Scouting Information

Walking for a while, Minos finally reached the most elite neighborhood in Underwood City, a heavily monitored area constantly patrolled by guards.

Walking up to the large stone wall, Minos nimbly climbed up, appearing on the other side without alerting a single guard.

Sneaking through the alleys, he soon came across a massive mansion that took up nearly an entire street by itself.

Despite the night being late, the mansion was still lit up brightly, the sounds of walking echoing from beyond the walls as the servants within the mansion were still fast at work.

Climbing up a wall, Minos peered in discretely through a window, looking in at the large table that was seating only three people.

The man at the head of the table was extremely fat, with red bulging cheeks that looked like tomatoes.

Beside him was seated a beautiful woman, and on the other side was a middle-aged man, who if two hundreds pounds heavier, would probably look quite similar to the fat man.

With his Omniscient Eyes activated, Minos scanned the three of them, reading through their memories until he had everything he needed.

Finished, Minos dropped back down on the ground silently, before sneaking away and heading towards another mansion, this one even bigger then the first.

Unlike the mansion from before, this one had all the lights turned off, the family clearly long at sleep.

Putting his ear up against the mansion wall, Minos listened in, using his tremendous hearing to create a mental map of the interior of the building.

Listening to the sound of breathing and heartbeats, Minos quickly determined the strongest person within the house.

With his destination in mind, Minos headed across the side of the mansion before coming below a large balcony that oversaw the large back garden.

Climbing the wall, Minos quickly scaled up to the second floor before landing on the balcony, using a thin strand of Nux to pick the lock and open the door.

With the glass balcony doors open, Minos slipped into the room, coming across a large bed that had two people sleeping peacefully on it.

With his Omniscient Eyes, Minos once more scanned for everything he needed before slipping back out of the room, clearing his traces such that it was like he was never even here.

Back on the streets, Minos quickly made his way out of the elite neighborhood, but rather than heading home, he started to walk through the still busy streets.

Underwood City had quite the night life, so despite the late hour, the lights were still on in most places with people enjoying the cool night air.

Heading through the crowds, Minos kept looking around, his mind downloading swathes of information as he began to put together the final pieces of the puzzle.

Suddenly, as Minos laid his eyes upon an inconspicuous young man who was stumbling through the streets, seemingly drunk, his eyes lit up.

The young man didn't notice Minos at all, but little did he know, he was being stared at by a beast that had already consumed him.

Smiling gently, Minos turned around, heading back home, on his way tossing a few silver coins to a beggar on the side of the road, as if to bless his upcoming operation.

…

The next day everyone woke up bright and early, and after breakfast and a few hours of cultivation, Minos called everyone to another meeting.

He didn't say anything important, rather just reaffirming everything he had already stated yesterday, still leaving everyone in a fog.

With the meeting over, the room started emptying out, Minos sitting at the front of the room as he watched the crowd head off to their day's work.

"You two, stop." Minos said, leaving behind the last two people who were about to leave.

"You need something boss?" The older one asked.

"Not only do I need something, I need something critical. Do the job well and your future promotions will be secured." Minos smiled.

"Anything boss, just let us know!" The two quickly said, not wanting to waste such a good opportunity.

"Take this note and memorize the script on it perfectly, after that, head towards the Red Mist Brothel and rent room 203, remember, 203. After that, just head to that room and read off the script. Understood?" Minos explained, handing a small sheet to them.

"Uhh, yessir? The two said, despite being confused by the incredibly cryptic assignment.

"Good, I think highly of the two of you. Now run off, no time to waste." Minos said, dismissing them.

With another bow, the two ran out of the room, leaving Minos completely alone to go through his thoughts.

As he was consumed by his thoughts, the sounds of footsteps woke him from his reverie, forcing him to look up.

"Dad, let's go play!" Rinka said, having finally woken up hours after everyone else.

"Rinka, leave your father alone, he's busy." Tinka admonished, following closely behind her.

"No, she's right, after all we don't have much time here before we head back, so let's have fun." Minos smiled.

"Yayyy!" Rinka cheered.

Tinka didn't say anything, but the smile on her face was enough to make her feelings obvious, the whole family heading out to enjoy a day together.

…

Meanwhile, at the Nine Treasure House, a familiar face was quickly running up to the second floor before knocking heavily on the bosses door.

"Who is it? Stop that damn knocking." The voice said with an annoyance, forcing the young man who was knocking hard to come to a pause.

Not wanting to irritate the boss any more, the young man stood in silence as he waited patiently to be called it.

This wait ended up being a full two hours long, and finally, the boss's voice once again called out, finally letting him into the room.

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, the young man opened the door and headed inside, standing straight a few feet from his boss's desk.

"Oh, it's you?" The boss said, finally looking up from his desk.

If anyone from Trin's Abode was here right now, they would be both shocked and angry to find that this young man was a member of their own group.

Of course, he wasn't one of the initial orphans that joined at the beginning, but even then, he had been with Trin's Abode for at least a few years by this point, but it seemed that wasn't enough to build any loyalty in him.

"Mister Yufu, I have important information about Trin's Abode!" He said urgently.

"Trin's Abode? Which one is that again?"

"It's the one that controls the House of Treasures."

"Oh yeah, that place. Anyways, what kind of news could such a small place have for me? The fact that they're still alive is only because I'm busy with other things." Yufu said arrogantly.

"It might be a small place, but it has big ambitions! Mister Yufu, they've already decided to target you!" The young man said anxiously.

"Target me, hahahah, what a joke!" Yufu responded, holding back his tears as he let out a hardy laugh.

"It's no joke Mister Yufu! While I'm not certain what their plan is, it seems they want to try and assassinate the City Lord and pin the blame on you!"

"Hahaha, stop, please stop, you're going to kill me!" Yufu said, laughing even harder at what he considered the ultimate joke.

Seeing Yufu's complete disdain, the young man could only stand around awkwardly, waiting for Yufu to laugh himself out.

After waiting a few minutes, Yufu finally ran out of breath, leaning back in his chair as he recovered from his laughing fit.

"Look boy, the City Lord is no sheep, rather, he's a wolf in sheep's clothing. Anyone who tries to kill him will sooner or later end up dead, not to mention he's not stupid enough to fall for such an obvious scheme. Got it?" Yufu explained.

"Oh, I understand..."

"Good, then leave me to my work and keep an eye on that little group of your's, though by now, I honestly don't think much of them anymore."

…

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, a very similar conversation was playing out, but this one between the City Lord and another spy.

It seemed Trin's Abode was about as solid as a beehive, but this was the reality of most new and weak forces who didn't yet have the expertise of dealing with possible spies.

"So you're saying they might try to assassinate me and blame it on Yufu?" The City Lord asked, his face still as water.

"That seems to be the plan." The spy explained.

"Hmm, very well, good job." The City Lord said, no longer paying any attention to the spy and instead focusing back on his work.

Seeing that the City Lord was no longer interested in talking with him, the spy naturally understood his meaning leaving the room silently.