Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 227 Emlyn's Intelligence
Monday afternoon, Bay of Bay, northwest of Bayam.

Roger stood on the deck, looking through his binoculars at the "Generous City" of Bayam, not far away, where the flags of the Kingdom of Rune and Bayam were fluttering, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, we should be able to reach Bayam before dark today."

"Meow, are you sure?"

Bandit said with some suspicion.

Since boarding the "Star Lord", Bandit's seasickness symptoms have improved a lot, so it often accompanies Roger on his patrols on the deck. Sometimes it will even go up to the deck to find fish that have been pulled up by the sailors or that have jumped off the deck due to the wind and waves and fallen on the deck to eat.

"Of course, I lied to you when."

Roger smiled and reached out his right hand to scratch Bandit on his left shoulder.

After two days at sea, Roger, with the help of Philip and Matteo, had already grasped many basic concepts of sea navigation, such as how to estimate speed by wind speed and the horsepower of steam turbines, how to measure distances with binoculars, and the various daily management details and arrangements on board.

Matteo was indeed an excellent boatswain. He had extensive seafaring experience, and his young sailors trusted him implicitly. In addition, Matteo himself was a Sequence 8 Beyonder, so no one dared to disobey him.

Even so, Roger still participated in a lot of actual management. In Philip's words, a soldier needs to know who his superior is and who he is fighting for.

Therefore, in this situation, if the commander can meet with the soldiers frequently and become quite familiar with them, he can better manage the grassroots level on the one hand, and prevent himself from being sidelined on the other.

Especially during this process, Roger had already established his initial authority.

Sure enough, two sailors soon passed by and immediately saluted Roger when they saw him.

"Good afternoon, Captain."

They said respectfully.

Good afternoon, guys.

Roger patted them on the shoulder, and then said:

"Tell the brothers that I need to go back to my cabin to rest for a while. Don't disturb me until we reach Bayam."

"Yes, Captain."

The two sailors nodded and then watched Roger descend the stairs and return to his captain's cabin.

Roger had just returned to the captain's cabin and sat down, leaving Bendit to play by himself, when he felt his entire body burst forth with the light of rust-colored stars.

The next moment, he arrived at the "Source Castle" above the gray fog.

On his side sat three gentlemen: "The Hanged Man," "The Sun," and "The Moon," while opposite him sat two ladies: "Justice" and "The Magician."

Mr. Fool and his trumpet Mr. World sat facing each other, at the head and end of the long bronze table, respectively.

Good afternoon, Mr. Fool.

"Justice" Audrey stood up and greeted everyone in a lighthearted tone, following the order of the Major Arcana cards in the Tarot.

As the number of members in the Tarot Club increased, Miss Justice began to exhibit some obsessive-compulsive tendencies. She had to greet people strictly in order, starting with "The Fool" and ending with "The World".

"What a well-bred, carefree girl..."

Emlyn responded politely to the greeting, then glanced discreetly at "The Sun," Derrick, beside him.

After the argument at the Tarot Club last time, Emlyn went home and specifically learned a lot about the hidden history of the vampires from another vampire, Baron Wimandy.

It has to be said that this greatly overturned Emlyn's worldview, and he had to admit that many of the things Mr. "Sun" had said earlier did make some sense.

The only thing Emlyn didn't understand was why, even though he had already done what Utravsky had asked him to do, he would still unconsciously go to the Harvest Church every day.

Just as he was thinking this, “Moon” Emlyn suddenly heard “Justice” say to “Fool”:
“Dear Mr. Fool, I have brought you three more pages of Emperor Roselle’s diary. Please take a look.”

“'Fool', I also have three new pages of the diary of Emperor Roselle.”

The "magician" lady also spoke up.

That wasn't all; "The Sun," Derrick, also spoke up:

“Great ‘Fool’, I have also copied down some legends of the ancient gods to offer to you, as well as a list of monsters around Silver City to share with everyone.”

Upon hearing this, "The Fool" Klein was immediately delighted, having obtained six pages of Roselle's diary in one go—a rare occurrence since the founding of the Tarot Society.

On the other hand, he was also impressed by the sincerity of his classmate "Sun".

This child hardly needs to be taught; he knows when and how to help others.

He nodded with pleasure, and then made pens and paper for the two ladies, "Justice" and "Magician," as well as for "The Sun," Derrick, and watched them scribbling away.

After a while, the six pages of the diary and the legend of the ancient god were transmitted to the hands of "The Fool" Klein, who took a deep breath and began to read the contents.

