Chapter 262: Welcome to the World, Vege-Fritter!
Despite answering some of their questions occasionally, Fleka hadn’t participated in the design process or voiced his opinion regarding the specifics. He wanted to know what kind of flying car the two young men would come up with.
Honestly, Fleka had been looking forward to this. Sometimes he would think of Cillin and Naimi’s car design even while he was working. But when he actually held their final design papers and looked at them, he discovered that all of his fantasies and expectations were silenced at once.
How should he put it? Knowing Naimi, and knowing that Cillin was providing input and suggestions, he was expecting the final design to look a little newish. After all, a lot of youngsters preferred flamboyantly styled flying cars, such as big spoilers, wings, fin-shaped wings and so on. They even wanted it to look as bright and colorful and possible. However, the final design Fleka was holding was completely different from what he had imagined.
This car had an exterior that would be considered exotic on the streets, but here in the “Winds of Freedom” it was a completely outdated design because the first version of the car came to existence at least tens of years ago. The car had also raced multiple times in the “Winds of Freedom”, but the final result was less than ideal.
Although flying cars with this design had achieved some good results when they first came out, the design soon became outstripped by other strange, original or eye-catching designs. The moment it passed its peak, it became a nostalgifilled ‘parent’ that led to the creation of many other designs such as the crescent-shaped flying car and the bullet-shaped flying car. So, Fleka couldn’t deny that he was disappointed upon discovering that this was what Cillin and Naimi came up with after spending days researching and designing.
The design papers in his hand displayed the 3d image of a round-shaped object. It was the fruits of effort both Cillin and Naimi spent days to create. Many car hobbyists loved to call a car that was designed this way a “vegetable fritter”, and if this was how someone commented on your car, you could imagine that they were totally mocking you. It was no compliment for sure.
The reason “The Winds of Freedom” was famous wasn’t completely because it had an exciting and very challenging racing circuit. It was also where concepts were proven.
What exactly does “proof of concept” mean in “The Winds of Freedom”? It was the culmination of car manufacturer’s skills and technological development. Since the design that wasn’t restricted by the production process, racers and designers were allowed to fully unleash their talents to the point of ridiculousness and display the a car’s unique charm to the max. It was a kind of avant-garde, an “art” that was birthed at the intersect point where the present, the future; the dream and the reality lay.
Judging from the exterior alone, lots of people were going to sell it after it officially enters full production. This was his view as a member of the Sizer Family at least. But would Naimi, also a member of the family not know about this? Of course not! He was the kind of guy who got very excited every time a flying car with an unusual shape came out.
Both Cillin and Naimi looked like they knew that Fleka would look like this since a long time ago. Instead of worrying, they simply beamed at him, so Fleka stopped himself from whatever he was going to say and read further. After all, the first part of the design was focused on introducing the exterior. Maybe he would be pleasantly surprised after this?
Well, the latter parts of the design had definitely gave him an entirely different feeling. However, the ‘surprise’ was far bigger than the ‘pleasant’.
The further he read, the more serious Fleka looked. When he was finally done reading the whole thing, Fleka let out a long sigh before looking at Cillin and Naimi, “Are you sure this is what you want to design? Just because a race encourages innovation doesn’t mean you should squander the opportunity, take risks and imagine something that exceeds the rules and the bottomline!”
“No, uncle, this is definitely the best flying car I currently have in my mind right now. I believe that this design is perfectly capable of replacing spaceplanes, or should I say it is a culmination between a triphibian flying car and a small-sized spaceplane. It has some of the functions of a triphibian flying car and a spaceplane, and other than the fact it doesn’t have a warp drive it’s practically not much different from a spaceplane. Of course, it is entirely possible to fit in a warp drive with a bit of spending…”
The more Naimi spoke, the more excited he grew. Soon, he was overflowing with it.
“Stop! Right now I don’t care if your car has a warp drive function or the speed of a spaceplane. My question is, can you two really finish this project on your own? I told you before I won’t be lending you a hand in the design process, and don’t tell me you’re going to hire a scholar from the RAS Engineering Department to finish this project?! If that’s the case, then this car is just a money burning failure that’s inferior to a normal spaceplane!”
Fleka’s tone was a little heavier than usual. After all, he wasn’t the kind of person who normally throw words like ‘failure’ right in the face of a designer and a racer. However, when he looked at the design that was more idealistic than realistic, and then at the two young men whom he had high hopes for, the word had spilled out of his mouth before he realized.
“Also, you should know that the cars are normally introduced before they make their debut, and this includes a rough estimate of the construction cost. According to the rules, the amount of money spent to make the car cannot exceed one hundred million, and the sweet spot is between ten million to fifteen million because it means higher investment value. But!” Fleka picked out two of the papers before continuing, “I estimate that it’ll take at least two hundred million MB* to complete this design, and don’t try to lie about this, there are no idiots in the organizing committee. I’ve already helped you once, and I won’t allow you to break the rules again!”
