Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 430 Fight the Diviner Every Time You See Him (Thanks to Haiyue Mingfan for the Qidian Coins reward)
In Backlund, at the border between Hillston and Joewood, Lindsay looked at a middle-aged man, around 50 years old, wearing a black robe, with a very serious expression.

Shortly after Lindsay's troops arrived in Hillston, they received a series of coordinates and characteristics of Zarathustra's puppets from Roger via the "Mind Communication" channel.

Having already made tactical arrangements, Lindsay's 200-strong force dispersed into predetermined tactical formations as soon as they landed, with members in different groups each performing their assigned duties.

Because this area is under the jurisdiction of the Church of the Goddess of Night, the Night Watchers had already been mobilized to cooperate with Lindsay and his team in this operation. Residents of more than 10 blocks were all pulled into sleep by the Nightmare. During this process, some hidden puppets were also discovered, eliminated, or captured by the Night Watchers.

This relieved a significant amount of pressure on Lindsay's forces. The initial operations went relatively smoothly. The low-sequence Koske "Hunters" began to search for Zaratul's low-sequence Extraordinaries or Animal Marionettes used as informants and eliminate them in a targeted manner. Meanwhile, the mid-sequence elites, mostly from Lindsay's original tactical squad, began to assassinate Zaratul's mid-sequence Marionettes.

However, as the fight went on, Lindsay realized that things were not so simple.

On the one hand, Zarathustra had hidden more than 500 marionettes in this area, and the tactical squad members in Lindsay's forces responsible for the mid-sequence marionettes faced even greater difficulties, as many of these marionettes were carefully selected and meticulously arranged and hidden by Zarathustra. Moreover, Roger did not apply the "Silver Mirror" damage delay effect to everyone before setting off, so Lindsay still lost several capable officers.

Furthermore, because they were in a densely populated area, they were afraid of accidentally harming civilians, so they were hesitant to fight.

Fortunately, Lindsay's adjutant Diego adjusted the tactical arrangements in time and made an appropriate retreat, which avoided further casualties. In addition, for some reason, the activities of these puppets began to become somewhat stiff and sluggish.

Although they continued fighting, their movements were far less fluid than before, which gave him the opportunity.

Under Diego's command, the tactical squad used a "manipulator" seal artifact borrowed from Bandit to accurately locate the living entities with abnormal mental states. They then dispatched a small team specializing in point-to-point kills, which once again improved their combat efficiency.

Although they didn't know why, the battle seemed to have become much easier in the end, which made Lindsay and the others relax a bit.

However, just as they were thinking this, a middle-aged man around 50 years old suddenly appeared in front of Diego and the others. In one fell swoop, he killed more than 5 members of Lindsay's team, and another 5 were temporarily kept alive by the damage delay settlement effect, but they were also about to die.

Not only that, this "ancient scholar" also turned the dozen or so Lindsay's troops closest to him into his puppets, controlling them to start killing each other.

If Lindsay hadn't intervened in time and painfully killed his brothers who had become puppets, even Diego would have died here.

Suddenly, the elderly man in his fifties opposite them moved.

His hand suddenly reached into an unknown void, seemingly trying to pull someone out. This scene triggered Lindsay's spiritual warning to its peak. He immediately transformed the hunter's dagger in his hand into a streak of light, creating a sonic boom, and charged towards the old man!

The old man pulled Zarathustra's figure halfway out, but he seemed to encounter some indescribable obstacle, as if there was a huge suction force behind Zarathustra's figure, vying with him for control of Zarathustra's historical pore image.

In that brief pause, Lindsay's dagger had already flown to his feet.

The old man had no choice but to let go, and he quickly transformed into a ball of paper and disappeared.

"Captain, upstairs!"

Diego, who was controlling the "Manipulator" seal, immediately pointed to the top of a nearby high-rise building. Lindsay's eyes narrowed, and the next second, two "air cannon" shells with power close to that of a coastal defense gun attacked Lindsay's location!

At the same time, a whooshing sound came from behind Lindsay, as if some hidden puppet had launched some kind of attack on Lindsay!
Lindsay cursed inwardly. Because he was still holding onto the injured Diego, he couldn't use "Flame Transformation" or "Iron Transformation" to dodge the three attacks.