After a quick glance, "The Fool" Klein was disappointed to find that two of the six pages of the diary were repetitions of previous entries. However, this was not because the two ladies, "Justice" and "The Magician," did not understand the true meaning of Chinese characters. In addition, they were unable to read the diary of Emperor Roselle that had been passed on from the gentlemen "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Hanged Man," so they were unaware that they were submitting information that Mr. "The Fool" had already read.

The remaining four pages of the diary were even more intoxicating for Klein.

Those four pages of the diary were all written during the period when Huang Tao lost his mind and became obsessed with money.

It was filled with self-satisfied information like "I invented something today" and "I sold so much money," but which was of no use to Klein at the moment.

Mr. Fool struggled to suppress the urge to press his temples and looked at the few pages of notes about ancient god legends provided by his classmate, "Sun".

On that, the ancient gods of the Second Age were roughly divided into three camps.

The first faction consists of Giant King Olmir, Elf King Suniasolem, and the progenitor of vampires, Lilith.

The second faction consists of "Dragon of Imagination" Angelweid, the progenitor of the Phoenix, Gregari, and the alien king Kvasithun.

These two camps have long been in opposition and confrontation with each other, while the third camp consists of the demon king Fabti and the destructive wolf Fregra, who disregard and want to overthrow all order and corrupt all living beings.

On the other hand, in the records of Silver City, almost all the ancient gods are described as tyrannical, cruel, evil and terrifying. Even Lilith, the progenitor of vampires who has the most normal appearance and is known as the "incarnation of beauty", has a ferocious and disgusting side.

All the beings that came into contact with them, except for other ancient gods, lost their minds, went mad, or mutated on the spot. The records of Silver City came from the so-called Giant Court, but Klein did not know whether they were true or false.

However, this does indeed align with the information Klein had previously gathered—because it was during the Second Age that the ancient giants, represented by Hermes, gradually discovered the correct potion advancement sequence and the relationship between adjacent pathways, laying a solid foundation for the arrival of the Third Age and even the Age of Gods.

After reviewing the information, "The Fool" Klein took a deep breath and then spoke:

"You can start."

As soon as he said this, Roger, the "Wheel of Fortune," immediately turned to look at Alger, the "Hanged Man," beside him.

"Mr. 'The Hanged Man,' it's so nice to meet you."

"I must tell you that I have officially begun my pirate career in the Sunia Sea and will arrive in Bayam before nightfall tonight."

These words were spoken casually, even with a hint of sharing joy, but they greatly alarmed Alger, the "Hanged Man."

Mr. "The Fool's" follower, Mr. "Wheel of Fortune," the saint of the "Aurora Society," has gone to become a pirate?

Why did he become a pirate? Was it for fun? Or did he have some other purpose?

On the other hand, with Mr. Wheel of Fortune's saintly strength, he should be able to rival the four kings of the sea!
Alger, the "Hanged Man," suppressed his shock and tried to keep his tone calm as he spoke:

"How many ships does your fleet have? What are its characteristics?"

The implication is that although Alger himself is an official Church Extraordinary, he can arrange for some people to assist Roger.

"Uh……"

This question stumped Roger, who gave an awkward laugh and said:

"To be honest, there is only one ship."

A ship?

Alger, the "Hanged Man," doubted he had misheard. Seeing that Roger seemed inclined to continue speaking, he remained calm and did not utter a word.

As expected, Mr. "Wheel of Fortune" continued:
"It's called the 'Star Lord,' and it's a ship I stole from the second mate of 'Twilight' Bratov."

Upon hearing this, Alger, the "Hanged Man," immediately understood something and pressed for an answer:

"Blatov's second mate? 'The Executioner' Ludwig Sergei?"

Why did you steal his ship? Just to become a pirate?

"Actually, if you need a boat, you can just contact me directly, and I can help you..."

However, before Alger could finish speaking, Roger laughed and said:
"No, it was Ludwig Sergei who robbed me."

Upon hearing this, the entire bronze table fell into complete silence.

The Wheel of Fortune looked around at everyone and then spoke:

“I killed Ludwig, enslaved his soul, and sailed away with his ship. As I sailed, I found it quite interesting, so I formed my own pirate crew.”

He scratched his head: "Of course, as I said, there's only one ship right now."

These words deepened the silence in the room, and even "The Fool" Klein's eyes twitched wildly as he silently cursed Roger in his heart.

