Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

The Prayer Within Chapter 302, "The Primal Core"

In fact, Klein had originally stayed in room 201 the night before, but because Adam had visited him once, the cautious Klein chose to have the hotel change his room overnight.

Although this was clearly of little use, Klein took it as a psychological comfort, considering that the rooms at the "Blue Sky Hotel" were the cheapest in the entire Damir Port and that Adam meant him no harm.

Even so, Klein was still a little uneasy when he met Roger. He didn't know what the relationship between Roger and Adam was, nor did he know if Adam had revealed his true identity to Roger.

However, Roger behaved very normally and did not show any abnormality. He went straight into Klein's room and poured himself a glass of sweet iced tea.

"what……"

Roger took a delicious sip:
"Damier's sweet iced tea is indeed authentic."

"right?"

Klein laughed too, because sweet iced tea requires several kinds of tropical fruits to be soaked, so sweet iced tea at sea always tastes a little better than that on the North Continent.

The two exchanged their recent experiences, including but not limited to Klein's pursuit of various pirate leaders and his adventures on the Rothschild Islands, Roger's experiences before and after establishing the "Star Fleet," and the great battle between Rune and Fussac that they had witnessed and participated in.

When Roger heard that Klein had disguised himself as a prostitute to infiltrate a pirate fleet and was almost taken advantage of by the pirate captain, he laughed so hard he almost fell over. This was a plot not found in the original story, and it seemed that Klein had indeed forged a new path.

Of course, they all consciously concealed the sensitive parts and only said what they could say.

"Unbeknownst to me, you've already become a demigod, while I'm still only Sequence 5."

"So what are you planning to do next? Join the military in advancing into Fusak?"

With a sigh, Klein asked again.

"Yes, I want to go there to witness something. Would you like to come with me?"

Roger extended an invitation to Klein.

Witnessing...something?
Klein paused, sensing the expectation in Roger's words.

Based on his understanding of his friend, he generally believed that anything the other person could look forward to was worth seeing.

But soon, seemingly because he had been thinking for a while, Klein heard Roger speak again:
"Anyway, the war isn't over yet, the stock market isn't doing well, and all our stocks are locked up. We don't have any money to do anything."

No money... no money...

Klein felt a pang of pain, but he had to admit that what Roger said was indeed true.

So he replied:

"It's possible, but with my combat strength, I wouldn't be of much help to you even if I went."

Klein scratched his head. He hadn't obtained any decent marionettes yet. He had acquired a mid-sequence extraordinary marionette, but it was eventually destroyed.

After all, Roger was a Sequence 4 demigod, and he was also suspected of possessing the power to enslave souls at more than two demigod levels. Even if Roger wanted to intervene in a battle at his level, he would be powerless to do so.

"This is what I'm here to tell you today."

Roger began:

"In yesterday's battle, I gained control of a Sequence 4 'Despair Witch,' who you can transform into your Mystic Doll."

"Converting a divine puppet without divinity and controlling it in battle will greatly enhance your potion digestion, more than tripling your digestion speed."

This is indeed a shortcut, as mid-sequence extraordinary individuals have the opportunity to manipulate high-sequence extraordinary abilities, and this fundamental difference in rank provides a significant boost to their potion digestion process.

Take a recent example: Sequence 6 "Recorder" Bandit has only fought against opponents with divinity twice using his demigod-level "Black Knight" abilities. Even though it didn't play a decisive role, he is currently only one step away from fully digesting the potion.

Similar situations exist in other extraordinary individuals, such as the Sequence 5 "Shepherd" of the "Master of the Puppet" and "Master of the Prayer" pathways.

Taking these two examples, whether it is a "Master of Mystic Artifacts" or a "Shepherd", the rank of the mystic artifacts they transform and the objects they herd will be directly proportional to their level of potion digestion.

In some extremely unlikely circumstances, if a "Master of Puppets" were to be able to transform an angel, his potion would be instantly digested, to the point where it would stick to his back, and he might even be able to digest it after drinking another potion.

Upon hearing Roger's words, Klein felt flattered and overwhelmed.
"Huh? A semi-mystical puppet? For me?"

At this moment, Klein's advancement to Sequence 4 was still unresolved, and Roger directly gave him a Sequence 4 Mystic, which greatly surprised him.

"This helps with digesting the potion... It's very important that your combat strength be improved as soon as possible."

Compared to the original story, the progress of the current era's key milestones has been greatly accelerated, so Klein must advance to the rank of "Trickster" as soon as possible, which would be of great benefit to both himself and Roger.

Sensing Roger's seriousness, Klein finally nodded and stopped refusing.

