Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 140 Roger's Deduction (Two Chapters in One)

"Ince Zangwill?"

Benjamin White was stunned for a moment, then blurted out, "Who is that?"

Roger stomped him to the ground with one foot. Klein frowned slightly and, like a magician, tossed out a tarot card and walked towards Benjamin.

"No, no, I'm telling the truth!"

Benjamin was horrified: "Don't kill me, this is all true!"

Seeing that he didn't look like he was lying, Roger and Klein exchanged a glance. The latter pulled out a coin from his pocket and tossed it into the air, silently muttering, "Benjamin White is not lying."

The result is that the "King's Head" representing the front is facing up.

Klein paused and muttered to himself, "Benjamin White doesn't know Ince Zangwill."

The difference between this question and the previous one is that the name Ince Zangwill is separated and directly refers to the person himself.

In other words, the possibility that Ince Zangwill used a pseudonym to contact Benjamin White was ruled out.

Once again, the coin flip comes up heads.

This result startled Klein slightly, and several possibilities flashed through his mind.

First, one's divination was interfered with and pointed to the wrong target.

However, considering the beneficial effect of the mysterious space above the gray fog on divination, this possibility can basically be ignored.

Second, the person who came into contact with Ince Zangwill was actually another person pretending to be Benjamin White, who had the ability to disguise himself similarly to the "Faceless Man".

Third, Benjamin White came into contact with Ince Zangwill while under hypnosis or unconsciousness, becoming a tool for others to convey messages.

Both of the latter two possibilities are possible, but if Klein needs to verify which possibility it is, he needs to use "Above the Gray Mist" to perform divination and block out interference.

However, in this situation, he could not go above the gray fog!

"What's wrong?" Roger frowned and looked at Klein.

Klein glanced at Roger, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.

Roger understood and tore off one of his ears and threw it at Benjamin White, who looked terrified.

As soon as the ear landed on Benjamin, it exploded and turned into five smaller balls of flesh and blood, which blocked Benjamin's ears, eyes, and mouth respectively.

At this moment, the latter's senses were blocked, and only a pair of nostrils were left for breathing.

Watching Benjamin White writhing in pain on the ground, Klein finally relaxed and told Roger about the last two possibilities he had considered.

Unexpectedly, before Roger could speak, Ms. Sharon beside him spoke first:

"Kill him and communicate directly with the spirit."

"Why?" Klein was a little confused.

"After death, people will remember the information they have forgotten."

Sharon didn't say much, but Roger caught her meaning.

The Abraham family's notes once mentioned that the so-called forgetting does not actually exist, because what ordinary people perceive as "forgetting" is not true forgetting, but rather information that is ignored by consciousness and judged to be "unimportant" that slips into the unconscious that is separated from consciousness and cannot be successfully picked up by the mind.

When people are sleeping or hypnotized, their consciousness interacts with the vast ocean of unconsciousness and recalls information that they have forgotten.

Therefore, this is also the principle why psychologists can use hypnosis to make patients talk about things they have forgotten, and the latter will forget them after waking up.

In fact, allowing unconscious information to "surface" is the essence of the "generalist" approach's ability to recall all the knowledge it has learned and been exposed to, and the "audience" approach's ability to understand, influence, and even manipulate the behavior of others.

Death will cause the fusion of consciousness and unconsciousness. On the one hand, the deceased will remember everything, but at the same time he will fall into confusion, almost lose the ability to resist and be at the mercy of the psychic.

The unconscious will then use its extensive connections with the spirit world to help these deceased people go to the spirit world.

Only a few deceased people with extremely strong obsessions can stay in the world, relying on their obsessions as an anchor to escape the invasion of unconsciousness and stabilize themselves, and move within a very limited space. They are called "earthbound spirits."

Unlike the three mysterious paths and the "Death God" path, which originally held the symbols or authority of the spiritual world, the "Ghost" sequence where Miss Sharon was located should have taken advantage of a bug in the promotion ceremony and replaced obsession as the anchor point for stabilizing self-awareness, which allowed them to move freely between the spiritual world and reality without restrictions.

Roger nodded, gave Klein a brief explanation, and then snapped his fingers.

The five clumps of flesh and blood that had previously blocked Benjamin White reunited, and before the former could catch his breath, they turned into a thin film again and wrapped him up.

Roger clenched his right hand, and the thin membrane of flesh and blood shrank rapidly.

Benjamin White was immediately strangled and struggled violently for a while, but still died of asphyxiation caused by lack of oxygen.

"As expected of a Beyonder with a strengthened body, you've lasted longer than I expected.

"But it's still no match for Beyonders of the 'Sailor' or 'Prisoner' pathways... Especially the latter. They're called the 'Bound One' pathway, but ordinary means simply can't restrain them..."

Roger sighed inwardly, then watched Klein step forward to perform the spiritual ceremony.

After a while, Klein summoned the confused spirit of Benjamin White.

