The Highest Bounty

Chapter 176: Into the Nature Reserve

The room Bonita had chosen for Gu Ding and his crew had good lighting. Early in the morning, sunlight shone through the yellow curtains of the room to light up the place. A gust of wind blew into the room through a half-opened French window and slightly swung open the curtains, causing a layer of light and shadows to form in the living room. A yellow shadow flashed by.

A kitten with tiger stripes landed softly on the living room coffee table. It looked around and confirmed the location of the kitchen. Then, it jumped off the table and trotted toward the kitchen.

Evidently, Neptune noticed everything. In actual fact, the little creature had been following them since the day before. Nevertheless, Biggie and Elsa had not noticed its existence. When the two returned to the room, it hid in a big tree outside and silently watched them.

Neptune had left a gap in the French window the night before, but it was cautious to observe for a night to make sure it was not a trap before slipping in.

Once it was inside the house, it ran toward the kitchen and pulled the door of the refrigerator open with great skill.

There was nothing to eat in the fridge except milca, which Gu Ding had bought the night before. When Gu Ding and his crew arrived on the planet, Biggie put all the ingredients they had into his Inventory ring. For the past few days, instead of cooking, he was studying the planet’s local specialties.

The kitten looked disappointed but picked up the bottle of milca which was bigger than it was anyway. It then dragged the bottle away from the fridge.

Hiding under the coffee table, it easily cut open the metal bottle containing milca with its claws. What it did next was quickly lick the milca leaking out from the opening.

All of this was witnessed by Neptune, but he did not tell Gu Ding and the others who were fast asleep. He wanted to see Gu Ding’s expression when the latter opened the refrigerator the next day and found that out of the two bottles of milca, only one bottle was left.

Not long after, Gu Ding rolled out of bed and asked sleepily, “Anything new?” Hearing Gu Ding’s question, Neptune suddenly remembered something more important. “The Dark Sectors have gotten the news that Lili is not dead. The two men from before are heading toward Jiewang.”

“Those two… When will they arrive?” Upon hearing the news, Gu Ding’s drowsiness vanished completely.

“In four days. According to their style of doing things, they’ll probably come straight to the party.” Neptune speculated.

“That’s good news. My Absolute Seal will be available in three days, and I will gladly give the Dark Sectors’ people a serious warning.” Gu Ding’s eyes were cold. He would never forget what they did to Lili in the past.

“There are two of them, and you are only able to use your ability once a month.” Neptune did not forget to remind Gu Ding.

“Camilia will make a move.” Gu Ding’s reply was reassuring. “She’s considered half a Federal Government member. Anyone from the Dark Sectors can be considered a primary target for the Federal Government. Sharp and his crew may have been helpless last time. However, this time, Camilia’s a Peak Rank-12 Gene Body. Besides, it’s her own birthday party. She’ll do it for her own sake.”

“Be careful anyway.” Neptune was still a little worried even though he knew Gu Ding’s plan was fine.

“Wake Up Lili and the others. We’ll go to the nature reserve today.” Gu Ding was looking forward to going on a trip to the nature reserve.

Once he finished washing up, he changed his clothes and went into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator door and saw only one bottle of milca left. He raised his eyebrows. “I remember buying two bottles yesterday. Who drank it?”

Shaking his head, Gu Ding did not think too much about it. He took the bottle of milca, sat down in front of the coffee table in the living room, and started drinking it.

What he did not know was that beneath the coffee table, hidden by tinted glass, a tiger-striped kitten was drinking the other bottle of milca.

All of a sudden, Gu Ding heard the sound of a metal bottle rolling from under the coffee table. He looked down and saw a kitten peering at him. The man and kitten fixed met eyes and instantly looked away. Gu Ding’s eyes fell on the empty bottle below the table, while the cat’s eyes fell on the unfinished milca bottle Gu Ding was holding. The former licked its tongue.

“Looks like you haven’t had enough, little one.” Gu Ding left the bottle of milca on the coffee table and went to the kitchen to get a bowl. He was not expecting to return to a scene of the little guy drinking from the other metal bottle of milca on the table. The kitten had managed to tear through the metal bottle of milca. “Why you little cat thief…”

Meanwhile, Lilliath and the others had just finished cleaning themselves up and were about to enter the living room.

Both girls seemed delighted when they saw the kitten. Meanwhile, Biggie began projecting recipes, searching for the term, “How to make a cat a delicacy.”

Before the two girls could reach the kitten, it ran away with the metal bottle in its mouth and continued to drink milca at Gu Ding’s feet. It seemed as if it was indicating that he preferred Gu Ding.

Gu Ding crouched down and tried to touch the kitten. This time, instead of dodging, the kitten reached out his paw and slapped Gu Ding’s hand away. The message it was trying to convey was also clear this time around. “I don’t like to be touched. Don’t touch me!”

Gu Ding withdrew his hand somewhat sheepishly. “This gluttonous cat thief drank my milca but won’t even let me touch it.”

