Gathering Intelligence

Lin Yun understood the key issue. After thinking it over, he said,

"If it were just me, of course I wouldn't mind. But there are some people on the reserve team..."

Lin Yun's gaze landed on Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, seated beside him.

"It's not as if they'd kill us to keep us quiet, but if we were detained or some sort of conflict broke out, it would be difficult to handle."

The teacher leading the team followed Lin Yun's gaze and gave a soft click of his tongue.

He also felt that Jing Hongchen had made things difficult by putting Xiao and Meng Hongchen on the reserve team.

It was one thing to let his grandchildren gain experience, but after this, the rest of them would be under a lot more psychological pressure.

Lin Yun's gaze had only brushed over the two of them, so Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen hadn't noticed.

It wasn't until Ma Rulong and the others also looked at them that Xiao Hongchen realized the people Lin Yun had been referring to were him and his sister.

Xiao Hongchen immediately clenched his fists and said,

"Captain Lin, my first identity right now is as a member of the reserve team, not as anyone's grandson."

The team leader thought it over, then lightly tapped his fingers on the table.

"If Captain Lin has no objections, we'll leave the intelligence-gathering work to the reserve team. But everyone on the reserve team, remember this..."

"Your safety is far more important than the intelligence. Even if you can't get any information, make sure you stay safe first."

Lin Yun nodded, then said,

"If those two can remember what they just said, I'm confident I can get them through this mission safely."

After speaking with confidence, Lin Yun sat down. The team leader fell silent for a moment, then nodded and reminded them again,

"Be careful. If things start to look bad, use the emergency Soul Tool immediately."

As he spoke, the team leader pushed a square, card-shaped Soul Tool toward Lin Yun.

Lin Yun naturally accepted it without hesitation, took the Soul Tool, and slipped it into his breast pocket.

The meeting continued with a few brief reminders about what to keep in mind before the competition began. The official team members were told to avoid going out as much as possible during this period, and then the meeting was dismissed.

Not long after Lin Yun returned to his room, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy's cooks delivered boxed meals to each room.

Lin Yun opened his box and took a look. The food was pretty good.

It looked far better than most everyday meals from his previous life.

Lin Yun set the box on the windowsill and ate while watching the street beside the hotel through the window.

Overall, public safety in Star Luo City was pretty good.

There wasn't much in the way of riffraff on the streets.

Someone gently knocked on the door. Lin Yun glanced back and called,

"Come in."

The hotel room door opened, and Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen walked in.

"Didn't you say we were going to scout the other teams? Lin Yun, what's your plan?"

Lin Yun shook his head.

"Gathering intelligence isn't that easy, especially on the first day. Any team with a bit of experience won't get into a conflict with anyone today."

"Even if we go wandering around right now, there's a good chance we won't find anything valuable."

Xiao Hongchen said,

"This is ridiculous. Are we just going to pay lip service and do nothing?"

Lin Yun pointed at the windowsill.

"This isn't paying lip service. I'm already ruling some things out."

Curious, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen went over to the windowsill and looked around. Xiao Hongchen then asked, puzzled,

"What are you investigating?"

Lin Yun nudged Xiao Hongchen and said,

"Turn around. Empty your mind. Don't think about anything."

Xiao Hongchen didn't understand, but after doing as he was told, he soon felt a chill on his back, as if something were watching him.

Xiao Hongchen turned around. Lin Yun's gaze moved between him and the windowsill.

"People with higher Soul Power Levels are sensitive to changes in their surroundings. Those changes include being watched. So, the teams that can tell I'm watching them from the windowsill are the ones that pose a real threat to us. Those are the teams we should focus on."

"As for the clueless ones who don't notice a thing, we can ignore them for now. Teams like that will probably be knocked out in the first round."

Xiao Hongchen nodded, then said to Lin Yun,

"I hope your method works."

Lin Yun shrugged.

"Honestly, our team leader is too anxious. Just considering the commercial value of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, the Star Luo Empire won't let us get knocked out in the first round."

"As for the points round-robin, we'll have room for error then. Even if we accidentally lose a match or two, it won't be a big deal."

Xiao Hongchen said,

"It would be best not to lose any matches."

Lin Yun nodded. He looked through the window and met the gaze of the team leader from Star Luo Royal Academy. His fingers tapped the windowsill unconsciously.

"Looks like we have a target to try tonight."

Meng Hongchen had also noticed that the team leader from Star Luo Royal Academy was watching them. She instinctively grabbed the hem of Lin Yun's clothes.

Lin Yun gently patted Meng Hongchen's arm, signaling for her to stay calm.

That night, Lin Yun, Meng Hongchen, and Xiao Hongchen were walking down the street. Lin Yun was working out how they might approach the Star Luo Royal Academy team.

As they passed a tavern, they heard a commotion coming from inside the main hall.

Xiao Hongchen had sharper hearing than the others. He lowered his voice and said,

"Sounds like they're talking about us."

Lin Yun raised an eyebrow and looked toward the tavern.

Two students wearing Star Luo Royal Academy uniforms were sitting together drinking.

As they drank, they chatted about the Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire.

Their uniforms marked them as members of the Star Luo Royal Academy team.

Lin Yun signaled with his eyes and led Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen inside.

All three were wearing ordinary clothes, and the two students didn't pay them the slightest attention.

Lin Yun chose a table close to theirs. Without even looking at the menu, he casually ordered two dishes.

He kept his eyes turned away but listened to their conversation.

The student on the left said,

"Those barbarian bastards from the Sun Moon Empire arrived today. The competition doesn't start until the morning after tomorrow, so they came more than a day early. Their intentions are obvious."

The student on the other side chimed in,

"Come on, isn't the Sun Moon Empire always like that? Ever since they invaded us back then, they've been unreasonable barbarians. After they got driven back, they even had the nerve to complain about being renamed. We could've pushed into their territory back then and wiped them all out, but that generation showed mercy..."