The Highest Bounty

The woman"s face was painted with strange colored stripes, so it was hard to tell how old she was. One could tell from her eyes that she was very wary of the three of them. Her eyes were pinned on them from the moment she entered the room, all the way until she brought their food that was on the tray to them.

She immediately turned to leave after she had put down the tray. It was as if she did not want to stay even a moment longer.

"Hey, I want to talk to your high priest! I hope that you can pa.s.s on my message for me," said Gu Ding suddenly. The woman was taken aback.

"You can speak our language?"

"That"s right, so I hope we can talk." Gu Ding was hopeful that they had a chance.

"There"s no use. All of you will be offered as sacrifices for our great G.o.d tomorrow. So, enjoy your last meal." Upon hearing her words, Gu Ding was stunned.

"I"m a pharmacologist. I personally think that my partners and I can be of good use to your tribe. I hope you can relay my message because I think he"d be interested to meet me." Gu Ding tried his best to see if he could get a chance.

"A pharmacologist?" The woman hesitated a little when she heard his profession because it was a highly respected profession in most places. After giving it some thought, she asked, "What kind of grade is the medicine you make?"

"I mostly make E-grade medicines, but I can refine D-grade medicines as well," Gu Ding lied.

"The grades of your medicine are too low. You won"t be of any use to us," the woman said as she opened the door, ready to leave.

"My teacher was a very prestigious grade pharmacologist, he was perhaps only a few steps away from becoming an S-grade. I learned all sorts of medicinal formulas from him. You can tell that to your high priest, I"m sure he"d be interested to meet me," Gu Ding shouted at the door.

The woman had closed the door behind her and none of them knew whether she heard Gu Ding.

With the help of Neptune"s translation, Liliath and Biggie were able to understand the conversation Gu Ding had with the woman. From what they heard, the conversation had not ended well.

"What does it mean to be a sacrificial offering for their G.o.d? Liliath asked after a moment of silence.

"If a beast is to be sacrificed, it"ll be killed on the spot. On the other hand, if a human is to be sacrificed, the person"s limbs will be nailed on a high cliff with Magic Sealing Nails until they die on their own. They usually don"t sacrifice humans because once a person is sacrificed, their abilities cannot be taken. The only way they can take a person"s abilities is if the person"s body is fully intact. They do so as a sign of respect toward their G.o.ds. The only reason why they would sacrifice humans is that a major crisis is going on within their tribe, requiring them to pray to their G.o.ds for protection." Neptune"s database did not have many records about the Witch Tribe.

"We have to find a way to escape!" Biggie told Gu Ding and Liliath immediately. "If I manage to get out of this rattan rope, we can escape."

"It"s useless, their high priest is a Level 12 Gene Body. The fog that you guys had encountered previously was his doing. Our s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p is with them, so there"s no way we can leave this planet." Neptune was aware of their situation.

"Is waiting for our time to come to an end the only thing we can do now?" Liliath asked.

"Their high priest is heading toward your direction. Let"s see if you guys can find an opportunity a chance to get out of this." Neptune suddenly said.

The three of them immediately kept quiet and waited patiently.

After a while, the door was pushed open once more and a thin old man stepped into the room. He was short and of dark complexion. His face was full of various colored stripes. In his right hand, he held a short and thin wooden cane.

"Young man, I heard that you wanted to talk to me?" The old man"s hoa.r.s.e voice that was like a dried-up riverbed was unpleasant to one"s ears. 

"Yes, Your Reverence Priest." Gu Ding could not feel the high priest"s breath, it was as if the latter was just a piece of lifeless wood. Hence, Gu Ding was unable to tell what the high priest wanted from them and whether he was hostile or not.

"Tell me, what is it that you can do?" The old man laid his emotionless, black-colored eyes on Gu Ding.

"I know that your tribe doesn"t normally sacrifice human beings, so I figured your tribe must be in some kind of trouble. I don"t mind lending a hand." Gu Ding stared right into the old man"s eyes without showing a hint of fear. Since the old man had agreed to talk, it meant that his tribe was at its wit"s end and possibly open to doing anything.

"That"s very bold of you to a.s.sume that!" The old man paused for a moment right after speaking. Then, the two pairs of eyes locked for half a second as if the old man was trying to find out if Gu Ding had any secret intentions. Nevertheless, all the old man saw was open honesty.

After a while, the old man finally said, "Fine. 80 bottles of D-grade purification medicine and 500 bottles of E-grade purification medicine. Each of them will have to be at least ultimate quality. This is my only offer. Will you be able to do so?"

"As long as you have the needed materials, I should be able to do it." Gu Ding did not have a single item required for purification medicine refinement on him.

"Materials won"t be a problem!" the old man said as he stood up to leave.

"I have two conditions!" Gu Ding suddenly said.

The old man narrowed his eyes and stared at Gu Ding. After sizing him up, he said, "Do I look like some kind of negotiator to you?"

"The first condition. You have to promise that you"ll allow us to take our s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p back and leave safely without any harm once I finish refining all the medicine," Gu Ding ignored the old man"s question and stated his first condition. "If the condition cannot be met, then I"m sorry but you"ll have to wait until you find another pharmacologist."

Neptune did not want to translate Gu Ding"s words as they would only anger the old man further. Nevertheless, Gu Ding had repeatedly stated that Neptune had to translate everything the former said. Hence, since Neptune had agreed to it in advance, he was forced to translate Gu Ding"s remarks.

"I can agree to that condition, but I"m warning you, don"t push your luck!" The old man grinned, but a threat was hidden beneath his smile.

"The second condition is that I want an Energy Crystal from the Mechanical Tribe." When Gu Ding voiced that condition out loud, he was a little nervous. It was not because there was a chance that the old man would be angered, but more so about whether they had an Energy Crystal.

"We don"t have that item." The old man had thought that Gu Ding would demand an exorbitant price. Little did he know, that all Gu Ding wanted was a mere Energy Crystal from the Mechanical Tribe.

"Alright, I just wanted to ask. I was thinking it would be great if your tribe had one. You don"t, but it"s fine." Gu Ding nodded.

The high priest moved his finger, and the rattan rope that bound Gu Ding loosened itself. "Come with me."

Gu Ding stood up and looked at Biggie and Liliath who were still tied up.

"They"ll be fine," the old man said casually after noticing Gu Ding"s gaze.

"Old man, can"t you at least untie our hands? How are we supposed to eat if we"re tied up like this?" Liliath protested. Fortunately, Neptune changed her tone to sound gentler when he translated her words.

The old man"s finger moved once more and their tied up hands were released. Then, he turned and walked out of the room.

"Just hold on for a bit more. If I"m able to refine the medicine, I"ll try to get all of it done by tomorrow night," Gu Ding made an estimation based on his current speed of medicine refinement.

The old man was a little surprised but said nothing when he heard Gu Ding. All the old man did was push open the door and go out with Gu Ding behind him.