Federal Government Headquarters, Where the Strong Gather

After leading Gu Ding others to the teleportation array, Salamon did not immediately activate it. Instead, he said, "The Darkness Clan, like the Abyss Clan, are descendants of those from Hell. This race has maintained its position as a first-rate race because, in addition to their astonishing combat power, they are particularly adept at using various dark curses and poisons. Their attack methods are extremely bizarre and difficult to defend against. When we get to the Federal Government headquarters, they will probably tell you this, but don't take it lightly. As far as I know, when humans of equal Combat Strength encounter the Dark Race, the probability of human death is as high as 85%, precisely because most powerful humans haven't paid attention to this."

"Understood, Uncle Salamon, thanks for the reminder." Although Gu Ding was a little surprised by the other party's kind reminder, he still grinned and showed his white teeth to express his gratitude.

Salamon then activated the teleportation array and sent Gu Ding and the others away.

"Gu Ding, do you know this guy named Salamon?" Liliath couldn't help but ask from inside the bubble enveloped by the teleportation array.

"I don't know him." Gu Ding shook his head decisively.

"I also find it strange. As a high-ranking official of the Federal Government, why did he first tell us the specifics of the ruins, and then tell us about the Darkness Clan? Shouldn't the Federal Government and us Interstellar Pirate be adversaries?" Dokter was also puzzled. "He doesn't necessarily have to know Gu Ding. Maybe he's an elder who knows Gu Ding." Miko, standing beside him, thought the question was easy to explain.

"My elders...maybe too. That Barn seemed to be in the same situation." Gu Ding pondered for a moment, resting his chin on his hand. "But I don't even know who my biological parents are, I don't even know who my Old Dad who raised me is..."

"You should have a record of what your Old Dad looks like, right? Can't the Sea Emperor find out based on his appearance?" Liliath couldn't help but ask.

"I checked. There's no record. Every time my privileges are upgraded, Gu Ding checks me, but he never finds anything. It's like this person doesn't even exist." The Sea Emperor was somewhat helpless about this.

After this topic was discussed, everyone fell silent.

Several hours later, a bright light shone before their eyes again. Gu Ding and his group had finally arrived at the headquarters of the Federal Government Headquarters.

They had expected the area around the teleportation array to be heavily guarded, but when Gu Ding and his companions looked around, they found only two guards.

"The Federal Government Headquarters Star Region is teeming with powerful individuals; no one would dare to act recklessly. In fact, whether there are guards or not doesn't matter." The Sea Emperor's words dispelled Gu Ding's doubts. One of the two guards glanced at Gu Ding and immediately said, "Follow me!"

Gu Ding and the others didn't say anything and just followed.

The guard led Gu Ding and his group directly to a large hall in a nearby building. "This hall is where you'll meet at 9:00 AM the day after tomorrow. You're free to move around at other times, the only requirement is not to cause trouble, and especially not to kill anyone. You can register at Building Number Thirteen these two days. After registration, you'll enjoy free accommodation and food. If you don't want to stay here, you can find a hotel yourself, but we won't reimburse the expenses. If there are no other questions, I'll go back to my post."

"No problem, you can go now." Gu Ding shook his head. The guard also turned and left.

Gu Ding and his group looked around the hall, which was completely empty except for their own group.

"There's no one here. Let's go and find a hotel to stay in."

"There's someone sleeping on that sofa over there!" Sea Emperor pointed out. "But it's not one of our thousand spots; it's probably just a staff member. They look quite old."

Gu Ding found it strange; he couldn't sense any presence. He immediately walked towards the sofa, and Liliath and the others gathered around as well.

Curled up asleep on the sofa was a small, elderly man, seemingly very thin and short, probably less than 1.5 meters tall. He was wearing a military uniform that was several sizes too big for him, completely ill-fitting; it was unclear where he had found it.

Gu Ding glanced at a set of cleaning tools placed in the corner not far from the sofa and guessed that the old man must be a cleaner working here, looking rather pitiful.

Out of compassion, she grabbed a handful of Originium from her Storage Space and stuffed it into the old man's left shirt pocket. Just as she was about to pull her hand away after placing the Originium, a lean hand gripped her wrist.

The old man opened his eyes with a hostile expression, turned around, and said, "I was taking a nap, but I ended up catching a thief."

"Hey, old man, are you being reasonable? We took pity on you and kindly put Originium into your pocket, and you're framing us?!" Liliath was immediately angered.

"Lily." Gu Ding shook his head at her, signaling her to stop talking. "Uncle, now that you're awake, we'll be going."

