Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 350 The Secret Beneath "Midnight City"
"Correct."

Roger, holding Bandit, nodded:

Do you have any thoughts on this?

Roger.

Just then, old Wiseman suddenly put down the peppermint water he was using to sober up and said in a low voice:
“I once told your grandfather Benjamin that if he were to pass away, I would be the last ‘apprentice’ of the Wiseman family.”

"After all, becoming an extraordinary person seems like a good thing, but it is actually very dangerous, and you should be very clear about that... You know, Ethan is my only child."

"Ethan told me a long time ago that he had the idea of ​​becoming an Extraordinary, but I did not agree."

"This is not only because I once swore not to develop new 'apprentices' without the permission of the Abraham family... In fact, I also possess the potion recipes for the 'Sailor' pathway from Sequence 9 to Sequence 8, but once he becomes an Extraordinary, it means that he will gradually become isolated from the life of an ordinary person for the rest of his life."

“Even if some extraordinary individuals can live a peaceful life, they will always be drawn into all sorts of strange things, not to mention that wild extraordinary individuals are not tolerated by the Church of the True God.”

Roger did not refute old Wiseman's point of view, because he knew that Ethan was not old Wiseman's first child. Before that, old Wiseman had a daughter who became an "apprentice" but unfortunately died in a supernatural event.

He thought for a moment and then asked another question:
"Uncle Wiseman, at what age do you plan to retire?"

"I don't know either, why are you asking?"

Old Wiseman curled his lip:

"You little brat, how come you're even more nosy than your grandpa?"

"Uh, I mean, if you retire, shouldn't this bar be passed on to Ethan?"

Roger raised an eyebrow.

“I won’t force him. If he can do it, he can do it; if he can’t, then we’ll close down.”

Old Wiseman glanced at Ethan and said:
"However, it seems that he does have some talent for business."

"You too, you compliment people so subtly."

Roger glanced at old Wiseman with amusement, and then said:

"Then let me ask you a question. What if, after Ethan takes over the 'Flame Dragon' bar, someone extraordinary causes trouble here or even threatens his life?"

"Call the police."

Old Wiseman shrugged:

"The police are basically in contact with the official extraordinary individuals of the Church of the Righteous God, and they will handle it."

"What if it's not handled promptly?"

Roger pressed on with more questions.

Is this something you should be worrying about?

Old Wiseman scratched his head:

"If you don't believe in the official extraordinary abilities, are you supposed to believe in me?"

"Well, there's something I don't know if you've heard about."

Roger crossed his arms and looked at Wiseman:

"Simos Raul has been killed."

"heard."

Old Wiseman nodded:

"That matter spread widely at sea, because Seamus was once a well-known pirate who was famous throughout the five seas. He was known as the hidden general, and it was said that his strength had reached Sequence 5."

"It seems that a strange man wearing an owl mask stormed into his bar with two henchmen and killed him and all his men before the military could intervene."

"He offended many people when he was young. Heaven knows which pirate captain was behind it, or even one of the pirate generals."

"By the way, they say there's a new great pirate who rose to become the pirate king in a very short time. Rumor has it that he killed Seamus."

Old Wiseman recounted the information he had gathered, and Roger nodded slightly after listening, then suddenly shook his head.

"Why are you shaking your head?"

Old Wiseman stared at the descendant of the Abraham family he had watched grow up with some suspicion, and asked.

Roger replied:

"It's nothing. I just wanted to tell you that in the face of truly troublesome extraordinary events, even the official extraordinary individuals are powerless. Moreover, many times you don't even realize when you've touched a nerve with some powerful individuals."

After saying that, he took a leather mask out of his pocket and handed it to old Wiseman.

"This is……"

Old Wiseman took the mask, opened it, and then his words, which were only half-spoken, were suddenly swallowed.

"...You little brat, are you deliberately trying to make fun of me?"

Old Wiseman was initially stunned, but quickly recovered and said irritably.

