"Once we know the specific conditions inside the battlefield, we can then decide on our next course of action."

  "I believe this is a practical way to break the current deadlock."

  The contestant with the warm smile paused for a moment, giving everyone time to think, before continuing:

  "Of course, if any of you have followers with excellent scouting abilities, feel free to recommend yourselves."

  "A maximum of seven contestants can send followers in as scouts."

  "I’m confident that no one here would be stingy with a mere 10,000 divine power for the chance at high-value intel."

  After hearing him out, many of the contestants seemed visibly tempted.

  It was a viable solution.

  Even though there was no way to guarantee those who sent scouts into the battlefield would fully share the intelligence they gathered, it was still a far better option than this tense stalemate.

  As soon as one contestant voiced their support for the idea, a wave of agreement followed from the other demigods.

  More than a dozen contestants even moved their Divine Realms toward the central area to compete for one of the seven scouting spots.

  After all, if each contestant contributed 10,000 divine power, the total pot would exceed 7 million—a massive reward.

  For those whose followers were well-suited for infiltration, it was a golden opportunity: others would pay, your followers would go in, and you’d get the first-hand info.

  William also agreed with the proposal. At the very least, it broke the current deadlock—and it was certainly better than just standing around doing nothing.

  However, seeing that enormous pool of 7 million divine power slowly coming together, William had a vague feeling:

  This kind of "crowdfunding" could have huge commercial potential...

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  His brain kicked into high gear.

  “Others are paying divine power… you send your own followers… and you get first-hand battlefield intel…”

  “But my Venomtail Dragonflies only have basic camouflage abilities.”

  “In an environment like this, that’s nothing compared to professional infiltration-type Transcendent followers…”

  Within minutes, a consensus had formed among all the contestants.

  It was a win-win proposition, and no one wanted to be the idiot who stood up to oppose it.

  Anyone who did would only come off as a disruptive jerk—especially in front of the university recruiters observing the event.

  Not to mention, the referees had clearly said follower-on-follower combat was allowed—and once the match began, they hadn’t explicitly banned Divine Realms from engaging in hostilities outside the battlefield either.

  So technically, everything was fair game from here on out.

  Some sharp-eyed contestants noticed that, but none of them said it aloud—everyone silently kept that ace up their sleeve.

  As the competition for the scouting spots was about to wrap up, the originally smiling contestant spoke again:

  “It seems everyone agrees our followers are well-suited for scouting. In that case, let’s move on to the payment.”

  As the crowd began preparing to hand over their divine power, William—spurred by a sudden surge of financial inspiration—felt as if something finally clicked in his mind.

  A bold idea surfaced in his thoughts.

  Suddenly, his divine sense erupted and swept across all the nearby contestants.

  “Wait a moment!”

  All eyes turned toward William.

  Many recognized him as the guy who had earlier stood out during the more serious moments of the briefing.

  “Oh great, it’s this guy again. Just wants attention, doesn’t he...”

  “Heh… this might be fun to watch…”

  Some showed signs of irritation, while others looked eager for drama.

  The contestant in the white robe, still wearing his courteous smile, turned to William and asked:

  “Do you have a question, fellow student?”

  William mirrored the other’s smile, and calmly responded:

  “Yes, just a small question I’d like to clarify.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “How can the seven chosen scouts guarantee that they will share all the information they collect—completely and without omission?”

  The moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere went still.

  The chosen scouts looked at William with a hint of hostility in their eyes.

  Everyone knew this was a real concern, but no one had brought it up—because no one had a solution.

  One of the other contestants spoke directly:

  “What, do you have a way to guarantee full disclosure from the scouts?”

  William, already prepared, offered a confident smile:

  “No. But I do have a way to ensure that everyone gets the most direct and reliable intel.”

  That got everyone’s attention.

  “Oh? Please share. We’re all ears.”

  William cleared his throat slightly and said:

  “A stealth-based infiltration approach is too slow and will never gather the full picture.”

  “But I have a special scouting technique.”

  “If each of you pays 100,000 divine power, I’ll send in a Transcendent follower with 300 million combat power…”

  “...to conduct a full-scale firepower reconnaissance—on behalf of everyone here.”