Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 407 Ghost Empire
"The Terensus Empire of the Quaternary Period?"

Roger frowned:

"Tell me."

Kovarro breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw that Roger's interest had been successfully piqued.

He poured Roger some more Olmir wine and said:

"That is said to be a mobile sea fortress left behind by the 'Night Emperor' Terensost, and it retains much of the Terensost Empire's heritage... Its name is 'Ghost Empire'."

“Every full moon night, that ship appears, along with the will of ‘Night Emperor’ Trensost… Legend has it that He is commemorating the former queen of the Trensost Empire, ‘Blood Moon Queen’ Ornia, in this way.”

Blood Moon Queen Olnia...

Roger narrowed his eyes. He knew that this Angel King, who was born after the "fall" of Lilith, the progenitor of the vampires, possessed two Sequence 1 "Goddess of Beauty" extraordinary traits and supported the establishment of the Trensost Empire through a marriage alliance with Trensost.

During the "War of the Four Emperors", the "Blood Moon Queen" unfortunately perished. One of her two extraordinary characteristics was transformed into the vampire relic "Shadow of the Goddess" and stolen by the "Rose School". The other extraordinary characteristic was taken back by Lilith as part of her plan to reclaim her authority.

As for "Night Emperor" Trensost himself, he was once the "Judge" of Sequence 0. After his fall, the uniqueness of the "Judge" path was corrupted by the "Disordered Kingdom" and became the sealed artifact 0-02 "Trensost Brass Book" held by the Church of the God of War. Of the other three Sequence 1 extraordinary properties, one was taken by the Castilian family, the royal family of the Kingdom of Feneport, and the second was taken by William Augustus I, who used it to ascend to the "Hand of Order" and established the Kingdom of Rune on this foundation.

The whereabouts of the third "Hand of Order" extraordinary characteristic remains unknown. If the "Ghost Empire" truly exists, it is possible that the extraordinary characteristic is among them.

Roger thought for a moment, then asked curiously:
Is the "King of the Five Seas" considering switching to an adjacent pathway?

"I don't know that."

Kovarro shrugged:

"You'll have to ask him for the specifics, but that's on the condition that he's willing to tell you."

"Ok."

Roger nodded slightly:

Why did he contact me?

"The King of the Five Seas highly recognizes your strength and your style."

Kovarro answered.

"My style? Does it mean I don't indiscriminately kill innocent people?"

Roger asked.

"That's one aspect."

Kovallo nodded slightly.

"Let me think about it."

Roger leaned back in his chair, looked up, closed his eyes, and pondered for a moment before speaking again:
"The 'King of the Five Seas' already has clues about the 'Ghost Empire'?"

"Yes."

Kovarro nodded slightly:
"It last appeared twice on the Sea of ​​Mist, and its next appearance should also be on a full moon night."

"The next full moon should be in thirteen days."

Roger, who was familiar with astronomy and calendar systems, immediately told him the time of the next full moon.

"Indeed, you are a learned gentleman."

Kovallo offered an awkward compliment, then tentatively asked:
"Well, what do you think?"

Give me three days to think about it.

Roger raised an eyebrow, then said:

"Of course, I also have my conditions."

"The first thing is that if I am to take action, the results of our exploration must be distributed according to our respective contributions, but neither side shall receive less than one-third of the benefits."

"Of course, we can negotiate the specific allocation plan."

"Secondly, Nast cannot interfere with the helpers I bring, because considering the potential dangers of the 'Ghost Empire,' I will most likely bring at least two demigod-level helpers."

"Thirdly, if I assess midway through the exploration operation as having risks far exceeding my initial expectations, Nast cannot prevent me from voluntarily withdrawing."

"Of course, even if I withdraw, the benefits I have already gained must be distributed in accordance with the first clause."

Roger's conditions were based on respect for the other party while fully preserving his own interests.

The second point is particularly relevant to the first. The number of demigods represents the strength of the fighting force. If Nast allows himself to bring two demigods as helpers, Roger's side will receive a much larger share of the benefits.

Roger proposed these conditions for two reasons. First, his own need to explore the "Ghost Empire" was far less urgent than Nast's. Second, he wanted to test how much Nast was willing to concede on this matter.

