The Dread Lord's few words immediately gave the vibe of an old parent watching their child struggle, unable to help with the problem itself, but trying their best to comfort them emotionally.
In just a few lines, you could feel the warmth and concern of an elder for the younger generation.
Though it wasn't the traditional way of showing care, it clearly suited Entity 303 better.
If everyone suddenly got emotional, Entity 303 definitely couldn't handle it.
This also was enough to show that the Dread Lord had already long since integrated into this big family.
The Dread Lord had always been scheming and calculating, he had always been a person who put his own interests first.
Someone like him, an old bone who had lived this long, it was very difficult to truly open his heart to others.
After experiencing these incidents one by one, he also slowly formed a deep bond with this big family.
He also had always used his experience and wisdom to take the role of an elder in this big family, acting as a mediator among these "young people."
Even an old and cunning person like the Dread Lord had already integrated into this big family, let alone the others.
Hearing the Dread Lord's words, everyone's expressions became complicated.
"Indeed… we were the ones who were useless, dragging him down…"
"Thought our own strength was already strong, but the further we went, the less we could help… really too useless…"
"Yeah… and to think he was the last to join us, yet in the end he shouldered all the responsibilities, and always protected us like our king…"
"…"
For these Demon Kings, not being able to help already made them feel very helpless.
Let alone becoming a burden to the team while not being able to help, needing others to sacrifice to protect their safety.
Hearing everyone's words, Pengpeng on the side also felt quite emotional.
As someone who occasionally could meet these Demon Kings, Pengpeng could feel the bond within this family.
But Pengpeng had not expected that the bond between them was much deeper than he had imagined.
Although Pengpeng had participated in quite a few Demon King meetings, in fact he had always been quite reserved.
Because Pengpeng had always viewed himself as a subordinate, after all, the Demon Kings he was facing were all too powerful, each one alone was a character Pengpeng had to look up to.
But at this moment, seeing these Demon Kings openly expressing their feelings in front of him without avoidance, Pengpeng suddenly felt that his previous attitude might have been a bit too distant.
Thinking of this, Pengpeng finally opened his mouth and comforted everyone, saying, "Everyone, don't blame yourselves so much."
"You may not know, Rookie and Entity 303 actually aren't mortal enemies. In fact, they are colleagues."
"Everyone relax, without official orders, Rookie won't do anything to Entity 303."
Saying this, seeing everyone's expressions soften slightly, Pengpeng continued speaking.
"Actually, this incident is a good thing for Entity 303."
"Fear Fish is his only weakness. Now that he no longer avoids it and takes the initiative to face it, isn't that a good thing?"
"As long as he gathers the courage to take this step, overcoming fear will be easy."
"Once he overcomes fear, he'll have no more weaknesses, won't he?"
Pengpeng was not just offering empty comfort, his analysis was actually quite reasonable.
This matter truly was a good thing for Entity 303. If he hadn't taken this step and let the Void learn of his weakness, that would not be fun at all.
Everyone thought for a moment and also felt that what Pengpeng said made sense.
Seeing the expressions on their faces visibly ease, the Dread Lord looked at Pengpeng, his face also showing a look of relief.
Then he naturally picked up where Pengpeng had left off and said, "Alright, alright, you bunch of old things, each of you is so old already, not only needing the youngsters to protect you but also to enlighten you, aren't you ashamed?"
"Stop wallowing in sorrow here. In the future, where we're needed, we go all out. Where we're not needed, we just follow orders and do our jobs!"
"Stop making the younger ones worry about our emotions too!"
Hearing the Dread Lord's words, everyone silently nodded.
Looking at the relaxed expressions on their faces, it was clear they had figured things out.
Seeing everyone had finally recovered, Pengpeng also gave a quick farewell and left to handle the task Entity 303 had entrusted to him.
———
At present, the situation in the main world was clearly not very optimistic for Xu Yuan.
But fortunately, the situation inside the Trial Grounds was still alright.
At this moment, inside the Trial Grounds, at the border between the rainforest and the grassland, a team of players from the Steve Guild were preparing to explore the rainforest, only to find that at intervals along the border there were wooden crates, each with a signpost stuck into it.
"What's this?! Could it be someone already explored this area?"
"Let me take a look at what's written on it…"
"Equivalent exchange… requires 5 pieces of wool… reward… hiss… 10 pieces of bread?!!!"
"Place the required items in the wooden crate, then leave this place. Return here in half an hour to collect the reward."
"Do not enter the rainforest. Violators bear the consequences."
Seeing the content on the signpost, the players were immediately stunned.
"What on earth is this?!…"
"Since it's a signpost, it must've been left by a player, right?"
