Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 236 The Anchor of the "Faceless Man"

Not long after Roger reached out his hand, the sailor standing on the lookout tower, who had been quite agile, suddenly froze, as if his body had been frozen in place by something.

The next moment, the sailor actually turned his head and glanced at Roger and the others, but did not show any abnormality, nor did he try to alert the other crew members on deck by shouting.

This scene left Philip and the others completely bewildered, but only Roger knew what had actually happened.

At this moment, in his line of sight, there were many black lines on his left hand that were normally invisible, connecting him to the sailors on the lookout tower. From these black lines, he could easily sense the sailors' various states, including their breathing, heartbeat, muscle contractions, and spiritual changes.

This is precisely the "spiritual thread!"

Ever since Roger obtained the black finger sheath that Ludwig Sergei, the "Executioner," carried, he had been studying its various properties and uses, and would even occasionally release Ludwig's enslaved soul to "interrogate" him.

According to the second mate of the "Twilight General," this item called "Curtain Finger Gloves" can control up to two Mystic Puppets at the same time. The initial control time is about 5 to 10 seconds, and the Mystic Puppet conversion time is about 3 minutes.

Once the transformation is complete, he can freely control the puppet within a range of up to 100 meters, making it perform any actions he desires, and simultaneously utilize its extraordinary abilities.

The sealing condition for the "Veil Finger" is that it cannot be kept close to the body for a long time, otherwise it will uncontrollably turn the owner into a puppet.

However, Roger was not afraid of this, because Roger could not only use the "little duck" as another sealing object to offset the effects of the puppetization and regain control of his body through "puppetization", but also had the "Old Box" to temporarily contain it.

Ironically, the side effect of the "Old Box" is that it randomly banishes its holder to another dimension. This is an ability of angel-level "Gate" pathway extraordinary individuals. However, Roger, who possesses a very small number of "Gate Key" authority, is not afraid of this banishment. This is not only because his "false status" is higher than that of the "Old Box", but also because his very existence represents great terror. No "Gate" with ill intentions dares to accept him.

Another interesting thing is that even though Roger was more than 5 meters away from the sailor on the lookout tower, he still managed to control him and turn him into a puppet.

This is another research achievement of his, namely, using the ability of the "parasitic glove" to steal distance and combining it with the pseudo-gig ability of the "veil finger" to achieve a certain degree of fraud against the rules and successfully extend the control range of the "spirit thread" to a great extent.

The reason this synergy is possible is that extraordinary items from the "Thief" and "Seer" pathways are adjacent pathways and have a similar symbolic relationship, which is why Roger was able to successfully exploit the bug.

"Alright, now he's one of us."

Zeus was initially worried when he saw the lookout turn around, but seeing that the man did not take any action and Roger explained in time, he then believed that his captain's strength far exceeded his expectations.

“Captain, that bastard Ludwig used to be able to use similar abilities... I’ve seen it with my own eyes, but the distance he could control others was very limited, unlike you who can control them from such a distance.”

Zeus chuckled, and Roger smiled and patted him on the shoulder: "I know a lot more, you'll find out in time."

"Captain, there are still people over there."

Philip lowered his voice and pointed to the front of the nail plate, where three sailors seemed to be talking loudly about money and women in an Oravian accent, seemingly unaware of the commotion on Roger's side.

"Linsea".

Roger spoke in a low voice, and Linssaya's figure immediately disappeared into the darkness, blending into the surrounding environment.

"Remember to control your voice."

He didn't forget to add a sentence.

It must be said that the "assassins" at Sequence 6 are efficient. Almost instantly, all the remaining sailors on the deck of the "Musketeer" were taken down and killed by Linsaya without anyone noticing.

"It's done."

Linssaya's figure reappeared, and she spoke to Roger as if she were asking for credit.

"here you go."

Roger looked around the ship, and at that moment he was absolutely certain that there was no one left on board.

This aligns with the account given by the employer of Intis—Mitron and his men would go to Simim Island at night and return to the ship during the day.

