Annan had known for a long time the storefront of the "baker from the royal capital".
When talking with Salvatore for the first time, he specifically wrote down all the places and characters that may have stories.
If it weren't for the players coming, he wouldn't be able to introduce them one by one...
It's just that Annan didn't realize that the plot of this "baker" would be so important before.
His original plan was to arrange for idle players to go to various parts of Frozen Water Port to inquire about news. For these characters with secrets, after the players have finished their investigations, Annan will come and send a mission to get the information, and then give them some rare rewards and a lot of favorability.
Think of it as a hidden mission.
Annan can be sure that once the keywords of "rare", "hidden", and "limited" are added, even if the rewards are generally rewarded, there will be a large number of players. Not to mention the great rewards...
... But who would have thought that this baker is actually a sweeping monk? !
"It's really weird..."
Annan bared his teeth, a little depressed.
At this moment, he was wearing a somewhat thin coat, running fast on the deserted street in the cold December wind. Fortunately, the moonlight in Frozen Water Port was quite bright, at least the road could be distinguished without the light.
It was already half past ten in the evening... Freezing Water Harbor didn't look like Roseburg either. There was no evening entertainment, and the fishermen had already gone to bed.
That is, some shops that will open tomorrow morning are still working hard to prepare the things that will be used tomorrow morning.
They watched Annan running past, very surprised.
After being dazed, he saluted Annan with some trepidation.
And Annan was also very polite, and returned the salute to them one by one.
After half an hour, Annan finally ran to the bakery not too far from the City Lord's Mansion.
—Authentic Wangdu Bakery.
Very concise and powerful signboard name.
Just like authentic ○○ Xiaolongbao and authentic xx Roujiamo... unpretentious.
But the bread here is really delicious.
There are also several players who have bought bread here for Annan as breakfast and snacks. One thing to say, the taste is really good...
At eleven o'clock in the middle of the night, the door of the bakery was closed. But some light could still be seen inside.
"—Is there anyone, please?"
Annan raised his voice and asked, and slammed on the door: "Is anyone there?"
After a while, there was a doubtful and impatient voice from inside: "It's already sold out—what time is it!"
"I am Don Juan Geraint."
After the other party answered the call, Annan directly revealed his identity: "Please open the door."
This is just in case.
If Annan knocked on the door directly calling his name, but Bakr didn't want to see him, he could just pretend he wasn't there or had already fallen asleep...
Wait for him to respond first, and then reveal his identity.
At least it can prevent Buckle from pretending to be dead.
After about seven or eight seconds, Annan heard the sound of the door lock turning.
The wooden door opened.
The "Bakker" who appeared in front of Annan's eyes really looked quite similar to Brother Sledgehammer in the dungeon. The only difference is that forty-five years ago that Sledgehammer looked like he was in his thirties... and forty-five years later, he looked like he was in his fifties, almost sixty.
Although there are some white hairs on the head, and many wrinkles appear around the eyes. But his aura is still very calm, and he is quite energetic, even at eleven o'clock in the middle of the night, he is not sleepy at all.
The biggest difference is that he no longer has the ferocious killing intent and hostility that he had forty-five years ago. The atmosphere of the whole person became quiet and peaceful.
... It seems that there is generally no danger.
Annan breathed a sigh of relief.
But looking at Bakr's face, Annan immediately had a question in his mind:
How old is this big brother
Bakker's eyes subconsciously looked forward, and then he paused before looking down at Annan without a trace.
His eyes moved to the bronze ring on Annan's finger for the first time, and then quickly moved away, looking at the ground.
"... What's the matter, my lord?"
His voice was very respectful.
"There is something. But may I go in?"
Annan nodded, and made a childish, polite and somewhat weak voice: "It's cold outside..."
Hearing this, Buckle hesitated a little.
He quickly responded: "It's a bit messy, please wait for me to clean it up... It will be fine soon."
With that said, he closed the door again.
Annan raised his eyebrows slightly,
—That's not polite behavior.
Generally speaking, the guests should be sent to the living room first, right? At least it is impossible to let the guests blow the cold wind outside...
Buckle came from the capital, not a countryman. Will he not understand these etiquettes
Or is there something about him that Annan cannot see
Are you destroying evidence
But such thoughts soon ceased.
Because Buckle packed up so fast...