When Maggie Lopez, a high-sequence witch, was released, even Klein was unconsciously "charmed." In the end, Roger had no choice but to use his "troublemaker" ability again to suppress her subconscious counterattack, which gave Klein the opportunity to single-mindedly transform her into a puppet.

As the vision of the spirit threads unique to the "Master of Puppets" unfolded, Klein also saw the densely packed spirit threads belonging to the "Witch of Despair," Maggie Lopez.

Maggie Lopez truly lived up to her reputation as a demigod; the strength of her spirit far exceeded Klein's expectations, both in abundance and intensity, being several times that of a mid-sequence extraordinary being.

For Klein, who was only Sequence 5, mastering these "spiritual threads" was not an easy task. Fortunately, with Roger's "troublemaker" ability to help, Maggie Lopez's body remained in a relatively stable state.

This gave Klein more opportunities to "thread the needle," and eventually he mastered enough spiritual threads to transform the Sequence 4 witch demigod in front of him into his "mystic doll."

At that moment, Klein felt that about half of his "Master of Puppetry" potion had been digested in an instant!
"How about it?"

Roger looked at Klein's expression and asked the question knowingly.

"The potion is already more than 50% digested. As long as I continue to use this puppet in battle, I expect it will be fully digested soon."

Klein replied.

"good."

Roger gave Klein a thumbs-up:

"If you don't have anything else to do, come with me to my boat."

"Brother, you're a great pirate now, the name 'Galactic Admiral' is renowned throughout the five seas..."

After Roger's enthusiastic recommendation, Klein became interested. To be honest, he envied Roger's current life.

After all, how many boys could refuse the idea of ​​owning a fleet?

"As you said, I'm fine now."

Klein paused for a moment, then said, "I don't have much money, so I might as well go with you to take a look."

"Meow!"

Bandit immediately cheered and jumped onto Klein's shoulder, then started purring at him.

"I'll go check out first, then we'll meet here in ten minutes."

Since Klein's luggage was already packed, the rest was simple.

After returning the key and getting his hotel deposit back, Roger used the "Amplification" ability of the "Fallen Earl" to envelop himself, Klein, Bendit, and the controlled Maggie Lopez.

As the "Traveler's Dice" was rolled, the next second, the three people and the cat appeared simultaneously in the captain's cabin of the "Star Lord".

"This is my captain's cabin, isn't it impressive?"

As soon as he landed, the azure blue Interstellar Sea came into Klein's view. At this moment, the "Star Fleet" was sailing close to the southern coastline of the Interstellar Sea, and the sparkling sea looked exceptionally beautiful.

Besides the "Star Fleet," numerous Rune warships sailed nearby, belching black smoke, while airships occasionally swept overhead, heading towards the opposite shore.

The steampunk-style visuals left Klein momentarily dazed, and it took him a long time to nod in agreement.

"Awesome."

Roger smiled slightly, then led Klein onto the deck.

As luck would have it, First Mate Philip was holding a meeting with the sailors on deck when he saw Roger come out. He and his crew saluted Roger.

"Captain, who is this gentleman?"

Philip looked at Klein and asked.

“This is my friend, Detective Moriarty.”

Roger was still using Klein's previous alias, instead of the name Gehrman Sparrow, and Klein was unaware that Roger knew about this name.

After all, no matter what, that great adventurer and the current Klein don't look very alike.

"Detective Moriarty".

Philip extended his hand to Klein:
“I am Philip Hoover, the first mate of the ‘Starmaster’. If you don’t mind, I will be your guide and give you a tour of the ‘Star Fleet’.”

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Hoover."

Klein nodded slightly, and then left under Philip's guidance.

Roger then went to Zeus, the second mate, and asked:
"Zeus, how much longer until we reach Constance?"

"Captain, we're almost there, we should arrive by noon."

Zeus bowed to Roger and then replied.

"Alright, once we arrive in Constance, we'll go straight to port. I need to visit the Church of the Night to discuss our next steps."

"Okay, Captain."

Zeus replied with great enthusiasm that being able to directly contact the Church of the True God as a great pirate was a privilege unparalleled in the entire world.

Even "Iceberg General" Edwina Edwards, who was sponsored by the Church of Knowledge in Remnburg, wouldn't dare to declare her relationship with the Church of the True God so openly, but Roger really dared to do so.

It's understandable, though. Although the "Star Fleet" is nominally pirates, they actually do the things that upright adventurers do, and they also played a significant role in the war between Rune and Fusak.

As the saying goes, might makes right. Given the current situation between Rune and Fursak, even if Roger were truly a notorious pirate in the traditional sense, no one would dare to criticize Rune.