Although the other party was a pirate king with a decent reputation, Roger still had to consider the other party's magnanimity.

On the one hand, he needs to see Nast's personality. He prefers straightforward partners, and if both parties are straightforward, communication will be much easier.

On the other hand, if the two sides were to actually cooperate, Roger would not be greedy and make exorbitant demands.

After all, as Sequence 3 demigods, they are already considered very important figures in the world of extraordinary beings. It would be very beneficial for them to leave each other some leeway, and they might even have the opportunity to work together in the future.

"I will relay your request to the 'King of the Five Seas'."

Kovarro nodded slightly, his expression unchanged. He knew that he had no right to judge the agreement between the two pirate kings.

Everything should be left to the true power holders to decide, and Kovarro has always adhered to this principle, which is the biggest reason why Nast values ​​him.

"Then, we'll contact you again in three days."

Roger then stood up and added:

"Furthermore, remove all those means that are obstructing my passage. If anyone impersonates me at sea again after tonight, you will face the consequences."

“Although Nast is also a Sequence 3 Saint, if I’m determined to kill him, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Although he was smiling as he said this, Kovarro felt a chill run down his spine.

"No problem, and I apologize again, Your Excellency, King of the Galaxy."

"How can I contact you three days from now?"

“By praying to my name, I will know.”

Upon hearing Roger's words, Kovarro nodded, not finding it strange.

Because he had worked on the "Black Emperor," he knew that Saints could have their own honorary names once they reached Sequence 3.

"May I ask your honorable name?"

Kovarro asked curiously.

"The chosen one of the spirit and astral realms, the prophet of the hidden threads of fate, the master of endless secrets, the great John West."

Roger uttered a name that was chilling upon closer inspection, yet without revealing his identity as "He Xing".

The first sentence, in particular, "favored ones of the spirit and astral realms," is vague but subtly points to at least two deities.

As expected, Kovarro was stunned when he heard the name, and before he could ask any more questions, Roger disappeared in a blue light.

After Roger returned to the Star Lord, he instructed Philip and the others to continue sailing westward.

As expected, after Roger and Kovarro's amicable negotiations, he did not see or hear of any pirate ships flying the "Star Fleet" flag again along the way. And seemingly because of Sisyphus Gonzalez's internal communications within the military, there were no more instances of anyone rashly intercepting the four ships of the "Star Fleet".

When the fleet was near the port for resupply, Roger would take Alice around the islands to explore and help her digest the "Recorder" potion.

It has to be said that this was very effective. When Alice was working as an artist manager, she had already digested more than half of the "Recorder" potion by recording various musical scores and making suggestions for modification. However, because she later rose in rank and became more management-oriented, the speed at which she digested the potion slowed down considerably.

This was also one of Roger's considerations. He wanted to take this opportunity to let Alice digest the potion as much as possible. In this way, when they found Christopher's remains and removed the corrupted "Arcanist" seal, Roger could also use the "Ring of the Dark One" to cleanse the rootless corruption remaining in his "Traveler" extraordinary ability, and then let Alice inherit that extraordinary ability.

In this way, Roger essentially recovered a Sequence 5 Extraordinary Ability at a relatively low cost. At the same time, giving this item to Alice is in line with the tradition of the Abraham family, which is that after the death of a member of the outer family, the Extraordinary Ability of the elder can be inherited by the descendants.

However, compared to past inheritances, this inheritance carries more warning and educational significance.

Alice has already witnessed her father's gruesome death, and this time, by choosing to go to Koske Island, she should be able to learn more details about the time before her father lost control.

These experiences will undoubtedly give her a deeper understanding of her father's dying words, who endured unimaginable suffering and used it as atonement to give Alice a chance at a new life.

In fact, those families that took advantage of the decline of the Abraham family and stole the Abraham family's seals almost all met with bad ends. Sometimes Roger even wondered if it was the will of "The Door" that brought them misfortune and punishment in the dark, making them suffer the same pain that the Abraham family had endured for thousands of years.

Of the five sealed artifacts that He split off from, apart from "Amra's Guidance" and "Raziel's Star Compass" which were held by the Abraham family themselves, the holders of the other three artifacts almost all suffered the misfortune of their entire families dying suddenly.

