Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 380 The Complete Digestion Potion and Goodbye Adam

The reason for avoiding the dense areas of stars in the Milky Way is that there are too many strong light sources there, which would greatly interfere with Roger's collection of infrared light. At this moment, being on the outer edge of the Milky Way is much safer.

However, it must be said that the reliability of the "light-gathering box" made by the Steam Church far exceeded Roger's imagination. It seemed to automatically filter out light that did not meet the requirements. This seemed to be a special optimization configuration made with Roger's intention to collect light inside the galaxy in mind.

At this moment, Roger's actions only significantly increased the box's light-gathering efficiency. Under Roger's "secret insight" vision, he saw strands of invisible light appear above it. A considerable portion of these lights were reflected away by the box, with only a small portion entering it.

Soon, the box gave Roger a notification, informing him that it had collected the corresponding wavelength of light. After checking and confirming that everything was correct, Roger put it away with satisfaction.

"Is there anywhere you'd like to go? I can give you a ride there on my way."

Roger smiled and patted the "Star Wanderer" that was circling around him like a puppy, then asked.

"Beep beep, beep beep."

"You want to go to Earth? That won't do."

Roger chuckled. If this little guy really went to Earth, he would most likely be killed by the gods on Earth as an alien spy.

"By the way, can you do me a favor?"

Roger thought for a moment, then spoke into the "Star Wanderer" in a beeping voice:

"Go back and have your fellow clansmen pray to me often, to help me uncover deeper glimpses of the starry sky... Of course, it must be in a safe star field where no other gods' power exists, as this may help me recover my strength quickly."

"Remember, you must use the honorific name I just told you, don't use the old one, understand?"

"Beep beep, beep beep."

"Star Wanderer" immediately said no problem.

"By the way, do you need me to give you any proof? Just in case they suspect you're lying."

Roger then thought of another question and asked it.

"Beep beep, beep~!"

This means no, because for the "Star Wanderers," lying about the question of Gherus is an unforgivable sin that will be punished by the gods.

"discipline……"

Roger nodded thoughtfully, then took the "Star Wanderer" back to its original star coordinates and said goodbye to it.

Although the "Star Wanderer" was somewhat reluctant to leave, it finally nodded after Roger reiterated the importance of the task he had entrusted to it. Then, it once again emitted its long tail and gradually disappeared into the depths of the starry sky, looking back every three steps.

"That should be fine."

Roger nodded slightly, then activated "Amra's Guidance" again, traveled through the polluted continent of Butak to the Bone Desert, had "De La Hoya Giant Rat" check him to make sure there was no extra dangerous aura on him, and then returned to Backlund with its help.

Two days had already passed in Backlund after all this commotion. Roger judged that there must be some massive celestial body in the sky that could warp time, which caused this abnormal flow of time.

This made Roger feel a little scared. Luckily, he returned before Sunday, otherwise he would have missed the prayer ceremony in "Silver City".

"It seems I need to be more careful when venturing into space in the future. I need to pay extra attention to the difference in the flow of time. If I end up near a black hole and the Earth is destroyed when I come back, I think I'll really be devastated."

Roger rubbed his eyes. This actually reminded him that he should do a divination before heading to the Boötes Void to make sure there were no supermassive compact objects hidden in the darkness before going to complete the ascension ceremony.

He first went back to Worston Gardens to tell Bandit that he would be leaving for a while, and then created a flesh puppet with "living horoscope" astrological abilities to help him with his lessons.

Afterwards, Roger ordered thousands of different Northland-style set meals from several restaurants in Backlund, and only used his "Traveler" ability to return to the Forsaken Lands that evening.

Just as Roger had predicted, both "New Fog City" and "Underground Midnight City" were busy preparing for the prayer ceremony the next day. The bustling scene made Roger feel a little embarrassed. In the end, he took the initiative to create many intelligent flesh and blood puppets to help them move various heavy objects, which greatly reduced everyone's workload.

Finally, about twelve hours before the prayer ceremony began, all preparations were in place, and Roger finally breathed a sigh of relief. He then distributed the meal sets he had bought to the workers, letting them taste the produce of the Northern Continent.

This naturally aroused the admiration and praise of "Hexing" once again. Even the residents of "Underground Midnight City" who had no worries about food and clothing experienced the great charm of industrialization through their own taste buds at this moment.

