Mermaid Reef

"What are you looking at?" The patrolman noticed that John was staring across the street strangely, as if he had been stimulated by something.

But there was nothing there.

"I just thought of something. The landlord couple said they saw a demon. Yes, the house vibrated for no reason at that time."

While dealing with the patrol police, John passed the two evil gods who were carrying out "suspicious transactions" on the main road without turning their eyes.

London is so big, why are you meeting here?

At this time, out of the corner of the detective's eye, he saw the stack of books in Gemil's left hand and the latest detective novel in Jason's arms.

"Cough cough!"

John coughed violently. If he remembered correctly, the novel was only sold in the early hours of this morning. Was this a queue to buy overnight?

The list of books he wrote, the bookstore, the new version of the novel... these clues were quickly arranged in John's mind, and the answer was automatically generated.

——Co-author Is this a fateful encounter in a bookstore?

On the foggy streets of London in the middle of the night, the evil god found a similar person disguised as a human, queuing up to buy books all night?The interest aroused by their common hobbies has allowed their relationship to develop rapidly, even without an introducer?

John thought with a strange expression, should he step forward to play the role of a witty friend at this time, exclaiming in a hypocritical voice the social rhetoric of "what, you guys already know each other, and I was going to introduce you to meet"?

No no, he doesn't want to meddle in his own business!

John wants to take out the sapphire, and then ask the evil god to stay as far away from his house as possible, and don't come to the door again!

Seeing John's changing expression and violent ups and downs, Jason worried that the detective's willpower would not be able to withstand the stimulation of the simultaneous existence of two evil gods, so he quickly reminded: "Gamil, we should go."

This is both a reminder to Gemil, be careful not to kill this useful detective, and a reminder to the detective.

The figures of the two gradually disappeared into the mist, leaving only John standing still in place.

Wait, Gemil, isn't that the sea god in the legend of Black Lagoon? !

The strange reef that smelled of sulfur, the crimson water, and the shriveled corpses buried deep in the gravel...

John was sweating and pale.

"Hey!"

The patrolman slapped John on the shoulder impatiently.

This case is really bizarre. The victim’s injuries are hard to tell. The landlord and his wife at the scene insisted that the murderer was a demon. The tenant on the second floor said it was a beast. The tenant on the third floor was a poor detective with a reputation and refused to cooperate Forget about the investigation, but now it's like seeing a ghost again.

***

No matter what happened the night before, the sun rose as usual.

After barely dispelling some of the mist of dust and soot, the sun continued to serve as the city's indispensable, but also invisible, mysterious light source.

Along the Thames, church bells rang, people looked up subconsciously, and soon resumed their journey.

There are glamorous private carriages on the street, as well as homeless vagabonds.

People are indifferent to people other than themselves. Even if Jason walked among them, he didn't feel that he was any different from these humans.

Jason took a look at the photo in his hand, then put it back silently.

With this token, Gemil can find him at any time, and similarly, he can also find the other party.

After leaving the street of the bookstore, the two of them didn't say a word, but suddenly looked up at each other in tacit understanding while walking, and then chose two different forks.

It may be that today's bookstore encounter happened too suddenly.

Gemil may have realized that he shouldn't use the old method of the evil god, and he hasn't learned the new method-so Gemil will not appear again until he reads those books.

Jason thought about it with complicated emotions, and decided to find a place to read human books as well.

Don't get me wrong, it's a book about Norse legends.

——Jason himself is not interested in the myths written by humans, he just doesn't want to cause any misunderstandings when they meet next time.

Jason has no friends, nor does he have a reliable like-kind to consult with. He searched his memory up and down, but he couldn't find a few examples of the same kind mating, and there was no reference at all.

But there is no doubt that Gemil's progress is two years faster than him.

The ancient god had followed Jensen silently for so long and obtained a lot of information, but Jensen knew almost nothing about Gemir, except for those distant and vague legends.

At the moment when the misunderstanding was resolved, Jason's mind was full of images of the mermaid floating out of the sea, singing softly under the silver moon, luring him to fall.

Then a whole new emotion emerges.

Jason had never felt this kind of emotion, and it was said that it was only human.

shame.

Jason was shocked and also felt a little novelty.

Rationality made Jason think, how could he change all the images in his mind to a different idea immediately after the threat to his life was lifted?He didn't even want to refuse this kind of inviting temptation, the deadly and dangerous aura seemed to be urging him impatiently.

Could this be the reason why Gemil "chase" up without hesitation?Have a special connection with the same kind and experience more emotions?

Jason felt his body sink.

He took off his gloves and spread his right palm.

Some soft black tentacles protruded from the blood vessels and veins, piercing the skin, but no drop of blood flowed out.

