Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 231 Liar
"Wow~~~ What a big, fresh fish, meow."

Just seconds after entering the "Potlu Market", Bandit immediately spotted a bluefin tuna hanging not far away, which was more than two meters long and nearly three meters long.

Because of the destruction of ancient technological civilization, although the Earth has experienced many calamities in the countless years that followed, many marine creatures that were originally on the verge of extinction have been able to recuperate and survive, and their populations have even become much larger than in Roger's time.

Although Roger was not a fish expert, he knew that tuna, especially bluefin tuna, had once been listed as "critically endangered" due to its slow growth and overfishing.

At that time, it was very difficult to catch a tuna at sea, let alone such a super-large individual that could grow to about three meters long.

"Didn't you just eat?"

Roger flicked Bandit's forehead lightly with his finger, and the cat immediately complained:

"For us cats, we can never get enough of fish, just like you humans, once you find a beautiful wife, do you stop secretly looking at other beautiful women on the street?"

"Who taught you all this nonsense?"

Roger chuckled and shook his head.

It must be said that although the Portobello Market is not as large as the ancient Central Bajam Market, the market mentioned in the ancient ballad "Bajam Market" which is sung across the five seas, it is comparable in size to the Portobello Market in Backlund, and it has the advantage of having a great many strange and rare items.

There were also shady deals involved. Roger even saw two men go to a fish shop and come out carrying a giant salmon that was over a meter long and looked very fresh.

However, Roger was able to use his "secret insight" and keen observation of the abnormal bending of the two men's legs to detect the metal objects hidden inside the fish's belly.

It's most likely weapons, and specifically the types of weapons that are restricted from import into Bayam.

Roger began to understand why the Potrue market only opened after nightfall. In Bayam, where all sorts of people gathered, the night was indeed an excellent camouflage for all kinds of gray or black transactions.

Roger visited several shops that dealt in unusual stones or minerals, but found no valuable clues.

"Boss, what would you like to see?"

At the end of the Portluy Market, at the last stall selling various ores, a short, lean stall owner with a small mustache, who looked quite shrewd and capable, warmly greeted Roger as he approached.

"just looking around."

Roger didn't say much. He glanced around the stalls, casually picked up a stone that was dark yellowish-black in color, but with a small, bright green tip, and asked:

What kind of stone is this?

"Boss, you have a really good eye."

The boss immediately flattered him, saying:
"This is a rough emerald from a local mine in the Rothschild Islands. The green color you see is from the emerald vein."

"You can get it for just 100 gold pounds."

"Emeralds? Are they valuable?"

Roger asked, somewhat surprised.

"Of course it's valuable. You may not have seen His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Rune, but I have seen him with my own eyes... His most frequently carried scepter and crown are inlaid with these emeralds—they are incredibly beautiful."

As the short boss spoke, he glanced at Roger's surprised and envious reaction, feeling a little smug.

“You are very lucky to have the opportunity to meet His Majesty the King.”

Roger praised him repeatedly, but inwardly he really wanted to laugh.

He not only met George III twice and received his commendation, but also had a close relationship with his son. He even went further by taking his younger sister to blow up the old man's tomb, providing George III with immense emotional value.

Therefore, Roger knew very well that neither George III's scepter nor his crown contained the emeralds the stall owner had boasted about.

The funniest thing is that George III didn't know until the car accident that the person who led him to his doom was the very "Outstanding Young Artist of the Kingdom" whom he greatly admired and even personally rewarded.

Before the three major churches joined forces to force George III to resign and investigate, George III even listened to Roger's composition "The Four Seasons: Winter" on a portable wind-up phonograph invented by Roger, with the help of his personal servants, trying to calm himself with the melody that could soothe the restless soul.

"To be honest, I'm ashamed to say that despite my appearance, my ancestors were well-known mineral merchants in Bayam... It was only due to some unforeseen circumstances that I was forced to set up a stall here."

Seeing Roger take the bait, the boss sighed and made up a story, shaping his own persona and adding soft value and persuasiveness to the stone.

"To be honest, I didn't want to sell this stone originally because it's too troublesome to process. After you buy it, find a reliable mineralogy specialist to help you disassemble it, and then remove the emerald inside for polishing. It'll be easy to sell it for a good price."

The mustachioed shop owner solemnly assured him.

"Wow, they've been gambling on jade stones since this day?"

