Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 403 The Angel's Choice
"Strictly speaking, I haven't actually seen it."

Roger shook his head slightly upon hearing this, and then added:

"Or rather, we're just one step away from meeting... We've already clashed several times before."

Upon hearing this, Rijold felt a chill run down his spine. He couldn't help but scrutinize Roger for a moment longer, reassessing the strength of this Sequence 3 Saint in his mind.

He had already judged Roger by the highest standards, but now it seemed that the latter's background was still unfathomable. The fact that he could contend with the forces of the extremely volatile "Angel of Fate," Ullolius, without incurring retaliation was something that ordinary people could not do.

Rijold thus realized something: Roger and the forces behind him might have already chosen "Mercury Serpent" Will Unsettin as the candidate for Sequence 0 of the "Wheel of Fortune" pathway.

Although the chairman of the "Council of Fate" has been missing for a long time, Rijod, as a demigod of the same order, can still sense that His Fate Ripple has not disappeared.

Of course, this does not mean that Rijold has the ability to see Will's state, but rather that the high-ranking beings of the "Wheel of Fate" pathway originally have an extremely strong influence on the River of Fate. Even if they do nothing, their mere existence can make the lives downstream feel different.

Rajud wanted to ask Rogerwell about his whereabouts, but he ultimately held back.

He knew very well that Will was able to initiate "Reboot" because he was determined to remain invisible until he fully recovered his power. This was both a protection for himself and a protection for the "Council of Fate".

"In any case, Your Excellency Abraham, if there is anything in the future that requires the help of the 'School of Life', please do not hesitate to let us know."

In the end, Rajud only said this one sentence, which was the only thing he could do now.

"Thank you, Your Excellency Rajud."

Roger nodded slightly:

"There's one more thing. Once I become an angel, I will return the 'Silver Mirror' and find a way to remove the spiritual imprint inside."

This was something Roger and Will had agreed upon; it was both a gesture of friendship and a matter of Roger's own safety.

Judging from the current situation, Roger will definitely have to confront a group of "Rose School" angels, including Sear and Baranka, because these great beings will certainly harbor resentment towards Roger for destroying the projection of the "Mother Tree of Desire" in the Abyss.

It's not the theft itself that's scary, but the fact that the thief has his eye on it. By allying with the "School of Life" and helping them gain an angel-level combatant, it's also a form of flanking protection for oneself.

Upon hearing this, Rajud thanked him again, and the two chatted about other things for a while before Roger took his leave.

"In that case, the relationship between the 'School of Life' is pretty much settled..."

During his journey through the spirit world, Roger couldn't help but ponder the current situation.

Now that things have developed to this point, the relationship of friendship and hostility, originating from Roger, is very clear.

The "Witch Cult," the "Sect Order," and the "Rose School" are in a state of absolute hostility towards him, and unless the situation changes drastically, this hostility is essentially irreconcilable.

The Ironblood Cross Society and Roger are generally hostile, but the faction's stance may change in the future.

The Aurora Society is currently under Roger's control, while Adam, Amon, the Church of the Goddess of Night, the School of Life, the Blood Cult, the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, and he are in an alliance.

The Church of the Eternal Sun and the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom are in a state of cooperation with Roger, but this is the only state of cooperation. This is mainly due to the alliance between Roger and Adam. The two gods located on adjacent paths cannot cooperate with Roger outside of "official business".

The Church of the Lord of Storms was in a similar situation. Because the two sides had cooperated during the war and because Radar Valentine had received favors from the Abraham family, they had a basis for dialogue. However, considering the existence of Adam and Roger's past blasphemous behavior, this cooperation was also limited.

It is precisely for this reason that Roger would find it difficult to seek an angel-level "Ocean Singer" from the Church of the "Lord of the Storm" to provide a drop of blood; otherwise, it is possible that he would be directly struck by Leodorus's lightning and turned into charcoal.

It is precisely because of this that Roger must find a way to find another angel whose abilities are related to the image of "voice".

On Earth's side, besides the angels of the "Tyrant" pathway, he could also choose from the angel-level "Singer" and the "Hanged Man" pathway Sequence 2 "Elder of Foul Words." However, putting aside the fact that Roger was not familiar with the angels of these two pathways, these pathways themselves were not closely associated with the imagery of "sound," and although they could be used, the effect was not the best.

The same logic applies to the "Abyss" pathway. Although Roger and Fabti have a good relationship now, Roger considers Fabti a second-best option because the pathway he is on symbolizes something closer to "desire".

