Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 219 Scroll Professor
When Roger revealed his identity directly, Ludwig Sergei was not surprised. After all, there were many extraordinary individuals who had passed the "Secret Seeker" pathway, and a lot of information about them had been leaked on the market.

However, the former's provocative words greatly angered Ludwig.

As the second mate of "Twilight Admiral" and a Rank 6 powerhouse who commands a branch fleet on his own, this pirate's appearance is nothing like the gentle demeanor of his handsome face.

In fact, Ludwig had accumulated considerable power within the Twilight Fleet and was known for his extremely cruel methods, earning him the infamous title of "the Executioner."

Aside from "Twilight Admiral" Ivan Blatov, he was not intimidated by even the fleet's first mate. Although he was only the second mate, he was ranked alongside the first mate as Ivan Blatov's second-in-command.

It can be said that in the past, Ludwig was the one who intimidated others, and he was almost never intimidated by anyone!

At this moment, the "scroll professor" completely lost his temper. He could no longer tolerate it and directly took out a scroll with an outer texture like fish skin from the cylinder behind him.

As the fish skin scroll was quickly unfurled, the "executioner" swiftly uttered a word in a strained tone:
"paralysis!"

In an instant, a large amount of light green light shot out, flying towards Roger in a dense array.

Roger didn't dodge or evade, but instead took out "John's Magic Book" and released the "paper doll substitute" that he had recorded from Klein.

Three beams of green light instantly struck the paper figure that resembled Roger in both shape and height. Meanwhile, the shadowy figure of a young man flashed across Roger's body, immediately unleashing several fireballs radiating intense heat and the aura of sulfur at Ludwig Sergei.

This is one of the abilities he gained after becoming the "Shepherd" and enslaving Jason Beria, the "Apostle of Desire"!

Ludwig snorted and scattered another cloud of blue powder.

These powders expanded rapidly in the air, turning into waves that instantly extinguished the sulfur fireballs.

A large amount of steam filled the deck, making visibility very poor, but this did not affect Ludwig, who could track his prey through the occult means of "the Eye of the Secret," or Roger, who also possessed the ability of "secret insight."

The latter stood in the mist, and suddenly raised his eyes upward, a white light spreading deep within his pupils.

Ludwig's figure was instantly "revealed" in mid-air. Countless ice crystal blades he released using another scroll were now pouring down, but before they could hit Roger, the latter raised his left hand.

The icy blades rained down on Roger, but instantly turned into tiny ice crystals, causing no harm whatsoever.

He used the "parasite glove" to steal the "toughness" property of those ice crystal blades!

Then a slender figure quickly appeared on Roger's body, and an ice crystal spear in his hand quickly took shape with the help of water vapor and was aimed at Ludwig in the air.

Ludwig was startled by what he saw. He immediately sprinkled transparent powder on himself and waved his hands behind his back. A strong wind swept in, which not only dispersed the fog but also allowed him to narrowly avoid being shot by Roger's ice crystal spear.

However, as soon as Ludwig landed, he began to sneeze violently.

The young man in red looked at Roger in disbelief. He now realized that when he manipulated the wind to blow the mist toward him, Roger had already mixed in the occult pathogen.

That spear was merely a cover for the occult pathogen, because Roger knew that Ludwig's "Prying Eyes" could see Adeline's spirit, so he deliberately summoned the soul of this "Witch of Pain" for an extra second, successfully completing the superimposed release of the ice crystal spear and the occult pathogen.

The pathogen was incredibly powerful. Ludwig had only sneezed a few times when he began coughing violently. Soon after, he became weak all over, knelt on one knee, and gasped for breath.

Roger, holding an ice crystal spear, walked unhurriedly to Ludwig, who had already developed a high fever, and without thinking, stabbed the red-clad youth lying on the ground in front of him.

However, before his hand could finally land, he felt his entire body stiffen.

This stiff feeling spread rapidly, and even Roger's thinking began to slow down, as if he were being controlled by something.

Roger's gaze sharpened; he immediately realized that this was the ability of the "Master of Puppets"!

It's almost certain that this is the power of some sealed artifact carried by Ludwig.

Having been infected with the occult pathogen, he deliberately feigned weakness to lull Roger into a false sense of security, and then unleashed his Occult Transformation on Roger in return.

Once the mysticization is complete, Ludwig will be able to manipulate Roger to remove the mystical pathogens that Roger has released onto him.

