The Highest Bounty

Chapter 51

Chapter 51: An Interesting Prey

The figure appeared to be a tall and slender human man. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses sat comfortably on his nose, adding a touch of nerdiness to his overall look. He did not look like an infected person at all.

“That’s the guy who has been controlling those monsters?” Liliath asked in astonishment. If she had not seen him rushing out of the dockyard just now, she would have thought that he was just a random guy who happened to pass by the area. “He doesn’t look like he has been infected by the virus.”

“I think he’s one of those guys who had undergone a slightly more successful evolution process.” Gu Ding pursed his lips and said. He had to admit that the guy was quite handsome, and Gu Ding would typically describe him as one of those polite and gentle looking guys. The man also gave out a scholarly vibe, which Gu Ding guessed had something to do with his job. After being infected by the virus, to a certain extent, one could say that the man had lost his sense of self. Now, he was nothing but a mere puppet whose body had been taken over by the virus. Indeed, his current stage of evolution had restored parts of his memory as well as a certain degree of consciousness. However, that did not change the fact that he was dead. The former him had died the minute the viruses invaded his brain.

The man did a quick scan of his surroundings. After making sure that there was no sign of nearby enemies, he directed his gaze toward the carcasses and glanced at the beasts’ wounds.

After a brief moment, he finally spotted the fatal wounds on the four beast carcasses—the big holes in their chests. He then bent down and started scrutinizing the wounds. The corner of his lips curled into a grin as soon as he was done examining them.

It took him just an instant to infer that his opponents were not very powerful.

Apart from the fatal wounds to their chests, the other injuries dealt by his opponent were not that serious. This proved that his opponent’s original strength was only comparable to these beasts. Without unleashing his or her true power, his opponent’s strength should not be any greater than that of these beasts.

A cold chill ran down Gu Ding’s spine when he noticed the wicked grin on the man’s face. Gu Ding knew that the man had made a rough judgment on his strength just by looking at the wounds. The fact that the man was grinning proved that he did not think highly of Gu Ding at all. It was also possible that the man only thought of them as a way to pass time.

Gu Ding’s guess was correct. From Cooper’s point of view, Gu Ding was a weak and unworthy opponent. In any case, a great deal of work was needed to repair the spacecraft, so it would take some time before he could finish repairing it. Hence, Cooper would not let any interesting toys slip away during this period.

Capturing the five giant beasts was one of the things Cooper had done when he was feeling bored.

As far as he could remember, Cooper knew that he used to be an extremely boring person. Apart from working, eating, and sleeping, he rarely enjoyed any other forms of entertainment.

His job as a mechanical engineer was much more mundane compared to other careers. Most of his colleagues also lived a life like him, whereby watching a movie in bed was considered a form of entertainment.

After getting a second chance in life due to the virus outbreak, he realized that he now had a completely different perspective when facing problems. Thanks to this, he stopped being a coward and inched his way forward to eventually become a Level-6 genome powerhouse via the evolution process.

However, he hated to do dull and boring stuff even now. Nonetheless, he still had to repair the spacecraft if he were to leave this planet. He did not need somebody else to tell him that this phase of extreme boredom was only temporary, and that it could be transformed into a lifetime of freedom. This was why he decided to shut himself in the dockyard and only come out once in a while to relax and have some fun.

After digging out the Energy Crystals from the beasts’ carcasses and storing them in the Inventory, Cooper raised his head and did another quick scan of his surroundings. He only dashed back into the dockyard after making sure that the coast was clear.

“He’s finally gone!” Even Neptune breathed a sigh of relief.

“That guy is really powerful!” Gu Ding said after seeing his opponent’s speed. Even if his strength was greatly enhanced, Gu Ding still doubted his ability to beat him in a match.

“Judging by his speed, he should’ve reached at least the sixth genome level. I was so worried that he’d search the area just now.” Liliath heaved a sigh of relief and patted her chest.

“He doesn’t seem to be in a hurry at all. For him, this is just a game.” Gu Ding did not find it difficult to guess his opponent’s intentions. “The reason why he left without hesitating is probably because he knew that we would enter the dockyard sooner or later. He’s waiting for us to make a move.”

“Why should we make the first move?” Liliath felt that the chances of winning were small if this was the case. “I think it’ll be difficult for us to finish him off, as there are only two of us. Is there another way to kill him without confronting him?”

“He has already destroyed the power systems of all the spacecraft in this square. The only functioning spacecraft is the one in the dockyard. As a result, we have no other choice but to confront him if we want to leave this planet.” Gu Ding seemed to have no intention of admitting defeat. He continued, “Besides, this guy is extremely dangerous. I think he’s planning to leave the planet with other infected people. If he ever succeeds in bringing them away from this gray star sector, it’ll only be a matter of time before the virus spreads to other star sectors. Therefore, we have to either kill him or destroy the spacecraft that he’s repairing.”

“Don’t forget that his strength has almost reached the sixth genome level. You might be able to suppress him temporarily if you unleash your true powers, but you won’t be able to last for long. Most importantly, we still don’t know what kind of abilities he has, which is the most terrifying part,” Neptune reminded them from the side. At this point, they had only figured out their opponent’s speed. To make matters worse, their opponent had not even shown his true power yet.

Liliath was slightly doubtful upon hearing Gu Ding’s words, as she was not sure exactly how Gu Ding had gotten this information. However, she still chose to believe him. “We’ll definitely lose if we confront him head on. Make sure that you have a feasible plan first before you make a move.”

Liliath touched her Inventory wristwatch and continued, “There’s a giant beast carcass in my Inventory. We can take out the Energy Crystals during the night, and I’ll try to transplant them into your body. Let’s see if it works this time.”

Darkness finally came after they waited for 40 hours. Both Gu Ding and Liliath hid in the cabin without stepping out.

According to Neptune, a few surveillance cameras were installed in the square. Although the images recorded were not clear, it was not difficult to see where they were hiding. Hence, Neptune would make sure to activate his shielding and tampering functions so that nothing would be recorded whenever Gu Ding and Liliath made a move.

Meanwhile, in the dockyard’s monitoring room, Cooper was checking the surveillance recordings to find out exactly what had happened in the square just now. To his surprise, he saw that the five giant beasts had died suddenly on their own. He immediately realized that the video had been tampered. Narrowing his eyes, Cooper could not help but feel that his current prey was much more interesting than anything he had hunted before.