The Highest Bounty

Chapter 173 Queen Of The Border River

Deep into the night, a woman in a purple dress was seen half lying on a wooden sleeping chair. In her hand was an intelligent ring, projecting a few videos. The videos being projected were of Gu Ding in combat.

They ranged from Gu Ding’s first battle after his debut, all the way until the most recent fight he had with Yarrow. The woman even had videos of Gu Ding refining medicine in the Hermean Alliance.

The woman dressed in purple curved her lips up slightly. “He’s an interesting boy, isn’t he? He’s only a Rank 5 Gene Body, yet he possesses such powerful combat effectiveness.”

“Young mistress, Gu Ding might look worthy to be placed under the Monster Ranking, and he would be at least 4-stars or above according to them. However, the Gu Ding now still has a long way to go as there is a huge gap between his essence and those of 7-star ranking monster powerhouses who possess prohibited abilities.” A figure slowly formed in the darkness. It was a tall, slender woman. Any man who saw her would not fail to describe her as a woman with an angelic face but a sinfully tempting body. “It’s still too early to jump to any conclusions.” The woman in purple did not look away from the screen.

“Young mistress, you aren’t attracted to that boy, are you? Even though he is quite cute to a certain level, and is totally my type, but for the young mistress…” The tall, slender woman laughed.

The woman in purple raised an eyebrow. “There’s something about him that I find attractive, and I have no idea what it is…”

The tall, slender woman fell silent when she heard those words. “The people from the Dark Sectors are after them again. That little girl named Lili is currently the biggest burden for their crew…”

“Camilia will be celebrating her one-thousandth and seven hundred birthday soon, right? Get her to invite Gu Ding. Also, prepare an exquisite gift for her and get two peak Rank 12 Gene Body powerhouses to deliver it to her,” said the lady in purple, her tone was calm and casual.

“Camilia won’t be too happy about this, especially when she sees those people from the Dark Sectors at her birthday celebration,” the tall, slender woman knew very well what her young mistress was planning.

“That is why you should pick a gift that will satisfy her,” the woman in purple finally turned off the video projection and turned to look at the tall, slender woman. The former’s lips were curved up in a small smile. “Understood.” The tall, slender woman nodded.

However, she continued in a low mumble, “Trading a third-grade life fruit in exchange for the lives of an entire pirate crew that we don’t even know. We’re only going to suffer a loss no matter how I look at it.”

“Just keep your opinions to yourself if you don’t agree with me. You don’t need to grumble about the matter in a low voice, I can hear you…” The purple-dressed woman was a little exasperated as the tall, slender woman had always behaved that way on purpose.

The tall, slender woman covered her mouth and laughed. “I’m sorry, it came out unexpectedly. I’ll make the appropriate arrangements. You should rest earlier today.”

After the tall, slender woman disappeared, the woman in purple broke into a smile. She projected a picture of Gu Ding that showed him smiling widely with his bright, white teeth. “I wonder how you’ll handle things this time?”

Gu Ding was woken up by Neptune the next morning. The battle the day before had left Gu Ding quite exhausted. Even after a night’s worth of sleep, his body was still aching all over. Gu Ding stretched lazily and asked in a slightly unhappy tone, “Neptune, can’t you just let me sleep a little longer?”

“Didn’t you all say you were bored recently and want to go somewhere to have fun?” Neptune laughed as he asked.

“You found a place?” Gu Ding got up immediately and started to wash up.

Neptune explained, “I wasn’t able to find anything, but someone managed to find us. I guess our battle yesterday must have caught the attention of some big-shots.” “What do you mean?” Gu Ding asked in a garbled tone.

“I just received an invitation from Viscount Camilia. She’s inviting us as guests to Jiewang to attend her one-thousandth and seven hundred birthday bash,” Neptune sounded quite excited.

“What sort of person is Viscount Camilia?” Gu Ding thought that the name was quite familiar, but he did not know where he had heard it from.

“Didn’t I tell you about the top ten crews in Border River? Camilia is the renowned queen of Border River. Even if the other nine crews combined forces, they would still be no match for her. The woman is a Rank 12 Gene Body. She’s a powerhouse that was bestowed the title of Viscount by the Federal Government.”

“She sounds really powerful but isn’t she an Interstellar Pirate? Why would the Federal Government give her the title of Viscount?” Gu Ding was unable to comprehend the matter.

“The Federal Government is known to recruit powerful and influential Interstellar Pirates. They bestow them titles and promise not to interfere with their matters on the condition that the pirates accept the titles and help the Federal Government guard the territory. The Federal Government recognizes the Border River, and the area belongs to Camilia. It’s part of the reason why Dragon Soar Cosmic Nation and Faye Cosmic Nation rarely interfere with anything here,” Neptune explained in detail.

“In other words, it means that the Federal Government gave her a license to be an Interstellar Pirate, which is why she doesn’t have a bounty on her,” Gu Ding described the woman’s situation with much more common

terms.

