"Master, I lost them," a voice was heard from the communicator.

"I know. You should head back for now." The man hung up the phone and dialed another number. The phone rang three times before he decided to cancel the call. Normally, his men answered his calls within two rings. If they did not answer after two rings, it only meant one thing - the person on the other line was dead.

The man clenched his fists hard before releasing his strength. With a grin on the corners of his mouth, he said, "Very well. Brave enough to kill my men, I see."

After a while, he dialed another number. "Don't bother coming over, Woody's dead. Go over there and take care of things. When you're done, I'll arrange a proper funeral for him. But before that, I'll teach Gu Ding a painful lesson... "

Gu Ding went to three ore processing plants one after another; his purchases went smoothly. It seemed like the ore processing plants had not been notified by Bundy about him.

The Ona.s.sis family must have not expected Gu Ding to purchase ores and process them himself because it was very rare for people to own processing equipment. Normally, only repair shops and s.p.a.ce docks had them. Even a typical mechanic would not have the proper tools and molds for it. A piece of processing equipment often ran for up to a million Star Credits, and a fist-sized mold cost at least tens of thousands of Star Credits. In addition to that, there were tens of thousands of types of molds; it was simply not affordable for any typical mechanic.

Liliath had also gone to two ore processing plants herself. She was able to arrive at the starport before Gu Ding because she went to one less plant than him.

When Liliath arrived at the starport, she immediately noticed the burly man standing below the Grey-Faced Buzzard.

The man was wearing a pair of blue striped trousers along with a white s.h.i.+rt and a brown tie that hugged his collar tightly. He looked extremely professional with his short blonde hair that was combed toward the back of his head. His back was pencil straight, and his hands hung coolly in his pockets. Nevertheless, he was merely a sharp sword that had been unsheathed and was ready in Liliath's eyes.

The man noticed Liliath's gaze immediately as well. Glancing at her, the corners of his mouth raised slightly as he said, "Liliath the little witch. Someone has recently been the talk of the town."

His voice was not loud, but it reached Liliath's ears clearly.

"You're from the Army!" Liliath made her deduction instantly.

"Oh? I thought Gu Ding was the only one who had observation and a.n.a.lytical skills. I was not expecting you to be filled with such surprises." The man narrowed his eyes. "Liliath… I couldn't find anything about that name of yours. Is it really your name? Does Gu Ding know your real name?"

"That's none of your business." Upon hearing his words, Liliath's face changed.

"What's my business, then? Is it not my business since you killed one of my men just now?" A murderous aura flashed across the man's eyes. "I'd say, that was the biggest mistake you made in Constlac."

When Liliath heard what he said, she recalled the guy that had been put to sleep by her.

Back then, it looked like the man in front of her thought that she had killed him. Even so, Liliath had not bothered explaining herself. She thought that she did not have to explain anything to anyone from the Federation Army because whatever they a.s.sumed was their own business.

"Don't forget that you're at the starport. The Starport Authority has the say around here. It's unauthorized for people from the Army to bust Interstellar Pirates here." At that moment, Liliath was already aware that she was no match for him.

"But I'm not wearing a uniform now, am I?" The man stretched out both his hands. "You should also know that since I'm not in uniform, I'm acting on behalf of myself."

"If you want to fight, bring it on." Liliath's Combat Armor that was on her arms began to change form. It turned into a sniper rifle, and she quickly loaded armor-piercing sh.e.l.ls into it.

"Based on my knowledge, you're merely a gunner. Do you really think you have a chance against me?"

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Liliath's eyes were locked on her opponent as she pulled the trigger.

"Liliath has started a fight with a man from the Army. Hurry up and get to her as soon as possible. He's a Rank 7 Gene Body. If both of you team up together, you guys may have a chance." Earlier, Neptune had noticed the powerful opponent. In addition to that, he had told Liliath to buy some time by laying low and waiting for Gu Ding. Nevertheless, Liliath, unfortunately, did not heed his advice. 

"A Rank 7 Gene Body? He's considered a powerhouse among the senior colonels in the Federation Army, right? Why did he change out of his uniform just to hunt us down? He won't get anything out of it." Gu Ding could not wrap his head around it.

Regardless of whether people from the Army wore casual clothes or not, they would not receive any bounties for capturing Interstellar Pirates. 

The other party had come to the starport dressed in casual clothes. Although he was not acting as part of the Army, there was still a chance that he would get suspended for acting ultra vires. As for capturing Gu Ding and Liliath to hand them over to the Ona.s.sis family in exchange for a private reward, there was no need in taking the risk by doing it at the starport. He could have waited for them to leave before he took action. Therefore, Gu Ding could not understand why the man insisted on waiting for the two of them right under their s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p at the starport. There was absolutely no benefit for him to catch Gu Ding and Liliath. 

The strangest thing of all was that the man had come by himself. Under normal circ.u.mstances, he should have brought a few men with him to block possible exit points where Gu Ding and Liliath could escape through.

"Is there any more information about the guy?" Gu Ding asked.

Neptune immediately searched for information about the man:

Name: Senior Kohler 

s.e.x: Male 

Age: 29

Occupation: Federation Army 

Army Rank: Senior colonel

Gene Level: Level 7

Special Ability 1: Razorblade

Ability Description: Ability to change both hands into sharp blades anytime.

Special Ability 2: Level 2 Defense 

Ability Description: Defense power is doubled for half an hour. 

Side Effects: Enter Prostration mode for 3 hours with halved combat power.

Highest Bounty Ever Captured: 710 million 

Acc.u.mulated Capture Amount: 27.7 billion

Gu Ding rushed back to the starport quickly and found that the battle between Liliath and her opponent was still ongoing. The majority of the time, Senior was dodging her attacks instead of attacking her.

The moment Senior sensed Gu Ding's arrival, he beckoned to him, "This little girl is of average strength. Why don't you join her so both of you may stand a chance?"

"As you wis.h.!.+" Gu Ding winked at Liliath. As soon as Gu Ding had arrived and saw that Liliath's bullets were flying around with no direction, he knew what she was up to. Liliath had been deliberately acting weak to buy time; she was pretending to not be able to keep up with her opponent so that he would lower his guard. In fact, Liliath had never once shown her extraordinary gunmans.h.i.+p in videos so n.o.body knew what her level of marksmans.h.i.+p was.

As the corners of Liliath's lips raised to a grin, Gu Ding knew that it was time to make a move the moment she pulled the trigger.