Black Blade raised his eyebrows and looked at Grayfist, the teasing in his eyes impossible to hide.

"Hm? Does this count as you taking me as your master?"

Before Grayfist could speak, the corners of Black Blade's mouth curved up again as he continued to tease him.

"Since you're so sincere, I can consider mentoring you a bit."

"I'm not that traditional, you know, not like those old-school masters who make you serve tea and kowtow or whatever."

Saying that, Black Blade paused for a moment, looked back at Grayfist, and grinned.

"Call me something nice, and everything's easy to talk about!"

Hearing Black Blade's words, Grayfist glared hard at him. He instinctively wanted to snap back, but after thinking for a few seconds, he still forced down the anger bubbling up inside.

After a moment of silence, he calmed himself and looked at Black Blade seriously before finally speaking.

"Old..."

Black Blade had only been joking with him anyway. He didn't actually mean it; he just wanted to see if Grayfist would blow up and show his true colors.

He thought that if Grayfist could just call him "Brother Blade," that would already be enough to satisfy him.

But unexpectedly, Grayfist really held himself back, and it looked like he was about to give in and call him "Boss."

Black Blade was just thinking that when Grayfist suddenly changed tone. His expression shifted into one that made people want to smack him, and he looked at Black Blade with that annoying smirk.

"No way, no way??"

"You don't actually think I'd call you boss, right?"

After saying that, he looked at Black Blade all smug, then deliberately slowed his words down.

"Old... Bro..."

Grayfist was still Grayfist, never disappointing anyone.

When it came down to it, he was just stubborn. He had already accepted Black Blade in his heart, but he just refused to admit it out loud.

He simply didn't want to show it. Besides, Grayfist was still the leader of a big guild. With so many people watching right now, there was no way he'd want to lose face.

And he'd also realized that Black Blade was just teasing him anyway. Even if he didn't play along and say something flattering, Black Blade wasn't going to actually change his decision.

It was precisely because he understood this that he acted so confident.

Still, that was part of Grayfist's charm. If he suddenly became all meek and submissive, he'd lose what made him, him.

Seeing that Grayfist had once again managed to outplay him, Black Blade wasn't surprised. After all, this was exactly how things always went between the two of them.

In fact, if Grayfist really did call him "boss," Black Blade would probably feel weird about it.

That's why, even now hearing Grayfist's provocation, Black Blade didn't get angry.

He knew Grayfist like the back of his hand. Dealing with him was basically child's play.

He could think of a thousand ways to make Grayfist give in.

With that thought, Black Blade simply skipped over the previous topic, looked at Grayfist seriously, and said, "Oh right, I forgot to tell you something."

Seeing Black Blade suddenly turn serious, Grayfist immediately dropped his playful attitude too.

He knew that whenever Black Blade made that face, it usually meant something important, so he asked, "What is it?"

Seeing Grayfist getting serious, Black Blade deliberately rubbed his chin, putting on a grave look before slowly saying, "It's about Steve. That duel between you and him..."

The moment Grayfist heard the words "Steve" and "duel," his eyes widened.

He stared at Black Blade, forgetting to even breathe.

From his reaction alone, it was obvious how much he cared about what Black Blade was about to say.

Grayfist stared at him for a long time, but Black Blade still didn't continue.

Just as he was about to urge him, Black Blade finally spoke.

He waved his hand casually, his face calm and expressionless as he slowly said, "Forget it, nothing important."

The moment Grayfist heard that, his mind blanked out. Countless question marks popped up in his head. "??????"

He stared at Black Blade in disbelief.

"You f..."

The rest of his "flowery language" was already at the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it back down with effort.

That alone showed how desperate he was to know the "truth."

After forcing himself to calm down, he looked at Black Blade, his tone almost pleading.

"Come on! Just tell me!!..."

But no matter how anxiously Grayfist pushed him, Black Blade remained unmoved, merely shaking his head slightly without saying another word.

Seeing this, Grayfist was about to lose his mind. He couldn't hold back his frustration anymore and practically begged, face twisting like he was about to cry.

"Please, I'm begging you, okay?!!"

"Seriously, enough messing around! Just tell me already!!"

Even with Grayfist nearly breaking down, Black Blade still wore that calm, amused smile, quietly watching him without saying a thing.

