Mystery: Big Alarm Clock Ghroth Path

Chapter 197 A Gift to the Storm Church

When the hopping red-eyed half-rat, half-rabbit creature appeared, Roger took out five nuts and said:

"There's no letter today. Please tell Cecilia to come to my house after get off work tonight to prepare for the promotion."

The De La Hoya Rat took the nuts and said:

"Next time, try a different kind of nuts."

Roger was slightly stunned and said with a smile: "Are you tired of eating so quickly?"

"It's us."

The "Rat of De La Hoya" shook his head.

"us?"

Roger frowned and began to think about the meaning behind this sentence.

Previously, "De La Hoya's Rat" said that he was just a terminal extending from a larger consciousness, so the experience of the individual was equal to the whole.

In other words, was it its superior unit, or even the ultimate source, that became interested in the nuts given by Roger?
"In other words, the boss is asking me for food?"

Roger felt a little torn, but he still nodded solemnly:
"Don't worry, I will arrange it."

The "Rat of De La Hoya" nodded with satisfaction, then turned around and jumped into the darkness again.

Roger let out a long sigh and walked out of the bathroom.

Roger had nothing to do in the afternoon, and Alister and Perseus had natural science classes, so he stayed in his studio and revised the flaws and imperfections in the music he composed for the City of Silver.

"That's almost it."

Roger looked at the manuscript paper with many smudges on it, nodded with satisfaction, and then began to translate according to the music theory rules of Silver City.

In Roger's opinion, thanks to the blessing of a large number of "anchors", super strong music memory, and the digestion of the "Composer" potion, his actual composing attainments are now on par with the first-line composers, or even surpass them.

On the other hand, Roger has now developed his own composing style and ideas, which is quite prominent in the song he composed for Silver City.

Once the "Composer" potion is fully digested, Roger will become a true master composer, far surpassing those ordinary composers who do not possess the same extraordinary abilities!
Because he had already laid the foundation with the translation of the previous four pieces of music, Roger was very efficient this time and completed the translation and transcription at around four o'clock in the afternoon.

He breathed a sigh of relief and was about to go downstairs to get some food for the twins, but he heard the vague, illusory sounds again.

"this?"

Roger was stunned for a moment. He sat down again and began to feel the message that Mr. Fool was conveying to him.

In the image sent from Sefirah Castle, he could see a blurry image of Miss Audrey Hall of Justice, dressed in a pure white dress, sitting at a desk and praying to Mr. Fool.

"Dear Mr. Fool, Duke Negan and his conservative aristocratic forces are investigating MI9 and claiming that they showed many inactions in the assassination.

“It is said that there is evidence that these omissions were caused by human factors.

"I think Mr. 'Wheel of Fortune' might be paying attention to this matter. Please help me pass this on to him.

"Praise you, Mr. Fool."

When the scene ended, Roger saw his workshop again.

“Audrey, oh no, Susie, is this information from Earl Hall?
"Speaking of which, this information seems to involve military secrets... Is this Miss 'Justice' overly loyal to the Tarot Club, or does she have a rebellious streak in her bones?"

He smiled and shook his head. In any case, the information Audrey conveyed was crucial.

Because at this stage, MI9 is nominally a national security agency and an organization of extraordinary people, but in essence it still obeys the orders of King George III.

Although I don’t know how Duke Negan found out about the problems with MI9, this is indeed a move in the right direction.

Roger felt that he had to help the Duke.

……

At dusk, in a luxurious manor in the western suburbs of Backlund.

Duke Pallas Nigan, with his gray eyes, was sitting at the dining table with several conservative nobles, having a meal and discussing things.

Although Duke Negan did not die in the previous assassination attempt by Jason Belia, considering his physical condition and age, his body has not fully recovered until now.

Behind him stood two extraordinary people from the Church of Storm.

Those were two Sequence 5 "Ocean Singers".

The backgrounds of these two people have been repeatedly confirmed by the Storm Church to ensure that they are loyal Storm believers.

And they are by no means the only guards of Duke Negan's Manor. In fact, the manor is guarded by extraordinary people everywhere. Not to mention that not even a fly can fly in, it can be called an iron wall.

As for Prime Minister Agushed Negan, although he is the leader of the Conservative Party, considering his brotherly relationship with Duke Negan and in order to avoid suspicion, he chose not to appear here at this time.

