Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 397 The Influence of the "Super Star Overlord"
"A 'puppet' that has gone out of control?"

Roger was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding what the male "zombie" in front of him meant.

Because the Sequence 4 of the "Bound One" pathway is called "Puppet," and Herbert, as a "Silent Disciple," must have been a "Puppet" at one time—but it would seem very strange to understand the problem from this perspective.

Regardless of whether Sequence 6 "Rose School" Beyonders know the names of higher-sequence potions, there is a high probability that these higher-sequence Beyonders have demonstrated their "Puppet" abilities in front of them.

So if it's out of control, it's out of control. There's absolutely no need to add the word "puppet" after it; that would seem too deliberate no matter what.

Therefore, Roger judged that a more likely scenario is that Herbert Harris genuinely exhibited "puppet-like" characteristics in appearance or behavior. This is not an interpretation of extraordinary attributes, but rather a simple description of his behavior.

Sure enough, just as Roger was thinking this, the male "zombie" named "Ramon," seeing the puzzled look on the female "zombie's" face beside him, took the initiative to explain:

"I've only heard that... Lord Harris's behavior is now like that of a puppet, with mechanical and stiff movements and expressions, very clumsy joint movements, and he has almost completely lost his own thoughts, unable to communicate or interact with others, and will subconsciously attack anyone who gets close to him."

"This description reminds me of... well... those human specimens that Lord McKinley made a few years ago, those smiles that didn't look like those of living people at all, well, that's it."

After hearing Ramon's description, Roger not only confirmed his earlier guess, but also couldn't help but think of a specific term.

"Mythologization!"
This conjecture immediately reminded Roger of his previous act of banishing the "Celestial Venerable's" puppets in "Midnight City" to the "Abyss." If the puppetization and contamination were caused by the sacrifice to the "Mother Tree of Desire," this was the only possible source Roger knew of.

Roger's original plan was to use the corruption of the "Fallen Mother Goddess" and the "Celestial Venerable" to create a three-way balance of power with the corruption of the "Mother Tree of Desire," thereby giving Fabuti a chance to breathe.

Judging from various signs and Vladil Azamat's words, the plan is very likely to have succeeded. The "Mother Tree of Desire" seems to be using the sacrifice of the "Rose School" extraordinary beings to seal the "Abyss" to achieve a mystical exchange, thereby gradually gaining more control over the "Abyss" and expelling the "Celestial Venerable's" pollution little by little.

However, as a potential risk, the "bound" pathway that involves sacrifice may be affected by "mysticization".

Roger is still unclear about how the "Rose School" intends to resolve this issue. Judging from Herbert Harris's behavior, he may not have known the consequences of such a sacrifice before participating in it. From this perspective, the poor guy was also tricked.

Of course, for those fanatical cultists of the "Rose School" and the "Hedonistic School," this may not be a great loss. As long as Torzner and Shea, these high-ranking figures, do not cause any problems, those demigods can be completely replaced. As long as their extraordinary characteristics are preserved, they have plenty of ways to cultivate new demigods who are loyal to the "Mother Tree of Desire."

After that, the two "zombies'" discussion became pointless, consisting almost entirely of petty squabbles. Roger couldn't stand it anymore and used his abilities to knock them both unconscious.

Roger then created several clones, killed some "Rose School" Beyonders and the nature spirits they used to detect danger, and cleared away the sinister curses that could have caused the team's annihilation before sending the "cleared" signal to Lindsay and his tactical squad.

Soon, they arrived at Roger's side. Lindsay looked at Roger and asked:
"Captain, once we descend this hill, we'll reach the waterfall. Considering we'll have to cross the waterfall and the entrance will definitely be heavily guarded, we'll inevitably arouse the suspicion of the 'Rose School'."

In fact, Roger had other ways to enter the "Rose School" bunker, but it's possible that the bunker has angel-level defenses, so going through the main entrance is a relatively safer option.

"It's okay, we've already come this far, so we're not afraid of them finding out."

Roger shook his head:

"I'll take on the task of storming the bunker. That will catch them off guard, but once we're inside, I can't guarantee I won't be discovered."

"At that time, we will have to launch a full-scale attack, and you must be mentally prepared for that."

