A New Journey, Here We Come!

Gu Ding was stunned when he heard Fa Te's words; he hadn't expected Fa Te to make such a request.

"If I were you, I would say yes," Sea Emperor urged in Gu Ding's ear. "That astronomical bank deposit is simply irresistible."

Gu Ding ignored Sea Emperor. After a long while, he finally spoke, "Fa Te, I won't refuse you. But I think you need to think carefully about whether this decision is what you truly desire or just a momentary impulse. If it's just a momentary impulse, you'll definitely regret your decision later. Because becoming Interstellar Pirate means starting all over again."

Fa Te fell silent. He had been reading a lot about Interstellar Pirate these past few days, which led him to make this decision. He didn't know if it was the right or wrong one.

Seeing Fa Te remain silent, Gu Ding continued, "How about this, when you return to your family, you can go back to your old life. If you still wish to be an Interstellar Pirate after a few months, you can come find us anytime."

Fa Te nodded. He thought Gu Ding's suggestion was quite good; he had indeed been feeling a bit lost lately. His lifelong dream had been to surpass his father and become the richest man in the Universe Sea. Even before meeting Gu Ding and his group, his understanding of Interstellar Pirate was like that of ordinary people—he thought they were just a bunch of idle people who spent their days flying their spaceships around the stars, burning, killing, and looting. But now, the idea of becoming Interstellar Pirate had inexplicably popped into his head.

"I have a few questions..." Fa Te suddenly remembered that he had looked into a lot of things about Gu Ding Team these past few days. Some of the things circulating on the SkyNet were quite mysterious, and now that Gu Ding, as one of the parties involved, was in front of him, his curiosity made him want to ask about the truth of those things. "I've also read a lot of news reports about your team these past few days. I want to know, what the SkyNet says about you encountering Time Reversal and meeting the Middle Ancient Era witch tribes, is that true?"

"This is true..." When Gu Ding saw Fa Te asking, he recounted the whole story.

"Also, there are rumors that you kidnapped the ruler of the Fei Me Universe Country. This news was later suppressed. Is that true?"

"Actually, it wasn't a kidnapping. At the time, I just asked Elizabeth to help treat Bigge's injuries, but the people from the Fei Me Universe Country Congress misunderstood..." Gu Ding didn't expect that such a thing would be dug up.

"Besides..."

Over the next few days, Gu Ding stopped cultivating in Robert's domain, and the Gold-type Devouring Beast egg in the incubator began to show signs of hatching. Under the Sea Emperor's instructions, Gu Ding lowered the temperature and light in the incubator. He and Fa Te observed the incubator for a while each day.

"Gu Ding, don't forget we still have a bet." Fa Te pointed to the incubator.

"Don't worry, you'll definitely lose," Gu Ding said with absolute certainty.

"I won't believe anything you say before it hatches." Although Fa Te had some doubts, he still trusted his own judgment.

Several days passed quickly, and Elsa finally became the second person, after Gu Ding, to break through Robert's domain. Gu Ding could sense it. The strength of her vital energy was terrifyingly abundant.

"Elsa, your progress is terrifying!" Gu Ding couldn't help but exclaim. Elsa's physical strength has reached the level of a mid-level seven-star Mid-rank God. She would probably dare to fight any High-rank God.

"My bloodline has awakened a second time! Now that I'm back in the clan, Old Dad definitely won't be a match for me." Elsa raised her little fist. Just as she said this, her stomach growled loudly, clearly protesting that she hadn't eaten for days. "I'm so hungry! Is there anything to eat?"

"It's almost lunchtime. Gu Ding only knows how to make fried rice, so I'll do it." Fa Te got up and walked towards the kitchen. He had been quite free these days, and cooking had become a pastime.

"How are Bigge and the others doing?" Gu Ding asked.

"Bigge has broken through to the level of a god. He's been consolidating his cultivation these past few days and should be able to emerge from seclusion tomorrow." Before Elsa came out, she also checked on everyone's situation. "Lily's pupils have changed and her aura has stabilized. She should be close to emerging from seclusion soon. Tagore is still sleeping; I don't know what's going on. But I noticed that Dokter's aura has become so powerful. Could he also be a special race and have experienced bloodline awakening?"

"He didn't awaken his bloodline; he was just lucky enough to inherit the bloodline factors of that Crimson Blood Beast and receive its Crimson Blood Beast inheritance," Gu Ding explained.

"Wow, that's amazing, to have inherited the legacy of Starry Sky Giant Beast..." Elsa's face was full of envy.

"Yeah, their luck is just unbelievable." Gu Ding was actually a little envious.

Fa Te's culinary skills were naturally inferior to Bigge's, and he was well aware of this, so he only made a few of his signature dishes. Fortunately, Gu Ding and Elsa were both easygoing foodies and ate everything cleanly, which made Fa Te somewhat relieved.

After lunch, the three were chatting idly. Suddenly, Gu Ding heard the Sea Emperor's voice, "That Gold-type Devouring Beast is about to hatch."

Gu Ding immediately sat up and appeared in front of the incubator.

