The Highest Bounty - Chapter 174
Chapter 174: Bonita’s Evaluation
Jiewang was located in the middle of the Border River, and it was the largest planet that had been made suitable for inhabitation. It was also a planet known for tourism.
It was the planet where Camila’s Scorpion Pirates stayed. Unlike other planets in the Border river, the only Interstellar Pirates who had residential rights were Camilia’s Scorpion Pirates. Without Camilia’s approval, no member of the Federation Army was allowed to visit the planet. That was her privilege as a Viscount.
Gu Ding had planned to stay on the spaceship to continue his cultivation when they arrived on the planet. He was not expecting to receive a call from Liliath below the ship the very moment he climbed onto the top of the ship’s cabin.
“Get down from the ship and drag Robert out with you. Camilia’s people are here to pick us up.” Liliath hung up after speaking.
Gu Ding was stunned. It looked like the female Viscount named Camilia was a friendly person. He knocked on Robert’s door and explained the situation. With that, Robert packed up his things and left with Gu Ding.
They got off the spaceship together and saw an elongated version of a black Classical parked nearby. The window of the car was rolled down, and they could see Elsa waving crazily at them.
Classicals were retro car models for nobles. Its price was not the most expensive, and it was not even one of the top 10 car models. The reason as to why the model was well-known was because each car was hand-made. Hence, there was only one of each car model. Besides that, the car manufacturer only accepted orders from those who had noble titles bestowed by the Federal Government. That was why every in the cosmic seas was unique, and every one of them represented their owner’s status.
A tall, thin woman dressed in a clean, tidy looking gown stood next to the door of the car. She was not pretty but not ugly either. However, there was a unique charm to her that gave everyone the impression that she was of a very good upbringing. She gestured to Gu Ding from afar to welcome him.
Gu Ding nodded and smiled at her as he pulled Robert into the car.
“How did you know we were going to arrive today?” Gu Ding asked casually.
“Boss lady instructed some of our sisters to wait at the harbor the day the invitations were sent to our guests. It would be rude of us to allow our guests to stay at hotels. Besides, we have more than enough guest rooms for everyone who was invited.” The voice of the tall, thin woman did not match her looks. Another woman opened the door to the car for them while the tall, thin woman turned specifically to look Gu Ding in the eyes as she answered his question. There was a small smile on her face.
“Boss lady? Does everyone call her that?” The matter piqued Liliath’s sudden interest. She thought it sounded quite pleasant to be called boss lady.
“Yes. Camilia’s especially loves it when others refer to her as boss lady. Everyone in Border River calls her that, including the captains of the other crews. It has been this way for many years, and all of us have gotten used to it.” The tall, thin woman nodded.
“If you aren’t used to that moniker, it would be fine to call her by her name. You just arrived at Border River, so she won’t mind.”
“Big sister Bonita, is there anywhere in Jiewang worth visiting,” Liliath started to sweet-talk, referring to the woman as big sister very quickly. The tall, thin lady had introduced herself to everyone before Gu Ding got down from the spaceship.
“Jiewang is a tourist planet. There are many places you can have fun at. However, there are a few spots I highly recommend.” Bonita got into a happier mood the moment she heard Liliath call out to her in such a friendly way.
“The first place you should visit is the nature reserve. You’ll be able to see many precious beings there; even those that can only be seen after venturing into the cosmic sea. There’s also a section set up for picture taking and video recording. It’s situated in a non-danger zone and is filled with gentle beings that are safe…”
Bonita explained everything in detail and managed to get along with Gu Ding and the others during the journey.
When the Classical stopped, Gu Ding got off the car with the others. The next moment, they were rendered speechless when they raised their heads and saw a huge castle.
Liliath and Robert did not react too much. On the other hand, the others had stunned looks on their faces. It was the first time they had seen such a large castle that was not a picture being projected from Skynet.
“It’s huge!” Gu Ding could only blurt out two simple words after racking his brains in an effort to figure out how to describe it.
Bonita was not surprised by their reactions. All she did was smile. “Let me take you to your guest room.”
She led Gu Ding and the others toward the left-wing of the castle and stopped in front of a door numbered 203. She placed her palm on the door and it opened automatically. “There are five rooms and two washrooms here. You can check out the room and decide if you like the interior design. If it doesn’t suit your tastes, I’ll take you to the next room.”
Gu Ding and the others filed into the room that was clean and tidy. Its accessories were warm-toned, and it had nice lighting. It also had a huge courtyard with a big swimming pool in it.
“I think it’s pretty good. What about you guys?” It was Gu Ding’s first time staying in a room that had a personal pool. He was pretty happy about it.
Liliath smiled and nodded. “It looks like your boss lady spent a lot of thought on this. We’ll take this room.”
