Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 374 Taking Oil to the Steam Church

After Master Qiu arrived at the classroom, everything seemed to return to normal. Whether it was the repeated, cramming-like recitation or Roger's expected overtime, it all showed that Master Qiu's mental state could never have gotten any worse.

However, Roger thought differently. Throughout the process, he used "Secret Insight" to observe Master Qiu on various levels, from his spiritual body, astral body, etheric body to mental body. This examination process was very tedious, but fortunately, Roger finally found some anomalies.

First, Master Qiu's mental and physical states exhibited abnormal levels of excitement and lethargy, symptoms that typically appear in patients with chronic insomnia, which can be linked to his current condition.

As for Master Qiu's ethereal body, it also has obvious brown and orange light, which indicates that his physical condition is very poor and he also has a tendency to lose control of his emotions. Roger tentatively categorizes this abnormality as a decline in physical function caused by long-term sleep deprivation. If nothing unexpected happens, he will see a significant improvement after taking the medicine given by Emlin.

What truly worried Roger was Master Qiu's astral spirit body, which in a narrow sense is related to the "soul" and in a broader sense refers to the energy layer that connects life with the spirit world and even the wider world, and it appeared in two colors at the same time.

One type is a normal white area that shimmers with purple, like starlight, while the deepest part has an indigo blue characteristic. This symbolizes that Master Qiu has extraordinary insight and mystical perception, which is also related to his extraordinary status as a "secret seeker".

On the other hand, Master Qiu's abdomen had a large, shadowy area, as if something was obscuring that part of his astral form.

This anomaly immediately alerted Roger. As a Sequence 4 Saint, he was naturally adept at uncovering secrets, while Master "Qiu" was merely a Sequence 8 Extraordinary. There was no reason for the latter to possess secrets that Roger could not easily uncover.

"It seems that my previous series of intuitions were all correct. The current 'Master Qiu' may be in a similar situation to Old Neil back then... but I just don't know if the manipulator behind it is the same person."

Roger thought to himself that, in fact, he had previously suspected that Master Qiu had some unusual contamination from the "Hidden Sage," and even suspected that he was actively seeking forbidden knowledge from the evil god that the "Hidden Sage" had transformed into through the unique activation of his path, and putting it into practice.

However, according to Cattleya, such a person would either exhibit abnormal behavior or simply lose control; there's no reason why he could attend classes normally while also discussing astrological topics with Roger.

In other words, if it's just insomnia and irritability, then Master Qiu is already among the most normal of all the abnormal extraordinary individuals.

However, to say that he is normal is far from it.

Putting aside the unusual, impenetrable darkness on his astral body that even Roger couldn't see through, just considering Regulus's statement that Master Qiu believed "Hellstar" was not a real thing, that makes no sense at all.

After all, "He Xing" is not something fabricated or conjectured by humans. This strange astronomical phenomenon actually happened. Even if Master Qiu did not see it with his own eyes, he should have read the relevant records in astrology magazines or seen the photos published in them.

Denying something that actually happened without any reason is not like Master Qiu's style. After all, this guy can study even ancient and niche knowledge like the Trensault Point for a long time. Roger does not believe that he would say "He Star" is just a symbol based solely on his subjective will.

In conclusion, although Roger is basically certain that there is something wrong with Master Qiu, he is quite unsure of what kind of influence Master Qiu is currently under.

However, one thing is certain: Master Qiu's problem is definitely not his own. Although every life is important in essence, in the extraordinary world, the life of a Sequence 8 extraordinary person is nothing but grass in the game between those in high positions, and no one cares about it at all. Rather than that, Roger prefers to believe that someone is secretly targeting the "He Xing" faith or trying to guide him in a certain direction.

Roger didn't intend to make any rash moves until he figured out who was watching him.

As for the class, it was as grueling as ever. Because Master Qiu was not sleeping well, he seemed to be in a very bad mood today. He threw the blackboard eraser three times just because someone read it wrong.

Afterwards, Roger took the initiative to suggest that he could lead the students in reading aloud. Master Qiu hesitated for a moment before agreeing, and then rested on the side. He would occasionally show signs of being very sleepy and yawn from time to time.

When the class, which was so complicated, ended, Roger came to the podium again and found Master Qiu.

