Mermaid Reef

After drinking a bowl of cabbage soup, John finally recovered a little strength.

There were deep bruises on his hands and feet from the restraint belt, which was very painful.

Anyway, he finally saved his life.

"Something's not right," John said heavily.

"What aspect are you referring to?" Dr. Abel looked bewildered.

If something is wrong, nothing is right these days, and the detective's statement is confusing.

"If a mouse got into your house and woke you up, how would you react?" John asked.

The doctor didn't even think about it, and immediately replied: "I must find a way to beat him to death, or drive him out!"

John asked again: "Are you too lazy to move because the quilt is too heavy, the room is too cold...or the god knows what?

"That's impossible!"

This time it was Old Jack, the tavern owner, who answered the question.

Old Jack was sitting on the other side of the table. He heard the whole story from the doctor. He was not a scientist, and believed in the legend of the sea god. At that time, he moved to the clinic with cabbage, potatoes and dried fish. He also helped take care of it these days. Sleepy John.The soup in John's hand now is the one he just cooked.

"If Sea God was awakened by Jason's intrusion, he should solve the problem immediately, but Sea God doesn't seem to be in a hurry."

John crossed his arms to analyze, and Dr. Abel had a weird expression.

The doctor did not forget that when the whole town was fleeing for their lives that day, John described Sea God's awakening as a chick breaking its shell.

Poseidon who sleeps in bed, this... definitely isn't right!

"Maybe Jason reminded us, so many people are vigilant. Even if they stay at home and lock the doors and windows, they can't go out and jump into the sea when they are in a nightmare?" The doctor put forward a point of view.

The tavern owner immediately retorted: "No, the mayor's family is missing. Police officer Arson even went to investigate. The door was opened from the inside, which means that it will open when sleepwalking."

Old Jack reported several names in one breath, saying that these people were gone, and they were usually very clever people.

"No, I haven't seen the people you mentioned four days ago." Dr. Abel frowned suddenly, saying that he didn't see these guys when the whole town fled that day, maybe they were smashed during the earthquake Died, fell into a crack and died.

"How is it possible, they are the first batch of people who disappeared."

As soon as Old Jack finished speaking, he saw Dr. Abel and John Qiqi turning their heads and staring at him.

"What is the earliest batch of disappearances? When did they disappear?"

"It was the day when the storm came. Apart from bridges and roads, houses collapsed by the sea. When the police officer Arson went to rescue people, he found that several fishermen who lived there were missing... Then he searched around and happened to be on the beach. I met the victims who were washed up by the waves... Otherwise, it would rain so heavily, who would run to the beach without incident!"

John was lost in thought at the tavern owner's words.

The doctor couldn't wait to ask: "These people haven't appeared since then?"

"Anyway, I didn't see it." The tavern owner seemed to think of something again, and continued, "But those guys have been sneaky. I saw them carrying boxes near the port in the early hours of the morning a few times."

The doctor is completely confused, Black Reef Town has been in decline for a long time, there are no merchants and fleets here, what kind of goods are they moving!

"smuggling?"

John spoke suddenly.

There was silence in the room.

"Is there a map here?" John asked looking up.

Dr. Abel immediately went to check the drawer: "Yes, but it is quite old."

John spread the map on the table, pointed to an unmarked sea area near the headland of Black Lagoon Town and said, "There should be a deserted island here."

Nautical charts do not show every island. Many small islands are not marked on the map. Only nearby fishermen and sailors who are familiar with the route will know.

The doctor looked confused, and the tavern owner nodded after thinking carefully for a while: "I seem to have heard that the island is not that big, and everything is bare stone, with no fresh water and no vegetation."

"I saw in Pastor Conor's notes that he drew a nautical chart near Black Lagoon Town." John pressed his fingers heavily on the map, and there was a sound on the desktop, as if in line with his serious and heavy tone, "Islands circled in red, next to them are 'Forrest Ye'."

In Norse mythology, Gemil, the god of the sea, lives in a place called Forestier on the Isle of Leith in the atrium.

Poseidon's hometown may be the "predecessor altar".

"But what does that have to do with smuggling?"

"I eavesdropped on the crew's conversation on the Zephyr, because the tax was too heavy, and many cargo transactions were no longer carried out at the port, because the port management fee had to be paid as soon as the ship landed, and then the tax was paid according to the weight and number of the cargo removed from the ship. If you purchase goods, when the ship leaves the port, you have to pay another tax according to the box and the type of goods. So in order to evade taxes and deceive the ship owner, they use the ship to smuggle.”

John clicked on the chart, and the other two quickly realized it.

If the goods do not disembark, the two parties negotiate the price at the trading port, and then sail to the deserted island to trade, then they can evade taxes.

Doing so can not only save a lot of taxes, but the captain and sailors can also use the convenience of their positions to bring in prohibited goods and sell them.

"So...those missing fishermen went to desert islands at night to work for smuggling boats?" the doctor asked in shock.

"No, those ships have their own sailors. I'm afraid someone has built a stronghold on that deserted island to facilitate the smuggling ships. After all, the two ships made an appointment to go to the deserted island to trade together, and they are still at sea, so there will inevitably be black holes. There is always a third party if there is a black possibility.”

