Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 269 Heading South to the Raging Sea (Seeking Recommendations)

It's important to understand that even in Roger's original technological era, humanity's methods of observing the stars far surpassed the imagination of this mysterious world today. However, even so, it took scientists a long time to reach a relatively universal consensus on the structure of the Milky Way.

However, with the fall of the old civilization and the arrival of the Chaos Era, this ancient knowledge was also buried in the dust of history. It was not until the beginning of the Second Era, with the appearance of Hermes and other powerful ancient humans, that knowledge about the stars once again became clear from the ignorance and pantheistic beliefs.

Until the Fourth Age, the "Gate" revealed Bethel Abraham, a 3+1 half-step true god.

The auxiliary materials required for the Sequence 0 potion of the "Gate" pathway are at least three galaxies' astronomical, geographical, and folk knowledge. Before Mr. "Gate" was sealed by the Lord of Storms and the Goddess of Night, He had traveled through the starry sky for a long time, and His experiences greatly influenced the Abraham family's understanding of the starry sky.

As a result, the Abraham family's "astrologers" created the first complete star catalog since the Chaos Era, and even mapped the structure of the Milky Way and recorded information about many civilizations closer to Earth.

Later, the "astrologers" of the "Ascetic Order of Morse" and the "astrologers" of the "Church of the God of Steam and Machinery" began to further improve their work on astronomy in the Fifth Age. Although humankind's understanding of the starry sky is still inferior to that of ancient times in some aspects, it has far surpassed it in other aspects.

Even so, knowledge about the structure of the Milky Way remains a closely guarded secret among many organizations or large entities. After all, given the existence of supernatural powers, it is almost impossible for astronomers who follow a purely scientific path and exist independently of any supernatural organization to make any significant contributions.

This explains why Roger was so shocked when he saw the "Fleet of Stars" banner.

"What kind of person was the designer who designed your flag?"

Roger paused for a moment, then asked.

"Hmm... she was a woman, with an ordinary appearance, wearing a white cloak, and the studio environment was very simple."

"Although she has many design drafts hanging on her walls, she rarely has any clients visiting her."

"We found out by chance that her prices were reasonable and there was no need to queue, which is how we found her."

Linselia thought for a moment, then said:
"By the way, there's a planetarium with a wind-up mechanism on her desk."

"A planetarium?"

Roger nodded slightly upon hearing this, and then asked:

"What do the other two design drafts look like?"

"Ah, this."

Linselia thought for a moment and replied:
"One is a group of stars that orbit around the sun, and one of them has a very strange orbit that is somewhat elliptical."

"The other one is more abstract; it's a peach-pink flower that looks like mist, with many twinkling stars in the middle..."

"Pink flowers?"

Roger thought for a moment: "Is there a patch of blue mist beneath that flower?"

"Correct!"

Linssaya's eyes lit up: "Captain, how did you know?"

“I’ve seen similar things.”

Roger didn't say much, but after listening to Linssaya's description, he was basically certain that the designer must have a background in the "Morse Ascetic Order" or the "Church of the God of Steam and Machinery".

The basis for this judgment is simple. Although Lindsay and Philip did not know, Roger was very clear that, in addition to the structure of the Milky Way, the other two options provided by the designer were the solar system and the Orion Nebula, which is the closest and brightest nebula to Earth.

As a member of the Abraham family, Roger could easily deduce the other party's identity from these clues.

"You must have encountered a hidden master."

Roger smiled, then looked at the two bewildered men:

"Let's leave it at that for now. You've done a great job. We can just start mass production of this flag."

"Remember to make more, because the flags are likely to become consumables in the later battles."

After saying that, Roger added:

"It's getting late, let's eat first."

"Linsea, tell the kitchen to prepare extra food today to reward the crew. They've all worked hard today."

"Yes, Captain."

Linssaya accepted the order and immediately went to carry it out.

This routine continued for two days, until the evening of the third day when a sensational piece of news finally reached Nagao Island with the arrival of two government ships.

That is, the entire fleet of "Admiral Twilight" was annihilated by a civilian adventurer team!
The reason this news took so long to come out is that "Twilight General" Bratov is backed by the Church of the God of War and the Fusak Empire, so it can only be released after national-level discussions and assessments of its subsequent impact.