Neptune thought that Gu Ding’s description of the situation was apt. “You could put it that way. Before that woman was recruited, the bounty on her was seven billion and eight hundred million Universe Credits. Her entire crew’s bounty was more than fifteen billion Universe Credits. On the other hand, your bounty has not even reached a zero on her bounty. Nevertheless, after she was recruited, her crew’s second-in-command left with a small number of others.”

“Tell me more about Camilia,” Gu Ding thought that it would be best for him to know more about her since he was about to attend her birthday party.

“Camilia has been in charge of the Border River for more than two hundred years, and she is turning one thousand and seven hundred years old this year. She’s almost at the end of her lifespan. She and her second-in-command were lovers and were very much in love before she was recruited. They were still together even when she was recruited. However, on the night of her recruitment banquet, her second-in-command found her in bed with a young officer from the Federal Government. As a result, he left in anger.”

“She started leading a degenerate life after she was recruited, seeking out different types of men each day. Some say that she has slept with every captain and second-in-command of the nine powerful crews in Border River… No one knows how true the rumor is. Nevertheless, the only thing that we’re sure of, is that she wastes her nights away.” “What sort of people did she invite for her birthday banquet?” Gu Ding changed the topic.

“Almost all the crews in Border River that are in the top twenty. The top ten crews make their appearance each year. Sometimes, well-known personalities who are passing by the Border River are invited by her. For example, a high-ranking army officer from some cosmic nation, officers from the Federal Government, Federal nobilities. Rarely, she invites potential newcomer crews she thinks well of.”

“When is the birthday banquet?” Gu Ding walked toward the kitchen after washing up.

“There’s still a week left before it. We only need two days to travel from here to Jiewang.”

“Is there any place that’s interesting to visit on Jiewang?” Gu Ding was weighing his options; to stay on the current planet and cultivate, or make an early arrival to Jiewang.

“Jiewang is a planet that revolves around tourism. It’s the largest administrative planet in Border River, and it’s the planet with the highest number of visitors in Border River. There is a unique nature reserve on the planet that has plenty of rare beasts in it. They even have two vipers.”

“Sounds great!” Gu Ding was already in the kitchen. Everyone was present there besides Robert.

Hence, Gu Ding announced, “Let’s prepare to make our way to Jiewang after breakfast!”

“Elsa and I have read a little bit about Jiewang. There’s a nature reserve there that looks quite interesting,” Liliath was also thinking about where to go during their next stop.

“That nature reserve is a must-visit for us, but the main reason we’re heading there is to attend Camilia’s birthday banquet…” Gu Ding started to explain the reason for their journey to everyone, including Robert. “Attending a birthday banquet… Looks like the first thing we need to do after getting off our ship is to shop for clothes.” Liliath nodded. “Didn’t we just buy some yesterday?” Elsa did not really understand. The number of clothes she had in her inventory ring was as high as a mountain.

“They’re different. Those clothes are for everyday wear. For banquets, we’ll need something like a gown, something nice. Hmm… Besides new clothes, we need accessories and shoes. Just leave it to me. I’ll do the picking, and you guys just wear whatever I get you,” Liliath shared her opinion.

“I guess there’ll be no need for us to leave the spaceship to try on the clothes, right?” Gu Ding felt like he had dodged a bullet when he heard Liliath’s words.

“How would that be possible? You need to try on the clothes to find out if they fit.” Starting at Elsa and ending with Biggie, Liliath pointed at each and every one of them.

“You, you, you, and Robert, all of you have to leave the spaceship to try on the clothes.”

“I don’t think Robert has to wear anything,” Gu Ding voiced his objection.

“That’s not possible. It’s a banquet, and everyone has to wear something. Robert is not allowed to run around buck naked.” Liliath’s stubbornness was beginning to stress out Gu Ding as cold sweat poured from the latter’s forehead.

“Boss lady, why did you send an invitation to that little brat, Gu Ding, for the banquet?” A woman asked questioningly as she looked at a dignified woman who was sitting on a golden chair.

“He made his debut less than half a year ago and only entered Border River recently. I don’t think he has much influence. Even though he was victorious over the Marauders, maybe he was just lucky. Besides, it would be awkward to have him and Yarrow appear at the banquet together.”

“Bonita, stop asking questions about it.” Camilia was looking through videos of Gu Ding’s fights. She saw the clip of Gu Ding’s battle with Yarrow, and it only took one look from her to notice that Yarrow had been hurt before the fight. Gu Ding’s performance during the fight with his combat effectiveness did not impress her at all. To her, a regular person would be able to cultivate primary power after accumulating ten thousand Cell Index points. For Gu Ding to be able to cultivate primary power, his gene level had to be at Rank 8. Nevertheless, even if a Rank 8 managed to unleash combat effectiveness similar to that of a Rank 10 at his peak, he would only be considered as half a monster at most. That would mean Gu Ding was not even at the standard of a 1-star monster. However, Camilia had received a request from someone important to invite Gu Ding. Consequently, that request prompted her to investigate and find each and every one of Gu Ding’s battle videos. After a night of research, Camilia came to know a few intriguing details about Gu Ding. Gu Ding’s gene level was not high, and there was a chance he was not even a Rank 6… Camilia suddenly understood why a woman as important as that person had taken notice of Gu Ding.