Although Roger also played an important role in this, considering that Mr. Door's power was the lever that turned all these causes and effects, these things also seem to have a sense of destiny.

By the time the "Star Fleet" had passed through the territorial waters of Fenneport and approached the island of Theros at the westernmost point of the Sunia Sea, Alice had finally fully digested the "Recorder" potion.

At the same time, the fog at sea began to increase significantly, giving the impression that the "Star Fleet" had reached the outer edge of the misty sea.

"Roger, have we reached the Misty Sea?"

On the deck, Bandit spoke somewhat nervously.

This creature had long heard Roger talk about the strangeness of the Misty Sea, so even when it was traveling through the Northern Continent, it was always consciously avoiding the coastline near the Misty Sea.

Seemingly out of fear, it jumped onto Roger's shoulder and rubbed its cheek against Roger's neck.

"You're a seven or eight kilogram adult cat now, so be gentle when you jump up next time."

Roger pursed his lips, feeling as if a weight had been thrown at his shoulder.

Although Bandit has grown up and his cheeks have fully developed, he still looks like a little kitten next to me, showing no awareness that he has become an adult cat.

After calming himself down, Roger continued:

"It is probably due to the winter monsoon that the fog on the Misty Sea shows signs of shifting eastward."

"This is indeed very dangerous, and we need to take some measures."

After saying that, Roger used his abilities to deliver a message to the heads of each ship.

That is, the fleet collectively reduced the size of its sails, thus reducing the power of the steam turbines!
Because Roger had already used this ability before, the captains responded quickly.

Soon, led by the "Star Lord", the sailors of each ship began to direct the lowering of the sails. After all the sails had been lowered, Roger ordered everyone to return to the cabin.

After doing all that, he spoke to Bandit.

"The wind is rising, heading south."

Bandit immediately understood, and it leaped like an arrow to a high point on the "Star Lord" and then looked in the direction of the "Misty Sea".

The next second, with the "Star Lord" as the reference point, a gale of level 12 or higher suddenly swept across the sea!

This is the "Master of Tricks" ability triggered by the "Arcanist" of Sequence 4, which has undergone a qualitative change in both strength and duration.

The fog was blown further south towards the hot equatorial zone, and Roger and Bendit were using this method to dissipate the fog at the front and reduce the difficulty of navigation.

Because the fog here seems to be different from the fog in the "Misty Sea," and is much thinner, the fog moved rapidly and formed a surging wall of fog on the sea.

The wall of mist, carried by the wind, drifted southward like a vast army, a truly spectacular sight that left the members of the "Star Fleet" momentarily stunned.

They finally understood why Roger had suddenly ordered the sails to be lowered—in such strong winds, failing to lower the sails could very likely cause the ship to capsize.

Alice was even more surprised. As an "apprentice" with extraordinary abilities, she naturally recognized it as the "Master of Tricks'" "Wind Rises".

At this moment, only Roger and Bendit, one person and one cat, were on the deck. Considering that Roger was not a demigod through the "Apprentice" pathway, it was easy to imagine who had caused such a terrifying gale.

"As expected, the life of an extraordinary person is much more interesting than work..."

Just as she was lost in thought, Fenneport’s coastline was revealed once again, and the road ahead became much clearer.

"That's about right. If the wind keeps blowing like this, it could cause a natural disaster."

Roger called Bandit down and then looked towards the bow of the ship.

"Meow."

Bandit jumped down, looking rather smug:
"Isn't it awesome?"

"sharp."

Roger gave a thumbs up.

He then gave the order to his men to set sail at full speed, the steam turbines were started at full power again, and the entire "Star Fleet" began to speed westward at an extremely high speed.

On the third night, the "Star Fleet" finally crossed the southern tip of the Kingdom of Fennepot and officially entered the territory of the Misty Sea.

Unlike the fog before, the fog here is extremely thick and cannot be effectively dispersed by "raising the wind".

Considering security concerns, Roger temporarily withdrew the fleet to the western coast of Segal, where it made some temporary repairs.

Although this area was under the jurisdiction of the Church of the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom," Roger wasn't too concerned about any unexpected events, considering his friendly relationship with them.