Roger was naturally aware of this, but he also knew that a war between the Kingdom of Rune and the Empire of Fusak was inevitable. In addition, Luna had already submitted the bounty budget for him, so this matter was bound to be made public.

Not only that, he even handed over all the Ministry of the Interior's gold seized from the ship in Bulatov to Luna, so Roger knew very well how things would develop next.

As he expected, by the morning of the fourth day, a dense crowd had gathered in front of the "Star Lord".

These people somehow learned that this was the flagship of the "Galaxy Admiral." Many of them were just there to watch the spectacle, while others came to pledge their loyalty.

The local police station and police department on Nagao Island were on high alert—they sent many people to maintain order, but no one dared to board the ship to investigate the "Star Fleet".

There are two reasons for this. First, Roger had no bad record and no history of piracy.

On the other hand, the sheriff and police received a notification from their superiors that they were to cooperate in maintaining order at Nagao Port, but were prohibited from boarding Roger's ship to conduct a search.

Although it was somewhat inexplicable, the police had no choice but to carry out the order due to pressure.

Roger cooperated fully, keeping all the pirates on the bounty list inside their cabins and preventing them from coming out. He himself, along with Philip and Matteo, greeted the sailors who were forced to line up under police pressure and interviewed them one by one.

The interview lasted until 10 p.m., and continued for most of the next day.

Roger also thoughtfully provided food and water for the police and sheriffs, and even found a few of his acquaintances to distribute some money and cigarettes so that they could arrest the troublemakers and throw them into detention, thus ensuring the stability of the scene.

"The harvest was very fruitful."

Roger looked at the newly added crew list with great satisfaction.

In less than two days, he recruited 48 experienced crew members with different skills, many of whom were extraordinary, and there was even a "navigator".

This greatly relieved Roger's pressure, and he now had full confidence in the upcoming voyage.

He then stayed at Longtail Port for another day, allowing Philip, Zeus, Matteo, Ophina, Dionysius, Lupinus, and others to each choose the people they needed before setting sail again towards the southern continent.

"Captain, what's next? Should we head straight to East Bayron?"

In the captain's cabin of the "Star Lord," Philip and Roger sat together, looking at the nautical charts hanging on the wall, discussing their next course.

"No need to rush. We will need to explore the Raging Sea for a period of time in the next phase."

Roger pointed to the island of Tirenius, south of Longtail Island:

"We will use Tilyunius as our base and advance southward first."

"Explore? Are you looking for a certain island?"

Philip was somewhat puzzled.

"No, I want to go to sea."

Roger put his feet up on the table and pointed to the door with his thumb:
“We now have quite a few extraordinary ‘sailors’ who have passed the test of time. I’m going to drag them into the sea to beat up sharks.”

"Huh? Captain, you're joking, right?"

Philip was momentarily confused by Roger's thought process.

"It's a joke."

Roger shrugged, but before Philip could even breathe a sigh of relief, he added:
"Beating up the shark was just a side effect, not the goal."

"???"

Philip rubbed his face hard: "Captain, that's a raging sea..."

Because the "Death God" of the Quaternary period fell into the raging sea, it caused tremendous storms and countless severe weather events, which became a huge chasm between the northern and southern continents.

From that time onward, the Raging Sea became known for its numerous natural disasters and treacherous currents, making navigation between the northern and southern continents impossible. It wasn't until Emperor Roselle of the Fifth Age finally discovered a safe sea route that the northern continent nations finally began the era of colonizing the southern continent, laying submarine cables, and establishing infrastructure such as wired telegraphs.

Even so, the Raging Sea remains one of the most dangerous seas among the five seas. Normal ships will only try to sail along fixed routes, and very few people will try to dive in this area.

So, in Philip's view, Roger was either crazy or joking.

"I know."

Roger nodded: "You don't need to worry about that."

Because a significant portion of the Raging Sea is in contact with the Rothschild Islands, Roger can pray to Mr. Fool in this area to allow him to use the power of the "Scepter of the Sea God" to temporarily suppress the severe weather and help him explore.

If Roger is lucky enough, he will be able to find the fallen meteorite in this sea area—after all, it is a documented object within the Kavituwa faith circle, so he is quite confident about this.