*after some consideration, I removed the ‘coin’ behind ‘MB coin’ because… this is sci-fi no one’s actually using coins. The reason I put coin in the first place is because I was worried that people won’t get what MB is, but on second thought what the hell was I thinking back then?
“Relax, relax, uncle, you need to control your emotions. Take a deep breath…”
“Relax, my fart!”
Fleka was seriously regretting his decision to allow them to participate in the race. He’s just making his own life difficult, isn’t he?!
A deep breath later, Fleka pressed a palm to his head. He had no idea if he should call these two kids arrogant or ignorant. After putting a hand to his heart as if trying to push away the irritation in his heart, he continued, “Alright, let’s not talk about construction cost for the moment, money isn’t that important to you to begin with. Let’s talk about the tech issue, shall we? This project is so big that not even our family’s designers and the builders dare claim that they can definitely finish it in such a short time, much less me! Maybe you can find a legendary Black Viper member or hire a professional from the RAS to teach you, but even then you can’t possibly build it in just ten days, can you? We’re only fifteen days away from the grand race now, and you need the last five days to familiarize yourselves with the car, the environment and the terrain! You don’t have time to finish this thing!”
“Er…” Naimi scratched his head, “Cillin said he can probably build it in ten days.”
“Cillin!” Fleka looked at Cillin. He nodded, “If there are no shortage of materials, ten days is probably enough.”
Fleka’s eyes twitched once, twice. He sucked in a deep breath once more. He couldn’t exactly find an angle here because Cillin’s assembling ability was clear for all to see, not to mention that it was the most efficient assembling skills he had ever seen with his own eyes.
After thinking for a moment, Fleka said, “I’ll get you the materials you need as quickly as I can. Just give me a list. All the materials you need must go through me, and I’ll get them at the current lowest price point in the empire. If the total price exceeds the limit set by the rules, I will declare forfeit immediately on your behalf.”
Both Cillin and Naimi were aware that this was Fleka’s final concession. They agreed to his demands completely.
“I’ll also find you an assembly field to build your car in, and until you’re done you’re not allowed to leave that place. If you have an additional demands, tell them to me directly. I can’t be supervising both of you all the time. Be conscientious, it’s all I ask.”
“Ah? Isn’t this like a detention? Can we at least have visitors?” Naimi complained.
“No!” Fleka was very firm on this matter. After all, who knows if they might ask someone to bring in some illegal goods?
“Fine, it’s not like we have time to walk around once the assembly begins,” Naimi said.
“What about you, Cillin?” Fleka looked at the young man. If Cillin planned to object to this, he would bar him from participation right now.
“I’m okay with this.” Cillin had no objections to offer.
“Alright. I’ll take you two to the assembly field right now.”
The assembly field Fleka led them to was his own. After he was done cleaning out some items, he conceded the place to Cillin and Naimi temporarily.
The lounge and the workshop were kept apart, and there were some sports equipment and first aid equipment as well. All in all, it was a pretty complete and standard Fleka style work factory.
After receiving the material list from Cillin, Fleka said, “From now on, the two of you will stay here until you’ve finished assembling the car.”
“Got it. We will obey the rules you’ve set.” Cillin promised.
After Fleka left, Cillin ran over the tools for a bit. They were all practical and advanced tools, and they normally came in a complete set. At the very least, Cillin found everything he needed for the assembly.
“Are you done checking?” Naimi asked Cillin after circling the factory once himself.
“Mm. Everything’s here, and the tools are pretty complete.”
“I know right? This is uncle’s factory after all. Plus, any factory that belongs to uncle only allows a certain kind of people. For example, I’ve only ever entered uncle’s factory three times since I was born, and the first two times were when I was still a kid.”
As promised, Fleka ordered a transfer of all the materials Cillin had listed to the factory. Although he didn’t understand what Cillin was planning to do with many of the materials on the list, he had no reason not to fulfill Cillin’s request to his best.
Many of the parts Cillin requested weren’t the latest fabrications or models, but Fleka could see that their compatibility was the best. He still didn’t know what some of the parts were meant to do, but it wasn’t like he could turn around and ask Cillin without making things awkward. Never mind, I’ll ask after they’re done assembling their car. If they fail, well, then there’s no need to ask, is there?
Soon, Fleka had delivered more than ninety percent of the materials Cillin had requested, while the rest would take a day or two. There were some rarer materials mixed within the list, but he had the power to procure all of them.
Fleka made a rough count on the cost using the lowest price point and arrived at around fifty million or so. Of course, the number would be different if Cillin needed to replenish some materials.
Cillin started assembling the moment Fleka delivered the materials into the factory, but the first thing he made wasn’t something Fleka had ever seen before. He didn’t understand what Cillin was making, but it wasn’t like he had time to supervise them all the time.
As for Naimi, his assembling skills weren’t exactly up to par, so Cillin had no use of him. The young man simply grabbed a chair, sat down and watched Cillin work even though he understood none of the process. Basically, his only job was to run around and grab a tool for Cillin when necessary, but somehow it was still an enjoyable experience. It was a great pleasure to watch Cillin assemble because his movements had a strange way of guiding a person into a very inexplicable state: it was like he had forgotten the outside world and entered a state of empty mind.