While refilling his light beer, Roger received a call from Kovarro.

During the prayer, Kovarro told Roger Nast Solomon that he had agreed to his request and expressed the utmost goodwill.

On the other hand, this "King of the Five Seas" asked Roger to meet him at a small tavern called "Gregory," which was also a stronghold of his peripheral forces, but few people knew this.

The tavern was located at the port where Roger was currently standing, and the time of their meeting was only one hour away.

From this incident, Roger could see that beneath Nast's generous exterior lay a cautious heart. The close proximity demonstrated his sincerity, while the tight meeting time prevented any unnecessary complications.

On the other hand, he must have had his own intelligence network in Segal, which would have enabled him to know about Roger's arrival so quickly.

Roger thought for a moment, gave a positive reply, indicating that he would go on time, and then found Lindsay Louis.

"What's wrong? Boss?"

Lindsay was about to go to the dock to get some fries when Roger suddenly found him.

"I'm going to meet someone later. You call your brothers and have them stand guard on the perimeter in a loose tactical formation to prevent any danger from happening."

“I’ve already spoken to Bandit. It will disguise itself as an ordinary stray cat and follow them by the roadside, just in case you lack demigod-level combat power at a crucial moment.”

Like Nast, Roger was also a very cautious person. He needed to make sure that he wasn't the only demigod on his side. In addition, he needed to deploy personnel on the periphery. If there were any potential risks, he could immediately release the "fog of war" to cut off the perception of outsiders and have Lindsay direct his men to eliminate any risks that might threaten the safety of his personnel.

On the other hand, if they don't receive any occult contact from Lindsay for a period of time, it might mean that Nast Solomon has used his abilities to limit Lindsay's powers, and they can use that as a basis to launch a counterattack. "Understood."

Lindsay nodded first, then asked curiously:
"May I ask, who are we going to see?"

“'King of the Five Seas' Nast.”

After saying that, Roger started walking towards the dock area.

Hearing this name, Lindsay was somewhat surprised.

He was naturally aware of the existence of this most powerful pirate king. Although the "Star Fleet" had already met two of the four pirate kings, the title of "King of the Five Seas" was clearly more resounding and intimidating than that of the most mysterious "King of the Black Sea," Baros Hopkins.

Lindsay didn't know when his captain had made contact with "King of the Five Seas" Nast, but he followed Roger's footsteps without any hesitation.

As the "Iron Knight," he doesn't feel fear like ordinary people. Although the invitation from the "King of the Five Seas" to his captain surprised him, Lindsay showed no fear whatsoever.

The deployment of the tactical squads was also very efficient. Because they had fought in the "Forsaken Land," they were always in a state of combat readiness, even when they were resting. At this time, after Lindsay summoned them through the team's occult connections, they immediately broke into smaller groups and dispersed from the "Fear" into the bustling port as tourists.

Roger walked along with Lindsay, his hands in his trench coat pockets, seemingly nonchalant. They even bought some street food along the way before arriving at the "Gregory" bar fifteen minutes before the agreed time.

Pushing open the door and entering the bar, Roger was immediately greeted by a bustling scene. The bar was filled with patrons, just like any other bar in a typical port city in the Northern Continent.

However, the difference was that the proportion of pirates among these drinkers was significantly higher than at similar docks in the Kingdom of Rune—although they had done a lot of disguise, they still could not escape Roger's "secret insight" scrutiny.

"It seems this is a rendezvous point for pirates, and it's possible it's one of the nodes in Nast's own intelligence network..."

Roger quickly thought for a moment, then went to the bar and whispered to the bartender:
“I’m looking for the 'Viscount'.”

Upon hearing this, the bartender looked up abruptly. He glanced quickly at Roger and Lindsay, then poured each of them a high-quality beer, muttering as he served them:
"Gentlemen, please go directly to the second floor."

Roger and Lindsay remained calm and collected. They finished their drinks as quickly as possible and then turned around and walked upstairs as if nothing had happened.

The upstairs area is divided into two parts: a work area and a sea-view restaurant.

But the seaside restaurant was deserted today, with no tableware on the tables, as if it were about to close.