But if, unfortunately, the meteorite was blown by the waves and eddies to the southernmost reaches of the Raging Sea, Roger would have to find a way to borrow the "Scepter of the Sea God" directly from Mr. "The Fool," but that would involve many other problems. In any case, he planned to use Tirineus as his base of operations and then gradually advance downwards.

During this time, regardless of whether Roger finds the meteorite or not, he can go to the southern continent after exploring the northern part of the Raging Sea, and then decide whether to recruit more shipwrights or continue exploring.

Although Philip was still somewhat hesitant, considering Roger's long-standing authority within the "Star Fleet," he didn't say much, simply nodded, and assigned the task to be carried out.

The distance between Longtail Island and Drine Island is not far, but the "Star Fleet" encountered considerable storms when crossing the strait between the two islands, so the voyage still took more than a day.

But Roger remained calm and unhurried. He observed the integration of the new and old crew members along the way and looked for any disputes that required his timely intervention.

However, it turned out that Roger had worried too much. The new recruits were fundamentally different from the crew Roger had captured from the "Musketeer" before. They were very experienced in both mindset and skills.

However, this does not mean that there are no potential risks involved.

Because they had just joined, most of these crew members, while obeying the personnel arrangements made by Roger and the captains, were still secretly getting closer to Adonis Perez, the Sequence 7 "Navigator" who had joined the "Star Fleet" with them.

At this point, Dionysius demonstrated his true value.

This "briber" keenly sensed this trend, so before Roger intervened, he took the initiative to contact Adonis Perez with his men and even treated the "navigator" to a good drink.

So, after a while, the two groups became brothers, and Dionysius's actions successfully thwarted the potential formation of factions within the "Star Fleet".

Roger had seen everything. Later, he privately summoned Dionysius to his captain's cabin, gave him some rewards, and allowed Dionysius to have Deleuze as his second-in-command and jointly manage the Saturn.

Although the "Lawyer" pathway of extraordinary individuals belongs to the chaotic side of the two order pathways left on Earth by the "Children of Chaos," they are in no way inferior to, and perhaps even superior to, the "Arbitrator" pathway in their ability to understand the relationships and order within an organization.

Roger was happy to receive Dionysius's help, but in reality, for a "leaker" like Roger, there was no organization he couldn't manage.

To reiterate, any gang needs to start with secrecy, and if Roger wanted to, no secret could possibly gather under his nose, so there would be no question of power division.

The "Star Fleet" found a suitable anchorage on the shore of Delineus Island, purchased some local supplies, reinforced its masts, and then hoisted the "Star Fleet" flag before setting sail towards the southern continent.

During the voyage, Roger gathered some of the crew members from the Rothschild Islands who were already believers in the "sea god" Kavituwa and held a small meeting with them.

The meeting was about Roger setting up a small chapel for them on the Mercury, allowing them to pray and worship outside of work.

On the other hand, he did not even object to these "sea god" followers developing their faith in Cavituwa to a limited extent within the fleet.

To this end, with the help of Dionysius, Roger formulated a complete set of rules and regulations, stipulating the time period, scope, and code of conduct for the spread of the faith.

If anyone spreads the "Sea God" belief outside the established system, or proselytizes other crew members who already have the belief, they will be punished to varying degrees, such as being publicly criticized or having their wages confiscated. If a fight breaks out, they will be hung on the mast as a form of public shaming or sent to the gas turbine room to do hard labor for half a month.

The aforementioned punishment mechanism also applies to beliefs in other deities, and even to conflicts arising from beliefs among believers of righteous gods.

Under these institutional frameworks, as long as no one is delusional enough to believe in external gods or engage in any supernatural practices like summoning deities, even if they believe in a "true creator," they are all protected by the "Star Fleet's" rules on freedom of belief and are allowed to have a fixed place to pray.

As soon as these rules were announced, they were welcomed by the vast majority of the grassroots members of the "Star Fleet," especially those who had faith in evil gods and usually hid like rats, who all felt the warmth of home here.

In this way, Roger fulfilled his promise to Mr. Fool, because, ostensibly, the agreement between the two parties was that the Wheel of Fortune would first help him gain enough faith in the Sea God, and then the latter would bestow blessings upon the former when he prayed.

That's why everything must be done in advance; otherwise, if you try to cram at the last minute, it will look strange no matter how you look at it.

"No wonder it's the sea, it's so damn free."

