The four days on the Grey-faced Buzzard was like a form of torture for Gu Ding and Liliath. With their personalities, staying idle on a s.p.a.ceship was basically no different from being locked up.
Robert tinkered with things throughout each day in his own room without idling for even a single moment. On the other hand, Biggie kept himself busy in the kitchen, creating new and colorful dishes for each meal, giving Gu Ding and Liliath great culinary satisfaction. When Biggie was not preparing dishes, he could be found looking up all sorts of recipes and spending his time incomparably productively.
To kill time, Gu Ding had Neptune adjust his room to twice the usual force of gravity. Under such circ.u.mstances, he used the seventh tier Ultimate Arts to push his body's limits and strengthen his body's cells. Four days down the line, Gu Ding managed to increase his Cell Index slightly to 320 points.
On the other hand, Liliath spent her time entering the Virtual Arena's Intermediate-level stage to train her combat techniques.
After the four days of torture finally pa.s.sed, the Grey-faced Buzzard Model safely arrived at Mayor Sector's Great Divinity based on the route that had been established.
The Great Divinity was the largest habitable planet in the entire Mayor Sector, and it was also the most bustling planet in all of Mayor Sector. The planet's population made up one-thirtieth of the Mayor Sector's total population. It has to be said that Mayor Sector had five hundred or more planets that were inhabited by humans. Therefore, that was the reason why the planet had been chosen as the location of the large-scale auction.
When the s.p.a.ceship stopped at the port of Great Divinity, Gu Ding's Grey-faced Buzzard attracted the side-eyes of several people. Such first-generation antiques were flown by very few people. Of those who had come to attend the auction this time, quite a few had discerning eyes and were very interested in Gu Dign's Grey-faced Buzzard.
In contrast, the Interstellar Pirates did not care too much about the value of the s.p.a.ceship. They cared more about the fact that the arrival of that type of Grey-faced Buzzard Model meant that Gu Ding and his team had arrived at Great Divinity.
The moment the Grey-faced Buzzard stopped, Neptune rushed to tell Gu Ding, “There are many people from the Army around us. They were probably hired to maintain public order by the lord of this star sector. Seems like quite a few valuable things will be among the auctioned items in the auction.”
Gu Ding knocked on the door that led to Robert's room. “Robert, we've reached Great Divinity. Do you want to go and walk around together?”
“Hold on, I'll give you a copy of a checklist of materials I need. If you see those materials, help me buy them. I won't be going out, but you guys have fun.” After a short while, Robert sent the checklist straight to Neptune. Robert had not opened the door to his room throughout the entire conversation, and Gu Ding did not know what exactly it was that he was busy with.
Although Biggie was obsessed with the kitchen and his recipes, he knew how to enjoy the food of different districts. Hence, he followed Gu Ding and Liliath as they left the Grey-faced Buzzard.
After leaving the s.p.a.ceship, the constraint Gu Ding and Liliath had felt from being “locked up” for the past few days was finally erased.
The arrival of the trio attracted the attention of members of the Army as well as a few Interstellar Pirates at the port. Being the latest rising newcomer, Gu Ding's exposure rate was relatively high. In addition to that, with Biggie's video that had been uploaded, it was hard for people not to recognize his team.
Not long after the trio had started walking, their path was blocked by someone.
A big and tall male confronted them. However, this time, the person looked different compared to the last time they met him on Constlac. This time, the other party was wearing an army uniform.
“It has been a few days since we met, Gu Ding,” the other party said pleasantly in a seemingly-casual manner. “Your team's recent exposure rate is quite high.”
As the man spoke, his gaze swept over Biggie who had a rather large build. A look of fear flashed in his eyes.
“You're Senior. Why would you be here?” Gu Ding recognized the other man at first glance. Back then, he had found dealing with the person in front of him relatively difficult even when Liliath and he joined hands.
“You can relax. I didn't receive a pursuit mission this time, just a regular mission to maintain public order. I came over to say h.e.l.lo and give you a word of advice while I'm here. Don't cause a riot on this planet, or I'll send you to Federation Prison even if it means I'll have to risk my life.” After saying that, Senior turned around and prepared to leave. However, he was called back by Gu Ding.
“Hey, wait a moment.”
“Do you need anything?” Senior stopped in his tracks and turned his head around to look at Gu Ding, a cold expression was on his face.
“I want to challenge you!” Gu Ding's mouth broke into a grin, revealing a neat row of white teeth.
Senior wrinkled his brows lightly. He glanced at Biggie who was standing not too far behind Gu Ding. “You want to go to war against the Army?”
“That's not what I meant, I still want to attend the auction.” Gu Ding shook his head. “What I meant by challenge is I want to challenge you as an individual. It has nothing to do with your status. After all, the last time we fought can be considered as my loss. My strength has increased somewhat within this period of time, and to challenge you anew isn't too extreme of a request, is it?”
“You want to regain your footing?” Senior finally relaxed secretly. Gu Ding speaking in such a way meant that he had no plans of letting Biggie take action. Among those who had come to maintain public order on the planet this time around, the strongest of them were only two colonel generals who were Rank 8 Gene Bodies. If Biggie were to take action, it would be disastrous for the Army.
“You can put it that way. Do you accept or not?” Gu Ding nodded.
Senior immediately weighed the current situation in his mind. If he did not accept Gu Ding's challenge, who knew what kind of trouble Gu Ding would start. However, if he accepted the challenge, the chances of him winning were not great; he had seen the video of Gu Ding's fight with Nick, and from what he saw, Gu Ding's combat standard was above his own. After a moment of silence, he made his decision. “I can accept your challenge, but I have one condition. No matter who wins or loses, you and your team must not cause trouble on this planet.”
“I can only promise not to cause trouble of my own volition. If anybody takes the initiative and provokes us, it's impossible that we hold our breaths and swallow our complaints.” Gu Ding pinned Senior with a stare, he did not want the other party to reject his challenge.
Senior lapsed into a moment of silence but nodded in the end anyway. “Alright.”
He made the decision to accept Gu Ding's challenge because he had already planned to sacrifice his reputation and future to guarantee the success of his mission.
In the Army, there was an unspoken rule. Everybody's combat results were taken into account whenever they had an a.s.sessment for promotion. Losing to a newcomer who had not been out for even half a year would undoubtedly leave a black spot on Senior's résumé, and that black spot would be a great hindrance for him to be promoted in the future. Nevertheless, to him, the threat Biggie posed to the Army and its mission was too big. Only by accepting Gu Ding's challenge could he minimize Biggie's threat.
Looking at the opponent in front of him, Senior did not dare slack even the slightest bit. Half a month earlier, both Gu Ding and Liliath together were not a match for him at all. However, in just half a month's time, the other party was capable of easily defeating an opponent whose strength was similar to his own without wasting a breath. The other party's growth was simply unbelievable.
“Let's start!” Having received the other party's approval, the corners of Gu Ding's mouth broke into a smile yet again.
