Entering the Federal Government Outpost

Two days later, Gu Ding Team arrived at a branch headquarters of the Federal Government. As their spaceship landed at the port and Gu Ding disembarked, they were met with many unfriendly stares.

This planet is called Da Shi Star, a planet rich in mineral veins. As the headquarters of the Federal Government, it has almost never been visited by Interstellar Pirate, and the port is heavily guarded, with a military personnel stationed almost every ten meters. And these military personnel are the source of the unfriendly gazes.

As members of the military, they were naturally familiar with the Gu Ding Team. The Gu Ding Team occupied almost half of the top ten spots on the Demigod Prodigy Ranking, with Gu Ding being the top expert on the Ranking List. That still slightly childish face was already etched in the memories of the vast majority of the Federal Government military.

Gu Ding and his group ignored this. They had come at the invitation of the Federal Government and had no reason to be afraid. Besides, this was just a branch of the Federal Government in the Shallow Sea Zone, and the highest-ranking administrator was not even Peak-rank God. Gu Ding and his group could easily wipe out this base with a flick of their wrist.

Of course, besides the military personnel, some ordinary residents near the port who were interested in current affairs also recognized Gu Ding. Hearing him mutter like that, many people in the tavern looked in Gu Ding's direction.

"That's right, it's the Gu Ding Pirate Crew! I just saw Gu Ding's Bounty Order in the tavern," someone exclaimed excitedly upon seeing Gu Ding.

"Hey, keep your voice down. People will hear you." The person sitting next to him immediately covered his mouth and scolded him.

"Why are there Interstellar Pirate here? Don't the military care?" An old man frowned slightly. He had lived on this planet for decades and this was the first time he had encountered Interstellar Pirate. Having grown up under the protection of the Federal Government, he naturally had no fondness for Interstellar Pirate.

"I'm afraid no one will dare to stop him. Gu Ding is too strong. Even Lord Kamody is probably no match for him," someone whispered nearby.

"Oh no, he's coming towards us!" someone suddenly shouted.

The others, seeing Gu Ding Team approaching the tavern, also turned pale. They obediently shut their mouths, pretending to be calm as they sat and drank, their hearts pounding. Finding an empty table, Liliath deliberately slammed her Gun Armament on the table and called out in a show of bravado, "Waiter, drinks, please!"

Gu Ding gave her a strange look. Liliath was clearly trying to scare these people because she had overheard what they had said earlier.

Upon seeing the silver pistol that Liliath had slammed on the table, many people sitting nearby turned green with shock.

A group of waiters stood not far from the door, hesitant to approach after witnessing the scene. It took a while before a small, thin man was finally pushed out. He was clearly a teenager, appearing to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing black-rimmed glasses and looking like a student; he was probably working there temporarily.

The short waitress approached somewhat nervously, "Hello... please... what... would you like to order?"

Gu Ding was never one to make things difficult for waiters. He grinned at the waiter and said, "Give me a Mirka, wait, two will do. I haven't had one in ages."

"I want Sour Lemon Juice!" Liliath said, fiddling with the Gun Armament in her hand.

The little boy watched with trepidation, afraid of upsetting Liliath, and quickly nodded, "Yes, yes."

After the others had been counted one by one, many people around were stunned.

Because almost all members of the Gu Ding Team ordered fruit juices and similar drinks, only Dokter ordered a Binks, which is also a fruit-based wine with a very low alcohol content. Gu Ding, as the captain, ordered Mirka, a legendary children's drink.

"Aren't Interstellar Pirate supposed to be the kind who can drink half a case of 'Burning Fire Liquor in one go? Why are the Gu Ding Pirate Crew all drinking fruit drinks?" Many people secretly grumbled to themselves.

"Burning Fire Liquor" is a very strong liquor with an extremely high alcohol content. It feels like burning fire when it enters the stomach; even a single sip can cause gastrointestinal perforation. In the eyes of the general public, it's a forbidden drink. And now, these unreliable rumors have spread, claiming that Interstellar Pirate drink Burning Fire Liquor, and that each one drinks half a case at a time.

After finishing their drinks, Gu Ding and his friends left the bar each with an ice cream cone, leaving everyone stunned.

"Interstellar Pirate eat ice cream? Shouldn't they be eating human flesh?" one of them muttered under his breath after watching Gu Ding and the others walk away.

