Probing for Intelligence

Lin Yun understood the crux of the matter and, after a moment of thought, spoke up.

"If it were just me, it wouldn't matter, but there are some in the reserve team who..."

Lin Yun's gaze rested on the siblings Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, who were sitting below him.

"While it wouldn't go as far as silencing them, if they were detained or if some conflict were to break out, it would be difficult to handle."

The team leader followed Lin Yun's gaze, let out a soft click of his tongue, and sighed.

He also felt that Jing Hongchen forcing the Xiao-Meng siblings into the reserve team was a problem.

Letting his own grandchildren gain experience was one thing, but after a stunt like this, the rest of them felt significantly more psychological pressure.

Lin Yun's gaze had only flickered over the two like a dragonfly skimming water, and neither Xiao Hongchen nor Meng Hongchen had noticed.

It wasn't until the eyes of Ma Rulong and the others turned toward them that Xiao Hongchen realized the latter half of Lin Yun's sentence had been referring to them.

Xiao Hongchen immediately clenched his fists and said, "Captain Lin, my primary identity right now is a member of the reserve team, not anyone's grandson."

The team leader pondered for a moment, then tapped his fingers lightly against the table.

"If Captain Lin has no objections, then the task of scouting for intelligence will be delegated to the reserve team. However, everyone in the reserve team must remember this:"

"Your own safety is far more important than the importance of any intelligence. Even if you fail to obtain information, you must ensure your own safety first."

Lin Yun nodded and then said, "If the two of them can remember what they just said, then I am confident I can lead them through this special assignment safely."

After Lin Yun finished speaking with an air of certainty, he sat back down. The team leader fell silent for a moment before nodding, cautioning them once more.

"Be careful. If the situation looks wrong, use your distress Soul Tool immediately."

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

Lin Yun, naturally, did not refuse; he reached out to take the Soul Tool and tucked it into his pocket.

After this, the meeting briefly emphasized some precautions before the start of the tournament and instructed the main team members to avoid going out as much as possible before declaring the meeting adjourned.

Not long after returning to the guest rooms, the chef brought by the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy distributed boxed meals to each room.

Lin Yun opened his to take a look; the food was actually quite decent.

It looked much better than most of the daily meals from his previous life.

Lin Yun placed the lunch box on the windowsill and, while eating, peered through the window at the street next to the hotel.

The public order in Star Luo City was generally quite good.

There weren't any chaotic or suspicious people on the streets.

Just then, there was a light knock on the door. Lin Yun looked back and said, "Come in."

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

"Didn't you say we were going to scout for information on the other teams? Lin Yun, do you have any arrangements?"

Lin Yun shook his head and said, "Scouting for intelligence isn't that easy, especially on the first day. Any team with a modicum of maturity won't be getting into conflicts with others today."

"Even if we went down there to wander around now, the chances of finding anything of value are slim."

Xiao Hongchen retorted, "That's preposterous. Are we just going to pay lip service and do nothing?"

Lin Yun pointed to the windowsill and said, "This isn't lip service. I'm already filtering some things out."

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen curiously crowded over to the windowsill and looked around, after which Xiao Hongchen asked in confusion, "What are you scouting for?"

Lin Yun nudged Xiao Hongchen aside and said, "Turn around, clear your mind, and don't think about anything."

Although Xiao Hongchen was puzzled, shortly after doing as he was told, he suddenly felt a chill on his back, as if something were watching him.

Xiao Hongchen turned back around, and Lin Yun's gaze shifted between him and the windowsill.

"Those with slightly higher Soul Power Levels are very sensitive to changes around them, and these changes include the focus of someone's gaze. Therefore, the teams that can detect me watching them from this window are the ones that pose an absolute threat to us. We will focus our efforts on those specific teams."

"As for the oblivious ones who don't notice a thing, we can temporarily pass them by, because teams like that are likely just one-round fodder."

Xiao Hongchen nodded and then said to Lin Yun, "I hope your method is actually useful."

Lin Yun shrugged and said, "Actually, our team leader is just too anxious. Given the commercial value of our Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, the Star Luo Empire wouldn't let us be eliminated in the first round of the tournament anyway."

"As for the round-robin tournament, there will be a margin for error by then; it won't be a big problem if we accidentally lose one or two matches."

Xiao Hongchen spoke up at this moment.

"It would be best not to lose a single match."

Lin Yun nodded, caught the gaze of the Star Luo Royal Academy's team leader through the window, and subconsciously tapped his fingers against the sill.

"I have a target to test out tonight, at least."

Meng Hongchen noticed the Star Luo Royal Academy's team leader looking their way and instinctively grabbed the corner of Lin Yun's sleeve.

Lin Yun gently pressed down on Meng Hongchen's arm, signaling her to stay calm.

That evening, Lin Yun, Meng Hongchen, and Xiao Hongchen were walking down the street, with Lin Yun calculating the chances of making contact with the Star Luo Royal Academy representative team.

As they passed a restaurant, they heard a chaotic clamor coming from the main hall.

Xiao Hongchen, whose ears were more sensitive, whispered, "It sounds like they're talking about us."

Lin Yun raised an eyebrow and cast his gaze toward the restaurant interior.

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

While drinking, they were discussing matters concerning Star Luo and the Sun Moon Empire.

The attire of those two individuals was precisely the uniform of the Star Luo Royal Academy representative team.

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

The three of them were dressed in casual clothes, and the two students didn't notice them at all.

Lin Yun chose a table close to them and sat down, ordering two dishes at random without even looking at the menu.

His eyes didn't look in their direction, but his ears were tuned into their conversation.

The student sitting on the left said, "Those barbarians from the Sun Moon Empire arrived today. The competition doesn't start until the morning after tomorrow; arriving more than a day early, their intentions are plain as day."

The student sitting on the other side chimed in, "Hey, isn't that just how the Sun Moon Empire has always been? Ever since they bumped into us, they've been unreasonably invading our territory. After being beaten back, they even felt aggrieved because they were forced to change their name. It was an act of mercy by that generation that we didn't push into their country and wipe them all out..."