The Highest Bounty - Chapter 149:

Chapter 149: Goodbye, Grey-faced Buzzard…

The moment the decision had been made to destroy all the Interstellar Pirates’ spaceships, Neptune was alerted almost immediately. Neptune woke Gu Ding up right away.

Gu Ding flipped over and sat up. He watched the video clip Neptune had copied and said slowly in a grim voice, “They will regret making such a decision!”

After a moment’s silence, Gu Ding said, “Neptune, inform every Interstellar Pirate on this planet that the Army will destroy their spaceships tomorrow morning. Let them know that the Army has called for backup, and the backup will arrive in three days. Tell them that we’ve managed to hire mercenaries who’ll destroy the three Baby Dragon Interceptors in two days. We will unlock the Sky Shield over the harbor on the same day and disable the armor-piercing cannons. When that time comes, it’ll be up to them to snatch the Army’s spaceships and escape from this planet.”

Neptune quickly transmitted Gu Ding’s message to every Interstellar Pirate on the planet.

Everyone who received it was shocked by the news. The message contained very overwhelming information, none of which was within the expectations of anyone.

“Boss, is Gu Ding’s information real? The Army usually doesn’t destroy spaceships because they’re winning spoils for them, right?” someone in Bart’s crew asked. Nevertheless, the other crew members had the same doubt.

Bart shook his head. “I don’t think Gu Ding would lie about such things. He has the same aim as we do, which is to leave this planet. We’re on the same side for this matter. This time, we dealt a lot of damage to the Army. It wouldn’t be strange if they made such an extreme decision. Besides, the few things Gu Ding mentioned in his message are connected. He said that he has managed to get mercenaries to destroy those three Interceptors in two days. It means that he was already aware that the Army had requested backup, and he’s planning to make an escape before backup arrives for the Army. The Army is worried that we’ll escape after these two days, which is why they are anxious to destroy all of our spaceships.”

“Gu Ding wants us to take the Army’s spaceships, but it’s obvious that the Army doesn’t have enough of them. Including the Golden Eagle, there are only thirty-three spaceships. On the other hand, there are more than a hundred pirate crews here. How are we going to divide the ships amongst ourselves?”

“Do you think that the other eighty plus crews will stand by and watch as thirty-three crews grab spaceships for themselves? There will definitely be cases whereby a few crews will board one spaceship and make their escape right away before deciding on anything else. Under such circumstances, if any crew decides to take a spaceship for themselves, they’ll end up being the target of other crews.” Bart was an arrogant person, but he knew that that the probability of a crew taking a spaceship for themselves was quite low. He was reluctant to share a spaceship with another crew, but given the current situation, it would be considered very lucky if they managed to escape. It was not the time to ask for more.

“If multiple crews board a spaceship, who will it belong to?”

“Please, can’t you use your brain? The Army’s spaceships have serial numbers. They’ll start tracking down their spaceships once we steal them. Then, the Army will send innumerable powerhouses to hunt us down. Those spaceships are like hot potatoes we’ll have to get rid of at the first opportunity. Keeping them as our own would be like courting death.” Bart was starting to think that his crew of youngsters was pretty brainless. He was envious that Gu Ding had a good set of crew members.

“Boss is right. We have to take part in Gu Ding’s mission. Once reinforcements from the Army arrives, there’ll be no way for us to escape,” said a young man who seemed to be around Gu Ding’s age. The man looked about fourteen or fifteen years old. He had short, golden hair on his head, and he looked especially perky.

There were more than thirty members in Bart’s crew and this young boy had recently signed up with them. He did not have a particularly conspicuous presence, and Bart did not even know his name. “You are Ry… Ryan, right?”

“Boss, I’m Rhine.” A warm smile was spread across the young boy’s face.

“Okay, Rhine. Tell us what you think,” Bart was not expecting the young boy to come up with any substantial ideas, but the former was having a splitting headache over the matter and needed to hear from someone else who had a different point of view. There was a possibility it would help him find a solution to the problem.

Rhine nodded. His posture remained confident, and he did not back away even though he was being stared at by everyone else. “I’ve analyzed the situation. The mission might be dangerous, but it is our only chance. I say this because Gu Ding’s crew and ours have the lowest chances of making a successful escape.”

“Oh, and why is that?” The young man’s words had managed to pique Bart’s interest.

“We are fearful of the Army because of the two generals stationed here, Sharp and Emily, who are in charge. Grabbing a spaceship with both of them present will definitely prove to be difficult for us. They are both capable of destroying a powerful Rank 8 Gene Body in a single move. For the mission to succeed, someone has to hold back both of the Army generals.”

“Nevertheless, the only person who can do that on this planet and keep the Rank 11 Gene Body Sharp at bay, is Biggie from Gu Ding’s crew. It has to be said that even he may end up being overpowered by Sharp. Gu Ding would never give up and sacrifice Biggie to make his own escape. That’s why Gu Ding’s crew might be strongest among us, but the probability of him escaping successfully is the lowest.

“The second would be us. Boss, you previously fought with Sharp and Emily. Hence, our crew’s threat to the Army is second to Gu Ding’s crew because you almost killed Sharp. Not to mention, you killed many of the Army’s colonel generals and lieutenant generals. You also have that demigod item in your hand. Therefore, even though you might not be the strongest among the Interstellar Pirates, you’re the one the Army wants to get rid of the most.