John raised his head, looked at the shocked tavern owner and doctor, and whispered, "It's the mayor."

The doctor stammered, "I don't understand, what does this have to do with Sea God..."

John pressed his forehead and said, "It's very simple. Something must have happened on the deserted island that served as a smuggling stronghold the night the Zephyr encountered a storm and lost its way! It is impossible to have such a storm in this season, and I am sure that the cargo of the Zephyr No problem, I investigated before boarding the ship, and it was tobacco and rum. Besides, even if whale oil is carried, there are many ships trading at sea these years, and Sea God is not so easily woken up."

If the ancient god in the pastor's notes would wake up casually, the world would have ended long ago.

"Also...if it was the West Wind that awakened the Sea God, do you think we are destined to be washed ashore by the waves? Couldn't we be directly swallowed by the Sea God?"

The only explanation is that the silver moon they saw was just the aftermath of the Sea God's power, not directed at the West Wind.

After that, they encountered the ghost ship. Judging from the chronological order, the ghost ship was not the main reason for waking up the sea god, John thought silently in his heart.

Dr. Abel was also stunned.

"That--"

The doctor's expression twisted slightly.

According to the notes and nightmares of the old pastor, is it blood and killing?

"The Poseidon just woke up 70 years ago, so the conditions for waking it up may be easier to achieve—compared to whaling." John folded his fingers, as if he had witnessed it with his own eyes, and said in a detective's insightful tone, " There may have been more than one smuggling dispute on the deserted island, I don’t know if it was a few years or more than ten years, in short, a large-scale conflict must have erupted that night.”

Blood stained the rocks on the deserted island.

The body must have been thrown into the sea.

There is Forestier, where the legendary Poseidon lives.

Before ancient times, people worshiped and offered sacrifices here.

——Who said Seagod can only have one altar?

Woke up and instinctively emptied the old dinner plate, then yawned slowly and ate another plate?

Dr. Abel shook his head suddenly, throwing away the picture of the giant beast looking at the dinner plate, and asked quickly, "Then what should we do?"

"Of course, throw out the blood-stained sacrifice! The Sea God will continue to sleep after taking the sacrifice." John pressed his palm on the table and said decisively.

Why get up without food!

***

The torrential rain nearly flooded the town with water up to waist deep.

The two were trudging through stagnant water.

"The mayor's house is just ahead." Dr. Abel pressed the collar of his raincoat tightly while speaking loudly.

The wind is very strong, the rain is blowing, and when I speak, I have the illusion of drowning.

Dr. Abel coughed twice, and climbed up a higher eave with difficulty. Before he could think of a way, John had skillfully pried open the window and jumped into the house.

doctor:"……"

This may be the skill of a detective!

This house has a total of two floors. Since the first floor has been flooded, the second floor, which has not been flooded for the time being, has a damp and cold atmosphere, and the strong wind blows things in the house.

John shut the window as soon as the doctor crept in.

"What is the sea god sacrifice you are talking about? The mayor's family has disappeared, and we can't find any clues. I don't know who else in the town is involved in the smuggling." The doctor turned on the flashlight and illuminated the house.

John looked around, then his eyes fell on a bottle of wine in the cupboard.

The doctor wiped the rain from his hair and face, and then he also noticed the luxurious wine cabinet, and leaned over to look in amazement.

"The price of these wines can buy a steamship."

John turned around and walked downstairs. He groped through the water, and then it seemed that some mechanism was turned on, and the stagnant water rushed into the dark room.

"Flashlight!" John opened his hand below, signaling the doctor to throw down the lighting tool.

Dr. Abel was curious and touched it by himself.

The faint light shone into the dark room, shining golden.

"This, this is..."

"gold."

There is a pile of gold bricks and gold coins on the table in the dark room.

John also found a large safe on the wall.

This time without his reminder, Abel offered to provide the stethoscope.

After the box was opened, it was full of cash banknotes and securities, mainly pounds and francs.

Dr. Abel was stunned, and he began to wonder if he really lived in this town.

——Locals seldom talk about private matters, and when they see other people acting strangely on the road, they don’t ask curiously or pursue them, or even go out of their way to say hello. This sense of distance makes Dr. Abel’s feelings very complicated now.

"Here is the account book, you give it to Officer Arson."

"Eh? We're not here to solve the case, are we?"

The doctor hugged the account book, being careful not to get wet.

John shook his head: "No, we are here to find the goods hidden in the mayor's house, that is, the kind of things that are temporarily held in our hands and wait to be sold at a high price. If I guess correctly, it should be boxes of boiled whale oil... "

John turned sharply, the flashlight shining on the door.

A figure stood there silently.

The doctor almost tripped over the stairs, thinking that Jason was like a ghost.

"You found it here."

Jason took off his hat, his expression finally changed, it seemed to be surprised.

"You're following us."

Jason replied calmly: "No, I'm waiting for a detective to find clues. I know very little about Black Lagoon Town, and I don't know where the sacrifice that attracted Gemir is hidden. Been all over town and this house, but..."

"But you didn't discover the mechanism, and you don't understand the design of this mechanism." John said affirmatively.

Jason was not angry, and said frankly: "I really don't understand these things. It doesn't matter who found the sacrifice. What matters is the way to leave Black Lagoon Town."