Can You Call Yourself an Interstellar Pirate Without a Bounty?

Liliath was only fourteen years old, and she had always been secretive about her origins. After asking once and seeing her remain silent, Gu Ding did not press further. He knew everyone had their own secrets, so he had never liked prying into other people's private affairs.

However, Gu Ding knew that Liliath's identity was definitely far from ordinary. She possessed two sets of Bronze Level armaments on her own: one full-body armament and one special firearm-type armament.

A single Bronze Level armament cost at least one billion Star Coins. As for special firearm-type armaments, they were practically the most valuable kind of armament, costing at least three billion Star Coins. Moreover, Bronze Level armaments themselves were items with prices but no market, with extremely few circulating publicly.

Liliath's watch was inlaid with three pure white gemstones. It was a luxurious Grade A watch. Gu Ding remembered seeing an advertisement for it and vaguely recalled that it seemed to be called "Angel's Love." Its market price seemed to be around three billion Star Coins. It had supposedly been sold in limited quantities, with only one thousand available in the entire Long Teng Universe Country.

All the signs indicated that Liliath was either rich or noble.

If someone harbored ill intentions, they might already be considering murder and theft. But to Gu Ding, she was merely a helpless little girl.

"Why did you appear on this planet?" Liliath was still somewhat wary of Gu Ding's identity. She had passed through several star regions along the way, and quite a few people had harbored improper intentions toward her.

"I was carried here by an Interstellar Storm." Gu Ding did not think there was much to explain. He had spent almost the entire journey asleep and had no idea what had happened in between.

"Is your spaceship still intact?" Liliath was more concerned about that question.

"It was destroyed, so I planned to go to the Shipbuilding Factory and see whether there are any intact spaceships."

"There is a Shipbuilding Factory on this planet? How did you know? Even my watch can't locate our position, much less obtain information about this planet." Liliath found it somewhat surprising, because in her eyes, the one on Gu Ding's wrist was merely an ordinary Civilian Smart Watch. Its functions certainly could not compare to hers.

"The Gray Star Region really cannot be located, because once the Federal Government abandons a star region, the relevant information is no longer publicly updated. We can only look up information from decades ago, from before this region was abandoned. But recently, the Interstellar Storm has blocked network signals, so there is no way to access SkyNet and search for relevant information." Gu Ding did not explain how he knew there was a shipbuilding factory on this planet.

After hearing that, Liliath did not continue questioning him. She had many secrets of her own. If he did not want to say, it meant it was inconvenient for him to reveal it, and there was no need for her to dig deeper. Of course, she did not forget to remind Gu Ding, "The monsters on this planet become active at night. Some extremely powerful beings also appear then, and neither you nor I can handle them. For some reason, they refuse to approach this Volcanic Region. If it weren't for this volcano, I probably would not have survived until today."

"This virus does not like hot environments, so it will not control its hosts to approach heated areas. I will leave here early tomorrow morning. Do you want to come with me? We do not know whether the shipbuilding factory has any intact spaceships, but it would be good to take a look first. If not, we can think of something then. This planet is dangerous. The longer we stay, the greater the chance of dying." Gu Ding felt that leaving her here was not much different from murder.

"Are you a scientist?" Rather than immediately answer Gu Ding's question, Liliath asked one of her own.

"I'm an Interstellar Pirate," Gu Ding corrected her.

"Really?" Liliath seemed even more interested after hearing that. Blinking twice, she asked, "Then how much is your bounty?"

"Cough, cough..." Gu Ding truly did not want to bring up that subject. "I only left my home planet less than a week ago..."

"Then you haven't been wanted yet?" Liliath seemed somewhat disappointed. She muttered softly to herself, "Can you call yourself an Interstellar Pirate without a bounty?"

Gu Ding was speechless.

After a moment, Liliath asked again, "What about your companions? Did you get separated?"

"I haven't recruited any yet..." Gu Ding felt even more discouraged by that question.

Liliath was somewhat confused. She muttered softly again, "Shouldn't Interstellar Pirates recruit companions before setting out?"

Gu Ding sat silently to the side. After hearing Liliath's two questions, he began to wonder whether he truly counted as a real Interstellar Pirate. No bounty, no companions—didn't that make him sound more like an Interstellar Wanderer?

"Gu Ding, can I join you?" After a while, Liliath seemed to have made up her mind.

"You're too young." Gu Ding looked somewhat troubled. He knew that a gunslinger was indispensable to a team, but precisely because of that, he could not casually give that position to just anyone.

"Tch, how old are you?" Liliath retorted. "I'm very good. The teachers who taught me before all said I was a genius."

"Fine. If you can prove that you're an outstanding gunslinger, I can consider it." Gu Ding did not think fourteen-year-old Liliath's shooting skills could be all that impressive.

"You said it. Come with me!" Liliath led Gu Ding down to the mountainside, where the two hid behind a massive boulder. She handed Gu Ding an infrared telescope, then summoned her Gun Armament.

The armament instantly transformed into a large sniper rifle. The moment Liliath held the gun, her bearing began to change. She had clearly become serious. She took out a silencer and attached it to the muzzle, then grabbed several bullets from her Storage Space and loaded them into the magazine.

"These are specially made Light Energy Bullets. They're especially effective against these monsters." She explained in a lowered voice, then hoisted the sniper rifle, which was nearly as tall as she was, onto her shoulder. "Watch carefully!"

Gu Ding raised the telescope and looked toward the direction she was aiming. He heard the faint sound of the trigger being pulled, and a monster's head exploded.

Then came the second, the third, the fourth...

Every monster was killed with a single headshot, and every shot struck the left eye.

Liliath changed magazines again, and every shot remained equally precise.

What terrifying marksmanship! Gu Ding could not help but marvel inwardly. At that moment, he also noticed that Liliath's eyes had turned golden during the shooting.

"Her eyes should possess a Pupil Technique inherited through her genes. Judging by it, its ability rank is not low. Her accuracy is likely just a secondary effect of the Pupil Technique." Sea Emperor noticed it as well. "Let her join. She has excellent potential."

"Well?" After lowering her gun, Liliath's eyes returned to normal. She smiled proudly at Gu Ding.

"Your marksmanship is excellent, but I can't accept you joining." Gu Ding shook his head. Liliath's identity was clearly far from simple. "I'll take you off this planet. Return to your parents as soon as possible..."

Liliath's smile immediately froze upon hearing that. After a long while, she said in a somewhat dejected voice, "My parents are already dead..."

(Thank you, rainie丶love, for the donation. I just saw your message in the review section saying that, as a student, you can only show support through recommendation votes. Let me say this here: for someone who writes stories, having people enjoy reading those stories is already the greatest reward. Every click and every recommendation vote is a form of support; the sentiment matters most. Of course, if your financial circumstances allow it, I still hope everyone can support正版 reading.)