Then, once again, he firmly reached out his hand and continued to gently stroke Bread Sheep's head, still talking to him softly.
At that moment, it was as if he had awoken from a long dream, and a surge of genuine joy rose from his heart.
The players under the captain's command gradually gathered around. Every movement of the captain's naturally fell into their eyes.
However, for some reason, these players showed a kind of indescribable understanding.
They simply stood quietly a little distance away, silently waiting for the captain, without a hint of noise or disturbance.
On their faces, there was no trace of surprise, confusion, doubt, or ridicule. They didn't make any remarks or judgments about what the captain was doing either.
On the contrary, they observed with a calm and respectful attitude, as if they understood and supported his decision.
Seeing the captain's and the players' actions, the heavy weight in Notch's heart finally dropped.
After the captain talked with Bread Sheep for a while, it seemed like they had reached some kind of agreement.
Then, the captain finally stood up and walked toward Notch and Stephen.
He looked deeply at Notch, then patted him on the shoulder and said, "Take care."
After saying that, he walked over to his players, his eyes sweeping across every one of them present.
His gaze was calm and firm, as if silently telling them, this is the final decision.
"Let's go back," the captain said softly.
The players looked at him quietly, then turned their eyes toward Notch and Stephen.
At that moment, everyone clearly understood what the captain was doing, but no one pointed it out, and no one objected.
They all stayed silent, tacitly following the captain's lead, slowly walking away.
Watching the team's figures gradually disappear into the distance, Stephen could no longer suppress his excitement. He couldn't help but ask, "They won't attack the rainforest anymore, right?!"
At this moment, even Stephen understood the deeper meaning behind the captain's actions.
Hearing Stephen's question, Notch looked in the direction the players had left, smiled, and nodded.
"They may not be able to make any big decisions directly," he said, "but they'll each become a loose screw, slowly shaking the foundation itself!"
The actions of the captain's team actually meant they had silently allowed Notch and Stephen to leak their plan to attack the rainforest.
Just by observing the actions taken by the captain's squad, one could already see many key things.
Their attitude was quite representative, though it couldn't speak for every player, it at least reflected what most players were thinking.
Players were all different and complicated, but at the end of the day, they were still real, living individuals.
Each of them had emotions and valued life.
When most players learned that there were self-aware beings in the game, they would usually try their best to avoid harming those conscious life forms. They wouldn't purposely kill them.
In truth, the players didn't want to fight with those sentient creatures, but unfortunately, those creatures held deep hatred toward players.
When both sides encountered each other, most players wouldn't attack first, they'd try to avoid or leave instead. Ironically, it was often the conscious creatures who attacked first.
Players found it exhausting. If they really had to fight back and accidentally killed those beings, they would feel guilty afterward.
But their restraint still wasn't enough to extinguish the hatred and anger that those creatures had built up for so long.
And yet, how could most players not be innocent?
At the start, players didn't even know those creatures were self-aware, they were just playing by the game's rules.
Killing monsters and animals to gather materials and equipment was completely normal for them.
That's how most games worked.
But as the game's systems and the world itself changed, players gradually became branded as terrible killers.
Of course, some twisted players had done unforgivable things, like intentionally torturing, imprisoning, or killing conscious creatures even after learning they were self-aware.
But those were only isolated cases, a small, dark minority that couldn't represent the entire player base.
Unfortunately, since the player population was enormous, even that small fraction was enough to seem like a massive threat from the creatures' point of view.
Because of that, those few ruined the image of all players, turning them into irredeemable villains in the eyes of the creatures.
Maybe that's what people mean when they say, "One rotten apple spoils the whole barrel."
Most players felt helpless about the current situation. They really didn't want to get dragged into such senseless hatred.
So, for most of them, their thoughts were the same as the captain's team, they wanted to live peacefully with those beings.
However, just like the captain, each faced different personal struggles.
Some were about pride, some were caught between interest and emotion, and others had their own reasons.
But in truth, none of these issues were unsolvable, they just needed the right opportunity.
And the rainforest's rules were exactly that perfect opportunity.
As Notch said, every good-hearted player was like a loose screw.
On the surface, they might not seem capable of changing much. But when all those screws start loosening together, the entire foundation would collapse in an instant.
And seeing the actions of the captain's team made Notch even more confident.
If the rainforest's rules could be perfectly recreated in the overworld, then the chaos plaguing that world could finally be resolved.
Thinking that, Notch took a few steps forward, crouched beside Bread Sheep, and spoke softly.
"Little Bread, can you help us send a message? We'd like to enter the rainforest and take a look…"
Hearing Notch's words, Bread Sheep nodded without hesitation.
"Baa baa baa… baa baa baa!"