Even so, Roger did not intend to be too ostentatious, after all, his own clean background did not mean that the people under him were clean.

Both Ophina King and Dionysius James were pirates listed on bounty lists in various countries, and there were countless lesser-known pirates such as Jennifer, Deler, and Lupin.

So a few hours later, when the "Fleet of Stars" entered Constance Harbor in a grand procession, the flags of the eight ships had already been lowered, and the gun ports used to mount the ship's cannons had been covered by sampans and camouflaged.

“Philip, arrange a room for Detective Moriarty on the Star Lord; he should be staying on our ship for a few days.”

"In addition, all ships are to be notified to hold a meeting in the captain's cabin of the 'Star Lord' at 8 p.m. sharp."

"Also, Sherlock, Bendit, you two can go wherever you want, or you can buy supplies from Lupin and the others if you want."

Because Constance is close to Luna's intelligence base, the Star Fleet should be able to purchase some scarce or controlled supplies that are not easy to obtain.

For example, coal, sugar, flour, fresh water, etc., but it cannot be ruled out that they will also run into obstacles several times, and then "finally" find an "underground merchant who is willing to take the risk and sell controlled items at a low price".

Roger was well aware of this, but he didn't want to give Lupin and the others any hints, since when you're going to do something, you have to do it properly.

After arranging everything, Roger disembarked alone and headed towards the "Crimson Church" in the very center of Constance.

This is one of the two main churches of the Church of the Night in Constance. Roger passed by here when he came to Constance before, but he didn't go in because he was looking for Sam and Cecilia, the survivors of the Abraham family.

Along the way, Roger saw many city buildings collapsed and streets marked with signs of explosions, seemingly from multiple airship bombings by Fussack.

Fortunately, although people in the city are generally under a lot of stress, their lives are still well-organized.

For those who lost their homes, the Intersea County government and major Orthodox churches also provided temporary accommodation and subsidies to ensure they had basic shelter.

In the context of war in this era, achieving this level of preparedness is truly remarkable, demonstrating the thoroughness of the preparations made by the Kingdom of Rune and the Church of the True God.

Upon entering the Scarlet Church, Roger saw many believers praying, and priests in dark robes receiving confessions and repentance.

Because Constance was on the front lines of the war, the density of believers confessing and praying here was comparable to that of the Church of the Stars in Backlund.

Roger sat down to pray like an ordinary believer. After a while, the confessional door opened again, and he picked up his silver-inlaid cane and strode toward the small wooden door.

Upon entering, Roger bowed to the priest, then devoutly drew a dark holy symbol on his chest and said:

"Praise the goddess!" "Praise the goddess!"

The pastor did the same thing to Roger and said the same things.

"Sir, I am Roger Abraham."

After hearing Roger's words, the pastor nodded in understanding, then opened a hidden door behind the confessional and gestured for Roger to enter.

"Go up."

Roger nodded gratefully, placed his right hand on his wide-brimmed hat, bowed slightly, and then entered the hidden door.

Behind this hidden door is a spiral staircase that can go either down or up.

Based on his previous experience, Roger guessed that the downward road was likely leading to Charnis Gate in Constance, while the upward road should be the place where the high priests of the Church of the Night lived and rested.

He walked up step by step, passing two locked doors along the way. Roger knew this was not the right place, so he continued up.

Upon reaching the fourth floor, Roger finally saw an open passageway.

The passageway seemed to lead to the spire of the Scarlet Church, with stained glass windows on both sides casting afternoon sunlight that made the ground colorful and dappled.

Roger strode quickly through the dappled light and shadow, then knocked on the half-closed, heavy yellow wooden door at the end of the corridor.

"Please come in."

Roger was given permission, pushed open the door, and went inside.

This is a reception room, and at this moment a beautiful lady dressed in a black priest's robe turns around.

The woman had a mature and dignified demeanor. Her face, which appeared to be in her forties, was not wrinkled at all. Her long, light golden hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and her light green pupils reflected the sunlight, shining like stars.

"Please sit down, Your Excellency Abraham."

The woman's voice was calm and elegant as she walked slowly toward the table in the center of the living room.

"Sorry for bothering you."

Roger nodded, and then, without any hesitation, pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Fula Jenkins, the Archbishop of the Sea Diocese under the Church of the Goddess of Night."

The beautiful blonde woman smiled and spoke.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jenkins."

Roger nodded slightly to Flannery Jenkins.

"I have heard of your deeds in strategizing and annihilating a large number of the Fusak Empire's forces on the seas of Sunia, and in defeating Saint Austin of the Church of the God of War, and I deeply admire them."

Fula Jenkins began, and then added:

"You've come here today, presumably to inquire about the follow-up landing in Fussac, is that right?"

