"Did you understand it?..."
It was obvious that Grayfist still wasn't very familiar with how Xu Yuan's faction handled things. Just now, even though Xu Yuan had given them a mission, he only told them what to do, he didn't bother explaining the reason behind it.
Grayfist seemed like he half understood it, but also didn't.
But seeing how Black Blade agreed without even asking anything, Grayfist had to ask just to make sure.
After all, this was his first mission since joining Xu Yuan's faction. He definitely wanted to do it right, so of course, he needed to ask carefully.
Hearing Grayfist's question, Black Blade shook his head and said, "Not clear yet."
Grayfist froze in disbelief and stared at him.
"????"
"What? You guys all handle things this vaguely?!!"
Grayfist hadn't wanted to act like some country bumpkin coming to the city for the first time, but right now, that was exactly the expression on his face, and that's exactly how Black Blade saw it.
Black Blade looked at him speechlessly and said, "What's so vague about it?"
"Once we talk with the Pillager King, we'll probably understand the full picture."
After saying that, Black Blade paused for a second, then suddenly looked like he just remembered something.
"Oh… right, I forgot to remind you."
He leaned closer to Grayfist, reached out, and tapped his finger on Grayfist's temple.
"When you're doing things in our faction, you gotta bring this with you."
Grayfist froze for a moment, then swatted away Black Blade's hand and rolled his eyes hard.
"Who said you could touch me? We're not that close!"
"Can't hold your tongue for one second, huh?"
———
After teasing each other a bit, they saw the Pillager King leading a large group of Pillagers into the rainforest.
Seeing this, Black Blade immediately stopped joking around and started negotiating with the Pillager King.
The two talked for about ten minutes, and soon Black Blade had a general idea of the situation.
Grayfist, who had been quietly eavesdropping the whole time, couldn't sit still anymore.
From what the Pillager King said, it wasn't hard to figure out that Xu Yuan's goal in sending them out was to stage a "reducing our own troops" act.
That was exactly why Grayfist was so shocked after hearing it, this plan really opened his eyes.
"In my whole life, I've never seen someone worry about scaring off their enemies just because they're too strong… guess I haven't lived long enough…"
"Damn, that's wild…"
If this were the old Grayfist, he never would've understood why Xu Yuan wanted to do something like that.
But now that he was part of a faction where "you gotta bring your brain to work," Grayfist had finally started to use his long-idle mind again.
If he had the same military power Xu Yuan currently had, Grayfist would've charged straight in without thinking twice.
But judging from how Black Blade handled things, Xu Yuan clearly wasn't the type to solve everything through fighting.
Everything he did seemed to be aimed at avoiding war.
Thinking of that, Grayfist couldn't help but recall the mission he received after entering the Trial Grounds, to lead the player faction to survive.
And the key point of that mission wasn't "to lead the player faction," but the four words that came after it, "to survive."
At that thought, Grayfist's scalp went numb.
"He's completely figured this Trial Grounds out!"
"How the hell do you even lose after this?..."
When Grayfist first got his mission, he thought the Trial Grounds was just another divine realm competition.
But now he finally understood, it wasn't that simple.
Everyone in the Trial Grounds had received their own missions. Though the missions weren't all the same, they shared one thing in common, survive.
Thinking back now, most people who entered probably made the same mistake as Grayfist did, they focused only on surviving themselves.
Because of that, everyone instinctively saw war as the only way to "win" the Trial Grounds.
Except Xu Yuan. It seemed like no one else even thought about avoiding war and aiming for mutual victory.
Now Grayfist finally understood why Xu Yuan could achieve so many things that seemed impossible to others.
Because from the very start, Xu Yuan was thinking about mutual benefit. And when everyone's interests were taken care of, there was no reason for war to break out at all.
Thinking of that, Grayfist muttered under his breath, "Damn… that's genius… I'll gladly kneel to that!!"
———
After negotiating with the Pillager King, Grayfist finally understood their next mission.
Even though he now acted confident, Black Blade still wasn't sure if Grayfist could pull off the performance.
So he forced the Pillager King to join him in giving Grayfist and his team a "professional crash course."
Only after the training was done did they finally let Grayfist's group leave.
