Super Righteous Player
Chapter 884 - 421: Old Handyman

Chapter 884: Chapter 421: Old Handyman

After sending off the Eldest Princess, Annan fell deep into thought.

His gaze gradually brightened.

The previously chaotic and random clues... were now beginning to converge.

It all started to become clear when he understood "Philip" was a key figure.

As an elf, Philip Flamel was the ancestor of "Nicolas Flamel" and the only son of Nafry Flamel. Nafry’s father was the developer of the "Specimen Archive" technology... and Annan had come to know this information precisely because of the Specimen Archive itself.

And as a human, Philip Noah made and consumed a large amount of "Bloodstained Candy" that could intensify people’s desires. These "spiked" candies were the reason that Dmitry, with his Heart of Winter, felt "fluttery" and fell in love with Bella.

Philip created these candies because "The Fourth History" had weakened his desires; his initial use of The Fourth History was due to a "mission he had forgotten".

The important ingredient for making these "Bloodstained Candy"... the source of the "Demon’s Blood", was related to Nata County and Blood Butterfly Valley.

The channel for the Demon’s Blood came from Nata County, while the formula originated from Blood Butterfly Valley. Nata County was related to the Saltpeter Ranch, which was directly involved in the rebellion in the northern part of Winter; Blood Butterfly Valley was related to the "Sacrificial Saint", who was a key figure that helped Philip store the "Blood Demon’s" head in a box, destroying or neutralizing it.

Finally, according to the information from the Eldest Princess... Philip’s head was precisely taken by the "Blood Demon’s" colleague.

—In fact, all problems were actually centered around Philip.

Including the initial events.

Tan Juan Geraint was killed by someone he dispatched, the "Great Hunt Ceremony" several years ago that introduced Annan and Kafney to each other, the rotten believers who once controlled Kafney and her father, the "Hermes School" that he’d always known about but ignored, and the Spirit Bearer Monks who were attracted by the "Hermes School"...

...It could be said that eighty percent of the significant events Annan experienced were directly or indirectly related to Philip.

Whether directly connected to him or related to the consequences of a decision he made.

Whether it was to ambush Tan Juan, set up the Great Hunt Ceremony, or sell strange candy all over the world... all these actions were because he was "Philip".

If not for Philip, none of these things would exist—because anyone else simply would not do such things.

"As expected of the abandoned mirror, the would-be Book of the Celestial Chariot..."

Annan took a deep breath, his eyes growing firm.

Philip’s ability to "always be involved in critical events" was almost exactly the same as Annan’s!

But the difference was that he wasn’t just "involved in critical events", he was the one "triggering critical events".

Annan realized so clearly, Philip was indeed one of the candidates for the Book of the Celestial Chariot.

Even though he was only a failure, an abandoned mirror... the fate of the entire world was still closely related to him.

If Annan had been unaware, he would have ultimately obtained "Nicolas’s" mirror—this indicated that even without the page from the Book of the Celestial Chariot, Philip still played a guiding role.

That is to say, Philip was a living page from the Book of the Celestial Chariot.

If Annan hadn’t obtained a page from the Book of the Celestial Chariot... then simply due to Philip’s existence, he could gradually find the other pages.

...He could be described as an epic-grade utility man.

The true epic-grade utility man—as when he was initially "The Rhetorician", he was the utility man who helped the emperor to promote the "abolition of spell energy" policy; then later he helped King Noah to conquer territories, but his name didn’t even appear in the history books, undoubtedly another iron-clad utility man; having come to the future with a mission and even forgotten his own memories, was certainly also a utility man’s destiny.

So tragic.

"Have you thought of something?"

Seeing Annan’s eyes suddenly light up, even relieving a sigh and starting to drink tea... Maria, who had been watching for a long time, couldn’t help but ask, "Can you tell me? Or do you have to keep it a secret for now?"

"...Did I often use the excuse ’it needs to be a secret’ with you in the past?"

Annan was curious.

Maria nodded.

That made Annan realize all the more that his first-self and his current self were not entirely the same...

If it were Annan now, even just to accommodate Maria’s feelings, he would choose something to share with her—after all, "secrecy" wasn’t meant to be used against one’s own people.