What kind of plot is this where a second mate of a powerful pirate can kill people at will, steal other people's ships, and become a pirate himself?
"I thought my experiences were bizarre enough, but I never imagined Roger would become a pirate in just a few days?"

However, in Alger's view, this was indeed just a basic operation for a saint. Ludwig Sergei, the "Executioner," who was only in the middle sequence, must have had some terrible misfortune to run into such a tough opponent. This also explains why Mr. Wheel of Fortune had his eye on Bratov.

After thinking it through, the captain of the "Azure Avenger" finally spoke:

“I understand, Mr. Wheel of Fortune.”

"Although you are powerful, I still have to remind you that Ludwig Sergei's ship may have some kind of tracking system..."

But then Roger, the "Wheel of Fortune," shook his head again:

“It’s alright, a friend of mine has completely remodeled the boat for me, and all the potential problems you mentioned have been eliminated.”

As Alger said, when the "mysterious queen" Bernadette helped with the renovation, she did find similar things, but she cleaned them all up without keeping any.

Seeing Roger say this, Alger, the "Hanged Man," could only nod in silence once again and continue:

"OK.

"Would you mind if I told you your plans for the future? How long do you intend to stay in Bayam?"

Roger, the "Wheel of Fortune," laughed:
"I'm going to look for clues about the star core in the 'City of Generosity,' then experience the local customs and culture. After that, I'll try to 'bump into' Bratov in the western waters of Rothde, and then see if I can kill him."

With the groundwork laid earlier, everyone in the "Tarot Club" except for "The Moon" Emlyn had almost developed a resistance to Roger's statement that he wanted to kill a pirate general.

After all, Mr. Wheel of Fortune had killed two Aurora Society Saints, so what was a mere pirate general?
“Mr. ‘Wheel of Fortune’, speaking of which, I have some information to tell you.”

"The Hanged Man" Alger suddenly remembered something: "I've been gathering intelligence on 'Twilight General' Bratov lately, and there are many clues pointing to his connection with the Church of War."

“You’re absolutely right, I’ve confirmed that myself.”

Roger answered without hesitation.

"Actually, I'm more concerned about someone else than Bratov. Do you know the pirate Mitron Gadirs?"

"Mitron Gadirs?"

Upon hearing this, Alger, the "Hanged Man," immediately nodded:

“I know. This person has a small fleet and often engages in plundering and murder in the area around the White Whale Sea. On one occasion, he even hijacked an energy cargo ship belonging to the Kingdom’s Ministry of Commerce and took all the supplies on board.”

"In fact, the Church of Storms has been watching him for a long time and has basically identified him as a local who frequently travels around the island of Oravi and has a considerable power base there."

"If I remember correctly, his bounty is around 9500 gold pounds, which makes him one of the more powerful figures below the seven pirate generals."

Roger, the "Wheel of Fortune," nodded:
"As far as I know, he was close to Blatov, and on the other hand, Mitron Gadirs also exhibited many unusual characteristics."

“I interrogated his cousin in the Gargas Islands, who claimed that Mitronc Gádirs went to live on Damir Island when he was twelve years old and only recently returned, after the two sides had completely lost contact in between. He only returned in recent years.”

"There are quite a few strange things about this matter."

"What's strange about it?"

Alger was a little taken aback, because at sea, it was very common for a large family to be scattered across different seas due to life and business reasons, and to lose contact forever.

"As far as I know, he is a 'Faceless Man' of Sequence 6 of the 'Diviner' pathway, who has the ability to change his appearance and height."

In other words, nobody knows what he actually looks like.

Roger then gave his summary.

Faceless man?
Upon hearing this, "Fool" Klein's first reaction was that the other party must have some connection with the Secret Order.

Although Klein hasn't played Gehrman Sparrow for very long, he has gained some experience and insights during that time.

That is, the role of the "Faceless Man" is actually closely related to the substitution of social identity.

Furthermore, a "faceless" pirate who roams the seas for a long time is either impersonating someone else like himself, or, in the process of impersonating someone else, is looking for an opportunity to advance to the level of "Master of the Puppet," that is, to find out the whereabouts of the mermaid.

After all, the Aolawi Islands are very close to the Gargas Islands, and there are rumors of mermaids living along the shipping routes in that area.

Then, he controlled his alias "Mr. World" and let out a sinister cough.