This time, unlike before when he deliberately waited for Regulus and the others to leave before acting, he directly placed the stack of calculation papers he had prepared on Master Qiu's podium and then said:
“Master Ottom, I have completed the verification of the knowledge points you asked me to check last time.”

Roger spoke in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to attract the attention of the students who remained in the classroom.

They were curiously watching to see what Roger wanted to say to Master Qiu, but they never expected that he would start by talking about academic matters.

While this slightly disappointed Regulus and the others, it also further confirmed Roger's claim that he had entered the "Hercules School" with a perfect score on his exam.

Driven by a gossipy nature, they didn't rush to leave. Instead, they stayed in the classroom, pretending to help Clotte find her hair clip while eavesdropping on Roger and "Master Qiu's" conversation.

Besides them, there was another young lady who hadn't left. Roger only glanced at her before recognizing Natalie, who had once tested him.

The girl who was tasked with interviewing new students for the "Hexing School" was also a Level 2 apprentice. Roger had already greeted her earlier when he was chatting with people in the class.

Compared to before, Natalie was much more humble towards Roger this time. After Madison's lecture, she had fully realized that Roger was a very talented astrologer. Although she didn't know why he chose Master "Qiu", she still felt very fortunate to be classmates with Roger.

Roger also tacitly avoided mentioning the previous interview, as he had no intention of making Natalie feel embarrassed.

Although Roger doesn't know what she's staying behind for, it seems that she's quite close to Vivian, and it was Vivian who asked her to stay.

Although Master Qiu was somewhat displeased that Regulus and the others hadn't left but were eavesdropping, he was genuinely pleased that they had begun to show interest in advanced astrological knowledge.

On the other hand, the calculation manuscript brought by Roger once again demonstrated the high level of this "Level 2" apprentice in astrology. Sometimes even Master Qiu was a little confused about who was learning from whom.

“...Truly impressive, Cabin.”

After reading through all the manuscripts, Master Qiu couldn't help but sincerely praise them:
"These calculations have solved several key puzzles that I've had for a long time... I really don't know how to repay you."

"Speaking of which, I do have a question that I need your help with."

Roger smiled and looked at Master Qiu, who was casting an inquiring glance, before saying:

"But before we get to that, here's something for you."

Having said that, Roger took a small box from his cloak pocket, inside which were four potions gleaming with a blue-green light:

"This is the sleep aid I promised you last time. You can take it every night while lying in bed."

"Thank you."

Master Qiu curiously took the medicine and examined it for a while, then asked curiously:

"Could this be some kind of anesthetic?"

"how is this possible?"

Roger smiled:
"If you are not comfortable with this, you can have a divination done before taking it."

"Okay, no need for that, I trust you."

Master Qiu shook his head, put away the medicine, and then spoke again:

"Now can I ask you my questions?"

"Ah."

Roger nodded, then went straight to the point:
“When I came here before, my classmates told me about your views on ‘He Xing’. You said that ‘He Xing’ is just a symbol and does not actually exist.”

"But for me personally, 'Hey Star' is a real astronomical phenomenon... because I have seen it with my own eyes."

"I was in Constance at the time, and in the middle of the night my friend woke me up and said that a strange celestial body had appeared near Mars. I put on my clothes and went out to see, and found that what he said was true."

"To be honest... ever since then I've been trying to figure out what 'He Xing' is. When I joined the school, I didn't know that it was related to 'He Xing,' so in a sense, this might be a sign of fate."

"So I'm very curious, for a master like you who likes to get to the bottom of things when it comes to scholarship, the knowledge of 'He Xing' must be just as tempting... But I don't understand why you say that 'He Xing' doesn't exist?"

Upon hearing this question, Regulus tensed up immediately, because he clearly saw Master Qiu's gaze sweep over him, implying "it must be you, kid."

Fortunately, Master Qiu didn't say anything. After a moment, he looked at Roger again, thought for a moment, and adjusted his glasses:

"This is indeed a very interesting question."

“Carbin, since you all believe that ‘Hexing’ truly exists, then I want to ask you, why has it never been recorded in the past, only appeared once, and disappeared again not long after it appeared?”

"It's possible that it wasn't a simple celestial body, but rather something that was originally hidden on the far side of Mars or near the asteroid belt, and only temporarily appeared due to an accidental gravitational perturbation."

