Following Black Blade's command, the monsters in the rainforest no longer hesitated. Dozens of arrows flew at once toward the Nirvana Guild player.

After a few screams, the player fell to the ground.

After the Nirvana Guild player fell, Black Blade immediately came to his side.

Sure enough, next to the player full of arrows like a hedgehog, he found a note.

[1,00 AM. Meet at the west slope of the rainforest, Steve]

The handwriting on the note was the same as the writing on the fallen player's shield, painted with dye.

'Steve?? What's he trying to pull with this move? …Is he trying to negotiate with us privately?'

'Maybe it's a trap to lure us out?!'

Seeing the info on the note, Black Blade's subordinates started discussing one after another.

The players under Black Blade naturally had no good feelings toward Steve, after all, their stances had long been different.

But Black Blade thought more than they did.

Seeing the information on the paper, Black Blade was silent for a moment, then looked toward the skeleton archers at the edge of the rainforest and continued giving orders, "Force them back!"

As soon as Black Blade's words fell, dozens of arrows once again shot out, all landing neatly at the feet of Steve's group.

"Retreat!" Steve shouted once, then led his group of players away.

After leaving a certain distance, Ping Pong finally couldn't help but speak, "Those arrows just shot out from the rainforest, they were clearly just a warning..."

"Boss… Black Blade has always been at odds with you. Will he really agree to meet you?"

Ping Pong was also afraid of sacrificing a player for nothing, only for Black Blade's group to not appreciate it.

Steve had long expected Ping Pong to ask, and he shook his head and said, "Black Blade isn't really at odds with me, it's just that all along, we've been on different camps."

"He's never targeted me; it's just that from the beginning, our stances were different."

At this point, Steve slowed his pace and continued, "Currently, the rainforest should be made up of Black Blade's group, and some monsters and animals."

"Since they've set up this kind of trading system, it's not hard to see they want to avoid war with the players."

"They probably wouldn't reject having players join them."

"Of course, the premise is that the player sincerely joins them, not with ulterior motives."

"Black Blade isn't stupid, he sees it clearly."

"Alright... but I still don't understand. Since we've chosen to cooperate, we could've just put the paper inside the box. Why did we have to send one of our own to his death?..." Ping Pong continued asking.

After being with Steve for a long time, Steve's subordinates understood his personality. When Steve gave an order, they would carry it out immediately, without asking for a reason.

Because they trusted Steve's judgment.

But afterward, if there was anything they didn't understand, they would speak up frankly, and Steve would patiently explain.

What had just happened was exactly that, without knowing why Steve made that decision, the players were all still willing to step forward and risk their lives.

This was enough to show their trust in Steve.

Hearing Ping Pong's question, Steve didn't answer directly but instead asked in return, "Are we the only ones who discovered this rainforest?"

"So many people have gathered on this grassland, could there be few who found the rainforest?"

Hearing this, Ping Pong shook his head and was just about to say something when Steve interrupted, "The strategy Black Blade's group put forward, frankly, is aimed at players."

"There are now three player factions, us, Black Blade, and Grayfist."

"All the scattered players will eventually be absorbed into one of our three sides."

At this, Steve sighed heavily, "Grayfist, with that competitive spirit of his, he absolutely wouldn't work with Black Blade."

"If we openly cooperate with Black Blade, Grayfist will surely use every means to seek another alliance."

"Rather than letting him go off the rails and contact other camps, it's better to tie him together with us."

Hearing this, Ping Pong suddenly understood.

"So just now, sending him to die was to show it to Grayfist's side!"

Steve nodded.

"In Grayfist's view, the enemy of his enemy can be a friend."

"Even if the things we're competing for are the same, he'll still prioritize current interests."

"In the Domain Competition, he was just like that, to keep Black Blade from winning, he'd rather help me."

At this point, Steve smiled helplessly. "So I had to put on this act, to make Grayfist form an alliance with me."

"That's the only way to control his movements."

"Only when he's within control, on the day the truth comes out, will he no longer pose a threat."

Hearing Steve's words, Ping Pong couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

One had to admit, Steve's scheming was indeed far-sighted.

After thinking for a moment, Ping Pong nodded and said, "Then the key now is whether Black Blade will actually show up."

