The Highest Bounty

“Every man hopes to conquer the starry sky someday.”

Gu Ding could not recall where he had heard this saying before, nor where he had seen it. Yet, he remembered it clearly. He did not know what the other person’s dreams were, but he knew that his dream was perfectly described by this sentence.

In this era of interplanetary navigation, and since the dawn of civilization in ancient times that began eons ago, man had feared that this goal was trillions of years away. Even the Dragon Cosmos had not been born when people first began to dream of this.

However, until now, no one had traveled the entire cosmic sea. In fact, the vast majority of people had never in their entire life even left their sector, let alone step out of their cosmic state.

Gu Ding grew up on the Cerule, and the farthest place he had ever been to was Mars. That was when the Military College was conduction some survival simulation training.

Everyone had been shocked when they learned that Gu Ding had spent three million star credits to buy a Kittyhawk Model. One reason for this was that no one knew Gu Ding had that large of a deposit; but, the more important reason was that the only time Gu Ding had left Cerule was back when he was on the airship of the Military Academy. He never traveled alone.

To make matters worse, the Kittyhawk Model was not a regular interstellar spacecraft. Its prototype was a militaristic, short-range combat spacecraft with an internal area of ​​about 8 square meters, and it could only carry out short-range voyages into small starfields. This model was also the cheapest interstellar vehicle around, so Gu Ding did not really have any other option. Of course, the manufacturers were also generous. There was no way to improve its performance, so they instead focused on its appearance, making the model very beautiful. In Gu DIng’s words, it was dashing!

After purchasing the Kittyhawk Model and some other necessities, Gu Ding took the time to submit the application for his withdrawal. Gu Ding also did not bother hiding the reason why he was dropping out. He wrote, “I decided to chase my dream and become an Interstellar Pirate.”

When Gu Ding submitted the application, Dean Grant was idling about. When he saw a withdrawal application suddenly pop up on the screen, his expression calmly changed. Although this was a basic military academy, if one could enter an advanced military academy after graduation, they would be greeted with limitless prospects. Even so, he had seen many students drop out for various reasons over the years. In addition to this, students who submit withdrawal applications on their own accord were generally relatively good students and might have other plans for their lives.

The deepest impression Grant had was of a student from more than 20 years ago. After submitting an application for his withdrawal, he turned to the sea to do business. More than two decades had passed since then, and the young boy had gone on to become one of the ten richest people in Skyriver Sector. Grant also clearly remembered what the youth had listed as his reason for dropping out, “After more than two years of study, I have come to realize that I am not suitable to become a federal soldier. I have also found that I possess a certain talent for business, so I want to drop out of school to do business.”

Grant responded with a long letter, with the contents of the letter never mentioning the inappropriateness of dropping out of school. Rather, it offered plenty of encouragement. Only at the very end did he leave a short note, saying:

“If you are sure that something is what you really want, go after it. Whether or not the results are what you expect, you will still gain something. The gates of the Cerule Basic Military Academy are always open to you!”

Now, looking at Gu Ding’s reason for dropping out, Grant shook his head helplessly. As early as back when Gu Ding had given his address during the school opening ceremony of his first year, Grant already got the vague feeling that the child would drop out of school. In the blink of an eye, three years had passed, and Grant was grateful for his hunch to be proved wrong. Gu Ding’s studies had ended, and it was now only a few months before he would get his graduation certificate. However, the boy had unexpectedly chosen to act up.

Gu Ding’s withdrawal was a matter that Grant was very reluctant to face. Although this child was only a first-order genome, he had a high chance of being admitted into the Advanced Military Academy. After entering the Advanced Military Academy, many of his special physical constitutions would be slowly developed. Grant was a good judge of people. He had always felt that Gu Ding was the type who would only get brighter the more they were polished. Sooner or later, this kind of person would shine bright enough that it would sting to look at.

Grant had also heard a little about the incident with the federal law. Originally, he was dubious about it, but when he saw Gu Ding’s withdrawal application, he instantly believed that the beating of the warden had really transpired. Now, he realized that this child never considered the possible consequences of his actions, and would only consider the outcome he desired.

Looking at the withdrawal application, Grant pondered for a long time. The contents of his reply were written and deleted, and then re-written and deleted. In the end, he sighed and re-entered the same words from more than 20 years ago:

“If you are sure that something is what you really want, go after it. Whether or not the results are what you expected, you will gain something. The gates of the Cerule Basic Military Academy are always open to you!”

