After Fern said she could handle it, Lin Yu naturally didn't inquire further.

Since she felt she could manage it, he would just leave it to her.

So, Lin Yu also sat where he was and accepted the makeup from Fern.

The "makeup" Fern chose for him was on his neck;she drew a penetrating wound on the side of Lin Yu's neck.

While this might be a fatal injury for a human, in the Black Marsh world, having an artery in the neck opened up wasn't necessarily a guaranteed death sentence.

Afterwards, Lin Yu and Fern found a bed with a good view and a central location to sit down.

"Alright... you lie down here first."

"While no one has come yet, I'll go deal with that chattering stove," Fern said, walking straight towards the direction of the stove. "Don't worry, I'll handle it properly."

Lin Yu didn't doubt this in the slightest.

Watching Fern walk to the stove and whisper to it, Lin Yu began calling out to his companion in his mind.

"Hannah, can you hear what she's saying?"

Hannah's voice chimed in cheerfully.

"Ribbit! Of course, Director!"

At this moment, the little octopus was lurking in the shadows near the stove, acting as Lin Yu's eavesdropping device.

While Lin Yu "trusted" Fern, what he trusted was Fern's capability.

Lin Yu completely distrusted Fern the person.

And Hannah soon relayed the subsequent dialogue between Fern and the Monster to Lin Yu.

"...I want you to keep silent about us staying here and pretending to be injured."

"You, a mere human contestant, dare to order me? I won't do anything that blasphemes honor. Rather, if you're cowards, why did you choose to participate in the first place?!"

"Don't inquire too much about us, Monster... don't act as if you care so much about this festival, I know exactly what you Monsters are like—let's make a deal, you idiot."

"You dare call me an idiot?! A cowardly and rude fellow!"

"Do you want freedom? Do you want to leave this stove?"

"...What are you trying to say? Can a mere human like you even manage that?"

"The one following me, you should be able to tell he's not ordinary, right... don't tell me you, an idiot Monster who's lived so long, can't even see that."

"But how can I be sure..."

"Cost, Monster, you need to calculate the 'cost'—haven't you realized yet, even if you do us this favor, for you it's just tarnishing some 'illusory honor,' but the reward could be the 'freedom' you most desire."

"That seems somewhat reasonable, but precisely because of that, what reason do you have for doing this?"

"Because you guessed right, my purpose in joining this game isn't for honor, I don't care about honor... I just want to cause a big stir. Letting you out itself isn't without benefit for me either."

"...Very well, then we have a deal. I'll turn a blind eye to your actions, but that's all."

The conversation ended, and Hannah also stopped the relay.

After the stove responded, the flames burning inside the entire stove became much quieter and more peaceful.

Fern also turned around and gave Lin Yu a thumbs-up.

"Done!"

She said confidently, walking back quickly.

Looking at Fern, Lin Yu also nodded calmly in acknowledgment.

Internally, however, Lin Yu processed the content Hannah had relayed word for word just now and felt quite astonished.

"This person has indeed seen through the superficial disguise I intended for her to see through, and already believes I'm some high-level NPC who knows about the existence of Players."

This was within Lin Yu's expectations, after all, his performance was far too unlike a "Player."

Especially through the conversation just now, Lin Yu could tell that this Fern was not completely ignorant about the Black Marsh world either. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

And the more she understood the Black Marsh world, the more she would feel that Lin Yu truly seemed like a native resident of this realm.

"Even though I've revealed so many flaws, the speed is much faster than I imagined, she really is quite smart too..."

"And now that she believes I'm not a 'Player,' her actions have become bolder... this is somewhat of an unexpected gain."

During Lin Yu's moment of contemplation, Fern had already come over and sat down beside him.

"Phew, I've already won it over to our side."

Fern said lightly, and Lin Yu nodded.

"Aren't you curious how I did it?"

Fern crossed her legs and looked at Lin Yu.

"Threats, temptation, or threats plus temptation, nothing more than that," Lin Yu said softly. "With my abilities, I can't think of anything else for now."

Fern smiled: "You guessed right, ah, Moro, you really are very smart."

Saying this, Fern lay down.

"Alright, next we'll just wait here for a while."

Lin Yu naturally had no objection to this proposal either.

He also pretended to be severely injured and not yet recovered, lying down on the mat to rest. Although with the BUFF boost, Lin Yu's stamina could still hold up, resting and recovering a bit wouldn't be a loss either.

Not long after Lin Yu lay down, Hannah also silently crawled back.

"Ribbit! Director, I'm back!"

"I never thought this 'Hunter' would actually convince that Monster. I heard Uncle Ka say that the Monsters in the Black Marsh world have very strange temperaments and are extremely difficult to communicate with... they're even troublesome to cook."

So they can be cooked too...

Lin Yu was slightly shocked internally by the fact Hannah mentioned, then responded to Hannah: "Her convincing the Monster was inevitable, because this person chose the third method with the 'highest efficiency,' aside from threats and temptation."

"Ribbit, so there's a third way?"

Hannah was very surprised.

"Of course, but the third way usually manifests as one of the first two forms," Lin Yu's gaze slightly shifted towards Fern lying beside him, the [Mind-Peeping Eyepiece] activating. "After all, whether it's threats or temptation, they're both negotiating with things you can actually do."

At this moment, Fern's body was filled with complex emotions like contemplation, curiosity, doubt, worry, relief, and so on—these emotions were almost invisible in her expression and demeanor.

If Lin Yu didn't have the [Mind-Peeping Eyepiece], he couldn't be one hundred percent sure how much of her relaxed posture was an act.

This was almost one of the people with the best acting skills Lin Yu had ever seen, except this person's acting couldn't be "transformed at will," and the details were also slightly inferior to his own.

"Negotiating with things you can't do, only considering what the other party wants and fears, and making the other party believe you can achieve what they want and make them fear what they fear, negotiating with this method called 'deception,' of course, it's almost impossible to fail."

Lin Yu said calmly, and Hannah was very shocked.

"Ribbit! So this woman is actually a fraudster?!"

"Yes, she is a 'Fraudster'."

Lin Yu responded calmly.