Ethan, who had watched the whole thing, finally realized what was happening and excitedly asked:
"Mr. Roger, are you the 'King of the Galaxy'?"

"Shit."

Old Wiseman waved his hand:

"He's only been at sea for a few months? A guy with no foothold at sea suddenly becomes a pirate king? You actually believe such a clumsy lie?"
"Right now, the whole world is buzzing with rumors that the 'King of the Galaxy' killed 'Twilight Admiral' Bulatov as soon as he came out of seclusion. Do you think this kid can do that?"

"Yes, you're right, I can't kill him."

Roger nodded with a serious expression.

He patted Bandit, signaling it to jump down, and then pulled out an ear clip from somewhere and placed it on the table in a very smug way.

These ear clips emit a faint, morning-light glow, and even a glance at them brings a sense of security from the bottom of your heart.

"What is this? A sealed artifact?"

Old Wiseman stared at the ear clip in front of him for a while and quickly determined its origin.

He couldn't tell which pathway or sequence the ear clip belonged to, but he was certain that its sequence level was higher than his own.

"This is Bratov."

Roger shrugged:

"It is now called 'The Fall of Twilight,' which corresponds to 'Guardian' in Sequence 5 of the 'Warrior' pathway."

"Blatov?"

Old Wiseman thought he had misheard, but before he could speak again, Roger reached out another hand and, in the instant the bartender and waiter turned their heads, drew a wine glass from Old Wiseman's wine cabinet into his own.

"The 'Apprentice' pathway Sequence 5 'Traveler' telekinesis ability—I used this power to teleport to your bar's restroom just now."

"You should be able to see that I did not use any sealing artifacts; this is my own power."

Only then did Wiseman's expression change.

Old Wiseman knew that Roger possessed a sealed artifact corresponding to the extraordinary characteristics of the "traveler," and as an outer member of the Abraham family, he also had some understanding of this power.

So when Roger first arrived at his bar's restroom, old Wiseman initially thought it was the effect of the sealed artifact, but now it seems more likely that it was Roger's own ability.

"You've been promoted to Sequence 5?"

He asked suspiciously.

"Sequence 5, that was a long time ago."

Roger smiled:
"I am now a Saint of Sequence 4."

"what?"

It was only then that Wiseman finally began to realize what was happening.

He lost control of his strength and crushed the glass in his hand, leaving cracks.

"What do you think this is?"

Roger took out an exquisite three-tiered jewelry box from his pocket and placed it on the table in front of him.

"The Box of the Past???"

Old Wiseman's eyes widened. As a Sequence 8 Beyonder, he shouldn't have known about this angel-level sealed artifact. However, after Butis rebelled and took the artifact, some of the scandals of the Abraham family spread, so he also heard some information about the "Old Box".

“Yes, I killed Butis and Louis Wayne and obtained the extraordinary characteristics of the Abraham family that they originally occupied.”

"Alright, alright."

Old Wiseman hurriedly waved his hand; only then did he finally believe what Roger had said.

He knew Roger well; although the guy could be a bit mischievous at times, he rarely lied, especially about important matters.

Especially regarding the matter of Boutis and Louis Wayne, Roger, as a direct descendant of the Abraham family, would never lie. Seeing the latter's sincere expression, his attitude softened a bit:

"How did you do that? If I remember correctly, members of the Abraham family cannot be promoted to demigods."

"Some extraordinary encounters made me an outcast."

Roger shrugged, offering no further explanation, and instead said:
"In fact, if you know the rumors about me, you should know about my 'Star Fleet'."

"Like thunder."

Wiseman nodded; he now felt a profound disconnect in his understanding:
"After the war, the number of Fusaks on the Sunia Sea decreased significantly, but the vast majority of them were terrified at the mere mention of the 'Star Fleet'."

"To be honest, if it weren't for what you just said, I really wouldn't have imagined that the brat I've watched grow up would actually become a saint! Haha!"

"Not only that, you also took out those two traitors... If Benjamin were still alive, he would be very proud of you."