"That's right, I've also heard that Interstellar Pirate eat human flesh for every meal. As for dessert, it's pudding made from human blood." Someone next to him nodded quickly.

"They might be tired of eating human flesh and just want a change of pace," another person said, resting his chin on his hand.

"Hmm, that makes sense. That explains why they stopped drinking 'Burning Fire Liquor'." One person thought it made a lot of sense and quickly agreed.

"They seem to be heading towards the Federal Hall..." someone in the crowd suddenly exclaimed in surprise. "That's the headquarters of the Federal Government! Are they trying to seize control of this planet?!"

A moment of panic broke out among the crowd, and some even posted the news of Gu Ding's arrival on the SkyNet.

In reality, many similar incidents had already been reported on the SkyNet that day, all involving well-known Interstellar Pirate suddenly appearing at the Federal Government's headquarters.

Gu Ding and his group arrived at the entrance of the Federal Hall. Although the guards at the entrance had unfriendly looks, they did not stop them. Clearly, they had been instructed to do so and dared not disobey orders.

Upon entering the hall, a woman in a blue uniform greeted them, "Hello, Gu Ding, welcome."

"Where can I claim the reward?" Gu Ding asked directly.

"Please follow me." The woman in uniform smiled slightly and led Gu Ding and his group deeper into the building. The atmosphere was rather awkward along the way because no one took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

After leading Gu Ding and the others to a meeting room, the woman in uniform spoke again, "Please rest here for a while, I'll go and inform the manager."

Gu Ding and his group didn't have to wait long; the manager arrived in about five or six minutes. He was a slightly overweight Middle-Aged Man with an ordinary appearance—the kind of person you'd easily lose in a crowd.

"My name is Billington. Hello, Good morning ...

Gu Ding could sense that the other party seemed to be someone who had experienced many storms, and was completely calm and unfazed when he saw his group.

"Sir, we're here to collect our reward." Gu Ding didn't have much in common with the Federal Government officials, so he stated his purpose directly.

"Gu Ding is indeed as straightforward as the rumors say. Alright then, those who have won the reward spots, come with me. The rest of you can have some drinks or snacks and wait here." Billington wasn't annoyed. After calling over the uniformed woman from earlier via communicator and giving her some instructions, he led Gu Ding and the others away.

Billington led Gu Ding in an elevator to an unknown depth underground. After going through more than a dozen authentication processes, they finally arrived at the door of a small room.

"Only one person can enter at a time. Once inside, follow the instructions to receive the reward you desire." Billington placed his right palm on a scanning screen next to the door.

With a beep, the silver door opened.

"Who wants to go first?" Gu Ding looked at the people around him.

"You go first. You're the captain, you should set an example," Liliath said quipped.

"Alright then," Gu Ding nodded and stepped into the crowd.

The door closed automatically after he stepped inside.

Upon entering the room, Gu Ding immediately heard the Sea Emperor's voice. "This is a small-scale base station established by SkyNet. Information from here can be directly transmitted to SkyNet."

At the same time, a beam of light shot out from somewhere on the ceiling. Gu Ding was about to dodge, but was stopped by the Sea Emperor.

Gu Ding stood still. After the beam of light scanned Gu Ding from head to toe, a voice came from the ceiling, "Identity confirmed. Name: Gu Ding. Champion of the Virtual World Trial Arena at the demigod level. Total points: 480 million."

"Hello, trial participant. Let me briefly explain the reward exchange rules. Items of equivalent value to One-Star Divine Object are exchanged for 10,000 to 30,000 points, items of equivalent value to a two-star divine artifact are exchanged for 100,000 to 300,000 points, and so on. Five-star divine artifacts are exchanged for 100 million to 300 million points. Above five-star divine artifacts are Pseudo Spiritual Object, and the cheapest of these require at least one billion points to exchange. As for true spiritual items, at least one trillion points are required to exchange for a single one."

"Trillion points?! No one can reach that requirement, right?" Gu Ding said, somewhat speechless.

"The virtual world Trial Arena points are cumulative, and the points from each level can be carried over to the next level after advancement. There are even people in the Federal Government faction who have reached trillions of points," the female voice explained.

Gu Ding then realized that the virtual world he had entered earlier was actually a Trial Arena that the Federal Government had been using, and there was more than one such Trial Arena.

"Don't overthink it, let's choose the reward first. The others are still waiting," the Sea Emperor reminded him.