Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 313 Relics of the Divine War
In fact, Philip and the others only knew that the "Star Fleet" would be joining forces with the fleet of another great pirate, but they did not know who their partner would be.

Only when they heard Roger call out the name of the "mysterious queen" did they realize what was going on.

It turned out to be the pirate king, one of the "Four Kings and Seven Generals".

This is a legendary figure; almost every seafarer has heard of his illustrious name!
The most abstract thing is that they had met Bernadette once before, but failed to recognize her because they didn't know her background.

On the other hand, they were also greatly encouraged by Bernadette's direct address of her captain Roger as the "King of the Galaxy".

That's the name of a king, and it's a title certified by another king!

Philip and his crew were suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of bewilderment, realizing that "we had no idea our fleet was this amazing." All along, they had simply followed Roger around the sea, working diligently without giving much thought to how the outside world perceived the "Star Fleet" and Roger himself.

"However, I originally thought the 'mysterious queen' was a middle-aged woman in her fifties or sixties, but she looks like she's not even 30 years old?"

"So young and so beautiful... I wonder how she stays so young?"

Philip's mind raced with speculations, but when he remembered Roger mentioning that the kings of the sea were all extraordinary beings at the demigod level, his brow unfurrowed and he suddenly understood.

After all, they are beings with divine nature, so it's understandable that their lifespan is much longer than that of ordinary people.

"It seems you don't have many people with you. I need to warn you in advance that the easternmost part of the Sunia Sea is extremely dangerous, with extremely strong remnants of divine power and many derived, unpredictable dangers."

"It is for this reason that the place is also known as the 'Relics of the War of the Gods'."

"So if our combat strength is insufficient, we will probably suffer heavy losses before we even enter the 'Forsaken Land'."

Roger offered this friendly reminder, but in reality, he wanted to observe Bernadette's subconscious reaction in order to determine whether "Admiral" Cattleya was also hiding inside the "Dawn".

"I must say, although you haven't been a pirate for very long, you've already become a true pirate king in terms of experience."

Bernadette, the "mysterious queen," was clearly surprised. She looked up at Roger and then said:

“I am aware of what you have said… A long time ago, I went to that area of ​​the sea and encountered some strange things.”

Bernadette spoke casually, neither giving Roger the reaction he expected, nor failing to demonstrate that she was no novice in exploring dangerous waters, and even praising Roger in the process. She had truly mastered the art of playing both sides.

"That's good."

Seeing that he couldn't get any information out of him, Roger stopped trying.

"However, bringing so many people might actually cause you trouble when traversing the 'Gods' War Ruins'."

"As you may know, that area of ​​the sea is polluted and can cause people to become confused and disoriented. The more people there are, the greater the risk of problems."

Bernadette, the "mysterious queen," frowned and kindly reminded Roger.

"Don't worry, I've thought about it."

Roger nodded and said:
"I will have most of the crew stay in the Gargas Islands, and then concentrate the superior combat power on my flagship 'Star Lord' and another supply ship, keeping only enough supplies... After all, naval battles are unlikely to occur there."

Roger had another hidden consideration in his plan: the Star Lord, with its "isolation" function activated, could bring a maximum of three ships into the dark space behind the door. The Star Lord, the Dawn, and two supply ships would just meet that number. In case of any trouble, Roger could use the 15-minute buff to escape with Bernadette.

"Ok."

Seeing Roger's words, Bernadette stopped trying to persuade him and simply nodded.

"Then, let's go."

"Okay, the 'Star Lord' will be the navigator for this voyage, and you and your crew can rest and recuperate for the time being."

"Of course, if there are any questions, please feel free to offer your guidance."

Roger nodded, he said politely.

"You're welcome."

Bernadette nodded slightly, then turned and went back to the Dawn.

In fact, it didn't matter who navigated; Roger mainly wanted to help Zeus, Lupin, and Matteo, who had already been promoted to "navigators," take turns digesting the potion.

If these three novice "navigators" take the wrong turn, Bernadette can offer some advice, which is equivalent to Roger having this veteran sea king of Sequence 3 help his subordinates gain experience and temporarily act as a driving school instructor.

Bernadette was naturally aware of these things, and she was happy to do anything that was easy for her.

After that, the "Star Fleet" and the "Dawn" sailed together toward the Gargas Islands.

This journey is not short. Normally, even with full sails and favorable winds, it would take at least ten days to sail, not to mention the unpredictable weather at sea—even in the Sunya Sea, which is known for its safety.