The tentacles quickly retracted, and his knuckles were slightly blue, as cold as a piece of ice.

Putting his gloves back on, Jensen walked into a Georgian building next to the Thames that served as a private library.

***

The alley was sealed off by police tapes from Scotland Yard in London, half of the road in front of the apartment was occupied, and there were large bloodstains on the ground.

This strange case has been published in today's London tabloids, and it also occupied a palm-sized space in the social news page of the Daily Telegraph. The newspaper fabricated a serial killer who wandered in the dark and ambushed others in horror terms. Killer image.

Yes, serial killers.

It seems that the term has been a news page favorite since the horrors of Jack the Ripper at Whitechapel 40 years ago.

No matter what the case is, as long as it is brought to the serial killer, it can arouse heated discussions among London citizens.

"It's terrible. There are people here today to watch the excitement." The landlady's wife immediately started to mutter when she saw John came back.

John rubbed his slightly sore forehead and said tiredly: "I won't be back for dinner recently. If you can, please help me prepare a piece of bread and put it on the table. If I don't come back before ten o'clock in the evening, you Just lock the door."

The landlord's wife immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She insisted on waiting so late while reading the Bible, just to advise her tenants not to come back too late.

Because of the murder that happened last night, the terrified landlord and his wife called a locksmith to install a new chain and padlock on the door of the apartment. The landlord's wife held the key herself, and there was only one key.

John came back and glanced at the gate, knowing it immediately.

This level cannot be regarded as reasoning, it is just observing the details and guessing from the expressions of others what they did not say.

"A detective from Scotland Yard came this morning and I said you were a detective and they said..."

The landlord's wife had a strange expression on her face.

"They say I'm a bad detective who screwed up a very important commission."

John stopped in his tracks. He stood on the stairs and turned around and said, "We don't know the dead man. If there is no accident, the people from Scotland Yard will not come again because they can't ask anything. But the police will strengthen their investigation on this matter." Patrols of the streets and surrounding areas, that's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes!" the landlady stammered.

She watched John climb up the third floor and close the door.

Then the landlord and the staff of the firm poked their heads out from the first floor and the second floor respectively, obviously they were all eavesdropping just now.

The landlord's wife said to herself: "Actually, I want to say that Mr. Inspector is wrong. John is very good. He often guesses what I have not said... Although he is not as good as Mr. Holmes, he is more tempered than Mr. Holmes." OK!"

Her husband and the staff of the firm nodded.

No one wants to live in a house with a detective who shoots a gun in a wall, not even Mr. Holmes.

"By the way, what is the commission that John screwed up?" The staff of the firm went to work during the day, so they didn't know the content of the conversation.

"Uh, it seems to be a dispute over the inheritance of the Brandon family." The landlady said sarcastically.

So it turned out that the poor detective who was ridiculed by various newspapers was John?The staff of the firm was shocked. He lost an important document last week, and John helped him solve it in a few moments. He also scared the colleague who secretly tried to get him away, so he never dared to play again pattern.

Such a detective is stupid and incompetent?Is everyone in Scotland Yard blind?

The staff of the firm hesitated for a moment, then climbed to the third floor and knocked on the door.

"The door is unlocked, come in by yourself, what's the matter?" John took off his coat and was busy sorting out the information gained from today's investigation, about Brandon's property.

The staff of the firm took out a brown paper bag and put it on the table.

"Thank you for your help about last week. When I passed by the bookstore today, I saw... Uh, anyway, this is a Christmas gift. If I wait until Christmas to give it, I am worried that you will buy it yourself, and the gift will become It would be too bad if you lost what you already had."

The staff of the firm left after speaking.

John stared at the brown paper packet and recognized for a second that it was a book.

He had a bad premonition, and when he opened it, it turned out to be a detective novel that was on sale today.

John: "..."

There was nothing wrong with a detective story, but it would remind him of what had happened this morning.

What kind of fate is this that makes the sea god in Norse mythology come to London to find the person he likes?

After tossing for a long time, it turns out that everyone is an "acquaintance"!

John was very angry. Although the death of Pastor Conor and the tsunami in Black Lagoon had antecedents, and Jason and Gemil were not targeting John, the result was that these two joined forces to cause his two years of trouble. Down and out.

Return what gems!What kind of entrustment money is refunded!

John thought angrily, after Gemil left last night, he found that he had lost three packs of cigarettes!

Who would enter his room to steal cigarettes!The landlord couple and the business staff do not smoke!

John also only left the room briefly when the homicide happened yesterday, when Gemil was still there, who could enter the detective's room to steal cigarettes under the eyes of Poseidon?Apart from Gemil, there are no other suspects!

