Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 273 "Black Knight" Pudding

Roger composed himself and continued reading the rest of Sam's letter:

"Currently, some factories and enterprises are already experiencing operational difficulties, especially light industry, chemical industry and food industry that rely on import and export. I have received information that several mainstream consumer goods companies are considering raising the prices of their products."

"Not only that, the exchange rate of the Rune gold pound against the Intisfel gold pound has also plummeted by more than ten percentage points, and this trend is continuing to decline. The cabinet is currently holding an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures."

"Energy prices are currently relatively stable, but an upward trend is expected, as the possibility of special government regulation of coal and steel conglomerates cannot be ruled out."

“I discussed this with Cecilia, and she predicted that within a week at most, most ordinary people would begin to experience significant difficulties in their lives, at which point social unrest would definitely occur.”

"Cousin, what's your take on this? In this kind of environment, what can we do?"

Roger considered it for a moment, then quickly picked up his pen and replied:

"Sam, your letter has been received. Regarding the situation you mentioned earlier, I have four suggestions."

"First, stock up on essential daily necessities and food now, especially those that are not easily perishable. Try to stock up as much as possible. Also, don't forget to remind your loved ones of this."

"I anticipate a war will break out—but you can't let too many people know that right now."

"Secondly, I have preserved some sealed artifacts in my workshop on the second floor of 15 Minsk Street. They range from low to medium sequence, and their information, usage methods, and taboos are listed below..."

"Third, you, Alice, and Cecilia all need to find a way to digest the potion as soon as possible and advance to Sequence 6."

"Fourth, if you hold stocks related to the energy industry, do not sell them for the time being, even if the stock price plummets."

"If you encounter any difficulties or need assistance, please feel free to contact me and I can return to Backlund."

"above."

After writing the letter, Roger again asked "The Rat of De La Hoya" to return the mail to Sam.

Afterward, Roger wrote another letter to his friend Klein Moretti, giving him similar instructions, and then summoned the "Exeggutor," or rather, the "Ancient Evil" Renette Tinicol.

"Dear Madam, please deliver this letter to Klein Moretti."

Roger looked at the exquisite four-headed lady in front of him and spoke respectfully.

"OK."

Renette Tinicol nodded first, then looked at Roger with a puzzled expression:
"You... have... the aura of the abyss... on you."

"abyss?"

Roger was slightly taken aback, and for a moment he didn't understand what Renette was talking about.

"Madam, what do you mean? Could you please be more specific?"

He pressed for an answer.

"When you... are gazing... at the abyss..., the abyss... is also gazing... at you."

After saying this, Renette Tinicol fell silent, turned and disappeared.

This left Roger even more confused.

Although he had thought about creating the "Immortal King" Agarito, he did not actually take any action or have a fixed plan.

"Could it be that my malice towards him was sensed? But that doesn't make sense... After all, Agarito doesn't represent the 'Abyss'."

Roger rubbed his temples, somewhat puzzled.

"Never mind, I'll stop thinking about it for now."

He sighed.

For now, Roger can only do what he's supposed to do and wait for things to develop further.

The following day, the "Star Fleet" completed its energy and supplies replenishment and recruited a new batch of shipwrights at a relatively fair price, which made the eight ships even more lively.

That night, Roger changed his appearance, dressing up as he had when he met Alger. He then used Philemon's Bell to travel to the place on Sonia Island where he had arranged to meet Cattleya. There, he found the meteorite in the hands of a cloaked merchant.

Roger was immediately certain that the meteorite could be used for his "Living Star Chart" ascension ritual, which thrilled him.

The only regret was that he did not see "Admiral" Cattleya, but Roger's intuition told him that someone had been watching him from nearby.

Just as Roger had predicted, he didn't expose this layer. He simply completed the transaction, made the payment, and then found a secluded spot to use the "Traveler's Dice" to return to the captain's cabin of the "Star Lord".

He carefully put away the last meteorite like a treasure, then walked to the door of Zeus's room and knocked.

"captain."

Zeus's hair was a little messy. He opened the door halfway with a bewildered look on his face and looked at Roger timidly.

Roger glanced at the room Zeus had blocked with his body and said:

“Tell the brothers, we’re heading east first thing tomorrow morning, we’re going to East Bailang.”

"Received, Captain."

Zeus pursed his lips, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping himself.

"You can let me know later."

Roger sighed, saying helplessly.

"Thank you Captain."