Fortunately, Roger had been using the power of the "Living Star Chart" to predict the weather and avoid many unsafe areas. In addition, Bernadette used some kind of supernatural ability that could accelerate the fleet's speed within a certain range, which seemed to be the power of the "Dawn". In the end, it only took Roger less than five days to see the west coast of the Gargas Islands.

This made Roger somewhat envious, but on the other hand, the Star Lord's anti-divination and escape capabilities were also quite good. The power possessed by the flagship of each pirate fleet was actually a manifestation of the strength and foundation of its leader. In this respect, the Star Lord and the Dawn could be said to have their own merits.

After all, the extraordinary ability of the "Star Lord's Heart" used when modifying the "Star Lord" was created by Roger himself, and Bernadette only optimized it according to the resources he could provide. It's possible that Bernadette might even envy the capabilities of her own ship.

Looking across the five seas, most pirate crews don't even possess the extraordinary power to use a flagship as a vessel; at the very least, only pirate admirals have such capabilities.

After the combined fleet docked, Roger ordered a brief rest on Gargas Island, and then summoned all the captains and officers of the "Star Fleet" to the "Star Lord" for a meeting.

"Next, all ships except the 'Star Lord' and the 'Fear' will rest and recuperate in the Gargas Islands. Of course, you can do whatever you want, as long as you don't go too far or head east."

"Zeus, Lupin, you two come aboard the 'Star Lord' and take turns navigating from here on out."

"Linsea, Jennifer, Dionysius, Ophina, the four of you will come with me with your elite combat forces. You can arrange the specific personnel yourself... But Linsea, you must bring your entire combat squad. This is very important."

“Philip, Matteo, and Adonis, the three of you will jointly manage the four ships left behind by the ‘Star Fleet’ while we are away. Discuss matters with each other, and Philip will make the final decision.”

"is that OK?"

Faced with Roger's question, the management of "Star Fleet" all spoke in unison:

"no problem!"

"very good."

Roger nodded:

"Now go and make your preparations. Philip, Matteo, and Adonis, stay here. Ophina, wait outside the captain's cabin."

After everyone had left, Roger handed a box to Philip.

"Captain, what's this?"

The baby-faced young man, Philip, looked at the red wooden box in Roger's hand with some curiosity and asked a question.

“There is a note inside with my name written on it. Do not open it normally, but if there is anything important, you can open it and pray to me through my name, and I will know.”

"Your name?"

Upon hearing this, the pupils of Philip and his two companions dilated in shock.

They were deeply shocked.

Even though these people spend most of their time at sea and are quite knowledgeable, they have never seen a living person claim to have a respectable name.

After all, that's something that only deities and patron saints in religious legends possess!

So you can imagine how strong the psychological impact was when Roger took out his own name and handed it to them at that moment.

"Yes, your name."

Roger scratched his head:

"Normally, only demigods at Sequence 3 would have this thing, but my situation is special, so I had it a long time ago."

"Because of the special nature of the 'Forsaken Land,' the spirit world there is completely isolated from the inside out, so you cannot contact me by summoning messengers."

"However, there are no such restrictions when praying to the honored name."

In fact, what Roger didn't say was that even though he was a Sequence 3 Saint, when he was very close to the Forsaken Land, he couldn't hear the prayers directed at him through the darkness of the Forsaken Land without any obstruction.

The reason he was able to do this was because he possessed the "Primal Core" as a source material.

The level of the source material transcends the sequence, so it can ignore the special receiving prayers of the "Forsaken Land". This can be seen from the fact that "Sun" Derrick can contact "Fool" Klein through prayer in the "Forsaken Land".

"Yes, Captain."

The expressions of Philip and his two companions grew increasingly solemn as they accepted the wooden box left by Roger as if it were a precious treasure.

"By the way, Philip, how's your potion digestion going?"

Roger nodded and then asked about something else.

"Reporting to the captain, during the previous landing operation in Fusak, I consciously used my status as a retired soldier to help our army 'interrogate' many Fusak soldiers and obtained some important intelligence."

"This process has allowed my potion to digest very quickly. If the war hadn't ended recently, I estimate it would have been completely digested much sooner."

Philip replied.

"very good."

Roger nodded:

"While I'm away, you can take the 'Star Fleet' to capture some passing pirates and interrogate their key personnel."

"If you can obtain information such as the whereabouts of treasure or riches from the interrogation, you may go on your own to explore, as long as you don't go too far, it's up to you."

"Once you have fully digested the potion, you can pray to me, and I will prepare the 'Judge' potion recipe for you."

"On this point, Matteo and Adonis, you are the same. You can't take a long vacation just because I'm not in the fleet. I really need you to improve your strength as soon as possible... because the interior of the 'Forsaken Land' is very dangerous, and the exploration of it will last for a long time. After that, everyone will have the opportunity to go in and participate in combat and exploration activities."