"Your Excellency, I wish you good health."

A middle-aged noble raised the wine glass in his hand, and the other female noble opposite him did the same and said:

"Although the military is still gritting its teeth and insisting that there are no internal problems, based on the information we currently have, this is not the case.

"We only need to give us a chance and a little time to uncover the traitor inside Loen in that incident."

"Thank you for your hard work, everyone."

Duke Negan nodded slowly and said:
"But due to my current health condition, I can't drink too much red wine. Please forgive me."

Then he turned his head and looked at his blond secretary, Lockhard Siakam, who was sitting at the door.
"Lockhard, I have some low-alcohol sparkling wine in my cellar."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Lockhard Siakam nodded, stood up, pushed open the door of the restaurant, and then, accompanied by a guard from the Church of the Storm, walked through the hall outside and came to the spiral staircase leading downstairs.

The footsteps of the two echoed softly in the surroundings, and soon they arrived at the door of the wine cellar.

Because there were guests visiting, the cellar door was not locked as per custom.

Lockhard opened the door quite familiarly, and then began to move between the rows of wine cabinets in the wine cellar, looking for the sparkling wine that Duke Negan needed.

After the last assassination, he was also investigated as a person with a military background.

However, because Lockhard has apparently left the army for many years and has followed Duke Negan for quite some time, his background in all aspects is very clean and he is deeply trusted by the Duke.

In addition, as a Beyonder on the "Lawyer" path, he was very good at destroying evidence and defending himself. He even passed the lie test secretly conducted by the Church of the Lord of Storms with the help of another companion, so nothing was found out in the end.

But even so, Duke Negan is no longer as close to him as before, but is always wary of him, and always sends a trustworthy Beyonder to monitor him when it comes to security issues.

In fact, if Lockhard hadn't been more familiar with the situation at the manor, Duke Negan wouldn't even have let him come to get the sparkling wine.

This pervasive surveillance made Lockhard quite uncomfortable. Now, let alone finding a way to assassinate Duke Negan, even communicating with the outside world was very difficult for him.

When he turned around to look for the wine cabinet, he glanced at the "Ocean Singer" who was following him and found that the other party was walking slowly and keeping a distance from him. As long as he reached the turning point, the other party would quickly catch up.

"Made..."

Lockhard cursed in his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it.

As he walked, he soon came to the wine cabinet where the sparkling wine was kept.

Lockhard took a deep breath and tried to take the wine off the top, but he soon noticed something strange.

That is, from now on, going back about ten seconds, he could only hear his own footsteps!

Before Lockhard could take a closer look, he suddenly felt his mind go blank.

The back of Lockhard's head suddenly exploded, and a sharp blade made of ice shot in from there, causing a penetrating wound, and then nailed his head to the beam of the wine cabinet.

Then the boiling hot blood quickly melted the ice blade, turning it back into water.

Roger, wearing an owl mask, a burgundy windbreaker, and white gloves, stepped out of the darkness.

He placed a suitcase stained with blood on the ground and put a card with writing on it into Lockhard's breast pocket.

Then Roger took off his hat and bowed slightly, and before the sound of running came, he quickly disappeared from the scene.

Not until he was completely gone did the "Ocean Singer" come closer.

Earlier, when Lockhard turned a corner, he tried to catch up, but found that he had lost track of the blonde secretary.

It was as if the distance between him and Lockhard had suddenly widened...

It was not until he heard the sound of the icy blade blowing his head off that he followed the sound.

He looked solemnly at Lockhard's body, which had already fallen to its knees in front of the wine cabinet, and took out a magical item he had on him that could contact his teammates...

Ten minutes later, several extraordinary people from the Church of Storm gathered in the wine cellar.

Two men were examining the strange suitcase, while another was examining Lockhard's body.

"Reporting to Lord Wellington, the deceased had a penetrating wound on the back of his head, but no murder weapon was found, and there were no signs of a struggle. It must have been a single blow that killed him.

“It’s also worth mentioning that there were water stains on Lockhard Siakam’s body that were of unknown origin.

The Beyonder in charge of examining the corpse stood up and continued speaking to a lean, middle-aged Punisher Senior Deacon with a dark blue-black anchor tattoo on his neck:
“We’ve seen wounds like this before, when we were investigating the Witch Cult incident.

"On the other hand, Lockhard's extraordinary characteristics were not taken away, which shows that the perpetrator was in a hurry."

