Super Righteous Player
Chapter 790 - 329 Annan’s Three Elements_1

Chapter 790: Chapter 329 Annan’s Three Elements_1

"...I have another question."

Maria looked at Annan, remained silent for a while before finally asking, "If you were to answer the question from the Rot Husband...how would you answer?"

"The three elements?"

"Yes."

"Ha..."

Annan laughed, answering without hesitation, "That would naturally be greed, violence, and courage.

"External greed can guide the people and strengthen the nation, while internal greed allows subjects to understand the needs of their monarch in detail, giving ’smart people’ more peace of mind and the dull-witted more stability.

"And capricious violence can shape an aura of terror that’s unapproachable and incontestable, thereby making rule firm and keeping those with ulterior motives farther away from me. To be able to wield this ’violence’ like the extension of one’s own limbs, without incurring hatred, requires a bit of skill.

"As for courage..."

Annan smiled, "Naturally, it is the courage to entrust authority to others."

"Shouldn’t that be trust?"

"Unhesitating trust in others itself requires courage,"

Annan replied, "Either one is unaware or has never considered the destruction that could ensue if the other party were to seize power and rebel; or... one is ’not afraid.’ Having the confidence that even if the other party betrays you, they won’t get very far.

"When it comes to interests as vast as a nation or a people, no personal relationship is entirely trustworthy. Rather, it’s this fearless audacity that seemingly has everything under control, which truly constitutes the capacity of a monarch."

Upon hearing this, Maria truly fell silent.

Only after a long while did she speak softly, "Did you ever tell Father all this?"

"No."

Annan laughed, "Father understands me well enough, and there’s no need for lengthy explanations."

"Yet it is only now that I can fully confirm...why Father chose you without any hesitation at the time."

Maria said begrudgingly, "You never told these things to Father or to me. But Father was able to bypass these words and directly understand your true nature..."

"Father’s perception wasn’t overly comprehensive either."

Annan interrupted Maria’s deification of Ivan.

This left Maria somewhat puzzled, "But..."

"This is the ’courage’ of Ivan. The courage he had to trust me, Dmitry has the same audacity. You actually possess it as well.

"He dared to entrust all this to me without a second’s hesitation, precisely because he was also an excellent Duke. This transcendent audacity is the very refinement granted to us by ’Heart of Winter.’

Annan slowly said.

He stopped Maria, who seemed to want to say more, and said softly, "Go back and watch...the second round has already started."

"...Okay."

Maria gave Annan a deep look, obediently agreed, and returned to her seat in the center of the ritual grounds.

As for Annan, he closed his eyes and directly switched his perspective to Husky’s window.

Compared to Thirteen Fragrances, the most apparent difference on Husky’s side was the much more serious shaking of his view.

If one were to make a comparison... Thirteen Fragrances’ view was more like the "director’s perspective" in MOBA games during matches: always precisely on the needed position, with smooth, almost imperceptible transitions.

While Husky’s perspective was like that of a professional FPS gamer.

The screen changed rapidly, focusing frantically—every scan just a brief sweep. But Husky indeed could see clearly.

It was like a vigilant hunting dog, able to catch and confirm every detail at the first moment.

Even the bullet chat had noticeably thinned out, leaving only those accustomed to switching to over-the-shoulder views.

After all, Husky’s swaying perspective was indeed a bit dizzying for some.

Previously, in the "Gemini" nightmare of the Cinder Wastelands, because Husky kept moving forward, his attention to details allowed others to see the nightmare’s details more clearly.

But even after Husky was summoned back to the same stone chamber, he continued to sweep his view, inspecting the details of the building. Coupled with the originally dim environment, it gave a strong sense of vertigo.

To describe it with a comment from the bullet chat:

"—Are you a professional mosquito swatter?"

"It’s just that the conditions don’t allow it, otherwise I’d show you a tutorial with a first-person snipe,"

Husky muttered out of the blue.

The Rot Husband, busy explaining the rules, paused for a moment.

Clearly, he didn’t understand what Husky was mumbling about.

"To confirm again, Your Highness Annan... did you understand the rules clearly?"

"Ah, I heard them, I heard them,"

Husky quickly turned his body around—when speaking to others, she didn’t just turn her head; she always made sure to turn her entire body.

He answered briskly, "To put it simply, it’s like the dice from the previous round turned into cards, and now it’s just about comparing their size, right?"

"Correct. Dmitry His Highness has rolled five times, so each person gets five cards... The final game is best of five rounds, three wins."

The Rot Husband concluded.

Before the two players appeared five facedown stone tiles.

"As for which side’s dice to use for the tiles, that is of course for Your Highness to decide."

Fufu said very politely, "The ones on your side are Dmitry’s, while those on my side are the numbers I rolled last game... do you need to switch sides?"

"I’ll use Dmitry’s."

Husky didn’t hesitate at all, "No need to switch sides."

"Are you sure?"

"I’m absolutely positive—"

As Husky was speaking, he had already carefully picked up the five stone tiles.

These things were a bit heavy, and Annan’s hands were too small.

She needed to be careful not to accidentally drop them and give Fufu a peek... although he already knew what her tiles were.

But Husky didn’t care about these details.

He always remembered clearly—he was just here to scout the terrain, winning or losing didn’t matter.

He didn’t switch sides simply because he couldn’t be bothered to switch.

Because he proposed these rules... Husky could be sure that Fufu definitely remembered both parties’ tiles. After all, the tiles were the numbers from the previous game’s dice.

If Spice had shared the details with Husky, his advantage would have been even bigger.

But then again...

What of it?

Could I really be smarter than Fufu?

Husky naturally thought to himself.

—Fufu is smart, so his moves will definitely be logical, probabilistic, and psychological. So as long as I play randomly, I can make him unable to guess the final outcome.

If I don’t even know what tile I’m going to play, how can you guess?

He thought so.

...However, I still have to take a glance.

After all, they were here to collect intelligence, so it might actually be better for him to lose this round—because if he won two in a row, the nightmare would end.

But the third game is the most crucial.

—You have to know, the master of the nightmare hasn’t appeared yet!

"It’s like you can even see Ilya in the theater version of Ilya’s story."

Husky mumbled, "But..."

Did Annan lose then?

Impossible, right?

Or does it mean that in actual history, Dmitry lost and Annan won?

...Forget it, I can’t think straight.

First, think about how to perform...

Husky looked down and took a reluctant glance at his tiles.

3, 6, 7, 8, 10.

"...If I remember correctly, the rule is to roll five rounds of 3D6, and higher is better than lower, right?"

Husky mumbled, "Are you really that unlucky?"

If Fufu could lose, does that mean his numbers were even smaller?

He said so and without any hesitation, he played a 7.

There was no particular reason. He hadn’t even realized that 7 was the number of Lady Luck... he had simply drawn one from the middle.

—If you can see that I drew the tile from the middle, you should be able to guess that it’s my third-highest tile, right? Anyone who plays mahjong these days would know this tactic...

Don’t be using any clever tricks on me here.

I’m really not bluffing, this is my third-highest tile...

Husky prayed in his heart.

As Fufu also played a tile, they turned their tiles over.

versus 13.

"Husky is likely to lose."

Maria opened her eyes and answered without hesitation, "Fufu knows that his 7 is the third highest, and Husky indeed drew from the third tile. Then the subsequent tiles, He can directly calculate what they are."

"That’s not necessarily the case."

Annan smiled with his eyes closed, "Keep watching, the best part is coming up.

"—She’s not the only one who wants to lose."