Roger nodded repeatedly, but inwardly he couldn't help but grumble.

He could clearly sense that there was nothing of value in the stone in front of him; it was completely worthless.

However, before he could say anything more, a series of hurried and heavy footsteps came from the direction of the entrance to the "Bottlu Market".

"Rosman, you bastard!"

Roger turned around and saw a tall, thin middle-aged man, followed by two burly men in suits, angrily walking towards the stall in front of him.

The thin, middle-aged man held two cut stones in his hands. The stones had a bright green surface, but the inside was hollow and had a texture similar to granite.

"You bastard, you swore to me that there would be something inside this broken stone if I cut it open. Luckily, I was smart enough to cut it before leaving Bayam, otherwise I would have been fooled by you."

"It's one thing for you to lie to others, but you even dare to lie to me. I think you're tired of living."

The middle-aged man roared and ordered his men to step forward. One of them kicked the boss, named Rossman, in the knee, forcing him to his knees, while another man held him down.

Without a word, the middle-aged man kicked over Rossman's stall, pulled a revolver from his pocket, and held it to Rossman's head.
"Give me back every single penny today, plus double the amount as compensation for my emotional distress."

As the middle-aged man spoke, his finger was already on the trigger:
"Or I'll send you to see the Lord of Storms right now!"

"Spare me, Mr. Zorn, spare me!"

Rossman, his face contorted in grief, wailed repeatedly:
"I told you before I sold the stone that it was just a matter of probability, the probability was relatively high... This kind of thing has a bit of a gambling element to it, who can say for sure?"

"Besides, I have no money right now, I, I..."

"Where's your money?"

"It was all used for gambling..."

Completely ignoring the onlookers and curious stares of the surrounding vendors and pedestrians, Rossman continued:

"Otherwise, you can pick a few more stones from here and take them with you. Take whatever you like, as my way of apologizing to you."

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

The middle-aged man named Zorn became even more furious upon hearing this. He was now absolutely certain that all the stones on Rossman's stall were fakes, and not a single one was genuine.

"Mr. Zorn, is that right?"

At this moment, Roger, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.

"Yes, that's me. What brings you here?"

Zorn glared at Roger, his yellow teeth emitting a foul stench that made Roger quickly and discreetly use the "Rose Bishop" ability to add two invisible covers to the inside of his nostrils, his expression unchanged.

"Hello, I'm also a customer. May I ask how much money this guy cheated you out of?"

“A full five hundred gold pounds.”

Zorn glanced at the incredibly intelligent tabby cat on Roger's shoulder, then glared and puffed out his cheeks: "And then that bastard spent all that money!"

Five hundred gold pounds was no small sum, yet Roger breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing it.

He opened his mouth and said:

"Yes, Mr. Zorn, my name is John West, and I live in room 304 of the Santis Hotel in the dock area."

"I've asked Mr. Rossman to help me find something, so he can't die right now. Could you please give me one day?"

As Roger spoke, he casually took out a wad of banknotes and handed it to Zorn:
"This 50 pounds is a temporary payment I made on his behalf. Please grant me one more day. He won't run away as long as I'm here."

"If he runs away, you can always come to the hotel to find me."

As Roger spoke, he proactively showed the other party the room key to the Santis Hotel.

Zorn glanced at Roger's keys, then at the wad of banknotes, hesitated for a moment, and finally took the money.

For him, killing a gambler like Rothman would bring no benefit whatsoever; not only would he not get his money back, but it might also attract the attention of the police, so he might as well recover some of his losses.

"You're lucky, kid."

Zorn spat at the kneeling Rossman, kicked him over as if venting his anger, and then stormed off the Potlü Market with his men.

"Thank you for saving me, Mr. Vitus."

Rossman, with snot and tears streaming down his face, got up and grabbed Roger's arm to thank him.

"It's West."

Roger sighed softly, reluctantly correcting the conman and gambler, then asked curiously:

"You were treated like that just now, and everyone around you seemed indifferent. What happened?"

"Is such that."

Rossman stood up: "In the Portlu Market, if you have a problem, you have to solve it yourself. If you can't solve it, you deserve to die."

"The boss here has a good relationship with the police, so even if the police investigate a case, they usually won't touch him... Of course, I guess no one would really take a nobody like me seriously."

