Super Righteous Player
Chapter 77 - 76: Annan’s Thousand-Layer Scheme_1

Chapter 77: Chapter 76: Annan’s Thousand-Layer Scheme_1

As expected.

Faced with Salvatore’s question, Annan didn’t hesitate to reply,

"Of course, to continue fighting."

His initial reason for coming to Roth Fort was to kill Viscount Alvin Barber.

First, he sent mercenaries to plunder Frostwater Harbor and then planned to assassinate Annan and Salvatore. Even by common sense, Annan knew this enmity wouldn’t just go away with a flip of a page.

He bore no hatred, nor any feelings of animosity or intense anger towards Viscount Barber.

But, if contrary to that, when Annan considered "whether or not to kill Viscount Barber," he could clearly feel an exhilaration at the bottom of his heart.

——Then, I must hate this person.

"Alvin Barber..."

Annan muttered the name, his tone drifting and uncertain.

There was no particular expression on his face. He didn’t say any harsh, useless, or dutiful phrases like "You’ve angered me," or "You actually hurt my people."

In his eyes, there was only pure joy and elation.

Want to kill. Very much want to kill.

Just imagining the pleasure after killing him made Annan feel a faint flush of heat on his face, as if he was slightly drunken with the sensation.

"...Then, I might as well come with you, Tan Juan,"

Salvatore frowned, not too surprised by this response, "Can you wait for me a bit longer? Once I’ve dispersed all this black fire, I’ll join you. It’s very dangerous for you to go alone.

"Plus, you really don’t need to take this risk. You can just wait it out, and once I return to the Black Tower, there are plenty of ways I can resolve this issue for you..."

"Thank you very much... I know you’re concerned about my safety, but I don’t want to wait,"

Annan interrupted him, "Just as you said before—this is something I have to do. It’s not that I harbor a deep personal grudge against him, nor do I want to reclaim the authority that belongs to me as this territory’s lord, which he stole.

"I simply want to kill him."

His eyes seemed to shine, and his voice was firm and resolute.

Annan’s words were filled with the bold spirit of a hero, that strong surge of positive emotion rose within him, and he appeared almost enveloped in a holy light.

This even gave Salvatore a certain illusion:

It was as if Annan was not going for revenge or to kill someone but rather giving up his life to save the world...

"...However, even if there is just one Transcendent beside the Lord Viscount, that one is not easy for you to deal with,"

Salvatore urged gently, "Give me six hours... I’ll disperse all this black fire and then come with you to find him. He certainly won’t have gone too far."

After all, those guards around him were merely ordinary people with no resistance to curses. Whether they were controlled mentally, or encased in ice, blown to pieces, or directly bound and trapped, all were possibilities.

Salvatore worriedly thought to himself.

Tan Juan can only rely on me...

These guards are just too young.

Even if they could come back to life after dying, they would still fear death and pain, wouldn’t they?

Even if they didn’t fear death or pain, they appeared to be just in their twenties or thirties.

What could these thirty-something green youths amount to?

Though for a Swordsman, a young and healthy body is certainly crucial, it also implies a lack of cunning and naïve thinking. Without having seen much of the world, read many books, or experienced grueling battles, they would act rashly. Facing powerful foes, their mental state could easily become problematic...

These could all be fatal.

But Annan shook his head without a care.

"I believe in them, senior,"

Annan declared unhesitatingly, "They are my most loyal and formidable guards. Each one of them is an absolute elite."

Even the players could hear that this was not mere flattery, but genuine trust from the heart.

They were touched for a moment by this.

Suddenly, they realized they were quite fond of this noble youth with a cold exterior but warm heart, who stubbornly refused to acknowledge the goodness within him.

He panicked and feared for the injury of a "mere guard," abandoned powerful reinforcements to prevent the fire from spreading, and took risks to aid others by confronting powerful Wizards much stronger than himself.

——Now, his wish to kill Viscount Barber must be to protect his people.

Unlike Salvatore, this is what the players thought.

After all, the game of the nobility is based on compromise.

This, Salvatore did not understand, but the players from the modern society did.

