"Grand Duke Roland Joins the Gu Ding Team!?"

[I had to go out this morning, which caused today's update to be quite late. Just to clarify, everyone cast a total of 18 votes last month, which I'll round up to 10. So, for every 10 votes, I'll add one extra chapter, meaning I need to add a total of 146 extra chapters. Last month I only added 19... which means I still owe everyone 1 extra chapter. (Why so many, damn it... 0.0) I'll start paying off this month, but please don't stop voting because of that~~ July will still be one extra chapter for every vote, and if I can't finish in July, I'll put it in August... From now on, you can call me the Great Chieftain (the Great Debtor~~).]

Although Trick was arrogant and disdainful of everyone, and incredibly weak, one thing was undeniable: he was a capable individual. He completed the vast majority of tasks assigned by the Child Family admirably, often exceeding his superiors' expectations. This is why, at just over twenty years old, he became the head of the Child Family's branch on Problan Star.

It's important to understand that the Problan Star branch manages not only the business on this one planet, but also the entire Matt Star Region and even more than twenty surrounding Matt Star Regions.

This is also a management model of the Child Family. They set up only one branch for about a dozen or twenty star regions, which undoubtedly saves a lot of costs compared to other families that set up a branch for each star region.

For this reason, Trick also cultivated his own network of connections. Leveraging his status as a member of the Child Family, he maintained close relationships with many elites and even leaders from various industries in the vicinity. Among these were several companies involved in network information processing, and a few in media.

After receiving instructions from the young master, he first dialed the contact numbers of several friends who worked in the media.

"Anderson, it's been a while. How have you been?" Trick greeted him. Anderson was the most famous news writer in several nearby star systems.

"Trick, you're such a busy man, how come you have time to contact me? Could it be that you've messed up another business deal and want my help?" Anderson and Trick weren't really friends, they had just done some mutually beneficial transactions in the past.

"No, it's because I have some information I want to sell, so you were the first person I thought of." Trick spoke very skillfully.

"What news? Could it be inside information about the Child Family?" Anderson immediately became interested upon hearing this.

"You saw the latest Bounty Order this morning, right?" Trick asked, piquing their curiosity.

"I've looked at them, but apart from the newcomer Gu Ding and Koude? Brad, the others don't have enough public attention, so there's not much to write about." As a media professional, Anderson naturally follows information about these Interstellar Pirate every day, but in this batch of new Bounty Order, only Gu Ding and Koude? Brad have relatively high public attention and are worth writing about.

"Well, I must say you're lucky, because the information I'm selling is related to Gu Ding," Trick laughed.

"The Gu Ding Team is on Problan Star now?" Anderson reacted immediately upon hearing Trick's words.

"That's right, and I have even more information to reveal. For example, a member of the Gu Ding Team possesses Combat Strength comparable to a demigod... and I also have related videos." Trick deliberately dragged out his words.

"We require an exclusive deal for this news. Don't release your video on the internet yet. Don't contact any other media or information companies either. Two hundred thousand Universe Coin. I don't believe any other company will offer a higher price." Anderson gave his offer on the spot. He wasn't just a writer in the company; he was also a shareholder, so he had some pricing power.

"Two hundred thousand..." Trick hesitated. Although he was a manager in the Child Family, his annual salary was only a little over three hundred thousand Universe Coin. He had originally thought this information would fetch around one hundred thousand at best, but Anderson's offer exceeded his expectations. His businessman's instincts told him he could get more profit, because the other party had quoted two hundred thousand in one go, indicating that two hundred thousand was not their bottom line, and he still had room to raise the price.

Anderson, however, was not a businessman; he started out as a media professional. Even after becoming a company shareholder, he didn't participate in operations because he lacked the expertise. Therefore, he chose to continue as a media professional, and he preferred that identity. Thus, he didn't let the other party quote a price, but instead offered what he considered a reasonable one.

"Two hundred thousand, to be honest, that's not the price I expected..." Trick drawled out his words.

"Two hundred thousand is quite a lot, Trick. Your annual salary, not counting bonuses, is only about three hundred and sixty thousand. This news is equivalent to more than half a year's salary." Anderson knew Trick well.

"The value of this news has little to do with my salary. Do you think your offer would jump to fifty million if someone else earned a hundred million a year?" Trick laughed.

"How about this then? You project the encrypted video remotely, and I'll watch it first before re-determining the price," Anderson suggested, coming up with a better solution.

Remote projection means Anderson can see a video projection in front of Trick. But this projection is encrypted and cannot be recorded, so there's no need to worry about Anderson secretly recording it and then not buying the video.

