Chapter 317: A Failed Experiment

Xia Fei placed Furball on the floor, and watched as the roly-poly Furball rolled about; its cute small eyes were on Xia Fei, seemingly trying to use this manner to ingratiate itself to him.

“Don’t move about, little guy. We’re going to play a game.” Xia Fei used his finger to point at Furball as he said.

It was as if the little creature understood Xia Fei’s words. It obediently lay down on the floor, unmoving, with its eyes filled with expectancy.

“Furball is still so young; wouldn’t this hurt it?” Phantom asked with a frown. He could not particularly bear to let the cute little Furball be used for an experiment.

Xia Fei, however, thought nothing of it. “It shouldn’t be a problem. It won’t die from me trying it out a little. Besides, this is a cloning technique, not some lethal secret arts.”

A glowing ball gathered on Xia Fei’s fingertips as if Xia Fei was holding onto a pearl, which was constantly revolving and shining, much like a ball of lightning. Who knew if Furball would be able to withstand it?

Concentrating, Xia Fei carefully observed the state of this glowing ball of energy in his hand. The manual had stated that the clone entity would be no different from himself, so he did not think there should be any danger in this. As such, he slowly moved his hand toward Furball.

The young Furball of course had no concept of danger, so the pretty ball of glowing energy drew its attention greatly. It watched blankly that ball in Xia Fei’s hands, making gleeful sounds for quite some time.

Phantom sighed. He could not watch this further, for he felt that tragedy would unfold once that ball of energy Xia Fei had formed touched the little Furball due to the latter being far too small and weak. It was so much so that anyone would feel great sympathy for it if they laid their eyes on it.

Furthermore, Furball had absolutely no idea what harm meant, and it was still thinking that Xia Fei was just playing a game with it.

Gritting his teeth, Xia Fei decided to carry out this potentially dangerous plan of his and use Furball to test his cloning technique with.

The ball of energy was getting closer and closer to Furball, and it was also getting more and more excited. It was akin to a child, who was sitting on the ground, happily clapping its hands.

All of a sudden, Furball leaped up and swallowed Xia Fei’s energy ball whole.

Xia Fei was startled, freezing right there on the spot. The situation had not developed as he had imagined; he originally wanted to transform Furball into his clone, but Furball actually swallowed his energy ball.

One second passed.

Two seconds…

Three seconds…

There did not seem to be any changes to Furball; instead, it was lying comfortably on the ground, sticking its tongue out to lick its lips, looking as if it was eager for more.

Xia Fei glanced at Phantom, who looked right back at him. The two eyes widened, tongue-tied over what they had just witnessed.

“Did… Did it just eat your clone?” Phantom hesitantly asked.

Xia Fei knitted his eyebrows together. “According to the manual, the technique will immediately take effect once it comes into contact with the subject. Could Furball have really eaten it like that?”

Xia Fei was unwilling to just let this stand.

Could Delusion, the technique that he had spent days of hard work cultivating, not even take on the tiny Furball?

“Hmph! I refuse to believe that I won’t be able to apply the cloning technique onto you!” Xia Fei spat angrily.

He gathered another energy ball and dashed over aggressively.

No one would have guessed that Furball would get addicted to eating Xia Fei’s clone; without even waiting for Xia Fei to reach it, Furball already bounded right for the ball of energy, opening and closing its mouth just like that, easily swallowing the energy ball Xia Fei had formed after much effort.

Gnawing, Furball beamed at Xia Fei radiantly, as if saying, “Master, it’s so delicious. Feed me another!”

Xia Fei was infuriated. He had expended plenty of mental force just to gather those energy balls, yet he had not managed to do the test he originally planned before they became food to Furball.

Anger rushed into his heart as his temper reared its ugly head.

Xia Fei yelled as he pulled out a rope from his spatial ring and bound Furball without another word.

“See what I’m going to do to you if you keep eating!” Xia Fei angrily threatened.

Furball had no idea why Xia Fei was so angry, looking at him with its innocent gaze.

It had to be said that Furball truly had a flair for acting; it was seemingly playing the part of an aggrieved child, with its eyes on the verge of tears.

Xia Fei could not help but hesitate at that moment, his heart filling with feelings of pity and sympathy for the creature.

This was when he happened to notice that its mouth was twisted into a little smirk; then and there, it became apparent to him that Furball had merely been acting the entire time.

“What a cunning Furball; to think you’d dare to trick me!” Xia Fei angrily growled.

Now that the gig was up, nothing Furball did would help garner mercy for it. Xia Fei made a decision in his mind as he loudly declared, “Wait till I seal up your mouth tightly; see how you’re gonna eat again!”

…

About half an hour later, a strange scene could be seen in that room.

Xia Fei was collapsed on the couch, completely exhausted. He had one hand helplessly placed over his forehead, with somewhat prominent dark eye circles.

…

Meanwhile, Furball, which was tied up on the table, was bobbing its head excitedly, even burping from time to time.

The man and the ball of fur were a stark contrast with each other. It was obvious that in this battle between the oppressed and oppressor, it was Furball that came out on top.

Phantom sighed, looking at Xia Fei with sympathy. “You clearly know that Furball is capable of absorbing energy, so why go about so desperately? See, now Furball is completely fine while you’re so tired you can’t even stand up.”

