Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 165: Family Residence Defense
Baron Dwork's secretary quickly prepared the revised new contract, and then while Baron Dwork was present, Roger signed the contract with him on the spot.

"It's a pleasure to work with you. We will be business partners from now on."

Baron Dwork stood up solemnly and shook hands with Roger.

"It's a pleasure to work with you. This is my first time getting involved in business, so I'd appreciate your guidance."

Roger nodded slightly, then stood up and shook hands with the other person.

"But Jones."

Baron Dwork sat down and said:
“Although for now, you can run the business as an individual, but in the long run, I still recommend that you set up a company.

"In the past two years, the Kingdom's Ministry of Commerce has introduced many preferential policies on taxation and business establishment thresholds to encourage the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

"If you are interested in this, you can come to me at any time."

The company...

Roger couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Currently, he is more widely known for two business identities.

The first is the executive director of the "Tingen Stray Animal Protection Association", and the second is the inventor and business partner of the "Portable Wind-up Phonograph".

However, both identities are anchored with fake identity information. Neither Metersbonwe nor Baleno Jones is his real name.

If a company is to be established, long-term operations and cross-sector management must be considered. Roger's status as a Beyonder means that he will likely have to change his identity again in the future, so the operation will be very troublesome, and there is even a risk that his series of hidden identities will be exposed.

So Roger needs to consider carefully whether to set up a company and how to set it up.

"Thank you for your advice, Your Excellency the Baron."

Roger raised his head and looked at Baron Dwork.

"I will consider it carefully, but due to some personal circumstances I am currently facing, I cannot make a decision at the moment."

"of course."

Baron Dwork nodded:
"This is just my experience sharing as a first-time business owner. The specific approach should be based on your actual situation."

Roger hummed, and then raised an important question:

"Oh right, about the record recording we talked about last time..."

"Whenever you're ready, you can."

Baron Dwork smiled:

"You just need to take the musician you're working with—I think it's Mr. Ford—and go directly to Room 305 on the third floor. Just tell Jeffrey before you go and ask him to ask someone to open the door for you.

"As for the use of the equipment, he will arrange for a dedicated person to provide service for you from 9 a.m. to : p.m. and from : p.m. to : p.m. during the week."

Considering that Roger has to leave for Jianhai County in the evening and he didn't greet Alex Ford in advance, it is definitely too late to make the master disc this week, so he can only make an appointment with him next week.

"There's still time..."

Roger made a rough estimate and found that there was still plenty of time.

He thanked Baron de Walker again, and the baron invited him and Mr. Jeffrey to have lunch in the company restaurant.

After dinner, Roger first went to the nearby telegraph office to send a telegram to Mr. Willis in Constantine City, bought some souvenirs, and then took a hired carriage back to No. 15 Minsk Street.

Klein didn't have any plans for today. He just discussed divination with Bandit at home.

After becoming an "astrologer", Bandit automatically gained spiritual awareness of his own birth information and the perception of the movement trajectories of celestial bodies in the starry sky.

So it often uses its small crystal ball to tell fortunes and deduce major events. It says that the reliability is now over 95%.

On the other hand, Klein had already made a space bag for Bandit that could be hung on his body and could store some miscellaneous items through the Beyonder gathering of "Eye of Wisdom" Isengard Stanton.

This allowed it to carry its own small crystal ball with it during this journey and perform divination and astrological deduction anytime and anywhere.

"There's food in the kitchen. We've both eaten."

Seeing Roger come back, Klein looked up at him and said something.

"Okay, hard work."

Roger put down his briefcase, changed his clothes, went to the kitchen to get a bowl of cream soup, took two chicken legs from another pot, put them on the table and started eating.

"By the way, have you packed your things? If you have, we'll leave tonight."

Roger asked while chewing.

"It's all ready. I don't have anything to bring. I'm only going to be gone for two days anyway."

Klein thought for a moment:
"What about the hotel?"

Roger answered as if he had already prepared:
"I've telegraphed Mr. Willis, and he'll arrange it for us.

"Then you put on the 'Vagabond Mask' and pretend to be my friend, and you can still use the name 'Sherlock Moriarty'."

Klein raised his eyebrows and said with a teasing smile:
"You mean I'm not your friend now?"

"Shit."

Roger rolled his eyes. "I mean, another friend besides Klein Moretti and Sherlock Moriarty."

He almost couldn't help but mention Zhou Mingrui.

