer the rest to you once I have them in a few days."
Andre nodded and stood up to make a call. Soon enough, two burly chaps wearing sunglasses walked into the smoking room, and they were carrying an aluminum alloy briefcase.
Andre gave the nod, and the two bodyguards unlocked the handcuffs before handing the briefcase to Xia Fei along with a delicate little key.
"What is this?" Xia Fei put the briefcase on his lap and asked with a confused tone.
Andre shook his hand to dismiss the bodyguards before saying, "Inside there is that Golden Stinger. Our family has decided to give that to you. As an eternal friend of the Rothschild Family, we hope you can accept it."
"Golden Stinger!"
Xia Fei opened up the three layers of lock and grabbed that extraordinarily beautiful Golden Stinger in his hand. It felt excellent, and its weight was just right. Xia Fei wielded it a few times, and it felt as though it had blended with his fist, and he couldn't feel its presence at all.
"This present is too precious, I cannot accept it." Xia Fei placed the Golden Stinger back in the briefcase and said.
"Do you mean to refuse the friendship of our Rothschild Family?" Andre frowned and asked.
"This friendship is truly heavy. Since that is the case, I shall accept it." Xia Fei closed the case and gently placed it on the ground.
"Right now, I am officially inviting the two of you to join the Atlantis exploration project. According to the information we have, we are confident that we can find this greatest miracle of mankind and unveil the mysterious mask covering Atlantis's face for hundreds of thousands of years." Andre said unhurriedly.
Wu Long nodded and expressed his willingness to participate.
"I am very willing to join this project too. Where exactly is Atlantis?" Xia Fei asked with a rather excited tone.
Andre's eyes scanned across the duo as he said with a somewhat mysterious and soft voice, "Atlantic Ocean."