Xia Fei twisted his lips in annoyance. He stuck a Hongtashan to his mouth and silently took a puff and lit it up.

Furball’s display here had indeed been very surprising. Xia Fei had used tape to seal its mouth to stop it from eating the energy balls, but he was still unable to stop it from absorbing them. As long as his energy ball touched its body, it would disappear as if it had fallen into a bottomless pit.

Xia Fei was a very stubborn person, and he refused to admit defeat. As such, he kept doing the same thing repeatedly to the point that he depleted almost all his energy, collapsing from exhaustion right onto that couch, while Furball still remained as energetic as ever.

Listlessly puffing out a smoke ring, Xia Fei cursed, “Furball’s such a b*st*rd. I’ve been nice enough to feed it, yet it still doesn’t wish to cooperate and let me experiment my technique using it.”

Phantom chuckled. “Looks like Furball has the ability to absorb energy; the Heart of Spirit is energy, and your mental force is also energy. That’s why, unless it agrees, there’s no way for you to use it as your clone.”

Xia Fei mulled over this for some time. “Furball’s ability to absorb energy is pretty strong. It’s only been a few days since it absorbed the Purple Heart of Spirit, yet it’s still able to swallow so much of my mental force. Perhaps it’s just as you said; it’d really grow into a King grade exotic beast.”

Phantom wondered. “Since you already knew that energy would be useless against Furball, why did you persist with your experiments, exhausting your energy in the process?”

Xia Fei answered, “While both my mental force and the Heart of Spirit are both energy, they’re actually very different. According to my observations, Furball has become more cunning ever since it ate the Heart of Spirit, and that isn’t a good thing. Perhaps it’s because of the overwhelmingly intense energy inside the Heart of Spirit, so the young Furball went down this path of evil.

“In a way, I was trying to test and see just where Furball’s absorbing all that energy to and know if Furball’s personality will be affected by the different kinds of energy it absorbs.”

Phantom was stunned. “I originally thought that you’re doing all that out of a moment of spite, but who would’ve thought that you’d have such deep intentions?”

Xia Fei smiled. “Unfortunately, I failed to probe the extent of Furball’s energy absorption, so perhaps this little guy is really a bottomless pit, but I’m also looking forward to this.”

…

The Impaler slowly descended and landed on the spaceport tarmac. Sarah, Butcher, as well as the bunch of warriors from the Blood Matrix, had long been waiting for him there.

…

Their eyes could not help but sparkle the moment they saw Xia Fei’s cool heavy-assault carrier arrive. Its army-green exterior was not particularly eye-catching, but under its restrained appearance was an overwhelmingly imposing aura. Even a layman could tell at a glance that the ship was anything but simple.

When the boarding bay opened, Xia Fei came out with a smile. He had undergone severe physical exertion after that debacle with Furball, and while Xia Fei had taken some White Dew to replenish his energy, he could still feel his legs aching and his dark circles still being visible.

Some, who were concerned, loudly shouted, “Brother Xia Fei, just what woman bent you into such a shape?!”

Everyone laughed raucously.

Sarah’s glare on Xia Fei was very unnatural as if she was angry with him.

Xia Fei did not humor such a nonsensical question, turning to greet everyone. When he got near Sarah, the lady from the Wild Star Region softly commented, “You ought to look after yourself no matter how good she was.”

Xia Fei felt very awkward. It was only just a joke, yet Sarah had taken it for truth.

The disposition of a lady from the Wild Star Region and a lady inside the alliance was completely different. The former generally thought that it was normal for men to pursue their pleasures outside, especially for men who had minor accomplishments like Xia Fei. Had he been living in the Wild Star Region, he would most likely have harbored his harem, which was why Sarah had told Xia Fei to take care of himself, not at all concerned with the issue of him being together with a woman.

The rest of the men of course burst into another round of laughter, beginning to joke about Xia Fei and Sarah. These warriors from the Blood Matrix had a very easy-going personality, and Xia Fei was helpless against their teasing.

According to the plan, the fleet would have a final day of rest tonight before everyone embarked on their long journey to Black Abyss. Xia Fei, Sarah, Butcher, and everyone else went to the hotel that they had previously booked; Xia Fei readily treated everyone to a sumptuous feast. After all, their journey would begin after today, and all they would have to sustain on would be canned food.

Besides, Xia Fei was looking for opportunities to express his gratitude to Butcher and his brothers.

The feast proceeded with great enthusiasm, delicious wine flowing freely as the delicacies piled up. Xia Fei raised his glass to give a toast. “Gentlemen, I’ve just received a piece of good news: The Alliance Military approved the application of Quantum Expeditions, and the license for large warships has been issued. Upon your return from this trip, everyone can immediately begin their exploration careers. On behalf of Quantum Holdings and myself, I wish everyone great success!”

The men were all extremely excited by this news. Phantom shook his head as he said to Xia Fei, “Looks like Butcher and these warriors from the Blood Matrix are still very eager to be explorers. I’m afraid it won’t be that easy for you to make them join Quantum Holdings’ defense force.”

Xia Fei smiled. “What’s the hurry? We’ll take care of things, one after another, as they come. Let’s proceed on this journey to Black Abyss first; we’ll talk about everything else after we’re done securing territory.”