"Every man dreams of one day conquering a piece of the starry sky."
Guding couldn't remember where he had seen this sentence, nor could he recall when. But upon seeing it, he had committed it to memory. He didn't know what other people's dreams were, but he knew that his own dream was described by these words.
The era of interstellar navigation had already begun when the civilization of intelligent life from the Ancient Era developed to a certain stage, tens of trillions of years ago. At that time, even the Dragon Ascension Universe had not been born.
But even to this day, no one had ever set foot across the entire Cosmic Sea. In fact, the vast majority of people had never left their own Star Domain in their lifetime, let alone their Cosmic Country.
Guding grew up on Sea Blue Star, and the farthest place he had ever been was the Fire Planet, and that was during a survival simulation training at a military academy.
When everyone learned that Guding had spent three million Star Coins to buy an Eagle Chicks spacecraft, they were somewhat astonished. One reason was that no one knew Guding had such a large sum of savings; and even more important was that the only time Guding had left Sea Blue Star was by following the military academy's ship; he had never traveled alone before.
The Eagle Chicks wasn't technically a regular interstellar spaceship, its prototype was a short-range combat spacecraft used by the military, and the internal area was only about 8 square meters, capable only of short-range travel within a small Star Domain. However, this model was also the cheapest type of interstellar spacecraft, and Guding had no second choice. Of course, the manufacturers were quite considerate; unable to enhance performance, they instead focused on the appearance, making this model very aesthetically pleasing. In Guding's words, it was very cool!
After purchasing the Eagle Chicks and some daily necessities, Guding took some time to submit his dropout application. As for the reason for dropping out, Guding did not hide anything; he wrote, "I have decided to pursue my dream and become an interstellar pirate."
When Guding submitted his application, Dean Grant happened to be free. He casually opened the dropout application that suddenly popped up on his office screen. Although this was only a Basic Military Academy, after graduation, entering a High-level Military Academy could lead to a bright future, but he had seen many students drop out for various reasons over the years. Moreover, those who took the initiative to submit dropout applications were usually outstanding students; they might have another plan for their lives.
Grant vividly remembered a student from over twenty years ago, who submitted a dropout application and then turned to business. Now, more than twenty years later, that once naive boy had become one of the top ten richest people in the Tianhe Star Domain. Grant still clearly remembered what that young boy wrote in the reason for dropping out, "After more than two years of studying, I found that I am not suited to be a federal soldier, but I discovered that I have a certain talent for business, so I want to drop out and go into business."
Grant replied to that young man with a long letter, in which he did not mention anything inappropriate about dropping out but instead maintained an encouraging attitude throughout. Only at the very end did he leave a message:
"If you are certain that something is what you really want, then go after it. Regardless of whether the result is what you expected, you will gain something. The door of the Sea Blue Star Basic Military Academy will always be open for you!"
Seeing Guding's reason for dropping out, Grant shook his head helplessly. As early as Guding's first year, during the opening ceremony speech, he had a vague premonition—that this kid might eventually drop out. In a blink, three years had passed, and Grant was glad his premonition was wrong, as Guding was just about to graduate in a few months and attain his diploma, but he ended up causing trouble at such a moment.
Guding's dropout was something Grant was very unwilling to see. Although this child was only a First-order Genetic Body, his probability of getting into a High-level Military Academy was quite high. Once there, many special traits could be gradually developed. Grant had a sharp eye for people; he always felt that Guding was the kind of person who would become increasingly radiant the more he was honed. Such a person would inevitably shine one day, perhaps even so brightly as to make others squint.
Grant had heard about the incident at the Federation Court, and initially, he was skeptical. But upon seeing Guding's dropout application, he believed that the incident where Guding allegedly beat the Prison Director might actually be true. Because he found that whatever this kid did, he never considered the potential consequences; he only considered the result he wanted.
Staring at that dropout application, Grant pondered for a long time. He wrote and deleted, deleted and wrote again, the content of the response email. Ultimately, he sighed deeply and retyped the words from more than twenty years ago into the email, "If you are certain that something is what you truly want, then go after it. Regardless of whether the result is what you expected, you will gain something. The door of the Sea Blue Star Basic Military Academy will always be open for you!"