Rossman chuckled self-deprecatingly, then suddenly remembered something and asked:

"Mr. Tevis, what did you just say you wanted me to help you find?"
"...It's West, I'm looking for a stone."

Roger bent down and picked up a small black stone, slightly larger than the first joint of his little finger, with some red, rust-like patterns, from beside his feet. He then got down to business with a hint of helplessness.

In fact, he hadn't intended to meddle in Rothman's business, but when Zorn kicked over the latter's stall, sending the stones flying, the stone in his hand just happened to roll to Roger's feet.

At that moment, a strange feeling flashed through his mind. It was a kind of revelation that seemed to come from the source of Gherros; if he had to describe it, Roger felt a strange loneliness that seemed to come from the deepest part of the dark starry sky.

However, that sense of loneliness is very subtle; you can't feel it at all unless you savor it carefully.

This made him realize that the stone was likely a small part of the outer shell of a larger meteorite, which gave him this feeling.

"Stone? What kind of stone?"

Rossman became quite excited when Roger mentioned his old profession.

Because it meant that he had the opportunity to use Roger's commission to pay off his debts, or at worst, to escape.

Anyway, Roger was the one vouching for him, so what did it have to do with him if this young man was willing to play the good guy?
"I advise you not to get any funny ideas. Even if Zorn doesn't come after you, I can take you down in a minute."

Roger, with his "secret insight" vision, couldn't hide Rothman's thoughts from him at all. At this moment, he frowned, pulled out his large-caliber revolver, and pointed it at Rothman's head.

"Yes, yes, Mr. West, I will do my best to serve you."

Rossman was shocked. He hadn't expected that this seemingly refined young man would be even more decisive and efficient at drawing a gun than Zorn.

The strangest thing is that he didn't even see how the gun came out, so in his panic, Rossman actually called Roger's name correctly for the first time.

"very good."

Roger holstered his pistol and handed the stone with red stripes to Rossman:

"This stone is clearly not whole; it fell from a larger stone."

"I need to find the actual stone. Do you have any clues?"

"Don't try to fool me, I have my own standards for identifying stones."

Rossman nodded repeatedly, then said somewhat awkwardly:

"To be honest, I stole this stone."

"Stolen?"

Roger was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, it was at a stone auction in the Potlugh market about two weeks ago. I helped unload several stones while they were waiting to be brought in... Then there was one stone that was about the size of a notebook. I thought it was very pretty, so I touched it."

"At that moment, I noticed that one corner of the stone was a little loose. I used a little force to break it off, and then hid it on my body when no one was looking."

"Afterwards, I had someone appraise the stone, and they could only confirm that it was not a mineral from the Rothschild Islands, but it was not very valuable... probably because I only got a part of the outer shell and not the core inside."

"Why don't you take a look at some other stones? I have some here..."

Still unwilling to give up, Rossman spoke of the incident with some regret, seemingly frustrated that his theft had yielded no results.

However, Roger was too lazy to reason with this guy. Just as he was about to press him further, he suddenly felt a clear upward trend in his luck, which made him quick to amplify this momentum.

He composed himself and continued to ask:

"I don't want any other stones. Do you know where the original stone went?"

"You just mentioned auctions. I heard that there are special items for sale at the Portlu Market after 10 p.m., is that an auction?"

Rossman nodded and said:

"Yes, the auction is indeed part of the special program, and it's what everyone is most looking forward to... There are many rare items in it, but not just anyone can get in."

"Because it belongs to a hidden market, a minimum deposit of 100 gold pounds is required to enter, and a confidentiality agreement must be signed... It is said that there are many rare treasures inside, and even items that can give people magical abilities."

"More importantly, the market owner occasionally holds a lottery, but I'm not sure about the specific rules. In short, if you win the grand prize, the reward is very generous."

"I touched that stone hoping to have some kind of serendipitous encounter..."

Roger immediately became interested when he heard about the lottery:

"Who should I contact if I want to enter that market?"

"I can help you make contact. Only acquaintances within the market can see the person buying the ticket, you see..."

As Rossman spoke, he gave a fawning smile.

"If you can help me get an admission ticket and buy what I want, I'll pay off Zorn's debt for you."

"But if you dare to cheat or shirk your duty, believe me, you won't live past tonight."

Roger pulled out one hundred pounds and handed it to Rossman. He said this with a bright smile, but the smile revealed an indescribable murderous intent that made even a scoundrel like Rossman tremble slightly. As a result, when the money-grubbing gambler accepted the one hundred pounds, he felt no excitement at all, but rather a little shudder.

