The s.p.a.ceship had been flying for three days, and Liliath's spirit had been fully restored.
As detailed video tutorials for most recipes could be found on Skynet and any encrypted information was decoded by Neptune with relative ease, Biggie was able to learn to cook quite easily, and his cooking skills made drastic improvements daily. Each day, he tried different ways to make soup for the injured Liliath, and Gu Ding was also able to eat good food because of that.
Although the issue regarding food had been resolved, Gu Ding and Liliath were the restless type that could not stay still for too long. Therefore, after being stuck in the s.p.a.ceship for three days, the both of them could not take it anymore. After discussing with Neptune, they found a planet with human inhabitants rather quickly.
The s.p.a.ceship landed at the port smoothly. The hatch opened, and Gu Ding stood at the entrance and stretched. "We've finally seen land."
After the three of them stepped off the s.p.a.ceship, they realized that this was a fairly bustling planet.
A few people casted sidelong glances at Biggie's huge figure, but none of them seemed too surprised about it.
There were also a few Interstellar Pirates idling near the port that recognized Gu Ding and his group. Biggie's figure made him too recognizable. Besides, the video of him bare-handedly dismembering the giant gold alligator had several times more clicks than the video of Gu Ding bombarding Fengyuan. Practically every Interstellar Pirate from the Dragon Soar Cosmic Nation had seen that incredible video, and it made Gu Ding and his group one that should not be provoked. In the video, Biggie displayed strength that no ordinary person could achieve. It was practically at the level of a realm G.o.d, and comparable to the level of a general from the Federation Army. Even after entering the Cosmic Sea, this level of strength would be considered first-cla.s.s rank; before entering the Cosmic Sea, it would be considered the pinnacle of combat strength.
Quite a few of the other Interstellar Pirates recognized Gu Ding and his group but pretended not to, because as far as they were concerned, wherever this Gu Ding guy was, there would be no peace. It was as if he brought trouble to every planet that he landed on. As there was still the shock of what Biggie did, most people did not want any conflict with Gu Ding and his group. The longer one had been in the Interstellar Pirate business, the more they understood that the weak ones were the ones that would get picked on.
Gu Ding did not plan on staying on this planet named Bostan for too long. He just wanted to find a market near the port to stroll for a bit and relieve his boredom before leaving.
Neptune easily found a map of Bostan on Skynet, and zoomed in onto the area around the port before projecting it out. The map showed that one of the biggest markets on the planet was only about two kilometers away from the port.
Just as Gu Ding put the map away and was about to leave, someone called out to him.
"Are you Gu Ding?" A young boy wearing a shawl with long blond hair, a stud earring in his left ear, and clad in black leather walked in the direction of Gu Ding and his group. The bright red leather boots on his feet were blinding.
"And you are?" Gu Ding had no idea who this guy was. With the way the other was dressed, Gu Ding would have definitely recognized him immediately if they had met before, but it was obvious that they probably had not.
"He's Nick, the Interstellar Pirate that wanted to challenge you and Liliath to s.n.a.t.c.h your rankings." Neptune had searched about the other's information while they were on the s.p.a.ceship, and knew how the other looked like.
"I'm called Nick. Looks like you're not very well-informed on the news if you don't even know about my public declaration for a challenge?" Nick said as he looked at the intelligent wrist.w.a.tch on Gu Ding's hand. "I think you should replace that plain-looking wrist.w.a.tch of yours."
Prior to this, Neptune had camouflaged himself as a regular wrist.w.a.tch for convenience's sake, but now that he was met with the other's ridicule, he could not stand it. He calmly said into Gu Ding's ear, "Gu Ding, flatten his head into an idiot!"
Hearing Neptune's words, Gu Ding's lips split into a grin. "I know about your public challenge, but why should I accept it? If you can give me a convincing reason, then I'll take you up on your challenge."
"Reason?" Nick scratched his head, not saying a word for a long while. He really could not think of a suitable reason. "What reason do you need to accept a challenge? Let me ask you instead, what reason do you have to not accept my challenge?"
Gu Ding shrugged his shoulders at Nick's counter-question. "The reason for me not accepting your challenge is simple. If I defeat you, I don't gain anything and you don't lose anything, but if I lose, your ranking will go up. No matter how I look at it, the only one gaining anything from this is you. Why should I accept a challenge that doesn't bring any benefit to me?"
"This…" Nick momentarily could not find any words to refute Gu Ding.
"If there's nothing else, then make way. We're going for a stroll," Gu Ding said and got ready to leave with Liliath and Biggie.
"No way, you must accept my challenge!" Nick was still blocking their way out.
Gu Ding stared at Nick for a while. After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth and said, "I don't do things that don't benefit me. If you must challenge me, then provide some kind of reward for me. If I win, then I'll at least get something out of it. It'll only be fair like this. If there's no decent reward, then my answer is still no."
After hearing Gu Ding's words, Nick went silent for a moment, before he reluctantly declared, "I have two hundred million Star Credits. I can give you a hundred million as a reward."
"I don't want money," Gu Ding shook his head. "If you have Energy Crystal pieces used by the Mechanical Tribe from the Middle Ages though, I'll happily accept that."
"Why would I have such a thing?" Nick felt that Gu Ding was trying to make things difficult for him, but he suddenly remembered something. "Hold on. When I got rid of a guy recently, I think I obtained a strange piece of Energy Crystal rock. I tried searching about it on Skynet but found nothing, so I a.s.sumed it was probably something that was left behind by an ancient civilization."
"Show it to me." Even though Gu Ding did not have too much hope, he still wanted a look at this Energy Crystal rock to see if it would be of any use to Robert.
"I'll look for it!" Nick said and rummaged through his Inventory. After about five to six minutes, he finally fished out a blue stone. The stone was entirely blue in color and crystal clear, like a giant square-shaped sapphire. Under the rays of the sun, the surface of the stone was like a faint white ripple on the surface of the water.
"Accept his challenge!" Neptune shouted into Gu Ding's ear the moment he laid eyes on the stone. There was a sense of urgency in his voice.
"So pretty…" Liliath was standing at the side, her eyes shining.
Gu Ding nodded his head, his expression unchanging. "Okay, this reward looks pretty good. I accept your challenge."