Roger chose to come to the "Musketeer" at this time in the hope of obtaining some real information about Mitron's identity and appearance from his ship and his captain's cabin. At the very least, he wanted to obtain some material that could be used for divination or to use "Secret Insight." In this way, he could more accurately locate Mitron and pinpoint him without relying on appearance as the sole criterion for judgment.

As for the other three ships besides the "Musketeer," there was no one on their decks. They were connected by rope ladders, and other boarding passages were blocked. It seemed that Mitroncard had made the "Musketeer" his only way back to his fleet.

"Everyone, split up and search the ship for any clues. I'm going to the captain's cabin in Mitrom."

Roger gave the instructions, and then handed the "Pantax's Crimson Gem" to Philip:
"Linsea is in one group, and Philip and Zeus are in another. When you come up, remember to use this gem to eat the corpse of a sailor that Linsea killed. That way, you can take it down."

"Yes, Captain."

Philip nodded respectfully, accepted the "Pantax's Crimson Gem," and fused it with the flesh and blood of his chest.

Having used this sealing artifact before, the former naval officer was now almost free of psychological burden and appeared to be in complete control.

"Split up."

"Yes!"

After leaving the other three, Roger, relying on his intuition as the "leaker," headed down to the lower deck.

The door leading to the lower deck was unlocked, which made Roger somewhat wary, but he wasn't afraid. With several demigod-level sealed artifacts, he wasn't afraid of any traps that Mitron, a mere Sequence 6 "Faceless Man," might have set.

Sure enough, just as he could see the door with the sign that read "Captain's Room" in Fussack, a sudden, inexplicable sense of tension washed over him.

He immediately summoned Ludwig's soul power, and at the same time conjured a huge "Sword of Dawn," which he held directly across his chest.

With three crisp, muffled thuds, Roger felt a slight soreness in his hand, clearly indicating that something had struck his greatsword.

But that wasn't all. In the blink of an eye, another thin, long wind blade slashed toward Roger's neck!

Fearing he might be attacked from other angles, Roger immediately conjured a flesh and blood shield called "Rose Bishop," protecting himself entirely within it.

Sure enough, Roger immediately felt wind blades cutting through multiple parts of his body. It seemed that the most obvious wind blade that had been aimed at his neck was just a decoy, while the real killing intent was contained in the smaller wind blades.

At this moment, Roger realized that there must be some kind of defense mechanism inside the "Musketeer" that corresponds to the "Wind Favorite" or a higher level of extraordinary power. So, unwilling to let this defense mechanism delay his progress any longer, he directly used "Secret Insight" to project the scene and various details of the entire corridor into his mind!
"found it!"

Roger's eyes lit up. He used the "Parasitic Gloves" to dodge another round of wind blade attacks, and then plunged his sword directly into an old-looking oil painting on the wall, depicting a port at dusk.

In an instant, the twilight scene in the painting dimmed, and the entire scene changed from dusk to night.

"Woooo..."

At the same time, Roger heard some strange noises, and the feeling that had made him nervous quickly disappeared.

"Defense restrictions lifted."

Roger let out a long breath and walked back towards the door with the "Captain's Cabin" plaque. He then used the "little duck" to pop open the three reinforced locks.

"Squeak."

The dark captain's cabin appeared before Roger. He used the "Ring of the Stage" to light the oil lamp in Mitron's room and then began to examine the seemingly unremarkable captain's cabin.

The first thing he tried to find was the ship's log.

Roger was surprised by how smoothly he found the extremely thick journal.

Instead of flipping through the pages, he continued searching for other valuable clues.

It must be said that although Mitrom was a great pirate, his captain's cabin was unusually simple, with nothing of value.

"Could it be that all the money Mitron earned was supplied to Bratov?"

Roger stroked his chin, and the thought crossed his mind.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

Although Mitron's fleet was not large, it still had four ships. It's easy to imagine that the cost of maintaining these four ships every year would be very high. It would be impossible for him to afford it without leaving himself any money.

"Unless... Mitron is deliberately eliminating all clues and evidence related to his own preferences, using this method to create a seemingly simple but actually elusive persona for himself?"

Roger considered this possibility very likely, because given Mitrom Gadirs's possible background and his consistently cautious approach, it was indeed a reasonable course of action.

"what?"