Upon hearing this, Lindsay's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately nodded:
"Yes, Captain."

After that, the group marched while listening to Lindsay and Diego's tactical arrangements, with Roger leading the way to clear out the high-level curses that Lindsay and the others couldn't detect in advance.

Around 2 p.m. East Bayon time, the waterfall finally came into view of Roger and his group.

It was a cliff more than forty meters high, from which a river about 10 meters wide cascaded down, forming a waterfall.

The sound of the waterfall was deafening. The clear mountain spring water crashed onto the rocks below, creating a lot of water mist and white foam. Afterward, the river flowed southeast again, and Roger and his companions relied on this river for their water supply along the way.

"To be honest, the natural environment here is quite nice. The 'hedonists' really know how to choose a place for themselves."

Seeing this, Lindsay couldn't help but sigh.

Roger felt the same way. If he hadn't known what the "Hedonists" were like, he might have thought they were some kind of detached hermits who had chosen such a beautiful place to establish their base.

Thinking of this, Roger couldn't help but shake his head:
"This is just the surface; you can hardly imagine what kind of filth and evil might be hidden underground."

"You're right."

Lindsay recalled the chaotic and frenzied scene in the courtyard of the facility where Avina had been, and couldn't help but speak up.

"Let's go."

Roger took a deep breath, then put Lindsay and his tactical squad into the "Old Days Box," and then entered a state of "psychological invisibility" before quickly flying towards the waterfall.

During the flight, Roger's "Black Knight" armor was already covering his body, designed to withstand the instantaneous impact of the water flow and provide support for him as he passed through the waterfall.

Of course, Roger could also use "anti-gravity" to temporarily separate the water flow, but this would inevitably attract the attention of the "Rose School" garrison and add uncertainty to his next move.

In addition, Roger also bestowed upon himself a period of great luck.
"Pfft."

With a burst of speed, Roger passed through the waterfall, and a downward, lit passage appeared before him.

"There are many defenders..."

The moment Roger saw the passage, he noticed more than twenty extraordinary individuals with "alien" pathways at the entrance, along with hundreds of undead and zombies lingering nearby.

Below that, there seems to be some kind of defensive magic, which can only be opened with the use of corresponding magical items; otherwise, it may attract a backlash from an angel-level being.

More importantly, just like before, Roger was also unable to use "Hidden Premonition" to figure out where the magical item was, and it seemed that there was also a near-Sequence 0 level of obfuscation at work here.

But Roger wasn't in a hurry. He directly used the Dream Weaver's ability to enter the depths of a werewolf's unconscious, and then saw his image there.

Compared to his outward display of uncontrollable madness and eyes brimming with desire, this guy's unconscious persona was extremely cowardly. At this moment, facing Roger's arrival, he was trembling and cowering on the ground, looking extremely panicked.

Moreover, Roger even discovered that the gender of this guy's unconscious image was somewhat ambiguous; he possessed both male and female characteristics.

Roger understood that the life experience this image pointed to must be very special, because the ways in which the "Hedonists" indulged themselves were diverse, and their level of madness was probably even greater than that of a certain destroyed city in the Western mythology of Roger's previous life, located southeast of the Dead Sea.

"Those damned cultists..."

Roger suppressed the wild thoughts running through his mind and immediately began interrogating the androgynous creature covered in wolf fur in front of him.

"How do we get into that passage below?"

Faced with Roger's cold question, the guy huddled on the ground paused for a moment, then raised his head.

His eyes gleamed with longing, and his cheeks flushed red, as if he had thought of something very exciting.

"..."

Roger remained silent, and the "Demon Slayer" was directly unleashed in his hands.

He held the broken sword's edge to the other man's neck, and its sharpness instantly caused blood to flow from the "werewolf's" neck.

Roger decided that if the other party didn't speak, he would directly slay the demon in a physical sense.

However, to Roger's surprise, the guy rolled his eyes back and started convulsing, leaving Roger completely baffled.

But after a moment, the other person returned to normal, and spoke in a slightly trembling voice:
“There is a special key on Vikrant… He only opens the door from the inside when shifts change.”

"But don't worry, we'll be changing shifts in about 20 minutes."