Faced with this "silent torture," Grayfist finally couldn't take it anymore. He dropped all his pride and dignity and pleaded in a low voice.

"Bro!! I'll call you bro!! Brother Blade!!"

"Please!! Just tell me!!"

Finally, the moment that "Brother Blade" came out, Black Blade reacted.

"Ahhh..."

Black Blade looked at Grayfist with a satisfied grin, even dragging out his voice on purpose.

"Doesn't that sound nice?"

After saying that, Black Blade looked at him with a playful smirk.

Grayfist froze, and only then did he realize that Black Blade never planned to tell him anything about the duel at all.

"You!!!"

Grayfist was absolutely fuming, ready to swing at him. He rolled up his sleeves, took a step forward, and was just about to grab him when a few quiet coughs interrupted.

"Cough, cough…"

The sound came from the players standing in front of them.

Seeing the two of them bickering and teasing each other, the players couldn't help themselves anymore.

They really didn't want to be part of this little "play" between Grayfist and Black Blade.

Hearing the coughing, both of them froze in embarrassment and finally straightened up.

Seeing that, Grayfist was the first to break the awkward silence. He looked at Black Blade and asked, "So what's the plan now?"

"Are we heading to the Rainforest with you guys?"

Hearing his question, Black Blade thought for a moment, then nodded.

"The trial will probably end within two days. For now, all forces should gather in the Rainforest."

"Our king should be returning to the Rainforest soon. There'll likely be some moves after that."

Though Black Blade spoke casually, his words left Grayfist a bit stunned.

"End in two days??"

"Wait, don't tell me you guys can control when the trial ends???"

Seeing Grayfist's disbelief, Black Blade shrugged.

"What's so surprising about that?..."

For Black Blade, the fact that Xu Yuan could control the timing of the trial's end was nothing new. He'd been with him long enough to know.

But Grayfist hadn't interacted much with Xu Yuan before, so of course, he'd be shocked.

Thinking that, Black Blade looked at him and said, "Don't worry. You'll see a lot of this kind of thing from now on. You'll get used to it."

———

[In the Central Plaza of the Rainforest]

Notch and Stephen had finished strolling around the area. Stephen could no longer hold back his urge to reunite with his old friends, so he practically dragged Notch back to the Rainforest's central plaza.

Stephen looked thrilled, full of energy as he ran ahead. The moment he reached the plaza, he began bouncing around excitedly, completely unaware that Notch, still slung over his shoulder, was about to throw up from all the shaking.

"Where is everyone?! Where'd they all go?!!"

Seeing that the plaza was completely empty, Stephen finally started to calm down.

Notch took the chance to climb off his back, but before he could, Stephen suddenly dashed forward again.

Notch was flung off instantly, face-planting straight into the ground.

He let out a long sigh, rubbed his nose, and slowly got up.

"Did you eat the wrong mushrooms or something??..."

It wasn't until Notch spoke that Stephen realized he'd tossed him off.

Stephen gave an awkward smile and quickly apologized.

"Uh… sorry… totally forgot about you…"

Though he apologized, his attention was still entirely on the empty plaza. He glanced around curiously and asked, "Where'd they all go? What do you think? Should we go find them?"

Notch sighed helplessly and waved a hand, ready to answer.

"Didn't you notice..."

But just as the words left his mouth, he stopped.

Actually, ever since Black Blade introduced him and Stephen to the Rainforest members, Notch had already noticed something odd.

When Black Blade first brought them up in front of everyone, Notch could feel the crowd's subtle tension.

At the time, he thought it was just because he and Stephen were newcomers to the Rainforest, and it was natural for people to be cautious.

Plus, bringing them in was entirely Black Blade's idea anyway.

So Notch had smartly volunteered to go explore the Rainforest, giving Black Blade time to talk things over with the others.

He thought that after a bit of discussion, everyone would warm up to them.

But clearly, he was completely wrong.

When they returned to the plaza after their walk, they were met with an empty square, no one in sight.

Notch wasn't stupid. He instantly understood what this meant.

Everyone had deliberately avoided them. They didn't want to interact with him or Stephen.

He'd already realized it, but when he looked over at Stephen beside him, that "clear and innocent" look in his eyes said it all. He hadn't noticed a thing.