Fei Nan Si Conglomerate
Having his origins revealed, the old man remained calm, simply smiling and saying, "Little fatty, you do have some insight. Since you know this is a gold-type Devouring Beast, you should also know that if this little thing is fed properly, it even has a certain chance of advancing to the True God level. One million source stones, I don't think that's too high."
"Old man, you're talking nonsense. No matter which type of Devouring Beast is, it must mutate in order to break through the Godly Barrier." The chubby boy immediately refuted his statement.
"How do you know, little fatty, that my beast egg isn't mutated?" The old man squinted at the little fatty, his expression quite smug.
"Whether it's mutated or not, we'll only know after it hatches. I naturally can't tell, but old man, are you sure your beast egg is mutated?" The chubby boy looked at the other person with a provocative expression.
"Then, little fatty, are you sure this beast egg of mine isn't mutated?" The old man wasn't annoyed; instead, he narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"It's extremely difficult for Devouring Beast to mutate after birth; it requires devouring countless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. The chance of innate mutation is even smaller. Even if the mother beast that lays the eggs is a mutated Devouring Beast, the chance of the offspring being an innately mutated Devouring Beast is only fifty percent. To put it another way, even if you have special breeding methods from Ancient Era that can increase this chance to around ninety percent, there's still a ten percent chance of a non-mutated offspring," the chubby boy explained very seriously.
"This little fatso knows quite a bit," the Sea Emperor chuckled in Gu Ding's ear. "Whether a beast egg is mutated or not cannot be determined from its appearance alone; one can only judge it by its vitality. Even among beast eggs of the same kind, vitality varies, and congenitally mutated Devouring Beast have stronger vitality than non-mutated ones. But how much stronger? Few people know, so most people, even if they know it's related to vitality, wouldn't dare to give a 100% certain judgment. This Gold-type Devouring Beast, based on my comparison with Ancient Era data, is definitely a mutated Devouring Beast. This old man seems quite certain that this Devouring Beast is mutated, but for some reason, he doesn't want to raise it. Of course, it's also possible that he can't afford to raise it, so he simply trades it for source stones."
At this moment, the old man slowly spoke up, "Little fatty, how about we make a bet?"
The chubby boy hesitated slightly.
"What, you don't dare?" the old man provoked, his tone quite sarcastic.
"Who says I don't dare?!" the chubby boy shouted angrily. "How do you want to bet?"
The old man then turned to Gu Ding, "This beast egg. 1 million source stones, do you want it?"
Gu Ding nodded. "I'll take it!"
After Gu Ding finished speaking, he readily transferred the money and then put away the General Beast eggs.
The chubby boy hadn't expected Gu Ding to pay so readily. Only after Gu Ding transferred the money did he realize, "Hey. You've already sold this stuff, how are you going to gamble with me now?"
"Simple. This young man will be the witness." The old man said calmly, "The beast egg is now in this young man's hands. All he needs to do is add us on his communication line. Once the Devouring Beast hatches, he can send a video to both of us, and we'll know whether it's a mutated beast or not. As for you and me, we'll each contribute one million source stones to this young man. Whoever wins, this young man will transfer all two million of our source stones to the winner."
The chubby boy looked at Gu Ding with suspicion, even suspecting that Gu Ding and the other party were in cahoots to deceive him. "Old man, aren't you afraid that someone as shrewd as you will run away with the money? Two million source stones is no small sum."
"I think this young man isn't short of money," the old man said with a smile, looking at Gu Ding. "Am I right?"
Gu Ding just grinned and didn't respond.
"Besides, one million source stones is just a drop in the ocean for you, little fatty?" The old man's narrowed eyes made the little fatty feel guilty.
"How do you know my identity?" The chubby boy looked at the old man with a slight nervousness. At the same time, the results of the Gu Ding detection on his wristwatch came out. After seeing the results, he was also a little surprised. "So you are the leader of that Pirate Crew that has been so popular recently."
"Tsk tsk, this chubby kid's identity isn't simple either." The Sea Emperor hadn't paid much attention to the chubby kid before, until the old man said that one million source stones were just a drop in the ocean for the chubby kid, then the Sea Emperor checked the other party's information. "He's actually the only son of the chief director of the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate."
The Fei Nan Si Conglomerate was a name Gu Ding was familiar with; it was the second largest consortium in the entire Universe Sea, with over a hundred merchant guilds under its umbrella. It held substantial shares in the Medicine God Alliance, the Divine Armory Pavilion, and many other forces and merchant guilds.
On Liliath's paternal side, the Harris Family, even the patriarch is at most a regular board member within the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate, along with nearly twenty others in the same position. While the other board members may not be as wealthy as the Harris Family, they are not far off. Compared to the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate, the Harris Family is like a fish compared to a whale—they are not even in the same league. After all, the Harris Family only operates in the information industry, and the Fernans Consortium holds a 32% stake in Fei Nan Si Conglomerate Corporation.
As the founders of the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate, the Gates Family naturally has a much deeper foundation than the Harris Family, which includes not only wealth but also various other resources.
