The Star Power is rich. This is Lu Lin’s first impression of the Exotic Battlefield. Upon entering, he saw neatly arranged streets and shops. Many vendors set up their stalls on both sides of the street, their hawking rising and falling. Especially upon seeing Lu Lin and his group of newcomers, their voices grew much louder. "Star Crystal, Star Crystal, various attribute star crystals, 80 star coins each." "Long-haired huge elephant’s ivory, buy three and get one free." "Hey brother, need a map? The newest updated map, drawn personally by a master of the Exotic Division, includes the 100-mile surroundings of our Food God City, with locations of two Secret Realms, only fifteen star coins per copy." "Young man, interested in a Blue-eyed Cat Clan’s girl? Her voice is soft and tender, exotic allure, guaranteed to make you linger endlessly." Lu Lin instinctively pushed aside the lewd big man who came up to him promoting a Blue-eyed Cat Clan’s girl. Doesn’t this guy look at people when searching for customers? Didn’t he see Lu Lin’s face full of righteousness? "Let’s go, first head to the Star Coordinator Division Branch." Lu Lin identified the direction and led the team to the Star Coordinator Division Branch two streets over. A house made of bricks, simply furnished inside, with only a few chairs and a square table. An old man with a goat’s beard was leaning on a chair, half closing his eyes, humming federation’s pop songs while his feet swung leisurely. The old man with a goat’s beard opened one eye halfway, "Oh, you’re here." He spoke without any intention of getting up. Lu Lin hesitated for a moment, realized what Old Zhang meant by ’sit’, and found a place to sit down with his team members. "You guys are still students, right?" "Director Long trusts you so much, sending young people like you on a mission?" "Well, forget it, talking more is useless. You’re clear about the mission, right?" Lu Lin had already seen it in the mission documents. The criminal they needed to capture this time was named Liu Chang. He was a Third Level Martial Artist, previously served as support in a team, diligently over the last seven or eight years. This time, the team Liu Chang was in entered a Secret Realm, harvesting quite a few treasures and resources. Unexpectedly, Liu Chang, usually honest, suddenly poisoned all team members during dinner for unknown reasons, stealing all the resources. The Star Investigation Office is considered superior among Humans, but in the Exotic Battlefield, it’s akin to the federation’s Detective Department, responsible for handling such events. Director Long, upon receiving the news, wanted to give Lu Lin’s group an opportunity for training. After all, Liu Chang’s ability isn’t quite remarkable, and he’s always been honest. The psychological analysis experts at the Star Investigation Office believed it was a spontaneous act of impulse, and capturing him should be straightforward. Coincidentally, many investigators from the Star Investigation Office were away on training, making the Nineteenth Group the best choice. But Lu Lin noticed something suspicious while reviewing Liu Chang’s previous experiences. Liu Chang and these teammates were classmates, cooperating since school, and after graduating, they voluntarily formed a pioneering team. During that period, they also experienced substantial gains, but the pioneering team had never had internal conflicts over interests. Why did Liu Chang suddenly become greedy this time? Did the analysts at the top of the Star Investigation Office miss this suspicion, or did they ignore it? Lu Lin couldn’t fathom it. "Alright, since you know it, set off quickly then." "Liu Chang’s last appearance was in Starlight Mountain, search there yourselves." Old Zhang said and continued humming tunes with his eyes closed. "Boss Zhang, I have another question." "Could you give me an item Liu Chang used before, or something carrying his scent?" Boss Zhang opened his eyes again, looking curiously at Lu Lin. Unexpectedly, this team seemed unremarkable but had such a method. "Alright, let me fetch it for you." Old Zhang raised his hand, summoning a cabinet made of Star Power in front of them. After identifying it, he opened a drawer, took out several pairs of chopsticks. Then with another wave, the cabinet made of Star Power dissipated. "These are the chopsticks they used during their last meal, but I don’t know which ones Liu Chang used." Lu Lin took them, carefully perceiving the aura on the chopsticks. He didn’t know how Boss Zhang preserved them as they bore no scent of Liu Chang. After identifying clearly, Lu Lin returned the chopsticks to Old Zhang. "Alright, thank you, Boss Zhang. We’re leaving." Boss Zhang waved his hand silently, letting Lu Lin and his team depart. "Team leader, do you have a target already?" "But Boss Zhang mentioned he appeared in Starlight Mountain, so we’ll head there and take a look." Lu Lin said, turning to look at Chen Xiran, who had been silent on the way. "Xi Ran, how are you?" "Team leader, I’m fine, I’m okay." Chen Xiran had been biting her lips since entering the Exotic Battlefield, her speech giving a soft and weak impression. The girl Lu Lin once remembered angrily arguing with everyone was now entirely gone. In fact, Chen Xiran’s attitude was one of extreme confidence displaced after facing setbacks, turning into total self-doubt. The initial interaction with Lu Lin was just a shield she built up outside of her deepest insecurities. Now, it’s genuine self-deprecation. Lu Lin shook his head, no longer speaking. Starlight Mountain was not far from Food God City, taking Lu Lin roughly half an hour to reach the vicinity. Since Human Martial Artists frequently operated near Starlight