Hearing that, Steve shook his head, "No matter if he shows up or not, we're already on the same side. Our stance won't change."

"Whether or not he shows up only determines whether he realizes our stance."

"So Black Blade showing up isn't the key point."

"What I care more about, is whether Grayfist will actively come find me."

Steve truly saw things clearly. He had already made his stance clear. Whether Black Blade realized it was only a matter of time.

The most important thing now was, whether Grayfist had taken the bait.

———

Just as Steve was thinking about Grayfist, Grayfist at that very moment was also thinking about Steve.

"The rainforest killed one of Steve's people?"

"You're sure you didn't see wrong?" Grayfist seemed a bit incredulous as he asked the player under him.

The subordinate shook his head.

"No mistake, I even heard that guy say when he went in that he wanted to talk cooperation or something…"

"But he was immediately turned into a porcupine…"

Hearing that, Grayfist frowned.

"What the...? Black Blade's people are savage, they actually killed someone? Didn't you say before that stepping into the rainforest just got you threatened a bit?"

The player nodded and continued reporting, "Yeah, before it really was just threats…"

"But this time seems to be for real, after that player died, the rainforest side shot a bunch of arrows right at Steve's feet…"

Hearing this, Grayfist thought for a moment, and not long after, a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

"This rainforest should currently be under Black Blade's control, he should recognize Steve's men, at least a bit, right?"

"Steve thought he was clever playing this move, but Black Blade didn't buy it at all, they've basically fallen out."

"Given Black Blade's temperament, he probably won't give Steve's people another chance to trade food."

"In the future, for Steve's big group to get a bite to eat won't be easy."

Hearing Grayfist's words, the player under him also laughed gleefully.

"Who told him to bring it on himself?"

"He could've picked anyone to work with, but he just had to pick Black Blade."

"Boss, now Steve probably doesn't have the strength to compete with us!"

Hearing that, Grayfist smiled in satisfaction and then ordered, "Get someone to contact Steve's people."

"Tell them, I want to talk about cooperation."

One had to say, Steve really understood Grayfist.

For some reason, Grayfist had always seen Steve as a rival.

Maybe it was because they never really had a definitive victory or loss, or maybe because both of them were admired by players.

Or maybe it was because Steve had won the first Domain Competition.

The reason Grayfist always saw Steve as a rival was also because, even if they'd never officially settled who was stronger, in Grayfist's heart, Steve had always been one step ahead.

Grayfist was someone with a ridiculously strong competitive spirit.

Because of that, he always treated Steve as his imagined enemy, wanting to surpass him.

And because of that, he was completely played by Steve.

Now, Steve had lost the rainforest's trust, undoubtedly losing the most convenient source of food supply at the moment.

In this trial ground, where food was scarce outside the forest and rainforest areas, finding food was already a time-consuming task.

If most of their time was spent on finding food, it would undoubtedly affect later resource collection and military strengthening.

So in Grayfist's view, Steve was now at a disadvantage.

Grayfist could totally ignore Steve, just trade food from the rainforest, slowly strengthen his team, and once they were strong enough, consider whether to absorb Steve's group.

But Grayfist just couldn't hold back.

Finally catching this opportunity to surpass Steve, Grayfist couldn't wait even a second.

At this moment, he was already imagining all kinds of scenes where he commanded Steve from above, the thrill of superiority.

Head dizzy from this sense of victory, Grayfist naturally didn't realize this was exactly the trap Steve had set for him.

Once Grayfist cooperated with Steve, many of his important decisions could no longer be hidden from Steve.

At that point, Steve could easily manipulate him with a few words.

That would make Steve's plan much easier to carry out.

Grayfist's people were efficient, they quickly found Steve's group.

But Steve did not agree to meet with Grayfist.

Steve was, in fact, fully acting. He was afraid that if he agreed too quickly, Grayfist might sense something off, so he refused.

Also, Steve was stalling for time until nighttime. Though he wasn't sure if Black Blade would show up,

He himself definitely wouldn't miss the meeting.

If Steve met with Grayfist, that meant they would definitely cooperate.

Once they started cooperating, it would be hard to act alone again, so Steve declined Grayfist's invitation to meet.

But Steve overestimated Grayfist, or rather, he underestimated his own allure to Grayfist.

From the moment contact began, Grayfist never suspected this was a trap.

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