The Almighty Ring

“Mhm?”

Everyone was immediately attracted to the notion. A limited number of antiquated ships from a time long ago was something they craved for.

“Is it really?”

“What do you have! Allow me to place a deposit for one!”

“How are you going to pay for the deposit? You would never have such an amount!”

“Please, good sir! I would like to purchase one or even more of your ships!”

The crowd started to get rowdy one after another trying to get Jiang Fei’s attention.

“Come now, brother Jiang Fei. How could you not reveal that when I am your main buyer?” Wagner placed his glass down and gave Jiang Fei a vague smile.

“Forgive me, but I am only trying to be fair to the others as well.”

“You must have done something to obtain such a large number of ships,” Wagner teased.

“Nonsense. I was merely lucky. A lucky bastard, if you would be so inclined.”

“I must say, what brings you to sell your ships? You have been in the military for some time now. Technically speaking, you shouldn’t be lacking in funding? What pushed you this far?” Wagner asked worriedly. For certain people, ships aged for 10,000 years or more were nothing but scrap metal. For others, they were treasures to be revered. People like Wagner would never, on any occasion, sell such a collection of antiquated ships even if they were lacking funding. It would be close to impossible to buy them back later.

“I’m in dire need of funding now,” Jiang Fei confessed.

“What sort of problem do you have?” Wagner asked. To be his friend, Wagner had to be genuinely concerned about Jiang Fei’s wellbeing. If he was in trouble, he would want to lend a helping hand.

“I have a few female companions with me and they were… well, there’s no simpler way to say this. They were too weak to fight. I have been thinking about helping them grow stronger. One of the ways is to feed them Ultralisk’s meat,” Jiang Fei revealed. There was no use in hiding anything as they would soon stand in the limelight.

“Ultralisk, oof… that’s a hard one to beat,” Wagner exclaimed. He had a few kilograms with him and did not mind giving him some.

“I have solved this matter and I have a bit too much meat for them now. This is not the perfect solution as it takes too long for them to grow stronger. What I need is a training facility that has a Chrono accelerator to facilitate this process,” Jiang Fei said.

“That is a good idea. Nothing beats physical training. My family owns a facility on Hyur. I could get you to use the place. How many do you plan to train?” Wagner said.

“Too many for me to reveal. It would be a problem for you,” Jiang Fei replied. He almost agreed to accept the offer but he had over 2,000 soldiers to account for. If he had not told Wagner the truth, he would be incurring the wrath of his family members for simply giving strangers access to the training facility.

“Please. Do you really think I can’t handle the cost?” Wagner said, confidently. He assumed that the number of soldiers Jiang Fei was going to train was not more than a small squad. It was based on the revelation that he had been feeding them Ultralisk meat. As Ultralisk meat was infamously expensive, the number of soldiers Jiang Fei could feed could only be small.

“I have over 2,000 soldiers to train,” Jiang Fei replied.

Wagner dropped his glass and almost fell off the chair.

“Come again?”

“More than 2,000.”

“Hold on. Never mind the training facility. But you just said you have been feeding 2,000 soldiers Ultralisk meat?” Wagner stood up and declared.

“That’s what I said,” Jiang Fei verified his statement, wondering why his statement was so alarming.

“Get out of town. He’s lying for sure!”

“Heh. He might be feeding them meat alright, just not Ultralisk meat! No one, not even a galactic emperor, could feed 2,000 soldiers with Ultralisk meat! Where on Earth did he get them?”

Everyone else started to discuss Jiang Fei’s statement.

“Are you serious? Have you any idea how much Ultralisk meat you have been feeding your soldiers?” Wagner said, starting to doubt Jiang Fei as a person. Right now, he was starting to think that Jiang Fei might be another rich idiot that liked to boast.

“Hold on… If I remember correctly… It’s three and a half,” Jiang Fei said. He had slain three Ultralisks and Bison did one, which brought it to a total of four Ultralisks. He had been feeding the infantry units for some time, thus, leaving him with three and a half left.

An eerie silence befell the mansion when all eyes were locked on Jiang Fei.

“Three and a half of what?” Wagner asked. He had just obtained a new glass from a waiter and that glass was on the verge of breaking in his hands.

“Three and a half Ultralisks. Dead ones, of course,” Jiang Fei said simply.

“Impossible.”

“Bah. He doesn’t know about Ultralisks and he for sure does not have that much meat with him.”

“That is what I call the epitome of bullshitting!”

Everyone in the room knew what an Ultralisk was and just how hard it was to kill even one. There were not many powerful fighters available for hire in the Trade Federation. Hunting Ultralisks to harvest their meat was done mostly with ships and battlecruisers, making it extremely risky and expensive to buy. Only the powerful and strong could get a perfect carcass of an Ultralisk while most of the Trade Federation hired mercenaries who could only get scraps. Leftovers of a bombarded dead Ultralisk.

“Are you for real?” Wagner reached out and held Jiang Fei’s hands firmly.

“Why would I lie?” Jiang Fei arched an eyebrow as he replied.

“I see. I’ll take your word for it. Could you please sell me some?” Wagner pressed on. He had around tens of kilograms of them and he was still reluctant in consuming them. He wanted to hoard some more until he had enough to concoct a decent elixir for self-enhancement. If Jiang Fei was telling the truth about owning that much Ultralisk meat, his dream of becoming stronger would be one step closer.

“Big boss Jiang Fei! Sell me some as well!”

“No! Sell them to me! I’ll offer a higher price for the meat! I’ll pay for it! Now!”

…

The lot had gotten excited as they swarmed Jiang Fei’s table. Most of them, if not all, were simply weak even when compared to any Tom, Dick, and Harry in the Valsalrian Army. Ultralisk meat was something they covet. It was just another means and method for them to become someone special, to stand out amongst the ordinary.

“Sorry… I’ve none to spare. Not now anyway. I apologize if I’ve insinuated any sales,” Jiang Fei excused himself. To be fair, he knew that he had too much Ultralisk meat for his soldiers, but that didn’t mean he wanted to sell them. He had just opened up a ship-selling business and there was no need for him to start another stall for Ultralisk meat.

While rejecting the other wealthy folks, he turned to Wagner and gave him a suggestive wink. This person was a client that Jiang Fei acknowledged to be special. As such, he would not mind offering some for him to buy.

Wagner nodded and raised his glass to him to show his appreciation.

“Calm down. I still need Ultralisk meat to feed my soldiers. When I am able to strengthen them to a certain factor, I will be happy to sell the leftovers. Until then, I’m sorry I cannot offer you any of it,” Jiang Fei said.

“Alright then. Ultralisk meat is off the menu, for now. What of the Namekian ships?” Someone in the crowd stood up and asked. Their attention now returned quickly to the main item for sale.

Compared to Jiang Fei, and the Valsalrian Army, citizens of the Trade Federation did not value strength as much as money.