After sighing for a while, the owner of the "Flame Dragon" bar said again:
"So, what do you want to do?"

His attitude had softened considerably by this point. Wiseman was not unaware that becoming an Extraordinary would give Ethan a greater ability to protect himself; he had simply been afraid that Ethan would be drawn into some dangerous situations because of it.

However, the situation is different now. With Roger, a powerful demigod, as his backer, it would be difficult for Ethan to cause problems in the lower sequences—even in the sequence 7 and sequence 6 stages.

Not to mention, there have always been rumors at sea that Roger and the Rune military are cooperating. If that's true, Old Wiseman wouldn't even need to worry too much about the official Extraordinary Ones launching a surprise attack on Ethan.

In this way, the two biggest sources of danger have been eliminated. The only thing to be careful about is the potential for the potion itself to go out of control.

"As you know, I currently have a fleet under my command; in other words, I have armed forces at sea."

“This means that I can transport high-value cargo... The captains of all my ships are basically extraordinary beings of Sequence 7 or higher, with the strongest even reaching Sequence 5. You should know what such power means at sea.”

After hearing Roger's words, old Wiseman nodded:

"Ignoring the ship's unique features, personal background, and sealed artifacts, a Sequence 5's strength is already sufficient to become a pirate general."

"By the way, are you interested in getting involved in maritime trade?"

"Correct."

Roger nodded:

“I want to start a trading company, which means I need a stable cargo transit point in Pulitzer Port. I hope Ethan can manage this business for me... and this requires extraordinary abilities to oversee things, which is why I asked him if he wanted to become an extraordinary person.”

"Of course, you can continue to run the 'Flame Dragon' bar. Once Ethan has trained a group of capable subordinates, he will be able to devote more time to this aspect."

"By the way, speaking of which, I previously arranged for a young man named Magnussen to come to the docks to look for work. Have you seen him?"

Old Wiseman nodded slightly:

“I saw him. I used my connections to get that kid a job as a porter. At first, he had a bad temper and even got into fights with other boatmen, but recently I’ve seen them smoking and drinking together, and they seem to be getting along much better… Young people, they just need to work things out.”

"Mainly because he is quite smart and has a strong learning ability, his boss recently planned to have him manage the warehouse so that he can do less physical work."

"That's not bad."

Roger replied:

"Managing a warehouse allows you to clearly see the inflow and outflow of goods, which is a pretty good job."

"We can let him gain some experience over there first. If Ethan finds him useful later, we can consider calling him over to help."

"So, Uncle Wiseman, do you still have any objections?"

"Let's see what Ethan says. Since things have come to this, there's nothing more I can say."

"The only problem is that you have to make sure Ethan doesn't lose control after taking the potion."

Old Wiseman finally gave up his objections and then looked at Ethan.

"Of course, I must have come prepared since I brought this up."

Roger nodded, then looked at Ethan Wiseman:

"Ethan, do you want to become an Extraordinary?" "Of course."

Faced with Roger's question, Ethan nodded excitedly, just like any other teenager yearning for the extraordinary.

He hadn't made a clear statement because of his father's opposition, but now he could finally express his true feelings.

"Mr. Roger, are you going to take me on as an 'apprentice'?"

Ethan asked with some anticipation. He had witnessed his father, Old Wiseman's, peculiar ability to "open doors" since he was a child, and he subconsciously thought of those scenes.

"I have five options to choose from."

Roger smiled and replied:

"They are, respectively, an 'apprentice,' a 'fortune teller,' a 'corpse collector,' a 'lawyer,' and a 'sailor.'"

"Among them, I have a higher level of mastery of the 'Apprentice' and 'Lawyer' pathways, while I have only mastered the 'Diviner' and 'Sailor' pathways to the middle level."

Roger was very conservative and vague about the extent to which he had mastered the pathway sequence. Furthermore, although Roger had complete mastery of the "diviner" pathway, he still wanted to present himself as someone who only had a partial understanding.