If someone were to ask Naimi: can you describe how Cillin assembles his parts? He would definitely answer in a daze, “I don’t know.” It was because he couldn’t recall any detail at all. He would have a feeling that a certain process had definitely been completed in a certain way, but the actual details were blurry when he tried to recall.
At the same time, at the base of the second runner up racing team of last term’s “Winds of Freedom”.
After Tobia was back at the base, she informed the staff members that the car had been repaired at a repair station. At first she was worried that Cillin had done a poor work, but since the value never fell below 9 she ultimately stopped paying attention to it.
Today was Tobia’s rest day, and she was very tired because she had been test flying for the past several days. She had gone straight to the lounge after she returned. Tobia’s car was sent away for routine maintenance per the rules of the racing team. It was mandatory to perform a full overhaul even if the self-diagnosis number never fell below 9.
Tobia was sleeping comfortably in the lounge when suddenly, her older brother pushed her to wakefulness. PIssed off, she grabbed a lunch box on the table without even looking and threw it straight at the person who woke her like she had done this before. Unfortunately, she missed.
“Tobia, wake up. There’s something I need to ask you about!”
“...” Ignore.
“C’mon, Tobia, I really have something important to ask you.”
“What is it, you can’t strip me of my usual rest time even if you’re the captain of the team!” Tobia still refused to open her eyes. It would be very hard to fall asleep again if she did.
“It’s related to your beloved car!”
Tobia abruptly opened her eyes, “What’s wrong with my car?!”
“Just come with me… and put on your jacket first!”
Danny — her older brother and captain of the Spearhead racing team — immediately dragged Tobia towards the maintenance factory after she was done putting on her jacket.
Upon arrival, Tobia noticed that her partner and navigator, Qiu Xu was there too. The repair staff were surrounding the tail of her car, staring and discussing something.
“What’s going on?” Tobia asked Qiu Xu.
Qiu Xu shook her head, “I’m not sure about the details. They seem to have discovered some sort of problem while they were repairing, and they asked me what happened when the car was repaired at the public repair station. I told them everything, but they don’t believe me, so they asked to call you over.”
The person in charge noticed Tobia’s arrival, and he asked her to summarize and even provide a few details about the repair, just like what Qiu Xu had told her.
“What’s wrong? Is something wrong with my car? I knew that guy was playing a trick on me! Just tell me directly if something’s wrong, I’ll find him later and settle things with him! He may be wearing a work uniform and a cap at the time, but I still remember his voice. I’ll definitely be able to spot him if we go through their repair staff one by one, also every repair station has security cameras installed, right? If the first method doesn’t work, we can request to check out the recordings. I’m sure we’ll be able to drag him out then!” Tobia said angrily.
But the repair staff shot strange looks at Tobia, and the person in charge coughed once to break off her chain of complaints, “Actually, it’s the exact opposite of what you’re thinking. The guy who repaired your car did such a good job that this particular part won’t be needing any repairs for a while. However, what we really find hard to believe is this person’s ability to spot the defect and fix everything in such a short time. If what the two of you are saying is true, it means that you’ve run into a true expert this time. It’s amazing how many talented people there are in the Sizer Family!”
Tobia frowned, “I seriously doubt he’s as good as you claim. He was working pretty carelessly when I watched him.”
“That’s how a true expert works!” A repairman next to her said excitedly.
The person in charge nodded in agreement before pointing at the surface parts beneath the car’s exterior, “We dare not even touch these because we were afraid that we cannot return it back to what it was. This seriously isn’t something any of us can do.”
There is a saying which goes “an expert judges by the knack”. A staff in this field could easily identify an assembler’s skill just from the two simple, merged parts, and the parts at the tail end of the car were assembled so perfectly that they weren’t sure a machine could perform the same, much less a man.
“Tobia, Qiu Xu, can you take us to that person? There are some questions I’d like to consult him about.” The person in charge asked.
“Seriously? You’re going to consult him? He looks just like a young lad!” Tobia was very much in disagreement with his decision.
“You don’t understand, even if I’m overall a better repairman than him, my assembly skill is still far behind his.”
“I’m going too!”
“Wait for me!”
“There’s a minor problem with my car too. I may as well let him try fix it.”
“...”
Besides the person in charge, the racers and the rest of the repair staff were very curious about the mysterious repairman too. They all wanted to witness his work with their own eyes.
Unfortunately, when the racing team finally went to the repair station, they discovered that the person they were looking for was already gone. Moreover, Fleka’s subordinates weren’t so unscrupulous that they would divulge Cillin’s whereabouts carelessly, so they had no choice but to return in disappointment.
On the ninth day after Cillin and Naimi had entered the factory, a round-shaped fellow that looked nearly the same as the one that was drawn on paper floated above the ground. Naimi waved at it:
“Hi, Vege-Fritter! Welcome to the world!”
“Thank you!” A smiley face appeared on the exterior of the disc-shaped car.