Hearing Roger's instructions, the three nodded again.

"Alright, go back and arrange your work. Call Ophina in before you leave."

Soon, Ophina exchanged a few words with Philip and the others before quickly entering Roger's captain's cabin.

"Captain, what do you need me for?"

The "sirens," who were quite beautiful, sat down in front of Roger, causing a ripple to spread across their faces.

Roger tried hard not to let his gaze unconsciously drift downwards; he looked at Ophina with a hint of reproach:

"The potion has been digested, why haven't you come to find me?"

"what."

Ophina King was quite surprised; she couldn't understand how Roger could tell that her potion had been completely digested.

But on second thought, this captain was, after all, a demigod. There were many things she didn't know, so it wasn't surprising that she could tell that the captain had digested the potion.

"I was sorry to bother you because I saw you were too busy the other day."

Ofina said with a slight apology.

"It's alright. Feel free to bother me with these kinds of things in the future. I really need your combat capabilities to improve."

Roger shook his head and replied.

"By the way, Captain, I haven't asked you yet, how did you improve Jennifer's and my abilities?"

Ophina was very surprised by this, because ever since she became a "fire thief", she thought she only had a few abilities. But one day Roger asked her to try out new abilities, and Ophina suddenly realized that her power had greatly increased.

"Uh, it's nothing major. If I had to say, it's that I know the final boss of your route."

Roger scratched his head and replied.

What does "final boss" mean?

Ofina was puzzled; she had never heard of this title before.

"You can think of him as the person with the strongest 'thief' approach."

Roger smiled:
“I spoke with Him and asked Him to loosen some of the restrictions on the ‘thief’ pathway abilities that you possess.”

"He...removed the restrictions?"

Ofina listened in a daze, once again feeling as if she were listening to gibberish.

Because if I remember correctly, the title "He" seems to be used only to address deities!
As for what it means to loosen restrictions on a particular pathway, it sounds as easy and casual as a plumber turning off a water valve.

That's an extraordinary path; it can't be opened or closed just like that.

"Don't worry about so many details."

Roger waved his hand:

"I'm here to tell you that I can help you advance to become a 'Dream Thief'... You should have the potion recipe for it, right?"

"'Dream Thief'... Sequence 5 of the 'Thief' pathway?"

Ophina paused again, stunned:

"Yes, Captain, I have them, but I haven't had time to buy the necessary potion ingredients because I haven't been able to digest the potion yet."

"On the other hand, the promotion of a 'Dream Thief' involves a special ritual..."

"The content of this promotion ceremony is: to become an important supporting character or the main villain in the unconscious dreams of at least thirty people."

"It doesn't matter how many days these dreams last; what matters is that they are happening when the potion is taken."

Ophina sighed:
"I have absolutely no idea how to complete this advancement ceremony. Dreams and all that, isn't that a bit too fantastical?"

"Becoming an extraordinary person is inherently a fantastical thing."

Roger pondered for a moment after hearing this, then looked up again and said:
"Give me the recipe for the 'Dream Thief' potion, and I'll prepare the materials for you before tonight."

"As for the promotion ceremony, I'll have a chance to help you complete it in the next couple of days. Now, go and prepare the most terrifying outfit you can find, and a huge... weapon, like a greatsword or a scythe or something."

"Go down and get ready."

Roger finished speaking and waved his hand.

"Yes, thank you, Captain."

Ophina nodded with some delight, left the captain's cabin of the "Star Lord," and closed the door behind her.

"Meow, Roger, are you really confident you can help Ms. Ophina complete that advancement ceremony?"

As darkness fell, Bandit's pupils dilated, and he looked at Roger with some suspicion through his golden-green eyes, asking a question.

"There is a way."

Roger nodded:

"Come on, let's go find Luna."

"it is good."

Upon hearing that they needed to find Luna, Bandit stretched and jumped onto the floor of the "Star Lord".

Perhaps because Luna is also a cat lover, Bandit was very happy to know that he was going to see her.

Roger picked up Bandit, threw the "Traveler's Dice," and returned to the Abraham family's fortress in Torquay.

Roger then used the "Genuine Leather Cat Bag" to carry Bendit and flew easily to the prince's dilapidated mansion on the coast, before diving into the ground.

"Crash!"

As soon as Roger landed, he heard a series of gun bolts being pulled back.

"???"

"Meow!!!"

With a scream from Bandit, Roger instinctively reinforced the "leather cat bag".

"Crackling..."

After a barrage of fire from various calibers and extraordinary abilities, Roger was scattered in all directions.

