After understanding the whole situation, Rookie immediately deduced the Void's intention.
Clearly, those captured living beings were the Void's hostages, meant to be used to threaten Xu Yuan when the time came to confront him.
The Void's actions plainly confirmed the speculation Entity 303 had previously told Rookie, neither the Void nor the real HIM could completely kill the other.
That was precisely why the Void had come up with such a method.
Rookie had to admit that this move by the Void truly put Xu Yuan in a dead-end situation.
"This is troublesome…" Rookie frowned and muttered to himself.
Although the players' proposed solution was to pull out Notch's internet cable, Rookie obviously couldn't adopt that plan.
After all, he knew Notch bore far too many responsibilities and pressures. Acting rashly could lead to even more serious consequences.
Given the current situation, it would clearly be best if Notch could leave the Trial Grounds early.
That way, Notch would have enough time to deal with the issues between himself and the Void, and the entire direction of events would be completely different.
However, the prerequisite for Notch leaving the Trial Grounds early was that he come out on his own initiative, not be forcibly awakened.
Because forcibly waking Notch would inevitably cause a certain degree of mental damage.
In the past, such a situation might still have been acceptable, but at this critical moment, once Notch was awakened, he would inevitably come into contact with information about the Void, and might even directly establish a connection with it.
No one knew for sure whether Notch could withstand such immense mental pressure and deal with all of this.
Therefore, forcibly awakening Notch was clearly not feasible.
At present, the only thing Rookie could do was try to see whether he could find the space holding the hostages with his own power, and then think of a solution afterward.
———
[Within the Nameless Land]
The Execution Dragon watched the intruder before it with a face full of vigilance. Though the intruder's appearance was unfamiliar, the aura he gave off felt strangely familiar.
Judging from the aura emanating from this intruder, he was clearly one of the Void's red consciousness entities.
However, what confused the Execution Dragon was that this red consciousness entity did not seem to have entered the Nameless Land of its own will. Instead, it seemed more like he had accidentally fallen into this place.
Moreover, there was not the slightest trace of killing intent coming from this red consciousness entity. On the contrary, he was filled with an intense sense of sorrow, and after entering this place, this materialized Void had been immersed in that emotion the entire time.
What was even stranger was that this materialized Void had already been in the Nameless Land for quite a while, yet the Wither Slime had never followed him in.
The Execution Dragon stared intently at the materialized Void, not daring to act rashly.
At this moment, the materialized Void finally made a move.
He let out a long sigh, as if setting down a heavy weight from his heart. A relieved expression appeared on his face. Then he slowly stood up and cast his gaze toward the direction of the Execution Dragon.
Seeing the wariness in the Execution Dragon's eyes, he hurriedly waved his hands and explained, "I mean no harm. Please believe me!"
After a round of inner struggle, J finally managed to calm his emotions and prepared to have a proper talk with the Execution Dragon, then leave the Nameless Land together with it to stop D's plan.
What he didn't know was that although he had only spent a short five minutes calming himself down, more than ten hours had already passed in the main world.
By the time he finished explaining everything to the Execution Dragon, D's plan should have already been completed...
———
[Within the Trial Grounds]
"Grayfist has successfully joined the camp where the other two HIMs are."
"And he's managed to extract quite a bit of information!"
"Those two HIMs don't seem to be planning to clash with us head-on, but are instead trying to find an opportunity to talk to you alone."
After receiving the message from Grayfist, Black Blade immediately relayed it to Xu Yuan.
Hearing Black Blade's report, Xu Yuan didn't feel surprised at all. Or rather, the actions of Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM were exactly within Xu Yuan's expectations.
Earlier, the Vindicator villagers within the camps of Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM had already sent a message once.
At that time, what Xu Yuan learned was that Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM had promised their subordinates that as long as they defeated Xu Yuan, the final decisive battle would be carried out in a one-on-one format, and the winner would lead everyone to clear the Trial.
After learning this information, Xu Yuan had actually already anticipated that Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM would want to talk to him alone.
Sure enough, just as Xu Yuan expected, Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM had indeed planned it that way.
However, after hearing this news, Xu Yuan felt a trace of regret.
In the end, Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM still failed to understand the true meaning of the real HIM.
They were able to think of having all those who followed them avoid participating in the battle, which showed that they were actually already trying to avoid war.
But what they avoided was only large-scale warfare. In the very end, they still wanted to use war between the two sides to bring everything to a conclusion.
It could only be said that it was truly a pity, they were just that tiny bit away from success.
Xu Yuan was immersed in his own thoughts when Black Blade beside him suddenly couldn't hold back and spoke up, "My King…"
"I understand your thoughts. You also hope to communicate with them alone."
"However, now that they've already joined forces, you'll be facing the difficult situation of one against two…"
Black Blade was deeply worried about Xu Yuan's safety. Although he knew Xu Yuan's fundamentals were extremely solid, his opponents were, after all, two other HIMs, whose strength could not be underestimated.
And with it being one against two, how could Black Blade not feel anxious for Xu Yuan?
Looking at Black Blade's concerned expression, Xu Yuan gently patted his shoulder and said with a smile, "Even if they scheme against me and cause me to fail, then what does it matter?"
His voice was calm and resolute, as if he had already seen through everything.
"You, Grayfist, the Pillager King, Mustard, Blue Demon, Barbecue Sauce, and even Notch…"
"I believe every single one of you has already grasped a way to win the Trial, haven't you?" Xu Yuan's tone was filled with confidence in them.
"If that's the case, is it really that important whether I win or not?"
Xu Yuan's words were like a heavy bomb, plunging Black Blade into a long silence.
He was truly shaken by Xu Yuan's words.
"One person falls, and tens of thousands rise up", this sentence echoed in Black Blade's mind.
He knew very well that Xu Yuan's existence was not merely the strength of one individual, but a kind of faith.
The influence he brought was profound and lasting, making everyone stronger.
At this very moment, everyone under Xu Yuan's camp actually symbolized Xu Yuan.
Because under Xu Yuan's leadership and guidance, everyone's goals and beliefs had already become completely aligned with Xu Yuan's.
Everyone knew that war was not the only way to solve problems. Everyone was clear about what they wanted, and everyone knew what they should do.
Since that was the case, did it really matter whether the one who won was Xu Yuan or not?