Hearing Barbecue Sauce's description, even after going through so much, Mustard hadn't developed a deep-rooted hatred toward players or monsters.

If he were to understand Xu Yuan's stance, Mustard should be willing to let go of his hatred toward the Pillagers and cooperate properly.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan also felt much more at ease.

The key to optimizing the trade chain actually lay with Mustard's side.

Xu Yuan had already accounted for the Pillagers' side; they probably wouldn't hold too much prejudice against him.

It was only Mustard's side that Xu Yuan wasn't quite certain about.

After all, Xu Yuan had never interacted with Mustard before, so the impression of him in Xu Yuan's mind was entirely based on the crazy, erratic Mustard from Annoying Village.

But it turned out the Mustard of this world wasn't the same as the one from Annoying Village.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan couldn't help falling into deep thought.

Xu Yuan also knew that, although this world had all those characters from MC fanfiction, the people here, while basically identical to those fan-made characters in appearance, were different in many other ways.

Take Blue Demon, for example.

Before meeting Xu Yuan, Blue Demon's personality was actually quite similar to that of Annoying Village's Blue Demon.

The only difference was that he had experienced fewer things compared to the Annoying Village version.

If Xu Yuan had never intervened, then after being weathered by time and events, perhaps this world's Blue Demon would also have developed into that same Blue Demon from Annoying Village.

But after meeting Xu Yuan, Blue Demon changed.

He no longer walked down the path of becoming a "life guide zombie," but instead turned into a "bright and sunny big boy" (not really).

He even learned how to crack jokes.

His mindset was also far better than before. No longer burdened, he could finally have more chances to enjoy all the beautiful things this world had to offer.

That was something the Blue Demon of Annoying Village would never be able to achieve.

Then there was Entity 303. In fanfiction, Rookie and Salted Fish were his mortal enemies.

But in this world, Entity 303 not only overcame his fear of Salted Fish, he even became good friends with Rookie.

And the Ender Queen, putting aside that in fan works she and HIM were enemies, in which fanfiction did the Ender Queen ever drop Ender Pearls?

Yet in this world, even with such a tough personality, the Ender Queen had once dropped Ender Pearls.

For a character created with a "strong and fierce" setting, dropping Ender Pearls went completely against her established role.

But for a real, living person, it was perfectly normal for the Ender Queen to drop Ender Pearls.

In short, in this world, they were no longer just characters built around fabricated roles.

In this world, they could cry and laugh, have emotions, have worries.

They could be influenced, they could grow.

They weren't going to remain just simple villains, simple strong women, or simple paragons of goodness.

In the real world, things aren't purely black and white.

This was a real world. And in this real world, they were complex, vivid, living people.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan corrected his own train of thought.

'Treating those fan-made characters as the standard reference for real people in this world is still too rigid a mindset…'

'Characters don't change, but people in this world do change…'

'Seems my view of Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM has also been far too one-sided…'

Before Barbecue Sauce mentioned all those things about Mustard, the image Xu Yuan had of him was always that of a deranged lunatic.

Xu Yuan had to admit, that really was a case of preconceived notions.

The characters from fanfiction in this world, though their personalities at first were indeed quite similar to their fan-made counterparts,

it couldn't be denied that they were capable of changing.

Like the Ender Queen, Dread Lord, Entity 303, and even the Death Knight who had followed Xu Yuan from the very beginning.

The Death Knight would often switch into Little Bug mode to express his own opinions, which didn't quite match the "steady" personality of the Death Knight.

Over time, they all became different from how they were at first.

Even Xu Yuan himself wasn't the same as he had been at the start.

This was also why Xu Yuan began to rethink Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM, maybe they weren't what he had assumed them to be.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan suddenly felt his mind much clearer.

"They too can be changed…"

If Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM could be changed, then for Xu Yuan, they would definitely become assets.

Now Xu Yuan already knew about the relationship between the Void and Nocth.

In other words, Notch had already become a huge hidden danger and threat.

If Notch were to defect, then what Xu Yuan would be facing would be Notch along with two other immensely powerful Void consciousnesses.