———
[Meanwhile, at the Center of the Rainforest Square]
Not long after Black Blade and Grayfist's group left, Notch, who'd been hiding somewhere eavesdropping, finally revealed himself.
Seeing Xu Yuan standing alone in the middle of the square, Notch couldn't help feeling uneasy.
It wasn't like he wanted to eavesdrop, when the time-stop ended and he returned to the Trial Grounds, he was teleported right back to where he'd logged off last time, which happened to be the square.
He was originally planning to find Steven, but before he could take a few steps, Black Blade showed up leading a huge crowd of players, and soon after, Xu Yuan arrived as well.
Out of curiosity, Notch stayed to watch for a bit.
Though he really was eavesdropping, he'd been keeping his distance, so he didn't actually hear what Xu Yuan and the others said.
He just saw that after Xu Yuan gave Black Blade's group some instructions, they all left in a hurry.
Notch was very curious about Xu Yuan's next move.
He didn't know Grayfist, but he did recognize the player team's captain, and he'd seen him among Black Blade's group earlier.
From the look of it, the player captain's faction had already submitted to Xu Yuan's side.
That was what shocked Notch.
From his perspective, he had just told Black Blade that the player squad was planning to attack the rainforest, and now, in the blink of an eye, Black Blade came back with those same players, all pledging allegiance to Xu Yuan.
And it wasn't like they were captured, they looked completely willing.
Even though Notch knew that after the bread-sheep incident, the players had given up attacking the rainforest, he also knew they weren't nearly strong enough to sway an entire faction so quickly.
So he concluded that their surrender had definitely been part of Xu Yuan's plan all along, and Black Blade was just there to finish the job.
That was why Notch was so curious about what Xu Yuan would do next.
Though Notch hadn't been in the rainforest for long, he already had a good sense of the situation here.
There were a lot of people, plus equipment was constantly being traded between the villagers and Pillagers. Even without the player faction joining, the rainforest's power was already immense.
Now that the player faction had joined too, Xu Yuan's side was without question the strongest force in the Trial Grounds.
Notch understood that Xu Yuan's faction had already reached its limit, there was no need to recruit more.
And since the Trial Grounds was nearing its end, all the factions were set, which meant intense battles would soon break out.
So, he really wanted to know what Xu Yuan was planning next.
From how Xu Yuan had established his rainforest rules, it was clear he wanted to avoid conflict between native beings and players.
But to finish the Trial Grounds, war was unavoidable.
Even if Xu Yuan didn't start it, that didn't mean others wouldn't.
No matter how hard he tried to avoid it, war would eventually come.
Notch didn't know Xu Yuan that well, but from everything he'd seen, Xu Yuan probably wouldn't fight back even if war found him.
That's why Notch was curious, how would Xu Yuan respond?
After thinking it over, Notch couldn't resist his curiosity anymore and finally walked up to Xu Yuan.
Before Xu Yuan could even speak, Notch started first.
"Uh… this time, it's not an official meeting…"
"The Trial Grounds are still ongoing, and I haven't had time to really understand this world yet, but I've already asked someone to help me gather info…"
"So let's just chat casually this time… if you've got the time, that is…"
After what happened last time, Notch was still traumatized. He really didn't want to get "lectured" again.
Seeing how nervous he looked, Xu Yuan couldn't help but feel a little awkward.
Sure, he'd been a bit "stern" last time, but his tone had always been calm, he never actually scolded Notch harshly.
Yet Notch was acting like Xu Yuan might bite his head off.
"I didn't even say anything that harsh last time… does he really need to be this scared?..."
Thinking that, Xu Yuan smiled at him and nodded.
"I've got time. Go ahead."
Seeing Xu Yuan's smile, Notch finally let out a huge sigh of relief.
After a moment of thought, he cautiously asked, "I actually know that everything you've done in the Trial Grounds has been to avoid war."
"But now that it's nearing the end, I think you also understand, whether you want it or not, war is going to happen."
He paused, then continued, "To be honest, I personally hope you'll win the trial."
"If you do, you'll gain the power and authority needed to bring the rainforest's rules into the main world."
"I'm guessing that's also your reason for wanting to win, right?"
"But…"
Before he could finish, Xu Yuan interrupted him.
"Maybe you've missed the point."
"Winning the Trial Grounds isn't my goal."