Suddenly, Roger's intuition kicked in, and he seemed to sense something of extremely high value.

He quickly rummaged through a pile of documents and then pulled out a brown paper bag.

The brown paper bag was clean, except for a single word in Fussac written in black ink in the far corner:

"child."

"child?"

Roger muttered something to himself, then took the contents of the brown paper bag out.

It was a thin booklet that recorded a boy's growth from childhood until he was about a teenager.

The beginnings consisted of sketches, but later they gradually became photographs.

These records stopped when the boy was about 17 or 8 years old, and went directly to a photo of a person who was about 45 years old.

It's clear that while the boy in the photo looks very different from the previous one, their expressions and overall demeanor are at least 8% similar, obviously a comparison of the same person in childhood and middle age. It's noteworthy that this boy looks significantly different from the Mitrom Gadirs that Roger knew.

"If he is Mitron's child, then he doesn't look like him at all."

"unless……"

Roger took out a coin, then silently repeated three times, "The person in this photo is Mitrom Gadirs," before tossing the coin.

The next instant, he caught the coin with a "snap" and then opened it.

"really……"

Roger looked at the gleaming portrait of King George III and let out a long sigh.

The most important rule in playing the "Faceless Man" is: "You can become anyone, but you can only be yourself."

If a "faceless person" forgets this point, they will easily blur the outline of their soul in the process of constant self-change, and eventually become distorted and alienated.

Because the true self is not a malleable appearance, but a stable collection composed of a spiritual core, a cognitive system, and a network of relationships.

In the process of playing the "Faceless Man," one needs to maintain a calm, detached perspective, continuously observe and compare internally, and even use specific media to help oneself always remember one's true nature. Only in this way can one avoid the mask taking over and reshaping one's soul during long-term role-playing.

The notebook in front of him, called "Children," represents the purest version of himself that Mitrom Gadirs possessed before becoming "Faceless."

The self called "childlike innocence"!

Having figured this out, Roger quickly put away the logbook and then began flipping through the nautical log.

Having already read two pirate logs with the help of "Navigator" Thor and his first mate Philip, and having consciously studied the writing format and method of a proper log in the past few days, Roger is now able to understand the contents of the "Musketeer's" log.

"Sure enough, Bratov is located on the southern coast of the Rothschild Islands..."

Unlike Ludwig Sergei's cautious and disciplined approach, Mitron Gadirs, an unofficial member of the "Twilight Fleet," was not as conscious or deliberate in protecting the whereabouts of "Twilight Admiral" Blatov, and his overall style of recording was rather casual.

Through these records, Roger clearly knew that after Mitrom parted ways with Bratov on Simim Island two days earlier, the latter continued to lead his fleet westward, which was along the southern coast of the Rothschild Islands.

Having confirmed this, Roger took a deep breath, stood up, put the logbook back in its place, and then went back to the cabin, where he summoned three of his men.

"Captain, are you alright?"

Zeus was slightly out of breath: "Philip and I were attacked by a mechanism just now... like wind blades. Fortunately, he used the sealing artifact you gave him in time, otherwise I think I would have been cleaved in two."

"I am fine."

Roger's eyes gleamed: "I have found something of sufficient value. Now come with me."

"Where?"

"Go to Simim Island."

Roger smiled, then added:
"Go kill Mitroon Gadirs!"

……

About an hour later.

In a bar deep in the heart of Simim Island, a short, mustachioed pirate, barely 1.5 meters tall, was embracing two very alluring young women, groping them while occasionally drinking, chatting, and laughing with another middle-aged man sitting next to him.

Upon closer inspection, one can see large burn scars on the pirate's right arm, next to which sits a wide-brimmed leather hat that seems quite mismatched with his physique.

This is Mitrom Gadirs.

Suddenly, the door to the private box was pushed open, and a sailor from Mitroon's crew rushed in.

The sailor had a prominent scar on his chest, and his hand was pressed against a large patch of bloody red flesh on his shoulder.

"Boat, captain."

The sailor spoke haltingly, as if he had been greatly frightened.

Seeing this, Mitrom gestured for the people around him to quiet down, then quickly glanced around at the sailor's wounds and asked:

"What's wrong with you?"