"The Witch Cult...what's their grudge against Lockhard?"

The deacon named Wellington muttered to himself, but soon he heard another voice:
"Sir, there's something in Lockhard's breast pocket."

That was another extraordinary person from the Storm Church. At this moment, the young man was repeatedly looking through the card, and only after making sure there was no danger did he hand it to his captain.

There were two lines of words written on it.

The first line read: "This is the first of two gifts for His Excellency the Duke."

The second line of text is a coordinate address located in South Wales.

Wellington's expression changed rapidly. He turned to look at the suitcase stained with blood, thought for a moment, and then said seriously, "What happened here today cannot be told to others without my permission.

"You must swear an oath to the Lord of Storms."

……

Roger's figure quickly appeared at No. 15 Minsk Street.

He did not rest, but took out an exquisite black cufflink he had just bought, frowned, and buried the extraordinary characteristics of the "Witch of Pain" in it.

Only then did the inexplicable aura around him quickly recede.

Roger sank down into his chair and breathed a sigh of relief.

"With a three-day skill cooldown, good time management is crucial."

He played with the cufflinks in his hand for a while before saying:

"The seal for Klein is ready. Duke Negan has already informed us. The schedule was quite tight, but thankfully everything was completed in time."

Previously, Roger used the power of "Oneness" to bypass the heavily guarded Duke Negan's estate, killed Lockhard Siakam there, and then helped Klein complete the creation of the "Witch of Pain" seal before his power cooled down.

On the other hand, when he killed Lockhard, he deliberately left a lot of clues to the Church of the Storm and Duke Negan.

First of all, Roger killed Lockhard with an ice spear, and deliberately left water stains on his body from the melted ice. This was to tell the Storm Church that this matter was related to the "Witch Sect".

On the other hand, he deliberately left the suitcase stained with the blood of the "Apostle of Desire" when he killed Jason Belia at the scene. Combined with the description of the "two gifts", it was easy for the Church of Storms and Duke Negan to draw two conclusions.

The first gift was Lockhard's death. Combined with the existence of the suitcase, it was not difficult for the official Beyonder to infer that the secretary lurking beside Duke Negan was the insider behind Jason Belia's assassination, and they could further find out the various relationships behind him.

The second gift was the coordinates left by Roger.

That is a valley in South Wales, where one of the tombs of the "Black Emperor" is located!
Referring to the previous incident in Ahowa County, combined with Roger's deliberate use of the "Ice Lance" ability, the Storm Church can easily infer the commonalities between Southwell County and Ahowa County.

The fact that the Witch Cult had previously wiped out an entire team of Mandated Punishers had greatly angered the Cardinal of the Church of the Lord of Storms in the Backlund Diocese. Given the characteristics of Beyonders of the Tyrant Path, they would never have let this go if they hadn't been worried about an ambush in Ahowa County.

At this time, Roger gave a new address to the Church of the Lord of Storms, and the latter would never miss this opportunity for revenge!

When Roger was interrogating Evelyn through psychic communication, he had already used the ability of "Oneness of All Things" to completely block the other party's spirit from interacting with the outside world. Therefore, neither "Desperate Nightingale" Panatia nor any other member of the witch sect should know that the location of the mausoleum in South Wales had been leaked.

Of course, the Church of the Lord of Storms might still consider whether there is an ambush in South Wales, but they will also conduct a cautious investigation.

Considering that the Church of the Lord of Storms is very powerful and can act more conveniently in South Wales, as long as they are not stupid, there is a high probability that they will be able to confirm the situation there.

This is the use of information asymmetry. Since the "Witch Sect" may be ambushing troops in Ahowa County, how about attacking the retreat of Southwell County?
Roger smiled when he thought of this.

At this moment, he heard a girl's roar downstairs. It was obvious that Cecilia was teaching Alister and Perseus a lesson.

Roger laughed, opened the door and went downstairs, and sure enough he saw Cecilia pulling Perseus's ear, while Alister was silent beside him, not daring to say a word.

Klein, Sam, Bandit and their cat were sitting nearby, drinking tea and watching the fun, as if the twins' experiences had nothing to do with them at all.

After seeing Roger coming down, Cecilia finally calmed down and regained her capable appearance.

She and Sam each greeted their cousin, and Roger nodded in response.