On Sunday afternoon, after the appointed time arrived, Roger once again stepped into the tributary of the Chaos Sea located in the "Underground Midnight City". However, unlike last time, Roger did not encounter the various obstacles that seemed to come from the authority of the "Omniscient and Omnipotent Five Paths" and smoothly arrived at the core area of ​​the "Chaos Sea".

Roger guessed that this might be because he had used the "Original Core" to pollute this tributary of the Chaos Sea and obtained the corresponding permissions, that is, he was identified as "one of their own" by this tributary of the "Chaos Sea".

Looking at the imagery of that astral fragment, and the rust-colored stars twinkling above, Roger took a deep breath and prepared himself.

At the same time, a collective prayer emanating from the three city-states of "Silver City," "New Fog City," and "Underground Midnight City" resounded within the "Primal Core" and lingered in Roger's ears. Even the astral projection flickered, as if some corresponding authority was activated in the prayer.

This prayer was directed at both "Hexing" and "Lord of the Stars," and at this moment, the "Primal Core" and the "Chaos Sea" tributaries were in a state of mutual fusion, which also gave Roger the possibility of performing the strongest "identity alteration" in history.

As luck would have it, seemingly drawn by a specific destiny, at the very moment the "identity alteration" was initiated, tens of millions of prayers echoed from every corner of the universe.

That was a prayer from the "Star Wanderers" race, who sent Roger countless scenes of the starry sky, thus illuminating one dark area after another in the deep space of the "Primal Core".

At this moment, Roger approached the identity of "Lord of the Stars" not only in a mystical sense, but also in a symbolic sense.

In an extremely short time, Roger gained almost complete control over this astral projection. With a thought, he began to quickly exert certain influences on the projection, thereby further deepening his operational authority over the tributary of the "Chaos Sea".

At the same time, he felt the "Living Star Chart" potion in his body melting away as quickly as ice encountering molten iron. In just a few seconds, the potion was completely digested.

Moreover, Roger even felt that he had gained some indescribable understanding of the sparks of knowledge behind the darker, infinite shadows deep within the starry sky.

As the false identity of "Lord of the Stars" was forcibly stripped away by some unspeakable force, Roger finally broke free from that transcendent intimate experience and sat on the ground, panting heavily.

At this moment, he was somewhat alarmed, because just now, during that process, Roger sensed that two great forces were showing signs of revival at the same time, one belonging to Geheros and the other seemingly belonging to "God".

"Damn it, we've been tricked by Geheros again."

Roger finally realized, somewhat belatedly, that the reason the prayers of the "Star Wanderers" clan arrived at the same moment as his advancement was very likely the result of Gherros's deliberate "arrangement".

Because when he was using the power of the "Lord of the Stars" to digest the potion, the seal of the "Key to the Gate" was definitely under pressure. If another force were to strengthen the influence of the "Primal Core" at this time, it would inevitably wear down the already dwindling seal of the "Key to the Gate".

The principle is somewhat complex, but it is also easy to understand—that is, when Roger changed his identity to "Lord of the Stars," Gherros was also able to use the mystical similarity between himself and the "Omniscient and Omnipotent Five Paths" being on adjacent paths to simultaneously steal the identity of "Lord of the Stars."

In this way, even if the name chanted by the "Star Wanderer" is not directed at Geheros, as long as the "Primal Core" still exists, Geheros can obtain the corresponding "anchor".

Although the acquisition process was extremely brief, it was enough for Geheros to achieve his stage goal—and the result was exactly that: the already limited "Key to the Gate" seal was weakened once again, to the point that only about fifty percent of its original value remained after Roger advanced to the "Living Star Chart".

If the "Key to the Gate" seal hadn't been of such a high level, that one moment could have led to an extremely dangerous outcome.

"Indeed, one cannot be careless when facing these Outer Gods... However, judging from Gherus's actions, He does possess some authority through 'erroneous' means."

"This also proves that the 'Star of Judgment' pathway and the 'Three Mysterious Pathways' are adjacent pathways. Adam was right."

Roger understood that if he chose to directly advance to become the "Black Prophet" now, it was possible that Gherus would break through the remaining seal and cause Roger, along with the "Fallen Mother Goddess" corruption, to explode directly inside the Boötes Void.