Zeus nodded and bowed repeatedly, then closed the door.

……

Morning arrived quickly, and the "Star Fleet" weighed anchor precisely at seven o'clock in the morning, heading towards the direction of sunrise.

After arranging the work, Roger left Bandit on the ship and then used the "Traveler's Dice" to teleport to his workshop at 15 Minsk Street.

“Sam and Cecilia came here… several sealed artifacts are missing.”

Roger quickly scanned his room using "Secret Insight" and said with some relief.

He didn't even bother to sit at home for a while before hailing a horse-drawn carriage and heading to St. Lawrence Street in the St. George district.

Along the way, Roger saw many citizens scrambling to buy daily necessities and food, many shops had "sold out" signs hanging in front of them, and the streets were chaotic, with many people arguing over trivial matters. It seemed difficult to associate their behavior with the generally good character of the people of Backlund in the past.

This is clearly because two days have passed, and many people at the bottom of society have only now realized that something is wrong. This has led to anxiety and frantic hoarding in order to avoid being drained of their money by the skyrocketing prices.

Moreover, many poorly lit shops, which should have been lit by gas lamps, were pitch black, with only a few showing flickering candlelight.

"Have gas prices gone up too...?"

Roger muttered to himself and shook his head slightly.

After getting off the carriage, he gave the coachman an extra 1 sule tip, which immediately made the weathered middle-aged man bow repeatedly in thanks and ask what he could do for Roger.

"It's nothing, take good care of your family."

Roger patted the coachman on the shoulder and then turned and walked toward the familiar sign not far away.

"Thankfully, the door was open."

Roger took a deep breath and saw the gaslights on inside the "Good Stuff" grocery store—a stark contrast to the rest of the street.

As the doorbell rang, Roger once again saw the young man sitting behind the boss's desk, dressed in black, with a monocle made of crystal over his right eye.

"Good morning, what are you thinking about?"

Roger greeted Amon, who was in a daze, and then looked at the thick stack of manuscripts in front of him.

"Good morning. I just received a letter from Tasok Humor Stories saying that the magazine will be changing to a bimonthly publication—and that it's because of rising paper and ink prices, and that I should reduce the frequency of my submissions accordingly."

Amon shook his head:

Do you think my comics are good?

"Ah, this..."

Roger paused for a moment, wondering if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Amon seemed a little disappointed.

"...It's great. My two younger brothers are both avid readers of yours."

Roger couldn't help but offer words of comfort.

"Yeah."

Amon suddenly raised his head and stared at Roger for a moment.

Then, He suddenly laughed and threw his manuscript paper behind him.

"It doesn't matter, I'm just having some fun anyway."

What brings you here today?

"Boss, you're asking a question you already know the answer to."

Roger chuckled: "Haven't you and Adam made up enough stories about me already?"

He pointed to the notebook open on Amon's desk, holding the 0-08 "Alesuhold Pen".

"None of my business."

Amon laughed: "If you have any problems, go find Him. I haven't made any arrangements for you for at least a month."

With that, He closed the notebook.

Yes, otherwise how would you know about the 'Star Lord'?
Roger sighed. He clearly saw words like "Star Lord" at the top of Amona's notebook.

However, he didn't say much, since he had come to ask Amon for help, and he wanted to avoid making any teasing remarks.

If this "god of pranks" were to suddenly decide to add some spice to his life, it wouldn't be fun anymore.

"Have you brought anything?"

Amon asked again.

"Ah."

Roger nodded, then opened the "Old Box" and took out a bottle.

"Did you put that 'parasite' glove in that broken box?"

Amon frowned and asked.

"It's just for easy storage, don't overthink it."

To be honest, Roger was indeed preventing Amon from stealing it. After all, with His existence, it's really not easy to find a high-sequence "Thief" seal these days.

"give it to me."

Amon raised an eyebrow.

"Do not."

Roger shook his head vigorously.

"Do you think I can't steal it just because you don't give it to me?"

Amon chuckled.

"...In that case, I'll give it to you after I complete my ascension ceremony in the starry sky."

"At the same time, I need your help to unbind the power permissions of the 'Thief' pathway starting from Sequence 5. At the very least, it should be able to affect my subordinates."

Roger considered it for a moment and ultimately conceded. After all, advancing to the rank of "Black Knight" was too crucial for him, and Amon was unpredictable; he didn't want to offend the angel king who had helped him many times over such a trivial matter.