Xu Yuan was very clear that this battle couldn't be turned around by him alone.

So he had to add as many chips to his side of the table as possible.

Rookie was one heavyweight chip.

Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM could be as well.

Just as Xu Yuan had thought before, this world wasn't just black or white.

Even if right now Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM were in competition with Xu Yuan, that didn't mean their positions would stay that way forever.

If he could change their mindset and turn them into allies, that would naturally be the best outcome.

Of course, that was under the condition that, after winning the Trial Grounds, Annoying Village HIM and Tyrant HIM wouldn't simply vanish.

'Forget it, that's something for later…'

'First, deal with the problem in front of me…'

Xu Yuan's thoughts were indeed a bit jumpy, but he could still tell priorities apart.

Now that he had figured out both Mustard and the King of Pillagers didn't really hold strong opinions about him, that meant Xu Yuan could serve as the fair mediator in between.

So the next step would be to arrange a three-way meeting and reveal the truth.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan looked at Barbecue Sauce and Blue Demon.

"Bring Mustard and the King of Pillagers to the rainforest to meet me."

Hearing Xu Yuan's words, Blue Demon immediately nodded in agreement, but Barbecue Sauce's face showed some hesitation.

"Cluck Cluck Cluck?… (Bring them to the rainforest?…)"

"Cluck Cluck Cluck Cluck Cluck… (Mustard is very cautious, if the meeting spot is here I'm afraid he won't come…)"

For villagers, the rainforest really was dangerous. Though Mustard's base was currently on the plains, he had always stayed hidden underground, and every so often he would change locations.

Barbecue Sauce knew Mustard well, he was just afraid of failing the task.

"15422, 38, 4541."

"Tell him these coordinates, he'll naturally follow you here."

Hearing Xu Yuan say this, Barbecue Sauce didn't argue further. He silently memorized the coordinates, then left together with Blue Demon.

———

[Inside the Northern Plains, Grayfist Base]

Grayfist grabbed Steve's sleeve, his face full of displeasure.

"Where did you go?"

Steve forcefully shook off his sleeve and gave Grayfist a sidelong glance.

"Nowhere."

Seeing Steve's attitude, Grayfist's temper instantly flared up.

"You disappeared for an hour and twenty-seven minutes without a word!"

"And you tell me you went nowhere?"

As he said this, Grayfist grabbed Steve's shoulder, forcibly twisting him around to face him.

"Talk!"

"What exactly did you sneak off to do behind my back?!"

Hearing Grayfist's words, Steve was instantly speechless.

At that very moment, their conversation gave off a strong vibe of, 'You've got his perfume on you'...

But it had to be said, Grayfist's sixth sense really was sharp.

Because Steve really did have someone else's perfume scent on him…

"Can you stop being so paranoid?"

"If you don't trust me, then why did you insist on teaming up with me in the first place?"

Hearing Steve's words, Grayfist also couldn't hold back anymore.

"What do you mean, teaming up with you?"

"If it weren't for me, would you people even still be alive right now?!"

Seeing Grayfist angered, Steve thought for a moment, then deliberately added fuel to the fire.

"Heh, with your level…"

"I don't even want to say it."

"No wonder you don't trust me, because deep down, you know you're just not as good as me."

"You're taking advantage of the situation to try and push me down."

"But why pick up porcelain work when you don't have the right tools for it?"

"Whatever I do, you've got to sit there and think half a day. You always your guard on against me."

Steve really did know Grayfist well, so provoking him was as easy as flipping a hand.

Every word he spoke jabbed right into Grayfist's heart.

Hearing Steve's words, Grayfist froze.

Ever since taking Steve in, Steve had always been obedient, rarely ever contradicting any of his orders.

So slowly, Grayfist had let his guard down around him.

But today, Steve had been gone too long, without a word of explanation.

At least come up with some excuse, right? But instead, this was his attitude.

Grayfist had only meant to say a few words, but he hadn't expected Steve to strip him bare with just a few sentences.

By the time Steve finished speaking, Grayfist's face turned visibly red, all the way to his ears.

It wasn't embarrassment, it was fury.

═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═

patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator

🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.