Therefore, he had to consider a backup plan, using some external force to suppress Gherros's power, so that he himself would not allow the seal of the "Key to the Gate" to be completely exhausted when he advanced.

If that's the case, even if Roger successfully advances to Sequence 3, he will inevitably be unable to advance to Sequence 2 "Astral Singer".

Yes, Roger, having fully digested the "Living Star Chart" potion, finally learned the name of the Sequence 2 potion for the "Judgment Star" pathway.

Roger believed that he had to delay the contamination of the "Key to the Gate" as long as possible.

The best-case scenario would be that Roger could completely deplete the corruption of the "Key to the Gate" just as he ascended to the Sequence 0 True God, but it's obvious that that's impossible.

"It seems I'll have to find an opportunity to talk to Adam in the next couple of days... It's best to get away from here for now."

Roger took a deep breath. He believed that Adam must have some plan that would allow him to bypass the consumption of the "Key to the Gate" seal when he advanced to Sequence 3. After all, Adam was a true god at the Sequence 0 level. It shouldn't be difficult for Adam to design a special obstacle for Gherros, whose current power recovery was far inferior to that of Sequence 0.

As Roger retreated, deep in thought, the magnificent prayers he heard gradually diminished once he had left the shadowy area shrouded in the tributary of the "Chaos Sea".

He waited a while longer until the prayer was completely over before he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's it for now, let's eat first."

Roger shook his head. He was starving and just wanted to eat something and rest for a while.

However, at this moment he still needed to conclude this prayer ceremony. As he walked out of the exit of the "Chaos Sea" tributary, the "Underground Midnight City," which had already quieted down, once again resounded with praise for Roger, the messenger of the gods.

While enduring his hunger, Roger comforted his followers and directed his men to remove and pack away the decorations for the prayer ceremony.

By the time Roger finished his work, it was already 8 p.m. Backlund time. He distributed the celebration supplies to the people of "Underground Midnight City" and "New Fog City" before he finally had time to rest.

In his room, he used his "magic master" ability to heat up the food he had prepared for himself in advance, then added ice to a bottle of light beer and drank it down in big gulps. Only then did he feel like he had come back to life.

Feeling utterly exhausted, Roger tidied himself up a bit, then leaned back in his chair, rolled over, and fell asleep immediately.

He didn't know how much time had passed when Roger suddenly sat up and looked at his bedroom and the dark sky outside.

"Isn't it dawn yet...?"

Roger was muttering this to himself when he suddenly shook his head.

He realized that he had been in the "Underground Midnight City" before he fell asleep, but now he was in his bedroom at 15 Minsk Street.

"Adam?"

Roger squinted and began searching his room.

"I am here."

Sure enough, a moment later, Roger saw Adam sitting in his chair, smiling at him.

"long time no see."

Before Roger could speak, Adam nodded and began to speak.

"Yes, it's been several months."

Roger smiled and said:
"Congratulations on your promotion to Sequence 0."

"Thank you."

Adam smiled kindly and nodded:

"Don't you find it strange that I was able to invade your dreams?"

"This……"

Roger was stunned:
"Yes, how did you do that?"

“It’s simple, through the clone you left in Backlund.”

Adam tapped his forehead:

"Although you have given it an independent destiny, its mind still originates from the power of the 'Dreamer' buried in the 'Chaotic Sea,' so finding him is equivalent to finding you."

"Similar to... a firewall?" Faced with Roger's question, Adam paused slightly, then nodded again with a slight smile.
"Yes."

This kind of operation was not unfamiliar to Adam. After all, the "Ancient Sun God" had used similar methods in the past to shield himself from the pollution of the "Chaos Sea" through the "Dark Angel" Sasriel, so that he could maintain a position close to the ancient one without containing the "Chaos Sea".

However, Adam is now much safer than before, because as a Sequence 0, he faces almost no risk in contacting Roger through a quasi-Sequence 4 avatar.

Moreover, the Adam before us is most likely not Adam himself, but rather a figment of his imagination with extremely limited functions.

"I see."

Roger nodded and continued:

"What brings you here today?"

"What you think is what I think."

Adam first shook his head, then nodded:
"As you digested the potion, you once again felt the urge to revive within you, didn't you?"

"Yes, how did you know? What's the principle behind it?"

