Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 234 Cooperation Intent with the "School of Life"
"Do you know any members of the 'Council of Destiny'?"

Upon hearing Roger's words, Emily Davenport paused, seemingly not expecting him to utter such a message.

"Well, I can't say too much about the specifics."

Roger nodded slightly, but didn't reveal much.

First, although Klein knew of Will Unsetin's existence, Roger himself did not openly recognize the little snake that loved ice cream, so saying that would be a bit abrupt. It would be bad if Emily went back and compared her story with her mentor and others and found out that Roger was lying.

Secondly, although he intuitively judged that Emily Davenport was not a bad person, Will was after all being targeted by the "Angel of Fate" Urolius and was trying to hide himself, so it was best not to reveal his whereabouts to anyone, not even members of the School of Life.

After all, Roger didn't know Emily's true identity within the School of Life, whether she and Will were in cahoots, or whether her secrecy level allowed her to know anything about the "Mercury Serpent." So, all things considered, it was best not to say anything.

"I know."

To Roger's surprise, Emily nodded readily without asking any further questions, which made him take a second look at her with curiosity.

As he had seen before, Emily Davenport had long black hair and gray eyes, but now that he was closer, Roger could clearly see that although the skin color of this beautiful woman was close to that of a Northlander, the contours and lines of her facial features, such as her eyes and nose, had some Byron characteristics, giving her a somewhat exotic look.

Emily spoke Rune very fluently, but it was mixed with some foreign accents, and Roger couldn't tell where the accent came from at first.

In terms of temperament, she appears rather indifferent overall. This seems to be because as a "winner," she needs to accumulate luck through self-discipline. So, apart from the moment she tried to kill Roger to avenge her family, when she showed obvious anger and hostility, she appears relatively calm in most situations. It is difficult to understand what she is thinking unless she uses her extraordinary abilities.

Roger only came to his senses somewhat after Bendit climbed up Roger's trouser leg, and said to Emily, who was also looking back at him:
"Let's talk as we walk. I'll treat you to a late-night snack when we find a place."

"it is good."

Emily didn't refuse; she nodded readily, seemingly wanting to chat with Roger as well.

The two walked together toward the Santis Hotel. Roger picked up the meteorite that had fallen to the ground, examined it carefully, and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the meteorite was undamaged except for some fragments of its outer skin.

"You just said that this pistol has the scent of your loved ones inside it. What exactly does that mean?"

Roger suddenly remembered what Emily had said earlier, and that's when he asked the question.

Emily sighed softly upon hearing this, her expression somewhat dejected.
“It’s my older brother and fellow student, Karl… We wandered together since we were little, and then by chance, we both studied with the same teacher from the ‘School of Life’ for many years.”

"After that, he got involved in an internal power struggle among the Intis people, led by Beckeron, and then mysteriously disappeared. It has been five years since then."

“I tried to contact him several times, but to no avail. My mentor also forbade me from asking Beckeron, so I only found out what happened to Karl now.”

"Well, I participated in the assassination of Beckerang by chance. After the assassination, I searched his mansion and that's how I got this revolver."

Roger paused for a moment: "If the 'School of Life' needs to reclaim Karl's extraordinary properties, I'd be happy to cooperate..."

Of course, deep down he didn't want to hand over this sealed artifact that could interact positively with the "Star of Judgment" pathway. The reason he mentioned this possibility was only out of goodwill towards the "School of Life".

Considering the effort Roger put into acquiring the "Death-Defying Revolver," he would require them to pay him a certain amount if they were willing to take it back.

"No, no need."

In a sudden gust of night wind blowing across the bay, Emily pressed down the strands of black hair that were falling across her forehead.

She gave a smile that was somewhat bitter, yet very resolute:

"The origin of life is very mysterious, or rather, in my view, very accidental."

"Just like Karl and I are both orphans, we have been switching between living under someone else's roof and wandering since we can remember. We can't remember who our parents are or where we came from."

"Fortunately, several years of tragic fate brought us an opportunity... We met our mentors and became extraordinary, which was the first ray of light in our lives."

"...That's how fate is. It's like a wheel that keeps turning. If your luck is bad for a long time, it will naturally get better, but after a while it will get worse again."

