Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 290 Sealed Artifact 1-097
Amidst the raging winds and torrential rain, the "Mad Blade" approached the Fussack fleet swiftly like a ghost. As it passed the "Sun" Beyonders, the latter clung to the bottom of the ghost ship like barnacles, their bodies rapidly shriveling up as if their flesh and blood were being drained at an incredible speed.

As the "Mad Blade" devoured more and more extraordinary beings from the "Sun" pathway, suddenly another huge beam of light enveloped the escort ship closest to the "Mad Blade".

"Boom!"

The light was like a combined attack from more than ten "sun priests," blasting through the frigate with extremely high temperature and destructive power, melting a large hole in its hull!
"boom!"

At this moment, the "Mad Blade" finally collided with the flagship that was leading the group.

Thunderstorms and gales immediately began to rage, and a huge "Sword of Dawn" suddenly appeared in the hand of the officer, whose aura suddenly surged.

The suddenly appearing "shield of light" enveloped the flagship, minimizing the collision damage to the "Raging Blade".

Upon seeing this, the "Guardian" officer breathed a sigh of relief, but his expression quickly turned even more gloomy.

In his vision, with a flash of lightning, a man with an ethereal body, dressed in a captain's uniform and wearing a Fussack-style dagger, suddenly appeared high on the bow of the ship.

The man's entire body crackled with electricity, and his hair flew up as if controlled by electrical charges.

Moreover, the captain also possessed a massive longbow made of lightning, which was frantically resonating with the lightning in the sky, its power constantly increasing.

Before the "Guardians" could figure out what was going on, the situation worsened.

"one two Three……"

As his constricted pupils reflected the image, even more extraordinary souls appeared on the deck.

These extraordinary beings varied in appearance, clothing, and age. Judging from their extraordinary powers, they all seemed to originate from the pathways of "Sailor," "Mystic," "Spectator," and "Reader."

"No, there's more..."

Under the shocked gaze of the "Guardian," the white-robed youth of Intis, the "Priest of Light" who had been standing with him earlier discussing the battle situation, also appeared on the deck, looking at him coldly.

"What exactly is that ship?"

Seeing this, the "Guardian" felt a chill run down his spine.

Although he didn't like the "Priest of Light," the person was, after all, a living, breathing person who had been talking to him just a dozen minutes ago. The fact that he had transformed into this form and the terrifying scene instantly extinguished any desire to resist him.

As lightning, shadows, flames, frost, and sunlight exploded simultaneously within the Fussack fleet, a series of screams suddenly rose up, reaching the gloomy sky!

……

In the Middle Sonia Sea, on Pasu Island, in the "Abyss of Storms," ​​lies the Church of the Lord of Storms.

A middle-aged man with brown skin, wearing a blue robe embroidered with waves and billows, walked around the magnificent, layered colonnade full of Quaternary sculptures, and entered a side hall. He knelt down in front of the cardinal in the head seat, who was wearing a crown and holding a scepter.

The cardinal was an imposing middle-aged man with thick, round, dark blue hair, large earlobes, and eyes that seemed to hold the power of lightning and storms. He had a thick beard and short, straight hair that was a deep, almost pure black color.

"Reporting to Lord Valentine, the sealed artifact 1-097 'The Shepherd's Coffin' has been delivered to the designated sea area. Currently, all 28 'Singer' extraordinary individuals who were secretly dispatched by Intis to support the Fusak Empire fleet have been eliminated and successfully 'herded'."

"After that, because the 'Shepherd's Coffin' was close to its maximum capacity for storing souls, it went berserk for a short period of time. The extraordinary souls stored within were released simultaneously, causing huge losses to the fleet that Fussac had assembled on the east side of Sonia Island."

"Although some of the souls grazed by the 'Shepherd's Coffin' were concentrated and destroyed by the 'Storm of Light,' the overall loss was no more than 40%, and the fleet it attacked has now basically lost its combat capability."