Mountain, exotic beasts had mostly disappeared from the area. Lu Lin glanced at the vast mountain range and activated his newly acquired Eye-based Star Skill. [Description: You can see guidance, search for treasures as easily as reaching into a pouch (active skill)] [Note: Follow the arrow, you won’t go wrong] This was the eye-based Star Skill that Lu Lin self-guided the night after guiding Yang Jun’s Star Techniques. Lu Lin tried it a few times while at school, and the effect was excellent. As long as he had a bit of information, a scent, he could find what he wanted. This time coming to the Exotic Battlefield to find Liu Chang was just a good opportunity to test the Star Skill. Lu Lin looked at the suddenly appearing phantom arrow and took the lead. Fang Gang and Bai Buyi followed first, Chen Xiran hesitated for a moment, then quickly caught up. Although Starlight Mountain is in the wild, it was somewhat different from Lu Lin’s imagination. He thought the wilderness of the Exotic Battlefield should be towering with great trees, utterly desolate, exotic beasts everywhere, and occasionally people would ambush. But upon arriving at Starlight Mountain, Lu Lin realized he was wrong. All around were various styles of small wooden cabins, occasionally someone peeked out from inside with curiosity at Lu Lin and his group. Lu Lin passed through a vast expanse of nearly endless small wooden cabins, only then truly entering Starlight Mountain. On the trees, exotic beasts like squirrels scurried, making Lu Lin extremely tense. The broken knife was in his hand, never relaxing for a moment. A shadow rapidly flew towards Lu Lin. He slashed with his knife. The thing fell to the ground. Only then did Lu Lin see, it was actually a frog-like exotic beast with a light purple body. "Purple-skinned Poisonous Frog!" Bai Buyi recognized the kind of frog at a glance, went up and prodded the poisonous frog that Lu Lin had sliced into two with an alloy warsword, shaking his head: "It’s not mutated, no research value, can’t eat it, forget it." Lu Lin’s mood calmed down a bit at this moment. He felt he was a bit too tense. In previous courses, he had completed basic cultivation and evenly matched courses, he was just about to learn one-against-a-hundred and jungle adventure when he received the mission to enter the Exotic Battlefield. Strictly speaking, Lu Lin was still an untrained rookie. "Team Leader, no need to be too tense, this is just entering Starlight Mountain, not too dangerous." "However, the work of opening the way is indeed quite tiring, take a rest in a bit, let me do it." "Then I’ll leave it to you." Lu Lin didn’t insist, he felt he was indeed a bit too tense. Persisting a while longer wasn’t a problem, but if he stayed tense, it might be before finding Liu Chang, he himself might have a mental breakdown. Half an hour later, Bai Buyi started to open the road ahead, he didn’t have the ability to see guides like Lu Lin, he simply released several of his summoned beasts, letting them guard the surroundings. On the ground, dozens of white mice scurried nearby. In the sky, seven or eight Storm Birds were on guard. Beside them were also a Dread Lion, Earth Python, and Black-striped White Tiger as protectors. The appearance of so many summoned beasts made Lu Lin, Fang Gang, and Chen Xiran feel very secure. If there was any anomaly, these summoned beasts could raise the alarm first. Lu Lin even thought of trying to sit on the back of the two-meters tall Black-striped White Tiger. Feeling happy and safe was not only exclusive to Lu Lin and his team. The summoned beasts that were called out also must have felt inexplicably at ease, as if they had avoided some horrible disaster. Relying on the Guiding Star Skill, Lu Lin led everyone for over two hours, finally arriving before a cave. Seeing traces of human life around, Lu Lin smiled. If the Guiding Star Skill wasn’t mistaken, this should be Liu Chang’s hiding place. "Be careful when you go in later." "When you find Liu Chang, knock him out immediately." "If there is strong resistance, kill on the spot." After Lu Lin finished speaking, he called out to Chen Xiran, But Chen Xiran suddenly jumped, fear evident in her eyes. "Yes, in a moment you’ll be responsible for guarding the cave entrance, if anyone runs out from inside, attack directly." "When I come out, I’ll tell you the identity." This was the only plan Lu Lin could think of. As long as Chen Xiran wasn’t involved in the fight, she wouldn’t drag him down. Also, when entering such an unknown place, it’s indeed necessary to leave someone outside to stand guard. Upon hearing Lu Lin’s arrangement, Chen Xiran’s face slightly relaxed, nodding and saying: "No problem, Team Leader, I’ll guard here." Lu Lin looked into Chen Xiran’s eyes and nodded heavily. After checking his equipment, he was the first to enter the cave. Fang Gang and Bai Buyi were curious as to why Lu Lin could precisely find Liu Chang’s hiding place, but now wasn’t the time for chatting. They followed Lu Lin inside. The structure of the cave was quite peculiar, narrow at first, after walking five or six meters, it could accommodate two people side by side. After that, Lu Lin’s group saw a large cave. Inside, a middle-aged man in federation attire was cooking on a simple stove. Seeing Lu Lin and others come in, the man looked up in surprise. With a scream, the man turned and ran. But he didn’t run towards Lu Lin but rather to another area, the real entrance of the cave to escape. "Boss, someone’s here to catch you!" The middle-aged man’s voice was somewhat hoarse, seeing this, Lu Lin quickly rushed forward. At that moment, another ten or more silhouettes suddenly appeared at the entrance of the cave.