"Congratulations on digesting the 'Corpse Collector' potion. This is the 'Gravedigger' Extraordinary characteristic and potion formula. The supplementary ingredients are in this small jar."

Roger handed Cecilia a small bottle containing the extraordinary properties of the "Gravedigger" that he had extracted using the "Parasite Glove", a small glass jar and a piece of paper.

Klein spoke at the right time:
"I have potion-making equipment in my basement storage room. I'll get it for you."

"Thank you very much, Detective Moriarty." Cecilia thanked him politely.

"Wait a minute, I'll go with you, is that okay?"

Roger asked.

"Sure, I don't have anything shameful there."

Klein shrugged.

Because of the existence of Bandit, the apprentice cat, he has a special place to keep things that involve his secrets. If he just goes to the storage room to get equipment, he doesn't mind at all.

Roger nodded and followed Klein, who used the key to open the door of the underground storage room. The two of them went into the storage room together and turned on the gas light.

"By the way, this is what I promised you."

Roger didn't rush Klein to get the equipment, but instead handed the black cufflink to Klein.

“Although it’s a little late, the production results are pretty good.”

Roger introduced:
"It can use ice, 'occult pathogens', mirror magic, spider silk, black flames, and most other witch abilities.

"As for the side effects, you can't use it for more than 15 minutes, otherwise you will be infected by the mysterious pathogens in it.

"The longer you're infected, the higher the chance of death, and the symptoms won't improve until you stop using it.

"Also, don't use it when you're spiritually exhausted, or you might be forced to experience alternating extreme pain and pleasure, and become an idiot."

At the end of his words, Roger winked and gave a sly smile.

"Thank you."

Klein nodded, put on the cufflinks and felt them for a moment, then spoke again:
"What's it called?"

"It's up to you."

Roger shrugged. Since this was something he wanted to give to Klein, he didn't take the liberty of naming it.

"Then let's call it 'Ice and Fire Cuffs'."

Klein smiled. The word "Ice and Fire" has two meanings. It corresponds to black flames and frost, as well as pain and joy.

"Good name."

Roger curled his lips and began to help Klein carry the beakers and stands upstairs.

"I helped you once before, and you should have learned it by now. So you have to mix the potion yourself this time."

Roger looked at Cecilia and raised his eyebrows.

"no problem."

Cecilia accepted the challenge without hesitation.

She added pure water, auxiliary materials and main materials into the beaker in turn very skillfully, and soon successfully prepared the potion.

"Awesome."

Roger took one look at the potion and knew it was in the right state.

"Of course I am an Abraham."

Cecilia said proudly, then drank the grayish black potion in one gulp and began to meditate on the spot.

After a long while, she finally opened her eyes:
"It's done."

"What abilities did you gain?"

Sam looked at Cecilia, whose complexion was becoming increasingly pale, with some envy, and asked.

Cecilia stretched her legs, looked around, and fetched an apple from the dining table.

"do not move."

She placed the apple on Sam's head and took two steps back.

Then, Cecilia leaped forward, spun lightly in the air, and kicked the apple on Sam's head with great accuracy without hurting her brother.

This scene made everyone's eyelids twitch, including Roger, but soon Cecilia smiled and said:

“My physical strength and spiritual vision have been enhanced, and my movements have become more agile.

"I can still communicate and establish connections with a few nearby spirits, but that's not the key."

Then she raised her eyebrows:

"The most important ability of the Sequence 8 Gravedigger is the Eye of Death.

"It's a visual ability that allows me to step into the spiritual world and the realm of the dead, looking down on my enemies from a higher level and seeing their details.

"Even when facing unfamiliar undead and spirit creatures, I can quickly identify their weaknesses through observation."

"sounds good."

Roger nodded. The abilities Cecilia was talking about were the abilities of the "gravedigger," and he was very familiar with them.

Then he asked again:
"Do you have any ideas about digesting potions?"

"…At the moment, I think there's a symbolic similarity between 'corpse collector' and 'gravedigger,' meaning I can still perform a symbolic role in my current job, like becoming a gravedigger from the old days.

"As for the specific details, I haven't thought about it yet."

Cecilia admitted frankly.

"Speaking of which, I have a great idea."

Roger suddenly spoke up.

"What idea?" Cecilia suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Gravedigger, as the name suggests, of course has to dig graves."

Roger couldn't help but reveal a somewhat mischievous smile.

(End of this chapter)