The Highest Bounty

Having noticed that Nick had regained consciousness, Gu Ding immediately moved closer to him. “You’re finally awake!”

Seeing Gu Ding’s face, Nick felt slightly fearful. After all, the one who had caused him his injuries was Gu Ding. “What are you trying to do?”

“Do you remember the reward you promised you’d give me earlier?” Gu Ding said, grinning widely. Gu Ding’s smile seemed somewhat savage in Nick’s eyes.

“Reward? That blue rock?” Nick only just recalled his promise. “You followed me all the way to the hospital just for that rock?”

“Of course. What other reason could there be? It’s my loot.” Gu Ding thought that it was a somewhat odd question for the other man to ask.

Nick appeared slightly suspicious of the situation. Gu Ding coming for the rock meant that he probably knew what the rock was, and it was highly likely that it was something valuable. “I can give you the rock, but can you tell me what exactly it is?”

“No!” Gu Ding gave a negative reply. “I can only tell you that it’s useless to humans, so it won’t serve you much use even if you keep it.”

After a short pause, Nick chose to relent, “I can give you that rock, and I won’t bother you or your team members anymore. However, there’s one condition. After I give you the rock, you and your team members must not attack me.”

Gu Ding stuck out his hand. “Deal! Give me the rock!”

Only then did Nick pull out the blue Energy Prism Crystal and pass it to Gu Ding.

Gu Ding turned and left the ward while Neptune contacted Liliath and Biggie to let them know they were to prepare for departure.

Half an hour later, after leaving the hospital, Gu Ding arrived at their spaceship docked at the port.

“You got that blue rock?” Neptune had not explained the details of the situation to Liliath through the communicator. He had only said that the item was in hand and Gu Ding was on the way back. Hence, Liliath was not too certain.

“Uh-huh!” Gu Ding nodded and pulled out the Energy Prism Crystal.

“Did that guy really regain consciousness so fast? What great constitution he has.” Liliath had seen with her own eyes that the other party was basically one foot in the grave. Nevertheless, it did not take him more than two hours to regain consciousness from his serious state of injury.

“Not only did he regain consciousness, but he was very aware of his surroundings. For the rock, he even discussed conditions with me,” Gu Ding said, grinning, “Neptune, let’s go. We’ve dilly-dallied for quite a bit of time.”

Very soon, the spaceship left Bostan’s port. Once the spaceship stabilized itself, Gu Ding took out the metal sphere that Robert had turned into. Right until now, the former had kept the metal sphere in his Inventory. Gu Ding slowly pushed the blue Energy Prism Crystal into the metal sphere that was of similar size.

Upon coming into contact with the Energy Prism Crystal, the metal sphere began to undergo some change. As if it had been activated, it split open, and very quickly, it enveloped the entire Energy Prism Crystal.

After about a few minutes, the color of the metal sphere began to change slowly from its original silver color to blue. It only stopped once the entire metal sphere was dyed completely blue. Then, the metal sphere started to wriggle once again, and it slowly condensed into the shape of a human that was about half a meter tall.

The entire process lasted for around half an hour before Robert finally returned to his original form. Other than the fact that his entire body had turned blue, in terms of appearance, he looked almost exactly the same as before.

“Robert, are you alright?” Gu Ding could not help but ask after seeing Robert look down at his hands without saying a word.

“Why have I turned blue?” Robert looked down and sized up his new body. “And why do I have one more special ability—Freeze Ray?”

Gu Ding gave Robert an explanation about the Energy Prism Crystal. However, based on the latter’s reaction, Gu Ding could tell that Robert had not known about the existence of an alternative energy source like the Energy Prism Crystal.

“It seems as if this type of energy source is more advanced than the ones we used previously.” After having heard Gu Ding’s explanation, Robert appeared to be very calm. Robert turned his head and saw Biggie standing not too far away. “Who’s this big guy?”

“Our new member, Biggie. He’s also our chef.” Liliath smacked Biggie’s thigh. “Say hi.”

“Hello, my name’s Biggie!” Biggie smiled openly. He was aware of Robert’s existence, but it was his first time meeting him.

“Hello, I’m Robert. It’s so nice to meet you!” Robert exchanged pleasantries with Biggie for a moment before he turned to look at Gu Ding again. “Captain, I’m going to work.”

Robert returned to his room and began to tinker with little bits and pieces.

“Why do I feel like Robert isn’t as lively as he used to be?” With her instincts as a little girl, Liliath was able to detect the subtle change in Robert.

“The water-element Prism Crystal has a certain level of influence on one’s personality,” Neptune explained. He speculated, “If fire-element Prism Crystals can make one hot-headed, then I guess water-element Prism Crystals are capable of making one calmer. Hence, those people would respond a little less emotionally to external affairs.”

“Since we’ve found Robert an alternative energy source, are we still going to Mayor Sector?” Liliath asked subsequently.

“Of course we are, I haven’t been to an auction before.” Gu Ding was unwilling to miss out on fresh things along the way.

“Mayor Sector is a place we’ll definitely pass on the new route, so there’s no harm in stopping there for a while,” Neptune added, “Additionally, we can take the opportunity to sell off the stuff we got from the Witch Tribe during the auction. We should sell them off as quickly as possible and exchange them for resources that everyone can use. Otherwise, who knows when’s the next time we’ll get the chance to get them off our hands? The auction this time around is also going to be held on a big scale, so resources that everyone needs will probably show up. Before we enter Faye Cosmic Nation, it’s important we increase our strength as fast as possible. Faye Cosmic Nation is a 5-star Cosmic Nation. There are many more powerhouses there than in Dragon Soar Cosmic Nation. Not to mention, the strength of Faye Cosmic Nation’s Army is much fiercer as well.”

“Neptune, you already took stock of all those Witch Tribe items, right? Are there any ones that might prove useful to us?” Gu Ding only knew that Neptune had taken over a hundred items from the Witch Tribe, and the former had not had the time to check exactly what those things were. Hence, it was faster for him to just ask Neptune anyway.

“The cultivation method practiced by the Witch Tribe’s tribesmen is not quite the same as ours. I’ve already scanned through each and every one of those items, and only one item, a jasper bracelet, can be used by Liliath. That bracelet has the ability to triple one’s spirit. As for the other items, they can all be sold.” As Neptune spoke, he took out the bracelet and had Gu Ding pass it to Liliath. “Lili, when you’re doing your regular spirit cultivation, don’t wear the bracelet. It can very easily cause spirit over-expenditure. The item can be considered a double-edged sword for you. That’s why I never took it out all this while until now.”

Liliath nodded. She understood why Neptune was worried. She quite liked the bracelet, and after toying with it for a bit, she put it back in the Inventory.

“We’ll arrive at Mayor Sector in four days, so you guys will have to hang on for the next four days. Don’t stop in the middle of the journey and waste your time. The Space-time backtracking we encountered previously cost us three days, so we’ve fallen behind compared to others,” Neptune reminded them. He was slightly worried that Gu Ding and Liliath would become restless in the cabin.

“Alright, full speed ahead to Mayor Sector!” Gu Ding was a person who was not willing to fall behind. Hence, hearing Neptune’s words, he immediately drew back his lips and yelled a proclamation, “Overtake those jerks and make up for the three days we lost!”