If Ethan does choose the "fortune teller" path and rises through the ranks, Roger wouldn't mind giving him a hand and helping him go even further.

Besides these, Roger actually had access to more than just these few avenues, but the other avenues all had significant drawbacks.

Among them, the extraordinary "Hidden Sage" often receive the brainwashing of the "Hidden Sage" with demonic voices, the "Secret Prayer" path may cause unpredictable mutations, and the "Criminal" path is similar.

As for the "assassin" route, Roger dared not recommend it at all, not even mention it, because old Wiseman's thinking was always very conservative, and he did not want the other party to experience what it was like to "have children", otherwise the other party would probably never let him go.

Roger then briefly explained the characteristics of several paths to Ethan, who ultimately chose the "Apprentice" path.

"Are you really not going to choose again?"

Roger looked at Ethan with a smile in his eyes and asked.

"No."

Ethan shook his head:

"As you know, the Wiseman family has a long tradition of becoming an 'apprentice'."

"Young man, you have a good eye."

Roger smiled and patted Ethan on the shoulder. He knew that there was another reason why Ethan chose the "apprentice" route: it was a way for the latter to express his loyalty to the Abraham family.

It would be one thing if it were someone else, but the Wiseman family never betrayed the Abraham family during their most difficult times, and even when the Angel family became incredibly weak, they remained true to their original intentions.

Not to mention that Roger and Wiseman Sr. had always been like uncle and nephew. Given this relationship and the Wiseman family's loyalty that had stood the test of time, Roger was willing to take their descendants on the "apprenticeship" path once again.

"Uncle Wiseman, find me a quiet room. I'll help Ethan prepare the potion right now."

Upon hearing Roger's words, Wiseman nodded slightly, then stood up and led Roger and Ethan to the basement of the "Flame Dragon" bar.

This is a narrow corridor, and at the end of the corridor are two rooms on either side.

Wiseman rummaged through his pockets, then pulled out a brass key and opened the leftmost door.

"Dad, what's this...?"

Ethan stared wide-eyed at the alchemy room behind the door, his face filled with disbelief.

"what happened?"

Roger asked, somewhat curiously.

"It's nothing. It's the kid's first time here. He's been wanting to come in for a while, but I haven't allowed it."

Old Wiseman smiled, then took out a very old-looking crystal ball and a black cloak from the cabinet behind him and handed the latter to Ethan.

The cloak was embroidered with a pair of crossed one-handed swords, guarding the layers of hexagonal "gate" pathway markers above, and was white and light blue in color.

That was the coat of arms of the Wiseman family. Unlike the students the Abraham family recruited halfway through their studies, the Wiseman family had been a secondary noble family serving the Abraham family since the Fourth Age.

However, with the end of the Fourth Age, the Wiseman family, along with the Abraham family, declined and eventually became just an ordinary superhuman family.

"Put this on."

Old Wiseman's expression turned serious. He made Ethan put on the cloak and then made the latter kneel before him.

Roger turned around and began mixing "Apprentice" potions in the cauldron of the alchemy room.

Soon, Roger had prepared a bottle of black, viscous potion that looked like the most ordinary herbs. He held the bottle and stood in front of Ethan.

“Ethan, put your hand on the crystal ball and repeat after me.”

Old Wiseman whispered:
“I, Ethan Wiseman, hereby swear.”

"At this time and in this place, I am willing to embark on the humble path of 'apprenticeship' under the guidance of the Abraham family."

"I will learn, record, travel across the sky and the sea, and explore the profound and unknown mysteries."

“I am willing to dedicate my life to this cause and accept the command and instruction of the Abraham family, and vow to defend their honor and position to the death.”

This is an oath of allegiance that the Wiseman family has sworn to the Abraham family whenever an "apprentice" is born in the family, a tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years since the Quaternary period.

Ethan seemed to sense his father's seriousness, and he solemnly followed old Wiseman in taking the oath.

As the lit crystal ball went out again, Ethan took the "Apprentice" potion from Roger's hand.

