Mermaid Reef

"Zi... Inspiring good news, the Luna 3 probe successfully completed its mission, and it took a photo of the back of the moon... This is a picture that humans have never seen..."

The radio was broadcasting impassioned Russian broadcasts amid bursts of electrical interference.

A plate of bread and butter was placed heavily on the table, waking up the young man who was listening to the radio.

"captain?"

The young man stood up immediately.

"We should change the name. Now we have no boats. The fishing boats rented this season have been returned. The wind and snow are coming, so it is not suitable for sailing again."

Hans Fischer took the initiative to take a bottle of wine from the cabinet.

He had just shaved and looked much younger.

The cold wind outside the window smashed the glass with snowflakes. Hans took a look and pulled the thick windproof fur to cover the gap between the door and the window.

The room was not spacious, and Hans had to lower his head slightly to walk, otherwise his head would hit the roof.

The fire burned vigorously, casting Hans' tall figure on the wall like a polar bear looking for food.

The people who sat by the fireplace to keep warm laughed.

"Well, leader, we are always worried that you will be accidentally injured by hunters when you go out in this weather."

There are three people in the room.

Hans, the occultist who is afraid of the cold, and the skinny young man playing with the radio.

The young man's name is Tom. His hands are very dexterous, and he also likes to transform objects. He often ponders new things with the mystic scholars in the team.

"Did you hear anything interesting on the radio today?"

Hans pulled out his chair, sat down and scooped himself a bowl of potato stew.

"No, but..."

The occultist William shrugged, spread his hands and said, "The Soviets want to go to the moon."

"Americans do too," said Tom, picking up the bread and dipping it in the thick soup, biting into it.

This is a game between two great powers.

Just using the earth as the playing field can no longer satisfy them, so the space program is put on the agenda.

If you are an ordinary person, you will definitely have a strong interest in rockets, artificial satellites, and lunar probes, and hope that the day when humans land on the moon will come soon.

Mystery investigators don't have it so easy.

—To know too much is a burden, a curse.

"I looked through the classics, and asked all the 'friends' I could contact." Mysterious scholar William said in a heavy tone, "They all said that there are evil gods sleeping on the moon."

Hans chewed more and more slowly.

Tom shifted his position quietly, crouching his neck and nibbling on his own bread.

After a few minutes of silence, Hans suddenly asked:

"Who do you think it will be?"

"Uh, is that evil god? The records are very vague, and there are many things to say. If you want to talk about the first reaction... I guess it is Thoth, the god of the moon and wisdom."

Hearing Scholar William's answer, Tom rolled his eyes and silently laughed.

God of wisdom Thoth?It really is the standard answer for mystic scholars!

Although this evil god brought countless disasters, the knowledge he brought made countless people crazy.

Even if the records of human beings successfully obtaining "favor" are in ancient Egypt and ancient Greece, modern mystics still put Thoth, the god of wisdom, first. Even if they go crazy, it is difficult to control their longing Affection.In other words, going crazy is the expected ending for most mystics, so why not choose the power you want?

"Thoth...his symbol is the crescent moon, and among the evil gods, he is willing to talk to humble beings."

"No, William, there are actually many evil gods symbolized by the moon." Hans said in a deep voice.

Ceremonies of the advent of evil gods and mysterious events often occur at night, and are closely related to disasters, death, and chaos. If the "moon" is really used as a screening tool, Hans, who is familiar with the classics of the Gray Order, can report more than a dozen in one go. The name of the evil god.

There are old gods and new gods.

Of course, there is also the one Hans is most familiar with... Gemir, the sea god.

Hans rubbed the center of his brows, put the indescribable evil god behind him, and returned to the serious problem in front of him.

They certainly can't stop scientists from the two countries from exploring the moon.

Not many people know the existence of their team, and the most important one may be the British government.

This is also because of the London smog incident in 1952 and the subsequent adverse effects.

"The lunar probe just took a few photos, and nothing should happen. The evil god is not so easy to wake up."

As the mystic scholar in the team, William also had to work as the secretary. He took the initiative to comfort Hans and asked the team leader to handle the work by the way.

"Yesterday I received another telegram from London, asking us to go to Bermuda to investigate the Elizabeth that happened more than a month ago."

"Huh? Didn't I refuse this?" Hans asked suspiciously.

Tom, who was sitting next to him, fiddled with the radio and muttered, "Yeah, I heard that the British government hired a lot of people to identify the traces."

There was a corpse of a mutant creature on board the ship.

This thing is a valuable asset for all secret sects. Hans has no interest in competing with his "peers". He chose another path many years ago.

"...Don't you know? Commander, Sable Island is missing!"

Tom gestured exaggeratedly, and deliberately lowered his voice and said, "This news has been suppressed for a long time, but it was leaked out recently. The Americans quickly searched the sea area, but they couldn't find the moving island. Not on the bottom of the sea, not in mid-air! The Americans chased it to Bermuda and demanded the wreck of the Elizabeth ship."

Hans was not interested in the subject.

He knows that the British government will eventually let go, and then the benefits will be exchanged.