"As you predicted, although there were a large number of mid-sequence extraordinary individuals in that fleet, there were no extraordinary individuals at the sequence level 4. Therefore, we achieved our strategic objective without losing a single soldier."

"Your Excellency's opinion is excellent!"

After listening to the report from the bishop before him, which was laced with flattery, Cardinal Radal Valentine nodded calmly and then spoke:

“Very good. In this way, the fleet that came to support from the ‘Sea of ​​White Whales’ is now isolated and helpless, caught in a dilemma.”

"They were left with only two options: either join up with the Fussack fleet in the Interval Sea, or proceed to East Chestershire according to the original battle plan."

"However, without the support of friendly forces, the possibility of a landing operation is slim. At most, they will engage in small-scale firefights with the army in East Chestershire to buy time for the inter-naval fleet... but that is not something we need to worry about."

“After all, East Chestershire is very close to Wintershire.”

Having said that, the "Deep Blue High Priest" raised his eyes again and asked:

"What were the results of the 'Star Fleet'?"

The role of the "Star Fleet" in this war is currently known only to MI9 and a very small number of high-ranking members of the Orthodox Church, including Radar Valentine and his two direct subordinate bishops.

The middle-aged bishop thought for a moment before answering:
"Reporting to Lord Valentine, the 'Star Fleet' was ambushed in the South Sonia Sea by the 'Black Death Fleet' and the 'Witch Cult' Sequence 3 demigod Katarina Pelle."

"But they not only killed Katrina Pelle, but also annihilated the entire Black Death Fleet and an entire branch of the Fussack Navy, capturing more than 50 people, while losing 26 of their own men below the rank of lieutenant."

"For unknown reasons, I am unable to ascertain the condition of Captain John West of the 'Star Fleet,' but judging from various details, he should be alive."

"Katarina Pelle, the 'White Witch'?"

Radar Valentine's expression changed visibly, but then he thought of something else.

"You mean John West killed Katrina Pelle?"

"That should be the case, Your Excellency Valentine."

The middle-aged bishop nodded in response, and then said:

"The 'Star Fleet' is currently sailing towards the eastern waters of the Rothschild Islands. Should we intercept it?"

"No need. If that's the case, then it's interesting."

Radar Valentine suddenly smiled:
"Give the order to send more men to escort the 'Star Fleet' along its route, but do not disturb them at all. I want to see how much trouble this 'Galactic Admiral' can cause."

"Yes, Your Excellency Valentine."

The middle-aged bishop accepted the order and quickly withdrew from the side hall.

……

Onboard the "San Mirón-class" cruiser, Roger, who had just finished interrogating the naval officer Fussack and temporarily detaining him, fell into deep thought.

When he took over the mission to intercept the Fussac fleet from Luna Augustus, he only regarded it as an ordinary military operation. However, he did not expect to encounter saints of the "Witch Cult" and high-sequence sealed artifacts of the Einhorn family along the way.

This struck Roger as odd, because from the perspective of the Fussac Empire, the value of the high-sequence stealth of the "Red Priest" pathway was clearly higher than that of Katarina Pelle's intervention. Not to mention, in order to ensure the success of Katarina's mission, they also provided an additional seal artifact corresponding to the "Red Priest" pathway Sequence 4 "Iron Knight".

Therefore, according to normal logic, the "Witch Cult" was involved in this war in a much deeper way than simply blocking the "Star Fleet"; there must have been other actions involved.

For example, as Cecilia said, pathogens were released into the water sources of major cities in the Loen homeland, such as Backlund, in order to kill the Loen population on a large scale.

This is not a baseless speculation. It is not only based on strategic considerations, but also because of the previous deaths of "Desperate Nightingale" Panatia and "White Saint" Katarina Pelle. At this time, the Witch Cult must hope to cultivate new demigod-level witches, so it is possible that they will take advantage of the war to complete one or two demigod ascension ceremonies.

This is one of the main reasons why he sent Luna the email last night. Roger wanted to warn Luna to be careful of the "Witch Cult" playing dirty tricks, and he also wanted to inform her that he had killed Katarina.