Roger would not seek out angels through the aforementioned channels unless absolutely necessary—in fact, Roger had a more suitable option.

That is the angel of the "Unending Whispers" path. On the one hand, the mystical symbolism of both parties is more compatible, and on the other hand, this path is deeply bound to "sound". If the corresponding blood can be obtained, it will definitely make Roger's promotion smoother.

The only problem is that Roger needs to find a way to get the other party to "willingly" hand over the blood, which is not an easy task, especially if he wants to do it in the starry sky surrounded by gods. The power of many of his allies on Earth is also beyond his reach, and even if Adam wanted to take action to control the other party, it would not be easy.

Therefore, this matter needs to be carefully considered. It will inevitably require the use of a lot of interpersonal resources, which Roger alone cannot accomplish.

Putting everything else aside, figuring out how to contact and control an angel who is at least Sequence 2 and also skilled in sound-related abilities without anyone noticing requires careful consideration. Before Roger figures out this problem, his promotion is still subject to considerable uncertainty.

As for the promotion ceremony of "Star Singer", it is not that complicated.

The specific content of this ritual is that, in the process of promoting the development of a civilization outside this planet, at least one of the musical rules that one has composed is transformed into an epic of civilization on this planet. The epic status of the rules must be recognized by at least three-quarters of the members of this civilization. Under such conditions, one can complete the advancement by taking the "Astral Singer" potion.

In fact, for Roger, who had already made preparations in advance, the ceremony was not too difficult.

Because he has already achieved a god-like status among the "blue-skinned" race on the planet Butak, and has consciously spread his music to this civilization. The only problem is that this music is still only at the level of sacrifice and faith, and has not yet become a true epic of civilization.

To ensure that his musical rules are closely related to the development of civilization, Roger currently has two main ways of achieving this.

One possibility is that these musics can help a civilization overcome great suffering or gloom, just as Roger did for the Silver City.

Another approach is to refer to the way Emperor Rosell popularized his "Black Emperor" rule, that is, to promote the development of a civilization through technology, so that the civilization can achieve a leapfrog development.

In this way, one can subtly integrate one's own will into civilization and satisfy the requirements of the ritual by gaining the satisfaction and recognition of the vast majority of people.

This placed entirely new demands on Roger's oil trading plan. His original understanding of oil extraction was merely to help humanity on Earth enter the Second Industrial Revolution, without much expectation for Butak, a planet still in the transitional stage between the Stone Age and agricultural civilization. But now, it seems he should establish a completely new mechanism.

In other words, Roger could establish a channel for the exchange of goods, technology, and resources between Butak and Earth. Roger could use goods manufactured by Earth's industrial civilization to exchange for oil and local specialties with the people of Butak. At the same time, he could export metal smelting and steam engine technologies that were in dire need of improvement on Earth. In this way, the civilization of Butak would enter a period of rapid development, and Roger himself would become like Emperor Roselle, becoming the foundation of the entire civilization.

In this process, Roger could intentionally integrate his musical rules into the development of this civilization. This would not only allow the ritual to be completed in a simpler way, but also help the civilization of Butak develop rapidly.

Once civilized life and technological levels improve, life expectancy will increase, leading to baby booms and population explosions. This would exponentially increase Roger's anchors, which would be entirely beneficial to him.

Of course, when a civilization departs from its primitive form, many moral and ethical issues will gradually surface. From this perspective, development is a double-edged sword, with both good and bad aspects.

Regarding the issue of balance, Roger can share some advanced experiences from the past with them and closely supervise the entire process. However, how long it will take for the "blue-skinned" individuals to fully integrate these experiences depends on their own wisdom.

Soon, Roger reappeared in the "Underground Midnight City." As soon as he landed, he immediately summoned Zeus, Dionysius, Ophina, and other subordinates, calling them into a quiet room for a meeting.

"Captain, did you gather us together because you're planning another adventure?"

Zeus was quite excited. Lately, Jennifer had been dragging him around teaching the children of the "Underground Midnight City" simple Rune and telling them stories of sailing, to the point that he felt like he was about to mold.

At this moment, he had a lot of energy that he didn't know where to use, and he was extremely excited to finally be summoned by Roger.

"Hmm, there's new work."

Roger nodded slightly:

"We are going to explore the Sea of ​​Mist."

"The Sea of ​​Mist?"

Upon hearing this, Dionysius asked in confusion:
"Where exactly are you going? Is it along a known sea route?"

For all Northlanders with seafaring experience, the Misty Sea is a very special place, even more so than the Raging Sea in some ways.