"But on the other hand, everyone's fate has its own trend, which is called destiny... Karl was destined to have this calamity, but although he is dead, his fate has not ended. After the calamity, he found a new opportunity to continue."

"A new opportunity to continue?" Roger asked curiously.

"Well, I met you by chance today, which in itself means that Karl's fate has chosen you. Since that's the case, it's an inevitable arrangement, so why should I be so fixated on whether he comes back or not?"

"Only the continuation of the ripples of fate is the true continuation of life."

Emily finished speaking calmly, and Roger understood what she meant.

In fact, this is exactly what he realized when he first used Yog Sothoth's "Ring of Unity" ability, that is, a person's existence is defined by the influence he creates, that is, the causal ripples that this individual has caused in the past, present and future worlds.

Only when the ripples completely disappear can a person's life truly end.

When Roger shared his insights with Emily, she said with some surprise:

"Perhaps our meeting was truly fate. Your insight is very much in line with the views of many extraordinary individuals on the 'Monster' path."

Roger smiled and nodded:

"Yes, that might really be the case."

The two chatted for a few more minutes, and Emily's mood improved considerably; she was beginning to consider Roger a friend.

As they spoke, the two arrived at the Santis Hotel. The previous owner was still sitting in the hotel. When he saw Roger bring back a woman who was very beautiful, he gave him a look that said, "You're quite something, young man."

Roger smiled but didn't answer. Instead, he asked:
"Mr. Santis, is there any food left at this hour?"

Santis shook his head:
"The chef has gone home."

"That's it."

Roger said with some regret, "Then give me a drink..."

"To be honest, I actually started out as a chef."

Before Roger could finish speaking, Santis immediately flashed a bright smile, revealing his white teeth.

That means if you bring a girl home for a late-night snack, I'm going to make sure you get to eat something tonight, and I'll cook for you myself if necessary.

"I didn't realize that the owner of Santis was such an open and honest person..."

Roger secretly praised him. Although Santis had clearly misunderstood his relationship with Emily, his words still made Roger look at him with new respect.

The key to doing business is to maintain harmony and make money. Treat your customers' problems as your own, and that's how you build a long-lasting business.

"What would you two like to eat?"

Santis brought over two menus and placed one in front of Roger and one in front of Emily.

"Eat whatever you like, it's on me today."

"Then I won't be polite."

Emily smiled. After her discussion with Roger, she had largely let down her guard against him.

This wasn't just because the other person shared the same views, but also because, based on her intuition as a "winner," she didn't sense any danger or malice from them; on the contrary, they seemed sincere and friendly.

In some ways, Roger's personality was somewhat similar to that of his deceased brother Carl, except that Roger had a more positive and optimistic mindset and seemed more optimistic than Carl, who was always somewhat pessimistic.

"I'd like a seafood rice, a baked blue crab, a seaweed soup, a dessert, and a draft beer."

Emily stated her demands.

Roger was speechless at the way the man ordered the food, which was like that of a glutton. You should know that the blue crabs on the Rothschild Islands are generally quite large, and a pot contains more than one crab, so usually one serving of baked blue crab is enough for two adults.

Even so, Emily still ordered a seafood paella, plus a soup, a dessert, and a drink. If Emily hadn't shown no signs of malnutrition, Roger would have suspected that the girl hadn't eaten in a long time.

"Okay, please wait a moment, it'll be right there."

Mr. Santis made as if to leave, but Roger stopped him:
"Boss, I haven't ordered yet."

"Ah? Oh..."

Santis then realized what was happening and couldn't help but take a closer look at the seemingly delicate Emily, his eyes revealing considerable surprise.

"I'd like a seaweed soup, a seafood rice bowl, a cup of black tea... and a raw bonito for my cat."

After Roger explained his request, Santis checked again to make sure there were no other dishes needed before serving the drinks and then immediately going back to the kitchen to cook.

"It looks like Santis is going to be very busy."

Roger pursed his lips and looked at Emily again:

"By the way, Emily, as a member of the 'School of Life,' why did you come to the Rosed Islands?"