Roger pressed on with great curiosity. In fact, he had always been extremely interested in the "Dreamer's" abilities, but now that he had finally met Adam himself, who had become Sequence 0, he couldn't help but ask a few more questions out of curiosity.

"Still from your clone, as long as they are involved in the power of the 'Dreamer' pathway, as long as I am willing to pay attention, nothing about them can escape my notice."

“Moreover, since you followed my instructions and used that tributary of the ‘Chaotic Sea,’ I have even less reason not to know about it.”

"understood."

Roger nodded slightly, indicating his understanding.

He then asked:

"I'm planning to advance to Sequence 3. Do you have any way to guarantee that I can complete the advancement without consuming my existing seals?"

"Maybe, but I need to know your Sequence 3 promotion ceremony and sequence name first."

Adam looked at Roger but made no comment.

"I must survive alone for at least two weeks in a void of space that spans at least 1000 million light-years and contains no luminous stars, without coming into contact with any other intelligent life. After completely overcoming the fear of darkness and the unknown, I can advance by taking a magic potion."

"And the name of the potion is 'Black Prophet'."

After listening to Roger's words, Adam thought for a moment before saying:
"I think I have a certain understanding of the nature of your promotion ceremony."

"People have many hidden fears, but these fears often go unnoticed because there are too many things and people that can distract you in daily life."

"Only when all these 'light sources' are removed can these hidden fears be truly discovered by you—because at that time you will become the only light in the darkness, and all the shadows lurking deep in your heart will be revealed."

"The so-called minimum of two weeks is, firstly, to allow you to sever your connection with the mystical world as much as possible, and secondly, to help you identify and overcome these fears one by one."

"When you have completely conquered or overcome this darkness, your consciousness will become very stable, enough to allow you to maintain a certain self-imprint while taking the potion, and not be swallowed up by the inconceivable, extremely terrifying information that rises in the darkness and the fear caused by the uncertainty of fate."

After Adam finished speaking, he paused, then continued:
"What I can do is, on the one hand, help you reveal these hidden shadows in your mind in advance, so as to increase your success rate and reduce the possibility of the one hidden in your body taking advantage of your flaws to achieve resurgence."

"On the other hand, I can help you create a subordinate personality. This personality can spare some of its energy to suppress the will of that being when you are being washed by the torrent of dark information, so that the sealing power you possess will not be consumed."

Roger nodded upon hearing this, then another question came to mind:
"By the way, if we only use clones to intervene, can we really achieve everything you just mentioned?"

"No."

Adam smiled and said:

"So I want to discuss another matter with you—you can jump from your original 'Black Knight' sequence to the 'Dreamer' pathway' sequence 3 'Dreamweaver'. In this way, I can use your own 'Dreamweaver' ability to help you weave a sufficiently safe subordinate personality."

"Most importantly, as long as you don't separate this personality, you won't be considered to have come into contact with other intelligent life forms during the ascension ceremony, because you are relying entirely on your own power... Do you understand?"

Roger was slightly taken aback after listening. He had to admit that Adam's proposed solution was indeed feasible, but there might be another problem.

"Adam, won't doing this further pollute the 'Chaotic Sea'? And won't you yourself be polluted?"

Roger had been worried about this, because Adam had said that Roger would at most reach Sequence 4 on the "Mystic" path. This was a balance point that would help Him suppress the "God" power hidden in the "Chaos Sea" without causing Adam to be corrupted after absorbing the "Chaos Sea".

On the other hand, it was precisely because of this that the "True Creator" was corrupted by the "Key to the Gate," and its activity frequency eventually dropped significantly compared to before.

"will not."

Adam shook his head:

"Your connection with my mysticism is far less close than your connection with the 'True Creator,' and on the other hand, the 'Dreamer' path has an advantage over the 'Hanged Man' path in shielding against contamination from the lower realms."

"Because for a 'dreamer,' any subordinate in this path can be seen as an identity of their own, and these identities are originally stripped away, so the pollution they can cause is naturally very limited."

"On the other hand, the 'Hanged Man' pathway is inherently adept at utilizing the shadows from 'below,' so from a mystical perspective, extraordinary individuals of this pathway are also more susceptible to contamination from those below."

As Adam spoke, he made a "upside down" gesture. Just as Roger suddenly understood, Adam continued:

"Of course, there is another consideration here, which is that the relationship between you and me can be used by Amon after becoming Sequence 0 to create fraud when I merge with the 'True Creator'."