After receiving the response from the Dean, Gu Ding was a little taken aback. He thought that Grant would preach to him and strongly urge him to stay. This reaction from the other party, although unexpected, was what he wanted.

Gu Ding then sent the news that he had dropped out to Reid and Parma.

Although he was not very familiar with Parma, the other party had appeared in federal law incident to support him, which was enough for Gu Ding to consider her a friend. Although she had appeared a little later, the intention was enough.

“Hey, are you kidding me? You really have the heart to leave me here alone?” Reid gave Gu Ding a call the moment she got the message.

“Stop talking nonsense. I already invited you to be part of my pirate regiment yesterday. You refused it yourself,” Gu Ding countered. “And before that, I asked you countless times if you wanted to join me to travel the cosmic sea, but you refused every time.”

“That’s expected. My dream is to become the Imperial Generalissimo of the Universal Federal Government!” Reid’s dream was the exact opposite of Gu Ding’s. “Whatever you do in the future, I will make sure that I personally put you into federal prison.

“If you think you have the ability, just try!” Gu Ding laughed.

…

The two talked for a while before they hung up. Not long after hanging up, the communicator rang again; it was Pama who was calling.

“Was the line busy because of Reid just now?” Parma guessed correctly.

“Yeah, I chatted with him for a while.” Gu Ding nodded.

“Are you really going to leave without your diploma?” Parma still felt that Gu Ding’s decision was a bit hasty.

“The new interstellar route is open. I don’t want to wait anymore,” Gu Ding gave two brief reasons. These two reasons seemed convincing enough that Parma decided not to continue arguing.

“About the thing that I brought up yesterday, what are your thoughts on it?” Parma changed the topic. After coming out of the federal court, she brought up the possibility of letting Gu Ding join the Hermean Alliance.

“Why do I have to join the Hermean Alliance?” Gu Ding was a person who did not like to be bound, which was he yearned for the free life of Interstellar Pirates.

“I transferred the video of your refining the other day to my teacher. He spoke highly of you, claiming that you are a genius pharmacist that would be hard to come by even in tens of thousands of years. If you don’t join the Hermean Alliance, your talent would slowly be wasted. Neither me nor my teacher want to see this happen. As I said yesterday, the Hermean Alliance is a non-binding organization, with our main purpose being the exchange of experiences and mutual promotion. In the Hermean Alliance, not only are there people of the federal government, but also many of the well-known Interstellar Pirates…” Parma did not want Gu Ding to waste his talent.

“You said yesterday that after joining the Hermean Alliance, there would be a discount on the purchase of pharmaceutical materials. You’re not trying to fool me, right?” Gu Ding asked suddenly.

“Of course, it’s true. The higher the level of the pharmacist, the more discounts you get. As for the assessment of the pharmacist’s level, you can take part in the virtual assessment over the network and then get the corresponding level through this assessment. It’s really convenient,” Parma quickly added.

“Well then, I’ll join.” Gu Ding finally agreed.

“I will send you a link. You only need to scan your fingerprint and iris on the login page to automatically confirm your identity,” Parma said whilst sending a link.

Gu Ding completed the procedure according to the prompts and soon became a member of the Hermean Alliance.

After confirming that Gu Ding had really joined, Parma was relieved and asked about Gu Ding’s schedule.

“When are you leaving?”

“First thing tomorrow when the interstellar port opens.”

“So fast?!” Parma did not expect Gu Ding to move so quickly.

“If it wasn’t for the preparatory work of buying a spaceship and so on, I would have left today.” Gu Ding did not wish to delay any further.

“I originally wanted to host a farewell party or something, but if this is the case then it’ll be too late,” Parma laughed.

“I understand everyone’s intentions, but the formality is not important.”

Gu Ding’s lips curled of cheekily, “If you have the time, come to Rose Tavern to take care of the business for a bit. Auntie Roastbeef will certainly be very happy.”

“I will go when I have time, I wish you all the best in the future.”

“Thank you, and I wish you luck in becoming a great pharmacist as soon as possible.”

After saying this, the two hung up.

“Neptune, have you found the route? Where is the first destination we should head to?” Gu Ding asked Neptune as they walked toward the Rose Tavern. This would be his last working day at the tavern.

“For the first destination, I chose Fengyuan!” Neptune’s reply came quickly.