He made a snap decision and pulled a sapphire pendant from his pocket.

This was the sealed artifact formed from the extraordinary properties of the "Cataclysmic Priest" that Lindsay had obtained when he participated in the siege of "Saint of Calamity" Vinera. Originally, this sealed artifact had considerable side effects, but he later asked Roger to help him make some modifications to it, and now it was finally usable.

Centered on Lindsay and Diego, a violent tornado rose into the air. This tornado disrupted the air, altering the trajectory of the incoming attack, along with the projectiles formed from the air, and swirling them into the sky!

At the same time, Lindsay reconnected her mind with Diego, who was controlling the "Manipulator" seal in his hand.

Diego immediately sensed Lindsay's intention. He quickly transmitted several coordinates to Lindsay, and the sapphire pendant glowed slightly. In an instant, countless wind blades swept towards various directions in the streets and alleys.

Moreover, the instant they were created, Lindsay used "weaponization" to modify them, enhancing their sharpness and controllability, and giving these wind blades the ability to change course and track.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!..."

A series of cutting sounds rang out, and in that instant, Lindsay eliminated more than 30 puppets belonging to the "Ancient Scholars" of this secret order who were lurking nearby, as if cutting melons and vegetables!
This greatly reduced Diego's survival pressure. At this moment, the eyes of this tactical squad adjutant, who had been promoted to "Reaper," quickly turned iron black. Then, with the help of the "Manipulator" seal, he briefly controlled the "Ancient Scholar" hiding on the top of the nearby high-rise building!
Lindsay immediately received the order, and he transformed into a streak of blue light, rushing directly towards the rooftop.

Because of Diego's delay, the "ancient scholar" did not escape immediately. At this moment, he looked at Lindsay Louis, who had rushed in front of him, and suddenly snapped his fingers.

The "ancient scholar" vanished, replaced by a bewildered pigeon. However, Lindsay showed no surprise. Using Diego's mind lock, he hurled a flaming spear and eight fire crows burning with a blue light at the top of a nearby clock tower!
"Boom!"

As the sound of an explosion came from the top of the clock tower, the figure of the "ancient scholar" leaped out of the clock tower.

At this moment, he had already pulled out an image of a demigod with red hair from the gaps in historical images.

Although the demigod's face was somewhat blank, Lindsay recognized him immediately.

That was one of the leaders of the "Red Army of War," Gabriel Medici!

This was Lindsay's old rival, and he showed no fear, transforming into a streak of light and flying towards Gabriel and the "ancient scholar."

However, the next second, the aura surrounding the "war bishop" on the other side suddenly surged.

The flame in his hand turned from cyan to almost pure purple. Gabriel stretched out his hand to Lindsay, and the next second, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky and struck straight at the latter!
"A weakened version of the Weather Sorcerer's abilities?"

Lindsay immediately realized that the "Ancient Scholar" must have allowed Gabriel's historical pore image to borrow the angelic-level power granted by Medici. Knowing that he couldn't take this head-on, he transformed into several flames with a "bang" and, while avoiding the lightning strike, fell downwards with Gabriel and the "Ancient Scholar"!

Normally, the historical rift image summoned by the "Ancient Scholar" wouldn't last long if the potion hadn't been fully digested. Although Lindsay knew the other party hadn't fully digested the potion, he didn't dare gamble on the duration of the other party's ability.

Otherwise, the "ancient scholar" might escape Lindsay's control, because Diego's time limit for using the "manipulator" seal is almost up, and if he continues to use it, his mind will suffer serious damage.

Lindsay steeled his resolve, transformed into a streak of light once more, and plummeted downwards toward the figure of the "ancient scholar."

Gabriel Medici's expression was indifferent as he summoned purple fire crows and launched an attack on the charging Lindsay!

At the same time, Lindsay conjured a flaming spear burning with black flames in his hand, his gaze fixed intently on the "ancient scholar".

At this moment, Lindsay was fearless. He knew that if he focused his attention on the "Ancient Scholar" and could inflict a serious injury on him, then Gabriel Medici would disappear.

Lindsay's "damage delay settlement" effect has not yet been triggered, which means that he has a high probability of taking a hit from Gabriel.