"That's fine," Trick agreed, and he immediately invited Anderson to watch the remote encrypted projection.

A video projection was played in front of Anderson.

It was in a tavern where the Gu Ding Team was, and it seemed that all the members were there. What concerned Anderson the most was that, in addition to the Gu Ding Team and the tavern owner, there was also a man, a woman and a robot in the video. These three unfamiliar figures did not belong to Gu Ding's Pirate Crew.

What shocked Anderson the most was that the Scarface man was none other than Roland, the legendary the Man Closest to God. Roland sat next to Gu Ding, his elbow resting on Gu Ding's shoulder several times, clearly indicating a close relationship between the two.

Trick wasn't a media person, and Roland had kept a low profile in recent years, so he had heard of Roland's name but didn't know that the Scarface was Roland. Otherwise, he would definitely have asked for a higher price.

Soon, the video showed Bigge Sharp severing the heads of two Thirteenth-Order Martial Warriors with a single strike. Anderson was stunned by what he saw.

Because the video was recorded by Trick using his own wristwatch, it was recorded from his perspective, and his appearance is not shown in the video. He also deliberately muted the sound to avoid implicating the Child Family or himself in the video.

However, for media professionals, whether the video has sound or not is no longer important; as long as there's visuals, that's enough. And what just happened was indeed terrifying—two peak 13th-tier experts were instantly killed. But the most important point is that Roland, who was granted the title of Grand Duke by the Federal Government, was also in the same tavern as Gu Ding, and they seemed to have a good relationship.

"How about it? Three hundred thousand shouldn't be too high a price, right?" Trick heard that there was no sound from the other end for a while, and guessed that the other party must also be shocked by what he had just seen.

"Okay, three hundred thousand it is. After you send me this video, you can delete it yourself. Don't post it anywhere else." Anderson agreed to the price because there were many points to be explored in the information revealed by the video.

"I understand," Trick said with a slight smile, surprised that Gu Ding had earned him almost a year's salary. "Once the money arrives, I'll send you the video immediately. How you make up the story after that is up to you. But don't involve me or the Child Family, and the source of the video must be kept secret."

"Understood!" Anderson immediately agreed. "I'll have the finance department arrange the transfer right away. Send the video materials directly to my work email address; you know that email address."

The two completed the transaction in less than ten minutes.

Looking at the amount deposited into his account, Trick's lips curled into a slight smile. "Looks like today wasn't all bad luck after all. The young master really came up with a good idea."

Half an hour later, a media outlet broke the news that Gu Ding had appeared on Problan Star. This time, it wasn't just a rumor as usual, but a real video. Moreover, the media outlet's editor provided commentary and analysis on the entire video.

The speculation surrounding the identities of the robot and the blonde woman was downplayed in the commentary, and even the fact that Bigge killed Thirteenth-Order Gene Body being was emphasized. Instead, the story of Roland drinking with Gu Ding was given extensive coverage.

This is indeed a great gimmick. Grand Duke Roland is a god-like figure in the hearts of countless Swordsman in the Fei Me Universe Country, and a powerful figure respected by countless martial artists.

However, the media headlines read, "Grand Duke Roland Joins Gooding's Team!?"

This title instantly garnered over 100 million views in less than 20 minutes, and the article and video were shared countless times, with an even greater number of likes.

Of course, some of Roland's die-hard fans felt this was an insult to Roland's identity, but seeing the harmonious relationship between Roland and Gu Ding in the video, they did not turn their anger on Gu Ding, but instead scolded the writer.

As for Gu Ding's fans, they frantically gave him likes. One person even cheered, "Good job, Gu Ding! First, take the Grand Duke! Then take the King too!" This person's cheer received millions of likes in less than an hour.

Upon seeing the article, Trick was somewhat frustrated. "That Scarface is actually Lord Roland... Why didn't I recognize him? I could easily offer millions of Universe Coin for this video!"

Inside a palace, a tall woman in a black dress and another woman in a purple dress are watching the same video.

"When did Roland and Gu Ding become so close?" Medea, dressed in black, looked puzzled. "According to the information we have, he and Gu Ding didn't even know each other before they met on Problan Star."

"Perhaps they're compatible." Elizabeth wasn't surprised. "You've met Roland before; it would be strange if two people with the same surname didn't get along."

"Miss, do you think Roland will Gu Ding Team?" Medea frowned slightly. The analysis in that article was quite convincing, which made her a little worried.

"No, for Roland right now, becoming a god is his top priority. No matter how good his relationship with Gu Ding is, it's impossible for him to abandon his original, predetermined path. However, things might change after he becomes a god..." Elizabeth offered her prediction. (To be continued.)