Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 387 The Probe of the "Hidden Sage"
While walking, Roger noticed that no one was around, so he changed his appearance and quickly entered a state of "psychological invisibility".

Knowing that there was a high probability that members of "Star Punishment" were nearby monitoring Master Qiu, Roger did not want to alert them so quickly.

He circled Master Qiu's mansion twice, and with the help of "Secret Insight," Roger easily grasped a fact.

In the past few days, apart from the members of "Star Punishment", no one else has visited Master Qiu's residence.

Even he himself never stepped out of the room, seemingly completely cut off from the outside world and busy with his own affairs.

As Roger walked, he came to the three members of "Star Punishment".

The three members, two men and one woman, were all very young. The two men were Sequence 8 Extraordinary Beings, and the woman was Sequence 7—but she seemed to have been promoted not long ago and was temporarily assigned to be the captain of this squad.

They were all disciples of outstanding masters from the "Hexing School" and were appointed as members of "Star Punishment" after passing a strength assessment.

Although their current salaries are not high, these people enjoy their work and seem to find law enforcement to be an interesting thing.

However, at this moment, they could not see Roger at all; they were just chatting amongst themselves, as if Roger had already stood in a blind spot of their consciousness.

"They are all talented young people, but unfortunately they don't know how cruel law enforcement can be."

Frankly, Roger was very pleased with the development of the "Hercules School" today, but he was also very worried about these young people who had not experienced much law enforcement and did not know how terrible things related to evil gods could be.

With that in mind, Roger used his abilities to give the three men a psychological suggestion, making them believe that they should eat at this moment and that Master Qiu should not be acting strangely.

In this way, Roger successfully diverted the three men away, keeping them away from any potential dangers that might follow.

"that's it."

He nodded in satisfaction, took out a bag of fruit he had prepared in advance from the "Original Dynamic Core", and turned to walk towards Master Qiu's residence.

Roger walked past several bags of trash piled up by the door, took a deep breath, and then knocked on the door.

"Dong dong dong."

Roger knocked several times, and finally, on the fourth time, Master Qiu, with disheveled hair and a haggard appearance, opened the door.

His expression was rather impatient, and he looked very agitated, as if he was very unhappy about being disturbed.

Roger, who was in the "Dark Annihilation" vision, also saw the state of Master "Qiu" at this moment.

A faint darkness swirled behind the opponent, along with a pale purple eye floating in the air. As Roger had expected, these two forces seemed to be vying for power and opposing each other.

Upon seeing Roger appear, the purple eyes glanced at him quickly before disappearing, leaving only the darkness remaining in the distance.

"Master Ottom."

When Roger saw Master Qiu open the door, he took off his hat and held it to his chest.
"I heard you were sick, so I came to see you and brought you a gift."

He picked up the bag of fruit he was holding and waved it at Master Qiu.

"Carbein?"

Only then did Master Qiu realize that the person who came was Roger. His irritation immediately faded, replaced by a look of surprise.

The harsh tone on his face had almost completely disappeared, and after hesitating for a while, Master Qiu finally spoke again:
"come in."

"Ok."

Roger breathed a slight sigh of relief and followed Master Qiu into his residence.

Just as Roger had expected, Master Qiu's house was typical of a middle-aged bachelor's home. Although it wasn't dirty, his clothes, books, and daily necessities were scattered around. At first glance, it was clear that he didn't like to tidy up his house, and because he had been sick recently, he even threw the trash outside the door.

Besides, his home's decor was rather monotonous. The only two things that seemed to have some sense of life were a half-burnt, extinguished scented candle on the table and a wind-up phonograph produced by Dwalk Art Marketing Company.

"drink water?"

Master Qiu's right hand trembled slightly. He tried to pour water for Roger, but he couldn't even hold the kettle properly.

"Let me do it."

Roger quickly took the kettle, poured a glass of water for himself and Master Qiu, and then helped Master Qiu sit down.

"Please forgive me for coming uninvited, but I heard you were not feeling well, so I took two weeks off."

Roger broke the silence:
"Did you drink the medicine I gave you last time?"

"Ah, um."

Master Qiu nodded:
"I drank it, but the effect was not obvious."

lie……

Roger immediately knew that the other party was deceiving him, but he did not expose the other party. Instead, he quickly used his "hidden clues" to scan Master Qiu's room.

Are you sure you don't need to see a doctor?

He asked again with some concern.

"No need, I'm sure."

Master Qiu shook his head.

