[Tier: Deputy]

Rogel looked at him calmly and said, "I’ve heard great things about you, Mr. Doyle Devis."

"Do you hide your face because it was burned on the pyre?"

Regarding Rogel’s words.

Doyle merely chuckled, "It seems you have quite the bias against me..."

With that, he turned around.

"Come on, Captain Rogel, why don’t we have a drink? This is not a good place to talk."

With that, he walked off into the distance.

Rogel didn’t say anything and followed.

It wasn’t long before the two sat down in a tavern’s private room.

"Argongos, same as always?"

The tavern owner smiled at Doyle. He seemed to be a regular here.

Doyle nodded slightly.

Gulp.

Upon arriving at the tavern, Doyle removed his mask, revealing a handsome face, and downed a glass of drink in one go.

"What’s the point of wearing a mask?"

Rogel scoffed.

"Phew..." Doyle didn’t reply immediately, but let out a breath of comfort after finishing his drink and shrugged slightly, "Does taking off the mask necessarily mean the mask disappears, Captain Rogel?"

With that, he laughed heartily, picked up the bottle beside him, and refilled his glass.

Rogel watched him silently.

"What are you plotting exactly?"

Upon hearing Rogel’s words.

Doyle stopped drinking, rubbed his chin, and pondered, "Hmm... good question."

"Wealth? Or power? Or perhaps authority? Or profound philosophy..."

"Haha..."

His expression didn’t seem contrived; he appeared to truly contemplate Rogel’s question.

Ultimately, he shook his head and smiled, without giving an answer.

"Captain Rogel, maybe you should have a drink first."

He raised his glass towards Rogel.

Rogel quietly watched his hand holding the glass suspended in midair.

"Stop with the riddles; I don’t have much patience for this nonsense."

"Tell me your purpose."

At this point, Rogel paused and looked directly at him.

"You’re quite bold, daring to have your true self here. I suppose he can’t escape."

Upon hearing this.

Doyle paused with his hand holding the glass.

But moments later, he composed himself and smiled.

"As expected, you are a terrifying presence, Captain Rogel..."

After a sigh, Doyle suddenly put down his glass and stared directly at Rogel.

"But given your personality, you wouldn’t kill me."

"At least not at this moment, right?"

Upon hearing this, Rogel frowned slightly.

But he didn’t answer either.

Indeed, while this guy was an infuriating riddler, he hadn’t caused any substantial harm to Rogel in the current and previous situations.

Besides that annoying contract that initially caused disgust, he even offered Rogel assistance.

Rogel now possessed important Alchemist abilities... thanks to him.

Therefore, according to Rogel’s principles, he wouldn’t take action until the guy displayed dangerous signs.

However...

He can save points.

And has already reverted multiple times.

Rogel even tried beating him to near death on the street.

Yet the guy’s stubbornness was incredibly rigid; even facing death, he wouldn’t disclose his purpose.

"Is Doyle already dead?"

To this, Rogel didn’t respond, but instead asked a question, then lifted his glass and drank.

"...No."

After a moment’s silence, Doyle spoke, his voice subtly changed, followed by a soft laugh.

"You truly are an interesting person, Captain Rogel."

At this moment, the tavern waiter served the dishes he ordered.

Very plentiful, very tasty.

There was a roast chicken, sprinkled with unknown spices. The secreted flavor and spice of roasted chicken intertwined, creating a steaming sensory impact on both their taste buds.

Doyle picked up a piece of oil paper and tore it in half, then each took a leg.

"Here."

He handed a drumstick towards Rogel.

Rogel looked at him and said nothing.

After a moment, he accepted the drumstick and began to gnaw on it.

Seeing this, Doyle smiled with satisfaction, picked up the remaining drumstick, coated it with sticky honey from the plate, and took a bite.

In the time that followed, the two curiously remained silent.

After a while, the food on the table was almost gone.

Once they were full, the topic of conversation finally returned to its course.

This time, it was Doyle who spoke first.

"Captain Rogel, it’s time for you to set off."

"There’s always a starter before the main course."

As he spoke, he took out a meticulously crafted pointer and handed it to Rogel.

"This is the ticket."

[You have obtained: Pointer to the Unknown ×1.]

"Aitar, where is he now? What is your relationship?"

Rogel stared at him.

"Oh, that strange kid you mean..."

Doyle chuckled.

"Don’t worry, he’s part of this grand show too, and you’ll meet him."

"Goodbye, Captain Rogel."

With that, Doyle put on his mask and got up to leave.

Rogel watched his back quietly, not getting up to intervene.

He looked at the empty plates on the table and fell into silence.

After this conversation with Doyle, he confirmed a few critical pieces of information.

Firstly, the present Doyle has an extremely important connection, if not the same person, as the Doyle Devis that Rogel learned about from the Devis Clan.

Secondly, Doyle’s current strength isn’t formidable. Rogel can easily handle him, but Doyle seems to be guarding something, as he refuses to disclose his intentions no matter what, even at the cost of his life.

Bang.

A sound seemingly from the void echoed.

Rogel made a gesture as if grabbing the air and directly tore apart the contract from the void.

"Interesting."

Rogel chuckled lightly and also got up to leave.

Before delving into the truth, he needed to understand a few things first.

...

Argongos, the infamous deceiver, the treacherous one, the vile person, the madman, has done numerous insane acts and crimes that are heinous and anger-inducing.

If anyone could bring his head to see me, I would reward you handsomely.

The above are evaluations from some clans and pirates.

Standing on the Gelin, Rogel stroked his chin in contemplation.

What exactly is Doyle guarding so earnestly? 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Hmm...

It should be mentioned that this guy has probably lived for a long time now.

Although it isn’t surprising for an Extraordinary to have a relatively long life, it was Doyle’s appearance that startled Rogel.

He looked like a young man, even appearing younger than Rogel’s own game character.

Organizing the timeline reveals it’s quite odd.

Rogel had explored lifespan issues related to the Extraordinary when communicating with Chelegen in Black Tide City.

Generally, before reaching the Angel Tier, the life span of an Extraordinary isn’t particularly long.

Even those at the Deputy Tier have a life span limit of around two to three hundred years.

Moreover, over time, the appearance of an Extraordinary does gradually age, though the process is quite slow.

But how long has Doyle been alive?

Rogel wasn’t sure, but from Svika of the Devis Clan’s perspective, Doyle was at least over a hundred years old.

After all, when Svika was in his thirties and full of vigor, Doyle was already in his twenties.

Factoring in the time with the Black Brick, it’s evident that Doyle is genuinely an old-timer.

Yet, his appearance remains youthful, which is one of the mysteries.

Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that some special item or method preserved his appearance or extended his life.

However, Rogel leaned more towards another hypothesis—that the current Doyle isn’t the same Doyle mentioned by Svika.

This inevitably brought up what Rogel did before having a quiet meal with Doyle.

After saving the game, he had given Doyle a friendly smile.

"Playing riddles, huh."

Rogel nodded.

Then, rolling up his sleeves, he punched him squarely in the face amidst Doyle’s stunned gaze.

Although Doyle might have helped him out of some deeper motive, Rogel had no qualms about doing it because Doyle had schemed against him.

He tried to resist, but under the suppression provided by Heisatan, he was no match for Rogel.

However, his bones were extremely tough.

Even though he was half-dead from a lightning strike by Rogel, he didn’t give Rogel the answers he wanted.

He didn’t express anger at Rogel’s action, nor did he show any sign of hatred.

Instead, he said apologetically with a rather strange voice, "Sorry."