The kitten’s second bottle of milca was soon emptied. It looked up at Gu Ding as if to ask, “Is there more?”

“I only bought two, but there’s food in the restaurant. I wonder if there’s any milca.” Gu Ding was not sure if the little guy could understand him.

“Can it understand you?” Lilliath was skeptical.

The cat nodded.

“It’s not an ordinary cat after all. Ordinary cooking won’t work…” Biggie muttered under his lips as he continued to flip through the menu on his projection.

“If you understand me, follow us to the restaurant.” Gu Ding got up and followed his crew to the restaurant. Following from behind them, the kitten trotted along.

Once they were in the restaurant, Gu Ding and his crew found an empty table. The kitten, with a piece of meat in its mouth, fell on the table and began to tear it apart. The way it consumed the meat resembled that of a fierce predator. Nevertheless, it was inevitably endearing to Gu Ding and the others.

Their breakfast took a little longer because of the kitten. Gu Ding was surprised that the cat could eat as much as Elsa. However, it appeared to eat only raw meat and milca. It had no interest in plant-based drinks, including those that contained sugar.

The cat only seemed satisfied when it finished the last steak in the restaurant. It also left other diners in the restaurant disappointed as it ate so much steak that the restaurant was beginning to run out of ingredients. It was something that rarely happened at the restaurant.

“We’re going to the nature reserve. Do you want to come with us?” Gu Ding found it convenient to know that the little guy could understand him.

It hesitated for a while before it jumped onto Gu Ding’s shoulder.

“Looks like it wants to hang out with us.” Gu Ding felt that its attitude was indicative of what it wanted.

“A cat that understands people…” Lilliath shook her head in frustration, presumably guessing that based on Gu Ding’s personality, he would keep the little one. Although she liked small animals, it was clear that the little cat thief was reluctant to answer to anyone.

Elsa sneaked up behind Gu Ding in an effort to reach and touch it. Nevertheless, she was only faced with a warning look that read, “No touching!”. Hence, Elsa lamely withdrew her hand.

The nature reserve had four entrances, one of which was on the outskirts of the city near the port. It was already noon by the time they had arrived by car.

The kitten seemed to be asleep as its eyes were closed and it was wagging its tail gently. It had not moved from Gu Ding’s shoulder throughout the journey.

After getting out of the car, under the intense sunlight, the Sun Sutra within Gu Ding slowly began to operate on its own without him even realizing it. On the other hand, the kitten opened its eyes just as the Sun Sutra began to operate. It glanced at Gu Ding, noticed nothing unusual, and proceeded to close its eyes. It then started to wag its tail a little more than before, as if in a happier mood.

In the nature reserve, the main means of transport was hoverboards that had transparent protective barriers. Everyone got one.

While Gu Ding was handing out hoverboards to his crew members, he was stopped by a staff who said, “Sorry, Sir, we don’t allow pets because they’re vulnerable to the predators in the reserves and might be attacked. If you go in with your pet, not only will it end up being eaten, but you and your friends may also be attacked.”

“You heard him, little guy. We’ll go in and take a stroll. You can just hang out here and look for something to eat,” Gu Ding said to the kitten.

The kitten reluctantly jumped off Gu Ding’s shoulder and sat obediently at the customer service table.

“Let’s go in.” Gu Ding grabbed hold of his hoverboard and entered the reserve together with Lilliath and the rest.

After watching them leave, the kitten disappeared in a flash.

It was very easy to operate the hoverboard. Its direction was controlled with its handle. On the other hand, the button on the left side of it that was near one’s thumb was to shift gears and adjust the hoverboard’s speed. Lastly, a red button found on the right side of the board acted as a brake while the green button functioned to raise the transparent protective barrier.

After a brief round of instructions by the staff and after everyone had raised their protective barrier, the group of tourists was allowed to leave.

It was Gu Ding and his crew’s first time-they were excited.

They had not gone very far before they were met with their first rare animal–a giant black-armored rhinoceros. The giant rhinoceros was nearly five meters tall and was more than ten meters long. Additionally, its back was covered by a layer of thick black armor, and it was eating the broad leaves of a tree not too far away.

Just then, the black-armored giant’s ears started twitching, and it stopped chewing. All of a sudden, it lunged in Gu Ding’s direction.

“What’s the matter?” Gu Ding did not get it.

“It’s a bloodthirsty abyss demon that’s roaring…” Neptune said as he projected an image.

It was a huge red-armored creature that stood upright with a horrible face. Moreover, it was a rank-11 Gene Body. It gave a terrifying cry, and the nearby mountains were shaken to the ground by its horrible sound waves…

“It’s a bloodthirsty abyss demon. These guys are usually fast asleep, I don’t know why they’ve they woke up this time. Let’s make a detour and not go in that direction,” a smartly dressed, bespectacled woman with a nervous expression on her face shouted at them.