"Ok."

Seeing that the other party was unwilling to continue the topic, Roger tentatively said:

Are you still doing research lately?

“Research? Of course.”

Upon hearing those two words, Master Qiu immediately changed his attitude, and his tone became impassioned and high-pitched:
"When I traveled to Port-en-Matt a few days ago, I obtained some astrological materials from the ancient Byron Empire and discovered many interesting things from them."

"In fact, I already knew about these things, but I'm only now finally confirming it."

Having said that, he looked at Roger:
“You know, Cabin, the theories of the court astrologers there are very different from those in the North… They believe that something called a black hole exists in the universe.”

Do you know what a black hole is?

"I don't know, what is that?"

Roger said something against his will, but put on a humble attitude and asked a question.

"See, I knew there were things in this world that you didn't know."

Upon hearing this, Master Qiu took a notebook from a side table and showed Roger some of his notes.

"You see, a so-called black hole is actually a void in the universe where there are no stars... It is a celestial body with extremely strong gravity."

"All stars disappear when they encounter a black hole and never reappear, and even light cannot escape the capture of a black hole... Isn't that amazing?"

As he spoke, he clenched his right fist:

"After I learned about the existence of 'black holes,' I have been trying to connect it with astrology."

"and then?"

Roger nodded slightly, feeling a strange emotion within him.

"Unfortunately, I don't know the details yet, but I have some guesses."

Master Qiu shook his head upon hearing this:
"I believe that the existence of black holes is an extremely dense phenomenon, representing the ultimate mass in the entire universe, and such terrifying mass symbolizes the truth of the universe."

The truth of the universe...

Roger muttered to himself while gesturing for the other person to continue.

"But I've recently had a new idea: since black holes can devour starlight, like the dark side of the universe—you know, starlight is a guide to destiny—maybe black holes also represent the end of light and destiny, and the invisible desires and darkness within the human heart?"

Master Qiu said somewhat uncertainly.

Goodness, your ingredients are a bit complicated...

Roger curled his lip; at this moment, he finally realized what kind of bewitching Master Qiu had become.

If nothing unexpected happens, he should have initially only encountered the normal phenomenon of "knowledge following people," but later, driven by his desire for celestial knowledge, he began to actively pray to the "Hidden Sage" for knowledge.

Afterwards, the "Hidden Sage" seemed to pass on some information related to the symbols of "Dense" and "Gravity" to Master Qiu, attempting to guide him to gradually believe in the "Super Star Overlord".

However, later on, he was drawn to the imagery of the "dark side of the universe" for some reason, and is currently in a state of flux, seemingly unable to be sure which path is right.

"That damned 'Hidden Sage'... Is this a test, or is he trying to steal my home base?"

Roger immediately cursed in his heart because the symbolic meanings of "Judgment Star" and "Super Star Overlord" were quite similar. The "Hidden Sage" was originally activated by the power of the "Fallen Mother Goddess" and had extraordinary characteristics of the "Hidden One" path. Also because of the power of the "Fallen Mother Goddess", he had long since become a traitor to Earth.

Because there are many extraordinary individuals with the "Secret Seekers" path within the "Hercules School," the "Hidden Sage" wants to use his special status with these extraordinary individuals to try and convert one or two mentors into followers of the "Superstar Ruler."

If He succeeds, He may have the opportunity, at some crucial moment, such as when Roger is promoted to angel, or after his promotion, to shift the faith within the "Hercules School," thereby shaking Roger's anchor and inflicting a severe blow on him.

That's why Master Qiu has never acknowledged the existence of He Xing. Roger didn't understand why before, but now it seems that everything has an answer.

As for why he was attracted to the power of the "Abyss," it's probably because someone delivered information about the "black hole" to him at a specific time, making him aware of the existence of the "Abyss," and it's even possible that he explored this aspect in depth.

The saying "When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you" – the "dark side of the universe" – should have successfully obscured Master Qiu's gradual slide into the belief in "superstar overlord" through this mystical connection, keeping him in a relatively balanced state.

The attempt of the "Hidden Sage" has thus reached a stalemate. Although He successfully corrupted Master Qiu, He did not completely transfer His power to the "Super Star Overlord". With the barrier still in place, the "Dark Side of the Universe" on Earth's side can obviously exert more influence. Even though the "Super Star Overlord" is a real ancient-level being, the influence of the barrier cannot be ignored at this critical juncture.

