A Welcome Gift from Monster Encampment

[Please vote again! There will be two more chapters tonight! 15,000 words today! Please check your personal center to see if you have any remaining votes, don't let them expire tomorrow~~]

Bigge and Tagore were still browsing the food market.

On the rooftop of a tall building not far away, a tall, Scarface Middle-aged Man stood next to a slender young woman whose waist-length hair was dyed in ten different colors at equal intervals.

"Ka Le Er, how's that big guy?" Roland asked, gazing at the figure of a man and a cat in the food market.

"Eleventh Order genetic entity, possessing demigod-level Combat Strength, at least a two-star prodigy," Ka Le Er quickly gave her assessment. "And what about the cat?"

"I don't think that guy is a cat. His exact Gene Level is unknown, but he's definitely not at the Demigod Realm. He's roughly capable of fighting Two-Star Low-rank God, or at least a two-star prodigy," Roland offered his assessment. "This is your first mission after advancing to demigod, right? Given your personality, why didn't you choose a mission with a more imposing surname?"

"Because I'm more interested in Gu Ding," Ka Le Er with no attempt to hide her laughter.

"You're really honest." Roland had originally planned to tease her, but he didn't expect Ka Le Er to directly reveal her purpose.

"There's nothing I can do. My master is a burly man who picks his toes. I grew up in that kind of environment. You know what I mean, uncle..." Ka Le Er said with a helpless expression when she mentioned her master.

"You mean you also like picking your toes?" Roland took a small step back, somewhat wary.

Ka Le Er rolled her eyes at Roland. "Speaking of which, Gu Ding's team really has some impressive members. There's also a girl from the Viking Clan. Although her Combat Strength hasn't reached the level of a prodigy yet, she can already fight two ranks higher, so she has a lot of potential. I personally think that Viking Clan techniques aren't very suitable for women. If we find a good teacher to guide her, it wouldn't be difficult for her to become One-Star Prodigy."

Roland offered no comment. "The mission is complete. Now it's time for the activities. What are your plans? Are you leaving today?"

"Uncle, aren't you leaving today?" Ka Le Er asked back.

"Gu Ding invited me to have a drink tomorrow." Roland touched his nose.

"Drinking beverages? Why not alcohol?" Ka Le Er found it a bit strange. What was going on with two grown men hanging out together without drinking alcohol?

"I've given it up, and I can't drink Gu Ding. So I drink juice, and he drinks Mirka." Roland didn't see anything wrong with it.

"Uncle, I think you should join their team," Ka Le Er suggested with a smile.

"Gu Ding invited me yesterday, but I said I'd consider it after I become a god." Roland gave Ka Le Er another piece of news that was hard to believe.

"Okay... By the way, can I attend that drink party?" Ka Le Er was very interested in meeting Gu Ding, even though she had already met Gu Ding in the Monster Paradise before.

"Yes, but on one condition." Roland held up one finger, "No alcoholic beverages allowed!"

Ka Le Er was taken aback. "Then I can only have coffee. Is coffee okay?"

"Coffee is fine," Roland nodded.

After buying the groceries, Bigge and Tagore returned to the spaceship as if nothing had happened.

While Liliath and Elsa were still shopping for clothes, Gu Ding had already bought the potion ingredients and returned to his room to begin learning how to refine D-Grade Potion.

"Bigge and Tagore are back," the Sea Emperor whispered to Gu Ding. "Their Smart Watch lost signal for a while, about forty-three minutes. The food market is less than ten kilometers from here. During the time their signal disappeared, I scanned an area with a radius of over a hundred kilometers, but I couldn't find any trace of them. It wasn't until half an hour ago that their signal suddenly reappeared, and I realized they hadn't left the food market at all. I suspect they were attacked by a powerful being with their Exclusive Domain."

"Are they injured?" Gu Ding asked, stopping his work on mixing the potion.

"No, not at all." The Sea Emperor did a quick scan and found no injuries on either of them.

In fact, Bigge was attacked by a nightmare; all his battles took place within his own dreams, so he naturally wouldn't suffer any physical injuries. As for Tagore, he only suffered ordinary physical injuries, and with his cellular regeneration abilities, he had fully recovered before even leaving Roland's Exclusive Domain.

"That's alright then," Gu Ding continued preparing the potion. "If they want to talk about it, they will. If they choose not to, then they have their reasons for not doing so. I trust their judgment, and you, Sea Emperor, should trust their judgment as well."

"I'm just a little worried about everyone's safety. If they are attacked, then the chances of others being attacked are also very high," Sea Emperor put forward his reasoning.

