Chapter 100: When It Comes to Scouting, I’m a Pro!

The Joys looked at Zhu Suihan, then glanced at Teacher Junsha on the podium, and finally at someone’s head of white hair, their faces full of question marks.

They all knew what kind of record the white-haired monkey had. Just lifting a Haoli with one hand inside the academy was terrifying enough, like some kind of horror doctor.

Rumor had it he was fond of whacking people with a frying pan.

If he were to stir up trouble, wouldn’t we be doomed?!

Wait a minute, we’re on the same team.

Well then, no problem.

The Joys’ expressions instantly calmed, their capacity for acceptance remarkably strong.

“According to this selection list, all chosen students should now be present,” Teacher Junsha said succinctly. “Now, I’ll emphasize what we are to do.”

“In short, our mission is to do everything possible to sabotage this five-day public course. We will be graded based on the extent of the disruption, and this will determine when the riot control exercise is called off.”

“If you manage to carry out actions with significant impact, you’ll earn bonus points. Similarly, those trying to prevent your actions will have comparable scoring rules.”

Junsha continued, “Regarding all the methods I mentioned, the Junsha Academy will provide props for you later. No need to worry about resource shortages.”

Zhu Suihan stroked his chin. So, I can be a terrifying demolition man?

No, if the good guys have corresponding rules, this riot control exercise will become even more complex. After all, no one wants their scores to look too good.

So, explosions are allowed, but if others plan the same, it’s very likely to expose flaws and reveal oneself.

Exposure means failure, and then you have to put on a “I know who the enemy is but must act normal” undercover act.

“Teacher.”

A Joy raised their hand to ask, “Will Junsha Academy provide Pokémon support during this process?”

At least on the partners’ side, Joy Academy was at a disadvantage; everyone’s team was filled with Cleffa.

Not entirely useless in battle, but the usage was not something Joys, who were not primarily healers, could easily manage.

“Of course,” Junsha smiled. “We will provide you with Pokémon assistants, up to three per person. You may also choose not to take any.”

“I'm sure you all know there will be an exchange event tomorrow. Before that, think about what equipment and Pokémon you need initially, so you can claim them in advance during the event.”

“A reminder: in previous years, there were students who caused chaos early in the riot control exercises.”

“But half of those students had just transferred to a new environment and remained cautious, so their plans failed.”

Junsha said, “So I must remind you, if you plan to do the same, it’s best to trust the experience of your predecessors to ensure your scores come out better.”

Tsk, tsk. So, does that mean I have official permission to operate?

The white-haired monkey’s eyes lit up: “Teacher, can we apply for explosives this time? How many boxes can each person get?”

Explosives?

Boxes?

The classroom fell silent. The teacher on stage looked at Zhu Suihan uneasily, wondering what kind of monster the dean had called out.

Are we really sure it’s okay to have this kind of person as an actor playing the villain?

“There is a quota for coach grenades, which are primarily used for anti-poaching courses,” Junsha nodded reluctantly. “But if you need some, I can allocate a portion for you, though not counted by boxes.”

Although these coach grenades are smoke-type and non-lethal, having too many can still cause problems.

Giving them out by the boxload would no longer be riot control; that would be counter-terrorism!

And from an organization infamous throughout the region!

Having some is enough.

Zhu Suihan’s demand was modest—just to be sure he could get explosives. Whether or not he used them to cause trouble was another matter, but he must have them.

“Your task is simple: you need to create chaos here without any mental barriers. Don’t worry about the aftermath, as everything is under our surveillance.”

In other words, even if things get out of hand, a big shot will swoop in and quickly settle it.

In the Pokémon world, a big shot’s arrival is truly like a dive bombing from the sky.

After covering the basics, the meeting was dismissed swiftly. Zhu Suihan appreciated the efficient style.

Because this meant he had plenty of time to scout locations.

Though the disruption was confined to this campus area, it was large enough to accommodate all the villain actors causing trouble simultaneously.

As the last to leave, Zhu Suihan glanced at the classroom still lit nearby.

One more thing: neither side would assign all “violent” tasks to freshmen; experienced veterans would surely be involved.

The adjacent class was probably composed of “professional actors” organized by the school.

“Professional or not, let’s judge by their performance then.”

Night fell, and the dormitory area went dark. A white-haired monkey quietly slipped out of the dorm, making his way to the rooftop entrance of the teaching building.