But it seems that precisely because of this, Master Qiu became even more confused, tried his best to figure things out, and finally ruined his health and had to stay at home due to illness.

This can be seen from Roger's observation using "Dark Annihilation" just now. It seems that this guy has performed multiple ritual spells while at home, and the targets of the spells have changed. It is obvious that he is very conflicted.

Even when he was unwell, he did not stop reading and researching, and even went so far as to pray to evil gods for knowledge.

This made Roger feel a little emotional. He thought that if Master Qiu were an extraordinary person who had passed through the "General Knowledge" pathway, he might have become a great inventor or scientist.

After a quick thought, Roger first used the "mystery presentation" to employ the "secret" technique, pulling Master Qiu's house into a state of mystical isolation from the outside world.

Then, under Master Qiu's strange gaze, he stood up and put down the phonograph needle.

As the record turned, the warm melody of "Four Seasons: Spring" filled the entire room.

After doing all this, he looked directly at Master Qiu and activated the "Dream Weaver's" hypnotic ability, beginning to unilaterally instill his own views in order to influence the other's cognition:

"I believe that 'black holes' are also one of the manifestations of celestial forces, or rather, one of the higher-level manifestations."

"In fact, black holes do not appear abruptly, but are one of the fates of stars in their old age."

"So in essence, black holes also originate from stars, and 'Hell Star' precisely symbolizes the authority of stellar power."

"So rather than focusing on the black hole itself, I think you should concentrate your attention on the research of 'He Star'."

Upon hearing these words, Master Qiu's first instinct was to resist, but this resistance only lasted a moment before Roger increased the intensity of his control and he obediently nodded.

"So now you should pray to 'He Xing' and ask Him to give you revelation and protection, and your health will gradually improve."

Roger continued to guide him step by step:
"Before that, you need to know the honorable name of 'He Xing'."

"Ok."

Master Qiu nodded again.

"Repeat after me."

Roger began:

"A wanderer from ancient times, a black prophet on the trajectory of fate, a rusty star behind a veil of shadows, the great 'He Star'."

"A wanderer from ancient times, a black prophet on the trajectory of fate, a rusty star behind a veil of shadows, the great 'He Star'."

Master Qiu finished reading Roger's newly compiled name for "He Xing". Although there were some pauses, he did not encounter any obstacles.

"I pray for your protection, I pray for your care, I pray for your revelation."

"I pray for your protection, I pray for your care, I pray for your revelation."

"..."

After a prayer, Roger closed his eyes and went to the stone platform in the center of the "Primal Core," where he indeed saw the rust-colored light symbolizing Master "Autumn." He took a deep breath, cast a protective spell on him, and then quickly withdrew from his state of concentration.

At this moment, Master Qiu's condition had become much calmer. Roger took out the medicine he had given Master Qiu earlier from a drawer next to him, pried open his jaw, which was in a daze, and poured the medicine in.

After doing all this, Roger laid Master Qiu flat on the sofa and watched him gradually close his eyes and fall into a deep sleep before he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's leave it at that for now, and then we'll see what fate has in store for him."

Roger was well aware that although he had used the "Original Core" to protect Master Qiu, it could only temporarily improve his condition.

After all, the corruption caused by the "Hidden Sage" to Master Qiu was quite significant. In addition, the occult connection between the two was stronger than that between Roger and himself, who did not truly convince him of the "He Star". Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that Master Qiu will be affected by the "Hidden Sage" again in the future.

On the other hand, Roger now dares not rashly delve into Master Qiu's mind to influence his cognition. Heaven knows what kind of pit the "Hidden Sage" has dug for him, and Roger, who firmly believes that a wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall, does not intend to take this risk.

After all, considering his relationship with Master Qiu, Roger had already done enough for him, and there was no need to take such a big risk.

Therefore, everything depends on Master Qiu's own fate. For now, all Roger can do is grant him a few days of good luck, nothing more.

"At present, it seems that he should have no problem coming to class the day after tomorrow. If his condition worsens during this period, I will think of another way."

Roger stared at Master Qiu for a while, and after confirming that there were no immediate problems, he used the Traveler's ability to leave the other party's house.

Shortly after Roger returned to 15 Minsk Street, he received a message from Mr. Fool.

Roger responded quickly without hesitation, only to find that it was a record from Mr. Hanged Man about the recent activities of the "reformers" of the "Blood Worship Cult".

"Alger is really efficient."

Roger couldn't help but admire it in his heart, and then began to read the document.