Roger never expected that killing a pirate would bring him such an unexpected reward.

After all, "Master of the Puppet" is another Tier 5 Tier 0 besides "Shepherd"!

If it were an ordinary person, there's a high probability they'd die here after being subjected to this.

However, by sheer coincidence, Roger possessed a sealed artifact that was extremely effective at countering the abilities of the "Puppet Master".

That is the "little duck" that corresponds to the extraordinary characteristics of the "puppet"!
As the saying goes, secret puppets and wooden puppets are forever. In a sense, these two abilities are opposites of each other, with both a cooperative relationship and a restraining relationship.

For the "puppet," breaking free from the control of the "Master Puppet's" spiritual threads couldn't be easier.

That is to first turn himself into a puppet before the puppetization is completed, and then use the power of the "Source of the Curse" to make Ludwig suffer a backlash from the spirit threads he released!

Without thinking, Roger's once bright eyes suddenly turned cloudy and glassy, ​​and even the skin on his body hardened rapidly, turning into a state like wood.

His soul had already left his body, controlling it through invisible threads.

At this moment, Ludwig had already sat up, and the tips of his five fingers on his right hand emitted a dark light, as if it was from there that he was interfering with and controlling the "spiritual thread".

On the other hand, the young pirate in red used all his strength to throw a cloud of red powder at Roger from his left hand.

The powder transformed into flames resembling red lotus flowers in mid-air, quickly enveloping Roger.

However, Roger did not stand still and become a puppet at his mercy as he had expected. Instead, his whole body seemed to turn into a real puppet, his head turning towards him with a "click-click-click" sound, revealing a chilling smile that could trigger the Ludwig Valley effect.

Before Ludwig could use his "Prying Eyes" to see Roger's spirit body clearly, he saw that the "spiritual threads" that were originally wrapped around the other's physical body suddenly began to twist, as if they had been disturbed and confused in some way.

At the same time, Ludwig screamed loudly as his clothes caught fire and the flames he released engulfed him in an instant.

This is not the weirdest thing.

Most bizarrely, the "spiritual threads" that had almost completely controlled Roger bounced off and instead shot towards Ludwig himself, who was controlling them!
Ludwig immediately felt his body and mind become sluggish, and his clarity of mind dwindling, like a ship with a hole gradually being submerged by the floodwaters.

However, the burning sensation also became weaker and weaker, as if his body was gradually no longer his own.

This put Ludwig in a dilemma. On the one hand, he felt that this would reduce the pain, but on the other hand, he was trying to break free from the control of the "spiritual threads".

However, the sealed artifact in his hand was completely unresponsive to his commands.

Ludwig, who was originally his master, could easily undo the puppetization process on a target, but the "source of the curse" of the "puppet" could reverse the relationship between the attacker and the attacked on a mystical level.

In other words, the current spiritual threads were released by the former Ludwig and are aimed at the former Roger.

At this point, the relationship between the attackers and defenders has changed. In a symbolic sense, the person who activated the Spirit Thread has been replaced by Roger, while Ludwig, who originally released it, has become the prey.

Although Roger couldn't control those spirit threads, neither could Ludwig; they could only wait to die, as if trapped in an unsolvable bug.

After all, a demigod-level sealed artifact is not something to be trifled with.
Unless Roger is determined to save Ludwig, Ludwig will never be able to escape his mysticization.

Roger, who was determined to kill Ludwig from the very beginning, how could he possibly save him?
However, just as Ludwig's skin was extensively burned and he was about to be completely transformed into a mystic, Roger took the initiative to remove the "source of the curse."

Ludwig was completely exhausted. He collapsed onto the deck with a thud, and with all his might, he looked up at Roger, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm just worried that mysticization will affect the quality of your spirit body."

Roger quickly conjured an ice crystal spear in his right hand and aimed it at Ludwig's head.

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

he asked.

Ludwig's mouth opened slightly, and he weakly uttered a few words.

Although the sound was very soft, Roger could hear it clearly.

He said, "Let me go, I have money."

Roger, however, thrust out his ice crystal spear and blew off Ludwig's handsome head.

Then, looking at the pile of mangled flesh on the ground, he said with some regret:

"What a terrible last words."

He directly activated the "Shepherd's" ability to enslave souls, absorbing the twisted and struggling soul of Ludwig and the corresponding extraordinary characteristics of the "Scroll Professor" that emitted a faint purple light into his own body.

Roger had already thought things through regarding his choice of abilities.

