57: Guess, test, cooperate

"What special ending?"

Jin Yu looked confused, as if she had never heard of it.

Xiao Xi sharply commented, "Your acting is too fake."

"..." Jin Yu clenched her fist and pulled out her bone dagger, ready to stab him.

But Xiao Xi wasn't flustered at all; he even took two steps forward. "If I'm not mistaken, the condition for achieving a special ending is not to kill other Raiders, right?"

Jin Yu's hand paused instinctively. Her second of hesitation was precisely captured by Xiao Xi, bringing a somewhat arrogant smile to his face.

"Sure enough, no wonder in this confrontation instance, you capture people but don't kill them. If it wasn't to achieve a special ending, it would be hard to explain such behavior." Xiao Xi was smug, seemingly very pleased with his discovery of the key point.

"Then if I break both your legs, it still won't count as killing you, you bastard!" Jin Yu sneered, unwilling to let him continue being so arrogant.

"Don't do that. If you cripple me, you won't find a more suitable ally."

Xiao Xi stopped provoking Jin Yu and spoke quickly, "Just as I said before, the premise of cooperation isn't just 'trust'; it's also 'benefit'."

"Don't you want to obtain a special title and rare items? Are you really content to work for others?"

Jin Yu tightened her grip on the bone dagger again. "Stop spouting nonsense. It sounds like you know how to get it."

"Originally, I wasn't very sure, but..."

Xiao Xi paused, then continued, "After hearing what that Woodpecker Tribe said, I became certain."

"Why would there be a Sand Fox Tribe?" He looked at Jin Yu. "My subordinate never informed me that 'Sand Fox Tribe' was a competitor."

(The initial opponent information obtained by the Raiders is shown in the image below, white indicates unknown opponents, NPCs know all opponents)

Xiao Xi had previously thought that the Woodpecker Tribe was just some scoundrel who, after completing a special mission, gained a way to expand his subordinates, and that the talk of NPC enemies was just a ploy to prevent them from killing him.

He had originally believed that the ploy would only fool the three of them for a short while, and then Jin Yu and the others would definitely try to kill him, so he was constantly ready to escape with his people.

But after a few days passed, he didn't feel any killing intent, except from Jin Yu.

It was perfectly normal for Jin Yu to want to kill him.

But it was abnormal for Old Xu not to want to kill him.

What kind of instance was this? A confrontation instance.

What was the instance mission? To determine the sole winner!

In this situation, Old Xu actually had no killing intent towards him? Was this right?

And Jin Yu had been enduring and enduring. Xiao Xi didn't think a few lies from him would be enough to make them so wary.

The strangest thing was that they easily believed his lies.

What Raiders would be so naive as to believe what an enemy said after just a few sentences?

Then... their not killing him, and all their strange behaviors, must have another reason.

Upon hearing the Woodpecker Tribe shout a name he had never heard before, Xiao Xi suddenly realized it. The strange things he had discovered earlier also seemed to have an explanation.

For example, totem patterns.

The Desert natives here used various animals as their tribal totems. Although aesthetic or historical factors made those patterns rather... abstract and difficult to recognize, no matter how they changed, a four-legged animal could not grow feathered wings.

Totem pattern reference

The faction information Xiao Xi obtained from his subordinate was the Viper Tribe, Giant Camel Tribe, Mao Shu Tribe, Woodpecker Tribe, and Black Eagle Tribe.

He certainly recognized his own totem, and in the few days of his temporary alliance with Jin Yu, he wouldn't mistake the Mao Shu Tribe's totem either.

When fighting the Woodpecker Tribe, since there was no communication with the other party, he could only guess that they were either the Woodpecker Tribe or the Black Eagle Tribe based on the feathered wing patterns.

The remaining Giant Camel Tribe could only be Old Xu's faction.

But after being captured by them, Xiao Xi looked at the totem patterns and found them increasingly strange.

It was one thing for this camel to have no humps, but where did it get such big ears? And a tail as thick as its body? No matter how abstractly it was drawn, you couldn't draw a camel to look like a dog, right?

Sand foxes do look a bit like dogs 233

It wasn't until the Woodpecker warrior shouted "Sand Fox Tribe" that Xiao Xi's CPU started working frantically.

An unknown competitor... no killing intent towards him... the tall, special NPC during the battle with the Woodpecker Tribe, the group buffs that appeared with his movements...

He drew many conclusions, but couldn't be certain.

So, he chose the most probable one and tested Jin Yu's reaction.

She looked very confused.

Yes, a normal person's first reaction upon hearing something strange should indeed be confusion.

But this reaction shouldn't appear on Jin Yu.

Given her personality, she should have been extremely impatient with him, her enemy, and it would have been more reasonable for her to curse him a few more times.

Her expression of confusion was precisely a case of trying to cover up the truth.

Xiao Xi hadn't expected that the lie he casually spun was actually true; the Raiders indeed had unknown enemies.

And...

A special ending, this was truly an unexpected surprise!

He suppressed his excited heart and tried to win over an ally.

"You've probably only cleared a few instances, so you have no idea the benefits of achieving a special ending."

Xiao Xi dangled an enticing bait before Jin Yu: "I obtained a special title in an instance, and at the instance settlement, I was rewarded with a rare item and 130 points."

Jin Yu's eyes widened slightly. Clearly, 130 points was indeed a huge sum for a newcomer like her, who had only cleared three instances.

Not to mention the rewards. Her entire wealth consisted of only one worn-out item and two common items; she didn't even have any good-grade items, and had only seen rare items in the forums.

She was silent for a moment, but still didn't put down the bone dagger in her hand. "I say, do you, you scoundrel, really think I'm brainless or that my brain has been kicked by a donkey?"

"You already tricked me once before. Why would I be so foolish as to wait to be tricked by you again?"

"I know your apprehension. I can tell you all my skills and special title effects."

Xiao Xi was willing to make sacrifices to achieve his goal. To facilitate cooperation, he went all out: "Within my capabilities, you can make any request."

"Ha, so if I want this special title, you'll give it to me?"

Jin Yu still didn't believe him. "Who knows if the skills you're talking about are real or fake? You're just trying to use me as a stepping stone again, get rid of me after you're done, so you can take the rewards, right?"

"It would be a lie if I said I didn't want it. However, we can absolutely share the rewards."

Xiao Xi raised his hand: "I can buy a contract from the mall to guarantee that everything I say is true, showing my sincerity. Furthermore, you can choose whether you want the title or the item first. With the mandatory enforcement of the Endless Game, you don't have to worry about me hogging the rewards."

"A rare item like a special title, only one in tens of thousands of Raiders will get one. Miss this chance, and when do you think you'll encounter such an opportunity again?"

"I know how valuable a special title is, which is why I want to get it no matter what. Moreover, with my experience, the success rate of getting a title is very high."

"Jin Yu, make the right choice for yourself."

"Is it to work tirelessly for others for a few points, or to take the biggest share of the rewards yourself?"

"Is it to expose me to them, or to have another cooperation purely for profit?"