Chapter 106: Connections

**Chapter 106: Connections**

After updating their current rank information and submitting the intelligence they had gathered, the trio emerged from the central rune tower of the camp.

As soon as they stepped out, Amy let out a sigh. “Well, this is really an ‘assessment.’”

The three found a relatively secluded corner. Around them, figures in wizard robes occasionally hurried by, the camp buzzing with a distinct sense of urgency, as if every wizard was racing against time.

Yet, this atmosphere plunged Jie Ming and his companions into a certain frustration.

“So, these are our permissions?” Victor frowned, his tone laced with reluctance. “We can resupply, trade materials, even leave… but we can’t take missions. That means we’re stuck stumbling around like blind cats chasing dead mice, with pitiful efficiency.”

Amy also seemed deflated. “Yeah, even with our current strength as first-level wizards, we’re just small fry on the main battlefield. The enemies we can handle might earn contribution points, but for the broader planar campaign, it’s a drop in the bucket.”

Jie Ming remained silent, having already considered this issue.

For first-level wizards like them, the most effective way to advance was typically infiltrating the towns and nations of the Elosia plane, using covert wizard techniques to steal critical intelligence and deeper knowledge of the plane.

Such information was vital to the workshop’s strategic planning and naturally yielded high contributions.

However, the problem was that basic intelligence—languages, customs, geography, and surface-level faction distributions—had already been collected by earlier wizards.

To obtain deeper insights, they would need to infiltrate the core, high-level areas of the plane, such as temples or royal palaces.

But Jie Ming and his team weren’t specialized in infiltration or intelligence-gathering wizardry, making such high-difficulty covert operations a poor fit.

Moreover, for research-oriented wizards like them, the ideal contribution method was staying in the rear, studying novel materials and supernatural knowledge from the frontlines.

They could explore practical applications or develop methods to counter the plane’s extraordinary beings.

Higher-level wizards might even study the plane’s fundamental rules, accelerating their influence over the plane’s laws to weaken its resistance at the core.

The issue was their timing—they had arrived at an awkward moment.

Easily researched materials and knowledge with quick results had already been exhausted by earlier wizards.

What remained were topics requiring immense effort and unlikely to yield breakthroughs in the short term.

As Jie Ming and Victor grappled with their predicament, Amy, who had been tapping away at her communicator, suddenly lit up with a soft exclamation.

“I know what to do!” she said, looking up with excitement.

Jie Ming and Victor were startled, asking in unison, “What’s the plan?”

Amy gave a sly smile. “The camp only locked us out of the mission system, preventing us from accessing mission intelligence directly. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get relevant information from other wizards and use it to earn contribution points!”

Victor’s eyes brightened. “You mean… buy intelligence with points? Or trade with materials?”

Jie Ming rubbed his chin and nodded.

The idea was theoretically feasible. As long as the information wasn’t highly classified, the workshop permitted internal trading.

“It’s a good plan,” Jie Ming agreed, but his brow furrowed. “The problem is, we’re newcomers here and unfamiliar with the place. Most wizards in the camp are out on missions, and even those resting won’t easily trade their gathered intelligence with apprentices like us. Who’d take that risk?”

Amy’s face broke into a confident grin. “Don’t worry. I know someone here.”

“What?!” Jie Ming and Victor froze, their faces a mirror of shock and disbelief.

Jie Ming knew Amy was skilled at networking, but to have connections here seemed absurd.

“Amy, how could you possibly know someone here?” Victor asked bluntly, his tone incredulous. “Is it someone from your family? But I thought your family…”

Amy waved him off, cutting him short. “Don’t overthink it. My family is tiny—only three wizards, including me, and none of them are here.”

“Besides, with my family’s background, do you think I could just casually know some high-level wizard in a frontline camp like this?” She rolled her eyes with a hint of exasperation.

No longer keeping them in suspense, she pulled out a crystal ball engraved with intricate runes from her robes.

The ball emitted a faint blue glow—it was her fifth-level wizard artifact inscribed with the “Soul Search” wizardry model!

“The person I know is the academy senior who sold me this fifth-level artifact,” Amy said, her tone tinged with pride as she held up the crystal ball.

Jie Ming’s eyes flickered with doubt.

He knew about Amy’s artifact.

Owning a fifth-level artifact as an apprentice was nearly unheard of; the price alone was beyond what most apprentices could afford.

But Amy had made a fortune during an academy trial thanks to information he provided, so Jie Ming never questioned her ability to purchase it.

But why would buying an artifact lead to maintaining contact with the seller?

With the academy’s sales system, shouldn’t such high-level artifacts first go into the academy’s inventory before being sold on their behalf?

Noticing Jie Ming’s confusion, Amy couldn’t help but remind him, “Jie Ming, not everyone has your kind of unrestricted access to purchase any level of artifact or knowledge.”

Jie Ming’s expression stiffened slightly.

Early on, he had secured a second-level cultivation agreement, granting him unlimited access to artifacts, materials, and knowledge as long as he had enough points.

He had grown so accustomed to this privilege, and since he usually dealt with formal wizards, he had overlooked the issue.

Ordinary wizard apprentices, before advancing to first-level wizards, could only purchase knowledge and equipment up to the first-level formal wizard tier.

Most apprentices lacked the points to afford higher-tier items anyway, so the restriction rarely came up.

Amy shook her head. “But this assessment is different. Everyone knew from the start it’d be a real, no-holds-barred planar war. So, apprentices like us naturally did everything to boost our survival and combat capabilities.”