Upon hearing this, Salvatore hesitated a bit.
He pondered for a while before asking Annan,
"Then, could you give me one as well, your contact method?"
...No, I’d also like to give it.
But I truly don’t have one...
Annan shook his head with a wry smile and explained, "That won’t work, they are bound to me by a contract... the one you saw before."
"The contract that allows resurrection?"
Remembering the scene of dying and coming back to life, Salvatore realized, "That works even when they’re so far away from you?"
"As long as I’m not dead, it’s effective. But if they are too far from me, resurrection might consume a lot of curses. Plus, they would be weakened for a while.
"However, if there’s real danger, you can have him scout ahead for you."
Annan reminded Salvatore, "After all, they won’t truly die."
...Or rather, it was a reminder to Salvatore’s shadow.
Annan was very clear in his mind that even if he told Salvatore players could resurrect and could be sent out to take damage or struggle instead at critical moments... Salvatore would definitely not do that.
He had come to understand the dummy’s character more and more profoundly.
He was markedly different from Annan.
If Annan did a good deed, it was only because, based on morality, common sense, and his own judgment, he would do something decisively and without regret, and the outcome would happen to be evaluated as good by others.
Salvatore, like Annan, wouldn’t care about mundane notions of justice and evil, or criteria of right and wrong. This might also be why they became friends so quickly.
But what distinguished Salvatore from Annan the most was his strong sense of compassion and desire not to trouble others.
As long as he saw someone truly in difficulty, he found it hard to walk away by himself. Salvatore was the type who, even if he knew that the money wouldn’t stay with the beggars but would instead be collected by gang members controlling their begging... would still give money to them.
But he wouldn’t give too much, just enough to fulfill their daily begging tasks. He wouldn’t eliminate the gang because he didn’t know if he would mess things up.
That was because of Salvatore’s sense of inferiority.
He always felt he lacked talent, so he never fantasized about becoming a hero, nor did he believe he could save anyone... thus he wouldn’t meddle in affairs excessively or attempt tasks he thought were beyond him. He would only save those within his own capacity, those he saw before him.
It was simply because he didn’t want to see others suffer because of him.
To see their life, he couldn’t bear to watch them die; to hear their cries, he couldn’t bear to eat their flesh.
As for how those saved by him would view him, or how those not saved would view him... to Salvatore, that didn’t matter much.
—But the shadow was different.
The shadow, in contrast to Salvatore, had an extremely selfish personality.
She wouldn’t harm others proactively, as it was meaningless — Salvatore always pursued "meaningless, superficial acts of kindness." But this "meaninglessness" became meaningful in front of the shadow.
Therefore, the only thing she could seek was "meaningful" evil.
Certainly, Salvatore hadn’t realized his true skills.
Or rather... he had not yet noticed that the shadow’s state and character could always change according to his own condition.
Because it was just his "reflection."
Constrained by the limit that "what one does must have meaning," she could only actively manipulate others to achieve her own goals—
Efficient, selfish, confident, not trusting anyone.
...Just like a lone wolf top player.
Annan believed that she would definitely make good use of "Longjing Tea," the player with the immortal body, at the critical moment.
This was the tacit understanding between Annan and the shadow.
Even if they were separated by a person, even without speaking directly, they could communicate with each other.
Yes, Longjing Tea indeed was Annan’s "moving true eye" implanted into the Heath Tower of Black, and also the "spy" for copying the Wizard’s Tower library.
But at the same time, he was also a talisman and a warning device that Annan gave to Salvatore for protection.
If Annan got into trouble, Longjing Tea would indeed try to notify...
But Salvatore had never considered, what if something happened to him?
By that time, the shadow would surely make the right decision.
Whether to let Longjing Tea stall for time... or to have Longjing Tea call Annan for help.
"Then I’ll be off, Annan."
With the help of Annan and the players, Salvatore quickly packed his luggage.
"Don’t you need to take the Philosopher’s Stone with you? There’s still one batch left."
Annan asked, "You made this yourself - it’s the evidence that you created the Philosopher’s Stone at the bronze rank."
"It’s just a semi-finished product. It can’t be considered a Philosopher’s Stone yet..."
Salvatore chuckled bitterly, "Besides, even if I take it back, they probably won’t easily believe it."
"How could they not believe it?"
Annan raised an eyebrow, "If you make it again in front of them, wouldn’t that prove everything?"
Upon hearing this, Salvatore shook his head repeatedly, "Forget it, it’s meaningless. And I indeed don’t have the confidence to perfectly replicate it... My success this time was also due to... external forces. It was all just good luck; there’s no need to waste materials."
His tone wavered a bit when he mentioned "external forces."
But Annan still understood what he meant.
All three batches of the Philosopher’s Stone were products of the shadow’s transformation.
After all, the ingredients for the Philosopher’s Stone were the wizard’s bone marrow.
Whether these materials came from the bequests of Black Tower wizards or from the war spoils of executed dark wizards... each batch of materials was equivalent to a human life.
Without the confidence to complete the Philosopher’s Stone, Salvatore dared not casually use these materials.
This was also the reason why his previous research had been stuck in a deadlock - although he had theoretically done his best, he still felt that there might be something wrong with his formula. He hesitated to add that ingredient... until he sleepwalked.
The shadow used his body to successfully synthesize the Philosopher’s Stone.
If he summoned the shadow, it might indeed be possible to create the Philosopher’s Stone again.
Salvatore’s pride... or maybe his sense of responsibility, or something else, didn’t want to be recognized by others through the remarkable achievements of his shadow.
He kept himself distinctly separate from the shadow and remained wary of it.
—This meant that even though Salvatore had successfully cooperated with his shadow once after injecting the Philosopher’s Stone, he was still vigilant against the shadow and intended to continue sealing his own.
"Keep this batch of the Philosopher’s Stone," Salvatore instructed Annan; "Nicolas Flamell is very likely to be of the Gold rank. Having lived for so long, his strength could very well surpass that of a normal Gold rank by now. If indeed he has used the Philosopher’s Stone to live to this day... having the Philosopher’s Stone in hand might save your life at a critical moment, whether you use it or cozy up to him.
"Besides... although it seems incredible, I’ve had this feeling lately that you’re about to advance again a month after you became a Transcendent... Here’s what I’ve summarized over the past few days, you might find it useful for your advancement."
With that, Salvatore handed a piece of paper to Annan, "Be careful, Annan. Don’t you die on me."
Annan, without even looking, solemnly put it away.
He nodded earnestly to Salvatore.
"...I’ll try to finish the exam by May and then come to the Royal Capital to find you. Goodbye, Annan."
"See you in May then, Salvatore."
Annan replied softly.
Watching Salvatore and Longjing Tea walk away, Annan sighed lightly.
Prepare for a while longer, then get ready to advance to silver.
The remaining usable times for ’Nightmare: Gallery’ are not many, and by now, the players’ pioneering groups have almost fully explored the mechanics.
When the time comes, at least one "Gallery" should be reserved for advancing to silver.
After all, Annan was very familiar with this instance; using it to perform various clever maneuvers for the advancement task was second to none.
The beginner’s instances were almost thoroughly farmed by the players.
So, it was about time...
To let the players out of the cage.