He closed the door for about four or five seconds before opening it again. And Annan didn't hear any sound from him, and didn't see any sound and light effects inside. It even feels a little quieter inside.
"Come in, my lord..."
Bakr respectfully welcomed Annan in.
He led Annan through the bakery and into the back yard. He walked through the yard to the back room.
After guiding Annan to sit down in the living room, he went to make a new pot of black tea for Annan.
Annan looked at the tea box curiously.
Although all the countries in the Kingdom of Noah have the habit of drinking tea, if Annan remembers correctly... the tea Buckle drank was better than the one brought by Salvatore.
Is the business of rubbing bread so profitable
After Bakr poured hot tea for Annan, Annan said gently: "I just heard some rumors. I'll talk about it first, and please don't pay too much attention to the content of the conversation later...
"This... um..."
"Joseph Buckle."
Before Annan could ask, Buckle directly said his full name: "You can call me Joseph directly, my lord."
"That's right, Joseph."
Annan is as good as a stream.
He asked softly, "I want to know, where did you come to Frozen Water Port a few years ago?"
"About... more than forty years ago."
replied Joseph.
"Specifically?"
Annan asked: "Yes...
"—Forty-five years ago?"
Hearing this, Mr. Joseph Buckle was silent.
He paused, then suddenly sighed.
He leaned back a little weakly.
"Did you mean to ask me... do I know Amos?"
The corner of Joseph's mouth twitched slightly, and he said with a wry smile: "If this is the question, then I do know."
As he spoke, he looked at Annan's ring again.
Seeing that Annan didn't reply right away, he asked back, "I guess you just came out of a nightmare? Are you... a nightmare you entered by yourself?"
"I was the nightmare I entered under the protection of Priest Louis."
Annan nodded and said softly.
He opted for a relatively low-profile statement.
"That's it."
Seeing this, Joseph relaxed slightly, and said with a light smile, "Did I... frighten you in a nightmare?"
"well enough."
"I also entered that nightmare back then. I was also quite frightened by myself at the time... But I took a trick and convinced myself directly."
He took a sip of tea and said so.
Annan keenly noticed a word.
"You said... back then?"
Annan asked.
He also noticed that Joseph was not wearing a bearing.
Whether it's bronze or silver... nothing.
He was wearing a thin shirt at home, and the silver bracelet that he had seen in the nightmare had disappeared.
Joseph has no taboos on this topic.
He nodded: "I give up. I am no longer a superhuman."
... You said it lightly.
Annan's eyelids twitched.
Extraordinary—Can you still say that you don’t do it
Isn't this line of work once you enter it, you can't go back
"If you are going to recruit me... I can only say, if there is anything I can do, I will definitely help."
Joseph smiled bitterly and said, "But I'm already a useless person. The remaining spellcasting ability doesn't change, and what I can do is limited..."
He said, pointed to the kitchen, and ordered:
"[continue working]."
In the kitchen not far away, the dough suddenly seemed to come to life and began to knead itself. And those fermented doughs lined up one by one and got into the oven by themselves-the bread that was baked before then jumped out first.
First out, last in, like taking the subway.
"Simple 'temporary activation'. My load can no longer be used, and the remaining spellcasting ability is enough to keep me from starving to death... I have not even reached the silver level."
Joseph spread his hands: "I didn't know the reason for your visit just now, so I turned around and entered the house to stop them... so as not to scare you at night."
"What the hell happened forty-five years ago?"
Although Joseph's spell has many slots, Annan ignored it and asked more important questions first: "What is the real ending in the end?"
Joseph paused.
He opened his unlined clothes and turned his back to Annan.
On his back, there are dense scars like spider webs.
But that wasn't Scar.
It's more like the cobweb marks left by bullets hitting bulletproof glass. Those spider webs were all his protruding tendons, leaving dark blue bulges on his back that were still pulsating slightly with the beating of his heart.
And at the center of the spider web scar...
That location is about his heart.
"I've actually been killed by Amos once. He launched a sneak attack from the future, and he has a powerful curse in his hand. I can't avoid it, and I can't defend it. I was dirty blood by the secret curse of 'that sect' The bullet hit the heart, put a powerful curse on it, and put it in a near-death state—"
Joseph put down his clothes, turned his head and answered Annan slowly and seriously:
"But after that, he didn't kill me. The reason is... If I die, the curse in my load will be revealed.
"—yes, he stole my curse bearer."