He first and foremost chose the "Fighting Scholar" fighting ability without hesitation.

This is the ability Roger has always longed for; it can greatly improve his fighting skills and all-around basic qualities, while also allowing him to master various fighting styles.

On the other hand, with the additional combat capabilities and physical attributes provided by the "Dawn Gauntlets", he can use the "Sword of Dawn" more freely and truly unleash an attack power no less than that of a Sequence 6 "Warrior".

For his second ability, Roger chose "scroll making".

This is the core ability of the "Scroll Professor": he can summon Ludwig's spirit to help him use the corresponding knowledge to create various scrolls with different effects.

For his third ability, Roger chose the magical abilities of a "wizard".

Although the various spells cast by "wizards" may appear different and belong to completely different abilities, they are essentially the same. They are either visual magic created by "wizards" using symbolic memory or spell magic cast through incantations.

In all powder-based spells, symbols and incantations belong to the same knowledge system, and the same is true for the different powders, which need to be made from various materials.

Therefore, Roger chose the magical abilities of a "wizard," which meant possessing multiple abilities simultaneously. He only needed to create the corresponding powder in advance and then have Ludwig release it.

It can be said that "wizards" are one of the most cost-effective soul types that "shepherds" can enslave, not to mention that Ludwig's strength has reached the level of Sequence 6, and the effect of the "wizard" he releases is 30% stronger than that of Sequence 7.

Finally, Roger quickly searched Ludwig's body for the remaining powder and scrolls, and then removed the glove from the red-clad youth's right hand.

Just as he expected, Ludwig had a black finger guard on the middle finger of his right hand.

"This is the extraordinary item that can unleash 'spirit threads' and transform opponents into golems..."

Since the containment conditions of this extraordinary item were still unclear, Roger first put it into the "Old Days Box," intending to study it slowly when he had time.

"The harvest was plentiful."

Roger was very satisfied with the spoils of today's battle.

Not only did Roger obtain the extraordinary soul he had always longed for and increase the number of souls he enslaved to three, he also obtained many spellcasting materials, scrolls, and a powerful sealing artifact.

"'Shepherd' plus 'Master of Mysteries'—even without considering the 'Leaker' ability, I'm still one of the top combatants in Sequence 5."

Roger turned around and walked into the cabin.

As soon as Roger entered the dining room, he heard groans and a large group of people discussing how to deal with the subdued pirates and how to deal with more enemies outside.

When Roger returned, everyone stopped talking.

They looked at the young man with great awe, having witnessed his feat of single-handedly forcing Ludwig Sergei back onto the deck.

Now that Roger has returned to the dining room, the outcome of their duel is self-evident. Roger glanced at the "witch" sitting on the ground, looking dejected, laughing and crying at the same time, and then nodded to Captain Thor.

Captain Thor understood and led First Mate Burke and Second Mate Remier out.

But Roger grabbed him and whispered something in his ear.

Captain Thor was taken aback for a moment, then his face lit up with surprise.

He turned to his sailors and said:

“Kids, follow John’s instructions. He’s the boss today.”

After finishing, the middle-aged man patted Roger on the shoulder and walked out of the cabin.

"Bandit".

Roger crouched down, hoisted the tabby cat Bandit, who had just been involved in a chaotic battle, onto his shoulder, and then addressed the sailors:
"Tie this one and that one up, and throw the rest into the sea."

Roger pointed at the two pirates and then pointed to the sea outside.

Upon hearing Roger's words, the pirates immediately let out a series of wailing and howling sounds.

But none of this mattered. The sailors already hated these bastards who hijacked the ship and killed people to the core. In addition, these people had been beaten into submission. At this moment, they all rushed forward and dragged them onto the deck.

"Ladies, please leave. Children, please leave. Gentlemen who do not wish to be traumatized may also leave. We do not require you to watch the following violent scenes."

Roger said loudly.

In an instant, all the women left with their children, and even the witch tried to slip away, but Roger grabbed her.

"You stay."

"Oh."

The demoness nodded calmly, then sat down and watched Roger's next move.

Roger picked up the "Death-Defying Revolver" and his own large-caliber revolver, loaded them with bullets, and then walked up to the two tied-up pirates, pointing the large-caliber revolver at one of them in the head.

Both of these individuals were identified by Roger as Extraordinary Beings; one was a Sequence 9 "Sailor," and the other a Sequence 8 "Wrathful People."

