The Highest Bounty

Chapter 53: Let’s Fight

After a series of discussions with Neptune, Gu Ding finally devised a battle plan.

“Lily, later, I’ll rush into the dockyard and lure that guy out. That’ll be your chance to sneak inside and locate the spacecraft. If possible, I want you to drive it away immediately.”

“What about you?” Liliath frowned upon hearing his plan.

“I’ll be fine. I can always run away if I can’t beat him in a fight,” Gu Ding said with a grin.

“No, what I mean is that you simply can’t stay on this planet.” Liliath shook her head and said, “It’s too dangerous here. If you ever get infected by the virus, you’ll end up like these monsters too.”

“Wait, I haven’t finished talking…” Realizing that Liliath had misunderstood him, he continued, “I’m not asking you to drive the spacecraft away and leave me alone here. I’m asking you to leave this planet first and wait up to three days on a nearby planet before coming back. I should be able to get rid of that guy by then. I’ll send you a map later, and all you need to do is dock the spacecraft somewhere around the red dot that I’ve marked on the map. Once you’re done on your side, contact me with a walkie-talkie.”

“Oh, I see. Alright, but why do I need to wait for three days?” Liliath felt that it was unnecessary to wait for that long. “Why don’t I come and pick you up after one day? If you can’t get rid of that guy in one day, I doubt that you can last for three days. Don’t you agree?”

“That’s because it takes me three days to get from the dockyard to that red dot on the map. The distance is far enough to make sure that the guy doesn’t notice any spacecraft landing nearby. I’ve taken into account that he may have a special ability that gives him a long-range vision of some sort. If he were to locate the spacecraft once more, I’m sure that he’ll fight us over it. In that case, it’s also very likely that he’ll destroy it to prevent us from escaping.”

“It is indeed necessary to set the rendezvous location so far away in case he has long-range vision. With a good vantage point, people with a long-range vision can easily see things up to a few hundred kilometers away. Seeing that the buildings on that dockyard are pretty tall, it’s true that nothing will obstruct his line of sight if he were to stand at the highest point.” Liliath finally seemed to understand Gu Ding’s intentions.

“Anyway, that’s the plan if things go well,” Gu Ding said, “If he notices something wrong and heads back to the dockyard in the middle of our fight, I’ll send you a message immediately. If that happens, go back and hide in the cabin right away. Don’t bother confronting him, or you might get killed.”

“I understand. I know what’s my combat strength, and I know that I can’t beat him in a fight.” Liliath nodded and said, “You should be careful and try not to get yourself killed either. If I don’t receive your message, I’ll be dead once he comes back to the dockyard.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that the message gets through even if I’m dead.” Gu Ding had considered this possibility as well.

“Are you sure that the spacecraft is still operational? All the other power systems found in this square were destroyed. What if I find that it’s not working after I get inside?” Liliath raised her concerns.

“There shouldn’t be any major problems regarding the spacecraft. There are just some parts that still need to be repaired, and its performance is not at its best.” With Neptune’s help, Gu Ding was now an expert in this field. “From what I can tell, there are two reasons why that guy isn’t in a hurry to leave. Firstly, he wants to finish repairing the spacecraft. Secondly, he’s waiting for the interstellar storm to pass.

“Once you’re in the spacecraft, turn it on and drive it to a nearby planet. Come and pick me up in three days,” Gu Ding reminded, “If I didn’t show up or reply to any of your messages by the time you arrive, it means I’m dead. If that happens, you’ll have to flee immediately and leave this gray star sector for good.”

Liliath went silent upon hearing his words. After a brief pause, she forced a smile and said, “You’re gonna be okay.”

Gu Ding was basically ready for battle after telling Liliath his plan. He decided to confront his enemy at noon the next day, when the temperature was highest.

That night, Gu Ding slept soundly, as usual, whereas Liliath barely got any sleep at all.

Early the next morning, Gu Ding felt energetic and refreshed. After looking at Liliath who looked slightly lethargic, he asked, “Didn’t sleep well yesterday?”

“Yeah. I guess I was just too excited.” Liliath nodded and said. She was actually lying. The real reason why she stayed up all night was because she was very worried that Gu Ding’s plan might not turn out well. She was concerned that Gu Ding might end up getting killed, and that she would lose a good friend.

“Why don’t you try and get some sleep now? There’s still plenty of time before noon.” Gu Ding grinned and said, “We have to be very alert when we launch our attack.”

Liliath’s alarm went off when it was almost noon. After turning it off, Liliath sat up in bed. She still did not manage to get much sleep. Nevertheless, she looked much more refreshed after taking a short nap.

“You look much more energized now,” Gu Ding said with a wide grin. “Well then, I better get going. You can sneak into the dockyard as soon as you see that I’ve managed to lure him out.”

“Okay,” Liliath nodded determinedly.

After asking Neptune to turn off the surveillance cameras, Gu Ding slipped out of the cabin and headed toward the dockyard. Neptune reconnected the surveillance feed only after Gu Ding was near the entrance to the dockyard.

At almost the same time, Cooper, who was sitting on a swivel chair in the dimly lit monitoring room spotted Gu Ding as well. Raising an eyebrow, he said, “Well, well, it seems that he can indeed blind the surveillance cameras. I must admit, I never expected him to show up right at my doorstep. Is he trying to lure me out? The fact that he chooses to show up at noon proves that he knows that high temperatures and UV radiation are my weaknesses. Anyway, let’s have some fun, shall we?”

Cooper got up from his chair, and in a split second, he had already disappeared into the darkness, leaving behind a spinning swivel chair. A moment later, he was at the entrance to the dockyard.

Cooper was briefly stunned when he saw Gu Ding, as he was not expecting his opponent to be a teenager. Nevertheless, he came back to his senses and said, “Young man, it seems to me that you’ve done something that you weren’t supposed to do.”

“You can talk?” Gu Ding was startled.

“Well, well, what makes you think that infected people like us can’t talk? I must say, you’re pretty narrow-minded if that’s the case.” Cooper said, broadening Gu Ding’s knowledge about infected people. “As far as I know, you seem to know quite a lot about us. Not only are you aware that we’re afraid of high temperatures and UV radiation, but you also knew the weaknesses of those giant beasts.”

“It seems that you’ve done your homework as well,” Gu Ding said with a smile.

“A lot of that was just me speculating, but what you’ve just said confirmed that I was right after all.” Cooper leaned against the gate and replied, his lips curling into a smile.

“You know what, cut the crap. Let’s fight!” Gu Ding felt that there was no need to waste time and continue talking with him anymore. He could not wait to get a taste of his strength, given that he had now obtained a new ability.

“What a pity. I wanted to have a good chat with you, you know.” Cooper said while looking up at the sky. The sun was shining brightly, and the intense radiation was making him feel slightly uncomfortable…