After receiving the latter's nod, Ethan tilted his head back and drank the potion. Then, under the guidance of old Wiseman, he began his first meditation on taking a potion.

Roger watched quietly from the side, and when Ethan opened his eyes, he came forward and helped him up.

"Congratulations on becoming an 'apprentice'."

Roger smiled and then said:

"You can learn about the 'role-playing' technique from your father later, and then this will be handed over to you."

After saying that, Roger took out a small white sphere and handed it to Ethan.

"Under normal circumstances, you, who have mastered the 'acting method,' should not lose control like most extraordinary individuals, but in order to prevent you from encountering any danger, you should always carry this little ball with you."

"If you encounter any misfortune, I will use my 'traveler' abilities to instantly appear beside you and provide you with rescue."

"This promise remains in effect until you become a mid-sequence extraordinary."

This was a specially shaped skeleton he created using his demigod-level "Rose Bishop" abilities, containing a mass of his own flesh and blood.

The reason for designing it this way was to prevent Ethan from being frightened by seeing things like severed fingers. Roger didn't want to explain too much to him, so he adopted this convenient method.

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Roger."

Ethan thanked Roger gratefully, and Roger nodded slightly, turned and left the underground alchemy room, leaving Ethan and old Wiseman to continue the first knowledge transfer and ability experiment process.

Roger left without delay, going straight to the warehouse in the dock area to pack all the books he had ordered into the "Old Days Box". He then purchased a large amount of supplies at the dock and once again used his "Traveler" ability to return to "New Fog City".

He handed the large pile of books to the priests of "New Fog City," and then returned to the quiet room that Alexis had arranged for him.

Here, Roger once again entered the "Original Dynamic Core".

Here, Roger used the "Primal Core" to synchronize the enormous astronomical instrument he had previously obtained, which corresponded to the extraordinary characteristics of "astrologers," with time. Then, he led several priests from "New Fog City" who were more familiar with astrology back to the "Underground Midnight City," which was on the other side of the "Forsaken Land."

Below the "Eye of Glory," he once again saw Saint Andreid and Ikamia, who were overseeing the renovation of the public area.

"Your Excellency Saint Andreid, in addition to the scholars of 'New Fog City' that I promised to introduce to you, I have also brought you a sealed artifact that allows you to view the stars at any time."

Upon hearing Roger's words, Saint Andreid's eyes widened immediately. The old man, who had lived for countless years, looked at the white-robed priest of "New Fog City" with curiosity and anticipation in his eyes.

Like Alexis, this current lord of the "Underground Midnight City" was meeting people from other human survivor city-states for the first time, not to mention the planetarium Roger had mentioned.

So he temporarily handed over the work to Ikamiya, and then called Elliott, Greer and a few other knowledgeable extraordinary individuals, and together with Roger and the others, they went to a fairly spacious room on the first floor.

This is the meeting room where the garrison of the "Underground Midnight City" usually discusses important matters, and occasionally organizes training sessions here.

The place has been cleaned up, seemingly with the needs of the extraordinary individuals in "New Fog City" who may be brought by Roger but whose strength level has not reached demigod level.

Roger entered the conference room first, then went to the center and placed the half-person-high planetarium on the ground before calling the rest of the people in.

In their presence, Roger placed his left hand on the astrolabe and began to chant aloud in Giantsmania:
"The intersection of the starry sky and the spirit world, the crimson retinue of the shadow veil, the living embodiment of the starry sky and the calendar, the protector of the fallen beings of 'Midnight City'."

"I beseech you to bestow knowledge, reveal the stars, and grant me true understanding."

After he finished speaking, the planetarium suddenly lit up.

The next second, it began to spin rapidly, and the orbits of those stars were quickly corrected, as if it were chasing back a thousand years of the past.

Compared to the somewhat unsurprised expressions of the priests in "New Fog City," the extraordinary individuals in "Midnight City" immediately showed great interest in the astronomical instrument.