"Okay, okay."

Rossman didn't dare say anything more and immediately turned around and headed towards a tent area deep inside the Potlü market, clutching the money tightly to his chest as if afraid it might be stolen.

Roger, on the other hand, stood calmly and waited.

"Hey, aren't you afraid this guy will run off with the money?"

Bandit asked in a low voice as he licked his paws.

“If they are just ordinary people, they will hardly have free will if I disagree with them.”

Roger said in a low voice.

"Tch, you're so arrogant. You're getting more and more cocky lately."

Bandit scoffed, but deep down he felt a strange unease about what Roger had said.

Roger's words soon proved true; Roseman returned shortly afterward, clutching a red ticket stub tightly in his hand.

"All done, Mr. Tesla."

"..."

Roger accepted the ticket expressionlessly, patted Rossman on the shoulder, and then, following Rossman's directions, walked towards the area of ​​tents they had previously visited.

The tent area wasn't just one tent, but many, and they mainly sold items that couldn't get wet.

The structure of this tent area is also very complicated, and Roger could easily get lost if he came to explore it on his own.

Fortunately, Rossman had already told him the way, and Roger easily found a staircase leading down thanks to his memory.

"Another underground passage?"

Roger was somewhat surprised.

He knocked on the door, and soon a cover in the middle of the iron door opened.

The person inside didn't say a word, but Roger understood and handed in the red ticket stub.

The ticket stub seemed to be dragged inside by something, and a moment later the door lock clicked open.

Roger took a deep breath and pushed the door open to enter.

What came into view was a corridor lit by gas lamps, and in front of Roger was a table with a black cloak on it.

"Da da."

In the darkness, a somewhat withered hand reached out and tapped in front of the cloak.

Roger then noticed a very hunched old man sitting there. The old man was unusually thin, with white hair and no beard, but he gave Roger the feeling that he was an extraordinary person.

He then realized that the old man was asking him to put on a cloak and participate in the auction.

"boom."

Just as Roger was getting dressed, the iron door behind him seemed to have a mind of its own and closed gently behind him, the sound echoing softly in the narrow corridor.

"Come to think of it, this scene seems somewhat familiar."

Roger felt a pang of emotion as he recalled his first time attending Mr. C's Extraordinary People's Gathering.

During this period, Mr. C wrote to me once, asking with great confusion about the next steps.

Because of the death of "Dark Saint" Kesma, Mr. C lost his direct superior, and for some unknown reason, the saint who succeeded him has not contacted Mr. C for a long time.

This struck Mr. C as very strange. He prayed to the “True Creator” several times, but the true god of Sequence 0 did not send down any clear divine decree.

If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. Mr. C was even attacked once, and only after he killed the three attackers and performed a psychic ritual did he learn that they were sent by another divine messenger.

Roger naturally knew what was going on, because Mr. C had once been his subordinate. So after he killed "Dark Saint" Kesma and "Secret Saint" Butis, Mr. C had been suspected and ostracized by the Aurora Society, which must have included "Mr. X" Louis Wayne.

A Shepherd of considerable strength, also belonging to Sequence 5, would be an invaluable helper for Roger.

So Roger comforted him and told him about his plan to become one of the saints of the "Aurora Society".

This greatly encouraged the confused Mr. C, who reiterated his willingness to pledge allegiance to Roger.

In fact, this was Roger's original plan. After he consumed the seal formed by the extraordinary characteristics of the "Black Knight" and further weakened the madness of the "True Creator", he would consider gaining some control over the discourse, or rather, the "right to interpret the scriptures", and slowly transform the Aurora Society, this crazy cult organization.

Then, guided by the hunchbacked old man, Roger signed a confidentiality agreement that clearly had mystical implications before heading deeper into the area.

As the door at the end of the corridor was pushed open, Roger finally arrived at a rather spacious underground space.

Because it was still early, there weren't many guests sitting there, all wearing black cloaks. In addition, there were five people wearing brown cloaks with their hoods pulled down to cover their faces, standing in a row, blocking what was clearly the warehouse door, and they didn't let their guard down for a while.

Roger felt a sense of unease the moment he saw these people.

That's it! The meteorite I wanted was in that dark warehouse behind me!

(End of this chapter)