That damn pervert...

Roger suppressed his discomfort, constantly reminding himself that a small act of impatience could ruin a great plan.

At this moment, he had figured out the situation—the person named Vikrant was probably a gatekeeper-like figure behind the defensive magic, and the defensive magic could only be opened from the inside.

This means that Roger's plan to steal the key from the outside is doomed to fail. The only possible solution is for Roger to stay on the "werewolf" and follow him directly into the "Rose School" bunker.

To be on the safe side, Roger fabricated a false identity for himself in addition to his luck, and modeled his mystical existence as the childhood stage of this "werewolf." In this way, he was able to avoid many detection methods targeting the mind and body, and thus successfully infiltrate the "Rose School."

Sure enough, after 20 minutes, the "werewolf" began to follow the main force in a daze as they changed shifts. He watched as the guards who were to take their place appeared, and then followed the main force down the mountain. The whole process was without any obstacles, and even the angel-level detection methods failed to detect Roger attached to the "werewolf".

However, after entering the bunker, Roger began to notice something amiss.

He had initially imagined that the bunker would be similar to the fortification where Avina Colpes was located—a place filled with bloodshed, wreckage, and chaos. However, once the bunker came into view, he discovered that it was filled with all sorts of modern facilities.

This so-called "modernization" is not modernization in the sense of the Northern Continent, nor is it even close to the era Roger lived in before his time travel in terms of technological level.

Putting everything else aside, at least there is a stable supply of electricity and lighting here, and even Roger couldn't figure out where the electricity came from for a while.

Moreover, the bunker was filled with silver-white metal structures, and there were even indicator lights on the ground, which left Roger somewhat stunned.

What is certain is that the "Rose School" has been cultivating this place for a much longer time than one could have imagined.

"If this isn't Earth's technology... could it be knowledge provided by some Outer God through the 'Mother Tree of Desire'?"

Roger was at least 70% certain about this speculation, because he now knew that the Outer Gods surrounding Earth's barrier had many Follower civilizations, including some with advanced technology.

As for which Outer God was responsible, Roger personally believes it was the "Superstar Overlord," because this Great Old One is adept at mastering various physical laws and fundamental forces. This would greatly enhance the development of a technologically advanced civilization—at least in basic physics research, such a civilization would possess an advantage unmatched by other civilizations. It's possible that some civilizations simultaneously worshipped both the "Superstar Overlord" and the "Mother Tree of Desire," and then transmitted certain technologies or sealed artifacts to Earth through the "Mother Tree of Desire." These were then used by the "Rose School" through their own means, ultimately leading to the construction of this bunker with a technological level far surpassing that of the Northern Continent civilization.

This discovery surprised Roger, and he began to realize that his "purpose" in coming here was not just to investigate things related to the "Mother Tree of Desire".

"It's just habitual thinking. I didn't carefully question Avina about the details of this bunker before I came here."

Roger shook his head. At this moment, he had a deeper understanding of the interactions and alliances among the Great Old Ones and the roles they could play.

This discovery has further increased the difficulty of Roger and Lindsay's mission, as Roger may not only have to fight against the power projection of the "Mother Tree of Desire," but may even have to fight against the power of the "Super Star Overlord" again. From any perspective, the upcoming battle will not be easy.

With that in mind, Roger prayed to Adam the Dreamer in his heart, told him about the bunker, and expressed his hope that Adam would prepare for the possible changes that might come next, based on his request for help.

When the "werewolf" reached a deserted corner, Roger quickly used "psychological invisibility" to escape the "werewolf's" body and watched it gradually disappear into the distance.

Roger concealed the silver-white corridor in a "hidden" state, and then released Lindsay and his tactical squad.

Roger immediately used the "mind communication" channel to calm them down and prevent them from being too shocked by the situation and creating unnecessary noise.

"Long story short."

Roger said quickly:

"The 'Rose School' seems to possess some technology from outer space, which may be beyond your comprehension. Therefore, I will temporarily take over command of the tactical squad, and Lindsay will temporarily become the breakthrough operator. Everyone will follow my orders."

"Yes."

Everyone expressed their obedience through the telepathic communication channel, while Roger raised his right hand, in which was a diamond pendant that seemed to have countless facets.

