Barbecue Restaurant Gathering

Looking at the long string of gibberish, Gu Ding knew without a doubt that it was a call from X. However, he also guessed that if X was calling at this time, it probably wouldn't be good news.

"That kid's timing is spot on," Sea Emperor couldn't help but remark.

Gu Ding pressed the answer button, and X's voice came through calmly, "I reckon you should have arrived by now, am I right?"

"Just arrived, what's up?" Gu Ding turned on the speakerphone.

"How should we bring this up?" Gu Ding and his group heard X mutter to themselves before X continued, "Well, usually when I bring bad news to someone, I like to find a piece of good news to go with it. That way, people won't think I'm a God of Misfortune who only brings bad news. But today, I really can't find any good news for you, only bad news, though it's not really bad news."

"Big brother, can you just say it directly? The more you dawdle, the more we think you're God of Misfortune." Liliath finally couldn't help but complain. She liked dealing with people who spoke their minds.

"Okay, the bad news is that the guy who's going to give out the gift won't arrive for another two days, so you'll have to stay on Problan Star for two days," X finally said, revealing the bad news.

"That's it?" Gu Ding waited for a moment, but when he didn't hear anything more, he couldn't help but ask.

"What else do you want to hear?" X countered.

"Nothing, God of Misfortune. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up." Gu Ding reached out his finger to press the button, but then heard X's voice.

"Wait a minute, there's one more thing!"

"Can't you just finish what you're saying in one go?" Liliath complained again.

"What I want to say is, please don't call me God of Misfortune, thank you..." Before he could finish the second "thank you," Gu Ding abruptly hung up the call.

"That barbecue over there looks delicious, let's go try it!" Gu Ding had been eyeing a shop fifty meters away for a while, which was the main reason he was eager to hang up the X call.

"Hey, Gu Ding, you and I saw the same restaurant." Liliath turned her head and met Gu Ding's eyes, a tacit understanding that had developed over time. Clearly, her complaints about X were also due to seeing this barbecue restaurant.

"Barbecue..." Elsa's mouth watered as she saw the barbecue in the shop window from afar.

"The color looks good, and you can smell the aroma of roasted meat right here. It has both color and aroma, so the taste should be pretty good too." Bigge was already in the position of a food critic.

The Little Thief Cat Tagore darted off Gu Ding's shoulder, and the others immediately gave chase.

As for the remaining member, Robert, he maintained his mad scientist attitude, refusing all social interaction and locking himself in his cabin. In fact, throughout the entire journey, aside from obtaining the remaining three materials from Gu Ding, his room remained closed. However, Sea Emperor instructed everyone not to disturb him, and so they all let him be.

The barbecue restaurant was called BBQ, but no one bothered to find out what it was short for.

The barbecue restaurant has a large storefront, with an open-air platform outside. Nearly a hundred parasols stand on the platform, and brightly colored tables and chairs are placed under them.

Even at midday, the barbecue restaurant was doing brisk business. The restaurant was almost full, but Gu Ding and his group were lucky; there were still two or three empty seats left on the platform.

Gu Ding led everyone to an empty spot on the open-air platform and they sat down. The group formed a circle, Bigge sat on the ground as usual, since there were no stools of his size available.

Everyone quickly ordered what they wanted to eat and began chatting, a scene they hadn't witnessed in over half a month. During this time on the voyage, everyone had been frantically improving their strength. While cultivation certainly brought immense power, it was also tedious and monotonous. Aside from Robert, everyone else was probably getting restless. This stopover felt like a vacation after two weeks of hard work. So when X said they would have to wait on this planet for two days, Gu Ding actually thought it was good news. Not only Gu Ding, but Liliath and the others thought so too.

"You're all free to do as you please for the next couple of days. But for safety's sake, please work in pairs. Although I don't know why my bounty hasn't changed after all this time, one thing is certain: the military won't give up the hunt so easily." For the past two weeks, not only has Gu Ding's bounty remained unchanged, but it seems that the bounties for all other Interstellar Pirate in the entire Fei Me Universe Country have also remained the same.