“Why is it that in those youthful romance stories the rooftop door is always unlocked, but here it’s locked?”

Teacher, the rooftop wind is so strong—I don’t want to fail.

Zhu Suihan glanced at the old-fashioned lock, then at the heavy Poké Ball in his hand.

“Forget it, little fairy healer.”

“Milou!”

Watch me show off!

The little fairy healer controlled a cream-like substance to seep into the lock, then with a gentle twist of her short arms—

Click.

“Well done.”

Zhu Suihan placed Milou on his head and smoothly opened and closed the door.

Before searching the room, it was best to close the door to later surprise any latecomers hearing it open.

“Come, come, let me scan this place.”

Standing beside the waist-high guardrail, Zhu Suihan extended his phone and slowly panned, capturing the entire campus area.

“Wind direction? Never mind, I’m not a sniper. Who needs wind direction?”

After confirming the footage on his phone, Zhu Suihan locked the door again, sprayed some compressed air to dissipate Milou’s creamy scent.

As long as the school didn’t come back immediately to collect evidence, the smell would fade soon enough.

He proceeded to the monitoring room on the first floor. Milou replicated the lock-picking technique to open the door.

“Sure enough, no one here.”

From now on, it was already assessment time. Otherwise, a monitoring room wouldn’t just have a simple door lock.

With such advanced tech, installing an electronic lock wouldn’t be difficult.

“The staircase map is for students, the monitoring and security room map is for staff, and of course, for villains like me.”

Zhu Suihan photographed the entire map inside the security room, noting the exact locations of each camera, then examined the power supply system.

“This circuit... the power supply system has an underground machine room outside. That does increase security.”

After another deodorizing process, Zhu Suihan stood in the corner, stroking his chin, pondering if there was any information he’d missed.

Campus layout, teaching building map, monitoring map—he had gathered all available information.

As for load-bearing walls and other structural details—

Even if Zhu Suihan wanted that info, not to mention whether coach grenades could cause damage, Junsha Academy would be insane to casually expose such critical information.

There are limits to how much intel can be given to students. If something went wrong, the school would have to pay big to repair the teaching building, which is too costly.

The dormitory area was no exception; after the meeting, he’d already used the campus tour as an excuse to stroll through it.

“Dragonite.”

“Uuu.”

Dragonite replied softly, hiding in the shadow of the trees, but she wasn’t on lookout duty.

Her task was her specialty: by resonating elemental energies and water flow, she identified the campus’s underground drainage system.

Only a part was needed; Zhu Suihan would have Dragonite sense it again back at the dormitory, and then it would be complete.

With the panoramic shots from the rooftop, the photos from the security room, and a confirmation of the dormitory’s drainage system, he could reverse-engineer the section he wanted from the data.

He wasn’t some red-hatted plumber in overalls who needed to know everything or find secret passages.

Public underground facilities are usually not too complicated, considering maintenance needs. The complexity here is relative to plumbers themselves.

If it were too complex, even the sewer-dwelling sludge family, kings of the underground, might not manage.

They might even need help from a certain mouse and four artistically named big turtles.

Dragonite hummed while examining the printed map. Zhu Suihan helped sketch a rough water pipe and flow diagram.

In the bathrooms, Zhu Suihan had even pried up floor tiles to study the pipes carefully, concluding they were all fine.

“Such a pity. I should have asked the dean if I could bring people directly from the academy.”

Bringing a big one to replicate the disaster caused by Gyarados wasn’t likely, but the invisibility passive of the flying mantis on the back mountain was perfect for this kind of activity.

Whether covert operations or decapitation missions, as long as it wasn’t exposed on the surveillance, victory was guaranteed.

Or rather, Zhu Suihan suspected: if that invisibility passive was truly powerful, maybe it just passed near the monitoring area, and the camera happened to face the other way.

A pure, rule-level divine concealment.

“Alright, everything necessary is confirmed. Now, I just have to wait for the equipment to arrive.”

Zhu Suihan patted the heads of his two small companions encouragingly, then instantly switched to the role of a parent, urging them to wash up and go to bed quickly.

He, however, took his notebook to the balcony.

Hmm, feeling a bit excited. So tonight, I simply won’t sleep.

“I have a rough draft of the plan. Next, it’s up to everyone’s performance.”

For now, he would hold back and see if others struck first. In that case, there’d be cannon fodder to test the waters.

(End of chapter)