Child of Destiny

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……

Shin stayed at the virtual space of the team for a little longer to watch the matches of their next opponents and discuss their initial assessment about these rivals.

They did not dwell too deep into it as they still had other things to do, especially Shin who was still in the middle of his dungeon mission.

Shin scheduled another team meeting tomorrow, while assigning every member about the things that they had to focus on when studying the members of the Hien Workshop. As for studying the team tactics and how to deal with them, it was left for Shin to deal with.

He promised that he would find a time to take care of it despite his busy schedule.

Well, the others trusted him even though they did not believe that he would be able to free some of his time given how ‘busy’ he was.

Regardless, the strategies that he came up with were always the best choice they had when encountering any kind of situation.

Most of the members of the team were still far from being fully familiar with Shin despite acknowledging how good he was at dealing with all kinds of situations regardless of the problems that he was facing.

They were unlike the core members of the team, who knew that this was still far from what he was truly capable of.

Attracting troubles and solving them was just one of his ‘talents’. It was the same for finding a way how to mess with other people along with how he would benefit from it.

This guy was a nightmare for those who were standing opposite to him and a devil in disguise for those who offended him.

Given their understanding of him, Cloe and Leonard could tell that the next match would show everyone the true capabilities of the guy they called the ‘Devil Strategist’.

“He is quite excited. I wonder how he will make those guys suffer,” said Leonard after sensing the excitement of this sworn brother of his.

Cloe pressed her index finger under her lower lip, thinking. “Given the strength of our opponents and his personality, I am sure that he will be cooking something devious despite the odds.”

“We will know about it once he chooses the ‘champion’ who will be representing us on the first solo match,” said Leonard before proceeding to do his own thing. “I will be visiting Mister Jiang in the Divinity City first. I heard that the kid has already settled well in the Awakened Continent.”

“I’ll also try to convince him with that plan that Shin has entrusted me. That kid is quite stubborn when it comes to these things, so I hope that my strategy works this time,” he added as he turned to leave.

“A plan assigned by Shin!?” Cloe was confused at first, but she quickly realized what Leonard was talking about. “Ah! Are you talking about the information network that he is trying to make?”

Leonard paused his steps as he nodded. “Jiang is quite a talented information broker, which is why he is one of the ‘in-demand brokers’ within the game. Especially when he does not belong to any major forces.”

“As a broker, who often likes to play alone, he is the best choice when it comes to neutrality within the field.”

“But working alone also has its limitations, especially when he is competing with huge names within this line of business.”

“The Assassin Union, the Secret Recipe, the Black Market, and the Heavenly Resto-Bar are the best in the business. Even if being an information broker was just a ‘side job’ for them, mainly focusing on their main businesses, their information network was still something that a small force could achieve, much less a small-time individual.”

“Luring him to the information network that Shin is trying to build is a better choice,” commented Leonard.

“He will shine even brighter once his talent is added to the network that Miss Bunny has built during her earlier days as an information merchant,” nodded Cloe, completely agreeing with the plan.

“But we already have the Hand of Midas, though,” she continued. “Even if their information network is slightly worse compared to Assassin Union and Secret Recipe, it can still match the other two forces within the business.”

“They are even better than most of the Powerhouse Guilds and Top Organizations within the game,” she added with slightly pursed lips.

“Having another information network other than the one that is already in existence also has its advantages,” Diabo, who happened to overhear their conversation.

“Even if it is few, there are still some forces that are already aware of our team’s close relationship with the Hand of Midas. This piece of information, albeit a little, can be used against us. Just leading the spies of the Hand of Midas into a slightly altered information is more than enough to delay our channels for hearing an important news.”

“Creating an extra channel where we can get another flow of information is a common move that the top forces within the game. I bet even the Hand of Midas has multiple channels for themselves, especially with such a huge organization.”

He paused for a moment to shake his head, complementing Shin’s insight. “This move will not only benefit us, but our allies as well.”

“But everyone is already aware of our close relationship with Miss Bunny, so her network can also be used against us,” commented Cloe, seemingly trying to expose the flaw of this plan.

But Diablo had only given her a meaningful look, which took her a couple of minutes to understand. “Ah! But this piece of information can also be used as another ‘weapon’ to trick and confuse our enemies.”

“And that is where Mister Jiang will come in play. He will use his little network and experience as a solo information broker to crosscheck the information networks of the Hand of Midas and Miss Bunny, filtering the most reliable ones and those that could be trusted,” said Leonard as he also realized this fact.

“Since he has his circle of friends within this line of business, he can also be another channel of information for our team.”

“Moreover, since he is known as a lone wolf within the circle and famous for his ‘neutrality’, not many will suspect about our relationship with him,” he added with a bitter smile. “It is indeed a good plan.”

“This Vice Commander of ours is sure amazing and scary at the same time. He always aims for multiple targets with just ‘one’ stone at hand,” commented Diablo. “It may look greedy for the others, but for those who can see how meticulous he arranges things, they will realize that it is not as simple as it seems.”

“If someone underestimates even a single move from him, then they will suffer greatly in his hands. But even if they figure out what is truly happening during that time, it is already too late to escape his grasp since everything is already laid at that point – making them believe that they have ‘found’ about it,” he sighed as he suddenly recalled a few people who had a similar ability.

“Let’s just hope that he will not be the same as them,” he mumbled to himself before telling the two that he would be going.

Leonard and Cloe stared at Diablo’s back as he left before looking at one another.

“That guy sure has some history. With such a deep sigh, anyone can tell that something has happened to him in the previous ‘place’ that he’s from,” commented Leonard.

“He looks lonely and still looking for a place where he truly belongs,” nodded Cloe.

Even if Diablo had adjusted well in the Empyrean Talons, he still could not feel the sense of belonging. It was mainly because of his previous experience in the Pandemonium Descendants, which led him to restrain himself from fully trusting others.

He might like the atmosphere in the team and working quite well with them. But still refrained himself from building a true bond with them. He was always putting everyone at arm’s length purposely or unconsciously.

Him joining the team was more like a business, where they somewhat shared the same goals.

But this might change in the future as he was starting to accept being a part of this place, albeit at a slow pace.

Leonard and Cloe could feel it as well, but there seemed to be an invisible wall preventing Diablo from fully committing himself and accepting them as his true teammates and not just business partners.

“Let’s just hope that we will fully overcome it,” said Leonard, as he excused himself for needing to finish the task Shin had given him.

Cloe, on the other hand, ran toward Lorraine, who just logged in the virtual space.

“Why did you call me just now? I should have joined you in the meeting earlier,” complained Lorraine after failing to see Leonard.

Cloe giggled as she brushed off the complaints of the latter and dragged this lovestruck girl to one of the training rooms. “Help me with my training for a moment. I want to try something.”

……