This is not only because the Misty Sea is extremely easy to get lost in, but also because no one knows what lies at the end of the Misty Sea.

Some say it connects to the edge of the world, a bottomless cliff leading to the "abyss," others say it's the legendary western continent, and still others say there's nothing there, just pure nothingness.

For millennia, the truth about the Misty Sea has remained largely unknown. Even after the rapid development of navigation technology during the Roselle era, the number of safe shipping routes controlled by the people of the Northern Continent was extremely limited, mostly consisting of fishing grounds and trade routes near the coastline. The vast majority of ships dared not, and could not, venture too deep or too far.

Even if some ships occasionally go missing, the governments of the various countries in the Northern Continent will turn a blind eye to avoid getting involved in these matters and causing themselves endless trouble.

Unless it involves important figures or strategic materials, they won't pay much attention. In situations like Christopher Iman's, it's really a case of death going unpunished, and those lazy government officials won't bother to investigate.

In response to Dionysius's question, Roger shook his head:
"That was not a route we already knew clearly; on the contrary, it was a route that few people knew."

"A little-known sea route?"

Ophina King thought for a moment:
"Captain, have you obtained any important clues?"

Based on Ophina's understanding of Roger, he was definitely not the kind of pure adventurer; there must have been a reason behind his plan.

"Yeah, that's right."

Roger nodded slightly, glanced around at the three people present, and then began to explain to them in detail Christopher Iman's experiences and the existence of Kosker Island.

Roger even went so far as to explain the high probability that an angel's legacy existed on Koske Island. The reason he went into such detail was that he didn't want his men to have any doubts about the matter. After all, going to the Misty Sea was an extremely dangerous undertaking, and he needed to ensure that his men had full access to information.

Roger naturally welcomed those who were willing to go with him, while he would arrange for those who were afraid to join his trading fleet to make money for him temporarily and live a peaceful life, replacing Philip and his men.

After all, the trading company needed armed ships for escort, and it didn't matter much who went. On the other hand, he also understood that his men had been under constant tension in the "Forsaken Land," and it was reasonable for them to get some rest.

He voiced all his considerations, then calmly looked at his subordinates, waiting for their response.

"Captain, you know me."

Zeus pounded his chest:

"Without you, I wouldn't be who I am today. Wherever you go, I'll follow."

"I think Jennifer feels the same way; this woman can't do without me now."

He chuckled, which made Jennifer glare at him fiercely, seemingly speechless at his shameless behavior.

With Zeus's initial statement, Dionysius also stood up:
“Boss, you have done me a great favor. Although I, Dionysius, am skilled in calculation, I also understand the principle of repaying kindness.”

"So what if it's the angel's mausoleum? Even if you were to wage war against living angels, I would stand by you. Haven't we been through enough together?"

“I had already thought these things through clearly the day I joined you in fighting against Blatov.”

Roger felt a warmth in his heart upon hearing this, and then he immediately looked at Ophina King.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Ophina laughed:
"Don't you trust me? Or do you think I'll run away? Without your protection, where can I run to?"
"I would rather follow you than be captured by some great pirate again like before."

"it is good."

Roger nodded slightly, then placed his hand on his chest and said sincerely:

"Thank you for your trust."

"Don't be so formal, boss. Don't treat us like outsiders."

Upon seeing Roger like this, everyone hurriedly waved their hands.

"Good, good, good." Seeing his men's reaction, Roger stopped being coy and said:

"We will select some capable subordinates who are willing to stay behind in the 'Forsaken Land' to help the residents of 'New Fog City' and 'Underground Midnight City' with the transition. They will rotate shifts every two weeks, and the first batch of people who stay behind will each receive an extra month's salary as a reward."

"The rest of you, come with me back to the entrance of the 'Forsaken Land.' I will lead you all away from here, and then we will head at full speed towards the Sea of ​​White Whales to meet up with Philip and the others."

After Roger had dealt with the "Rose School" matter, he brought Lindsay and his tactical squad back to Rune ahead of time, so that they could make contact and prepare for their trip to the "Misty Sea".

This included recalling Philip, the first mate of the "Star Lord," and having him hand over the organization of trade escort duties to Matteo ahead of schedule—besides Philip, Matteo, a steady and experienced captain, was the most suitable for this responsibility.

Four ships were assigned to escort trade, and four ships were assigned to exploration. Roger wanted to test whether this configuration was feasible. If it was, he could make this a regular practice and rotate them to ensure that his men always maintained the necessary combat skills.