He's not interested in being a pawn at the poker table of politicians.

Hans opened the whiskey bottle and listened silently to the heated discussion among his team members.

"I heard that the Americans suffered heavy losses that day, and one ship sank."

"They want to get clues from the survivors of the Elizabeth. These people have been arranged for treatment by the British government, and they can't intervene."

"Didn't those survivors all go crazy? And they don't remember anything!"

"No, an old professor recovered well. He told a complete story, but he seemed to have witnessed the Elizabeth being swallowed by quicksand. He fled to the island with other survivors, and encountered a monster the size of a house. Then he somehow got back on the boat."

To the ears of psychiatrists, this is evidence of hallucinations in patients. ,

But people like Hans don't think so.

They knew that was a completely true description.

For hundreds of years, occult scholars and religious orders have repeatedly studied the island of death, but they can only discover its mysteries, but cannot obtain its power.

In the end, everyone agreed that there was a sleeping evil god there.

Now, the evil god is awake.

"...It seems that they are determined to dig out the secrets of Sable Island, so they focus on our leader's ability, and want to find clues from the dreams of those survivors."

"When was the American Mystery Department established? Strange, why haven't I heard of this before?"

"Forget it, it was caused by the submarine stray accident in the North Pole last year."

Mystic scholar William reached out to pick up the whiskey bottle on the dining table, and said in a sarcastic tone, "Americans are willing to ask for a price, and there must be someone who is willing to sacrifice their lives. But I heard that they are a group of Salem people."

"Cultist?"

Hans was a little surprised.

Tom said briskly: "Well, if you think about it, the methods of the cultists are the most direct and effective, and they provide the easiest and quickest way to gain power. If we go to the politicians with the cultists to seek a job , there is no doubt that we must be eliminated!"

Realizing that Captain Grizzly was staring at him, Tom immediately shut his mouth.

The fire was still burning vigorously.

Hans put down his wine glass and dealt with the stack of letters on the table.

——Letters from all over the world, all related to "mystery".

"How much money do we have?" Hans asked casually.

William took out his notebook and said seriously: "Originally, we should have taken over the job at the end of the year, because last year we spent too much in the North Pole, all the amulets were broken, and we also compensated for a ship. Even with the follow-up funds paid by the British government, it is only It was barely enough for our expenses. But two months ago, Captain, you suddenly found a sum of money and a pair of glasses next to the pillow."

Hans frowned deeply and corrected, "It's the reward from the evil god. I completed a training job in the dream."

"Well, I'll keep the accounts like this." There was no sincerity in William's tone.

Tom turned his head, and turned comically again to look at the notebook, and saw that William had really written that.

Of course Tom remembered Jason and Gamil.

He also worked as a temporary bartender for two evil gods. Although the "entertainment" was not very successful, he did "know".

That is, from the appearance of the two evil gods, Tom discovered that the world of Hans Fischer was actually divided into two parts.

One part is dark, terrifying, and ominous, and grows wantonly on thorns called mystery.

The other part is a ray of sunlight leaching through the clouds, shining on this grotesque mess of ruins.

Just like now, everyone is still saying the word "evil god", but the mood and tone are completely different from before.

William continued to ask: "By the way, I also received a check from the UK this morning. The note is to thank the dream therapist. How should I keep the account?"

Hans picked up his glass again, and said sullenly, "It's a job introduced by the evil god. The client is an old woman and a lady. They have been trapped in the basement where the London air raid took place in 1940."

Tom was shocked: "Cthulhu can still introduce jobs? Wait, did someone pay Cthulhu's agency fee?"

Hans: "..."

Strictly speaking, Cthulhu has no "introduction", it is an automatically generated contact, an automatic door-to-door customer.

Hans still hasn't figured out how Miss Cindy Fenier joined this evil god investigator club!

Anyway, that Miss Fenier is very tight-lipped, and she is a person who can keep secrets.

"Dong dong dong."

The door was knocked.

The three looked at the door at the same time, and saw a tadpole-shaped rune lit up on the coat rack made of wood, which was green.

This means that the person knocking on the door is a companion carrying the same amulet.

Hans strode over and moved the heavy door aside.

The person who came in brought a gust of cold wind, and he took out a telegram from his arms and handed it to Hans.

"Urgent, from London."

The visitor walked to the table, picked up the whiskey bottle and drank the rest of the wine. Then he rubbed his frozen fingers and let out a comfortable sigh.

Hans pulled out the telegram and found that there were only two words on it.

The moon, as well as the occult realm represent symbols of danger.

"What did they find?" Hans asked blankly.

"I don't know, but there must be a lot of trouble, otherwise the news would not have reached us."

Hans put on a thick fur coat and motioned for others to follow.

Five hours later, they were waiting for a helicopter to pick them up in a small town in Greenland.

"I need to know the specific situation." Hans stood in the snow, his hair was messed up by the strong wind, and he still insisted on not moving, not allowing his team members to get on the plane.

"... Mr. Fisher, it's so snowy here that you can't see the moon, or you wouldn't be asking me this question! For God's sake, the tidal force is increasing all over the earth, since last night start!"