Roger shrugged:

"On the other hand, as you know, in terms of astronomy and astrology, many celestial bodies have their own return cycles, some of which are thousands of years long, which is not surprising."

“I know what you’re trying to say, but it’s different, Cabin.”

Master Qiu shook his head:
"The celestial bodies you mentioned that have long return periods generally have clear activity trajectories and can persist in the night sky for several days to more than half a month."

"As for gravitational perturbation, that's even more impossible, because both Mars and asteroids are very close to us, and if they were going to appear, they would have appeared long ago."

"Therefore, I think that 'Hey Star' is most likely a mirage or an aurora, or some kind of abnormality in the zodiacal light... In short, 'Hey Star' is just an illusion, not a real celestial body."

"Yes, you make a good point. I've learned something."

It must be said that what Master Qiu said was quite reasonable and well-founded, but Roger did not feel convinced.

In any case, these remarks were very inconsistent with Master Qiu's consistent personality. If "He Xing" had no astronomical significance, then it must have some mystical significance. After all, the Terensus Point that Master Qiu studied was not an objective astronomical phenomenon, but rather a method of calculating virtual points that leaned towards mysticism. This contrast made Roger feel very uncomfortable.

Therefore, he decided not to dwell on this issue for the time being, and he also confirmed that he would not get the answer he wanted from Master Qiu.

Seeing that Roger had failed to persuade Master Qiu, Regulus and the others all cast sympathetic glances at him. After all, in their view, this was the old stubborn man's consistent style. Once he made up his mind about something, he would almost never give in. And it was precisely because of this that no apprentice with even a little ability would choose him as their mentor.

Seeing Master Qiu leave first, Roger watched his back as he felt a pat on the shoulder.

He turned around and found it was Vivian Polk, a tall and thin girl.

"Don't think about it, that's just how Master Qiu is."

She smiled and shook her head, then said:

"By the way, it's my birthday today, and I'm planning to treat Regulus and the others to dinner. Do you want to come?"

"my pleasure."

Roger smiled and nodded without hesitation, also wanting to take this opportunity to get closer to his classmates.

"Great."

Vivian nodded, then led her sister out first.

Roger and Regulus followed behind, chatting as they went. When they arrived at a changing room in the front hall, they all took off their cloaks.

"Wow, Jack, you're so handsome, are you trying to make us guys your foils?"

Regulus, with his curly hair and freckles, saw Roger take off his hood and complained jealously.

"You guys just realized? Come to think of it, I might be the only one in the whole class who has ever seen what Jack looks like."

Natalie was speaking at this moment, and her tone was quite smug.

It's no wonder they thought he was handsome. Roger, as "Jack Carbin," used the appearance of a certain Western male movie star named Li from his previous life at the peak of his looks—except that guy's appearance changed a bit after he got fat in middle age, Roger really liked both his looks and acting skills when he was young.

"You flatter me."

Roger scratched his head guiltily, and then the group went to a nearby steakhouse. Under Vivian's guidance, they each ordered what they wanted to eat.

In addition, she had prepared a cake for herself in advance. After everyone celebrated her birthday, they started eating and chatting.

"By the way, Jack, tell us more about your connection with 'He Xing'."

Having been provoked by Roger before, and having later discussed issues related to "He Xing" with Master "Qiu" in person, Sirius's curiosity about "He Xing" had reached its peak, and he couldn't wait to ask.

Not only him, but Regulus and the others also seemed to be very concerned about this issue, because they had never thought about why the astrological research society they had joined was called the "Hell Star School," and what the status of "Hell Star" was in this organization.

Roger thought for a moment upon hearing this before replying:
"As far as I know, 'He Xing' is not a simple mirage or a distortion of the zodiacal light as Master Qiu said, but a real celestial body."

“What I said earlier, that He Xing would protect those who pray to it, was not something I made up. I have a friend who is a ‘secret seeker’ and is a believer of He Xing. Since she became a believer of He Xing, she has experienced fewer painful ‘knowledge indoctrination’ situations.”

“I’ve heard similar things too.” Natalie nodded, because of her status, she knew much more than Regulus and the others.

"Do you know how to pray to 'He Xing'?"

Upon hearing Natalie's words, Sirius immediately looked at her with anticipation.

"This...I don't know either."

Seeing that Natalie didn't know either, Sirius sighed softly, looking very disappointed.

