It isn't often someone is visibly amused by something Yunxu says. Before the Foreigners arrived, only Meisheng could have gotten away with it. Now, far too many people are starting to treat their interactions as some sort of game, and there isn't much Yunxu can do to curb that impulse.

"'Sort of'," he echoes with amusement of his own. "I'm afraid I'll have to take your word for it. You know I don't know what a Bond villain is, and Keeliai doesn't have enough gold of its own for me to be ... obsessed with it."

He'd have followed that up with some sort of explanation of what he meant by 'hopeless fight', but the truth epidemic won't let him. So he instead doesn't say anything; if Pepper wants to learn more, she'll ask. It's doubtful anyone could stop her from asking. If Yunxu isn't very careful, he'll even answer.

A time to change the subject, perhaps. "Do you know how close you and your brethren are in waking Asti?"