"Have you come into contact with Ince Zangwill?"

Klein asked again, and he also described Ince's appearance again.

"Yes, I met with him four times and helped him deliver the message."

"Who is communicating with him?" Klein asked.

"Vice President Tony Twain, I am related to him by blood, but I have forgotten this myself." Benjamin White answered honestly.

The "forgotten" in his words means that the consciousness has forgotten it, but the information is stored in the subconscious mind.

This could explain why Tony Twain chose Benjamin White and controlled him. Perhaps it was because the power he relied on or the extraordinary item he used had limitations in this regard.

"What message did you help Ince Zangwill convey?" Klein continued to ask.

"Some high-ranking nobles in Loen offered him shelter, but in return, he had to serve them.

“However, he couldn’t complete the tasks assigned by the nobles himself, so he cooperated with the Iron Cross.

"The interests of the three parties overlap, and there is a basis for cooperation."

Benjamin White replied.

When Klein continued to ask for details, Benjamin White said he didn't know.

This was consistent with the answer he gave when he was awake, and now Klein was certain that he really didn't know.

"Where is Ince Zangwill now?"

Seeing that Benjamin White's spirit could not hold out for much longer, Klein asked again.

"In the East..."

Benjamin White was about to reveal Ince Zangwill's whereabouts when he suddenly revealed an extremely horrified expression!
He began to frantically mutter words like "no" and "don't", and after a few seconds he screamed and his spirit disappeared into thin air!
This scene immediately made Bandit arch his back, his ears droop, and all the hair on his body stand up!
Roger and Klein also looked at each other and understood the meaning in each other's eyes.

Someone took advantage of the special nature of the spiritual world and forcibly cut off this spiritual communication!

And they already had a guess as to who that person was.

Ince Zangwill! Benjamin said the word "East" before disappearing.

But no conclusion can be drawn from this word alone.

Because there are too many place names starting with "Dong".

In the Kingdom of Loen alone, there are place names such as Backlund's "Eastern District," East Chester County, and the East Coast.

Roger's expression was extremely solemn. He had originally thought that Ince Zangwill, who had lost 0-08, would become a target of prey from all sides, but he had never expected that Loen's "high-ranking nobles" would provide him with shelter.

This may be the result of his voluntary surrender, or it may be the result of his acceptance of intentional recruitment by certain people.

In any case, the defected Archbishop of the Church of the Evernight Goddess should have successfully escaped the original crisis and gained a respite, but the price that came with it was that he had to achieve the results desired by his supporters.

Roger took on the Conspirator Beyonder characteristic and glanced at the distant Municipal Street where the noisy voices of police and medical staff were coming from. He said to Klein and Sharon:

"I have some guesses. Let's go back to 15 Minsk Street first."

"Okay." Klein nodded in agreement.

About two hours later, after several subway and carriage transfers, Klein, who was sure he had shaken off any possible pursuers, returned to 15 Minsk Street and reunited with Roger, who had already returned using the Fortune Teller's Dice.

It was already half past six, and Roger had already bought some food from a restaurant at the door and put it on the table.

Klein took off his clothes, sat down at the dining table, drank some water, and took a piece of buttered garlic bread to eat.

Because of excessive physical and spiritual consumption, he and Roger were very hungry. They lowered their heads and ate for a long time. After they were basically full, they each poured a cup of black tea and talked about business.

"Let's sort out the current situation."

Roger paused, then brought up a rather unrelated topic:

"Klein, do you remember the recent repeal of the Corn Laws?"

"Remember, why are you saying this suddenly?"

Klein was slightly stunned. For a moment, he didn't understand why Roger brought up this irrelevant matter so nonsensically.

"If you carefully recall the causes and consequences of the repeal of the Corn Laws, and then relate this to what Benjamin White said, you should be able to gain some new insights."

Hearing Roger's words, Klein couldn't help but lower his head in thought and recollection.

The Corn Law was a policy implemented in Loen for many years. Its background was a series of wars between the Kingdom of Loen and its neighboring countries before the start of the Steam Industrial Revolution.

Due to the deterioration of geopolitical relations, the price of imported grain remained high, which made the old aristocrats who owned land feel safe and secure. After all, people need to eat to survive, which is an objective law, and land is the core means of production for producing grain.

However, after the war, a large amount of cheap imported grain poured into Loen, which greatly threatened the interests of the old nobles.

Under such conditions, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, controlled by the old aristocracy, implemented the Corn Laws to protect the country's grain prices, which absolutely prohibited the import of grain from abroad when the grain price fell below a certain price.

In actual operation, this so-called "specific price" is set very carefully.

The price is almost at the upper limit of what ordinary civilians can afford, and the price of food is kept as high as possible while ensuring that there will be no famine that is sufficient to cause unrest.

Later, with the development of the economy and fluctuations in average residents' income, this price standard was adjusted many times.

