The Highest Bounty

"Neptune, start the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. We"re getting away from this place immediately!" Gu Ding ordered as the captain the moment they got onto the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.

"Shouldn"t we wait for the s.h.i.+p to be repaired first? And the Ona.s.sis family…" Liliath asked, puzzled.

"What happened on this planet doesn"t matter. What"s important is that we leave as soon as possible. Didn"t you see Senior"s strength? What if he"s merely a chess piece in their game? Each second we stay longer brings us one step closer to death." Gu Ding was as serious as he had ever been. He had never been one who talked about conspiracy theories. However, what they had seen happen on this planet was too uncanny to be coincidental. Everything was giving Gu Ding the heebie-jeebies; whether it was Senior"s answers or the Golden Eagle grade s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p. Moreover, his intuition had always been right.

Neptune had just started up the power system when the loudspeaker at the starport sounded, "Apologies to all pa.s.sengers. The starport"s admittance platform will be blocked immediately for repairs due to mechanical failures. The time required for the repairs is to be confirmed. Pa.s.sengers that are planning to leave Constlac within these two days are kindly advised to postpone their departure date. We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused…"

"Can we make it if we rush out of here?" Gu Ding asked Neptune, ignoring the announcement.

"No, the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p"s startup speed isn"t fast enough, and we may hit something along the way," Neptune disagreed as he said, "Furthermore, the admittance platform on this planet is half automated. If I try to hack into their control system, they can immediately unplug the power supply of the network system and use mechanical control to turn on the protective barrier at the platform."

"In other words, we"re trapped on this planet." Gu Ding"s brows furrowed as he had a vague ominous hunch. "Neptune, check the previous video recording by Starport Authority to see who was on the Golden Eagle."

"Didn"t you say you wanted to stay away from that matter?" Liliath also felt that the development of the whole situation was a bit strange.

"We"re trapped here. If they can make Starport Authority block the admittance platform, breaking into our s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p wouldn"t be a hard task for them. Before this, I didn"t want to know what happened because I was worried that we would end up opening a can of worms. But now we have to know what"s happening in order to plan the best solution." Gu Ding knew that even if they decided to hide in their s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p throughout the entire duration, trouble would still come and find them. It was better to take the initiative and see what was happening so that they could come up with a solution in advance. 

Neptune was able to infiltrate Starport Authority"s network quickly. After a while, he brought news to Gu Ding that the latter dreaded to hear. "I couldn"t find any information on the video from that day. Starport Authority"s memory is brand new and it seems like the video has been wiped out. Information on the new chip was duplicated by someone, but they omitted the information from that day. All information concerning that day is gone as if the day was skipped.

"I also looked up the serial number of the Golden Eagle grade s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p on the Internet. That s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p was authorized for the S-rank mission that day. Only the lord of a Cosmic Nation and the marshal of the Army could have had the permission to view it. Such kind of mission could only have been accepted by a general in the Army…" Even though Neptune was unable to find a lot of useful information, the level of the mission spoke for itself.

"Which is to say, there"s at least one general from the Army that"s on this planet..." Gu Ding"s brows furrowed deeper.

"Generals from the Army usually have two types of missions. One of them is independent missions that are carried out without any men being below them. Another one of them is team missions. In the case of team missions, the general will take at least two major generals with him. If the task"s level of difficulty is higher, a lieutenant general or even a colonel general may join in." Liliath started to look worried. "Senior is obviously a member of the operation then. That also means that the general isn"t carrying out an independent mission but a team operation instead."

"Except for that general from the Army, there are two more major generals on this planet..." Gu Ding took a deep breath.

"I just discovered that the signals on this planet are isolated from the outside world. It seems like they"ve activated a complete s.h.i.+eld around the entire planet," Neptune said as he bore more bad news to them, "Although I can break through it if I spend some time on it, I don"t think it would do you guys any good from the looks of it."

"Robert, we have the materials ready. Since there"s no way to leave now, you can go ahead and repair the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p first." Gu Ding looked at Robert who had been quiet this whole time. Gu Ding proceeded to pour out all the materials they had purchased from his Inventory. "Need any help from us?"

"No, the two of you will only make the whole process longer." Robert shook his head. "However, if you guys have some time, the two of you can bring me a few things. I tinker around with gadgets during my free time. Usually, when I"m done with s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps, I have some time on my hands…"

"Okay, give us a list. Lili and I will go out and buy them later." Gu Ding nodded.

Liliath also proceeded to pour out the materials she had bought. Upon hearing Gu Ding"s words, she asked with some uncertainty, "Are you sure that we should get off the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p? Isn"t it a bit unsafe for us to move around before we know what the current situation is?"

"This planet is no longer safe for Interstellar Pirates and that includes our s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p." Gu Ding shook his head. "Besides us, I"m sure that most of the other Interstellar Pirates have also met such sorts of bizarre situations. Let"s see how they deal with them, and we can check it out for ourselves if anyone knows what"s going on."

"Go to a tavern?" Liliath immediately knew where Gu Ding wanted to go. The tavern was where most Interstellar Pirates gathered. It was also one of the channels where pirates could share information.

"Captain, I"ve sent the list to your inbox," Robert said.

"Alright then. Lili, you go to the tavern first, I"ll help Robert with the list. Once I"m done, I"ll go to the tavern to look for you." Gu Ding glanced at the list in his inbox. There were a lot of things on it but most of them could be found in grocery stores. Nevertheless, when Gu Ding saw "nuclear trigger" on the list, he raised his eyebrow. He remembered seeing the device in a book for weapon-making before. Even so, he did not think too much about it. Although Robert was not going to join them in battles, making weapons for self-defense was still necessary. Robert was already part of his team, so he let the thought go.

The reason why Gu Ding wanted to shop by himself and had asked Liliath to head to the tavern first was that she would be safer there. Although the tavern was rowdy, there was a large amount of Interstellar Pirates there. It meant that Liliath"s safety was guaranteed even if people from the Army barged in. If she went shopping, there was a possibility that she would encounter a sniper on a similar level as Senior. Gu Ding did not want to risk Liliath getting trapped in such sort of situation again.

Liliath knew what Gu Ding was thinking as well. She only nodded her head and said nothing.

The two got off the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p and left in two different directions. Liliath walked toward the tavern which was less than two hundred meters away from the starport, while Gu Ding walked toward the city, heading for the grocery store.