Chapter 289: A Competition without Victory

The event on the eighth day of the Golden Cup Tournament was the emergency repairing of the life support system.

It was already dawn when Xia Fei went back to his room after a busy night; he was going to take a shower before heading to the tournament venue. He took the strange egg out of his pocket and placed it on the table. Not having the chance to ask anyone what it was due to time constraints, he could only keep it on him for the time being.

He turned on the shower and felt refreshed as cool water sprinkled on him.

There was a waterproof computer in the shower, and Xia Fei turned it on to check the progress of the tournament.

“You were away for five days. Constantine is leading you by 943 points, while Li Mo has a lead of 1020 points. It seems that you won’t be able to win the icosithetra-thon,” Phantom said after checking the current standings.

Xia Fei smiled, ” My main focus is to promote the energy-shield booster. I just need to avoid making mistakes during the warship modification event. The other events aren’t really important.”

Phantom asked, “How is it not important? Li Mo has taken the initiative to challenge you. It will be a disgrace if you lose.”

Xia Fei fell silent. It went without saying that he was unwilling to lose to the pampered man, but he could only do his best under the circumstances. The outcome of the tournament was not a part of his goal, since the game was far from the end.

Avril came as she promised. Xia Fei and her went to the cafeteria to grab some simple breakfast before heading to the venue. Avril was quite fond of civilian food. Anyone who was used to eating exotic delicacies would want to try something different at times. Xia Fei was not fussy, either, since he was never a picky eater.

There was an uproar outside the venue, and Xia Fei was surprised to find Chen Dong quarrelling with the staff.

Xia Fei called Chen Dong from behind, “What’s going on here? It’s not good for your health to argue with someone early in the morning.”

Chen Dong snarled, “These guys are stopping me from entering because they say I’m disheveled!”

Chen Dong was wearing a pair of loose pants as usual. His upper body was naked with a stream of huge beads around his neck, giving him a crude appearance.

It was Chen Dong’s usual looks. It had been the same since Xia Fei first met him, regardless of the seasons.

Xia Fei smiled. “You’re in the capital. There are obviously going to be more rules than the Endaro Star Region. It’s not like you’re going to die if you put on a shirt. Those girls over there keep staring at you; They seem pretty interested in you.”

Chen Dong followed Xia Fei’s gaze and indeed saw a few women in garish clothes eyeing him suggestively. Chen Dong immediately shivered. He had always been clueless about how to interact with women. He might be a huge bloke who was taller than others when standing, longer than others when lying down, and fiercer than others in a fight, but he was most scared of women. He would stammer even when he was only exchanging a few words with a woman.

“I’ll wear a shirt then if you say so,” Chen Dong said unwillingly.

He took out a white singlet from his spatial ring and put it on. Xia Fei and Avril laughed when they saw it. The singlet was too small for him. His eight pecs were exposed still. It did not make much difference.

Most amusingly, there was a giraffe embroidered on the back of the singlet as if it was meant for kids.

No human was good at everything. Chen Dong might be a genius warrior with incredible talents in fighting, but trifle things like wearing clothes and eating were all Greek to him. He had most likely grabbed the singlet from a random stall. The singlet was obviously meant for kids, yet he could not even tell this.

Xia Fei asked, “Where’s your uniform? We are both affiliated with the Adjudicator Union. It’s more appropriate to wear our uniform on a formal occasion.”

Chen Dong took out his uniform and put it on upon hearing Xia Fei’s advice. His looks were appealing to women, not to mention his attractive muscles. He was clearly going to attract a lot of attention from the women by changing right in front of them on the street. The ladies eventually left in disappointment after Chen Dong put on the enclosed uniform, he immediately felt at ease.

Avril was giggling on the side still. She whispered into Xia Fei’s ear, “Your friend is pretty interesting.”

Xia Fei did not comment on it and just calmly introduced Avril to Chen Dong. The man might be carefree, but he was from a renowned family, after all. He still knew how to behave himself.

The staff no longer stopped Chen Dong after he put on the uniform of an Adjudicator. The group entered the venue successfully. Chen Dong, Avril, Pang Xing, and the others went to the spectators’ seats while Xia Fei took the participants’ passage to the first floor.

The lounge was crowded with participants of the tournament. There was still some time left until the next event, so the passage to the venue was not open yet, and the participants could only wait in the lounge.

Constantine was standing in a corner. He was having a hard time blending in, and the others were purposely avoiding him, too.

Xia Fei hesitated briefly before approaching Constantine. “You seem to be enjoying your peace here.”

Constantine looked at Xia Fei for a moment and asked, “It’s been five days. Where have you been? You no longer have the chance to compete with me.”

Xia Fei smiled. “You weren’t doing so well, either. Li Mo is leading you by almost a hundred points.”

Constantine scoffed. “Everyone has their specialty. The events these few days just happened to be outside my area of expertise. The tournament hasn’t ended yet. It’s still too early to decide the outcome now.”

