Actually, Grayfist's mission was to join the team of Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM.
Now that Pocolo had taken the initiative to come to him, Grayfist could have gone along with the flow and agreed without any trouble.
But Grayfist didn't do that. First, if he gave in so easily and immediately agreed to Pocolo's request, it would feel far too fake.
That simply wasn't something Grayfist would normally do.
Secondly, Grayfist understood the current situation very well. He knew clearly that even if he joined Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM, the help he could provide in terms of troop numbers would be negligible.
But when it came to stirring up chaos, his forces could indeed make quite a splash.
Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM must have taken this factor into account, which was why they wanted to win him over.
Although Grayfist didn't have many people under him, and his base was currently surrounded by Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM, in reality, the one holding the initiative right now was Grayfist.
It was precisely because he saw this clearly that Grayfist took the initiative to negotiate terms with Pocolo.
After all, Grayfist was going to join Tyrant HIM and Annoying Village HIM sooner or later anyway.
What he could do now was squeeze out as many benefits as possible.
Whether they were useful or not didn't matter, getting them into his hands first was better than getting nothing at all.
It had to be said, after having an epiphany, Grayfist really had grown shrewd. This whole maneuver of his was honestly at the level where even capitalists would spit twice after seeing it.
———
Hearing Grayfist's words, Pocolo let out a long sigh, his face wearing an expression that looked like he was about to cry but had no tears.
"Seriously? Who the hell came up with that damn nickname 'Big Dummy Grayfist' anyway?!!!"
"Where exactly is he dumb?!!"
Because of his "unique" personality traits, Grayfist had many strange and bizarre nicknames.
And "Big Dummy Grayfist" was one of them.
It was said that this nickname was originally given to him by the leader of a large guild.
However, what no one expected was that this seemingly derogatory nickname spread so widely and became so deeply ingrained.
Clearly, it had to have some close connection to Grayfist's own image or behavior.
Precisely because of this, Pocolo had been full of confidence when he came to negotiate with Grayfist this time.
After all, Pocolo considered himself somewhat clever. He could go back and forth verbally with Annoying Village HIM, so dealing with someone called Big Dummy Grayfist should be even easier, right?
What's more, he was holding hostages, and the guild was also trapped in a surrounded situation.
By normal logic, Grayfist should have been forced into a passive position. Then Pocolo would reason with him and appeal to his emotions, and Grayfist would naturally go along and join them.
But unexpectedly, after actually coming into contact with Grayfist, Pocolo realized that he had completely misjudged the situation.
Faced with such dire circumstances, Grayfist was able to see through everything and easily grasp the true essence of the entire matter.
If this counted as being dumb, then at least 90% of the people in the world were dumb.
"Looks like I can only tell the truth…"
Pocolo had originally thought that casually painting a rosy picture for Grayfist would be enough to persuade him. Now it seemed his thinking had been far too naive.
After thinking this over, Pocolo pondered for a moment, then looked at Grayfist and said, "I won't beat around the bush anymore. I'll be straight with you."
"Although you've led your people and held on until now, I think you also know very well that relying on your strength alone, you won't make it into the final circle."
"You're a smart person. You should clearly understand your own position. At best, you can only disrupt things, isn't that right?"
Hearing Pocolo's words, Grayfist rolled his eyes in extreme disdain, a huge eye-roll, with no attempt to hide the intense impatience on his face.
He muttered, "Tsk, just like that whatever-it-is… old lady's foot-binding cloth, long and stinky!"
Then he urged impatiently, "Can you just get to the point already? Don't waste my time, OK?"
However, when Grayfist said this, Pocolo suddenly seemed to lose control. For no clear reason, almost as if possessed, he replied, "It's an old lady…"
Hearing Pocolo's response, Grayfist froze for a moment, then burst out laughing once he realized what was said.
"Hey, kid, you're actually pretty interesting!"
After saying that, the previously listless Grayfist seemed to finally regain some energy, and his whole demeanor perked up a bit.
He straightened his back, sat up properly, and said, "Alright then, I'll reluctantly listen to what you have to say next."
Seeing that Grayfist was finally willing to listen, the huge stone weighing on Pocolo's heart finally dropped. He let out a light breath, paused briefly, and then continued.
"At present, in the entire Land of Trials, aside from you, there are only two factions left."
"One side is the HIM in the rain, and the other side is the two HIM I follow."
Pocolo paused slightly, looked at Grayfist with a firm gaze, and continued explaining.
"Simply put, the final victor of this trial will come from among these three HIM."
"As for people like us, wanting to eat meat is probably not very realistic."
"But if we just want to ride along a bit and sip some soup, then we definitely need to start choosing sides."
At this point, Pocolo glanced at Grayfist. Seeing that he seemed to be thinking, Pocolo felt reassured and continued.
"You've never chosen to defect to the HIM in the rainforest. I believe you've thought it through very clearly."
"Even if you did go over to him, you'd just be someone carrying out orders, with no real decision-making power."
After saying that, Pocolo looked at Grayfist again. Seeing that Grayfist didn't refute him, he went on.
"But it's different on our side. If you join us, you can lead a team as soon as you come in."
"And most of our forces are monsters spawned by the Land of Trials. When the time comes, the rewards we win naturally won't need to be shared with them."
As he said this, Pocolo stepped closer, bent down, and whispered into Grayfist's ear.
"Of course, none of that is important."
"The most important thing is that those two HIM have promised that the final battle will be conducted in a one-on-one format. None of us will be involved."
"The winner will lead all of us to enjoy the fruits of victory."
After saying this, Pocolo lowered his voice even more and continued.
"And those two HIM also have no intention of clashing head-on with the HIM in the rainforest."
"They plan to have a one, on, one, chat with him."
Only then did Pocolo finally straighten up, once again looking at Grayfist with a meaningful expression. He smiled and said, "Taking a step back, even if the two HIM we follow end up losing, we won't suffer any losses at all."
"At that point, we just need to continue following the winner."
Hearing Pocolo's words, Grayfist immediately showed an expression of sudden realization.
At the same time, he looked at Pocolo with a similarly meaningful gaze.
"So that's how it is!"
"What a brilliant scheme!"