"...Hmm, that's interesting."

About half an hour later, Roger put down the materials and then rubbed his slightly swollen temples.

According to this information, the main area of ​​activity of the "Blood Worship Cult" is still the port of Enmat in the county of Ahova, which is also the place where Master Qiu obtained the so-called astrological data of the Byron Empire during the Fourth Age.

What's most alarming is that this document records that a certain Sequence 6 member of the "Reformists" attempted to advance to Sequence 5 and killed many fugitives and "Conservative" "Criminal" Aspects during the advancement ceremony. Worst of all, this act was suspected to have been supported by Vladil Azamat.

This record gave Roger a strange sense of disbelief, as if he had witnessed the Blood Cult suddenly becoming a force for good.

However, it must be said that although the actions of the "reformers" in launching a heavy attack on the "conservatives" are indeed abstract, in a sense, this is another manifestation of "cold-bloodedness" and "degeneration".

The only problem is that Roger still doesn't really understand how the "reformers" influenced those extraordinary individuals who originally belonged to the "conservatives" but had risen to the middle ranks of the "criminal" pathway.

After all, from Roger's original understanding, once an extraordinary person on the "criminal" path advances to the middle sequence, they have almost locked in their "conservative" chaotic and evil spiritual core.

Even so, the "reformists" were still able to develop a number of middle-ranking members—although their numbers were not large, this is still something that deserves great attention and deep thought.

"The only bad news is that Vladil is not currently in Port-Enmat. It seems that if we really want to get to the bottom of this, I guess we'll have to go to Trier."

Roger planned to leave for Trier overnight after finishing his classes on Wednesday to conduct further investigations into the "reformers".

On the other hand, there are also some "conservatives" or even members of the demon family there, so his journey will inevitably involve a fight with these people.

Despite the danger, Roger believed it was imperative—after all, this matter concerned the future of Fabti, the "Demon King" and "Dark Side of the Universe," a remnant of the old order.

Furthermore, since He seemed to have consciously helped Roger in the previous "Master Qiu" incident, Roger had even less reason not to repay the favor.

In fact, when Roger saw the blackness inside Master Qiu's celestial body through "Secret Insight" in class, he should have thought that it might be related to the "Abyss". However, at that time, Roger's information was very limited, and he did not have the ability of the "Black Prophet", so he did not see many things very clearly.

"Never mind, I'll go to sleep first and talk about it tomorrow."

Roger yawned, rolled over and lay down to sleep, soon falling into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Roger visited Dwalk Art Marketing Company and the Royal Orchestra, met with Mr. Edmund and his friends in the Royal Orchestra, and had afternoon tea with his old friend Alex Ford. He finally returned to 15 Minsk Street before 6 p.m.

At the appointed time, there was a knock on the door. Roger got up to open the door and found "the zombie" Marich standing outside.

"Good afternoon, Your Excellency Abraham."

Maric, dressed in a somewhat tight formal suit and wearing a rather oddly styled hat whose color didn't quite match his clothes, greeted Roger very politely when he saw him.

"Hello, it's been a long time, Marich."

Roger nodded to Marich, then turned and nodded to the convex window beside him.

"Hello, Ms. Sharon."

Sure enough, Sharon emerged from there. She nodded slightly to Roger and then stood still, looking elegant and serene.

"Come in, Marich."

Roger gestured for Marich to sit down, placing the black tea and fruit he had prepared beforehand on the table to entertain his guest. After the three exchanged pleasantries for a while, Roger finally asked:
"By the way, Ms. Sharon, what was that thing you said you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Is such that."

Sharon nodded slightly, and then said:

"You should know about the 'Hedonists' within the 'Rose School'."

"I know, I still have one hanging here."

Roger pointed to the "little duck" clipped to his waist and said with a smile.

Sharon paused for a moment after hearing Roger's hellish joke, then continued:

"As far as I know, there seems to be some kind of change recently among a high-ranking member of the hedonistic faction in East Bailang."

"He's gone mad, as if he's been stimulated by some kind of force."

After saying that, Sharon added:
"Of course, I'm not talking about the kind of madness they've shown before—I mean they've really gone mad, completely and utterly mad."

"What did he do?"

"On the one hand, he suffered a mental breakdown, and on the other hand, he began to turn against his subordinates and even other demigods in the 'Hedonistic Faction'."

Sharon bit her lip and said again:
"Most importantly, his tendency toward madness seems to have emerged after a prayer, suggesting he may have been under some kind of mental contamination."

