The Highest Bounty - Chapter 237

Chapter 237: The Restaurant Encounter

Ross sat in his room, watching Gu Ding’s latest combat video and news about the Deity Position while listening to his subordinate’s debriefing.

“You mean you’ve been observing them for two days. Everyone in the crew did not cultivate but spent two days eating, drinking, and having fun?” Ross frowned slightly after hearing the briefing.

“He has the Deity Position, and word of the auction is out. The terms of the auction are clear–Any demigod who attacks will be disqualified. There are no demigods, and with Biggie’s strength, they have nothing to fear.” Lucia did not think it was strange.

“That guy, Biggie, is really strong, but that should not be a reason not to prepare for a fight.” Ross shook his head. “Gu Ding isn’t stupid. He should easily be able to find out that we have more than twenty Rank-13 Gene Body powerhouses and hundreds more that are Rank-12 and above. He knew very well that no matter how strong was Biggie, he couldn’t handle all of them.”

“You mean, they still have something up their sleeves? What makes them so confident this time?” The more Lucia thought about it, the more certain she was of it.

“Before they came, they had no idea that Marceau was going to provoke him, much less that he was going to get the Deity Position. However, the fact that they chose to come anyway suggests that they are well prepared. It’s won’t be difficult to find out that our family has a demigod guard from Skynet. Their operations will certainly not overlook our demigod’s combat effectiveness. In other words, they must have a way to deal with demigods. For them, the Deity Position just made things easier. It is also clear from the video that Gu Ding is not afraid of demigods at all.” Ross said and paused the video projection on the scene where Gu Ding and Meyer were talking. There was not an ounce of fear in Gu Ding’s eyes.

“How many demigods did Gu Ding’s auction attract?” ‘Ross asked again after staring at the frozen video projection for a moment.

“Young master, if you don’t count the old man, there are eleven of them. It’s only noon and we expect more people to arrive before the auction begins.”

“All right, keep your eyes on Gu Ding and let me know if there’s anything” Ross nodded, then looked at Lucia. “Let’s get something to eat. There usually isn’t enough at these dinners. Eat more at noon and you won’t be hungry at night.”

“I know of a new store that just opened. It has been doing very well and is highly rated. A friend of mine, who was there yesterday, said it was wonderful. Let’s go there today.” Lucia was not a foodie, but she liked to try new things. Whenever there was a new restaurant or a new clothing or jewelry store, she was always eager to visit. “It’s my treat. Think of it as compensation for your detention. After all, you only have detention because I told on you.”

“There’s no need to feel sorry. I happened to use that time to think, and understood a lot of things these days.” Ross was not overly concerned about his detention. “Since you’re going to treat me, I won’t say no.”

…

Gu Ding’s crew were gathered at a snack bar at the moment. They sat in a circle and ate with great enthusiasm.

The reason for not going to a fancy restaurant was simple. The most authentic snacks were usually found along the streets in food stalls. The food at high-end restaurants was usually plated beautifully, but they were not necessarily delicious.

Besides, Neptune could search for local food ratings in the blink of an eye. Neptune did not have to look far to find various acclaimed specials. Therefore, every time Gu Ding and his crew visited a planet, what they ate were usually of the highest ratings.

However, Neptune was somewhat uneasy for the past two days. He had a vague feeling that something was going to happen. Therefore, his detection system ran over and over again but it never found anything. Ever since Gu Ding was promoted to a Rank-7 Gene Body, his detection radius had expanded to one thousand kilometers, in addition to his gene inventory being enabled for intermediate level restrictions.

A radius of one thousand kilometers included everything the Childe family-owned but Neptune still could not see what was causing his anxiety, because there was nothing unusual about the Childes.

He even wondered if the Childes were hiding a deity guard because only deities could escape his detection. However, based on the Childe family’s history and their development over the years, the probability of that was close to zero.

Just as everyone was enjoying their meal, a black Predator pulled up outside the restaurant.

The Predator was a high-end sports car brand owned by the Childe family. Even the lowest configuration costs tens of millions of Universe Credits. The car parked outside was the latest model that just went on sale two weeks ago. It was silver-colored. It was called the Platinum Beauty and has a market price of eight hundred million Universe Credits. Only people who had been granted a certain title by the Federal Government were eligible to buy, and they were only allowed to have one.

This humble restaurant was small and was newly opened. The price of food was also pretty affordable, so most of the people who came here to eat were of ordinary working-class, and few can afford to drive Predators. Therefore, the car soon attracted a lot of people’s attention.