The next moment, a silvery light burst forth from his palm. Although the light was very restrained, it was incredibly dazzling and seemed to reflect countless possibilities in the mortal world.

This is the Silver Mirror, the level 0 sealed artifact that Roger previously obtained from Saint Austin, corresponding to the "Monster" pathway sequence 2 "Prophet". It has the special function of improving luck and delaying the settlement of damage.

At this moment, facing this bunker disrupted by high-level supernatural forces, Roger believed it was necessary to use the power of the "Silver Mirror" to enhance the team's luck and thus combat potential difficulties and calamities.

Although Roger could use "Secret Manifestation" to reproduce the power of "Silver Mirror," he chose to use the "original" power when faced with the more complex situation, considering that the reproduction of "Black Prophet" could not fully replicate the power of an angel.

As the silvery light faded, Roger took a deep breath and then gave the order:
"dispersion!"

In an instant, the tactical squad dispersed to various locations within the bunker, each tasked with reconnaissance, assassination, and team combat in a roughly 1:1:2 ratio.

Roger and Lindsay moved through the shadows at great speed, and soon they encountered a patrol consisting of seven extraordinary individuals ranging from Sequence 6 to Sequence 5.

Lindsay's skin quickly turned coppery and steely, and at the same time he "ignited" himself as he sprinted, then launched a "long-range bombardment" at subsonic speed!
Caught off guard, the demigod's attack instantly killed the three "living corpses." Even though they had high resistance to fire, they were no match for the full force of a demigod "hunter's" attack.

The leader of the "vengeful spirits" immediately entered the "spirit world traversal" to avoid this wave of attacks.

However, as soon as he entered the spirit world, he saw a man wearing a beige trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat smiling at him.

"?"

The vengeful spirit sensed something was wrong and instinctively tried to run away, but Roger hypnotized it in an instant.

A moment later, the "vengeful spirit" was forced out of the "spirit world travel" state, and even the vengeful spirit transformation was forcibly canceled.

At that moment, Roger stood behind him.

The "Black Prophet," who had already obtained the information he needed through interrogation, had a glint of dawn in his hand, and moments later the head of the "vengeful spirit" flew high into the air.

On the other side, Lindsay also wiped out the other 6 mid-sequence Extraordinary Ones. He exchanged a glance with Roger, and then gathered the weapons carried by the Extraordinary Ones who had been killed together.

As the flames, a mixture of white and blue, ignited, these weapons were set ablaze.

Then, under Lindsay's control, they emitted sharp sonic booms and then shattered the tranquility of the bunker at near-hypersonic speeds, causing explosions in more than five different locations!

Chaos erupted inside the bunker as many of its troops were drawn to the explosions. Roger, however, used his telepathic network to direct Lindsay's men, skillfully guiding them to avoid the "Rose School" extraordinary individuals.

"The first phase of the operation went smoothly."

Roger gave a brief comment. At this moment, small-scale battles began to break out throughout the bunker, and most of the "Rose School" extraordinary individuals were temporarily unable to distinguish where the real enemy was.

Just then, a man dressed in a black robe appeared in the sky above the bunker.

His skin was dark brown, his face was lined with deep wrinkles, and his white hair was as sparse as autumn leaves, making him look like he had lived for many, many years.

At this moment, the man's face was filled with resentment and he was furious, but even so, he did not utter a single word.

"coming."

Roger took a deep breath. He knew that this was one of the two demigods guarding the bunker, a Sequence 3 "Silent Disciple"!
At that moment, the "Silent Disciple" raised his hands, and instantly streams of black liquid began to spread across the ground, enveloping most of the members of Lindsay's combat team.

This is some kind of special curse. If they are swallowed by this liquid, not only will their physical bodies disappear completely, but their spirits will also go mad and become souls that can never escape.

Just as the liquid was about to spread to the waist of the tactical squad members, the "Silent Disciple" turned around with a puzzled look on his face.

There stood a tall man, wearing a beige trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat, smiling.

He touched his top hat, bowed slightly, and pointed his finger at the black-robed man's forehead.