"This... is also a secret, but I have a special mission to complete, I'm sorry." Emily originally wanted to say something, but in the end she said almost nothing useful.

Even so, it was enough for Roger, who was familiar with the original mysterious timeline, to realize many things.

Considering that Will Unsett, the "Mercury Serpent," has only recently disappeared, and at this critical juncture, it is precisely the time when the councilor Rajud disappeared and entrusted the "Probability Dice," a crucial seal of the "School of Life" and the unique pathway to the "Wheel of Fate," to his disciple Roy King.

Speaking of Roy King, although Roger had never met this member of the School of Life, he had met one of his disciples, Darkwell, who was the chubby apothecary who had appeared at the underground gathering of extraordinary beings organized by Isengard Stanton, the "Eye of Wisdom" in Backlund.

After Roy King obtained the "Dice of Probability," he was secretly imprisoned by the Rune military in the Governor's Mansion of Bayam. However, he did not actually carry the "Dice of Probability" with him, but secretly hid it in the Mapel General Store on Bayam Enmat Street.

Meanwhile, Emily Davenport, a Sequence 5 "Winner" and also a member of the "School of Life," has appeared in Bayam. It is possible that other members of the "Council of Fate" are trying to rescue Roy King, and this member of the "Council of Fate" may have a mentor-student relationship with Emily and Carl.

However, this attempt is likely to fail in the end, because according to the original future, Roy King was not freed until January 1350.

It must be said that Santis is very efficient at cooking. In no time, the wakame soup and seafood rice that Roger and Emily ordered were served.

"Please eat first, you two. The baked crab needs to be stewed for a little longer, but it will be ready soon."

Santis placed Bandit's raw bonito on a plate and watched the cat devour it before adding with considerable satisfaction.

"No rush, take your time."

Emily, her mouth full of rice, mumbled something, then looked at Roger, who was smiling at her, and blushed slightly.

She changed the subject somewhat awkwardly:
"Your cat is adorable. What's its name? How old is it?"

"Bandit, don't be fooled by how big he looks, he's actually not even a year old yet."

When Roger first adopted Bandit, the guy was only a month or so old. Now, more than half a year later, thanks to a good diet and the effects of magic potions, Hakimi's size has surpassed that of many one- or two-year-old male cats of the same breed.

"By the way, Emily, if you need any help in Bayam, feel free to contact me anytime."

Roger paused for a moment, then expressed his willingness to help Emily.

This wasn't just because he was interested in the "Dice of Probability," a level 0 sealed artifact; he also wanted to use it to get to know a high-ranking member of the "School of Life" and see if he could exchange rescuing Roy King and protecting the "Dice of Probability" for the "Crimson Scholar's" potion recipe.

This was a crucial part of Roger's deal with "The Moon" Emlyn, because in Roger's view, the collector, the vampire baron, should be unable to refuse becoming a vampire viscount, thereby gaining the opportunity to explore more mysterious places and acquire more collectibles.

Not to mention that Roger also needed the cooperation of that vampire baron to ensure a stable supply of medicines for the "Star Lord" and the subsequent fleet, so he needed to obtain the extraordinary properties of the "Crimson Scholar" as soon as possible. However, considering that this potion formula had reached the Sequence 5 level, Roger was willing to take some risks.

For example, confronting the Rune military.

"On another note, I said I didn't want to fight against official organizations like ordinary pirates, but now it seems I have no choice but to do so."

Roger couldn't help but compare himself to the Liangshan heroes in "Water Margin" who had become outlaws. However, the Liangshan heroes were driven to desperation, while Roger had chosen this path himself and was forced by circumstances.

"..."

Emily remained silent for a while, seemingly conflicted.

Indeed, just as Roger had expected, she was instructed to cooperate with the "School of Life" members in Bayam to rescue Roy King, but she knew nothing about the "Dice of Probability".

This is understandable, because for a secretive organization, the safest way when facing a complex mission is to have each of its extraordinary members only have a portion of the information. In this way, if Emily, who is responsible for rescuing Roy King and may be directly targeted by the Rune military, is targeted, the clues about the "probability dice" will not be betrayed.

Only those at higher levels have the opportunity to know the full picture.