Receiving this line from the dean's reply, Guding was a little surprised. He had initially thought that Grant would lecture him and strongly insist that he stay. This unexpected reaction was exactly what he had hoped for.
Guding then sent the news of his withdrawal to Reid and Pama.
Though not very familiar with Pama, her appearance at the Federation Court in his defense made Guding consider her a friend. Even though she appeared a bit late, her intention was enough.
"Hey, no way, you really can bear to leave me all alone?" Reid immediately called Guding.
"Stop talking nonsense, I invited you just yesterday to join my pirate group, and you refused," Guding retorted. "Moreover, before that, I asked countless times if you wanted to travel the Cosmic Sea with me, and each time you refused."
"Of course, my ambition is to become the Imperial Grand Marshal of the Federation Government!" Reid's aspirations were diametrically opposed to Guding's. "When you get into trouble someday, I will personally put you in the Federation Prison."
"If you have the capability, go ahead and try!" Guding chuckled at the words.
...
The two chatted idly for a while before ending the call. Soon after hanging up, the communicator rang again; it was Pama calling.
"It was that brat Reid on the line just now, wasn't it?" Pama guessed accurately.
"Yeah, just chatted casually with him for a bit," Guding nodded.
"Are you really leaving without even getting your diploma?" Pama still thought Guding's decision was a bit hasty.
"The new route is open; I don't want to wait," Guding offered two succinct reasons.
These reasons seemed persuasive, and Pama didn't pursue the matter further.
"What did you think about the proposal I mentioned yesterday?" Pama asked, turning the conversation. After leaving the Federation Court, she had suggested that Guding join the Medicine God Alliance.
"Why do I have to join the Medicine God Alliance?" Guding, who disliked being restrained, longed for the freedom of the interstellar pirate life.
"The video of you making something that day, I sent it to my teacher. He has a very high opinion of you, saying you are a rare pharmacist genius not seen in tens of thousands of years. If you don't join the Medicine God Alliance, your talent will gradually be wasted, which neither my teacher nor I want to see. As I mentioned yesterday, the Medicine God Alliance is actually an unrestrictive organization; its main purpose is for members to exchange experiences and insights on potion-making, to mutually improve. In the Medicine God Alliance, there are not only people from the Federation Government but also established interstellar pirates..." Pama didn't want Guding to waste his talent.
"Were you lying about getting discounts on pharmaceutical materials after joining the Medicine God Alliance?" Guding suddenly asked.
"Of course, it's true! The higher the pharmacist's level, the more the discount. As for the pharmacist level assessment, you can take a virtual assessment online; passing the assessment will earn you the corresponding level, convenient as that," Pama quickly added.
"Alright, I'll join," Guding finally agreed.
"I'll send you the link; you just need to scan your fingerprint and iris on the login page to automatically bind your identity," Pama said as she sent over a link.
Following the instructions, Guding completed the process and became a member of the Medicine God Alliance.
Once Pama confirmed Guding really joined, she sighed with relief and asked about Guding's itinerary, "When do you plan to leave?"
"As soon as the interstellar port opens tomorrow morning."
"So soon?!" Pama hadn't anticipated Guding's schedule to be so rushed.
"If not for the spacecraft purchases and other preparations now just being completed, I would have planned to leave today," Guding was not inclined to delay at all.
"I originally wanted to throw a farewell party or something, but it seems there's no time for that," Pama laughed.
"I understand everyone's intentions; the formality isn't important," Guding's lips curved slightly upward. "Take the time to drop by Rose Tavern and patronize the business. 'Meat Floss' will definitely be pleased."
"I'll go when I have time; I wish you all the best on your future journeys."
"Thank you; I wish for you to become a great Alchemist Master soon." After exchanging well-wishes, the two ended the call.
"Sea Emperor, have you plotted the course? Where should we head to first?" Guding asked Sea Emperor as he made his way to Rose Tavern. This would be his last day working at Rose Tavern.
"For the first destination, I chose Fengyuan Star!" came the swift response from Sea Emperor.