"Cap, it's okay for you to join the ranks of us perverts. I won't judge you."

Leonel laughed at their reaction. He had been mostly joking. He didn't 'need' much information right now. Or, more accurately, there wasn't any information that he could suddenly receive from going to a strip club right this moment that wouldn't be like a pie falling from the sky.

Leonel knew that the likelihood he would find something useful in such a case was minimal if anything. Rather, he only put forward the idea because he had something else on his mind: An information network.

During his time battling Alexandre the Apex's Kingdom, Leonel had long since learned the value of not only having information, but subverting your enemy's information as well.

The trouble with all of this was that even Leonel wasn't exactly sure where to start with all of this.

As things stood now, he had.. nine subordinates. His eight brothers here and Elthor who he had already sent to take control of the Oryx, a task that shouldn't be too difficult for him to accomplish.

But, an information network, especially one that would need to cover the whole of a galaxy, at the very least, was far beyond his current self.

The 'logical' answer would be to make use of information networks that already existed. Leonel was sure that he would find multiple. But, the trouble with those information networks is that their 'confidentiality' only extended as far as their benefits did.

historical

If Leonel started purchasing large sums of information related to the rise and fall of great powers—not to mention the fact he didn't have the funds to do such a thing currently—there was no way that these information networks wouldn't take advantage of this.

Of course, Leonel could use this to his advantage as well and walk a tight rope of painting a false image of what he truly wanted while siphoning away information he actually needed.

However, such a thing would only be possible if he already had a full understanding of the scope of many things.. But if he had that, why would he need the information networks to begin with?

And just like that, he was back to square one.

After reaching such a dead end, many would feel despair, but Leonel grinned beside himself. This sort of challenge, how long had it been since he felt it? How could he possibly hold back his smile?

Unfortunately, when the boys saw Leonel's eyes glaze over and a 'creepy' smile spread across his face, they still thought he was thinking of the strip club.

Allan shook his head, shifting his glasses up his nose.

"Cap has already fallen."

"I think we might need to replace she who shall not be named soon before he falls into depravity." Drake agreed.

Drake, unlike the others, played the same position as Leonel: quarterback. It was just that he was a rookie when Leonel was a senior, and given how good Leonel was, he never got the chance to play.

Still, he had spent most of his freshman year emulating everything Leonel did because Leonel was his idol. So, he had picked up many of Leonel's habits, including an overall disdain for all things women until he could find his own Aina. By now, what once was an emulation had become the true Drake, so he too felt an obligation to 'save' their captain.

As for Allan, he was pretty much asexual. He didn't find any fondness in women or men, he just liked his computer screens and programming. Unfortunately, rather than gaining a programming profession, he had been slotted in as a Five Star Safety and was forced to play football from a young age. Want to see more chapters? Please visit p a n d a -n o v e l .co m

To make matters more depressing, the ability he awakened also had nothing to do with programming, leaving him even more depressed. It seemed the world didn't want him doing what he loved to do the most.

"Alright, alright." Leonel chuckled. "Forget the strip club for now. In a bit, I plan on leaving for a legacy I've been putting off for a long time. It won't be right to do anything until I can leave the Third Dimension and enter the Fourth and hopefully Fifth."

Leonel knew that he would be able to blaze through the Fourth Dimension. Thanks to his Metal Body, his body was mostly tempered already. While it would take even most talents years, it should take him at most a few weeks to months. Theoretically, anyway.

But, in order to do this, he definitely needed the rest of [Dimensional Cleanse] first.

"You're leaving again already?" Raj pouted.

For such a big man, the face he made was almost adorable.

Leonel smiled. "This time I won't be away for long. In fact, I promise that every step we take forward from now on will be together."

Hearing such a promise, the eyes of the group lit up. It seemed that Leonel realized he had been neglecting them too. Since that was the case, there was no need to say anything more. If there was anything they could trust in Leonel for, it was that he would never make the same mistake twice.

"For now, I think you guys are right. Trying to take down your organizations from the inside out will prove to be difficult. Rather than that, I only want you to monitor them and gather up information. Even things you all feel are useless, note them down and preferably, memorize them.

"Since I'm here, though, I won't leave without giving you all something in return."

Leonel scanned the room. He had left them all to grow and improve on their own for too long. If he wanted to be a King, his own combat prowess wasn't the only one of importance. He had to make sure that everyone around him would grow as well.

And luckily, he had formulated a technique perfect for this based on the Ability Index.

Dream Path.