The sound immediately drew everyone's attention, and then, under everyone's gaze, Mr. "World" in the gray fog considered for a moment before speaking and offering his advice:

"Mr. 'Wheel of Fortune's' speculation makes a lot of sense to me. This 'Faceless Man' is likely to have taken over someone else's identity and is trying to play the corresponding role."

"One of the rules of the 'Faceless Man' role-playing is to completely replace a person and then fully integrate into their social relationships and identity."

“Mitron Gadirs may have a lot to do with the Secret Order... On the other hand, if you have the chance, you can investigate the situation of that man named Mitron Gadirs on Damir Island.”

"If nothing unexpected happens, I suspect he is dead, and you may find out the true story of this pirate from the person who killed him or stole his identity."

These words made everyone, including Miss Justice, feel very uneasy.

The ability to transform into someone else and steal their identity—what kind of bizarre power is this?
It can be said that unless it involves extraordinary abilities, the longer the "Faceless Man" identity is impersonated, the less likely he is to be discovered, even by his "relatives and friends".

The existence of this ability is undoubtedly frightening, because it means that the family and friends around them, whom they see every day, could very well be "Faceless" in disguise.

Even Alger, the "Hanged Man," had a very solemn expression.

In his view, although Mitrom Gadirs was a powerful pirate, he was not a major concern of the Storm Church because his influence was not particularly significant.

However, if he possesses the ability to transform into other people's appearances and has an identity background with an outer secret order, this becomes a significant uncontrollable factor.

Suddenly, Alger remembered something and asked again:

"By the way, Mr. 'World,' speaking of which, I have something I'd like to ask you."

"It has been a long time since the assassination of Intis Ambassador Beckeran Jean Madin, and we now have much information about what happened back then."

"At that time, the Aurora Society's messenger seemed to have transformed into a wealthy young lady from a rich family to get close to Beckron. Could this be the power of the 'Faceless Man'?"

"should be."

Mr. World nodded in a hoarse voice.

"Okay, thank you, I understand. I will investigate Mitron's situation."

"Furthermore, Mr. 'Wheel of Fortune,' due to my circumstances, I am unable to directly participate in the hunting operation against Bratov. Please understand."

"However, I can provide you with relevant information, which I hope will be helpful."

Because the issue involved a struggle between churches, Alger, the "Hanged Man," a member of the Church of Storms, could not get too involved and could only provide support from the sidelines.

"Of course, I understand, Mr. 'Hanged Man'."

Roger, the "Wheel of Fortune," nodded: "You have been a great help to me all along."

Hearing Roger say this, Alger, the "Hanged Man," also breathed a sigh of relief:
“It is my honor, Mr. Wheel of Fortune.”

After the three finished their discussion, Roger, the "Wheel of Fortune," smiled and looked at Fors Wall, the "Magician," opposite him, and said:

“Miss Magician, how did our last meeting go?”

He was referring to the meeting that Alice had previously arranged for Fors to meet with members of the Abraham family.

"Thanks to you, our meeting was very pleasant."

The "magician" lady nodded, then sighed:

"It has to be said that the family has a very deep foundation. Even the young people have knowledge that is beyond the reach of ordinary people."

“I was greatly inspired by them, and we have now become friends and agreed to meet at least once every two weeks.”

"That's good."

Roger nodded, referring to "The Wheel of Fortune." In fact, he had already received Alice's message and learned the general outline of the situation.

The knowledgeable young man mentioned by the "magician" lady is undoubtedly Sam.

The boy was already very intelligent and possessed a great deal of knowledge about mysticism. With his mentor Klein sharing mature insights into playing the "clown," his progress in mastering the "clown" potion was extremely rapid.

According to his own estimate, he should have at most a month before he can prepare to be promoted to "Magician".

"I hope you can maintain this good relationship and help each other with any problems."

"Yes, rest assured, Mr. 'Wheel of Fortune'."

"The Magician" Fors nodded solemnly.

At this moment, Emlyn, the "Moon," tentatively raised his hand and looked at Roger, the "Wheel of Fortune," beside him:
“Um, Mr. ‘Wheel of Fate’, I think I have some clues about the meteorite core you mentioned last time.”

Roger was delighted to hear this and immediately said:
"Please tell me in detail."

Emlyn nodded slightly:
"It's not in my possession, but in the hands of a very demanding collector among the vampires. Furthermore, its exact age and the interstellar space from which it originated are unknown, and I don't know how to authenticate it."

"What I mean is, I can't be sure if that meteorite is what you want, and I'm not sure if that vampire is willing to sell it."

Do you have any ideas on this?

(End of this chapter)