"That can't be… most people are still starving, who's so rich they'll trade ten loaves of bread for five lousy pieces of wool?…"
"Could it be that wool has some other use in the Trial Grounds?"
Some of the players in this group took out wool from their backpacks and began examining it, while others moved a few meters away to another signpost.
"Huh? The items required on each sign are different?!"
"This one wants 200 stone blocks for 5 pumpkin pies…"
"Th-this, this one wants 10 sugar for 10 baked potatoes…"
Before long, the group discovered that all the signposts offered different exchange terms.
However, these signposts had a few things in common.
The items required on the signs were not equipment-related, and the items offered were all food.
This made the players curious, who was the one who set up these signs? What was their purpose in trading the currently most scarce food for items that weren't all that important?
This team from the Steve Guild was made up of elite players, which was why Steve had sent them to explore the relatively dangerous rainforest.
These elite players were all very cautious. Though they indeed lacked food and the offers on the signs were tempting, they still didn't dare try it lightly.
At this moment, a team of solo players approached from the distance.
The leader, a player named Fat Whale, immediately introduced himself.
"You're from Nirvana Guild, right?"
"I'm Fat Whale."
As he spoke, he had the players behind him introduce themselves one by one, then continued, "We were also just looking into these signs, and they seem very strange."
"I think it's most likely man-made. The people stationed here are probably using this to collect materials…"
"But what's strange is, the people here don't seem to need equipment at all?"
When Fat Whale saw that the Nirvana Guild players weren't responding, he scratched his head awkwardly, then finally stated his reason for coming.
"It's like this, we came to the grassland to seek shelter under Lord Steve."
"Of course, our sudden arrival must've raised a lot of concerns."
"Just now we saw you were puzzled by the signs, so why not let us help you investigate?"
"Consider it a token of our sincerity."
Hearing Fat Whale's words, the Nirvana Guild players exchanged glances. After a brief silence, their leader Ping Pong finally opened his mouth.
"How will you investigate?"
Seeing Ping Pong speak, Fat Whale felt half-relieved.
Not being rejected outright meant there was hope.
After thinking for a moment, Fat Whale said, "The items required by the signs are easy for you to gather. You could easily test them, at worst, you lose a bit."
"What you're really worried about is that last warning."
[Do not enter the rainforest. Violators bear the consequences.]
Anyone able to reach the Trial Grounds wasn't ordinary, and naturally Nirvana Guild's thoughts had been guessed by Fat Whale.
Seeing the expressions on Ping Pong and the others suggest agreement, Fat Whale continued, "Then let us test what the consequences of entering the rainforest are."
In truth, Fat Whale's team was just like most solo teams, this exploration was partly to look for food, and partly to try their luck and see if they could encounter Steve's team.
Though everyone who qualified for the Trial Grounds was no ordinary person, most solo players were aware of one thing, before even entering the Trial Grounds, the player faction had already split into three camps.
One was Steve, the winner of the first Divine Domain Competition, admired by thousands.
One was Grayfist, the rebel leader, who also had many supporters.
And one was Black Blade, a top lieutenant under HIM, who easily took first place in the second Divine Domain Competition.
The strength of these three was obvious to all.
Naturally, the solo players didn't think highly enough of themselves to stand alone against any of them.
Basically, after entering the Trial Grounds, everyone had already made up their mind to join one of the three factions.
Fat Whale's group was no different. Their plan was to join either Steve or Black Blade's faction.
Now, having run into the Nirvana Guild, and since Fat Whale and his group wished to join, naturally they had to show their value.
Fat Whale's intention was already very clear, and Ping Pong naturally understood.
Ping Pong had already anticipated that in exploring other regions they would run into many players wanting to join them.
Steve had also emphasized this point, if they could accept them, they should, but they shouldn't accept useless people.
Now that Fat Whale's group had voluntarily offered to investigate the signs, it counted as them proving their worth.
After thinking for a moment, Ping Pong nodded and said, "Alright. Be careful."
As he spoke, he gestured for his team to back up a few steps.
Seeing Ping Pong agree, Fat Whale's group was naturally happy.
Fat Whale took a deep breath, then pulled two doors out of his backpack, holding one in each hand, forming a cornered angle that surrounded him.
Logically, without a shield, one door was enough to block frontal attacks.
To be extra safe, Fat Whale gave up all vision and used two doors as shields.
It was obvious, he was truly afraid of dying.
Although Fat Whale's appearance looked a bit silly, Ping Pong and the others didn't mock him.
After all, getting into the Trial Grounds wasn't easy, and any behavior made out of caution was not shameful.
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