As soon as Roger went upstairs, he saw a young waiter with long black hair come out of the inner room. The waiter quickly walked up to Roger and bowed.
"Greetings, Your Excellency, King of the Galaxy."

"What about the 'King of the Five Seas'?"

Roger smiled and asked.

"He's in the room inside. Please come with me."

As they spoke, the waiter turned around and led Roger deeper into the area.

Roger gave Lindsay a wink, and Lindsay immediately understood and instructed the most skilled member of his tactical squad to gradually approach the "Gregory" bar.

As a heavy double wooden door opened, Roger saw a high-class dining table and a man seated at the head of the table.

The other party was enormous, comparable to an ancient giant, and had a black beard that just reached past his neck.

At the same time, he wore a tall, pointed crown and a magnificent black robe with silver trim. His face had strong, deep features and was full of majesty, making people subconsciously want to lower their heads.

Beneath that broad, slightly wrinkled forehead, and atop that high, straight nose, two deep black eyes gleamed with a dark red light.

This is none other than Nast Solomon, the "King of the Five Seas"!

Behind him stood a man in his thirties or forties, wearing an Intis-style shirt with intricate patterns on the cuffs and collar, and a dark red captain's coat.

With the help of "Secret Insight", Roger immediately recognized that this was a "Black Emperor" pathway Sequence 5 "Chaos Mentor".

Upon seeing Roger and Lindsay enter, Nast Solomon stood up and shook hands with Roger, who strode forward with a smile on his face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Excellency the Earl."

Roger did not address Nast by the title "King of the Five Seas," but rather as Earl.

This title was given to Nast's father, Savigny, during the reign of Emperor Roselle, and was inherited by Nast. Nast was proud of this title and always referred to himself as "Count" rather than "Captain" on the "Black Emperor".

Knowing this, Roger, in order to please him, addressed him as Earl.

Nast seemed pleased by Roger's respectful attitude, and he nodded slightly in return, speaking in a deep, resonant voice:
“I have been looking forward to meeting you for a long time, Your Excellency, King of the Galaxy.”

After they finished speaking, they took their seats. Roger sat opposite Nast, while Lindsay stood behind him.

"You're welcome, Your Excellency Louis."

Nast looked up at Lindsay:

"If word gets out that I, Nast Solomon, don't know how to treat guests, I'll have a 'Blood Knight' standing at my dinner party."

This statement, while expressing sufficient respect, also demonstrates Nast's intelligence capabilities.

Lindsay looked at Roger, who smiled slightly:
"Since the 'King of the Five Seas' has spoken, we shall respectfully comply."

Lindsay nodded slightly, thanked him, and then sat down one seat away from Roger.

This gesture also expressed respect for Nast, who, as the convener and host of today's meeting, was primarily there to meet Roger, not himself. Therefore, Lindsay's action implied that he was in a secondary position here.

Then, Roger looked at the man standing behind Nast and said in the same way:

"Mr. Mustang, you..."

After Roger spoke, he didn't say anything more, but instead looked at Nast Solomon with a questioning gaze.

Upon hearing this, the man named Mustang was slightly taken aback, seemingly not expecting Roger to call him by his name directly.

This man was named Bird Mustang, the second mate of the Black Emperor, nicknamed "Viscount Fear".

Few people outside the family know his real name; heaven knows how Roger found out his name.

Nast's lips curled up slightly upon hearing this:
"Byrd, please have a seat too."

Bird Mustang nodded, then sat down opposite Lindsay with the same courtesy.

The first round of probing between the two sides came to an end. Roger could tell that Nast was somewhat surprised by his revelation of Bird Mustang's identity, which made the latter's attitude even more serious.

Roger looked at the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that seemed to have been specially treated, allowing only a view of the sea from the inside and preventing a view from the outside in, and sighed:

"Earl Bai Feng has excellent taste; his property is something others can only envy."

Nast smiled slightly upon hearing this:
“You are too modest. The Abraham family’s heritage is also quite remarkable, unlike the Solomon family, which has almost been buried in the dust of history with the end of the Fourth Age.”

As they were talking, the waiter who had guided Roger and Lindsay to their seats earlier took out a bottle of wine that looked quite expensive and poured it into the stemmed glasses in front of the four of them.