“But strangely, similar prayers are not uncommon in the ‘Rose School’ and nothing had happened before, so my mentor thought this might be an unusual sign… There might be something strange going on in the ‘Hedonism School’.”

"interesting."

Roger raised an eyebrow after hearing this and continued to ask:
Is he sequence 4 or sequence 3?

"Sequence 3."

Sharon added at the end:
“He was a ‘silent disciple’.”

"clear."

Roger nodded slightly:

"What can I do for you?"

"I would like to ask you to help us investigate this matter, and we are willing to pay the corresponding compensation for it."

Sharon paused, then continued:
"You can name your price, and we can see if it's acceptable."

"Why are you looking for me?"

Roger raised an eyebrow and asked with some curiosity.

"Because you are strong enough and have no direct relationship with the 'Rose School', you will not arouse their suspicion immediately."

"On the other hand, you are one of our few reliable friends, and we are more willing to entrust you with our business than others."

“In fact, we also contacted Detective Moriarty, but he seemed to be in some kind of trouble at the time and was in a hurry to leave Backlund, so we didn’t have time to talk much.”

“It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Roger shook his head:

"First of all, I'm very busy lately and have to go to Intis, so even if I can help you with the investigation, I'll have to wait until I get back."

"Secondly, I have nothing to lack right now, so I have no intrinsic motivation to do this."

Roger spoke from the bottom of his heart. He now has several angel-level sealed artifacts, and he is not short of money. With several companies under his name, the dividends he receives each month are enough to support most of the people on Minsk Street.

Just as Sharon and Marich both showed signs of disappointment, Roger added:
"But this matter is also somewhat related to me, so I can agree to it first... if you can wait one or two weeks."

"Regarding the compensation, I haven't decided yet. I'll let you know when I do. If you can accept it, then I'll accept the commission."

“But I must make it clear beforehand that neither you nor Marich are able to pay the fee I require, and I may have to trouble your mentor to help.”

"Okay, thank you. We can wait, and we will try our best to meet your expectations regarding compensation."

Sharon breathed a slight sigh of relief, and she and Marich thanked Roger together.

"Let's agree on this for now."

Roger stood up and stretched, and Sharon and Marich also stood up.

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

Roger thought for a moment and then said:
Are you guys busy lately?

"Fortunately."

Sharon nodded, and then asked:

"What do you want?"

"I have a few items with extraordinary features here. If you have some free time, help me find a seller. You'll get a 10% commission for every item you sell."

Roger knew that Sharon had some connections in the underground world of extraordinary individuals, and could help him sell some extraordinary traits and sealed items—most of which were spoils of war dropped by Arexos and Vinera's minions during the last raid on Arexos and Vinera that were not currently of use.

Roger wanted to sell them to give his employees some benefits, but unfortunately, Mr. Fool already had a lot of stock stuck with him, and Mr. C was busy with Ms. D recruiting the remaining messengers of the Aurora Society, so he didn't have time to do this.

So Sharon and Maritch are good choices right now, so Roger delegated the task to them.

"Ok, no problem."

Marich immediately agreed:
“In fact, we’ve recently expanded into some new channels… As long as you give us the list, we can find a way to help you sell it.”

"That's good, thank you for your help."

Roger nodded slightly, then quickly wrote down a list and handed it to Marich.

After receiving the list, Maric and Sharon said goodbye and left 15 Minsk Street.

Roger yawned. Seeing that it had started to drizzle outside, and feeling bored at 15 Minsk Street, Roger teleported to Worston Gardens and met Cecilia.

"Where's Sam? Has he already set off?"

When Roger saw that Sam wasn't home, he already had a general idea in mind.

He had previously left the "Guardian" seal to Sam, and now he should have been instructed by Klein to take the train to the Kingdom of Intis ahead of him.

"Yes, he just left this morning. He told you to contact him through his messenger if you need anything."

After saying that, Cecilia handed Roger a note with a summoning incantation for a spirit creature written on it, which seemed to be a messenger from one of Sam's recently formed contracts.

"it is good."

While Roger was talking to Cecilia, Alliste and Perseus came running downstairs carrying Bandit.

"Cousin!"

Upon seeing Roger, the twins immediately rushed over and hugged him from both sides, seemingly very excited.

"Do you need something from me?"

Roger narrowed his eyes; he could clearly tell that the two brothers were hesitant to speak, as if they wanted to tell him something.

(End of this chapter)