The others had no objections as well.
“That’s great. You just have to register your fingerprints, and you will be able to get in and out freely,” Bonita said as she pressed against the door with her palm for some time.
Then, a screen popped up in the middle of the door. “Press your palms on the screen and it will be done. Once your fingerprint has been registered, there will be a voice-prompt.”
Gu Ding was the first to press his palm against the door. It took less than three seconds before he heard a synthetic female voice say, “Your palm print has been successfully registered. Thank you!”
Liliath and the others, including Robert, also registered their palm prints. Each one of their registrations was successful.
“You can call me directly through my communicator if you need anything,” Bonita said as she emailed her communicator number to Gu Ding.
“We shouldn’t need anything else. We’ll just take a casual tour around the planet. You can carry on being busy with your work. You should be occupied these few days, we’ll try our best not to disturb you.” Gu Ding did not like causing trouble for others and liked to solve problems his own way.
Bonita smiled and nodded when she heard Gu Ding’s words. “You can have your meals at the huge hall we passed by earlier, the one with a flag of a fork and knife hanging at the door. Take whatever you’d like to eat as it is open every day for 36 hours. All the food and drinks are free. The restaurant is usually closed for two days during the weekend, but we’ll be hosting many guests during this period, so it will remain open this weekend. Since we need to take into account everyone’s different dietary needs, you won’t find that many local specialties at the restaurant. If you wish to have a taste of the local flavors, you may head over to Ford Street in the city center.”
“Thank you!” Elsa shouted out before Gu Ding was able to. Food was her number one priority, and anyone willing to provide her with it for free were good people in her eyes. That was why her gratitude toward Bonita was completely sincere.
After leaving the room she had arranged for Gu Ding, Bonita began to head toward the main building of the castle.
There, a tall, slender woman in a white dress could be seen holding a cup of coffee in the study of the main building. She was bathing under the sunlight that shone through the French windows.
A knock was heard from the study’s door.
“Come in,” the lady in the white dress said without turning to look at the door. She gently sipped on her coffee and licked her lips as she called out lightly.
“Boss lady, Gu Ding’s crew has arrived. I just picked them up from the harbor and have settled their accommodation.” There was a soft smile on Bonita’s face.
“What do you think of them?” Camilia finally turned toward her.
“They’re just a bunch of innocent kids.” There was a smile on Bonita’s face when she answered Camilia.
“That’s quite high of an evaluation. You look pretty happy.” Camilia raised an eyebrow and placed the cup of coffee down.
“It just felt really relaxing when I was with them. I felt much younger than I currently am…” The look on Bonita’s face suddenly changed when she said this. She started to panic after having realized that she probably should not have mentioned anything about age.
Unexpectedly, Camilia did not lose her temper. She remained silent for a while before she asked, “Do you think I should interact with them unofficially?”
“I think… That’s not a bad idea.” Bonita knew what her boss lady meant by unofficial interaction.
“Do evaluate them one by one. We’ll start with Gu Ding.” The matter piqued Camilia’s interest as Bonita was usually quite reserved when it came to unofficial interaction.
“How should I describe Gu Ding? A young man who is very polite and sincere. There’s a look of purity in his eyes, transparent and clean as clear lake water. There’s a special charm about him that makes people feel safe and secure. Even I have no idea why I felt that way… However, he does not give me the feeling that he is a powerful person.”
“How about the girl named Liliath?” Camilia continued asking.
“She’s very smart and knows how to observe the people around her. She also has a wide knowledge of different etiquettes. Characters such as hers are normally a thorn within a crew because the smarter one is, the more selfish they tend to be. Such type of people always attempt to garner the greatest benefits for themselves. However, she doesn’t act that way at all. She has a lot of trust in each member of the crew and gets along well with them. I feel that she sees Gu Ding and the others as family. Not the kind that argues with each other all day long, but the kind of family that rely on each other.”
“That huge man should be someone with powerful abilities, am I right?” Camilia extended her questioning to Biggie.
“He’s a Rank 10 Gene Body at his peak. He has terrifying sword sense, and I have a feeling that he has never shown his true combat effectiveness even in his previous fights. He has a very simple and honest personality. Additionally, he does not talk much. He seems quite different compared to the way he fights as shown in videos. Both sides of his personalities don’t seem to match up.”
“What about that little robot?”
“I couldn’t find out anything about him. It seems like he is an artificial intelligence robot. He didn’t say a word at all. Even while I was chatting happily with the others, he continued to sit at the side in a daze.”
“What about that newly recruited girl?” Camilia had a feeling that Elsa was not a common girl.
“She’s very powerful! She’s the most powerful member on Gu Ding’s crew…” Bonita gave a strange evaluation.