In essence, the Corn Laws were a legal product implemented by the old aristocracy, who used land as their main means of production and grain produced from their own land as their main means of profit, in order to protect their own interests.

In order to further gain profits, the old nobles also mixed foreign matter such as sawdust and bran into staple foods such as black bread, reducing the actual proportion of grain and indirectly pushing up food prices.

However, with the advent of the steam industrial revolution, the industrial capacity and productivity of the Kingdom of Loen increased significantly, and the population entered a period of rapid growth, turning it from a traditional food exporter into a food importer.

On the other hand, the Industrial Revolution enabled a large number of factory owners and other emerging bourgeoisie to possess a large amount of wealth, thereby further gaining strong power and starting to get involved in politics.

The rise of the New Party took place in this context. They quickly took control of the House of Commons, which was originally controlled by the conservative old aristocracy, and won a large number of seats.

The traditional aristocracy who made profits from land was losing ground to the bourgeoisie who accumulated primitive capital through factories. In order to maintain their extravagant and decent aristocratic life, these people did not hesitate to sell official positions and titles, while the worse aristocrats were forced to sell their land.

People like Baronet Pound belong to the latter category.

It was in this context that the power of the Conservatives was weakened unprecedentedly, and George III took this opportunity to abolish the Corn Laws and allow grain imports.

This not only fed more industrial population, but also further reduced food prices, thereby further striking a blow to the old aristocracy.

When the Corn Laws were just repealed, Klein was not yet a Beyonder, and he was happy for a while because of the drop in food prices.

But for civilians, this is actually another huge pit.

Because of the drop in food prices, a large number of farmers lost their jobs and went to cities to work in industry.

The increase in workers brought competition, which allowed factory owners to further lower average wages.

"So you think this demonstration was supported by the old feudal nobility and was a targeted counterattack against the new bourgeois nobility?
Klein tried to make a guess.

For the old aristocracy, one of the trump cards they could play was to take advantage of the conflicts between workers and factory owners, incite demonstrations and marches, and force factory owners to increase wages and improve working conditions.

This would directly reduce the benefits gained by factory owners and further undermine their position in Parliament.

"However, there are clearly conservative factions within the 'Kingdom Air Pollution Investigation Committee' that are obstructing environmental legislation and industrial innovation. This, on the one hand, is handing a knife to the 'Iron Cross', and on the other hand, it threatens their own seats in the House of Representatives... It's quite contradictory."

"Does this mean that there is disunity among Conservative MPs, or that someone is deliberately dividing and separating them?
"Both the New Party and the Conservative Party were hit at the same time, and the biggest winners were..."

Klein's thoughts raced, and he blurted out:

"king?"

This practice of dividing and ruling the nobles and strengthening the royal power was not unfamiliar to him, who came from the 21st century and received a complete education in literature and history!
"Correct."

Roger nodded: "This is indeed a means to check and balance the nobles and strengthen the royal power."

"So the King wants to limit the power of Parliament and return to the old monarchy?

"That's unlikely. After all, the development of the times will not go backwards. Any wishful restoration will only lead to a miserable end."

Crane shook his head. He couldn't understand the significance of George III's actions.

"It's impossible to go backwards; on the contrary, the times will accelerate development."

Roger smiled and added:
"These include but are not limited to the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Act, lowering the threshold for the granting of titles, and implementing the Poor Relief Act and the Labor Security Act.

"But the difference is that the people will say these rules are more closely tied to the king, rather than to the nobles and parliamentarians of both parties who are being attacked simultaneously."

The reason why he said this was because he took into account the requirements of the "Black Emperor" deification ceremony!
There are three prerequisites for this deification ceremony.

The first requirement was to "establish a country of his own and firmly bind the title of 'Emperor' to himself."

The second requirement is to "establish a set of strict and complex rules that go against the norm, including laws or architectural styles."

The third requirement is to "build nine pyramid-like mausoleums", and the deification ceremony will be completed in one of the mausoleums.

Once the "Black Emperor" is born, it is very difficult for him to die. Even if he dies, as long as the nine tombs are not all destroyed, he will soon be resurrected and wake up in one of them.

What's even more terrifying is that even if all nine mausoleums are destroyed, as long as the rules he established still remain to a certain extent, he may still be resurrected mysteriously!
Unlike the righteous gods believed in by the church, such as the Goddess of Night and the Lord of Storms, the anchor of the "Black Emperor" is actually the people of the country he established, and the way he is anchored is that these people know and maintain the rules he established.

In other words, the more closely these rules are related to the "Black Emperor" himself, and the greater the degree to which the vast majority of people recognize this, the stronger the connection between the rules he established and his own mysticism will be, and the more able they will be to support his subsequent resurrection!

Obviously, compared with the two parties supported and endorsed by tenant farmers or factory owners, a series of new bills that go against the original social cognition and common sense and are encouraged and implemented by the king himself can better meet the requirements of the "Black Emperor" deification ceremony!
　The first update, more to come.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)