When the baby-faced young man Philip looked at the smug faces of the hidden cultists in the "Star Fleet," he couldn't help but laugh and swear.

"Enough talk, how much longer until we enter the turbulent seas with their severe weather?"

Roger, who was sitting on the deck with Bandit in his arms, took a sip of Blue Mountain coffee, a specialty of Blue Mountain Island, and asked a question.

"We expect to be able to enter the corresponding sea area tonight."

At this point, Philip became somewhat worried:

"Captain, are we really not going to change course? Once we enter the raging sea, it will be difficult for us to turn around."

"It's ok."

Roger shook his head, patted him on the shoulder, and laughed:

"Don't you have confidence in my judgment?"

"That's not..."

As Philip was speaking, he suddenly heard a thunderclap overhead.

"Boom!"

The sound startled the first mate of the "Star Master," who quickly stood up and looked towards the thunderclouds gathering and flashing with lightning in the southern sky.

"What's going on? We've only just left Tirenius!"

Philip looked at the dark clouds in the sky with some suspicion. At the same time, a strong wind began to blow around them, and even the waves began to rise higher and higher.

"Captain, First Mate."

A crew member who had just joined the "Star Lord" came running up, panting:
"The guys at the lookout tower said there are dark clouds all ahead, and a heavy downpour is probably coming soon."

"Pass down the order: all ships shall enter the second-level sail-down state, all steam turbines shall be started for auxiliary adjustments, the formation shall be tightened, and the navigation plan shall remain unchanged."

Roger estimated that the wind speed was close to 30 knots. Normally, he should have lowered the sails by one level at this point, but considering that this was already a raging sea, it was better to be conservative.

After all, in wind speeds exceeding 40 knots, sails become the biggest obstacle to the stability of a ship's voyage. Under the immense pressure of the sea wind, even furling the sails will not be an easy task.

"Yes!"

The sailor received the order and went to arrange the work, while Philip returned to his post to take the helm in place of Zeus, ensuring that the "Star Lord" could lead the remaining seven ships at the appropriate speed.

Roger didn't rush to take any action. He simply carried the somewhat frizzy tabby cat, Bandit, back to the captain's cabin, poured himself a new cup of coffee, and then began reading the decades-old logbook he had previously purchased from Hernandez.

During this time, Roger would read this journal whenever he had free time. It must be said that the old captain who kept this journal was also a real chatterbox, just like Mitrom.

This person basically recorded everything every day, big or small. In addition to information related to the route, there was a lot of information about daily life, and he even wrote down which island he went to and how many girls he picked up. Roger felt an urge to make a sarcastic comment after reading it to the end.

About an hour later, the sky outside Roger's porthole suddenly darkened.

"Crack, crackle, crackle..."

The sound of raindrops began, and soon it grew louder and louder, becoming like thunder in less than five minutes.

At the same time, the entire "Star Lord" began to shake again.

"Roger, Roger..."

Bandit the tabby cat wobbled toward Roger, who quickly picked it up and held it in his arms to comfort it.

"I want to vomit..."

The cat muttered listlessly.

"Bandit, you bastard."

Roger sighed: "When 'Poseidon' caused trouble before, the storms were much bigger than they are now."

“That’s different… You activated ‘Secret Protection’ back then, so the ship didn’t actually rock for very long, but this time I’ve been rocked continuously for almost twenty minutes.”

Bandit stuck out his tongue, looking utterly disgusted.

"By the way, you can try this."

Roger suddenly slapped his forehead and took out a bottle of medicine from the drawer.

This is the seasickness prevention medicine from the first batch of medicines manufactured by Emlyn the Moon, which was delivered by Mr. Fool the day before when we were anchored at Tirenius.

"What's this?"

Bandit brought the bottle to the open glass and took a sniff. The cool, fragrant aroma inside immediately made his eyes squint slightly.

In that instant, it clearly felt that its seasickness symptoms had improved a lot.

"Here, take a sip."

With Roger's help, Bandit drank a few drops of the liquid, which was clearly mixed with some irritating essential oils.

It first gagged a few times, and then suddenly opened its eyes wide.

"I don't feel nauseous anymore, I really don't feel nauseous anymore!"

The tabby cat jumped up excitedly.

"boom!"

However, at that moment, a huge wave crashed onto the deck of the "Star Lord" with a loud bang!
(End of this chapter)