Afterwards, the four of them stood up, raised their glasses, gave toasts, drank what was in their glasses, and then sat down again.

"Your Excellency, could you elaborate on the cooperation you previously mentioned?"

As the appetizers and soup were served one by one, Roger seized the opportunity to ask a question.

"can."

Nast nodded:
"I don't know how much you know about the 'Ghost Empire,' but it's a ghost ship that drifts endlessly on the sea and often appears on the night of a full moon."

"According to the clues I have, there should be the legacy of the Trensost Empire inside, but it is also extremely dangerous. There is more than one angelic-level magical artifact inside, and even the ghost of Trensost is haunting the ship."

“I heard that he was expressing his longing for his queen in this way.”

Roger nodded slightly and spoke.

"Who knows, maybe."

Nast chuckled softly:
"However, as far as I know, that one does have a good relationship with the 'Blood Moon Queen'."

Then he spoke again:

"I had previously sent a group of people to explore the ship during the full moon and obtained some of its rules."

"These rules were established by high-ranking authorities through the 'Judges' pathway. Two of them are particularly crucial: one is 'No killing on the night of the full moon,' and the other is 'No entry on the night of the full moon.'"

"These two rules are quite interesting."

Roger thought for a moment and then said:

"That is to say, on the night of the full moon, no outsiders who board the ship will be killed."

"However, in turn, the exploration of the 'Ghost Empire' has become impossible unless we can find a way to distort and break the rules on the ship."

"Of course, one possibility is that although those who board the ship will not be killed, they may be left on the ship or put into some kind of unbearable situation. In this case, the rules are not broken, but there is still a great danger involved."

"Yes."

Nast nodded in agreement after hearing Roger's analysis, and then said:

"That is indeed a possibility, but fortunately, all my men returned safely."

"Another thing worth noting is that they did indeed see what appeared to be the ghost of Trensost on the ship."

"Oh?"

Roger was somewhat surprised to hear this, and he asked curiously:
Can you describe what he looks like?

Nast nodded:
"It was an illusory figure with short, brass-colored hair. He was very handsome and even had a scholarly air about him, which matched the appearance of the 'Night Emperor' Terensost as recorded in history."

"He was just looking up at the full moon in the night sky with unusual focus, seemingly unaware of the unusual situation on the deck, and did not attack my men."

"Of course, this could be because my subordinates did not violate the 'Ghost Empire's' prohibition; otherwise, who knows what their fate would have been."

Nast's words made Roger fall into deep thought, and he spoke:
"So, we should board the ship during the full moon, and then begin our exploration of the 'Ghost Empire' the following day after the exploration ban is lifted?"

"Yes."

Nast nodded slightly.

"This would be very dangerous. We can't be sure whether the ghosts of Trensost will attack us outside of the full moon."

Roger shook his head and said again:
"Therefore, we need to gain a deeper understanding of Trensust's personality and behavior patterns during his lifetime. After all, his inaction on the night of the full moon may have been out of remembrance of the 'Blood Moon Queen,' but whether he would continue to do so afterward remains to be seen."

"To be honest, I don't know much about Him, so if you have any information on this, please feel free to share it with me."

Nast agreed upon hearing this:
"You think the same way I do. Trensust was one of the angels who served Emperor Solomon, so I know more about him than most people do."

"Because of the requirements of playing the role of the 'Hand of Order,' He developed the habit of abiding by the rules and not killing indiscriminately a long time ago. However, He has an extreme aversion to high-sequence extraordinary individuals of the 'Black Emperor' pathway, especially the Solomon family. I guess this is related to his past betrayal of the Solomon Empire, which led to the downfall of Emperor Solomon."

After saying that, he laughed self-deprecatingly:

"So if I go directly to the 'Ghost Empire,' even if I can guarantee my safety on the night of the full moon, I can't guarantee that I'll survive the second night. That's why I'm seeking an alliance with you."

Upon hearing this, Roger suddenly understood many things, including but not limited to why the "King of the Five Seas" agreed to his conditions, and also understood why he had not actively explored the "Ghost Empire," a "level 0" sealed artifact left behind by the Ternsost Empire, which was suspected to contain a high probability of enabling him to advance in rank, for so many years.