On the other hand, Lindsay was also betting that the historical pore image of Gabriel could not borrow power from the "Red Angel" Medici for too long and that there should be many limitations.

However, how could this "ancient scholar" give Lindsay the opportunity to attack him? As he fell, he had already turned one of the bell ringers living in the bell tower into his own puppet.

He smiled at Lindsay and waved to him.

However, at that moment, the "ancient scholar" glanced out of the corner of his eye at a lady standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of a building on the other side of him.

The woman appeared to be in her early twenties, with a beautiful face, long, slightly wavy blonde hair, and green eyes. She was dressed in very understated women's winter clothes and ankle boots, and the scarf around her neck was tied in a very symmetrical shape, making her look like an ordinary college girl.

At this moment, the woman was holding a white ceramic cup in her right hand and drinking coffee, while the sleeve of her left sleeve had slipped down further back, as if she were wearing an invisible transparent glass bracelet there.

She saw the falling "ancient scholar" but was not alarmed at all; instead, she smiled slightly at him.

This immediately gave the latter a very bad feeling.

A crisp shattering sound rang out, and the "ancient scholar" suddenly realized that the "spiritual thread" connecting him with the bell ringer, who had been transformed into a puppet, had been severed!
No, rather than saying they were disconnected, it's more accurate to say that he never actually transformed the other party into a secret partner.

Everything that just happened was a dream!

At this moment, the "Ancient Scholar" no longer had time to develop new marionettes, because he couldn't find a single ordinary person around him who could be quickly corrupted by the "spiritual threads," as if some secret force had transferred everyone here away in advance.

Everything before was just his illusion!

This startled him. The "ancient scholar" abandoned controlling Gabriel Medici to attack Lindsay and instead hurled a flaming spear in another direction into the air.

The next second, he snapped his fingers, intending to use "Flame Leap" to appear in the air.

However, Diego, aided by the good fortune granted by the "Silver Mirror," and with a death wish, once again launched a "shock" attack on the "ancient scholar"!
The Sequence 4 level "Intimidation" blocked the "Ancient Scholar's" idea of ​​using "Flame Leap" to escape. The next second, in his incredulous eyes, Lindsay's whole body was ignited by Gabriel's purple flames, and then the flame spear in his hand, which was wrapped in a tornado, pierced through his body, pinning him firmly to the ground!

A violent explosion rang out, and when the smoke cleared, Lindsay was found completely charred, clutching his dagger, supporting himself as he knelt on one knee.

The "ancient scholar" beneath him was beyond dead; the shock from the "awe" remained on his expression, while the terror in his eyes had completely frozen.

After a while, the extraordinary characteristics of the "Ancient Scholar" began to emerge. Lindsay struggled to pull out a bottle of red potion from his person and then poured it into his mouth.

This potion was merely a healing-accelerating potion concocted by the "Crimson Scholar." Given that Lindsay had been attacked by a weakened version of the "Weather Wizard's" purple flame attack, it could only make him feel slightly better.

At this moment, "Silver Mirror" was keeping Lindsay alive. He knew that it was only a matter of time before he died. If he did not receive treatment soon, he would die a violent death.

Moreover, his men were still engaged in fierce battle with Zarathustra's remaining marionettes, and Diego's spirit must have been severely wounded. If he died here, all his brothers would perish as well.

However, at that moment, under the moonlight, a beautiful woman dressed in white, with deep red eyes and slightly protruding canine teeth, strolled out from the alley next to the clock tower.

"Your Excellency Lindsay Louis."

The beautiful woman knelt down in front of Lindsay:
"My name is Loretta, and I am a vampire."

"Considering the relationship between vampires and Roger Abraham, I have brought you a potion prepared by vampires, hoping it will be of assistance."

This beautiful vampire lady was none other than one of the two vampire countesses under "Crimson Moon Duke" Beverly. She had appeared silently in the vicinity at some point, seemingly having been waiting for this moment.

After saying that, Loretta poured a bottle of silvery, mercury-like potion into Lindsay's mouth, who was dressed in tattered clothes. Strangely enough, the moment the potion entered his throat, Lindsay felt the pain from his burns begin to subside rapidly, and as his skin began to emit bursts of heat, his wounds began to heal quickly.

