Mermaid Reef

The shock lasted for about 10 minutes, and the raving in the underwater forest gradually disappeared.

The originally quiet night was completely disrupted, people ran out of houses in a panic, rowing boats trying to go to open waters.

The cries of children, the chaotic shouts, the slapping of oars on the water and the noise of collisions...

"It must be an earthquake, maybe there will be a tsunami!"

Venice is a city built on the lagoon facing the sea. It has no walls, and the sea water is its walls.

There is a breakwater on the outskirts of the city to avoid the impact of waves and tides on the city. There is also a lighthouse there, and the lights are flashing now-someone sends a signal through the reflection of the mirror.

"Danger, avoidance, vigilance..."

Jason stared at the lighthouse in the distance, whispering the meaning of the signal.

Gemil asked curiously, "Do you understand?"

"Human navigation signals are universal."

"Disguised as a ghost ship, necessary knowledge to frighten humans?"

"...and semaphore."

Jensen had no way to light a beacon on the ghost ship, so he could only pull a piece of decayed cloth to pretend to be a flag.

But it is also very important to understand what the opposite ship or the lighthouse in the distance are expressing. What scares humans, he usually does not do such childish things!

"I don't like to scare humans." Jason couldn't help correcting, he said seriously, "Usually humans will see me when they hit me in a storm, or when their ship is in misfortune, lack of water and food, and they are on the verge of death. I."

Gemil spread his hands: "But judging from the results, there is no difference."

Jason: "..."

"Can the residents of Venice understand the meaning of the lighthouse signal lights?" Gemil looked at the people fleeing in a hurry by the boat and the lanterns in their hands.

"No, they're just scared, and very few people look up to see the lighthouse."

If you read it, you will know that the danger of shaking is now over.

The waterway is illuminated by lanterns, and at the same time, people's expressions of panic and anxiety are illuminated. The waterway was not congested when they first left the house, but they fell into the pile of boats when they were rowing. If someone is skilled enough at this time If you are flexible and agile, you can jump around on the boat without worrying about falling into the water.

Gemil waited for a long time but did not find such a person.

He sighed in disappointment.

The second excellent ant can't wait for the time being.

Jensen felt that if this was an investigative mission, they would have screwed it up in the first place, and at least half the city would have been alarmed.

Thinking of this, Jason couldn't help but speak out.

"What does it matter? Didn't the secret sect already know we're coming?" Gemil asked in surprise.

The tremors in the Death Forest should have been expected by those mystic scholars!

Evil gods always cause visions!

Jason was in a daze, realizing that this was really the case.

"Ah, the bell tower is here."

Gemil pointed forward and said.

What are you afraid of getting lost on the waterways of Venice?Anyway, I followed the other boats and arrived at the destination.

——You can’t even go if you don’t want to.

Jason stepped on the gondola beside him and quickly landed on the shore.

No way, their boat was in the middle of the river and couldn't get close to the shore.

The street is connected to a small square, and the bell tower is not too high. It is a standard building next to the church.

The church is very old, there are no Gothic pointed arch windows, and no Byzantine round dome. It is more like an old gray wall. If it is not for the unique cross of the church, this building immersed in the night will not be at all Get the attention of others.

Gemil noticed where Jason was looking.

"Go to the clock tower first."

Jason didn't object.

Since he "sees" that neither building is empty, the order doesn't matter.

The clock tower is surrounded by stone and brick, and the only door is locked.

The lock is heavy and inconspicuous at first glance. After removing the iron case, it is found that there are complicated gears and chains inside.

Jason "felt" the length of these chains, and found that they penetrated into the wall and pulled more gears. Although he couldn't understand the function of these things, he could speculate.

"There are agencies."

If there is no special key to open the door lock, after the gate of the bell tower is violently broken, the mechanism inside will be activated.

Gemil paused and turned to look at Jason.

What he meant was obvious, to play more excitingly, to see human mechanism?Or keep a low profile and not activate human organs?

Jason reached for the lock.

Black vines protruded from the joints and fingertips, easily resisting all the metal springs inside this complicated mechanical lock.

"Crack."

The lock is open.

Jason looked at Gemil and explained, "Humans are good at picking locks, I'm sure."

So this is not a failure to pretend to be human.

Gemil accepted this statement: "It's better not to activate the mechanism, so as not to destroy the traces left by the sect when it retreated."

Jason: "..."