This was not because he had no need for promotion, but because he feared the countermeasures contained within the "Ghost Empire" that targeted the descendants of the Solomon Empire's royal family and high-sequence extraordinary individuals of the "Black Emperor" pathway.

Therefore, he agreed to Roger's request to bring more demigods, and even agreed to Roger's request on this basis to reward those who worked harder, but with a minimum guarantee of 30%.

In other words, Nast, the "King of the Five Seas," had a clear objective from the beginning: he wanted only what he needed, and beyond that, he needed to ensure his own safety as much as possible.

"Yes, I've heard some things, but I need you to confirm them yourself."

Nast Solomon nodded slightly:

"As far as I know, abilities related to 'order' are affected by the mystical state of the object of order control. Therefore, abilities of the 'Judge' pathway can be deceived by high-ranking extraordinary individuals of the 'Thief' pathway, and can also be distorted by high-ranking individuals of the 'Black Emperor' pathway. They can also be temporarily restricted or lose their corresponding effects by covert abilities."

"Of course, in any case, these restrictions depend on the differences in their sequence levels. For example, as a Sequence 3 'Mad Mage,' I can only influence the rules of the 'Ghost Empire' with a small probability."

“Based on your combat record, I judged that you should be able to distort your own and others’ mystical identities. If you can help me temporarily distort my identity, I will be confident of entering the ‘Ghost Empire’.”

After hearing Nast Solomon's words, Roger asked with some curiosity:

"But I am also a Sequence 3 Extraordinary. Why do you think I can influence the rules of the 'Ghost Empire'?"

"Even if, as time goes by, the restrictions left by the fallen 'Night Emperor' don't reach the level of Sequence 1, there should at least be Sequence 2. To be honest, with my current abilities, I'm not confident that I can successfully deceive the 'Ghost Empire's' rule review."

Nast Solomon laughed upon hearing this:

"When you fought Saint Austin of the 'God of War' Church, the sealed artifact that corresponded to Sequence 2 of the 'Monster' pathway that you obtained should still be in your possession, right?"

"exist."

Roger nodded, admitting it without any hesitation, while simultaneously realizing what Nast wanted to do.

“Yes, as an angel-level sealed artifact, you can use it to improve our luck, and then distort my identity. This way, there is a very high probability that we can deceive the angel-level prohibition of the ‘Ghost Empire’.”

Nast Solomon said with a smile.

"interesting."

Roger leaned back in his chair and looked at Nast Solomon:

"You've already thought it through?"

"It was just a rough idea before, after all, I'm not sure if you've traded that sealed item away. If so, we'll have to come up with a new plan."

Nast Solomon smiled:
"But it seems I've been pretty lucky."

"Ok."

Roger nodded:

"If you were to consider jumping to Sequence 2 of the 'Judge' pathway, becoming a 'Balancer,' or even a 'Hand of Order' in Sequence 1, wouldn't that be considered a violation of the ancestral laws?"

Based on Roger's understanding of Nast, the latter was not only proud of his status as Earl of White Maple, but also even more proud of his status as a descendant of the Solomon Empire.

Roger asked this question partly to test whether Nast was a descendant of the Solomon Empire, and partly to find out if the other party possessed the extraordinary characteristics of the "Black Emperor" pathway sequence 2 'Duke of Entropy' or the corresponding sealed artifact.

Roger also tried to observe this information using "Secret Insight," but without any effective results. However, he did not intend to use "Dark Annihilation" further, because he could not rule out the possibility that Nast might be able to detect his active spying.

After all, the other party also said that the "Ghost Empire" not only restricts the descendants of the Solomon Empire's royal family, but also restricts the extraordinary individuals who reach high positions through the "Black Emperor" path.

Nast may be using this to obscure his own identity, maintaining his Solomon family persona while testing the extent of Roger's "identity alteration."

Most importantly, Nast's attitude toward this issue is closely related to his attitude toward the "Black Emperor" path. If he does not intend to dabble in a higher position in this path, it means that he is not in opposition to Emperor Roselle.

After posing the question, Roger looked intently at Nast Solomon and waited quietly for his answer.

(End of this chapter)