As the only son of the Gates Family, Fa Te was also a naturally gifted businessman. He was very sensitive to money and had extensive knowledge. By the age of sixteen, he was already Grandmaster Level appraiser, and few treasures could escape his eye. Therefore, he often enjoyed hunting for treasures in various markets.
Because he was the only son in his family, he was well protected. The outside world knew almost nothing about him except that he was sixteen years old and male. No one knew anything else, not even his name, let alone his appearance, height, or weight.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that the Gates Family controls the Middleton Group, so some of the media personnel under Middleton dare not delve into the Gates Family's secrets. And other media companies do not have the power to dig that out, so Fa Te's identity has always been a mystery.
The reason Sea Emperor was able to find out was because he hacked into the chubby boy's Smart Watch and discovered that many of the contacts on the watch belonged to the Gates Family. Even Stephen, the chief director of the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate, was among them, with the contact name "Stingy Old Man." As for Stephen's wife, her contact name was "Dear Mom," making her identity quite obvious.
As for further information, Sea Emperor didn't dare delve too deeply. The security level of the Little Fatty's watch was extremely high, even surpassing that of Elizabeth, the former Universe Country Ruler. Therefore, Sea Emperor only checked the other party's contacts to confirm their identity before quietly withdrawing.
When Fa Te learned of Gu Ding's identity, he was only slightly surprised. He didn't know much about Interstellar Pirate, nor had he paid much attention to the War God Arena matches, so he had only heard of Gu Ding's name before, but hadn't bothered to watch any of Gu Ding video footage. Only now did he realize that Gu Ding wasn't the tall, muscular man he had previously imagined.
"I heard you auctioned a five-star divine artifact in the Fei Me Universe Country before, and the final transaction amount was three hundred million source stones and a golden token from the Divine Armory Pavilion." The chubby boy was more concerned about this matter. "Are you interested in transferring that token to me?"
"That token? It's already been used." Gu Ding was surprised that someone would actually be willing to pay for it.
"Used it all?" The chubby boy looked at Gu Ding with some suspicion. He thought Gu Ding was unwilling to sell.
"I used that token to get them to kill someone for me." Gu Ding didn't intend to explain further.
"Alright," the chubby boy said, seeing that Gu Ding's expression didn't seem fake, and that the man had mentioned killing so casually, which was indeed the style of Interstellar Pirate. He then turned to the old man and said, "I'll accept the bet. However, I have one request."
"Tell me about it," the old man said, seemingly unsurprised.
"I don't want to watch the video. I want to witness the hatching of this Devouring Beast with my own eyes." The chubby boy said with a serious expression.
"Incubation takes at least twenty days," Gu Ding, somewhat surprised. "But we only have two days, at most three, allotted on this planet."
"You're probably heading into the Universe Sea. Anyway, I'm going that way, so I can ride with your spaceship, or you can ride with mine. It's in the Great Boundary River. It's at least a thirty-day journey, enough time for them to hatch." The chubby boy looked at Gu Ding.
"If you're not willing, little friend, I won't force you to continue this bet." The old man didn't urge Gu Ding.
Gu Ding hesitated because Sea Emperor's existence couldn't be known to outsiders. If someone knew of Sea Emperor's existence, SkyNet would eventually realize that Sea Emperor was Super Intelligence just like itself. No one could predict how it would react. But eliminating Sea Emperor was clearly a possibility, Gu Ding couldn't risk such a thing.
"Agree to him!" Sea Emperor urged in Gu Ding's ear, "You will inevitably have to deal with the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate in the future, and Fa Te is the future heir of the Fei Nan Si Conglomerate. In the long run, he is a very good ally. Just try not to talk to me. When Ka Le Er was here before, she didn't even notice my presence."
After a long silence, Gu Ding shook his head and looked at Fa Te. "You will lose this bet. Therefore, I cannot let you board the ship to participate in this bet."
The old man maintained his original expression, his eyes slightly narrowed as he looked at the chubby boy.
"How do you know I'll lose?" the chubby boy asked Gu Ding, glaring at him defiantly. "Even with my eyesight, I can't tell the difference. What makes you say that?"
"Because I knew it was a mutated Devouring Beast egg. I didn't say anything before because I hadn't received the item yet, and I was afraid this old man would raise the price again." Gu Ding didn't know what else to say.
The chubby boy stared at Gu Ding for a while, thinking that he wasn't lying, but he was still unconvinced. "I just don't believe it. Let me on the ship. If what hatches is really a mutated beast, I have nothing to say even if I lose."
"Since you insist, then so be it." Gu Ding knew that no amount of persuasion would work. The other party was extremely confident in his appraisal skills and would not believe it until he saw the Devouring Beast hatch with his own eyes.
The three parties drew up a written agreement, signed it, and sent it to their respective email addresses. Only then did the old man and Fa Te each transfer one million source stones to Gu Ding's account.
Meanwhile, Fat Fa Te, followed Gu Ding to the port, put away his own spaceship, and boarded the Titan, which belonged to Gu Ding Team.
~~~
[Let me clarify again, my "Chief Director" here is actually the same as the current "Chairman of the Board," I just changed the title.] (To be continued...)