Bandit, on the other hand, was well protected by the reinforced cat carrier and was not harmed in any way.

Soon, under the watchful eyes of those extraordinary members of MI9, Roger's scattered human tissues suddenly began to wriggle and transform into all sorts of things.

Some turned into dwarfs without facial features, some into dogs, and some into spider-like creatures.

These things rushed towards the extraordinary individuals and soldiers of MI9 all at once!
In an instant, screams, gunshots, and various extraordinary abilities erupted, throwing Luna's underground fortifications into complete chaos.

Meanwhile, Bandit was curled up in the cat carrier Roger had made for it, too scared to move, with one eye peeking out from a blind spot.

Just as someone was about to call for reinforcements from the military, Luna's voice suddenly rang out.

"Transformation is prohibited here!"

As soon as Luna uttered this "ban," Roger's torn flesh stopped writhing and began to rapidly reassemble.

"Stop playing."

The blonde, blue-eyed "Chaos Hunter," dressed in a women's fitted military uniform and low-cut leather boots, looked at Roger with a hint of helplessness and said...

Roger shrugged:

"Since it just happened to be smashed to pieces, I'll just help everyone loosen up. Don't mind it."

"You're crazy. If I saw a grown man I didn't know in my base, I'd probably banish you on the spot."

Luna rubbed her nose and said with a hint of helplessness:

"Alright, everyone, go home and get on with your business. This is my friend."

"If he shows up again next time, don't rush to shoot. Killing him is a minor matter, but killing his cat would be a different story."

Luna waved her hand, then hugged Bandit, who was rushing towards her, and touched its forehead.

As the MI9 personnel gradually dispersed, Roger couldn't help but sigh:

"It seems things have returned to normal here."

"Yes, a soldier's duty is to obey orders, and state institutions must continue to function as usual."

"Although Fussac has been defeated, there are still many unidentified people carrying out retaliatory attacks in Loen... There were five bombings in Backlund alone last week, so I don't deserve to rest."

Luna sighed:

"What brings you here today? You're not planning to ask me to treat you to dinner, are you?"

"That's not it."

Roger shook his head:

"I would like to borrow your 'Dreamweaver' seal, formed by its extraordinary properties, for a few days."

"I can pay rent, or I can offer you something of equal value as collateral. What do you say?"

"I can lend it to you, but there's no need for rent or collateral."

Luna shook her head:

"Just bring me back some specialties from the 'Forsaken Land'."

"Special products of the 'Forsaken Land'?"

Roger was stunned:
"If you want to see a writhing shadow, I can show you right now."

"Then just bring something random, something I've never seen before."

Luna waved her hand helplessly.

"Okay, I'll bring you anything fun I find."

Roger nodded:

"Don't let too many people know that I went to the 'Forsaken Land'."

"Yes, don't worry, this was discussed between the leader and me in a one-on-one conversation; no one else knows about it."

Luna said.

"That's good."

Roger nodded slightly.

"Come to my office, I'll give you that thing."

After Luna finished speaking, she walked towards the deepest part of the underground base, her low-top military boots making a "clanging" sound on the metal ground.

Roger and Bendit followed behind, and after making several turns, they entered Luna's office.

Contrary to Roger's initial expectation of a life devoid of romance, Luna's office was filled with flowers and plants, and even had a cute pink cat-shaped cushion on her chair, making it look like an ordinary girl's workstation.

Luna rubbed her right hand against her left wrist, then handed her hand to Roger.
"for you."

"what?"

Roger didn't quite understand.

"'Invisible bracelet'."

Luna said, "You'll see it once you hold it in your hand."

Roger tried to take the invisible bracelet from Luna's hand, and strangely enough, when he saw the bracelet, he suddenly saw it.

It was a noble bracelet made of alternating gold and silver, spotless and without a trace of oxidation, and inlaid with a large ruby.

"Psychological stealth of high-sequence sequences? Interesting."

Roger realized that he had always known that Luna possessed such a sealed artifact, but he had never seen it before.

He had been wondering if the sealed artifact existed in the form of something buried in flesh and blood or hidden under clothing, but he never expected that Luna would be wearing it so conspicuously on her hand.

"Could you please describe its functions?"

Roger played with the bracelet for a while and then asked.

"It has three functions, the first of which is to create dreams."

Luna began to explain:

"The 'invisible bracelet' can create dreams and pull others into them, which can contain several near-realistic images, thereby directly attacking the enemy's mental weaknesses and gradually destroying their psychological defenses."