"Tan Juan Geraint," stepping out of the rules of nobility to fight against the strong as the weak... must be for that glimmer of light in his heart.

In the name of Justice, he commits acts of Justice—

This was a mentality that could only occur in the stage of boyhood, around the ages of twelve or thirteen, when one has just begun to understand things and knows right from wrong but still refuses to submit to reality and does not wish to understand it.

The players felt somewhat emotive.

For they had already walked past that age.

Even though their current work, to some extent, resonated with their hearts, they had begun to yield to the rules of reality, understanding that nothing could be perfect.

But because of this,

a determination to "help Tan Juan" was born in their hearts!

It was not an act of charity, nor so-called loyalty, nor was it for any benefit.

It was their youth. Or rather, the long-gone sentiments of boyhood—

—Of course,

Annan had his finger exactly on the pulse of their mindset.

It was precisely under his guidance that such thoughts arose.

Before entering the game, they had watched a promotional CG Annan had carefully selected and created for them. In it, their own character was depicted as a paragon, unsullied by threats or temptations, fighting against formidable foes for the sake of his people and justice.

Rather than a noble, they were more like a valiant knight; yet, this knight found himself being persecuted by evil nobility.

They would subconsciously feel sympathy for Annan, and this sympathy would shorten the emotional distance between them.

After all, "sympathy" was an idea that Salvatore would never entertain. He would never sympathize or pity a noble.

But it was different for the players.

Subconsciously, they considered themselves to be above the "NPCs," even though they had now realized that this might be a real world.

However, they did enter through a game, and that hint of arrogance was deeply rooted in their hearts, difficult to eradicate.

And it was this arrogance that Annan was leveraging. Or rather, by employing the sympathy and scrutiny born from this arrogance, he could more easily foster empathy with them, the "transcendents."

The so-called empathy is the ability to feel and think like another person, to understand their position and feelings, and to solve problems from their perspective.

In other words, they had inadvertently "clouded" themselves with Annan.

By the time Annan actually led them to defeat the Viscount, that empathy would transform into a beautiful secret shared amongst them, giving them a precious memory.

That was why Annan could not let Salvatore be involved in this.

Only then could it become an "appointment" between "Tan Juan Geraint" and the "players" rather than a gathering of three.

This style of "romantic marketing" was also one of the skills Annan had mastered. People’s IQs often drop when in love because they subconsciously delegate a portion of their thinking to someone else.

And having control over someone else’s decision-making is undoubtedly the same as controlling their hearts.

"I will not let Alvin Barber live to see the sun tomorrow."

Annan turned his head and said gravely to the players, "Ladies and gentlemen, I plan to cause trouble for the Lord Viscount. There is no doubt he is the unjust party, and I am not going to, nor am I willing to, submit to him.

"But after all, you have families, friends... This matter of mine could potentially offend some other forces. They might be more powerful than I, than the Geraint family.

"So you really don’t have to be involved in this. If you want to leave, I’ll act as if you were never in Roth Fort today and erase all records of your presence. None of this will be related to you—that is my promise."

The message behind Annan’s words was: anyone who did not participate would have their favor reset to zero.

The players understood this too, and their faces turned resolute, their eyes filled with a fierce resolve.

Annan looked at them, nodding with satisfaction.

He spoke in a voice both youthful and cold, "Those who wish to join me, sheathe your swords."

In the next moment, a messy but concerted series of sheathing noises filled the air.

Though not perfectly in sync, there was not a single coward among them.

They did not even have to think about it.

Without a doubt, their worries for the safety of their loved ones and themselves could not compete with their loyalty to Annan.

This scene deeply moved Salvatore.

He fell silent for a while, then walked over, took the hammer out of his pocket, and handed it to Annan with solemnity.

Salvatore spoke in a low voice with a hint of concern, "I’m lending this to you. Remember to come back alive... and return it to me."

"Of course, I will certainly return," Annan said while naturally opening the bag that held his kitchen knife and placing the hammer inside.

Not a trace of fear or hesitation could be seen on his face:

"For this is an act of justice—the Silver Baron will surely lend me his strength."

Such unwavering confidence, as dazzling as the sun itself.

Combined with his appearance,

It was enough to move the heart.

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