“Too early? Why do I think otherwise?”

Xia Fei did not turn around. He knew exactly that this voice belonged to Li Mo.

“I can get everything I want, but everything I don’t want is mine, too. It’s quite a pity; the tournament hasn’t yet ended, but the outcome has already been decided.” Li Mo walked up to Xia Fei and Constantine proudly as he spoke.

Li Mo grinned and told Xia Fei, “Such a pity; the guy who scored full points twice is currently ranked last in the tournament. I thought that you’re going to be a worthy opponent, but it turns out that you’re just a coward. How have you been over the past few days?”

Xia Fei smiled. “My wellbeing is the least of Mr. Li’s concern, but may I ask, did you rest well last night?”

Li Mo furrowed his brows and harrumphed coldly. “It’s you? You killed my Lunanear Belle?”

Xia Fei spread his arms and said innocently, “Mr Li, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Lunanear Belle is a pure breed female horse I was raising. Someone killed her this morning and threw her head into the pool. Did you do it?!” Li Mo snarled.

Xia Fei replied, “Your place has such tight security; I’m afraid I’m not capable of committing the crime, but I must give you a piece of friendly advice: If the person can kill your horse, perhaps they may harm you one day, too. Mr. Li, you should be more careful. After all, it’s hard to fathom a person’s mind. A noble man who is neatly dressed isn’t necessarily a good man.”

Constantine added, too. “Xia Fei is right. If I were the guy, I wouldn’t bother killing your horse. I would talk to Mr. Li directly.”

Xia Fei and Constatine were not acquaintances in the first place, but Li Mo was being too full of himself, so they subconsciously teamed up against a common enemy.

Li Mo left with a dark face. He did not say anything reckless, yet the look in his eyes was already saying how much he hated Xia Fei and Constantine.

“Xia Fei, I already told you that it’s unwise to alert the enemy inadvertently. Li Mo is clearly going to be on his guard from now on. It’s going to be harder for you to take his life,” Phantom said as he watched Li Mo left.

Xia Fei asked indifferently, “Do you think he will be nervous?”

Phantom said, “Of course, you killed his horse right under his nose. Anyone in his shoes will feel terrified. I’m pretty sure that he’s going to be on his toes for some time. He might even struggle to eat and sleep properly.”

Xia Fei smiled. “That’s exactly what I’m hoping for. You’ll soon know the reason behind it.”

Phantom shook his head. Xia Fei was not the kind of person who would act on impulse. He must have a reason for doing so, but intimidating the enemy was not the way of an assassin. Phantom preferred to deal with problems in the cleanest way possible. He was also worried that Li Mo might try to hurt Xia Fei again.

…

The life support system was one of the most important safety mechanisms of a warship. If the air-purifying unit failed to provide enough oxygen, humans would struggle to survive in space, let alone going after their enemy.

The event in the morning was a scenario where the life support system of a warship suddenly broke down in a desolate region in space. The participants must repair the system within three hours, or they would suffocate to death.

Constantine was the first to finish the event, followed by Li Mo. In terms of scores, Constantine received 130 points for repairing the system quicker, while Li Mo obtained 112 points.

It took Xia Fei two hours and twenty-one minutes to complete the event. He was relatively slow compared to most participants, but he ended up scoring 165 points. He did not just repair the air-purifying system but also resolved the potential danger of the gravity regulator and the drinking water system, so the old folks in the committee gave Xia Fei 50 bonus points again.

The tournament continued with its fierce competition. Xia Fei put up an outstanding performance and came first six times in a row.

Li Mo and Constatine had great performances too after they were provoked by Xia Fei’s results. Even though their scores were lower, Xia Fei’s total score was still too far away from theirs. The tournament had already crossed the halfway point, but Xia Fei was still 700 points or so away from Li Mo and Constantine.

The maximum score of an event was 120. Even if Xia Fei scored all the available bonus points from the committee, he still had no chance of making a comeback.

However, Xia Fei’s outstanding performance had gotten the crowd and the committee’s attention. The spectators felt that it was a pity, for Xia Fei had already lost the chance to become the champion of the Golden Finger Cup after missing ten events.

…

Old Porter’s stern face was displayed on the screen in Xia Fei’s room.

“Xia Fei, the warship modification event tomorrow is very important. I know that you want to win the tournament, but you must remember that your priority is to promote the energy-shield booster. That’s the most important goal.”

Xia Fei nodded. “I understand. Don’t you worry; I also heard that the event is giving more points than other events.”

Porter said, “That’s exactly why I’m reminding you now. I’ve watched the events recently and noticed that you’re trying to make up for the points you lost when you were gone for five days. It’s good to be motivated, but you must remember that you should remain level-headed regardless of the circumstances. It’s what I’ve learned over the years.”

Xia Fei was startled, “I got it. Thanks for the reminder. I’ll keep it in mind.

“But,” Xia Fei paused before saying with a smile, “I’ll still fight for the things I ought to fight for.”