Once Roger becomes the "Black Knight," his methods will certainly become much more diverse, and demigod-level abilities will emerge one after another.

Although he liked the "parasite glove" very much, it would definitely seem a bit redundant by then, and it would be better to use it to do Amon a favor.

On the other hand, in order to hunt down Extraordinary beings of his own sequence, Amon has been using the uniqueness of the "wrong" path to suppress the power levels of lower sequences in this path, preventing them from obtaining some of the abilities they should have had.

For example, Ophina, as a Sequence 6 "Fire Thief," should have been able to steal items from others remotely or, in turn, put dangerous things into the hands of enemies.

Moreover, the "fire thief" has a strong resistance to mental pollution, and their observation ability is greatly enhanced, so they can sense valuable items within a 50-meter range and their approximate types and values.

However, Amon has restricted these abilities to some extent, and this restriction still exists after Sequence 5. The Sequence 5 "Dream Thief" can only have a stripped-down version of "Theft", and even its newly added "Disguise" cannot be used normally.

This situation will continue until Sequence 3 and beyond, until Sequence 2, when the "Thief" in the "Amon version" will be exactly the same as the "Celestial version".

Besides Ophina, there are several other crew members on the Moon who are also Beyonders of the Thief pathway, including Jennifer, who has recently been getting along well with Zeus.

If Roger can significantly increase the strength of these people, then this deal will be worthwhile.

After all, the fleet doesn't belong to one person alone; the strength of everyone is fundamental.

"Then it's a deal."

Amon seemed quite pleased to hear Roger say that.

"Interesting, 'Black Knight' Pudding?"

Amon looked at the pudding in the bottle in his hand, a mixture of white and black with a bit of frosting on top, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"The heart I had last time was awful."

Roger shook his head: "I still need to make sure I eat well."

"Let me make this clear: because you were promoted through my 'fraud,' you won't have any supporting materials or promotion ceremony."

"This carries a risk: if you cannot become a dual-path demigod within a month, you may be affected by the shadow and corrupting power inherent in the 'Black Knight' extraordinary traits and lose control."

"Have you thought it through? If you have, open your mouth."

As Amon spoke, he tapped the table with his hand, then opened the bottle cap and looked at Roger.

"I've thought it through. I know about these things."

Roger nodded, then added somewhat nervously:

"Boss, let's make this clear first, don't do anything weird."

"it is good."

Amon nodded, his expression calm and his face as usual.

"still have a question."

Roger thought for a moment:
Are you the original body?

When Amon fed himself "Shepherd's Evil Heart" earlier, he descended directly in his true form. However, the situation in Backlund is very different from that in Tingen.

Because Amon is the son of the ancient sun god, normally, if Amon's true form were to descend upon Backlund, it would directly trigger a divine descent.

However, if the Amon in front of him is not the real person, then whether he can accomplish the same thing as before by relying solely on "deception" at a level below Sequence 1 is a key point that Roger is curious about.

“I can tell you clearly that I am not. But the ‘thief’ method is special, and it’s not difficult for me to help you complete the ‘fraud’.”

Amon shook his head:

"However, I can also tell you that even if my true form were to descend and help you now, it would not be detected by most of the true gods."

Oh……

Roger immediately understood the meaning behind Amon's words and had a sudden realization.

If it wasn't discovered by most of the true gods, that means a small portion of them tacitly approved of it.

He then relaxed, sat down in the chair opposite Amon, and opened his mouth.

Amon then stood up and stuffed the pudding into Roger's mouth.

This scene reminded Roger of his first experience of consuming "Shepherd's Evil Heart," and he immediately experienced a PTSD attack, his brow furrowing as he prepared for the unimaginable pain.

Although Roger had chosen a pudding as the vessel for the "Black Knight" extraordinary ability, it was, after all, a demigod extraordinary ability that governed shadow and corruption, so it was impossible for him to eat it wholeheartedly.

Sure enough, when the pudding slid down Roger's throat, he immediately felt an intense chill.

The chill wasn't caused by the cold; on the contrary, Amon's "A Good Thing" general store was very warm inside.

It came from within Roger; it seemed that all the shadows, the depravity of his nature, and other negative emotions enveloped Roger's soul at this moment, producing a chilling sensation from the deepest level.

At the same time, a great darkness suddenly rose from Roger's feet and enveloped him, and the faces of the souls enslaved by Roger kept appearing on his body and around him.