“Sir Roger, this planetarium looks familiar.”

Seeing the extraordinary individuals from the two human survivor city-states begin a heated discussion, Saint Andreid finally couldn't help but ask.

"I found this in 'Midnight City.' What, you recognize this thing?"

"Hmm, I vaguely remember."

Saint-Andrédérard nodded:
"This seems to be something that belonged to my teacher Saint Vico. I've seen it in some portraits, but it stopped working a long time ago and can only launch some not-so-strong attacks."

"After the fall of 'Midnight City,' this thing was left on the surface. I never thought we would still see it."

"I see."

Roger nodded, and then said:

"I managed to restore its functionality, and now it can display the correct celestial phenomena and celestial trajectories. However, the priests of 'New Fog City' will find a way to teach you how to interpret this knowledge."

"Lord Roger, may I ask, by what means are these priests of my Lord extraordinary beings?"

Saint Andreid had been observing these extraordinary individuals from the "New Fog City" and found that they seemed to be proficient in all sorts of knowledge, and two of them seemed to be quite capable in practical matters.

"Most of them are extraordinary beings of the 'Reader' pathway, which is also a pathway that my Lord once governed, and is adjacent to the 'Sun' and 'Mystic' pathways."

"Another small group consists of the 'Generalists,' a path that is not common in the 'Forsaken Land,' and is an adjacent path to the 'Secret Seekers.'"

After hearing Roger's explanation, Saint Andreid nodded slightly:
“I see. I know about the ‘Secret Seeker’ pathway. Before the ‘Midnight City’ fell, there were extraordinary individuals among us who possessed this pathway.”

"If 'Midnight City' also wants to bring in extraordinary individuals through these two pathways, what conditions would be required?"

In fact, during the past two days of organizing the renovation of the public areas of the 'Underground Midnight City', Saint Andreid has already noticed some of the shortcomings of this human survivor city-state.

Despite having painstakingly built a fairly magnificent underground city-state of human survivors over the past millennium, Saint Andreid still noticed that the city-state, composed only of 'Sun,' 'Mystic,' and 'Warrior,' was extremely weak in terms of infrastructure and machinery.

In contrast, although the "New Fog City" did not have the same conditions as the "Underground Midnight City," they had a group of "Reader" priests who were proficient in all kinds of knowledge, which greatly ensured their survival for a period of time. The city-state built on the cave walls, which can be described as a wonder, is a testament to the technological strength of the "New Fog City."

Not to mention that Roger has now introduced them to the "Generalist" pathway of extraordinary individuals, which has made "New Fog City" even more powerful.

"No conditions are required. I can make it through the 'General Knowledge' route, but the 'Reader' route requires the approval of Lady Alexis and Lord Jack, the second-in-command of 'New Fog City'."

Then Roger laughed:

"However, I believe they would be very willing to help their fellow citizens in the 'Underground Midnight City'."

Saint Andrees expressed his gratitude with some thanks, and then asked:
"Besides that, there is one more thing I would like to ask you."

"When you turned on this astronomical instrument just now, did the four names you recited refer to one of my sovereigns?"

Roger nodded slightly:

"Not relatives, but family members, but please forgive me for not being able to say too much about the specifics."

"I see."

Upon hearing the word "family," Saint Andreid also displayed a similar expression of profound awe as Alexis had before.

"However, I can tell you that if the people of 'Midnight City' ever have any questions about astrology, they can pray using the name I just recited, and they will receive a response from my Lord's retinue."

Roger then added, further promoting his status as a heretical god.

"Thank you, Mr. Roger."

The two then talked for a while, and Roger suddenly looked at Saint Andreid and said:

"Your Excellency Saint Andreid, there is something I would like to discuss with you."

"Please speak?"

Saint Andreid nodded and spoke.

"One of the revelations I received from the 'Angel of Time' about the 'Midnight City' really caught my attention."

Roger paused, then said:

"Does some secret lie hidden in the deepest part of this city-state's underground?"

(End of this chapter)