“However, Sirius.”

Roger put a piece of steak into his mouth while reminding him:

"I'll try to ask my friend how to pray to 'He Xing', though she might need some payment."

"Before that, don't try to pray to 'He Xing' on your own... Your elders should have told you not to pray to gods of unknown origin, otherwise there is a high probability that unexpected dangers will occur."

"Yes, there are such teachings in our family, and of course I will also supervise him."

Regulus glanced at Sirius and said with a smile.

The latter glared at him, then nodded gratefully to Roger:

"Then I'll leave it to you, Jack."

"Small idea."

Roger hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice and said:

"By the way, Vivian, Clotte."

Have either of you considered becoming Extraordinary?

"An extraordinary one?"

Clotte nodded immediately upon hearing this:

"I thought and thought, but my grades weren't good enough."

After saying that, she sighed again:

"A genius like you probably can't understand. Normally, within the 'He Xing School,' the opportunity to become an extraordinary person requires the masters to report to their superiors and obtain approval before it can be realized."

"Unless you're like Regulus, who gets potions from his family, or someone who has connections to obtain potion recipes, this is the only way."

"Actually, Vivian and I had discussed before whether we could pool our money to buy the same potion recipe, but neither of us really wanted to become an Extraordinary through the 'Apprentice,' 'Generalist,' or 'Secret Seeker' pathways... In comparison, I prefer the 'Diviner,' and Vivian prefers the 'Audience.'"

“But normally, the ‘Hercules School’ can only accept extraordinary individuals from these three pathways—that is, because they are more closely related to astrology, at least during the apprenticeship stage.”

At this point, Clotti pursed her lips, seemingly very dissatisfied.

"This rule is rather unreasonable."

Roger frowned:
"All three paths require at least reaching the middle sequence to significantly improve astrological abilities, especially the 'Secret Seeker' and 'Generalist' paths, which only undergo a qualitative change in astrological abilities at sequence 5. Before that, the astrological knowledge learning ability bonuses they provide are not significantly different from many other paths—except, of course, paths like 'Hunter' and 'Warrior'."

It must be said that this rule is indeed somewhat dogmatic, probably decided on a whim by Nicholson and his team—after all, most of the people with extraordinary abilities in the predecessors of the "Hercules School" were on these three paths, and they clearly knew very little about paths other than these three.

For example, the "Reader" pathway has exceptional learning abilities starting from Sequence 9, including astrological skills. By Sequence 6, the "Scholar" pathway has the abilities of "analysis" and "simulation," which, when used in astrology, could potentially function like a low-end version of the "Living Chart."

A similar example is the "Diviner". Although the astrological abilities of the "Diviner" are not as outstanding as those of the "Astrologist" and other pathway sequences, they are definitely among the strongest at the Sequence 9 level, and may even be incomparable to the "Apprentice".

Roger did acknowledge that the "Hercules School" should have its own fixed system for passing on extraordinary abilities, but he also opposed mechanically and dogmatically expelling extraordinary individuals from other pathways from the organization. This would divide the organization's power and lead to the leakage of secrets, and it would also easily lead to potential risks due to the decrease in the diversity of the pathways of extraordinary individuals.

For example, normally, there wouldn't be any problems with the activities of "secret seekers" within the school. However, once Roger revealed his hostility towards the "Hidden Sages," these people would become potential threats.

Clearly, Clotte and the others didn't know this information Roger had provided. After exchanging glances, Vivian sighed.

"But there's no use saying all this. That's just how the school of thought operates, and we can't change it no matter what we want."

"It's alright. When I see Master Qiu next time, I'll try to get him to report this situation to his superiors."

Roger patted his chest and made his promise.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Jack."

Vivian and Clotte immediately expressed their gratitude.

"You're welcome. We're all friends."

Roger smiled and raised his glass:

"cheers."

……

After the birthday party ended, Roger went back to Worston Gardens to make sure his younger siblings were safe before finding Bendit and Lindsay again and bringing them back to Midnight City.

As soon as Roger landed, he saw Grell Yosor, the "Dark One," leading a group of extraordinary beings from the "Underground Midnight City" to the surface, seemingly helping Jack clean up the battlefield.

Upon seeing Roger appear, Greer immediately bowed respectfully and said that he had been sent by Andreid to support the work, and then the two began to chat.