For some reason, Luna has not replied yet, so Roger's interrogation of the colonel focused mainly on the "Witch Cult's" movements in Backlund.

Unfortunately, the colonel was only told by his superiors that the saint of the "Witch Cult" would intervene to stop a pirate team from Rune with military ties, and that they could continue their mission without worry. However, he did not expect that the "Witch Cult" would fail in the interception mission.

This is understandable, because on a real battlefield, unless it is the staff or intelligence department, even officers at the rank of colonel are likely only responsible for their own combat operations and do not have an understanding of the overall situation.

So Roger had just ordered his fleet to take a short rest on Simim Island and hand over some of the Fusak prisoners of war to the local garrison before continuing his advance towards the east of Rune.

He had a strong premonition that the "Witch Cult" had already made contingency plans for the death of the "White Saintess"!
After dealing with matters on the Fussack, the "Star Fleet" took the opportunity to plunder all six Fussack warships, including the "San Miron-class," just like real pirates. In addition to food, fresh water, and light beer, they also found a large amount of coal.

In this way, the "Star Fleet" will have sufficient power to sustain its operation.

"By the way, little Philip, is this the first time we've plundered supplies like real pirates since joining the 'Star Fleet'?"
"Oh right... We've raided other ships before, but those were pirate ships. This is the first time we've raided a real military vessel."

Zeus was enthusiastically directing his men to work while chattering away to Philip beside him.

"Seems to be."

Philip nodded. Now, thanks to the training he received from Lindsay and Bandit, he no longer felt anything about the name "Little Philip".

"But then again, the captain doesn't seem too happy."

Zeus glanced at Roger's retreating figure with some concern:

"Could it be because I told everyone yesterday about him grilling Lindsay?"

"Are you genuinely stupid, or are you deliberately causing trouble?"

Philip was momentarily speechless, both amused and exasperated. He glanced at Linsaria, the "Witch of Pain," who was sitting in a chair, having exerted herself in the previous battle but still not fully recovered.

"Stop bringing this up again. If I'm not mistaken, Linsaya has already advanced to Sequence 5, and she's clearly angry every time she looks at you."

"If you keep talking nonsense, once she fully recovers, she'll probably kill you a hundred times over without even breaking a sweat."

"what?"

Zeus was greatly alarmed and quickly smiled, nodded, and bowed to Linssaya, who was looking over.

But the "Witch of Pain" seemed completely unwilling to pay him any attention.

In the captain's cabin of the "Star Lord", Roger wrote three short messages and then summoned the "Rat of De La Hoya" again.

Two of the three letters were addressed to Mr. P and Mr. C, and one was addressed to his own brother, Sam.

The letters were all pretty much the same, requesting Mr. C and Sam to take their most capable men and quickly travel to East Chestershire and Interseashire to closely monitor the situation on the upper reaches of the Tasok River.

The reason for this arrangement is that there is a greater chance that the Furst army will appear in East Chestershire, and Mr. C, as the "shepherd," is more reliable in terms of both combat ability and experience in dealing with emergencies.

As for Sam, he originally lived in the town of Torquay near the Sea County, so he was more familiar with the environment and river conditions there, making his investigation easier.

Mr. P was also assigned a similar job by Roger, except that he was in charge of County Ahowa.

After doing all this, Roger set up an altar and took two candles from his cupboard.

One of the candles is deep black, made from night-blooming jasmine, deep sleep flower, and other herbs, symbolizing the night.

The other one is crimson, made from moonflower, deep red sandalwood, and other ingredients, and in mysticism symbolizes the identity of the "Crimson Lord," the "Goddess of the Night."

He placed the black candle on the upper left of the table and the red one on the upper right.

After doing all that, Roger took out a third candle. This candle was plain white and contained peppermint and rose essential oils, both of which are plants favored and loved by goddesses.

Roger had prepared these three candles when he was in Tingen, but he never had the chance to use them until now.