"Thanks……"

Lindsay managed to squeeze out a single word, but Loretta waved her hand dismissively.

She put away the medicine bottle and then turned and left.

After a while, Lindsay finally felt that he had regained his combat ability. He quickly put away the "Ancient Scholar" extraordinary ability on the ground and then began to rush towards the battlefield where flames were burning not far away.

……

In the "Abyss," Roger had now completely transformed into a giant dragon.

This dragon was extremely large. Even in the conceptual "Abyss", its body caused a strange spatial distortion in the boundless darkness around it, as if it could break through this projection of the "Abyss" at any moment.

Fabti's hand has finally reached "Mysterious Servant" Zarathustra. In this "Abyss", this "Dark Side of the Universe" has a rank bonus. At this time, although He is only a Sequence 2 "Blood Duke", His actual rank is between the King of Angels and Sequence 1, and even surpasses Zarathustra, who is only a Sequence 1.

The terrifying aura emanating from Fabuti instantly enveloped Zarathustra, and as Zarathustra was grasped in Fabuti's hand, Roger let out a dragon's roar powerful enough to pierce through the mind of an angel!
This voice contained the extreme darkness and unknown terror of the "psychological abyss," and in an instant, accompanied by the dragon's might of the "psychological dragon," it pierced through Zarathustra's mental body while intimidating him.

Fabuti revealed a sinister smile, and with a sudden burst of strength, he crushed the "mysterious servant" Zaratu, whose mind and body had been nearly destroyed and who was in a daze, into a pile of dust!
With a loud bang, the "mysterious servant" was finally killed by Roger, Fabti, and Klein!

However, neither Roger, Fabti, nor Klein showed any signs of relaxation. They continued to fall while looking at Zarathustra's shattered corpse.

……

Intis, in a Quaternary fortress crypt somewhere outside Trier.

In the darkness, a crack suddenly appeared, revealing countless historical silhouettes. Zarathustra's figure emerged from the crack, stepped out, and landed on the ground.

"That damn Roger Abraham..."

As soon as Zarathustra stepped out, he couldn't help but mutter angrily.

Fortunately, Zarathustra had already moved the "Miracleist" extraordinary ability, originally located in Dylang Castle, to the vicinity of Trier and had also taken many measures to protect against divination and prophecy.

This means that even if Roger's men could communicate with the souls of the demigods of his "Sect" who followed him, they would not know that this extraordinary property had been transferred.

"Luckily, I had prepared some backup plans in advance, but that means I'll have one less chance to revive..."

As Zarathustra thought about this, his hatred for Roger intensified.

He shook his head slightly, and his figure rapidly blurred and was about to disappear.

However, this process of becoming ethereal gave Zarathustra a strange sense of familiarity, and after a moment, he suddenly exited the ethereal state.

"found it."

Just then, a sinister smile suddenly appeared in the darkness not far from Zarathustra.

"Is it possible?"

Zarathustra's expression changed drastically.

A moment later, the scene in the dark cave collapsed, and He reappeared in the falling "abyss"!
At this moment, Roger, transformed into a giant dragon, revealed a wanton, sinister grin:

"Your 'resurrection point' has been found."

The next second, a "Roger Abraham" quickly separated from the dragon. This "Dream Weaver" clone carried the "Old Box" wrapped in a brass glow and also possessed the ability of "Mystery Presentation"!

A flash of blue light appeared, and the "Dream Weaver" clone disappeared, leaving Zaratu utterly devastated.

At this moment, He finally understood that Roger's goal from the beginning was not to kill him, but to find the location of the extraordinary property of the "Miracle Worker"!

"How did he know that I had separated a 'Miracle Master' extraordinary trait? This news should be known to no one except the members of the 'Secret Order'!"
"Could it be that one of his members has been captured? No... that's impossible."

When Roger and Fabti teamed up to "kill" Zaratu, the predetermined death did not actually occur. This was because Zaratu felt the fear of impending death and subconsciously accepted that he would trigger the "Miracle Master's" resurrection count. This allowed Roger, who had become a mythical creature and whose abilities had been further enhanced, to pull him back into the mental labyrinth without his knowledge!
Immediately afterwards, everything began to unfold according to Zarathustra's cognitive inertia.

