A Challenge Needs Stakes!

At the speed of the Grey Eagle, it would take about a week to travel from Dilisies to the Mayer Star Region.

After the spaceship had been traveling for three days, Liliath's mental strength had already fully recovered.

Since most recipes have detailed video tutorials available in the heavens, and even some encrypted materials can be easily cracked by Sea Emperor, Bigge's culinary training progressed smoothly, with his cooking skills improving dramatically every day. He even prepared a variety of soups for the injured Liliath every day, allowing Gu Ding to benefit as well.

Although the food problem was solved, Gu Ding and Liliath were both restless people, and after being confined to the spaceship for three days, they couldn't stand it anymore. After discussing it with the Sea Emperor, they quickly found a planet inhabited by humans.

The spaceship docked smoothly at the port. The hatch opened, Gu Ding stretched as he stood at the door. "Finally, I can see land."

After the three disembarked from the spaceship, they discovered that it was a rather prosperous planet.

Bigge's enormous size drew some attention, but no one seemed particularly surprised.

Some Interstellar Pirate loitering near the port recognized Gu Ding and his group. Bigge's physique made him easily identifiable, and the video of him dismembering the Golden Crocodile with his bare hands had several times more views than the video of Gu Ding bombarding Fengyuan Star. Almost all the Interstellar Pirate in the Long Teng Universe Country had seen that incredible video and listed Gu Ding and his group as untouchables. In the video, Bigge displayed strength that was beyond the capabilities of ordinary people; it was almost at the level of World Master, comparable to a general in the Federal Government's military. Such strength would be considered top-tier even in the Universe Sea, and before entering the Universe Sea, it could be considered peak Combat Strength.

Many Interstellar Pirate who recognized Gu Ding and his group pretended not to know them. After all, as far as they knew, Gu Ding was a troublemaker wherever he went; it seemed that every planet he landed on caused some kind of trouble. Because of Bigge's intimidation, most people didn't want to clash with Gu Ding and his group. The longer they were in the Interstellar Pirate business, the more they understood the importance of picking on the weak.

Gu Ding didn't plan to stay on this planet called Bostan for long. He just wanted to stroll around a market near the port to relax before leaving.

Sea Emperor easily located the map of Bostan Star in the sky and projected a magnified view of the area near the port. The map showed that there was a market about two kilometers from the port, one of the largest markets on the planet.

Just as Gu Ding put away the map and was about to leave, someone called out to him.

"Are you Gu Ding?" A young man with long, flowing blond hair, an earring in his left ear, and dressed in black leather walked towards Gu Ding and his group. His bright red leather boots were quite eye-catching.

"Who are you?" Gu Ding had no recollection of the person in front of him, but judging from his attire, if he had seen him before, he would have recognized him immediately. However, it was clear that he had never seen this person before.

"That's Nick, the Interstellar Pirate who wants to challenge you and Liliath and take your rankings." Sea Emperor had checked Nick's information on the ship before and knew what he looked like.

"My name is Nick. It seems you're not very well-informed. You didn't even know about my public challenge?" Nick said, glancing at the Smart Watch on Gu Ding's wrist. "I think you really should replace that ordinary Civilian Smart Watch of yours."

To make things easier, Sea Emperor had disguised his watch as an ordinary Civilian Smart Watch, but now he was being ridiculed, which Sea Emperor couldn't stand. He calmly whispered in Gu Ding's ear, "Gu Ding, beat him up like a pig's head!"

Gu Ding grinned upon hearing the Sea Emperor's words, "I know about the public challenge, but why should I accept it? If you can give me a convincing reason, I will accept your challenge."

"Reason?" Nick scratched his head, unable to come up with a reason for a long time. He really couldn't think of a suitable one. "What reason do you need to accept a challenge? Then let me ask you, what reason do you have not to accept a challenge?"

Hearing Nick's question, Gu Ding shrugged. "The reason for not accepting is simple: if I beat you, I gain nothing, and you lose nothing; conversely, if I lose, your ranking will rise, and you'll be the only one who benefits. Why should I accept a challenge that offers me no advantage?"

"This..." Nick couldn't find a reason to refute Gu Ding's words for a moment.

"Excuse me if you're not going anywhere, we're going shopping." Gu Ding said, then led Liliath and Bigge to leave.

"No, you must accept my challenge!" Nick still blocked the three's path.

Gu Ding stared at Nick for a long time, then spoke again after a moment of silence, "I don't do things that don't benefit me. If you insist on challenging me, then offer some stakes. If I win, at least I can get something in return, that's fair. If there's no suitable stake, my answer is still no."

"I have two hundred million Star Coin, and I can put one hundred million as a prize." After hearing what Gu Ding said, Nick was silent for a moment, and then reluctantly offered a prize.

"I don't want money." Gu Ding shook his head. "If you have Energy Crystal used by the Middle Ancient Era Mechanical Race, I would be happy to accept them."

"How could I possibly have something like that?" Nick felt that Gu Ding was putting him in a difficult position, but suddenly he remembered something. "Wait, I killed a guy a while ago and I think I got a strange Energy Crystal. I looked in the sky but couldn't find any information about that stone. I guess it might be a remnant of an ancient civilization."

"Let me see it." Although Gu Ding didn't have much hope, he still wanted to see what the Energy Crystal the other party was talking about was and whether it was possible for Robert to use it.

"Let me look!" Nick said, rummaging through his Storage Space. He searched for five or six minutes before finally pulling out a blue stone. The stone was entirely blue, crystal clear, like a huge square sapphire. Under the sunlight, the surface of the stone rippled like a layer of faint white waves.

"Accept his challenge!" The Sea Emperor shouted in Gu Ding's ear the moment he saw the stone, his tone revealing a hint of anxiety.

"So beautiful..." Liliath's eyes lit up as she looked at it.

Gu Ding nodded calmly. "Alright, this prize looks good. I accept your challenge."

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(Thanks to the following readers for their generous donations: [Troublesome Bookworm], [Casual Reader Dragon], [Eurasian Plate], [Yi Shi Zai Wai], [Seen and Flashed], and [Amberly Hughes]! Sorry this chapter is a bit late... I'll try to release the next chapter earlier tomorrow morning.)

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