"Once the enemy believes it to be real, then it is real. Although the damage caused by these dreams will not have a physical manifestation, it will cause the target to die without realizing it, achieving the effect of being scared insane or scared to death... Of course, the specific manifestation depends on your purpose and prior arrangements. If the plan is proper, it can even precisely eliminate and influence some components of the target's personality structure, thereby modifying the personality of others."

"Even if it's not the enemy targeted by the nightmare, other people who are in the nightmare will also be affected, influenced by the corresponding emotions, traits, and status, and even corrupted."

"This ability greatly increases your resistance to hallucinations and dream-like extraordinary abilities, and also allows you to freely enter and exit the sea of ​​collective unconsciousness, either on your own or with others, to see and intervene in the psychological islands of individuals within it, and to perceive their truest thoughts through the flow of the seawater."

"Hmm, what about the second ability?"

Roger nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.

"The second ability is called 'identity separation'."

"I have already demonstrated this ability. It is to separate out some identities that the holder once had and turn them into living people. Even if these identities die, it will not cause the original body to perish."

After Luna finished speaking, she continued:
"The third ability is called Plague Storm. You can use it to pollute and influence the mind of your target, bringing them to the brink of mental collapse, or even driving them insane on the spot."

"This ability is very effective even against angels, because they all have certain mental problems and may lose control at any time due to the tilt of the scales. That's why Grandpa Hermes gave it to me for self-defense."

"clear."

Roger nodded:

"And what about the side effects?"

"The side effect is that once you use it for more than 30 minutes, it will randomly choose between 'forced invisibility' and 'identity splitting' to affect extraordinary individuals."

"Forced invisibility" will put you in a state of psychological invisibility for a period of time, and you will not be discovered by the people around you no matter what, unless there is intervention by angelic means.

"The exact time of invisibility is uncertain, ranging from 12 hours to 1 year. The longest I know of is someone who was forced to become invisible for 9 months. When he reappeared, he was already a corpse—he couldn't bear the loneliness and committed suicide."

“The ‘identity split’ will awaken the repressed shadows deep within you. You will hear a negative self talking to yourself. This dialogue can cause a certain degree of mental pollution. If you hear this dialogue repeatedly, you will really go crazy.”

Roger was somewhat surprised by Luna's words:
"So how did you avoid its negative effects? If I remember correctly, the last time you used it to create clones, it lasted more than 30 minutes, right?"

"It's very simple."

Luna laughed:

“I directly issued the command to disable stealth, so it would be forced to choose ‘identity split’.”

"But I am also a 'chaos hunter,' capable of wielding authority over 'balance.'"

“There are many areas where ‘balance’ can be utilized… The activities of the negative personality also gradually increase in strength and become able to rival the dominant personality. I can tip the scales of the dominant personality against the negative personality as soon as it emerges.”

Luna made a gesture of raising her hand:

“If it slides down like that, it will slide down, and next time you will have to start all over again.”

"I see."

Roger realized that Luna was essentially using her Sequence 3 ability to counter the side effects of the "Dream Weaver" ability of the "Invisible Bracelet." Using a sealed object of the same level as her own ability could indeed greatly avoid the side effects it contained.

"Thank you, I'll be going now. I'll treat you to dinner when I get back."

He thanked Luna, then waved to her with Bandit, and threw the "Traveler's Dice." The two of them disappeared into the manor's underground fortifications.

Afterwards, Roger went to Backlund to find Mr. C and got some potion ingredients from him before returning to the sea.

Upon returning to the Star Lord, Roger received a report that the Combined Fleet was ready to depart at any time.

After speaking with Bernadette, he gave the order to set sail for the Gargas Islands.

Zeus and Lupin were both very nervous. They had only recently become "navigators" and were already tasked with navigating their ship into the mysterious easternmost part of the East Sunia Sea. If it weren't for the guidance of Ophina's first mate, Heisenberg Davis, a seasoned navigator, the two would probably have been under even more pressure.

Fortunately, the initial part of the voyage was uneventful, and the four ships, including the "Star Lord," sailed smoothly into the deep ocean east of the Gargas Islands.

Around noon, Roger began to see some strange sights appearing on both sides of the "Star Lord".

The once shimmering sea surface became unusually bright, so bright that Roger, a Sequence 4 Extraordinary, could barely open his eyes.

The scene at sea changed dramatically in the next second.

The sea waves that had previously shimmered with light had somehow transformed into four enormous pillars carved from pure diamonds, towering as if they were connecting to the cosmos, stretching as far as the eye could see.

At the same time, Roger began to hear the neighing of warhorses, the clash of weapons, and indescribable howls.

"do not look."

Just then, Roger suddenly heard Bernadette's voice in his ear!

(End of this chapter)