The next second, red and green light burst forth, and the man was simultaneously hit by both "aggravated" and "knockback" negative status effects. He fell towards the ground like a cannonball, piercing through the upper floors of several buildings before crashing heavily into a sea of ​​fire caused by Lindsay.

With this interruption, the curse that was about to engulf Lindsay's tactical squad was dispelled. Roger did not linger in the fight, but took advantage of the moment when the "Silent Disciple" was under the "aggravated" effect and temporarily unable to get up, and began to run towards a white, pointed building.

According to intelligence from the reconnaissance team, the spire was heavily guarded, leading Roger to deduce that there might be something inside that was very important to the "Rose School".

"Hi."

Roger smiled and waved to the astonished guards in front of him. Then, with a "teleport," he appeared among them. The "storm of light" swept over the guards with overwhelming force, turning most of them into ashes in an instant.

At that moment, Lindsay transformed into a fiery meteor and struck the remaining guards. The two demigods completely wiped out the guards in less than half a minute, and then looked at the tightly closed double doors behind them.

"Captain, how do we open this door?"

Lindsay asked.

"This……"

Roger was about to say something when he heard two heavy thuds behind him.

Roger and Lindsay turned around and found that two people had appeared behind them.

One of them was the "Silent Disciple" who had been knocked away by Roger earlier. He somehow managed to break free from the control of the "Heaviness" effect, and standing next to him was a young woman with two horns on her head, cold eyes, and a very good appearance.

“Lindsay, this is a ‘devil’ of the ‘criminal’ pathway, Sequence 4.”

Roger immediately recognized the pathway sequence of the woman standing opposite him and then synchronized this information with Lindsay via telepathy.

On the other hand, he also connected many things in his mind—because the woman in front of him clearly had the blood of the Belial family, and seemed to have joined the "Rose School" for some specific reason.

"Sir Jacks, Sir McKinley, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Roger Abraham."

Roger smiled as he looked at the two people in front of him. Their names were Jax and McKinley, and according to Avina Colpes, these two were the two demigods who were guarding Herbert Harris.

To prevent the two cult leaders opposite him from calling out his name, Roger immediately introduced himself.

However, neither Jax nor McKinley spoke. Jax remained silent because he needed to play the role of the "silent disciple," while McKinley did not speak because she knew how terrifying the "King of the Galaxy" was, and it was better not to communicate than to let him exploit her weaknesses.

"Captain, I'll take care of this woman."

Lindsay licked his lips. He deliberately avoided Sequence 3 opponents and chose Sequence 4 instead. On the other hand, he had always heard that the demigod abilities of the "Criminal" pathway were very strange. Now that he had encountered them in person, he naturally wanted to practice on them.

"it is good."

Roger nodded, a dawn-colored light shone from his hand, and then he flashed to Jax's side, slashing his right hand towards the man's neck.

At the same time, the dawn-colored light began to be mixed with blue flames. The two different forces intertwined, instantly increasing the power of Roger's slash to a level comparable to the full-force attack of the fully unleashed "Demon Slayer".

However, the "silent disciple" neither dodged nor avoided, but instead opened his mouth towards Roger, seemingly making a silent shriek.

The next moment, Roger's body emitted a "bang," and he transformed into an owl, losing most of his extraordinary abilities.

"interesting."

Roger was amazed by this move. He calmly watched as Jax revealed a malicious smile, seemingly preparing to cast some kind of curse on him again, before his owl face revealed an extremely eerie smile.

With another "bang," Roger's figure returned to normal. He kicked Jax away and then transformed into a streak of blue flame, chasing after his opponent.

An expression of disbelief crossed the face of "Silent Disciple" Jax. He couldn't comprehend how Roger had managed to break free from the "shapeshifting curse" he had just cast, nor could he understand why Roger's power had suddenly increased to such an extent.
In fact, this was the effect of the "Silver Mirror" and Roger's own strong luck. Just now, when Jax used the "Transformation Curse" to strip Roger of his power, he just happened not to strip Roger of the "Dark Annihilation"!
This enabled Roger to break the curse's power and reverse the various negative effects of the curse, thus strengthening his own power. This is why he was able to knock away a Sequence 3 demigod with just a flying kick!
(End of this chapter)