In addition, he took out a small amount of "Full Moon Oil", a large cauldron engraved with the Dark Holy Symbol, a silver dagger often used in ritual magic, water and coarse salt.

After setting up the altar, Roger put on the "Scholar's Ring," lit candles, and used coarse salt and other materials to build a "wall of spirituality."

In fact, having already become a demigod-level extraordinary being, he could have directly created a "wall of spirit" using his own spirituality. However, considering that this was Roger's first attempt at ritual magic directed at the goddess, and that his own spirituality was imbued with auras such as "corruption," "noisiness," and "shadow," he opted for the most basic method of constructing a "wall of spirit" through ritual magic.

On the other hand, such behavior also helps Roger improve his concentration, which can reduce the influence of the "noisy" nature of the Geheros source on the goddess to some extent.

Soon, Roger respectfully recited: "Goddess of the Night, more sublime than the stars, more enduring than eternity, Crimson Lord, Mother of Secrets, Queen of Calamity and Fear, Lord of Sleep and Silence!"
"I beg for your attention, I beg for your listening, I beg for your favor."

"..."

During this ritual magic, Roger informed the goddess of the information he currently possessed regarding the "Witch Cult" and the Fussac Empire. He then praised the goddess, withdrew from the ritual, and released his state of concentration and the "wall of spirituality."

"In that case, Winter County should take action."

Wintershire is home to the Church of the Goddess of Night. This county, along with Intersea, Akhova, and East Chester, covers all the upper reaches of the Tasok River in the Backlund region.

In this way, each section of the Tasok River was monitored by personnel, and any individuals associated with the "Witch Cult" would immediately attract attention if they approached the water source.

Roger breathed a sigh of relief. He was about to leave the captain's cabin when he heard Mr. Fool's repeated calls.

"Who is it this time? Audrey or Alger?"

Roger paused for a moment, then sat down again and connected with the layers of gray mist above the "Source Castle".

To Roger's surprise, he actually saw the figure of "The World" Gehrman Sparrow.

This sea adventurer, posing as Klein, has recently gained considerable fame at sea, though not as much as Roger and his "Star Fleet".

"Dear Mr. 'Fool,' please convey my respects to Mr. 'Wheel of Fortune,' who greatly assisted me in the previous battle."

"Also, please help me deliver this item to him. It is something I should help him purchase according to our agreement."

"Praise be to you, Mr. Fool."

After Roger withdrew from the "Source Castle" communication, a rather ancient-looking book quickly appeared on the captain's table in front of him.

"The Travels of Grosse?"

Roger glanced at its cover and immediately realized what it meant.

This is the sealed artifact left behind by the "Dragon of Imagination" Angelweid that Klein previously offered for sale at the "Tarot Meeting"!

Roger expressed his desire to buy it at the time, and afterwards transferred eight thousand pounds in cash to Klein through "Source Castle" to purchase it on his behalf.

This thing previously dragged "Iceberg Admiral" Edwina Edwards into it, but fortunately, with the help of Klein and Danitz, she defeated the "King of the North" dragon Julian and escaped from "The Travels of Groselle".

However, after this experience, she gave up the idea of ​​continuing to deal with this thing, which gave Roger the opportunity to buy it.

However, Roger casually tossed "Grossell's Travels" into the toy space of the "Old Days Box" and sealed it away temporarily, because he didn't have time to study it carefully at the moment, and he didn't want to be drawn into the story world by spending too much time with it.

Because that would definitely cause Roger a lot of trouble, and might force him to use the authority of the "Key to the Gate" to leave the book, or even miss the astral phases suitable for his advancement.

"You stay here by yourself for a while, there will be a time when we need your help."

Before tossing "The Travels of Grossell" into the "Old Box," Roger didn't forget to smile and "reassur" the guy.

Just then, the "Rat of De La Hoya" jumped out again and handed Roger a letter.

"Your two very attractive subordinates asked me to tell you that they are ready to set off to carry out the mission you assigned them. This letter was given to you by your brother."