As soon as Bread Sheep finished, Stephen immediately translated.
"He said normally that wouldn't be allowed, but 'Big Berry' just asked him to cooperate with us as much as possible…"
Then Stephen couldn't help muttering, "Big Berry… what kind of nickname is that…"
The "Big Berry" Bread Sheep mentioned was, of course, the captain.
Notch hadn't expected that the conversation between the captain and Bread Sheep earlier had actually been paving the way for them.
It seemed the captain had truly "betrayed" his side.
But Notch understood, if it were him, he probably wouldn't be able to resist Bread Sheep's charm either.
After all, it was just too cute and too kind.
"Well, alright then, thank you~ We'll wait here for your good news!"
Notch said cheerfully to Bread Sheep, and without thinking, reached out his hand to pet its soft fur.
But Bread Sheep suddenly looked startled and quickly took a few steps back.
"Baa baa baa!!"
It looked panicked and bleated a few times before turning and running deep into the rainforest.
Notch's hand froze in midair, and the scene instantly became awkward.
It wasn't his fault, Bread Sheep was just so adorable, and it looked so clean and fluffy.
No one could resist wanting to pet it. Notch was no exception; he just couldn't hold back.
Who would've thought Bread Sheep was scared of being touched by strangers?
"Ahem." Notch coughed twice to cover his embarrassment and pulled his hand back.
To smooth things over, he quickly changed the subject.
"So, uh… what did he just say?…"
Notch asked while looking at Stephen beside him.
Stephen's big nostrils flared sharply, clearly, he was angry.
His reaction was like a housecat bristling after smelling another cat's scent on its owner.
"He said you're a heartless jerk!" Stephen said coldly, then deliberately spat a big glob of saliva right at the hand Notch had just reached out with.
Seeing Stephen's reaction, Notch finally realized he was genuinely upset and hurried to comfort him.
"That captain guy kept saying how soft Bread Sheep was, but I don't believe it! How could his fur be softer than yours?!"
"I looked closely just now, its fur's kind of dry, totally not as smooth as yours!"
"And besides, its wool's not even trimmed, all messy and uneven."
"Look at you though, so well-groomed! Look at that style! Flawless!!"
———
[In Old Wu's Outpost on the Forest Outskirts]
"Old Wu… stop pacing! You're making me dizzy!!"
Yoyo finally couldn't help complaining.
Fat Cow stopped walking, frowned, and asked his players, "Still no news?!"
The players all shook their heads helplessly, sighing heavily.
"No… maybe something went wrong over there?"
"Boss, looks like we can't avoid a fight this time… should we have the brothers get their gear ready?"
"Yeah, boss, it's been too long with no word… maybe we should send a few guys to the rainforest to check again?"
Hearing his men, Fat Cow sighed in frustration.
"Enough! No news means we stay put!"
After saying that, he started pacing again.
The lack of word from the rainforest was making Fat Cow restless.
Though they'd already escorted the Pillagers out, given the current situation, the Meat Farm was on the verge of collapse.
Even though Fat Cow had taken some precautionary measures, they were far from thorough.
He could block the routes from the Meat Farm to other areas temporarily, but he couldn't completely cut off the path connecting it to the rainforest.
After all, that path was their only source of information right now.
If the Meat Farm was discovered, it was only a matter of time before the rainforest path was too. Just thinking about it made Fat Cow's mood heavier.
The Pillagers nearby also looked grim. Though they currently trusted Fat Cow, they were still in serious danger.
After all, the Village of Annoyance's HIM and his Iron Golems were coming straight for them.
Right now, they were like a group without a leader. Because they left in such a hurry, they couldn't bring much, only as many stored emeralds as possible.
Most of the gear and equipment they'd worked so hard to trade for had to be left behind.
If all that fell into enemy hands, wouldn't it mean all their effort was for nothing?
What's worse, the Pillagers knew their base was probably already discovered.
Which meant the army they'd been building all this time was now useless.
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T/N: As you all already know my 2nd Account(Ambitious_Guy) is susp*nded, due to obvious reasons. But, the novels in it are still on the platform. Due to which I can't repost them on my new account(Ambi_Guy). Because everytime I try, the book just gets blocked because of 'Spamming'. So, those novels will now be exclusively available on ScribdleHub. For more details and novels please check announcement on Discord (discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y).
Another thing, from now I will post my new novels via 2nd Account(Ambitious_Guy_2) that used to be my 2nd Patreon(ZenonTL). It has some good fanfics and novels, you can try.
I am afraid of getting another block or susp*nsion so I am not saying more and censoring any trigger words.
[P.S: There is a new Kingdom Building novel there as well.]
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