Adeline, Jason, Ludwig, Mitrom, Godric, Seamus...

Because Roger himself was in an unstable state, these spirits had some room to act autonomously.

However, in the end, all those images disappeared, leaving only the "Fallen Earl" Chunus Korg, who possessed a complete spirit body, standing beside Roger, looking at Roger with resentful eyes.

The "fallen count" extended his trembling right hand to Roger and uttered a strange and difficult character.

"enlarge."

Just a second before the sound rang out, Roger suddenly felt a sweet taste in his throat.

It seemed to be the slight sweetness from the pudding that Linssaya had made; for some reason, Roger only tasted this sweetness at this moment.

It can produce a sweet taste that generates calories.

At the same time, the sweetness seemed to be mixed with some kind of inexplicable melody. Although it was not pleasant to the ear, it was like a ray of light that Roger could grasp in the darkness. It shone and radiated heat, giving Roger a little bit of warmth.

Although few in number, they exist, existing stably within this bizarre synesthesia.

And coincidentally, this warm feeling just emerged when Chunas Kolger uttered the word "magnify".

In an instant.

The light was suddenly magnified, and the sparks that were originally like dust suddenly turned into light. This light spread rapidly and, with its scorching power, fought against the darkness surrounding Roger.

After a long while, the two forces within him finally balanced and fell silent once more in the boundless ocean of spirituality.

"Huh, huh..."

Roger's back was completely soaked with sweat. His body went limp, and he slumped onto the table, panting heavily.

On the other side, Amon had already gripped the sealed artifact 0-08 tightly, his eyes fixed intently on Roger.

The latter did not know what He wrote on the paper, but only saw Him breathe a slight sigh of relief and close the notebook.

"Congratulations on your advancement to demigod."

Amon smiled and said, "This should be the last time I help you."

"why?"

Roger asked instinctively.

"...because Adam wanted to take it away."

Amon stroked it tenderly for a while. 0-08:

"But He also paid a price, so overall I made a small profit."

"OK, thanks."

Roger nodded and thanked him softly.

"Furthermore, I can no longer help you, and not just because of the 0-08 issue."

Amon paused:
"You know some things in your heart, and I don't want to say more."

"Ah."

Roger nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Amon stood up, picked up his stack of comic strips again, and put them back in the cabinet.

"Kerske Island is related to the Einhorn family, right?"

Roger suddenly remembered this and asked Amon for confirmation.

"You'll have to discover these things yourself; saying too much would be spoiling the plot."

Amon glanced at Roger:
"Go back now that you've rested. Don't treat me like a wish-granting machine."

"Okay, goodbye, boss."

Roger nodded; he had by then fully adapted to his new abilities.

As the "Traveler's Dice" was rolled, Roger disappeared from the "A Good Thing" general store.

……

After returning to the "Star Fleet," Roger rested for a while, ate something, and then went to the "Mars" to borrow some tools from the tool room. He then returned to his captain's cabin and began to chisel away at the meteorite he had bought from Cattleya the night before, trying to completely remove its outer layer.

"You're so noisy, Roger."

Bandit, who was sleeping with his belly exposed next to Roger, was disturbed by Roger's voice. The tabby cat sat up, looked at Roger, and complained.

"If you're going to do something, then do it... huh?"

Bandit stopped talking halfway through his sentence.

"You give me a different feeling than before."

As the tabby cat spoke, it jumped onto the floor of the captain's cabin, stretched, and then quickly ran to Roger's side to sniff him.

“You have a familiar scent on you… Yes, I smelled this scent outside your studio when we used to live on Minsk Street.”

"The studio at 15 Minsk Street?"

Roger paused for a moment, then realized something:
"Could it be that I have Kexma's scent on me, and that Bandit accidentally smelled his scent when he sent me a letter before?"

"Well, you're right."

Roger put down his hammer and glanced at the inner layer of the meteorite that was beginning to show a pale yellow hue:
"I am already a demigod."

"Huh? A demigod?"

Bandit had no idea things would turn out so quickly:
Is it the 'Black Knight'?

"Correct."

Roger nodded slightly:

"Speaking of which, I do have a gift for you."

"what gift?"

"Bandit asked curiously."

"A record of abilities at the demigod level."

As Roger spoke, a shadow that appeared out of nowhere began to spread rapidly from his feet, and at the same time, his height began to increase rapidly!
(End of this chapter)