The messenger, who looked like a half-rat and half-rabbit, spoke.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Roger nodded, then suddenly realized what was going on and took out several different kinds of nuts from his person.

"I forgot to give it to you earlier. These are some exotic nuts I collected. Take them home and try them."

This was discovered by the crew of the "Star Fleet" in the hold of Fussack's supply ship; it appears to be a reserve of supplies used to help the crew replenish their energy.

Some of these nut varieties can be found in the Intersea County of Loen, but others are only found in Fursac, and even Roger was seeing them for the first time.

Just as Roger had predicted, the "De La Hoya Mouse's" eyes immediately lit up, and it stretched out its cute, furry little hand to take it:

"Have a heart."

"correct."

Roger finally couldn't hold back and asked:
"When I last saw the one above you, I noticed it was also carrying a lot of nuts. I'd like to ask if there's any special significance to collecting nuts besides as food reserves?"

"Ah, this."

"The Rat of De La Hoya" scratched his head:
"You really want to know?"

"If it's inconvenient, you don't have to say."

Roger quickly explained that he had no intention of prying into the privacy of the "De La Hoya Giant Rat," but was simply curious.

"There's nothing inconvenient about it, I just didn't expect you to ask me that suddenly."

"The Rat of De La Hoya" then answered Roger's question:

"We have our own unique territory, but this territory is not something that can be opened up casually."

"The spirit world does not have a material basis in the strict sense, so we must determine the area in the material world that corresponds to a region in the spirit world, as well as a portion of the material information in that area."

"Nuts are a great medium for us, which is why while the quantity of nuts is important, the variety is even more important."

"I see."

Roger suddenly realized, and then asked:
"When you expand the scope of the spirit world, does it include the spirit worlds of other planets?"

"Of course it includes, but we need the corresponding material information, preferably nuts, or dried fruits in a broad sense."

Roger was quite surprised and taken aback by this answer, because normally the spirit world on Earth is separated from the outside world, and the fact that the "Rat of De La Hoya" had given such an answer was truly bizarre. This meant that this half-rat, half-rat spirit creature must have some secrets that Roger had not yet discovered.

He suddenly realized something and said:
"Then, if I can provide you with nuts from a certain planet so that you can open up a corresponding spirit realm territory, can I directly enter the corresponding area of ​​the spirit realm and then have you help me send me to the corresponding real-world coordinates?"

The "Rat of De La Hoya" tilted his head and thought for a moment:
"Theoretically, it's possible, but only someone at the demigod level like me could do it."

"That's enough."

Roger breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you for your answer. Please give my regards to it."

He then watched as the "Rat of De La Hoya" left his captain's cabin.

Roger was pleasantly surprised by "De La Hoya's Rat's" answer!

He had previously believed that if he wanted to travel to the Astral Plane, he would have to rely on high-sequence abilities through the "Gate" pathway, and that it had to be done every time.

Given that the "Judgment Star" pathway involves the power of the astral plane, it is almost certain that Roger would have to frequently leave Earth and travel to the astral plane under the watchful eyes of those ancient beings outside the barrier.

Compared to "landing" directly from the astral realm, taking a detour through the spirit realm might be a more rational and safer option.

The only problem is how Roger will obtain the corresponding nuts or dried fruits from those planets.

"Perhaps the first time we can use a high-sequence sealing artifact through the 'gate' route, and then we can take a detour through the spirit world?"

Roger thought about it and felt that there was still too little information to make an effective judgment. At least he would have to wait until he found the last two sealed artifacts left by Mr. "The Door", especially the one that corresponded to the angel level, before there would be a possibility of making such a plan.

He shook his head, took out Sam's reply, and began to read it:
“Dear cousin, I have received your message. I currently have two newly recruited detective apprentices under my command, and I will immediately set off with them to Jianhai County to conduct an investigation.”