After his subordinates received their orders and went to arrange their own work, Roger took advantage of this break to once again travel to Butak with the help of the "De La Hoya Giant Rat." There, he met the extraordinary individuals from the "Forsaken Land" who were busily conducting surveys and writing reports in a plain.

Just as Roger had predicted, they were all in high spirits and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the job.

The scene was somewhat like that of serfs who had been liberated from the feudal era and become workers in the new era, working in such a beautiful place where they could see the sky, plants and the sun every day. Even if it was hard work, they were happy to do it.

So much so that they didn't notice Roger's appearance for a moment and subconsciously assumed he was a worker from another group.

Roger walked straight up to a short, short woman in her twenties named Donovan Foster. She was a "reader" from "New Fog City" who, thanks to her extraordinary talent and comprehension in science and engineering, beat out a host of competitors in the talent selection process and became the chief engineer of the Butak oil exploration project.

At that moment, she was wearing a white metal hard hat and was so focused on coordinating the work on site that she didn't even realize Roger had appeared behind her.

She was startled when she turned around and nearly bumped into Roger.

"Your Excellency, Divine Envoy!"

Upon seeing Roger appear, Donovan immediately bowed hastily, seemingly flustered by his rudeness.

"it's okay no problem."

Roger caught Donovan and then asked:
"I just came to take a look and didn't want to interfere with your normal work."

Hearing this, Donovan relaxed slightly, and then she heard Roger ask:
How is the exploration progressing?

"Reporting to Your Excellency, we have now roughly determined a suitable area for oil extraction, and the borehole sampling has also confirmed our judgment."

"The problem now is that we need to confirm the exact amount of oil reserves here... However, according to theoretical calculations and the results of occult exploration, it should be much larger than we previously estimated."

"What were your initial estimates?"

Roger asked curiously.

"If we calculate based on 156 liters per barrel, our previous conservative estimate was at least 50 billion barrels."

Donovan frowned as she recalled, then added:
"But based on the current situation, the actual number is likely to be two to three times higher."

Roger was taken aback by Donovan's words:
"so much?"

Because he frequently surfed the internet, Roger had once paid attention to global oil production in the old days.

From 1900 to the present, over a period of more than 120 years, humans have extracted approximately 150 billion barrels of oil. If Donovan's estimate is correct, the reserves in this region alone are equivalent to one-tenth of the total oil extracted by humans in the Old World.

It's important to know that this is only the amount of oil detected in one area of ​​the planet Butak. There may be much more oil hidden in other areas. In fact, there should be oil not only on land but also in the ocean. From this perspective, the crude oil reserves of the planet Butak should be no less than those of Earth in the old days, and may even exceed them by a considerable margin.

"Yes, that's a rough estimate."

After speaking, Donovan cautiously glanced at Roger:
"Your Excellency, do you feel that the reserves are too small?"
"This is just the result of early detection; there may be more..."

While Donovan was explaining, Roger suddenly snapped out of his daze, slapped his thigh, and startled Donovan.

"Quite a lot, quite a lot!"

Roger shouted loudly, his emotions running high, which immediately attracted the attention of many workers who turned to look at him.

Donovan.

After finally suppressing his excitement, Roger said:

"Do you need protection?"

"Protect?"

Donovan looked at Roger suspiciously:
Are there monsters on Planet Butak?

"There may be unknown monsters. At least I am certain that there are Sequence 4 level, malevolent supernatural beings on that continent to the west."

At this moment, Roger was like a watermelon farmer who had dug up a ton of gold nuggets from his own watermelon field, his mind filled with thoughts of protecting his family.

Although the "blue-skinned" people wouldn't do anything, it couldn't be ruled out that some crazy superhuman creature nearby might suddenly attack Donovan and his group. At this moment, he suddenly understood why a certain wealthy family in the old days would spend a lot of money to buy a large amount of weapons. So this is what it feels like to sit on a mountain of gold. He realized that his imagination had been too lacking before.

After hearing Roger's words, Donovan said:
"If that's the case, it might still be necessary."

"you……"

Before she could finish speaking, she saw Roger fly out like a rocket.

Immediately afterwards, in the far distance, there were sounds of explosions, trees falling, and mountains being leveled. Finally, Donovan even saw three meteorites, each over a hundred meters in diameter, fall from the sky and crash into a valley near the coastline.

This bizarre scene drew everyone's attention, leaving them speechless and even causing them to drop their tools involuntarily.

"God, miracle?"

