My Level Zero System
Chapter 228 - 228: Intelligence War (2)

"As for that box... no worries."

"But..."

"If you're unsure, try to probe what's in the box, but don't go overboard. Because assuming you've regained Kain's trust, he'll let the rest of the party know what it is."

"..."

Hearing that, Elna felt somewhat reassured.

But as soon as she left, the smile on Faith's face disappeared.

The fact that Elna exposed herself as a spy was already a given.

So, the fact that Kain intentionally gave Elna space to regain her trust is quite concerning.

"He already knows..."

For Faith, it was a signal.

A signal informed him that Kain had learned that the entire process of placing Elna as a spy on Kain's side had been completely seen through by Kain, and that he had even used Elna herself to prolong the game with Faith, paralyzing Faith with the thought that "Kain had not yet discovered it."

This war of espionage and counter-espionage was originally just a cover for both sides, to hide their true intentions.

But... all of this was still within Faith's expectations.

In fact, the real purpose of this entire spy plan... was Elna's exposure.

And about the mystery box.

Faith wasn't worried, because his team had also received a similar box, in a similar way.

"So, this must be the intention of the tournament organizer."

In his room, Kain thought.

This is actually not too difficult to guess, after all, this place is still an independent space created by the academy's principal, obviously it will prevent any interference from the outside.

So if there is intervention, it means it is valid.

And the box is the tool for the final round .

With this, Kain was able to completely outline the next round they would face.

It's a four-way battle, taking place in a huge, independent environment similar to the team qualifiers.

There is a goal that any team that wants to win must achieve, and the tools to get closer to that goal are in the box.

As for the box that Kain was holding, it was inlaid with purple jewels. Equal to [Spirit Magic], Kain recognized this as a more minimalist version of the magic skill [Mind Control].

These inlaid stones, once placed on the creature's forehead, can be used to use [Spirit Magic] to control the target.

However, the power in these inlaid stones is relatively weak, only effective against the spirit of low-class Magus and below, mid-class Magus can completely resist.

Therefore, Kain guessed that what these inlaid stones would control was not Magus, but something else with enough combat power to break the balance in the combat power of the four teams.

Obviously, this was the advantage that Kain's team was given.

But this leads to another problem.

It was in this box that he could not find the tool that these stones controlled.

From this, Kain deduced that the things these inlaid stones would control were the advantages of some other team, and that those things would be hidden in the upcoming battle.

As for the team holding the advantage, Kain guessed that they would have a map marking the location of these weapons. But whether they knew what was marked there or not, he wasn't sure.

However, Kain could be sure of one thing, this gave the teams a basis for cooperation.

Just imagine, if he and another team cooperated, the situation would not go anywhere because the other two teams could do the same. On top of that, the issue of trust is also a difficult thing to solve, who can be sure that this cooperation is just a show to stab each other in the back?

But with these advantages, the basis for cooperation is possible.

For example, Kain's team - the team that holds the advantage of [Mind Control] inlays, teams up with another team that has the location of weapons that can be controlled by [Mind Control]. On that basis, the two teams will not be able to betray each other, because they need each other for practical benefits instead of being wolves in sheep's clothing.

Without the location, those inlaid stones are useless. Without the inlaid stones, those hidden weapon locations are useless too.

However, it must be said that this cooperation is not so strong that it cannot be broken up, because when the parties gradually achieve their goals and realize their interests, betrayal is inevitable.

If there is cooperation, it must be done skillfully.

This is also a very difficult problem.

Kain rubbed his forehead, at least now he had identified another type of advantage of another team. Now there were only two types of advantages left that he did not know about.

However, Kain also had a vague guess.

The advantages bestowed upon the participating teams… of course, will have important strategic significance.

From this premise, coupled with the previous reasoning about where the finals would take place, Kain assumed that the remaining two types of advantage would be location.

First, the positions of the other teams.

The importance of this goes without saying, knowing the positions of other teams in this situation is like being able to seize the initiative. It is completely possible to choose to avoid or attack the enemy.

Second, the location of the "victory flag".

Kain had already deduced that this battle would have some kind of victory condition, which he would assume was a flag. In this case, the team holding the "victory flag" was already one step closer to the finish line than the other teams.

Of course, it was the same as the case with the [Mind Control] stone and the secret weapon. The two advantages would also restrain each other, the team that knew the location of the victory flag would not dare to go straight to it, because they would most likely be blocked by the team that knew the location of the other teams. Worse, they might lead the opponent straight to that location and lose their advantage.

Four teams, four advantages, but they restrain each other.

"What a fun game."

Kain whined.