The Highest Bounty

Chapter 226: The Rescue Plan

It took less than a few minutes for Neptune to collect vast amounts of information on that middle-aged man.

“This man is called Bregen. He’s a well-known thief whose larceny skills are rated top-three within Faye Cosmic Nation. He was arrested once more than three hundred years ago and was given a sentence of three hundred years in prison. He was first imprisoned at Leoben Prison and later Nebiro Prison for a total of two hundred and thirty years; he was released early for good behavior.”

“After getting out of prison, he stopped stealing and selling valuables for money. Instead, he started to steal for others and earn his keep through commissions. He steals a variety of items, including precious stones, art, scientific discoveries, and even people. Moreover, he has a special ability, which is space leap.”

“No wonder he was able to kidnap Liliath without you knowing,” Gu Ding suddenly realized this when informed about this ability.

“His spaceship is still docked at the harbor. I’ve already shut down all systems within his spaceship. Even if he was able to space leap through the hatch door on which I’ve changed the password and get into the cabin, he won’t be able to start the spaceship,” This was the first form of action taken by Neptune upon finding Bregen’s ship.

“Did you manage to locate him?” This was the question Gu Ding was most concerned about.

“Lili’s intelligent wristwatch has been blocked off, so I can’t detect her location through the wristwatch. I’ve also checked every location on the planet with surveillance. There’s no sign of Bregen and Lili at all. I’ve also done immediate troubleshooting within the radius of one hundred kilometers for my probing and found that there are three spots with unique shielding which disturbs my efforts at direct probing. We can take a look at those three spots, but we should not eliminate the fact that he might have used his space leap to take Lili somewhere further,” Neptune was still unable to pinpoint Bregen’s location.

Gu Ding quickly made his decision. “Send the map to us and we’ll head to those three spots first. Neptune, can you next try to get all surveillance of Bregen from the moment he stepped foot on this planet. It would be best if there were videos of him, so we can find out who he has been in contact with and the contents of his conversations.”

“Okay, I’ll conduct a search now and get back to you with the results,” Neptune immediately started to look into all surveillance records.

Gu Ding lifted his drinking glass to give Roland a toast. “Uncle, I have a last-minute emergency to sort out and need to leave. Let’s keep in touch.

“Okay. You should go ahead with your business. It’s about time we left as well,” Roland looked at Carole, who was next to him.

“Won’t you be giving me your communicator’s number?” Carole said with an unhappy expression on her face.

“I’ve sent it to your email,” Neptune had sent her the communicator’s number the moment Gu Ding said this.

“Let’s get together again the next time we are free.”

After saying goodbye to Roland and Carole, Gu Ding finished the milca in his glass with a gulp and turned toward Biggie and the others.

“Someone took Liliath,” Biggie and the others immediately turned to him when Gu Ding said this.

“There are three suspicious locations within the radius of a hundred kilometers. We’ll split up into three teams to investigate them. I just emailed the map to all of you. Biggie, you’re the fastest. You’ll head in the direction of that 7-star hotel. Robert, you head to the unfinished building that’s fifteen kilometers from here. I’ll check out the warehouse at the harbor. As for Tagore, stay here and look after Elsa.”

The three of them left the tavern immediately after the instructions were given out, and they split up into different directions, each heading to their assigned destination.

Not long after leaving the tavern, Neptune provided some information that was of some use. “Bregen had in fact landed on this planet only earlier today and was around for less than a few hours. The first thing he did was head to the information counter of harbor services after getting off his spaceship. I read his lips and he was asking about where to rent a warehouse for a short period. He next headed to the warehouse storage and got someone to take him for a tour of the inside. However, he did not use his real name when renting the warehouse. He used the pseudonym Frank. The warehouse rental number is the same warehouse number as the one I gave you. Although, for some reason, there’s an effect of a natural shield over that warehouse. There is a 90% chance that Lili might be locked up in there.”

“Does that Bregen have any creepy habits?” Gu Ding was a little worried as Liliath had been missing for close to half an hour.

“Besides being addicted to stealing, there are no weird habits that stand out,” Neptune was slightly taken aback by Gu Ding’s question, which prompted it to recheck Bregen’s information before answering.

“Does he have a fetish for young girls?” This was the question Gu Ding really wanted to ask and, in the end, decided to voice it out.

“Nope. He was hitting on mature women with voluptuous bosoms back in the tavern. His gaze was hardly on any woman under the age of thirty, besides Lili. Moreover, photos of him with other women consist only of mature women. Judging by the information I’ve collected and his actions in the tavern, he does not seem interested in someone like Lili. That is why I deduce that he must have taken Lili as part of a job assigned to him by someone,” Neptune understood why Gu Ding asked the question.