Are these words learned from detective novels?

In any case, they entered the bell tower without incident.

An ancient stone spiral staircase leads to the roof.

In the middle of the bell tower is the place where the mechanism is hidden, which looks like a huge column.

When Jensen stepped on the first step, his feet sank slightly. At the same time, he heard the subtle sound driven by countless gears. The whole clock tower seemed to "live" suddenly. This is the sound made by machinery, and it can also be understood as a pair of invasion The predators stared at each other and whispered maliciously.

The corners of Gemil's mouth hidden behind the mask rose.

Jason had nothing to say.

Careless.

In addition to the door lock, there is also a trigger device on the first step?

Why are there so many tricks for human beings?

"Are you still going up?" Gemil asked.

Jason said without hesitation: "Of course."

We've all come to the door, should we go back?

The footsteps of the two began to echo in the bell tower, as well as the continuous sound of the mechanism starting.

Sharp iron arrows shot out from the machine spring.

It was very powerful. If it was a human being, it would probably be nailed to the wall with arrows.

The black vine grabbed a sharp arrow, and then grabbed the hat that Jansen dropped while avoiding the sharp arrow.

Suddenly, all ten steps in a row turned over, revealing the sharp black hole below and the vertical blade like a thorn.

Gemil directly turned into a gray shadow, suspended in mid-air.

More clawing vines filled the narrow space of the stairs, some grabbed the protruding bricks, some angrily blocked the shooting port of the mechanism arrow, and simply stretched out to twist the rotating mechanism gear.

The black shadow rolled up a side, poked the vine ball that grew wildly like fried hair, and reminded:

"We agreed to pretend to be human."

The vine ball froze, and then made a dull sound:

"...Anyway, there is no one here."

As long as the result is "successfully reached the top of the clock tower", it doesn't matter what method he uses!

Under the repeated bombardment of various agencies, Jason has completely lost his human form.

The vines protect the core like a rolling spiny ball—if you ignore the black tentacles that stretch out in all directions.

Each tentacle can flexibly curl, each section has barbs like vines, and there are spiral sharp teeth at the forks, which can easily crush solid metal.

The gears in the mechanism room in the center of the clock tower were completely destroyed.

This job is not difficult, and you don't need to be proficient in mechanics to gnaw at a certain distance. As long as the gears can't connect with each other, they won't be able to drive complex mechanical operations.

The sound of the mechanism turning in the bell tower became smaller and smaller.

The black shadow remained motionless, sticking to the vine thorn ball, "moving" forward together.

Gemil wanted to praise Jensen a few words, but he felt Jensen's emotions, not a little complacent, only angry, so Gemil chose to lie on his stomach quietly.

"Peel off!"

Flames suddenly lit up on both sides of the stairs extending to the top of the tower.

The flame danced on the stone tray, the color was very strange, and it was impossible to tell what the fuel was.

"This doesn't seem to be a mechanism... No, after the mechanism is damaged, the gap above the tray will automatically open."

The vine thorn ball was studying it seriously, the gray shadow suddenly expanded, and "swallowed" the nearest flame tray.

The shadows slowly retreated, and the flames on the tray quickly lit up again.

There was a pungent smell in the air.

"It seems to be white phosphorus."

When this kind of thing touches animals and humans, it will directly burn through the flesh and burn the bones into coke.

As soon as Gemil finished speaking, he saw the trays tilted together, and the flames "flowed" out mixed with the things inside.

At the same time, the pallets on top began to explode one after another.

Fire, suspicious liquid fuel sprayed everywhere.

In the night, the bell tower seemed to be a huge torch, burning blazingly.

Jason: "..."

Gemil: "..."

It looks like you can't reach the top of the tower.

In this case, even if you come to the top of the tower, you can't see any traces!

Not to mention analyzing the origin, number, and new hiding place of this secret sect!

The black vines all shrank back, slapping away the flying flames.

Jason is not afraid of phosphorus fire, the temperature is not enough to ignite his body, and there is no protein in his body at all.

But this kind of attack is very effective against the evil god's dependents.

The bodies of those polluted monsters are basically made of ordinary flesh and blood, but these flesh and blood have mutated and been contaminated with mysterious power.Such flames will cause them to howl in agony and even be reduced to ashes.

"People from the secret religious order should peep here." Gemil analyzed.

Maybe still expecting the bell tower to collapse and a horrible monster to emerge from the flames.