But the cold and indifferent "Dark Annan" was not like that.

—He only trusted himself.

Annan, however, was willing to trust others.

Annan didn’t think of himself as all-knowing and all-powerful.

Or rather, he thought he wasn’t "complete" yet, still needing other people’s Wisdom to inspire and supplement himself. He was always growing, instead of like "Dark Annan"... perched in high places, yet no longer moving forward.

If Annan had to choose a definition for "Dark Annan", it would certainly be "perfection".

That "perfect form" belonging to Annan represented the pinnacle of wisdom and will. It already transcended human intelligence, reaching a higher realm of "inhuman wisdom."

...But Annan didn’t wish for perfection.

He simply hoped to become "better."

That is to say, as long as he was making progress, that was enough.

Therefore, absorbing nutrients from others to enrich himself was a very important matter.

"Up to now, there are only two things I haven’t figured out,"

Annan spoke, glancing around at everyone without any intention of hiding.

He didn’t even send Jacob away, who had recently become a squire.

Instead, he openly stated, "I need your wisdom.

"Our wisdom, exchanging with each other, means that each person is like having multiple brains. Even the most inconspicuous opinion may prove valuable. I think this is good.

"So, please feel free to offer your opinions, questions, and speculations. We are not afraid of being wrong—because correctness can be verified, but without even the concept, we lose the most fundamental direction of progress."

Setting this tone first, Annan continued, "The first matter is, what kind of crucial mission did Philip Flamel undertake that required the use of the ’Fourth History’ and necessitated King Noah to send his own capable assistant with the ’Fourth History’ to the future?

"At that time, I did not exist in this world, let alone a possible ’future’ of this world. So he couldn’t have come for me."

This was indeed a key question.

It was essentially the beginning of many modern problems... If Philip hadn’t come, then many issues wouldn’t have arisen from the start. It was even uncertain whether Nicholas would have gone to the Jade Tower to study spells or not.

"We could ask Master Chiron about this,"

Victor said promptly, "I actually think the Silver Baron probably knows too, but He just doesn’t want to say for now. Whether He doesn’t want to or can’t say... both can be resolved by asking Master Chiron.

"If the Silver Baron actually believes ’not knowing is better,’ then you will be prevented from seeking the truth from Master Chiron; conversely, it means that knowing is actually not a big deal."

Annan nodded.

Victor was right.

The Silver Baron most likely knew the matter... because at the founding of Noah, both King Noah and Philip Flamel were by the Silver Baron’s side. This could have even been a ritual witnessed by the Silver Baron.

Yet the Silver Baron chose not to tell Annan, which boiled down to either "He thinks it’s not good for Annan to know this" or "He is constrained and cannot proactively tell Annan."

So, Annan just needed to test the Silver Baron, and he could get an answer directly—moreover, this kind of test would neither be dangerous nor offensive.

Annan nodded in agreement, at least provisionally.

As for the details, he would need to optimize further.

"Besides, there is a second matter,"

Annan said gravely, "Why does Nicholas need Philip’s head? Or rather, why did Philip give his head to Nicholas?"

These were two entirely different possibilities.

In any case, Annan needed to follow up and see for himself.

But as Duke of Winter, he obviously didn’t have such freedom within Noah’s borders.

However, this was not a problem for Annan.

—With access to intelligence, Jacob’s precise teleportation spell could help Annan leave the Royal Capital without a sound and then return after completing the task.

No one would know that Annan had left.

As for intelligence...

An image of a girl who treated her hair as clothing surfaced in Annan’s mind.

Asking the blabbering poet would most likely yield a good answer.

"After Salvatore arrives, Victor and I will first go to see Master Chiron with our senior. Then, I’ll visit old Crow... The Faceless Poet is probably with him. I’ll seek out the Faceless Poet to find out where ’Philip’ currently is."

If Nicholas was hard to locate... then he could directly track Philip!

After all, the two of them were together now.

Annan patted Jacob on the shoulder.

He said in a deep voice, "When the time comes, I’ll be relying on you. Except for you, I don’t plan to bring anyone—not even Victor. Only this way can we elude them."

And when all personnel from Winter were incapacitated...

—It was time for the players to make their move!

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.