Where is Ivan Bratov?

Faced with Roger's question, the "raging man" whose head was being pointed at immediately spoke up:

"Cao'er, I don't know! I..."

"boom!"

Roger blew the man's head off with a single shot.

"He has such a terrible temper; he was about to die and he still got angry with me."

He shook his head, then pointed the gun at "Sailor" expressionlessly.

Where is Ivan Bratov?

Meanwhile, outside the porthole behind Roger, pirates were being thrown off the deck like dumplings, their trajectories passing right through the plane where the dining room was located.

The sight of this enraged the "sailor" to the core; these weren't passengers, they were pirates!

No, not pirates, but demons!

"I don't know! I've been acting alone with Ludwig Sergei the whole time!"

The "sailor" shook his head frantically, but seeing Roger preparing to pull the trigger, he added:
"But I can take you to find it!"

"That's pretty much it."

Roger paused for two seconds, then put away his gun and pulled "Sailor" to a chair nearby.

The latter was panting heavily, while looking thankful that he had reacted quickly enough to survive.

"gentlemen."

The baby-faced man named Philip stepped forward and extended his hand in a friendly manner:

"Philip Hoover, retired Navy."

"John West, art dealer."

Roger also extended his hand and shook hands with Philip.

“Mr. John, there’s something I’m not sure if I should say.”

Philip Hoover began somewhat uncertainly:
"You look a bit like that famous singer..."

"You got the wrong person."

Roger shook his head, then stared at Philip.

The meaning is clear: don't talk nonsense here.

"Hmm, they must have mistaken someone for someone else."

Philip nodded, then spoke again:

"Thank you for your help just now. The Kingdom's navy has been hunting down Bulatov and his gang for a long time. I didn't expect to run into them again after I retired."

"From what you just said, you seem to have a grudge against Bulatov?"

"No, I just enjoy hunting pirates, especially those who like to mess with me."

Roger shook his head and said it casually.

"Mr. West, what do you think of this?"

Philip paused for a moment, then began to speak:

"I systematically learned ship handling and maritime tracking skills when I was in the navy. If you want to hunt down Bratov, I can help you."

"I don't want anything else, just give me 1% of the bounty after you capture Bratov, what do you think?"

"The bounty for that 'Twilight General' is a whopping £47,000."

Upon hearing Philip's words, his two companions immediately came up to dissuade him, accusing him of being reckless.

You don't understand.

“I once had a comrade who died at the hands of Bulatov.”

Philip shook his head, his expression turning somewhat somber.

Upon hearing his words, his two companions fell silent, as if recalling something.

Seeing this, Roger agreed to Philip's request.

"Please take good care of the business matters."

After explaining the rest to his companions, Philip found a quiet place to sit down.

"you."

Roger walked up to the "witch" and asked:
"You're quite capable. You're Sequence 6, right? What mission did the Witch Cult send you to sea for?"

"I don't carry out missions for anyone; I just drift at sea."

The "witch" shook her head, her eyes somewhat unfocused, as if recalling something sad.

"interesting."

Roger nodded. "My name is John West. What's your name?"

"Linsaria Louise".

The "witch" replied.

"Interested in joining my plan? I'll give you ten percent of the reward if it's successful."

Luo Jie extended an invitation.

"I don't want the bounty."

Linssaya shook her head: "You owe me a favor, and I'll find a chance for you to repay it."

"Of course, I won't cheat you, I won't kill you, and I won't exceed your capabilities."

Roger nodded and agreed.

Indeed, for a Sequence 6 "witch" who has clearly been adrift at sea for a long time, having too much money is of little use.

In contrast, she seemed to have something on her mind, which is why she accepted Roger's invitation.

On the other hand, compared to her previous madness, Lindsay is now clearly able to communicate, which puts Roger at ease.

"Everyone has worked hard. Go back to your rooms and rest. We'll have a meeting at 8 p.m. sharp."

Roger yawned, then turned and walked toward his first-class cabin.

“Mr. West.”

The "sailor" suddenly spoke with a fawning smile:

"I don't want to stay here, I feel very uncomfortable."

"Can I come with you?"

"I can do all these chores, like cleaning and serving tea and water."

P.S.: Thank you all for your concern and well wishes. I feel much better today. Yesterday, I found a beautiful spot by the water and nestled against the mountains for Bandit's burial. I hope he rests in peace.

Finally, here's a picture of it sleeping with me in bed before.

(End of this chapter)