They were taken aback, and some even knelt down in worship.

The same thing happened in the settlement of the "Blue-skinned Ones". When they saw the strange phenomenon on the horizon, they were all shocked. They reported the situation to Chief Augur Gur and began to pray to the "Great Protector".

However, to the priest's surprise, he soon received a reply.

The response was brief: "Don't worry, it's me, I'm removing pests."

"Pest control?"

This answer left the priest stunned. What kind of insect could possibly require the "Great Protector" to personally remove it?
He was puzzled.

On the other side of the horizon, Roger hovered in the air, looking down at the huge swarm of beetles on the ground, which had been blasted to pieces by his attack.

He was still somewhat shaken. If he hadn't suddenly thought of investigating the supernatural beings around Donovan's work area, he probably wouldn't have easily noticed these insectoids hiding in the mountain crevices.

Although these insects do not possess superhuman strength, they are extremely dangerous creatures. Not only are their defenses incredibly strong, but their physical attack power is also comparable to that of a Sequence 4 Extraordinary outside of the "Warrior" and "Hunter" pathways.

That's not the worst part. The worst part is that these creatures have a rich underground transportation network, so much so that Roger had to turn up the ground and mountains upside down to find them all.

He landed on the ground, panting, and put part of the insect's body and sharp legs into the "Old Box," intending to have the Steam Church study it sometime to see if this incredibly tough material had any special uses.

This incident made Roger realize that protecting oil exploration teams is essential, as it involves not only energy security but also the personal safety of the engineers.

Fortunately, oil extraction has not officially started yet. If the oil extraction base is attacked by some supernatural creature or ignites the oil field after it is built, the losses would be huge.

"This matter must be put on the agenda..."

While Roger was thinking, he flew back to the construction site.

"nailed it."

Roger clapped his hands and looked at the residents of the "Forsaken Land" kneeling on the ground.

"nailed it?"

Donovan stared blankly at Roger, unable to understand why this divine messenger, with such terrifying power to move mountains and unload ridges, didn't just dig out the oil directly.

Seemingly noticing Donovan's confusion, Roger chuckled and scratched his head:
"It has a bad influence, it has a bad influence."

It's not just a bad influence; if that were to happen, blue-skinned people would suffer terribly...

As he thought about it, he spoke to Donovan:

"In short, this planet may not be so safe. I will have Jack and Lord Saint Andreid transfer some of the defense forces here. You can focus on your work."

Thanks to Roger's assistance, the living standards of the people in both "New Fog City" and "Underground Midnight City" have improved dramatically, and the crisis in their lives has decreased. The original armed forces are now somewhat idle, and some people have even begun to feel that they have not contributed much to the city-state and have developed self-doubt.

Sending some of them to protect the engineering team would be a good option. Roger was even considering distributing one of his high-sequence sealed artifacts to them, allowing them to use it as a trump card under specific rules and regulations.

After temporarily calming the engineers down and getting them back to work, Roger finally breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the "Forsaken Land."

"...You mean there are dangerous monsters on that planet?"

About an hour later, the high-ranking officials of "New Fog City" and "Underground Midnight City," who had been summoned by Roger, gathered together, and Jack Burton asked somewhat uncertainly.

“Yes, I need to send some garrison forces to protect the engineering team. In addition, I will also allocate a Sequence 4 sealed artifact as support.”

Upon hearing Roger's words, Saint Andreid tapped the end of his scepter lightly on the ground twice.

“Greel, you will lead the team to meet the divine messenger.”

"Yes."

Clad in armor, Grell Yosor stood solemnly and bowed deeply in reply.

This Sequence 4 "Dark One" was originally in charge of the garrison of the "Underground Midnight City" and was also a disciple of Saint Andreid. Considering his steady personality, strong strength, and high prestige among the residents, it was a very reasonable choice to have him lead the team.

"I also……"

Jack Burton, standing to the side, glanced at Greer Yossor and instinctively prepared to speak.

As the second-in-command of "New Fog City", he naturally did not want to fall behind "Underground Midnight City" in such a situation, as it involved a matter of attitude. As one of only two demigods in "New Fog City", he had to stand up at this moment.

However, Alexis suddenly interrupted him:
"I go."

"you?"

Jack turned to look at Alexis in disbelief:
"Your body..."

"He's almost fully recovered."

Alexis chuckled and said:
“Now you’re basically the one coordinating and managing things in ‘New Fog City.’ I’m just sitting here doing nothing, so I’d like to go out and see the world.”

(End of this chapter)