However, the words did not stop Gu Ding from worrying. Gu Ding frowned slightly. “Could it be those guys from the Dark Sectors again?”

“Bregen is not a member of the Dark Sectors,” Neptune reassured.

“Could it be possible that the Dark Sectors had hired him to help out?” Gu Ding suggested the possibility.

Neptune went silent for a while before giving a definite reply, “The possibility of this isn’t high. Those from the Dark Sectors are people who prefer to do things their way. They are also an extremely arrogant bunch, which makes it impossible for them to hire someone to help out with a mission. The most important factor is that if they hired someone and ended up being found out by the other members, they would become a joke.”

“Who else could it be if it isn’t the Dark Sectors? Does Lili have other enemies?” Gu Ding frowned further. This was not an unlikely possibility. Lili’s family was one of the richest families within the Cosmic Sea, which was the Harris family. Such an influential family as hers would naturally make many enemies.

Tricke and his men had reached the warehouse in their vehicles while Gu Ding was still on his way. They found their way to the correct warehouse number very quickly.

Tricke called Bregen’s number from outside the warehouse. The number was sent to him via a short message from the little young master of the Childe family.

Bregen had also heard the noisy footsteps outside. He immediately picked up the phone when he saw a strange number calling.

“Is this Bregen? I’m Tricke from the Childe family. I’ve been sent here by the little young master to make the exchange. We’re outside the warehouse right now. Open the door!” Tricke hung up immediately after.

He turned toward the two Rank 13 Gene Body behind him and said, “Let me confirm that he has the person we want. Once I confirm this, I’ll wink at both of you to take immediate action.”

“Understood!” Both men nodded.

Bregen walked to the door and unlocked it. He pushed it open halfway to survey the surroundings. When he saw there was only Tricke and two others with nothing that seemed out of the blue, he nodded and let three of them into the warehouse.

When Tricke walked into the warehouse, Liliath immediately recognized him. “It’s you?! How shameless of you to do this.”

“You’re finally in my hands, you little wench,” Tricke had also immediately recognized Liliath the moment he set eyes on her. He could never forget that violent little Lolita who had pointed a gun to his head. He still felt some fear when he saw Liliath because any member of Gu Ding’s crew would remind him of how Biggie had slaughtered two Rank 13 Gene Body powerhouses with one slash of the sword. He forced himself to calm down, but it was obvious that the smile on his face was forced.

“Is that so? It looks like Biggie hasn’t given you enough lessons,” Liliath saw through his tough exterior. It was clear that the two Rank 13 Gene Body powerhouses behind him looked uncomfortable with her sarcasm as well.

“He may have strong abilities, but it would be impossible for him to find his way here in such a short time. They might not even have realized you went missing,” Bregen had watched the video previously. Even though he was unable to tell the true power of the two people killed by Biggie, but from the speed of his sword, he knew that Biggie was at least at the demigod level in terms of combat effectiveness. He was not willing to face such a strong opponent and was aware that if he were to go face-to-face with Biggie, there would be no chance of victory for him at all. However, Tricke was never one to choose the path of battle. His gene level may be that of a Rank 13 Gene Body, but his true combat effectiveness was considered subpar.

What Tricke did not know, was that Gu Ding was now outside the warehouse.

“Warehouse number 009527, it’s this one!” Neptune immediately shouted.

Gu Ding did not act brashly. Instead, he hid behind another warehouse and took out two mechanical insects from his inventory, releasing them into the air.

Under the control of Neptune, the two mechanical insects flew into the warehouse house via the half-opened window. Soon, Gu Ding was able to view the situation within the warehouse through video projection.

In the video, he could see Liliath tied to the chair with anti-magic chains. Besides Liliath, her kidnapper, Bregen was also there. There was also Tricke and two other bodyguards from the Childe family, whom he had met previously in the tavern.

“Neptune, get Biggie and Robert to come here as soon as possible,” Gu Ding knew he needed backup when he saw the few people in the video. There were three Rank 13 Gene Body powerhouses made up of the two bodyguards and Bregen, who had the ability to space leap. Gu Ding’s current combat effectiveness could barely hold back one Rank 13 Gene Body. With three of them, there was hardly any chance of him winning. However, he was not worried about losing. Rather, he was more worried about Bregen grabbing Liliath and heading to somewhere further at the first sign of trouble. This was why the first thing everyone needed to do was take down Bregen. With his crew members’ current combat effectiveness, Biggie seemed to be the only one capable enough to do so.

Just as Neptune was informing Biggie and Robert about this, the situation within the warehouse suddenly changed…