However, what was even more remarkable was that the other two black Giant Armors also came to a stop.

Car models like Giant Armors were exclusively used by bodyguards. Sure enough, six people, including the driver, stepped out of the two cars. All of them were large and somewhat intimidating.

The door of the Predator opened and out came a young man and lady. The man was dressed in a suit and tie, with his hair neatly combed, making him look incredibly smart. His face was extremely handsome, but with just a glance, one could tell that he was young–probably around sixteen years old. As for the young lady, her purple dress was elegant, but her doll-like face gave away her age–she was at most sixteen or seventeen years old.

The couple’s appearance attracted a lot of attention, and Gu Ding and his crew looked in their direction.

“It’s Ross!” Gu Ding recognized him immediately. Neptune had shown him Ross’s profile, which also included a photo of him.

“He’s Ross Childe?” Lilliath looked him over carefully and concluded. “He looks better in person.”

Elsa chimed in. “He’s indeed handsome.”

“Are we doing it?” Ever since Biggie regained his combat effectiveness, he seems to be open to any kind of combat.

“There’s no hurry. We’ll wait for dinner.” Gu Ding took his eyes off Ross and continued eating, seemingly unfazed by his presence.

Seeing that Gu Ding had no intention of doing anything, Lili and the others withdrew their eyes and continued eating their food.

“Why wait until tonight? He doesn’t have a lot of bodyguards right now. Wouldn’t it be good to take this opportunity?” Elsa asked in confusion.

“I said I would attend his rites of passage. If I do anything before the rites of passage, his rites of passage would be ruined and I wouldn’t have kept my word.” Gu Ding’s reason was simple. He said he would attend his rites of passage, so he would be there.

Hearing this explanation, the others did not ask any more questions about it.

Surrounded by several bodyguards, Ross and Lucia entered the small restaurant.

The moment Ross walked in the door, he saw Gu Ding and his crew, because Biggie and Robert’s body size stood out. When he saw Gu Ding’s crew, he was shocked because he did not expect to run into them in a place like this. Ross remembered that the Modern Age had a saying; “enemies are bound to meet on a narrow road”. It was the most appropriate way to describe this situation.

Noticing something wrong with Ross, Lucia looked in the direction of his gaze. Her heart throbbed when she saw Gu Ding’s crew. She nudged Ross, who was ahead of her, and said in a low voice, “Get into the private room quickly, before they see you.”

Just then, Gu Ding appeared to turn casually toward them and smirked. Lucia had a bad feeling. Gu Ding’s smile clearly telegraphed that he had noticed their presence. Strangely though, he did not respond in any other way. Instead, he watched them go upstairs to a private room.

Once inside, Lucia breathed a sigh of relief. “Get the family to send more people. Six bodyguards are too few.”

“Don’t be nervous, Gu Ding won’t make a move.” Ross was very sure.

“Don’t be so sure. We only have six bodyguards now, and two of them are only Rank-12 Gene Bodies. Now is the best time to do it. If I were you, I would do it now.” Lucia said anxiously.

“Gu Ding said he was attending my rites of passage. The rites of passage haven’t even started, he won’t do anything.” Ross judged confidently. “Besides, they would have attacked the moment we came in if they wanted to. Don’t be so nervous. Let’s order and get something to eat.”

After about ten minutes, Gu Ding’s crew finally finished their meal.

“Come on, let’s go and say hello to the Childes’ young master.” Gu Ding paid their bill at the front desk and beckoned to the others.

The group walked up to the second floor. The Childe family’s bodyguards knew who Gu Ding and the others were, but they still stopped them.

“Don’t be so nervous, I just have a matter to consult your young master about.” Gu Ding did not force his way through.

“Let them in!” Ross’s voice came from the private room.

The leading bodyguard reluctantly pushed the private room’s door open, and Gu Ding and his crew filed in, followed by the six bodyguards.

The private room that could have held twelve people now seemed a little crowded.

Ross sat where he was with his eyes fixed on Gu Ding. “Just get straight to the point.”

“It’s your rites of passage tonight. As long as you apologize to Lili in front of everyone, we can leave it at that. If you refuse, and you’ll suffer the consequences.” Gu Ding dropped a remark. “You have the afternoon to consider my offer.”

Ross smirked a little and shook his head at Gu Ding’s suggestion. “I don’t need the afternoon. I’ll give you my answer now–I won’t apologize. If you have nothing else to say, I haven’t finished my lunch…”

“Good, we’ll see you tonight!” Gu Ding dropped the remark, turned around, and walked out of the private room.