Elsa and Fa Te immediately followed.

Inside the incubator, a crack appeared on the beast egg.

"It looks like it's almost hatching. In a day or three at most, we'll be able to see whether the hatched creature is a mutated beast or not." Fa Te's family owns a company that specializes in buying and selling pets, so they are very familiar with the pet hatching process.

But just as Fa Te finished speaking, the crack began to expand at a tremendous speed, causing the three who were about to leave to turn their attention back to it and wait patiently.

As the crack widened, other fine lines began to appear around it, spreading outwards from the eggshell.

"How could it be so fast?" Fa Te found it a bit strange.

About two or three minutes passed, and the cracks on the eggshell had extended to the entire surface of the eggshell. Then, a soft "crack" sound was heard, and the eggshell finally shattered completely, but not into pieces; instead, it shattered into powder.

A small, golden-furred creature was suddenly revealed to everyone. The little thing had a round, fluffy body, and stood upright on its two hind legs. Its two front paws were very short. Its eyes were like two blue diamonds.

"So cute!" As a woman, Elsa had absolutely no resistance to such creatures.

"It really is a mutated beast!" Fa Te, somewhat lost in thought.

Gu Ding grinned as he looked at the little beast in the incubator. It was opening its mouth and swallowing all the powdered eggshells, then patting its belly with its short paws before falling asleep.

"The energy contained within the eggshell will keep it asleep for two or three days. After it wakes up, its initial stage will last about a week. During this time, it can only be fed liquid and powdered food. Fortunately, we have Beast Blood, which we can use to feed it. Mutated Devouring Beast have many evolutionary possibilities, and their food requirements are not as simple as those of ordinary Gold-type Devouring Beast. They are also easier to feed," the Sea Emperor reminded Gu Ding.

"This really is a mutated beast, Gold-type Devouring Beast. Regardless of its form, its initial state should have silver-gray fur, which then slowly turns silver-white. This one was born with gold fur, which is unique to mutated beasts." Fa Te had to admit that he had lost his bet.

Gu Ding shrugged. "I told you so, but you wouldn't believe me."

"How did you figure that out?" Fa Te, somewhat curious.

"I don't know how that old man figured it out, but I judged it from the vitality of the beast egg," Gu Ding replied.

"The strength of life force can only be sensed by a sufficiently powerful soul, right? Besides, it's said that this method isn't particularly accurate, because no one knows where the boundary of life force strength lies between mutated and non-mutated beasts." Fa Te was still somewhat doubtful.

"I have a special method to judge the strength of life force, and I also know what standard the strength of life force of mutated beasts should be above." Gu Ding didn't intend to explain any more, because saying more would expose the Sea Emperor's secret.

Fa Te didn't ask any further questions. Actually, he had heard Gu Ding call out the name of the Sea Emperor when Gu Ding was slaying the Starry Sky Giant Beast. But none of the crew members he knew were named Sea Emperor. He guessed that there might be another member on Gu Ding's ship whom he couldn't see, but since he wasn't a member of Gu Ding Team, he was curious about such things but didn't want to investigate.

"Shall we begin fulfilling that old man's bet?" Gu Ding asked Fa Te.

"A bet's a bet." Fa Te nodded.

Gu Ding dialed the old man's number, and after a while, the call connected. The old man's projection showed a smiling expression, "Well, you two children, has that little thing hatched yet?"

"Yes, sir, it's a mutated Devouring Beast," Gu Ding said, projecting the image onto the incubator.

Looking at the golden beast's round body, the old man turned to Fa Te, "Well, little fatty, you lost."

"Gu Ding, transfer the money." Fa Te didn't intend to argue.

"Uncle, give me your account number, and I'll transfer it to you now. It's a total of two million source stones," Gu Ding said to the old man.

"No need. Use those two million source stones to buy snacks for that little thing," the old man said with a smile. "Take good care of that little thing, and I won't say anything more."

After the old man finished speaking, he hung up the phone immediately.

"What's going on? You won't take the money?" Fa Te asked, somewhat surprised.

"His number was just a temporary number; it's been closed now." Sea Emperor quickly found out that the old man had directly canceled the communication account.

Gu Ding didn't pursue the matter further. Gu Ding wanted to return the one million source stones to Fa Te, but Fa Te said it was his own loss and refused to accept it.

Over the next few days, Bigge and Liliath emerged from their seclusion. In Robert's realm, only Tagore, still asleep, and Dokter, still in a strange state, remained.

Bigge has become a true god, his strength has reached a new level, and his sword intent has finally reached the Great Perfection of the Spiritual Affinity Realm.

Liliath also broke through to the Demigod Realm, her eyes evolved, and her soul strength increased significantly.

Two days passed quickly. Although Dokter and Tagore were not there, Bigge prepared an exceptionally lavish dinner that day.

At dinner, everyone sat together, and they all seemed very happy.

"Today is our last day together. Tomorrow we'll officially embark on our journey into the Universe Sea. A new journey, here we come!" At the table, Gu Ding raised a glass full of Mirka and shouted excitedly. "Cheers!"