Chapter 156: The Venerated Skeleton’s Strategic Arrangement

After the Venerated Skeleton disappeared, Annan noticed an extra item on the ground.

It was a small piece of pure white bone bit with an irregular shape.

Although Annan knew it was dangerous, he couldn’t control himself but pick it up.

Fortunately, it did not seem to be a trap.

Annan felt a bit of warmth as soon as he grabbed it. The tactile sensation was like a jade pendant that had been worn for many years.

Somewhat unexpectedly, the item had attributes, although it was strange:

[The Venerated Skeleton’s Temporary Asylum]

[Type: Accessory (Gold)]

[Description: Deity of Bones and Betrayal “the Venerated Skeleton” temporarily has no intention of being your enemy.]

[Effect: When entering the nightmare left by any “believer of the Venerated Skeleton,” the failure of the dungeon will not increase the erosion rate. “Believer of the Venerated Skeleton” cannot kill you. ]

“…Hey.”

Did you cower just like that?

Annan was speechless.

Although the Venerated Skeleton claimed that he only took one book…

Annan was not quite sure whether this sentence was true with how trash the Venerated Skeleton appeared.

Annan checked the books and the items in his bag again, then brought out the attribute panel and took a look. He then fumbled around his whole body, only to be able to temporarily confirm that the Venerated Skeleton had indeed only taken one book.

It was the book: “A Comprehensive Study on the New Deity the Venerated Skeleton.”

“He… What is he hiding?” Annan murmured.

Could it be that I could discover his secret through this book?

But if the existence of this book threatened him, wouldn’t he take it away from Joseph earlier?

Or, perhaps…

Annan’s gaze turned to the “A Comprehensive Study on the New Deity the Rotten Man,” which made a complete set when coupled with the Venerated Skeleton’s Study.

“Are you hinting something to me?” Annan squinted slightly. Then, he came into deep thoughts.

If I’m truly the “Annan Austere-Winter,” what should I do now?

After being threatened by the Venerated Skeleton, the study was forcibly taken away from Annan before he even had the chance to read it. As a result, he would be curious about what was recorded in the book that the Venerated Skeleton took away.

So, where could Annan find out more about it?

Mysterious knowledge couldn’t be communicated through language. Joseph had now lost his curse vessel, so he couldn’t teach Annan directly.

So Annan could only study the book about Rotten Man carefully and find the corresponding “knowledge that he should have acquired” from it.

“Is he suggesting to me to find out more about the Rotten Man immediately?” Annan raised his brow slightly.

Indeed, if the Venerated Skeleton didn’t approach Annan, Annan might read the book on the Rotten Man later or even last.

Obviously, Anna would read the study on the Venerated Skeleton first. Only the Rotten Man study didn’t seem to be useful to Annan for the time being.

No matter if it were a person or a deity, as long as they were conscious and had a clear goal, their actions would reveal their goal to some extent.

Everything would leave a trace.

The same went for the Venerated Skeleton.

For Annan, the traces the Venerated Skeleton left, and the intelligence exposed were quite apparent.

Annan deduced it through simple reasoning:

First of all, the fundamental question would be what was the Venerated Skeleton’s goal.

Was he trying to kill Annan?

If so, why didn’t he do it himself? But, instead, he deliberately came over to pronounce the Old Grandmother’s name and made a dedicated trip to provide Annan with the mysterious knowledge.

As a matter of fact, the Venerated Skeleton knew Annan’s name. Then, he should naturally know that Austere-Winter Dukedom now had only two healthy direct descendants left. Old Grandmother would take him seriously.

But at the moment of meeting, the Venerated Skeleton directly pronounced Old Grandmother’s name, leaving Annan with only 1% of Health. But after that, he didn’t take the last hit.

(TN: Last hit is a game terminology which meant dealing the killing blow)

Yes, this was the reason Winter Heart was triggered.

Annan did not get killed because of frost damage. But this special effect came from Reverse Inscription. Ordinary Austerian, or according to the Venerated Skeleton’s words — Frostborn, wouldn’t have Reverse Inscription. After Annan reached 1% of Health, he should have died.

After Annan’s health was fixed at 1% of health, the Venerated Skeleton did not rush over to take the last hit but stood by.

This had revealed that the Venerated Skeleton knew from the beginning that Annan had Reverse Inscription.

The Venerated Skeleton goal wasn’t to kill Annan. Adding on to that, he even presented an amulet to ensure that Annan wouldn’t turn hostile to him for the time being.

So, was the Venerated Skeleton’s goal to befriend Annan? Or did he come here to pass Old Grandmother’s message?

But no matter which possibility, there was no need to reduce Annan to critical health.

If the Venerated Skeleton didn’t want Annan to learn about him, he would have taken the Rotten Man book as well. Worse still, he might even kill Joseph, take the book, or destroy it before that event.

In summary, the Venerated Skeleton’s actions should only have one goal.

He wanted Annan to notice the Rotten Man immediately and gather information about the Rotten Man.

But why so?

Is there some kind of conflict between the two?

“I still have to read this book.” Annan sighed.

This was an overt plot that Annan was forced into.

If Annan did not see the Venerated Skeleton’s intention, he would first read the book of Rotten Man to confirm “what the Venerated Skeleton tried to hide.” But, even if Annan noticed the Venerated Skeleton’s intention, he still had to read the book to validate his inference.

—Because Annan did offend Rotten Man as well.

There were many reasons. Klaus, the guard captain who killed Don Juan, was the Rotten Man’s man. Viscount Barber, who Annan killed, was also under the Rotten Man. Klaus was looking for Don Juan’s Book of Divine Transporter, while Viscount Barber had an inactive Book of Divine Transporter with him.

In the end, the two Book of Divine Transporter pages in Annan’s possession were related to Rotten Man. So it was fair to say that Annan had grabbed food from the tiger’s mouth.

Does this mean that the Rotten Man Church is looking for the Book of Divine Transporter?

With that in Annan’s consideration, it became an urgent task for Annan to understand the Rotten Man better.

Because Annan obviously couldn’t give up this power.

No one knew the horror of “players” better than him.

If the Rotten Man’s church wanted the Book of Divine Transporter, then he and Annan would become mortal enemies sooner or later.

Annan might not be able to escape the Noah Kingdom’s Royalty conspiracy.

“With this in mind, I kinda feel like I’m duped.”

Annan looked at the starry sky, holding a sledgehammer, and sighed slightly.

Although he got many valuable items, it gave off the Déjà vu of him working for money with his life.

Fortunately, although Annan was somewhat passive in the first confrontation, Annan still had some idea about the situation.

The matter was already evident. “Annan Austere-Winter” seemed to be entering the game as a deities’ pawn. Although Annan’s influence was marginal, it was more so because of his shortcomings in power.

Annan didn’t dislike this feeling.

In some cases, having a value in being used by others seemed to be a kind of luck.

But the problem was…

“Boss, where do I come from? Who is my teammate? Who am I going to fight now?”

Annan Austere-Winter, who unfortunately lost his memory, was filled with three core questions: “I’m a cute newbie who bought a new account. Anyone there? Is there anyone in charge? Does anyone care about me?”

Annan held the hammer at a loss.