——Monsters that can be harmed by human means are not so scary!

So Gemil and Jason began to face a choice again. Should they pretend to be injured by the flames and jump out of the bell tower, waiting for the secret sect to come and die?Or enjoy this unexpected warm massage in the burning bell tower, which makes the religious group startled and suspicious but can't figure out the truth?

"I have a good idea!"

Gemil had a sudden idea.

***

Venice at night.

In front of the dome glass window inside a certain church, you can just see the bell tower burning like a torch in the distance.

A few men in gray cloaks walked over carrying a large, bulky box.

The box is as tall as a person.

The gray cloaks skillfully "opened" the wooden boards on all sides of the box, revealing something that looked like an astronomical telescope.

Intricate runes are engraved on the metal base and body, as well as some intricate gear accessories.

The most eye-catching thing is the lens installed on the mouth of the telescope barrel.

It is not transparent.

Not even flat.

The color of the lens is like a flowing sunset, and there are extremely complex layers when you look closely. The inner pattern looks like a rose at first glance, but after a long time, you will feel dizzy. Those lines seem to come alive, like a changeable kaleidoscope, occupying The human brain and retina.

"boom."

A gray cloak responsible for carrying things inadvertently looked at the lens a few more times, and passed out straight.

"If you drag it on, there will always be this kind of trash in the way."

The person who spoke had an old face and wore a robe that looked like a bishop.

The bishop slowly put the heavy medieval knight helmet on himself, and then patted the shoulder of the man standing on his right: "Hans, it's time for you to dedicate yourself to the church and this city."

The man nodded silently, grabbed the amulet pendant in his hand, and walked to the front of the telescope.

All the gray cloaks raised their weapons and aimed at him as if he would turn into a monster in no time.

The man's breathing became heavier, and he began to adjust the binoculars, then closed his eyes and waited.

"open the window."

"Prepare to be alert."

The dome glass window of the church was lifted, and the telescope was slowly stretched out of the window. The rose lens shone crimson in the dark night,

The body of the man lying on the telescope suddenly trembled violently.

"Hans, what do you see?"

"Shadows... only shadows, terrible shadows cast by flames!"

Hans screamed, and then he fell on his back to the ground, his eyes seemed to be covered with a filmy white cloud.

The talisman pendant tumbled down, the whole body was pitch black, corroded and deformed.

Hans panted desperately, and said hoarsely: "A round head, narrow and huge, with two wing-like fins beside the head, its hair... no, it may be the tentacles from its body, the tentacles are very long, they Arbitrarily curved, covered with horribly sharp teeth, maybe suckers...it glows all over..."

Hans' voice became lower and lower, and he hugged his head and howled.

"He survived, he was not immediately contaminated, quick! Amulet, give Hans another injection of morphine!" The bishop shouted eagerly.

Someone next to him immediately said: "Master Bishop, according to our judgment, we suspect that it is the leader of the evil god's family. It is a powerful monster, second only to the evil god, but humans with high willpower can survive seeing their real bodies." of."

"Make a plan, we're going to drive that guy out or seal him!"

The bishop's tone was full of confidence, he turned his head and said, "Go to the library of the religious group and look it up, those relatives of evil gods who look like octopuses."

"Yes!"

***

Bell tower.

On the burning stairs, the vine thorn ball lay on the head of the giant whale.

No, it shouldn't be called a giant whale, because Gemil's current incarnation is only four feet (1.2 meters) long.

It is the flame that magnifies its shadow infinitely and reflects it on the wall at the top of the bell tower.

"A few more swings and act angrier!"

The whale directed the vine thorns above its head, and unsatisfiedly fiddled with the black vines with its double fins to make them move a little bigger.

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The author has something to say:

Note: No matter what the incarnation is, the essence of the evil god remains unchanged, so the giant whale is not afraid of phosphorous fire

In the world of this article, there is no evil god named Cthulhu, not as big as this octopus.

The shadow of the protagonist lying together here looks like Mr. Ke, the author is playing tricks

------

in front of the clock tower gate

Gemil: Hard mode?Simple mode?

Jason: Easy mode of course, open the door

Then it becomes hard mode

Jason dismantled the mechanism in one go, and triggered the purgatory mode again

Jason+Gammel:  …

Jason: Did we choose the escape route?Or stay put?

Gemir: Try my long-awaited combination form with my sweetheart (not)