"That's pretty much it."

Klein nodded in satisfaction, then stroked Bandit.

After dinner, Roger digested his food, washed the pots and dishes, and then had Bandit extinguish the fireplace. Then, he and Klein, along with the cat, took a taxi and drove to Backlund Central Station.

Arriving at the station, Roger bought a first-class ticket for two people, and then boarded the train with Klein and Bandit at 2 pm.

Because Constant City is a major industrial city, this steam train departing from Backlund is more advanced than the one Roger and Klein first took from Tingen. Its curb weight reaches 400 tons and its maximum speed is approximately 110 kilometers per hour.

Not only that, the facilities and services in the carriage have also been greatly improved. In addition, because Roger bought a first-class ticket, he can not only enjoy a separate carriage compartment and berth, but also special free tea, coffee and food.

"The kingdom's industry and technology are developing at a much better pace now."

As soon as he entered the carriage, Klein couldn't help but sigh.

"Yes."

Roger also nodded.

But what he didn't say was that this development would likely soon hit a bottleneck.

Without considering the likely future war between the Feysac Empire and the Loen Kingdom, the fact that no oil had been discovered in this world alone made it difficult for many high-end industries and electrical sectors to develop.

Unless the problem of external gods surrounding us outside the astral barrier can be solved, the Steam Age is likely to be the final destination of mankind.

However, there was no point in talking about these things at this stage. Roger pondered for a moment, sighed slightly, and chose to keep silent for the time being.

Because the steam train's speed was increased, Roger and Klein arrived at Constant City in Jianhai County before five in the afternoon.

"As expected of a city of coal and steel, this industrial style is absolutely stunning."

As soon as they left the station, Roger and Klein saw a sky much clearer than Backlund's, infrastructure filled with metallic energy, coal and steel industry workers everywhere, and a steam airship suspended in the air with a sign reading "Welcome to Constanton" on it.

Roger even saw a three-wheeled car.

This three-wheeled vehicle is extremely rare even in Backlund. It is the latest product equipped with a two-stroke engine developed by Salman, the largest industrial technology company in Constant City.

Roger had read about it in the newspaper and knew that it included necessary components such as ignition, water cooling circulation system, steel tube frame and brake handle.

But since it was still steam-powered, coal had to be added to the boiler to generate gas every 20 minutes or so, and the speed was less than 10 kilometers per hour.

Therefore, its practicality is completely inferior to the bicycle invested by Klein, and even inferior to the human-powered carriage device that Mr. Leppard originally planned to produce.

Constant also had steam trains within the city, but they mainly served commuters from several mines and steel mills, and their civilian use was not as high as that of Backlund.

So Roger and Klein finally decided to take a rented carriage to the Iris Inn in the northern part of Constantine.

Although Constant was a major industrial city and its exhaust emissions were only slightly less severe than Backlund, due to its climate, the percentage of sunny days here was much higher than Backlund's throughout the year.

As the carriage sped along the road along the coast of the Inter-Sea, Roger and Klein, looking at the shimmering sea reflecting the sunlight, felt their moods, which had been somewhat depressed by Backlund's smog, improve significantly.

The city of Constantine is not very big, and it took the two of them just over twenty minutes to reach the magnificently decorated Iris Hotel.

As soon as they got off the carriage, a young man in a neat suit came forward to pay the fare, and then bowed slightly to Roger:

"It's been a while, Mr. Bonway. I hope everything is going well for you. I'm Mike, Mr. Willis's secretary. We've met before."

Bangwei, such an unfamiliar name...

Roger sighed in his heart, smiled, and reached out his hand to shake it.
"Of course, Mr. Mike Xavier."

The other party was right. When the "Tingen City Stray Animal Protection Association" was established, Mr. Mike did meet Roger several times.

"I recognize Bandit. May I ask who this gentleman is?"

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Mike Xavier first smiled and touched Bandit, and then looked at Klein, who was about 1.8 meters tall and had disguised himself with a "Wanderer" mask.

"This is my friend, Mr. Sherlock Moriarty."

Roger introduced.

"Hello, Mr. Moriarty, welcome to Conston."

Klein also shook hands with Mike and then checked in under his guidance.

"Is Mr. Willis busy?"

Roger asked curiously.

"Yes, Mr. Willis had an impromptu meeting, so he asked me to come and see you two in first." "I've already made dinner reservations for you at the restaurant here. You two can rest up first. Mr. Willis will be there promptly at 6 p.m."

