"What do you consider to be the definition of intelligence gathering?"
Tatsumi shook his head, a hint of confusion in his expression.
"How stupid. I already got the information I wanted while I was shopping."
"ah?"
Mine looked at Tatsumi's wide-open mouth and gave a disdainful smile.
"Newcomer, you still have a lot to learn. Think about it slowly on your own."
After finishing the last bite of her dessert, Mine got up and walked out of the shop.
"Wait for me!"
Tatsumi hurriedly grabbed the bag and caught up with Mine.
The two walked to the city center, where Mine stopped.
In the square, there were more than a dozen pillars, and a person was tied to each pillar.
Under the scorching sun, these people's skin turned bright red from the heat, and they couldn't even utter a sound of pain.
Tatsumi was dumbfounded and didn't know what to say for a moment.
"See this? This is the cannibalistic capital city."
Mine scoffed and turned to walk back.
On the way back, the two remained silent.
A month passed in the blink of an eye, and Night Raid carried out two more missions during this time.
"Is the pretty boy still not awake?"
In the base lobby during the night raid, Leone was lying on the sofa when his craving for alcohol kicked in. He suddenly remembered that Hao Yun still owed him two bottles of wine—no, three.
"No."
Akame, who was wiping her weapon, answered the question straightforwardly.
She would check on Hao Yun through the window every day, and if it weren't for the decreasing number of fruits on Hao Yun's bed, she would have suspected that Hao Yun was dead.
"I'm so bored!"
Leone snuggled against Hill, longing to run back to the capital and have a good drink at a tavern.
"We have a mission. Everyone, gather in the meeting room."
Najendan stood on the second floor and beckoned everyone to the conference room.
Soon the Night Raid members gathered together, except for Hao Yun.
"This is the mission objective."
Najendan took out a photograph and passed it around among the people.
This time, the person they were to assassinate was Minister Ernest's brother.
"Mine and Hill will carry out this mission. Brand, you and Leone will protect them. After you've killed them, retreat immediately."
"The opponent is the minister's younger brother, and he is protected by experts from the Imperial Fist Temple. Mine will snipe him from a distance and try to succeed in one go."
After the task was assigned, the four people who were to carry out the task had a brief discussion and then went to prepare.
The few people who stayed behind didn't pay much attention, only Tatsumi looked worried.
Are you worried about them?
Leone put her arm around Tatsumi's neck and pulled him out of the conference room.
"Hmm, assassinating the minister's brother must not be an easy task, right?"
Actually, Tatsumi came to the capital wanting to join the army, but he didn't expect to encounter so many things and end up joining the revolutionary army that was resisting the empire.
Leone laughed heartily and pointed at Mine.
"Actually, it's not too difficult. Mine has an exceptionally strong long-range sniping ability, so the mission is very simple with her around."
Mine, who was packing her things, proudly raised her head.
“Leone is right. I can take him down with one shot from ten kilometers away. Even if he has the protection of a master from the Imperial Fist Temple, it won’t help.”
Carrying their Imperial Arms Pumpkin Turrets, Mine and Sheele left the base.
This mission was indeed very simple. Mine successfully shot and killed the minister's brother five kilometers away, but she was also nearly killed herself.
The Imperial Fist Masters, who were protecting the minister's younger brother, quickly launched a pursuit after their employer's death, intercepting Mine and Sheele along the way.
Although Hill is a strong fighter, she is, after all, a newcomer to the sport.
All the masters at the Imperial Fist Temple who can graduate are only second-rate masters.
As soon as the two clashed, Hill was on the defensive. If Brand and Akame hadn't come to their aid, they would have been surrounded by a large number of soldiers if they had been held back any longer.
The death of the minister's younger brother caused a huge uproar in the capital and also ignited the minister's anger.
The next day at court, the ministers directly suggested that the young emperor recall Esdeath, who was fighting on the front lines.
The Minister of War immediately stood up to object.
However, his objections were of no use; instead, he was arbitrarily convicted by the ministers, dragged away, and beheaded.
As a minister who was second only to the emperor, he knew very well that he could not show weakness now.
As long as he shows weakness, those who oppose him or those he has framed will pounce on him like wolves and bite him to death.
The murder of his own brother was a warning sign; if he couldn't eliminate the killer, he would be the next to be assassinated.
Seeing that no one objected, the puppet emperor agreed to the ministers' request and issued an edict to recall Esdeath.
At this moment, at the Night Raid Squad base, Mine stood by Hill's bedside with a guilty expression.
"Hill, would you like some fruit?"
Hill, who was lying in bed recovering from his injuries, smiled and shook his head.
"It's okay, it's just that I'm so useless, that's why I got hurt."
Mine quickly shook her head. She hadn't been able to help at all in the fight against the experts from the Royal Fist Temple. Instead, she had distracted Hill from protecting her, which was why she was injured.
"I'm really fine, you should go back and rest too."
At Hill's urging, Mine had no choice but to go back to rest.
The day was the same as usual, and the members of the night raid team went about their business.
At midnight, a burst of wild laughter suddenly echoed through the night raid base, followed by a deafening roar.
A wall on the second floor of the base collapsed, and Hao Yun jumped down through the gap, slamming his leg into the ground with a heavy kick.
Bang!
Like a cannonball hitting the ground, it created a large crater.
"I've broken through! I've finally broken through!"
Hao Yun stood on the lawn with his hands on his hips, tilting his head back and laughing wildly.
"Why are you howling like a banshee in the middle of the night instead of sleeping!"
Najendan walked downstairs with a gloomy face, really wanting to punch Hao Yun to death.
"Boss, you're still awake? I was just too excited, so I yelled a couple of times."
Hao Yun looked at the dark night sky, scratched his head, and chuckled dryly.
With the help of the Vermilion Fruit, he perfected the fourth level of the Body Refinement Technique and also successfully broke through to the fifth level.
Having cultivated the Body Refinement Technique to the fifth level, one's physical body becomes indestructible and impervious to water and fire, thus officially embarking on the journey of martial arts cultivation.
After finishing his cultivation, Hao Yun, whose body was filled with explosive power, couldn't resist experimenting.
Very strong!
Hao Yun feels that he can beat a hundred of his past selves now.
Chapter 369 Top Expert
The noise Hao Yun made woke up all the team members inside the base.
Akame, wearing pink pajamas, thought it was an invasion by foreign enemies and rushed out with her Imperial Arms.
Looking around and seeing no enemies, she looked up and gave a curt greeting.
"You're awake."
Hao Yun smiled and nodded, then said to Chi Tong.
"Red Eyes, next time you come to see me, you can use the door. There's no need to climb through the window every time."
Akame tilted her head and thought for a moment, then nodded.
Soon, the rest of the Night Raid members rushed out as well. Mine, wearing a short skirt, held the Nanguang Cannon and frowned slightly.
"What's going on? It's not an invasion by foreign enemies?"
Najendan snorted and pointed at the collapsed wall, speaking to Hao Yun.
"You have to fix this wall by tomorrow. If you haven't fixed it by tomorrow morning, you're in big trouble!"
After saying that, Najendan turned and went back into the house, ignoring Hao Yun.
The group of people, who had been woken up, stared blankly at the collapsed wall before finally turning to look at Hao Yun.
"You did this?"
Brand's eyes gleamed as he stared intently at Hao Yun's body, scrutinizing him closely.
"Hmm, your cultivation has made a breakthrough. How about we have another match, brother?"
Hao Yun chuckled, feeling somewhat tempted.
Brand shook his head decisively. He had already lost the last competition, and now that Hao Yun's cultivation had broken through, how could he possibly go up there to make things difficult for himself?