"Our brothers who were responsible for guarding the ship have all been killed!"

The sailor's voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

"They were all killed?"

Mitrom was slightly taken aback. He thought for a moment and quickly realized what was going on.

"All the other brothers are dead, how come you're still alive?"

"I...I ran in time..."

However, before the sailor could finish speaking, he saw Mitrom rub his thumb and forefinger together and then snap his fingers.

"Snapped!"

The sailor who came to deliver the message had his head explode immediately, and blood mixed with brain matter sprayed all over the private room, scaring the two alluring young women pale with fright.

Mitrom and the man next to him exchanged a quick glance, then both got up and walked out, heading towards the front and back doors of the bar respectively.

Mitrom Gadirs pushed open the back door, threw his hat aside, took off his shirt, and began to change his appearance.

His facial muscles began to twitch rapidly, his height increased slightly, and the knotted muscles in his legs began to contract.

In a short while, Mitrom Gadirs transformed into a tall, thin, short-haired girl. He admired his appearance in the puddles by the roadside, then lowered his head and quickly walked towards another dark alley nearby.

Just as Mitrom Gadirs was about to see the lights of the main street, he saw a man who was about 1.85 meters tall, wearing a wide-brimmed beige top hat and a long trench coat of the same color, walk out from the street corner.

"Nice to meet you."

The man looked up and smiled at Mitron, whose appearance had changed:
"Mitron Gadirs".

"You got the wrong person."

Mitrom answered in a feminine voice, without batting an eye.

However, Roger gave him no chance to argue and pulled out his "Death-Defying Revolver," firing a shot into Mitrom's chest.

That was a "shot that would definitely hit!"
When he first met Mitrom, he had already confirmed his identity by using Mitrom's childhood photos and his "secret connection".

This is the advantage of being a "leaker": anyone who wants to hide a secret from you must ensure that the secret is buried perfectly and that no clue can be found out.

If the Sequence 8 "Student of Reasoning" of the "Reader" pathway and the Sequence 7 "Deciphering Scholar" of the "Thief" pathway are able to deduce the hidden truth behind things by enhancing their observation and reasoning abilities, then the "Leaker" appears to be even more powerful.

As long as the "leaker" has enough clues to connect to the truth of a certain secret, he can directly reveal the essence of the matter through occult methods!
Upon hearing the gunshot, Mitrom Gadirs immediately used his "paper doll" to take cover.

But this seemed to be of no use, because the bullet with its unpredictable trajectory, after passing through the paper doll, bounced off the drainpipe and shot straight toward Mitron's heart!

With no way to avoid it, Mitrom could only take the bullet head-on. A burst of blood immediately erupted from his chest. He clutched his chest with his right hand, his eyes flashing with astonishment, and then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Roger blew away the smoke from the muzzle of his gun, then quickly loaded another bullet into the "Death-Defying Revolver" and walked toward Mitrom Gadirs.

"died?"

Roger kicked Mitrom twice, and when he found that the other man did not move, he squatted down, turned Mitrom over, and prepared to examine his body.

However, the next moment, Mitrom's eyes suddenly opened, and a bright red pistol that seemed to be flowing with magma appeared in his hand. He then pointed it directly at Roger's face and pulled the trigger!

Roger didn't dodge or evade; he directly used his "troublemaker" ability to interfere with Mitron's mind, and then made the bullet flowing with lava stop in mid-air.

"A pistol that corresponds to 'Demon'? ...That's a good thing."

He smiled slightly, twisted Mitrom's wrist, took the pistol from him, and then released the "troublemaker" from his control.

Upon regaining consciousness, Mitrom immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream, writhing on the ground in agony. This time, he could no longer use the "Magician's" "damage transfer" to move the wound to a non-lethal location as before.

"who are you?"

Mitrom, sweating profusely from the pain, looked at Roger, who was smiling but exuded a terrifying murderous aura, with a face full of fear.

"You don't need to know my name."

Taking advantage of the moment when Ludwig's face was vaguely visible in front of Mitrom, causing him to be stunned, Roger sprinkled a cloud of crimson powder on the latter.

(End of this chapter)