Mike replied with a smile.

"Thank you for your hard work." Roger said with sincere gratitude.

Roger and Klein then checked into a large suite. They each chose a guest room to rest for a while, then tidied their appearance before 6 pm, met in the suite's living room, and then went downstairs to the lobby again.

Out of courtesy, Bandit was temporarily left in the suite to sleep.

Just as Mike Xavier said, Mr. Willis was already waiting in the hall with his son James Willis.

"Metus, it's great to see you."

Mr. Willis, along with his son, excitedly walked over to Roger, shook his hand and hugged him. He then greeted Klein. The four of them then walked toward the restaurant and sat in a quiet private room.

After a brief greeting between the four, Roger gave Mr. Willis the gift he had bought in Backlund, and then chatted with him while eating.

Klein, standing aside, remained silent, his head bowed and he chuckled, fearing that he would say something wrong and make the other party realize that he was a dead acquaintance.

Roger's conversation with Mr. Willis was mainly about the recent operations of the association. He also helped the other party answer some questions about fortune and numerology.

The latter was very happy about this. He raised his glass repeatedly and said something like he wanted James to become Roger's disciple and learn divination from him.

When Roger heard this, although his face was full of smiles, he felt a little uneasy in his heart.

Although there are many fortune tellers in this world who are not extraordinary people, in the final analysis, their divination accuracy and methods cannot be compared with those of extraordinary people.

Roger could teach James superficial divination skills, but if he didn't fundamentally transform his astral body, he still wouldn't be able to reach his level. As for Klein, forget it.

He hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said:
"Mr. Willis, it's better not to learn divination."

Mr. Willis was slightly taken aback by this, and he asked:
"Why do you say that?"

Roger said:

“In the view of many fortune tellers, fortune is based on the law of conservation of energy.

"A fortune teller can help others and even themselves avoid bad luck, but this bad luck will not disappear out of thin air. Instead, it will be transferred to the fortune teller.

"So every time I did divination for others intensively, I could feel my luck visibly starting to deteriorate."

This idea was derived from the saying "the more you calculate your fate, the worse it becomes" that Roger had heard in China in his previous life. It was very appropriate to use it to politely refuse Mr. Willis at this moment.

Mr. Willis was slightly startled when he heard this, and then he showed a nervous expression:

"So...are you okay?"

Roger burst out laughing:
"So I would take a break every once in a while and wait until my luck returned.

"Plus, I'm almost exclusively doing divination for you now, so my luck is pretty good."

Faced with such bizarre statements, Mr. Willis was still a little confused, but because Roger looked very secretive, he did not ask any more questions.

He knew his son James very well. This overly curious guy would lose control and go crazy and commit suicide after learning divination.

So he finally decided to listen to Roger and give up those thoughts.

After finally refusing Mr. Willis's request, Roger finally asked:
"By the way, Mr. Willis, I want to go to Torquay tomorrow morning to discuss something with an old friend. How can I get there?"

The town of Torquay is located west of Conston. It is the Abraham family residence that Roger had previously discovered through the deep secret ceremony of the Fors bracelet, and it is where the seals related to Mr. "Door" are kept.

Mr. Willis slapped his forehead, then he remembered that Roger had mentioned this matter in his previous telegram.

"It's easy. Just take a boat from the pier across the street from the back door of this hotel. The journey takes less than 40 minutes.

“It’s much faster than taking a horse-drawn carriage, and there are six boats every day, the earliest at 6 a.m. and the latest at 6 p.m.

"If you plan to stay overnight in Torquay, you can go directly to Jennifer's Hostel next to the Goddess Chapel in the town center. The conditions there are very good and the breakfast is very unique."

Mr. Willis talked a lot and introduced some attractions and delicacies of Torquay to Roger.

"Every two hours..."

Roger immediately calculated the ferry schedule in his mind.

He didn't know whether he could resolve the Abraham family issue before nightfall, so he might have to stay in a hotel for one night.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Willis."

Roger thanked him sincerely, and then chatted with the Willis father and son about the situation in the kingdom for a while. When Mr. Willis was drunk and a little unconscious, he and James helped him into the carriage home and watched him leave.

At this time, raindrops began to fall. Roger let out a long sigh and turned back to the Iris Inn with Klein to rest.

