...What exactly happened?
Everything seemed friendly just a moment ago, didn’t it?
Why did they start fighting again all of a sudden?
How did that girl called Jiu’er suddenly get seriously injured? Was Tan Juan attacked by an assassin? Where is the assassin now? Why are all the officers down? Who started it?
I just completed a transformation, it was only a few seconds, wasn’t it? How did everything change in the blink of an eye?
Salvatore looked utterly bewildered, clutching tightly the "Flesh Trigger of the Skeleton Lord" in his right hand, momentarily unsure what to do, not knowing what his next action should be?
What, what’s going on, this feeling that only I am incapable...
Salvatore’s mind was a mess, so he gave up trying to think.
"Tan Juan! What happened!?"
He shouted loudly, hurrying towards Annan: "Is Miss Jiu’er alright?"
"...No, it’s nothing. Jiu’er might have been frightened, but she’s really fine now."
Hearing Salvatore’s call, the frost on Annan’s body gradually receded, and his expression slowly returned to its usual indifferent calm:
"I was merely enraged that Viscount Barber would dare to arrange an assassination against me, not because I was flustered over Jiu’er’s safety. After all, they are no longer ordinary people now and not so easily killed... It’s just that Jiu’er has never faced danger before, so she might not be aware of this."
Annan explained a lot for his own loss of composure.
But to the players, this forceful explanation seemed rather pale—because the moment Annan saw Jiu’er fall, he truly turned pale, his eyes showed the panic, rage, and fear of a young animal, and even his hands began to tremble, evoking pity.
You were really scared just now...
Were you also just reminded that Jiu’er could be resurrected?
Some players had an epiphany.
From the lord’s reaction, it seemed that the players’ resurrection was not an independent setting, but because something had happened before, the players could be resurrected... which was why Master Tan Juan did not react immediately.
By now, they had a clear understanding of Tan Juan.
Although "Tan Juan Geraint" seemed very indifferent normally, attentive people could still detect his gentleness and kindness in the finer details—undoubtedly, he pretended to be deliberately, in order to protect himself.
But the current Annan was somewhat frightening.
This level of indifference seemed to come from his heart... he must be truly angry.
But considering his character, was he really furious because he was attacked?
Or was it because this young nobleman, not yet of age, panicked because his being attacked had implicated others?
Why did he react so strongly to this incident?
Some players thoughtfully began to concoct a plot that could extend at least two hundred thousand words.
Meanwhile, Jiu’er, who pretended to be dead with her eyes closed, had already conjured up at least twenty pages of material in her mind.
In which she was one of the main characters.
Salvatore was taken aback at these words.
Without waiting for Annan to respond, he tentatively asked, "Is it the effect of some sort of curse from your family? As long as you don’t die, they can recover quickly from their injuries, or something similar?
"Don’t answer me yet. If it’s close to what I’m guessing, then don’t tell me the details of this curse, I don’t want to hear it. After all, even though I could keep a secret for you... I might not always be able to guard my own memories."
...Hey, senior, are you really that self-aware?
Upon hearing Salvatore’s words, Annan was taken aback.
He hadn’t had the chance to give his prepared excuse yet...
But Salvatore had taken the initiative to find an excuse for Annan.
How could someone deceive themselves ?
Could this be considered self-strategy?
Even the players nodded in sudden realization upon hearing Salvatore’s words—
So this is the principle behind the resurrection mechanism for us players in this world. No wonder we need to ensure the safety of our lord...
Annan fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Have you seen similar cursed items before?"
His question neither confirmed nor denied anything. Even if someone were to search Salvatore’s memories, they couldn’t detect any lying on Annan’s part.
But his response following Salvatore’s statement sounded like a tacit agreement.
Salvatore didn’t realize that he had been led into a conversation by Annan.
"Don’t underestimate the power of cursed items just because those from godly names aren’t that powerful. They are but toys to ’that person’ after all."
Having left Frostwater Harbor, Salvatore still habitually referred to the Skeleton Lord as "that person".
Frowning, he glanced at the city guard corpses scattered on the ground, a troubled look on his face as he distractedly replied, "But after all, you haven’t read much... ah, sorry, I mean knowledge about Transcendents. And since you’re so young, your father probably hasn’t told you much... But now that you are a Transcendent, it’s better to have some concept of these things.
"When it comes to ’Great Calamity’ curios, not to mention limited resurrection, they are even capable of resurrecting someone from the distant past or summoning a character from stories. Just think about it, nightmares that are everywhere have the power to send you back in time across the sea of time... It’s not surprising for cursed items to have greater powers than that."
Salvatore became a bit more serious as he said this, "The following words, wait until you’re of age, your father will probably tell you.
"The strongest... or rather, the greatest cursed items in this world are in the hands of the rulers of various nations. Or rather, it was because they possessed these cursed items that when the Great Barrier shattered, sects came to their aid rather than simply replacing them."
What about The Holy Nation then?
Was it because the cursed item was too precious, and as a result, they were jointly subdued?
This question surfaced in Annan’s mind.
But he didn’t interrupt Salvatore’s train of thought, merely showing an expression of "Wow, that’s amazing", subtly asking, "Is it much more powerful than the godly name cursed items?"
"The difference is immense. The mere name of a Great Calamity Curio is akin to a ritual. Knowledge of this level has ’weight’ to it, not something anyone can hear about."
Seeing the cold atmosphere around Annan soften slightly made Salvatore internally sigh with relief.
After all, Cripple Wizards tend to lose their emotions gradually due to negative feelings. He had realized by now that he had said too much. But Salvatore would much rather say a little more to improve Annan’s mood, hopefully making him forget those unpleasant moments just now, since no one was really in trouble:
"However, I do know some general information. For instance, the one in our Noah Kingdom might be related to time. But that’s also uncertain, just a guess... After all, you know, there are clock towers all over the Royal Capital. So many it makes one anxious. That can’t be normal... "
"Let’s not talk about this for now," Annan suddenly spoke up, interrupting Salvatore, "You can tell me all this when I get back.
"You stay here and deal with the fire. Even though there aren’t many residential buildings around the Viscount’s estate... it’s still best to get the fire under control."
Salvatore asked casually.
But as soon as he spoke, he regretted it.
A dreadful premonition suddenly surfaced in his mind.
...He isn’t going to stir up trouble, is he?