Even so, getting Emily to rescue Roy King was an extremely difficult task, even with the help of other members of the "School of Life".

Because they are at best Sequence 5 Extraordinaries, while there are likely demigods within the Governor's Palace of Bayam, this task is indeed extremely difficult without the participation of other forces.

Emily thought for a moment before saying:
"To be honest, there are some things I can't make a decision on... but I can discuss this with my colleagues."

"But I need to know you better, so let me tell you about you."

Emily smiled and said, "So far, all I know about you is that you are a 'Rose Bishop' and a captain... and you seem to have a sealed artifact. That's all I know."

Roger nodded in understanding:
"As I said, I am a pirate captain... In addition, I am also a 'shepherd'."

"shepherd?"

Emily was initially surprised to learn that Roger was a pirate, but upon hearing the second half of the sentence, her expression changed considerably.

Roger had previously only demonstrated the abilities of the "Rose Bishop" and the teleportation ability that seemed to originate from the black glove. However, because Emily did not understand the manifestations of the extraordinary abilities of the "Thief" pathway, she only vaguely linked this ability to Roger's glove.

However, she was still very clear about what the "shepherd" meant.

She had long heard her mentor say that this was a powerful pathway sequence that could enslave the souls of up to seven extraordinary beings and use 21 other extraordinary abilities in addition to its own. It could basically be called the strongest type of sequence 5.

Compared to the "Winner" path, which relies on luck, the "Shepherd" is top-tier in terms of combat ability, escape ability, divination ability, and counter-divination ability. If Roger could join, the operation to rescue Roy King would definitely be much easier to succeed.

"But my abilities are not limited to that."

Roger laughed:

“If it doesn’t involve the power of the Storm Church, there should be very few things in Bayam that I can’t handle.”

Roger deliberately concealed the fact that he possessed two demigod-level sealed artifacts and the abilities he gained through the "Judgment Star" pathway, because these were his trump cards, capable of playing a crucial role when necessary.

For the guys at MI9, intelligence warfare and counterintelligence warfare are basic operations, and it cannot be ruled out that the contacts and networks of the "Life School" have already been infiltrated by them.

In fact, it was probably for this reason that only Darkwell, the "Beast Tamer" of Sequence 8, was ultimately tasked with transporting the Sequence 0 sealed artifact "Dice of Probability" to Port Olavi and delivering it to the bell ringer Cano.

Therefore, Roger had to be extremely careful and try not to make himself a bounty target of the Kingdom of Rune before the "Star Lord" left Bayam.

He would only be truly safe once he obtained the soul and extraordinary characteristics of "Faceless" Mitroncardius and gained the ability to change his identity.

"Madam, the swimming crabs are ready. Please enjoy."

At this moment, Santis placed a large plate of crabs on the table and then bowed slightly.

Roger and Emily both thanked the kind boss, and then Emily composed herself and spoke:

"John, do you live here?"

"Yes, room 304."

Roger nodded.

Emily took a deep breath:
"I will relay your situation to my colleagues. Thank you very much. If we have the opportunity to cooperate, we will offer you compensation that will satisfy you."

"a piece of cake."

Roger smiled slightly, then pointed to the crab:
"Eat quickly, it'll get cold soon."

About an hour later, Roger saw Emily off at the entrance of the Santis Hotel.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Captain West."

"I hope that when we meet again, we can be comrades-in-arms."

Roger nodded in response to Emily's playful smile:

"Will do."

"Karl is in your hands now."

"Do not worry."

Emily took one last deep look at the spot where Roger kept his gun holster, then bowed slightly and turned to walk into the night in Bayam.

"No way, you just let that girl walk alone in the middle of the night?"

After Roger turned around and returned to the Santis Hotel, Mr. Santis wore a bitter expression that said, "I've wasted my time."

“Play the long game to catch the big fish.”

Roger smiled slightly, offering no further explanation. He gave Santis a tip before leading Bandit towards room 304 on the third floor.

……

At noon the next day, Roger arrived at the "Swordfish Bar" again.

As agreed, today was the day he was to meet with his employer who had issued the hunting notice for Mitron Gadirs, the second mate, "Raging Wave" Belon Schulz!

(End of this chapter)