Roger knew that Zarathustra's "Miracleist" extraordinary ability was hidden in Djlangu Castle, but the guy was as cunning as a weasel in a melon patch, and it was possible that he would move that extraordinary ability multiple times.

Under such circumstances, no information provided by anyone can be trusted, not even information revealed by Zarathustra himself after being hypnotized!
Only by guiding His cognition and allowing Him to "resurrect" according to His own expectations can we find His latest resurrection point!
Although the "Dream Weaver" clone that Roger just sent out was only at the Sequence 3 level, and the "Box of the Old Days" might not be able to trap the resurrected Zarathustra, the surface of the "Box of the Old Days" was clearly wrapped with a layer of laws.

"Decrees" from the "Trensost Brass Scepter"!
Zarathustra knew without a doubt that the "law" should prohibit the return and resurrection of historical figures that might exist in the "Old Box" for a period of time. As a Sequence 1 power, it was enough to restrain Zarathustra's backup plan and completely shut him down.

At this moment, Klein suddenly felt his thoughts freeze, as if someone was trying to turn him into a puppet.

The same feeling arose in Roger and Fabti's hearts. At this moment, Zarathustra was in a desperate situation. He seized all living beings around him, even Roger and Fabti in their mythical creature forms, and began to indiscriminately convert them into mysticoids!

Regardless of how many can be successfully transformed in the end, as long as Zarathustra succeeds, He has a chance to escape and may be resurrected before Roger's "Dreamweaver" clone arrives at the crypt.

After all, that cavern isn't something you can just enter whenever you want; there are some seals around it!

"It's a beautiful thought."

Roger smiled, and the next second, the surrounding "abyss" scene changed again.

The surrounding darkness suddenly turned into a sky that was half starry and half misty, and the previous extreme concept of "falling" completely stopped. Zarathustra felt as if his feet were stepping on a stone ground.

At the same time, Roger and Fabuti's mythical creature forms were instantly dispelled, as if a "door" to other gods' mythical creature forms had been sealed!
This sudden change startled both Fabti and Klein, while Zaratu's expression changed drastically.

He sensed that not only was the process of becoming a marionette interrupted, but his mystical connection with the extraordinary characteristics of the "Miracle Master" was also completely severed!
Roger pulled Fabti, Klein, and the "Mysterious Servant" Zaratu to the stone platform in the center of the "Primal Core"!

"This... is 'source matter'?"

Fabuti was also taken aback. He knew of the existence of the "Shadow World" and, combining various signs, immediately guessed that this was Roger's "Source Matter" after his mythical creature form was instantly dispelled.

Klein understood as well; this was Roger's essence, and it was his first time here!
"Zarath."

Roger turned to look at the ashen-faced "mysterious servant" Zarathustra and said:

"Do you know that there's something Russell Gustav has never said to you?"

Upon hearing this, Zarathustra was taken aback, his eyes filled with doubt.

"Once I become a high-sequence powerhouse, I'll beat every single one of these 'diviner' riddle-makers I see!"

Upon hearing Roger's words, Klein's expression changed drastically behind Zarathustra!
Before he could react, Zarathustra's head was crushed like a balloon by Roger's hand.

On Roger's home turf, at "Original Core," his confidence exploded to the extreme.

If he believes he can crush a Sequence 1 archangel with his bare hands, then he can!
Blood and flesh splattered all over Roger, Fabti, and Klein's faces.

Zarathustra, the "mysterious servant," has officially perished here!
Roger withdrew his blood- and brain-stained hand and looked at Klein with an indifferent expression.

"run!"

This was Klein's first thought, but before he could act, the gravity on the platform where he was standing in the "Primal Core" suddenly increased!
Before Klein could move two steps, "The Insightful's" fist, as big as a sandbag, had already struck his face, sending Klein flying more than ten meters away!
Immediately afterward, Roger bypassed Fabti and appeared in front of Klein in a flash, grabbing Klein by the neck:

"A fortune teller, a riddle teller, right?"
"Speaking with a hoarse voice, pretending to be a ghost!"
“Mr. World, Gehrman Sparrow!”

"No! I have my reasons!"

Klein saw the fist, the size of a sandbag, about to strike again, and he was terrified, trying to stop Roger.