“On another note, Your Excellency, I seem to be the first resident to lead a team to this surface city in a thousand years since the fall of ‘Midnight City’.”

Looking at the magnificent city before him, Greer was filled with emotion. He had seen this place more than once through the "Eye of Glory," but this was the first time he had actually set foot here.

In any case, the feeling and experience were completely different, and as Greer watched, he suddenly became somewhat saddened.

He originally believed that the "Underground Midnight City" was still a city protected by the "Pure White Angel," even though He never answered the prayers of the "Underground Midnight City" residents, and he firmly believed this.

Now, even the "pure white angels" who originally supported the foundation of this city have become traitors to the "original creator." Looking at the boundless darkness in the sky and the mournful cries of lightning, Greer felt only an indescribable loneliness and desolation.

Seemingly sensing Greer's emotions, Roger patted him hard on the shoulder:

"Don't worry about it, these are all temporary."

"In any case, the guidance of our Lord has once again descended upon the 'Midnight City'. As long as you persevere, you will surely see the dawn."

"Yes, I believe you, Your Excellency."

Upon hearing this, Greer rallied, bowed respectfully to Roger once more, and joined Jack and his team.

"Lindsay, you should go and do some work too."

Roger glanced at Lindsay, then watched him reunite with the tactical squad members who had remained in Midnight City before leaving the Forsaken Land with Bandit once again.

Roger was heading to the "Gear Church" in Stone, the capital of East Chestershire.

After explaining his purpose, a pastor led Roger into the second-floor workshop of the "Gear Church".

Here, Roger spotted York Weeks deep in thought, staring at a blueprint.

Roger waved his hand, indicating that the priest should not call York yet, but simply leave.

He then sat down not far behind the bishop, watching him doodle on the drawings.

After a while, York Weeks suddenly turned around, and upon recognizing Roger, he broke out in a cold sweat:
"Your Excellency Abraham, when did you arrive?"

Even though York Weeks was a powerful mid-series Beyonder, his intuition and spiritual warnings were rendered useless when facing a true demigod.

Fortunately, it was Roger, who had a partnership with the Steam Church, who came, and not some other malicious person; otherwise, that one blow would have been enough to kill him.

In fact, this is not entirely due to the difference in strength, but also due to Roger's own extraordinary abilities. Roger has now developed a habit of subconsciously linking his fate with the surrounding environment in order to reduce his own presence.

This practice can significantly reduce the effectiveness of other extraordinary individuals' intuitive perception and spiritual warnings, and can be used as a form of "psychological invisibility" in some situations.

"I've been here for a while, but I didn't have the heart to disturb your research on machinery."

Roger smiled and waved his hand, then looked at the blueprints in front of York:

"This... is a design blueprint for a refracting telescope?"

"Yes, you are a very learned gentleman."

York was somewhat surprised, and he nodded:

"This is a design task assigned by the church, and I've been working on it for a day now."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Roger nodded.

"By the way, what brings you here so late at night?"

York Wixton paused:

"If it's for the commissioned matter, then you'll probably have to wait a few more days. The design plans for those two extraordinary items have been completed, and the molds are currently being processed."

"It's not because of that, that's not urgent."

Roger waved his hand:

"I've come to see you this time because I want to show you something."

After saying that, Roger took out a tin bucket from the "Old Box".

The tin bucket had a lid on it. After he removed the lid, a dark, viscous substance was revealed inside.

"what is this?"

York Weeks curiously leaned closer:

"It seems to be some kind of oily substance, which I have never seen before."

"Yes, this is something I got from a special place; it's called oil."

Roger smiled and looked at the barrel of oil that he had voluntarily requested the "blue-skinned" people to offer as a sacrifice:
"As far as I know, this stuff can be separated into many different fuels, and the byproducts can also be used to make some special materials."

"With these fuels and materials, many problems that are currently difficult to solve in engineering will be answered, including the energy efficiency and short driving time of fuel-powered and steam-powered vehicles that have been troubling you... and so on.

"Believe me, this is something that could bring about another technological explosion."

"If you are interested, we can cooperate to develop corresponding products, but the prerequisite is that the Steam Church must find a way to figure out the uses of this substance."

As he said this, Roger's lips curled up into a confident smile.

(End of this chapter)