“In other words, on this planet, you might be the first on the Army’s kill list. Gu Ding’s crew may pose a bigger threat, but he’s very skillful at hacking. Hence, the Army probably doesn’t want him dead and is more interested in recruiting him. It’s without a doubt that they would opt to capture him alive and force him to accept certain terms and conditions made by the Army in order for him to escape being jailed. Similar things have happened before. I believe everyone has heard about the genius pirate, Tyrant? The amount of damage he caused in the past through his actions is a hundred times more than the amount of damage Gu Ding has done. Nevertheless, he was recruited by the Federal Government in the end…”

Bart fell silent upon hearing Rhine’s words. The young man’s analysis sounded quite reasonable. After a fairly long time, Bart said, “If that’s the case, Rhine, what do you think is the best thing for me to do?”

“Boss, looking at the current situation, there are only three possible outcomes.”

“One, we’ll be arrested and you’ll be sentenced to at least 300 years of jail time in accordance with your crimes. Consequently, the rest of us will probably be sentenced to jail for less than a hundred years. The probability of this is very high. Not to mention, if we don’t act in two days and the Army’s reinforcements arrive, it will without a doubt become reality. However, if we take action and fail to make a successful escape, the outcome will be the same.

“The second outcome would be us dying. Nevertheless, it’ll only happen if we choose to fight the Army in two days. That’s because there’s a chance Emily and Sharp would do anything to hunt you down for the kill.”

“Third would be we successfully escape. It’s the best possible outcome for us, but we can only consider it as a probability if we choose to fight it out in two days. In addition to that, we’d need courage and luck to make it happen.”

At this time, Bart nodded. “So, the best choice is to fight it out with the Army in two days.”

“The possible outcomes may not look so good, but it’s also the best choice we can make,” Rhine said with a serious look on his face.

A smile appeared on Bart’s face. He was glad that he had finally found himself a capable young man in his crew. “Very good. From this day onward, I proclaim Rhine as our crew’s strategist!”

Bart’s crew was not the only one deep in discussion after Gu Ding had put the word out. In actual fact, many other crews were also discussing the matter amongst themselves.

As for An Luo and his crew, they called Gu Ding.

“Gu Ding, how confident are you in terms of escaping successfully during your mission two days from now?” An Luo knew that the mission that would take place in two days was very different from the night raid. This time, the Army would be prepared to fight them; it was an unprecedented challenge for the pirates.

Gu Ding was silent at An Luo’s question. Nevertheless, after a while, he gave An Luo an answer the latter was not expecting. “I’m not… but If we wait till the Army’s backup arrives, we won’t stand a chance at all. We have no other choice but to take this gamble.”

“I understand,” An Luo did not question further. Instead, he only stated that he understood the situation and hung up.

Not long after, Gu Ding’s communicator rang once again.

“It’s Mi En, do you want to answer the call?” Neptune asked. He knew that Gu Ding was not too willing to hear from a soothsayer.

“I’ll answer it.” Gu Ding nodded.

Not long after, Mi En’s voice could be heard from the communicator, “Gu Ding, I’m sorry to disturb you so late at night. I just received your message and did some divination. The results from my divination are not that great, and I foreshadow a disaster. Are you sure you want to go through with it?”

“I don’t want to end up in federal prison because it would mean I’ll be back at square one on my journey. Escaping from prison wouldn’t mean a thing. There is no other choice for me,” Gu Ding told Mi En the reason for his decision.

“I’m fine with that. No matter what the outcome, we’ve decided to follow you with this,” Mi En declared his stand.

…

The long night finally ended. Liliath and the others received Gu Ding’s message early the next morning as Gu Ding did not want to disturb their rest.

“They want to destroy the Grey-faced Buzzard?” Liliath knocked on Gu Ding’s door first thing in the morning.

Gu Ding opened the door and nodded silently. He had turned on the video projection very early that day. In the video, the Army could be seen making preparations.

“Can’t we stop them?” Liliath unwilling to let it happen. Although she had only spent around a month’s time on the spaceship, she had many memories tied to it.

“I’m sorry, there’s really nothing we can do.”

Biggie and Robert also came to Gu Ding’s room when they heard Liliath’s voice. They looked at the video that was being projected on the wall.

The Army could be seen activating fifty-two armor-piercing cannons in the video. Each cannon was pointed at an Interstellar Pirate’s spaceship. Then, at the sound of an order, the canons were shot madly at the spaceships.

The shiny Grey-faced Buzzard that still looked good as new was instantly enveloped in flames.

The spaceship’s recognizable outline could still be seen through the smoke of the first shot along with red flames that seemed to be swaying on the spaceship.

Another shot was heard, and a third shot was soon fired.

Very quickly, the Grey-faced Buzzard was destroyed. Only its mainframe was left as each piece of metal support that held up the spaceship’s body was the only thing that could be seen. It looked much like a human being without anything but its bare bones. Nevertheless, it stood proud and strong.

All of the other spaceships had been completely obliterated while the Grey-faced Buzzard was the only spaceship that had its frame still standing. It was like a sturdy set of bones that simply refused to compromise nor give in.

Gu Ding and the others could still tell where their bedrooms were and where the kitchen was…

One could only wonder if life was playing a joke on them or the Grey-faced Buzzard had chosen to end things this way.

Liliath could not hold back her tears as they fell from her eyes.

Biggie bit his lips as he silently watched the scene play out in the video that was being projected on the wall.

Robert was expressionless as he watched with his head raised. He did not move but a strange look was hidden within his eyes.

Gu Ding watched the frame of Grey-faced Buzzard stand solo in the video. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and said silently to himself, “Goodbye, Grey-faced Buzzard…”