"Hahaha! I'll come find you sometime, Brother Xiuka. But right now, I want to look around on my own. Since I'm new here, I should have some fun and try my hand at being a mercenary."
Jiang Yun put on the airs of a young master who had just arrived, thinking, Looks like they've taken me for a fat lamb!
But it remained to be seen who was the lamb and who was the wolf. A sharp glint flashed in Jiang Yun's eyes.
"Hey, another clueless fool's about to get fleeced by Xiuka."
Someone in the crowd whispered.
"Do you have a death wish? You can't say things like that! If Xiuka hears you, you'll be lucky to get out alive. You should know that Xiusi, the head of the Lone Wolf Mercenary Group, is Xiuka's older brother. He's a ruthless man with a battle power of ten thousand!"
The person beside him tugged at his sleeve. He was probably his friend or teammate.
Their voices were pitifully quiet, though, and almost no one heard them.
But Jiang Yun was different. His body had been transformed by Vital Energy, giving him exceptionally sharp senses. Even though they'd spoken softly, he still heard them.
"Oh! So Xiuka's brother has a battle power of ten thousand?"
Jiang Yun murmured to himself. Still, a battle power of ten thousand wasn't enough to concern him. For now, he'd see what this local tough had in mind.
Heh!
I'm not an easy mark!
After parting ways with Xiuka, Jiang Yun and the others split up and went to restaurants to gather information. Restaurants drew all sorts of people and were the easiest places to find things out.
Half a day later, everyone returned.
"So, what did you find out?"
Bu Chen asked the others.
"Captain, we've gathered a little information, but there wasn't much time, so we couldn't find out a lot. Still, we learned what the main factions are."
"I found out a few things too. I had to buy a few drinks for an old drunk before I could coax any information out of him. That old drunk really wouldn't do a thing without getting paid first."
A pained look flashed across the speaker's face. The old drunk had clearly fleeced him for quite a bit.
"Keep it short. What exactly did you find out?"
Bu Chen frowned, clearly impatient to hear the details.
"Let me explain. There are three major factions on this planet: the Lone Wolf Mercenary Group, the Rose Mercenary Group, and the Planet Lord."
"Of those, the Lone Wolf Mercenary Group is the weakest, though their leader, Xiuka, still has a battle power of over ten thousand. Next is the Rose Mercenary Group. They're a little unusual: they only recruit women."
"Their leader is a woman, too. They say she's called Black Rose, and plenty of people have died at her hands. I also heard that her battle power is higher than Xiuka's, the leader of the Lone Wolf Mercenary Group. Supposedly it's over fifteen thousand, though I don't know if that's true."
"Then there's the Planet Lord, who's the most powerful person on this planet. Even all the other major and minor factions have to pay tribute to him. His name is Batu, and they say his battle power is over twenty thousand."
It seemed these people were not to be underestimated.
Bu Chen fell into thought. The most important thing now was figuring out how to establish a foothold on this planet without revealing too much of their strength.
What should they do?
"Maybe we could register as mercenaries."
Jiang Yun saw how deeply Bu Chen was thinking. It seemed he'd forgotten why they had come here in the first place, so Jiang Yun reminded him.
Earth had limited Bu Chen's horizons. To Jiang Yun, though, this was all child's play. Having read so many webnovels in his past life, he'd encountered every sort of situation. He had already planned what to do next.
Still, he wanted to help Bu Chen develop a broader perspective, so he'd let him work it out for himself.
"Right! Mercenaries are everywhere on this planet. We could register as mercenaries!"
Bu Chen clapped his hands as though he'd just thought of something.
"Did anyone find out anything about the mercenaries?"
Bu Chen asked.
After a brief silence, someone spoke up. "I found out a few things. The largest mercenary organization is the Mercenary Guild. It posts missions and handles mercenary registration for people in exchange for a small fee. It's similar to our Martial Arts Platform in the Martial Alliance."
The team member paused, then continued, "I heard the people who founded the Mercenary Guild are incredibly powerful. They say the Planet Lord of this planet is just one of their public-facing representatives. I even heard that Frieza never directly invades this region of space, though I don't know who Frieza is. Apparently, he's the emperor of the universe!"
Jiang Yun gave the team member a surprised look. He was a talent. He'd managed to gather so much information in such a short time, and some of it might not even be known to the locals.
That was the advantage of having an organization behind you: you didn't have to do everything yourself.
"Let's take it easy for now. We'll register as mercenaries tomorrow."
Jiang Yun spoke up then, suggesting they get some rest for the night before making any plans.
Everyone agreed. It was already getting late, so they went to a hotel to rest. Bu Chen took some money out of a Hoi-Poi Capsule to pay for their rooms, and then everyone got ready to turn in.
"You can go out and have some fun too, but don't stay out too late."
Jiang Yun turned to the members of the Blazing Squad as he spoke.
"Yeah! Got it, Alliance Leader!"
Everyone was thrilled. They'd just arrived on an alien planet and couldn't wait to go out and see the sights. Earlier, they'd all been busy gathering information and hadn't had a chance to enjoy themselves. Now that they finally could, they were all excited.
They immediately headed out, leaving behind only a few who weren't fond of crowds and spent most of their time training. They didn't like that sort of atmosphere. Their only real joy was probably improving their martial arts; before joining the Martial Alliance, they'd lived as ascetic monks.
"Bu Chen, aren't you going out to have some fun?"
Jiang Yun smiled at Bu Chen. He knew Bu Chen wanted to go out too.
"No need, Brother Yun. We just got here, and there'll be plenty of time to have fun later. I'd rather go back to my room and think about what we should do next."
Bu Chen gave a rueful smile.
"Hahaha! Don't be like that. Go out and look around. I'm sure you'll learn a lot."
Jiang Yun laughed heartily. How could he not see what Bu Chen was thinking? He knew Bu Chen wanted to go explore, too.
In a brightly lit room, one figure was reporting something to another. The light fell across the listener's face, revealing a fierce expression. It was Xiuka, the same man who'd been talking things over with Jiang Yun that morning.
"You're sure you didn't see wrong?"
Xiuka asked in disbelief, startling the underling.
"I'm sure! I saw that group of people pull a whole bag of gold coins out of a tiny Capsule. That Capsule is definitely a treasure!"
The underling stammered, greed for the Hoi-Poi Capsule shining in his eyes.
"Hahaha! Well done. Keep watching them!"
Xiuka patted the soldier on the shoulder and praised him.
The underling happily turned to leave, his face beaming. If I can earn Mr. Sika's favor, won't I be set for life? A delighted squeal rang out in his heart.
After the underling left, Xiuka's expression darkened.
"I thought that guy was just some ordinary rich kid, but it turns out he's got something incredible on him: a space Capsule that can store things! Heh. Just hand over all your valuables, nice and easy!"
Hahahaha!!!
Xiuka's laughter echoed through the room.
Before you continue