As the real Mr. Fool, he knew very well what kind of power the master of the source matter could exert within his own source matter. If Roger was determined to kill him, he would probably have to use up the resurrection effect of the "Miracle Master" again.

No, whether Roger can be resurrected within his "source essence" is another matter entirely...

However, Roger showed no sign of stopping.

Fabuti watched the two brothers with great interest, looking like he was enjoying the show.

Actually, Roger had no choice. He didn't want Klein to die right now. If he didn't want to expose the "Fool" persona, he would have to show enough anger at Klein for hiding his identity as "Mr. World".

As for when to shed the "Fool" persona, now is not the time. Good steel should be used on the blade. When Klein's divinity is about to devour humanity, then he can say, "I knew you were 'Fool' all along, Klein Moretti."

At that point, even in the "abyss," Klein would probably be able to climb up the wall.

After Roger had finished hitting him and Klein had finished apologizing, Roger finally loosened the latter's collar.

I'll settle the score with you later.

Klein looked embarrassed. At this moment, Fabti stepped forward and looked at Roger:

"It seems you have many secrets to hide."

"I do not know either."

Roger shook his head; in fact, he really didn't know how many secrets he still held.

He was able to bring Fabti and Klein into the "Original Dynamic Core" for two reasons. Firstly, it was because of his relationship with the two men; Klein was a good brother, and Fabti was a fellow countryman who had been saved by Roger. Secondly, Roger also wanted to see what Fabti thought about the "Original Dynamic Core."

As expected, Fabti asked again:
"What kind of source material is this?"

"This is not the source matter on Earth."

Roger shook his head and directly said the word "Earth," because Klein already knew that this was Earth, so there was no point in hiding it anymore.

This statement also indicates that Roger understood the identity of the former residents of Fabti. From then on, the three parties no longer needed to test each other, and they entered a state of equality in their understanding of each other's identities.

This means they can now discuss things that people from the old days could only discuss.

Fabti was slightly taken aback:
"Is it outside the barrier?"

"Yes."

Roger nodded:

Its name is 'Primordial Celestial Core'.

Upon hearing the name, Fabuti immediately lowered his head and fell into thought.

"what happened?"

Roger asked, somewhat curiously.

"I think I've heard this word before."

Fabti recalled for a moment, then said:

"In some occult cultures of the old days, there exists a kind of occult knowledge called 'mystical geometry'."

"In 'mystical geometry,' some concepts or possible sacred worlds are analyzed, one of which is called 'Primordial Heaven.'"

"'Yuan Dongtian'?"

Roger narrowed his eyes slightly:

Could you tell me more?

"I don't remember much."

Fabuti shook his head:
"I vaguely remember that the 'Primordial Heaven' is related to the authority of creation, and at the same time seems to govern the laws governing the movement of stars."

"I don't know anything else. When I looked at those materials, I treated them as folk legends and didn't put in any effort."

These words made Roger think. If Fabti was right, it meant that in the old days, the authority of Gherros might have already been influencing people's understanding of mysticism.

Judging from the relationship between "Original Heaven" and "Original Heaven Core", "Original Heaven" may be the complete form of "Original Heaven Core". If that is the case, the divine kingdom of "Judgment Star" Geheros may be "Original Heaven"!
Seeing that Fabti really knew nothing, Roger took a deep breath, then looked at the "Mysterious Servant" extraordinary property that had been extracted on the ground, picked it up, and then looked at Klein.

"Let me play with this thing first, and while I'm at it, I'll help you wash away Zarathustra's spiritual imprint."

"When you are promoted to 'Mysterious Servant' later, you can come to me to buy it."

Klein nodded repeatedly. At this point, he wasn't even a "Miracle Master," so there was no way he could be promoted to "Mysterious Servant" yet.

As long as Roger is in a better mood and stops pursuing the matter, Klein is fine with whatever he does.

However, this also made him feel even more frustrated. He had only revealed one layer of Mr. World's disguise and was already beaten up like this. What if Mr. Fool's disguise fell off? Would Roger throw him directly into outer space?
Others might say that throwing it into outer space is just a joke, but Roger certainly wasn't.

He really has that ability!
Once Roger confirmed that his "Dream Weaver" clone had found the Sequence 2 "Miracleist" seal left by Zarathustra, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He sent Fabti and Klein back to the real world. Fabti had come to help, and now that his mission was complete, he left.