"exactly."

Roger nodded:

"If possible, please show us the way."

Roger's implication was that he wanted Fla Jenkins to find him a friendly force belonging to the Church of the Night, led by a demigod; otherwise, it would be easy for him to run into Fursac on his own.

In fact, whether or not Roger entered Fursac was not important to him, but Roger speculated that the war of the gods was likely to break out there, and he wanted to witness this moment that would go down in history.

Unlike the original timeline, based on the current situation, Rune should soon land on the homeland of Fusak. At that time, in order to reverse the final decline, the Church of War will definitely send angel-level extraordinary beings and the Church of Night for a final showdown.

After the battle at the angelic level concludes, the 'God of War' church is highly likely to conduct a divine invocation ceremony, allowing the 'God of War' to descend as a final safeguard.

Of course, this is only the surface result. The real outcome is the final showdown between Badheir and the goddess. All the gods involved in this war will appear, and the ultimate victor will have followers, extraordinary characteristics, and even uniqueness.

There are plenty of opportunities for combat in these battles, which is why Roger brought Klein along. Both he and the members of Roger's "Star Fleet" can be honed in these battles.

Once Linssaya's combat team is fully stable, Dionysius has digested the Sequence 6 potion, and Zeus and the others have been promoted to "Navigators," Roger can prepare to lead them to explore the ruins of the God War and even deeper seas, seeking an opportunity to enter the "Forsaken Lands."

"A large landing fleet will depart from Constance at nine o'clock the day after tomorrow. You can go with them."

Fula Jenkins seemed to have been prepared for this.

"Thank you, Mr. Jenkins."

Roger nodded. Although Jenkins didn't say it explicitly, Roger knew that there would definitely be "Night Watchmen" or even "Dread Bishops" accompanying that fleet, and there would definitely be more than one.

"By the way, there's one more thing."

After finishing her story, Fula Jenkins moved on to another person:

"Ince Zangwell, what do you intend to do with him?"

Roger was taken aback when he heard this; he had almost forgotten about Ince.

After the Battle of the Hexagonal Tower in Backlund, Ince was on the run, and before he fled, Roger branded him with the same "Key to the Gate" mark as "Hot Pot Angel" Soren Einhorn Medici.

In this way, the evil spirit "Hot Pot Angel" will unconsciously chase and approach Ince Zangwell, which is the cat-and-mouse game that Roger had arranged earlier.

The reasons for doing this were twofold: firstly, to restrain Ince and prevent him from doing anything to retaliate against Roger; and secondly, to give the "Red Angel" evil spirit more opportunities to gather. Roger hoped that he would start to regain his status from the "Hunter" extraordinary trait of Sequence 9, which would be of great use to Roger later.

However, if he did that, the higher-ups of the Church of the Night would think that Roger had marked Ince Zangwill as his prey. So right now, Flame Jenkins is trying to ascertain Roger's true thoughts in order to determine whether Ince Zangwill should be eliminated.

After all, 0-08 has already been handed over, George III's plan to become the "Black Emperor" has been thwarted, and Ince's value as a pawn has vanished. Keeping him around would only be a disaster. It would be better to find an opportunity to reclaim the "Night Watcher" extraordinary trait that originally belonged to Saint Selena and cultivate a new saint.

In this war that swept across the northern continent, the Church of the True God suffered losses on all sides, but in the process, some outstanding bishops emerged who deserved to be promoted.

"Please give me a little more time."

Roger replied:

"After I have completed my plan, I will return Ince Zangwill's extraordinary 'Night Watch' trait to the Church of the Goddess... After all, you should also lack the bloodline of the true god as the basis for your advancement, shouldn't you?"

From Ince Zangwell's previous ascension to the Night's Watch, Roger deduced that the ascension ceremony must require the blood and bones of a descendant of the true gods as necessary materials, and the three paths of "Twilight Giants," "Death," and "Darkness" must be the optimal choices.

Considering that the "God of War" Badheir ruled the Fusak Empire for a long time, and that the Fusak Empire had a large number of half-giants, there must have been many descendants of Badheir.

This is actually the darkest side of the war of gods—it's not simply a matter of the victor being king and the loser being a bandit, but rather that the descendants of the losers are all exterminated and left without even a glimmer of hope.

"You're right."

Upon hearing Roger's words, Flah Jenkins' expression softened, seemingly unsurprised that Roger knew the details of the Night's Watch promotion ceremony.

She nodded:
"Well then, that concludes our conversation for today."

"May the goddess bless you, Your Excellency Abraham."

After saying this, the archbishop of the Church of the Night drew a dark holy emblem on his chest.