"Miss Alice is with me now, and she just expressed her desire to come along. If you have any objections, you can write back to let me know. If you have no objections, you don't need to write back and can focus on your own affairs."

"Enclosed with this letter is the list of the first three 'righteous devil' candidates we have selected. Please take a look."

Oh...right, there's this one too.

Roger curiously unfolded the next few pages of letters and photos, which contained detailed information about the three people, including their age, origin, background, and motivations for wanting to become extraordinary individuals through the "criminal" pathway.

"Jordan Phillips, male, 15 years old, native of East Chestershire."

"Jordan moved to Backlund with his parents when he was 5 years old. His father then joined the Backlund Army and died in a military conflict with the Fussacks."

"Afterwards, Jordan's mother remarried, and his stepfather not only abused alcohol but also constantly beat and verbally abused him. Jordan's biological mother was also involved in the violence."

"This led him to run away from home three years ago and join a teenage gang."

"But recently a good friend of Jordan's has fallen seriously ill and needs a lot of money for treatment, which is why he wants to become an extraordinary person."

Roger flipped through the photo and detailed information of Jordan that were attached to the letter. He was an ordinary-looking boy with a somewhat weak gaze, typical of a Rune. The file showed that Jordan was skilled in lock picking, theft, and some basic gun handling.

While their gun handling skills may not be on par with those of regular soldiers, they are still far superior to those of the average person.

"Goodness, these techniques... so they're practically 'criminals' now?"

Roger chuckled to himself, seemingly already envisioning Jordan rapidly digesting the "criminal" potion.

"However, judging from his personal experience, eyes, and motivation to become an extraordinary person, he is not a bad person in the strict sense. He was just driven to desperation by family reasons, and his purpose in becoming a 'criminal' was to save people."

Roger pondered for a moment:
"If that's the case, there might be significant obstacles in digesting the 'Cold-Blooded One,' also known as the 'Fallen Angel,' potion."

"After all, in my previous expectations, the 'righteous demon' could not become completely cold-blooded. Instead, it had to show cold-bloodedness in specific situations and against specific people. Moreover, this cold-bloodedness had to be unusually profound and could not just be a superficial manifestation of desire. Only in this way could it achieve a drug digestion effect comparable to that of the demon family and the 'blood worship cult'."

"From this perspective, Jordan's strength lies in the fact that he has no way out in his life, but his weakness lies in the fact that he seems to be very loyal and weak-willed, unable to be ruthless."

Roger shook his head. In his opinion, Jordan could try to become an extraordinary individual through the "criminal" route, but given his personality, it would be difficult for him to stand out from MI9's grueling training.

He then opened the second document.

"Mikel Zeke, male, 22 years old, from the Backlund region."

"Mikel comes from a single-parent family. His father died early, and he was raised by his mother."

"Although he came from a poor family, Michael was very studious and diligent. He was admitted to Backlund Medical School at the age of 16 and became an intern after graduation."

"However, in November 1349, Michael's mother was murdered in her home by a group of masked bandits who stole the family's meager 20 pounds in cash and set their house on fire."

“Those criminals have not been caught yet. Mikael wanted to become a ‘criminal’ in order to gain enough power to infiltrate the ‘criminal’ circle, find out information about the people who killed his mother, and avenge his mother.”

The letter was accompanied by a photograph of a young man with a determined look, and the section on "personal skills" described Michael as being skilled in anatomy and various surgical procedures, as well as having a photographic memory.

"That's quite a talent."

Roger's eyes lit up.

Michael was able to get into Backlund Medical School at the age of 16, which shows that he was definitely an exceptionally intelligent person, and his photographic memory also proves this point.

Michael's reason for wanting to become a "criminal" was to avenge his mother, which shows that he not only had no conscience, but also possessed strong personal resilience and was willing to make the decision to infiltrate the bottom of society to complete a long-term goal.

Intelligent, resolute, and with a conscience, yet able to perceive and actively engage with the "gray area between black and white."

These qualities are precisely what are necessary for becoming an intelligence officer!
(End of this chapter)