"In this way, the part of the corruption that the 'True Creator' possesses can be transferred to you again through aggregation, and I only need to watch the part of the corruption in the 'Chaos Sea' wrestle with that great being."

"This...you've already thought this through?"

Roger was stunned. He knew Adam was good at scheming, but he didn't expect him to be able to scheme so meticulously.

"That's not true. Some things are figured out gradually."

Adam didn't admit it, he just smiled and shook his head:

"Of course, this is also to reassure you, since you might be worried that I'll leave you to self-destruct in the void of space and spread pollution beyond the stars—but I still need you, so I will never leave you to your fate."

"I see."

Roger nodded and remarked with emotion:

"Some people may think you are cunning and self-serving, but in my opinion, you are actually easier to deal with."

"Because you only follow absolute rationality, all interests and considerations of human nature are laid out on the table, so even without the ability of a 'dreamer,' the results you expect are likely to be realized."

"And this, perhaps, is the characteristic of a first-rate 'writer'."

After Roger finished praising him, he suddenly laughed and said:

"However, with your personality, without external help, you would probably find it more difficult to face 'God' than those gods who are more humane."

"Yes, but we cannot expect ourselves to be capable of handling all problems—in fact, in my opinion, as long as 70 percent of the difficulties can be resolved reliably, there is always a way to deal with the remaining 30 percent."

Adam also laughed:

"After all, most people just fall along the way, and only a very few can reach the end."

"makes sense."

Roger nodded. To be honest, if Adam weren't so inhuman, he would have been quite willing to be friends with him.

"Then it's settled."

Seeing that Roger had nothing else to say, Adam stood up:

"Within two days, Luna Francesca Augustus will contact you and give you an edible sealed artifact that corresponds to the extraordinary characteristics of the 'Dream Weaver'. After you get it, go to 25 Kentucky Street in Port Lauth and find Amon to help you complete the 'deception' necessary for your advancement."

"After you complete your promotion, pray to me, and I will tell you how to bring out the fears you have been ignoring in advance."

Having said that, Adam stepped into the darkness once more, and Roger once again fell into a dream.

It was a very healing dream. In the dream, Roger returned to his hometown once again and saw his father, mother, sister, and the person he used to love. There, he raised a glass with them to celebrate and talked all night long.

After an unknown amount of time, Roger, his face streaked with tears, woke up in the darkness once more. He sat up, rubbed his face, and after trying to calm himself down, finally sat up.

"I never expected that I would sleep for a whole day."

Roger rubbed his temples; he had already determined the current time using his "Living Star Chart" ability.

Just as he was about to get up, a cute creature, half-mouse and half-rabbit, leaped out of the darkness again. Seeing Roger's red, tear-streaked eyes, it immediately asked anxiously:
"Are you alright? Who bullied you?"

"No one bullied me; I just dreamt about some people I miss very much."

Roger shook his head, then asked:

"A message?"

"Correct."

The "Rat of De La Hoya" nodded:
"Given to you by the green-eyed torturer."

"And what the heck is this green-eyed torturer?"

Although he was already used to the habit of giving people random nicknames like "The Rat of De La Hoya," he was still very curious about what kind of horrifying scene this guy had seen with Luna.

"She was torturing a man who screamed like an owl."

As he spoke, the "Rat of De La Hoya" mimicked the words:
"Wow! Wow!"

"like this."

"Go, go, go."

Roger nodded and then opened the letter.

The letter contained a completely new address in a remote town in Westville County. Roger knew without a doubt that this was probably one of Luna's dungeons or similar places used for interrogating prisoners.

After paying the "Rat of De La Hoya" with five nuts, Roger watched it leap back into the darkness. He then washed up, ate something, changed into clean and presentable clothes, and went to the address Luna had written in her letter.

When he arrived, Luna was playing billiards with one of her female subordinates. After recognizing Roger, she waved for her subordinate to leave temporarily.

"No torture today?"

Roger immediately made a joke at Luna, which made her face turn awkward and she kicked Roger in the face.

Roger deftly dodged, then quickly stopped the female intelligence chief who was chasing after him again, and asked:
"Where is the 'Dream Weaver' seal that your leader left for me?"

(End of this chapter)