Upon hearing Xu Yuan's words, the Pillager King felt as if a great revelation had struck him, like a divine awakening.
Xu Yuan's words were like a bright ray of light, piercing through layers of fog, illuminating the doubts and confusion deep within his heart.
He was deeply impressed by Xu Yuan's wisdom and insight, and a feeling of inexplicable respect surged in him.
He finally understood why Xu Yuan was always able to effortlessly achieve the results he desired, without using a single soldier.
It turned out that Xu Yuan always prioritized avoiding war in his actions.
This relentless pursuit of peace made the "peace" philosophy he advocated incredibly persuasive.
If everyone's actions were centered around staying away from war, that would be the true meaning of peace.
At this moment, the Pillager King's emotions were extremely complex. He gazed at Xu Yuan in front of him, and an indescribable feeling welled up in his heart.
"My king…" The Pillager King's voice trembled slightly, as though carrying a thousand words.
"Thank you… I…" He hesitated, unable to find the right words to express his feelings at that moment.
Unknowingly, he realized that Xu Yuan's image in his heart had become more dignified and imposing.
He was no fool, and he understood that Xu Yuan sharing these insights with him was actually guiding him toward a higher level of understanding.
Seeing the expression on the Pillager King's face, Xu Yuan knew instantly that he had grasped the key point.
Xu Yuan nodded slightly, turned his gaze to the Pillager King, and calmly asked, "Since you agree with my perspective, have you already come up with a strategy for the upcoming plan?"
This was essentially a live test. Xu Yuan had already imparted the thought process to the Pillager King; now it was time to see how he would apply the knowledge.
Upon hearing Xu Yuan's words, the Pillager King fell into a brief moment of contemplation.
After a moment, he began to mumble to himself, as though analyzing the current situation aloud.
"The Iron Golems and the villagers' goal is clear, they are after the emeralds."
"Given this, they must want to capture us alive…"
"Assuming the worst-case scenario, they might have already taken control of the barracks…"
At this point, the Pillager King instinctively touched his chin, thinking for a moment before continuing his reasoning.
"They probably don't want to engage in too much combat with us, after all, every battle results in casualties…"
"If I were in command, I'd set up an ambush at the barracks and wait for the enemy to take the bait!"
"This way, we wouldn't need to waste troops, and they could easily capture us alive!"
As soon as he finished his analysis, the Pillager King eagerly cast an expectant look toward Xu Yuan.
His expression was like that of a student who had solved a difficult problem, hoping to receive praise and acknowledgment from the teacher.
Xu Yuan, noticing the Pillager King's expression, smiled slightly, his face showing a look of approval as he nodded gently, indicating his recognition.
"Not bad."
Xu Yuan's voice was calm and gentle, but the praise hidden within it made the Pillager King feel incredibly excited.
After receiving Xu Yuan's approval, the Pillager King became even more energized and immediately began a deeper analysis.
"To avoid this war, the best option is to retreat."
The Pillager King spoke with a firm tone.
However, he quickly shifted his stance.
"But, just relying on retreat won't actually solve the problem."
At this point, the Pillager King turned his gaze to Xu Yuan again, as if waiting for his response.
Xu Yuan continued to smile, encouraging the Pillager King with his eyes, and softly said, "Oh? Why is that? Please, tell me."
Encouraged by Xu Yuan, the Pillager King's confidence grew, and he continued to explain his reasoning.
"Although I don't know the exact background of that villager, for him, there's no way to retreat from this battle."
"Either they capture us successfully, or they lose all chances of competing."
"So, they must have marched into the forest with a resolve to either win or perish."
"So, retreating only solves the current predicament; it doesn't really solve the problem."
"Even if we avoid this battle, another war will come in the future."
Upon hearing the Pillager King's analysis, Xu Yuan nodded in satisfaction.
As he had suspected, the Pillager King was indeed capable.
Without the limitations of a fixed mindset, his broader perspective had improved.
He no longer only saw surface-level problems, but rather analyzed how the entire situation's aftermath would affect the bigger picture.
Since the Pillager King had already pinpointed the key issue, the only thing left was to figure out how to solve it.
With that thought in mind, Xu Yuan turned to the Pillager King and asked,
"So, how would you solve this problem?"
The Pillager King paused for a moment, and many solutions flashed through his mind. However, after reviewing them, he found that none seemed feasible.
"To solve this problem, we need to make the Iron Golems and the villagers give up…"
"They probably won't give up…"
"If they don't give up, then war is inevitable…"
"This…"
The Pillager King thought for a long time but still couldn't find a solution to the problem. It seemed like an unsolvable riddle.
He knew very well that the Iron Golems and villagers would not give up until they captured the people of Pillager.
As long as they didn't give up, war would surely erupt.
With that thought, the Pillager King seemed troubled.
"We can't possibly just walk into their trap like they want, can we?!"
The moment he spoke those words, the Pillager King froze as if struck by a lightning bolt.
"Walk into their trap?!"
As soon as he said those four words, he turned his gaze to Xu Yuan.
Upon seeing Xu Yuan's approving gaze and the knowing smile on his face, the Pillager King was left dumbfounded.