"Praise the goddess!"

Roger also sincerely drew a black emblem on his chest and spoke.

As a member of the "Tarot Society," Roger fully embodied the excellent tradition of this evil organization as a double agent, but unlike Alger and his group, he simultaneously praised many other deities.

He used to use this as a pretense, but ever since the "Living Star Chart" ascension ceremony, every praise Roger made to the gods has been genuine.

In their desire to protect the world, he shared the same goal as them, and even though he was an incarnation of an Outer God, the gods boldly invested in him.

Roger admired this decisiveness alone.

After leaving the Crimson Church, Roger walked back to the Star Lord.

Those who disembarked had not yet returned, including Klein and Bendit. Roger then inspected each ship, and on the Colossus, he asked Jennifer for two cups of coffee, gossiped about her and Zeus, and stayed until dark before returning to the Star Lord with Jennifer.

Although it was not yet eight o'clock, Ophina King, Dionysius, Lupin, Adonis, Matteo, Philip, Zeus, and Linseria were already waiting at the captain's cabin door.

When they saw Roger return, they all greeted him.

Roger nodded. He looked around but didn't see Klein and Bendit. He wondered where the two of them had gone off to.

Not only them, but even Maggie Lopez, who had transformed into a Klein puppet, was nowhere to be found.

Based on this, Roger deduced that they must have gone out to cause trouble, so he didn't pay much attention to it. He simply had his men sit around the table in the captain's cabin and explained the upcoming battle plan to them.

Dionysius was the most excited after hearing Roger's plan, because he had always hoped to rescue his brother from Fussac, and now was the perfect opportunity.

The rest of the people were somewhat expectant, most were bewildered, but none of them were afraid.

Roger's previous battle in the Minsk Strait had left a very deep impression on them. His ability to kill a Sequence 3 Saint carrying a Sequence 2 seal with the strength of a Sequence 4 was simply astonishing.

The scene of Roger soaring into the sky and causing unusual celestial phenomena later astonished them even more.

Although Roger later said that he was only stronger than a normal Sequence 4, the captains of the Star Fleet dared not make a definitive conclusion about just how strong he was.

As long as they follow Roger, they will be invincible in battle. The biggest problem is that they don't know what they can get from Fussac—except for Dionysius, of course.

"That's exactly what I wanted to tell you."

Roger immediately understood his men's mindset:
"In fact, the 'Star Fleet' has always centered its operations around me, and some of the captains have also participated in the battles."

"But most people still have very few opportunities to actually participate in combat, so I want to give everyone a chance to digest the potion and hone their combat skills."

"I need you to advance as soon as possible, especially Zeus, Matteo, and Lupin. After that, we will explore the treasures in the Misty Sea and the sea east of Gargas Island. These seas are very dangerous, so you must digest the potion and become 'navigators' as soon as possible."

After hearing these words, everyone finally understood.

Roger wanted to take advantage of the fact that the official Extraordinary forces of the Kingdom of Rune were landing in Fusak, and bring them along to get a share of the spoils—they weren't the main force in the battle, so they could fight more freely and their safety would be much higher.

Indeed, as Roger said, most of the battles of the "Star Fleet" relied on a very small number of combatants, thus lacking the opportunity to hone their skills and even advance in rank.

But in reality, lying down was not the wish of most of them, especially after witnessing firsthand the extraordinary, almost divine, combat methods of the demigod level. Many in the "Star Fleet" were very fascinated by it.

Therefore, all the captains expressed their willingness to cooperate with Roger's subsequent arrangements.

After all, according to the benefits of the "Star Fleet", as long as the management has enough merit, the cost of promotion will be borne by the fleet.

This will save a lot of money. With such benefits, what more could you ask for?

"very good."

Roger breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had finished mobilizing the troops.

Although he was nominally the head of the "Star Fleet," he was actually only responsible for mobilizing the management team. After the management team returned, mobilizing the grassroots level was their job.

After seeing Philip and the others off, Roger reclined his chair, lay down, and began to admire the moonlight outside.

However, at that moment, he suddenly heard an indescribable whisper in his heart.

Roger's first thought was that Mr. Fool was contacting him, but after careful consideration, he realized that it wasn't.

"It's not a sign of things getting out of control... Could it be..."

Suddenly, a strange idea popped into Roger's mind.

He immediately sat up, closed his eyes, and returned to the central platform of the "Original Dynamic Core".

Sure enough, he saw a dozen rust-colored spots flickering on the celestial sphere, emitting sounds that only Roger could hear.

"Are they... praying to me?"

After carefully analyzing the situation for a while, Roger finally confirmed his judgment.

(End of this chapter)