"Regarding this matter, I just saw the news. Half a month ago, the database of the Fei Me Universe Country branch of Midian Media Company was attacked, and some confidential information was lost. They have been internally investigating this matter, and the Federal Government is also assisting in the investigation, which has caused other work to be temporarily suspended. This morning, Midian Media Company's headquarters issued an apology letter." Sea Emperor said, projecting the apology letter onto the screen.

The apology letter was quite lengthy, detailing the events of two weeks prior, explaining why the bounty amount hadn't been updated, and assuring everyone that a new Bounty Order would be posted within thirty hours.

Upon hearing this news, Liliath kept her head down and drank her beverage, clearly unwilling to hear anything about Midian Media Company.

"How much do you think my bounty will go?" Gu Ding noticed Liliath's mood and changed the subject.

"I think it will rise to at least two billion Universe Coin," Bigge the first to speak, his guess being rather conservative.

"I'd guess five billion, because the Hunter squad's captains are all at the Twelfth Order Peak gene level, and their Combat Strength has already reached the thirteenth tier. Moreover, the highest capture reward for that squad is four billion Universe Coin. If you wiped out their squad, it should be at least higher than four billion," Elsa analyzed.

"That's not how it's calculated," Liliath finally spoke up. "The bounty amount is determined by analyzing many factors besides Combat Strength. For example, team strength, the degree of threat to the Federal Government, the nature of the damage caused by each incident, and so on... There is even an analysis of the individual's personality, to see if the bounty seeker is radical or conservative, and even to dig deeper into their personality from their upbringing."

"Many people have high bounties not because of their Combat Strength, but because of the severe damage they cause, leading the Federal Government to deem them to be of a particularly heinous nature. While the impact of Gu Ding's incident was considerable, the actual damage was minimal; not a single building was damaged, only the port grounds were somewhat damaged, and there were no other innocent casualties. His actions this time were purely a display of Combat Strength, so the bounty certainly won't exceed five billion. I estimate the bounty won't exceed three billion."

"Do you think our bounty will increase?" Elsa, somewhat expectantly.

"It's unlikely, because we were barely present during this incident. Elsa and Tagore, you two just stood by and watched without intervening. When the bounty is low, it's possible for it to increase, but our bounty is already quite high, so the chances of that happening are slim." Liliath shook her head.

"After you finish eating, you're free to do whatever you want, but like I said, at least in pairs," Gu Ding emphasized again, as he was really worried about people going alone.

Although Liliath has advanced to the Ninth-Order Gene Body, her specific Combat Strength is still unclear, but Gu Ding estimates that she would not be able to resist Twelfth Order pursuer.

Elsa is a bit of a scatterbrain; she could easily be lured away with food.

As for Bigge, without Liliath's hypnosis, he had absolutely no Combat Strength.

And if no one were watching over him, who knows what kind of trouble the Little Thief Cat Tagore would cause on this planet.

"I'll go with Lily!" Elsa and Lily are best friends; they do everything together. Mainly, Lily is more capable, while Elsa is less assertive. With Lily by her side, she doesn't have to worry about anything.

"I want to go to the grocery store," Bigge, figuring Lily and the others definitely wouldn't want to go to the grocery market with him.

"Then Tagore will stay with you," Gu Ding, looking at Tagore. "Protect Bigge. If there's anything you want to eat, have Bigge buy it for you."

Tagore raised his paw and patted Bigge, as if to say, "Don't worry, I've got your back."

He is reluctant to speak because his throat is structured differently from humans, making it more difficult for him to utter human language.

"That's settled then. I'll team up with Sea Emperor. Everyone, get back to the spaceship before sunset and have dinner together. Then we'll make further arrangements tonight depending on the situation. If anything happens, contact me via communicator." As Gu Ding was speaking, everyone's barbecue was brought out.

After enjoying a hearty meal, everyone dispersed.

Liliath pulled Elsa straight to the clothing store, while Tagore jumped onto Bigge's shoulders, and the two headed towards the food market.

Gu Ding, meanwhile, sat there and took a sip of juice. "The biggest regret about this barbecue restaurant is that they don't have Mirka."

"Would you like a drink? There's a tavern about 80 meters from here at two o'clock." For Gu Ding, Sea Emperor was practically an all-knowing tour guide.

"Okay, I'll have a drink first, then we can wander around." Gu Ding paid the bill and headed straight for the tavern not far away. (To be continued.)