Klein insisted on going to the battlefield where Lindsay was with Roger. Roger couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he took him to the residential area of ​​Joewood District, which had already been cleared out by the military.

Lindsay had somehow killed all of Zarathustra's Mystics. Now, he knelt on the ground, his eyes vacant, holding Diego, his eyes red-rimmed.

Seeing Roger appear, Lindsay felt like he had seen a savior. He scrambled to Roger's side and cried as he said to him:
"Captain, you've finally arrived."

"Please save him, save Diego..."

"Don't worry."

Roger comforted Lindsay; the last time he saw Lindsay cry like this was when he helped her kill "White Saint" Katarina Pelle and retrieve Miranda's bracelet.

It's clear that Lindsay truly values ​​Diego highly. His legionary adjutant has always been reliable and hardworking in helping Lindsay lead the troops, and the two are like brothers in private.

After Lindsay and Roger recounted Diego's ordeal, Roger nodded:

"It's most likely the psychological trauma caused by Bandit's 'Manipulator' seal. No need to worry."

Most people would be helpless in this situation, but Roger was different.

He is one of the strongest "psychologists" in the world right now, besides Adam!

Hearing Roger say that, Lindsay finally felt a little relieved.

He watched as Roger took a deep breath and then vanished.

Soon, Roger arrived at an orphanage.

The orphanage was located in a small town in West Vellas County. It was deep winter, and because of the high latitude, it was already dark.

"This must be Diego's childhood..."

Roger realized that Diego had told him that he came from an orphanage, had a very dark childhood, and was often beaten in the orphanage.

Afterwards, through his own efforts, he finally escaped his original perilous environment and, with his decent intelligence, went to sea and became a small pirate on the "Musketeer".

Although still dangerous, Diego was finally able to take control of his life to some extent. He became a "Hunter," then rose to become a "Provocateur," and eventually met Roger and Lindsay, which led to everything that followed.

In a sense, Diego was willing to die for Lindsay because he finally experienced the respect and trust that a human being deserves from Lindsay.

Roger pushed open the orphanage door with both hands. As soon as he entered, he heard shouts and curses coming from the depths of the corridor on his right.

"You have to drink so much water every day! So much hot water!"
"There's not that much gas in the yard! You bastards don't make any money and don't pay your gas bills!"
"You're punished by having to memorize the school rules one hundred times!"

Immediately following were the sounds of beatings and the terrified sobs of children.

Roger followed the sound and saw Diego hiding behind the shoe cabinet, his head in his hands and his face streaked with tears.

His arm had extensive burns, and a kettle with a pointed spout lay overturned on the ground nearby.

The person beating him was a woman with no facial features, whose face was like a black hole.

The woman's behavior was strange and mechanical, and at first glance she looked like a zombie. At this moment she was whipping Diego, and the children behind her were all terrified.

Two of the children had runny noses and flushed faces, looking like they had a fever.

Some of them were helping Diego admit his mistake, but Diego remained silent, refusing to say a word.

At that moment, Roger understood that Diego probably wanted to boil more water for the children with fevers, but this led to punishment and beatings from the orphanage teachers.

When a person experiences psychological trauma, their surface psychological functions may fail, while their deeper psychological functions may be activated, and some childhood memories and complexes may resurface.

In its worst form, these complexes and memories can even become a cage, constantly tormenting people while locking them away forever in the depths of darkness.

Just as the female teacher was about to strike again with her whip, Roger grabbed her wrist.

At that moment, the children and the female teacher finally noticed Roger, who had appeared out of nowhere.

"The pathetic, heartless, and tearless ones dare not utter a word when faced with the dean's punishment, but instead vent their anger on innocent children."

Roger laughed, a laugh more sinister than the devil's.

Immediately afterwards, a longer whip appeared in his hand, which was wet with water and coarse salt, leaving obvious water streaks on the ground.

Roger raised the whip high and then lashed the female teacher back two steps.

In that instant, light shone into the dimly lit orphanage classroom.

The children stared blankly at Roger, then heard him utter a firm statement, yet tinged with a strange self-deprecating humor:
"Children need to drink more hot water!"

(End of this chapter)