Early the next morning, Roger, Klein, and Bandit arrived at the dock on time. They spent 1 soli and 10 pence to buy tickets to Torquay and boarded the passenger ship.

Because Toquay is a small town with fishing and aquatic product processing as its pillar industries, not many people go there.

After resting for a while, Roger and Crane were awakened by Bandit's cat tail.

At this time, the sun has completely risen from the sea level, and Torquay Pier, where a large number of fishing boats are moored, is already in sight.

Roger rubbed his face, quickly took his bag and cat, and got off the boat with Klein.

"What should we do now? Should we go find your family residence or check into the hotel?"

Klein meant that if he didn't go early, he might not be able to book a room for the night.

"Let's go to the base first. I don't think there are many outsiders in Torquay. The hotel should be occupied by night."

Roger thought for a moment and decided.

Seeing this, Klein no longer insisted. The three of them walked west along the cobblestone road in Toquay Town.

In order to maintain secrecy, the Abraham family's residence is in a valley surrounded by mountains west of Torquay, which requires more than an hour's walk.

Because there are no public carriages in the town and no waterways for ships to navigate along the way, it is difficult for ordinary people to find the place.

Fortunately, Roger was already familiar with similar routines when he was at home, so he was also familiar with it.

Apart from drinking a lot of water on the way and stopping to eat some buttered bread packed from the Iris Hotel, they had almost no trouble.

Bandit even caught a fresh live fish from the stream on the road, which was quite novel and interesting to the tabby cat who had never been to the countryside.

Around noon, Roger and Klein finally saw a rather tall stone fortress between two mountains.

On the grass outside the fortress stood several rusty bronze statues with the names of the corresponding celebrities written below them.

Among them are the tall and majestic ancestor Bethel Abraham, Emperor Roselle's loyal knight Benjamin Abraham, and so on.

The iron gate at the bottom of the fortress had an almost rusted emblem of Abraham on it, but there was no lock on the door and no sound could be heard from the outside.

"Strange, why is there no lock on this door? Could it be that it can only be opened from the inside?"

Klein noticed something was wrong immediately and spoke up.

But these words made Roger smile strangely.

"Klein, do you think the Abraham family needs to unlock the door?"

Klein slapped his forehead and realized what was happening.

The Abraham family controls the "Door" path, and almost all family members are extraordinary people of the "Apprentice" path, and they inherently have the ability to "open the door."

And those family members who are not extraordinary people can also enter and exit the fortress with the help of the family's low-level seals.

Therefore, not only does the Abraham family's residence not need a door lock, it is even a means of verifying the family's "membership".

Those who haven't mastered the "Apprentice" ability cannot enter unless they use brute force to blow the door open.

Of course, this door is not the only verification mechanism.

After the family suffered two betrayals, almost all official residences of the Abraham family have an additional line of defense behind the gate.

That line of defense needs the blood of a true member of Abraham's family as a guide before it can be opened!
Roger fits that bill perfectly.

"I'll go in with 'Benjamin's gloves'. After I go in, Bandit will bring the gloves out for you, and you can come in too."

Roger quickly made arrangements for Klein, then took Bandit through the iron gate and into the interior.

To be honest, Roger was a little nervous when he walked through the iron gate.

He was afraid that everyone in this base had died, just like the base he originally lived in.

However, as soon as he passed through the iron gate, Roger breathed a sigh of relief.

Because he could vaguely see that in the stone corridor leading down, the light of a kerosene lamp was swaying slightly!
Ordinary kerosene lamps cannot burn continuously for more than two months, so the current scene shows that there are still survivors in this family residence!
He took off "Benjamin's Glove" and threw it to Bandit, asking it to bring Crane in.

"Someone?"

As soon as Klein entered, he also noticed the light of the oil lamp.

He was originally worried about the same thing as Roger, and this scene also made him feel encouraged!

Roger nodded slightly, his voice trembling:
"Seems to be."

He, Klein, and Bandit walked down the stone corridor and soon saw an iron door with a special bowl-shaped groove on the other side.

This iron gate is fundamentally different from the previous one outside.

It was sealed with a seal related to the spirit world, which covered all the space behind the door.

If someone forces their way through without "blood recognition", it will banish the intruder to the spirit world.

Not only that, this seal even comes with a magic that confuses the coordinates of the spiritual world. If the "traveler" wants to break in by force, he will suffer the same consequences.

And that bowl-shaped groove is where the blood is received!

(End of this chapter)