"Probably not. Bigge might seem a bit simple-minded, but he wouldn't overlook this. If he really was attacked, he would have contacted us immediately after escaping to warn us to be careful. But he didn't, so there are only two explanations. First, he wasn't attacked; second, the attack was likely targeted at him personally, and he judged that it wouldn't affect the other members. Either way, I think we should trust his judgment." After saying that, Gu Ding asked, "Lily and the others alright?"

"She and Elsa are having a great time shopping, and nothing seems to be wrong on their end." Sea Emperor was constantly monitoring them.

Meanwhile, in Gu Ding's hands, a bottle of D-grade Cell Enhancer was finally completed. The potion was entirely orange, another bottle of Perfect Quality. However, D-Grade Potion were only for sixth- and Seventh Order Gene Body, and were of little use to the current members of Gu Ding Team. Although Gu Ding was only sixth-tier, his physique was too unique, and this D-Grade Potion had almost no effect on him.

After refining the Cell Enhancer, Gu Ding began refining other potions of rank D. His usual practice was to refine all types of conventional potions of the same rank until he could find no fault with them before advancing to the next rank. This way, his foundation would be very solid.

While concocting potions, Gu Ding felt time flew by. In just one afternoon, he had concocted over twenty different D-Grade Potion, with only the Disguise Potion encountering a problem. The reason for the problem was that he wanted to increase the duration of the Disguise Potion's effect, so he slightly modified the formula. However, the modification did not yield ideal results, and a small explosion and fire occurred. Fortunately, Liliath was not present; otherwise, Gu Ding would certainly have been scolded.

Liliath and Elsa returned before dinner, clearly wearing different clothes than they had at noon. However, besides clothes, they had also bought a lot of snacks and put them in a cabinet in the living room.

Bigge prepared a lavish dinner, and everyone gathered in a circle in the small living room next to the kitchen.

Just then, Gu Ding's communicator rang. The number was still a string of garbled characters, but he knew without a doubt that it was X calling.

"Gu Ding, how is it? Do you like the gift we gave you?" X's voice sounded very cheerful, as if he were the one who received the gift.

"What gift?" Gu Ding was a little confused. "Didn't you say that the person who was supposed to deliver the gift had their spaceship break down and wouldn't arrive for another two days?"

"Didn't Bigge tell you? Our gift has already been delivered to him." These words made Gu Ding look at Bigge.

"I've been busy in my room the whole time and only came out around dinner time. He hasn't had a chance to say anything yet," Gu Ding explained.

"Okay, I believe you and your whole team will be satisfied with this gift," X said confidently. "As for what the gift is, just ask Bigge yourself; I won't reveal it. Also, once you're sure you're satisfied with the gift, don't forget to give us a thumbs up in the system. If it's convenient, it would be best to leave a positive review."

After hanging up the call, Liliath guessed, "Was it that guy named X?"

"That's right, he told me the gift had already been sent out, and it was received by Bigge." Gu Ding looked at Bigge, who was also curious about what this so-called gift was.

"A gift? No, there isn't one." Bigge shook his head, looking somewhat puzzled.

"Haven't you encountered any strange people who gave you anything?" Gu Ding felt that X was unlikely to fool him; perhaps Bigge hadn't noticed.

Bigge searched his pockets, but they were all empty. "No one stuffed anything into my pockets, but I did run into a strange person."

Bigge then briefly recounted how he had been inexplicably attacked.

"If I had to name a gift, it would be that this attack helped me overcome my psychological barriers. I no longer need to be hypnotized to participate in the battle." Bigge thought about it carefully and felt that this might be the "gift" X had mentioned.

"What X was talking about must be this." Gu Ding's eyes lit up. He had never doubted Bigge's Combat Strength. Under hypnosis, Bigge's strength was actually greatly suppressed. Now that he could participate in the battle without hypnosis, it not only meant that his strength as a main combat member had been enhanced, but also that his identity as Liliath, the gunsmith who had not had many opportunities to fight, could finally play a real role.

In fact, gunsmiths are an indispensable profession in every powerful team. Whether it is area attack, firepower suppression, or long-range support, gunsmiths are the first choice.

"It seems X and the others weren't just saying it casually. I'm truly very satisfied with this gift," Gu Ding said with a grin.

"We've received the gift. Shall we leave tomorrow morning, or stay another day?" Liliath asked because she had been feeling a bit cooped up for the past ten days or so and hoped this vacation could be a little longer.

"Let's stay another day. I still owe that uncle a drink. If I don't pay him back tomorrow, I don't know when I'll be able to. Let's all go together after lunch tomorrow." Gu Ding made the decision cheerfully. (To be continued.)