"That won't do! I need to check if I'm missing anything first." But the old man grabbed Gu Ding's wrist and wouldn't let go.

Gu Ding was afraid of hurting the other party, so he did not try to break free.

The old man sat up, reached into his pocket with his other hand, pulled out a handful of Originium, and then carefully counted them. "1, 2, 3... 21, 22."

He counted once, then counted a second time, and at an incredibly slow pace, making Liliath grit her teeth in frustration. Just as the old man was about to count a third time, Liliath finally snapped, "Old man, are you ever going to stop? You've counted over and over again! Do you think we didn't give you enough?!"

"This number is wrong! I clearly had twenty-five, but I've counted twice and there are only twenty-two. You must have stolen three!" the old man shouted at Liliath.

Liliath's fists clenched so tightly they cracked. If she hadn't seen that the other person was just an ordinary old man, she probably would have slapped him away long ago. "You old man, you lie without even blinking! Believe me, I'll beat you to a pulp!"

The old man raised his eyelids, looked Liliath up and down, then turned his face to the side. "Tch, a little girl with no breasts, yet she dares to call herself 'Grandma'? Aren't you afraid of making a fool of yourself?"

"You bastard, I'm going to crush you to death!!!" Liliath finally went completely berserk.

Seeing Liliath's state, Elsa and Dokter quickly pulled her back, afraid she might accidentally kill the old man. Liliath, however, waved her fists at the old man from a distance, looking menacing.

Seeing this, Gu Ding knew that if the old man continued to provoke Liliath, something bad would probably happen. But since the old man was just an ordinary, pitiful old man, he could only say helplessly, "Uncle, we didn't take your source stones, but if you're still short three, I can give you three more."

As he spoke, Gu Ding took out three more source stones and handed them to the old man.

The old man glanced at Gu Ding, then swiftly snatched the three source stones from Gu Ding's hand. "Since you know you were wrong and have returned the source stones to me, I'll be magnanimous and let you go. You can leave now, don't disturb my sleep."

"Let's go," Gu Ding said, waving his hand.

Elsa and Dokter supported Liliath as they walked towards the door.

When the old man saw Liliath walk to the door, he waved the Originium in his hand at her, then made a victory sign with a smug smile on his face.

"You old bastard, you just wait and see! I'll never let you get away with this!" Liliath shouted, provoked once again.

After leaving the Federal Government's headquarters, Gu Ding and his group, under the Sea Emperor's instructions, found a hotel and booked a suite.

Without Robert's time acceleration domain, a day or two was not enough for Gu Ding to cultivate, so they simply stopped cultivating and started wandering around.

As Salamon previously mentioned, purchasing some Purification Potion and antidote potions is necessary. While Gu Ding himself doesn't need the Purification Potion, others will.

Guided by the Sea Emperor, Gu Ding and his group quickly arrived at the potion purchasing area, where they bought hundreds of bottles of Purification Potion and detoxification potions, as well as a large quantity of God Source Replenishment Potion.

Two days passed quickly. During these two days, although Gu Ding and the others did not cultivate, they completely adjusted their bodies to a combat state.

On the morning of the third day, Gu Ding and his group had breakfast early and arrived at the same conference hall.

By 8:30 a. m., more than 500 people had already gathered in the conference hall, and Gu Ding and his group saw many familiar faces.

Scarlet was spotted in a corner, and Gu Ding and the others went over to investigate.

"So you have this same cold expression in real life too," Gu Ding teased.

"Whether it's the virtual world or the War God Arena, the appearance of people is 100% simulated," Scarlet explained very seriously.

When he opened his mouth, Gu Ding didn't know how to respond.

However, Karrot happened to come over and asked, "What, Scarlet, are you now officially a member of the Gu Ding Pirate Crew?"

"I'm willing to accept the consequences of my bet," Scarlet replied simply.

"Then you've become my target too." After saying this, Karrot gave Gu Ding a deep look before turning and leaving.

Gu Ding also felt that many eyes were on him from the crowd, two of which were particularly intense: one from Miniana and the Dao Principles from Hake.

After noticing Gu Ding looking back, Miniana turned her head away to avoid eye contact with Gu Ding.

Hake, meanwhile, kept staring at Gu Ding, as if he couldn't see anyone else in the hall. He huddled in a corner, his body slightly curled up, muttering something under his breath.

As time passed, more and more people filled the hall, and soon it was nine o'clock. Of the original one thousand slots, nine hundred and ninety-seven people had arrived, while three people were absent for unknown reasons.

Meanwhile, on the Federal Government side, a Middle-Aged Man in a black uniform finally pushed open the door and walked straight toward the high platform in the conference hall.