Hearing Tyrant HIM's words, Annoying Village HIM finally let out a sigh of relief. The way he looked at Tyrant HIM was filled with gratification.
Ever since meeting Xu Yuan, Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM, this pair of happy enemies who usually seemed like fire and water, constantly at odds with each other, had, quite unbelievably, gradually become more and more in sync.
Whenever they encountered matters related to Xu Yuan, the two of them would react almost identically, and the thoughts deep in their hearts would be exactly the same. The degree of similarity was astonishing.
However, Annoying Village HIM had never been someone who was good at openly expressing his own thoughts.
He was always used to burying his true self deep in his heart, unwilling to easily reveal his feelings and thoughts to the outside world.
In contrast, Tyrant HIM's personality was completely different.
He was straightforward and bold by nature. Once he established full trust in someone, he would stop holding back, and whatever was on his mind would often come straight out without reservation.
Because of this, in the series of events that followed, Tyrant HIM naturally took on the role of Annoying Village HIM's "spokesperson."
It could be said that the current Tyrant HIM was, to a large extent, already equivalent to Annoying Village HIM's external vocal organ…
Without exaggeration, the present Annoying Village HIM, in a certain special sense, had already become inseparable from Tyrant HIM.
Obviously, what Tyrant HIM had just done was yet another instance of speaking on Annoying Village HIM's behalf.
Annoying Village HIM naturally wanted to know exactly how Xu Yuan had managed to change these players' way of thinking. After all, in the world Annoying Village HIM came from, the player faction was also an extremely troublesome existence.
He certainly wanted to ask Xu Yuan for advice, but he just couldn't bring himself to lower his pride and speak up.
That was why, as soon as Tyrant HIM finished speaking, Annoying Village HIM turned his gaze toward Xu Yuan and had already put on an attentive, ready-to-listen posture.
The eager, knowledge-hungry looks on Tyrant HIM's and Annoying Village HIM's faces made Xu Yuan feel both amused and helpless.
Xu Yuan naturally had no intention of hiding anything. Coincidentally, the true HIM was still handling the matter of the players' rewards, so there was time to chat with Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM.
While Tyrant HIM, Annoying Village HIM, and Xu Yuan were talking, Black Blade, Grayfist, and the others were not idle either.
Seeing everyone around them rubbing their hands together, unable to wait to speak up and ask the true HIM for rewards, Black Blade couldn't help but feel a little surprised. This was because Grayfist and Pocolo, who were standing beside him, showed no reaction at all, as if all of this had nothing to do with them.
Although Black Blade hadn't known Pocolo for very long, he had followed Xu Yuan through thick and thin for many years, and he believed his judgment of people was fairly accurate. Just now, when Pocolo had spoken only a single sentence, Black Blade had already formed an initial impression of him.
Pocolo was basically the pre-awakening version of Grayfist.
Pocolo gave off that strong sense of wanting to make a name for himself and charge forward bravely, almost exactly the same as Grayfist when he had first stepped into the world.
However, there were also clear differences between the two.
Pocolo liked to cut corners in how he dealt with things, whereas Grayfist always steadily and honestly moved toward his goals.
Even so, although Black Blade noticed that Pocolo shared many similarities with the former Grayfist, his overall impression of Pocolo still wasn't particularly good.
After all, as the leader of the team, Black Blade usually preferred people who were diligent, practical, and hardworking. Naturally, he found it hard to feel fondness toward those who were used to being sly and cutting corners.
Black Blade originally didn't plan to pay any attention to Pocolo. In his view, during the time Grayfist had been working undercover, he must have been constantly putting up with Pocolo and suffering quite a few grievances.
Black Blade was very protective of his own. Even though he never went easy on Grayfist with his words, he couldn't stand seeing Grayfist being wronged.
Black Blade had thought that Grayfist disliked Pocolo, but he hadn't expected Grayfist to actually step in and smooth things over for him.
Black Blade understood Grayfist well. Although Grayfist wasn't particularly sharp-minded, his luck was outstanding.
Anyone who managed to catch his eye was, by nature, not a bad person.
Black Blade was willing to trust Grayfist's judgment, or rather, he was willing to trust Grayfist's luck.
Since Grayfist could accept Pocolo, Black Blade naturally could accept him as well.
So at this moment, Black Blade had already started looking at Pocolo as another little Grayfist.
Because of this, seeing that Grayfist and Pocolo, two people who were competitive and eager to push forward, showed no reaction at all at this moment, Black Blade naturally felt a bit curious.
After giving Grayfist and Pocolo a once-over and noticing that Pocolo still seemed somewhat reserved, he asked Grayfist,
"With such a good opportunity right in front of you, you're actually unmoved?"
"That doesn't seem like you."
As he said this, Black Blade lifted his chin, glanced at Pocolo, then looked back at Grayfist and smiled teasingly.
"Even if not for yourself, you should at least do it for this brother of yours, right?"
"You just bragged that he'd be following you from now on. As the boss, shouldn't you at least ask for some benefits for your brothers?"
Hearing Black Blade mention him, Pocolo was startled at first, then looked at Black Blade in a fluster, shaking his head and waving his hands.
"Boss Black Blade… please don't make fun of me…"
"Grayfist b, bro… brother… being able to overlook the past and take me in, I'm already endlessly grateful…"
"With this ending in the trial, I'm already very satisfied! Really!!"
"I truly have nothing else to ask for…"
Although Pocolo's words sounded somewhat humble, they were indeed heartfelt.
He could actually tell that Black Blade had already accepted him as one of their own. Otherwise, Black Blade's tone would definitely not have carried that teasing edge.
In other words, what Pocolo gained from this Land of Trials was the recognition of two top-tier big shots, Black Blade and Grayfist.
This reward had long since exceeded his expectations by far. He truly had nothing else to ask for.
Hearing Pocolo say this, a smug expression instantly appeared on Grayfist's face. He curled his lips into a grin and said, "Do I look like someone that petty? Someone who'd covet that little bit of stuff?"
After saying this, Grayfist let out a long breath, then put on a deliberately profound air.
"Growth is a rare and precious treasure in life."
With that, Grayfist patted Pocolo on the shoulder.
"My brother Pocolo and I have both obtained treasures that belong to us. Those other external things naturally can't catch our eye anymore."
After saying this, Grayfist glanced at Black Blade, his face full of playful mockery.
"You don't even understand this?"
"Well, fine. Like you said, even if not for yourself, you still have to seek some benefits for the brothers under you."
"How about this, if you're embarrassed to speak up, just call me something nice, and I'll speak up for you?"