Clearly, he had just spoken the correct answer.
Although he had unintentionally found the right answer, the Pillager King's mind was still somewhat muddled.
Seeing that the Pillager King hadn't quite recovered yet, Xu Yuan gave him a subtle reminder.
"You know how many soldiers you have, and how many emeralds you can produce per minute. Only you can know that."
Hearing Xu Yuan's words, the Pillager King suddenly realized. His face lit up with excitement.
"So that's it!! So that's how it works!!!"
"Even if they capture us, they won't kill us. They want us to provide them with emeralds!"
"But how many emeralds we give them is up to us!"
"We walk into their trap, and while it seems to benefit them, it actually doesn't!!"
"From now on, their troop strength will be completely under our control!"
"And, at the same time, we will have access to all their intelligence!"
After hearing the Pillager King's analysis, Xu Yuan's face revealed a satisfied and approving expression, and he gently nodded in agreement.
In fact, the conclusion the Pillager King had deduced perfectly aligned with the plan Xu Yuan was about to implement.
Their conversation could be seen as a form of patient guidance and inspirational dialogue. Just as Xu Yuan had hoped, the Pillager King had considerable talent.
As long as the Pillager King's way of thinking was shifted, many problems would no longer be difficult for him to solve.
In the future, if such problems arose, the Pillager King would be able to handle them on his own.
As the Pillager King had pointed out, in order to deal with the attacks from the troublesome villagers and Iron Golems, all they really needed to do was hand over the people of Pillager.
Because the troublesome villagers and Iron Golems had no clear knowledge of the number of people in Pillager or the efficiency at which they produced emeralds.
This information gap became the key factor in resolving the current predicament.
Xu Yuan could fully meet the demands of the troublesome villagers and Iron Golems by sending the Pillagers into their hands.
However, the number of emeralds the Pillagers would provide to them would be entirely up to Xu Yuan.
The Pillagers had a crucial influence on the entire trial area.
The troublesome villagers and Iron Golems knew this well, and even if they captured them, they would never easily kill them.
As long as the plan to walk into the trap was flawless and without flaw, the troublesome villagers would have no suspicion once they captured the Pillagers.
At that point, the Pillagers would have easily infiltrated the heart of the troublesome villagers' camp without any resistance.
Furthermore, they would have solid control over the acquisition of all resources within that camp, as well as crucial intelligence.
When various factions were vying for control, intelligence was undoubtedly one of the most critical factors.
Setting aside differences in army sizes, if one side could obtain more intelligence, their chances of victory would naturally increase.
Especially for someone like Xu Yuan, who did not intend to solve problems through war, obtaining enemy intelligence was crucial.
Without understanding the opponent's detailed situation, Xu Yuan could never accurately calculate how much manpower and resources he needed to put into making the troublesome villagers lose all will to continue fighting, thereby making them abandon resistance completely.
After all, he was very well aware that the "Annoying Village HIM" was the type of force that would fight back with everything they had as long as there was even the slightest chance of survival.
Without fully grasping the intelligence on the "Annoying Village HIM" faction, when the final confrontation came, Xu Yuan could only take a gamble and rely on luck.
But if Xu Yuan had the ability to take full control of the information within the "Annoying Village HIM" faction, and also possessed the power to influence their development pace, then the outcome of this confrontation would surely be in his favor.
With this in mind, Xu Yuan turned to the Pillager King and asked, "I already have a clear idea of the specific number of Pillagers."
"Then, what about your emerald production efficiency?"
Upon hearing Xu Yuan's question, the Pillager King couldn't help but look at him in confusion and replied, "I already told Blue Demon about this a long time ago."
"Didn't he report it to you?"
Earlier, after negotiating a deal with Blue Demon, the Pillager King had shared the emerald production rate with him.
Hearing Xu Yuan's question, the Pillager King was somewhat puzzled. He figured that such important information should have been relayed to Xu Yuan by Blue Demon.
Upon hearing the Pillager King's response, Xu Yuan was left somewhat stunned.
"You gave him the real information?"
The Pillager King nodded and replied with a clueless expression, "Yeah, why not?"
Xu Yuan looked at the "innocent" Pillager King in front of him and couldn't help but smile wryly inside.
He had thought that the Pillager King would be more reserved, but it turned out that the King had been so straightforward and had shared everything with Blue Demon.
Seeing the Pillager King's "clear" eyes, Xu Yuan couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed, feeling both amused and exasperated.
"You're really honest with him, huh..." Xu Yuan shook his head and sighed helplessly.
To be honest, the Pillager King was just too honest.
The reason Xu Yuan had asked this question was entirely because he was thinking from his own perspective.
If it were him, no matter what, he would always hold something back.
Even if facing someone as seemingly trustworthy as Blue Demon, Xu Yuan would never fully reveal all the details about emerald production efficiency without concealing something.
After all, there was the issue of information disparity, which was precisely the advantage the Pillagers held.
In Xu Yuan's view, one should always leave themselves some wiggle room in their actions, and never easily expose all their cards.
However, the Pillager King had completely shattered that view.
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