What kind of evil god is this?

John's head stopped aching at the thought of cigarettes this morning, and he quickly recovered from the horrific thrill of hearing the name "Gamil."

John angrily lit himself a cigarette he just bought, and slowly exhaled a smoke ring.

Before he could enjoy the high-quality flue-cured tobacco that he hadn't smoked for a long time, the door of the apartment was slammed.

John glanced at the watch on his wrist, the hour hand was approaching the Roman numeral ten.

"Who is it?" the landlady asked in a trembling voice downstairs, as if afraid that it was the devil who came.

Demons don't knock on doors, they usually go through windows, John said to himself, then instinctively glanced at his window.

One minute later, the landlady knocked on the door of John's room, her eyes were full of sympathy and pity, and a young woman stood behind her.

"Susan?" John recognized the washerwoman who came to their apartment every day.

"It's that guy, it's that hateful guy who died."

The laundryman's expression was slightly distorted, it was painful and joyful, and she seemed to be relieved, and she couldn't wait to say, "I remember his face! You asked someone to send me a message, I came here secretly to see, Fortunately, it was still dark at that time, and the carriage used by Scotland Yard to transport the corpse was blocked by people queuing up to buy books at night a few streets away."

If the body was removed, it would have to be identified at Scotland Yard.

Not a good experience.

It is impossible to identify a dead body without a reason, and it would be too embarrassing for a laundress like Susan to speak out in public and be questioned by police detectives, and would even be listed as a suspect in this castration murder by Scotland Yard .

The landlady brought Susan a cup of hot milk.

"Thank you, ma'am." Susan's fingers were red with cold, and after she finished saying that in one breath, she became timid and cowering again.

The landlady closed the door and sat at the table with Susan.

"I didn't expect that the deceased was..."

The landlady was shocked, she knew that John was looking for the villain some time ago.

"God forbid, no, the devil ate him."

John ignored the nagging landlady. He looked at Susan, who was full of anxiety, and asked, "Is there something else going on? Otherwise, you can just come when you deliver the ironed clothes tomorrow morning. It's so late." No, you won't be going out at this time."

Susan shivered. The last time she had an accident was at night, but when she saw the corpse today, the fear and shadow in her heart seemed to be blown away by a gust of wind.

When I ran out, my brain was still hot, and I didn't feel scared until this time.

Susan gritted her teeth, and then said quickly: "Eileen is missing. Yesterday she went to deliver clothes to Mr. Hank's house. Mr. Hank is in a hurry to use that uniform. There is a high possibility that she will pass through that alley." ...but Eileen is gone! You found that bastard's body here again! I went to ask Mr. Hank, he didn't receive the clothes, and he scolded me angrily, saying that he would report the crime to Eileen to compensate him clothes, but Irene... I can't find her anywhere!"

"What does she look like?" John took out his notebook. He had never seen this laundryman named Erin.

Susan stammered a description, mainly because she was not very literate and didn't know how to describe it.

The landlady's wife had seen the girl and added on the side.

"...Irene is the weakest among us in strength and timid. She can't kill that villain with scissors or something else." Susan didn't dare to go to the police at all, she was worried that Irene would be treated as a The murderer was caught and then hanged.

"Could it be Irene's protector, someone who admires her?" asked the landlady's wife.

Susan shook her head desperately: "There is no such person, Irene has no property, and she is not very old, but she believes in a pagan religion!"

"What?" The landlady thought of her devilish talk again.

"I used to worry that she would be scammed or abused by those heretics, and I had secretly followed Irene. Today I went there to find Irene, and I met a strange person. She said..."

Deep fear appeared on Susan's face, "Irene has escaped the troubles of the world, and is about to transform into a family member of the gods."

John suddenly saw something move in the scarf on Susan's shoulders.

"and many more."

John didn't approach Susan, he asked the landlady's wife to see the situation: "What is that?"

"Just...a scarf?"

The landlady was puzzled. Susan's clothes were worn out, and there were patches on the scarf.

John's pupils contracted suddenly, and when the scarf was flipped, he saw a butterfly.

gray butterfly.

***

A tiny object slapped against the glass.

Jason looked up.

This private library is huge, and the fees are not cheap. The seats in the VIP room are covered with thick velvet cushions, making them very comfortable to sit on.

Usually it was catered for gentlemen of high status, but they preferred to pass the time in the Bridge Club, where smoking was allowed.

The people who frequent the private library are mainly the middle class and students. They usually come alone. The servants who clean the library never disturb the readers, so it is a very quiet place for Jason.

——Whether it is a person who can see him or a person who cannot see him, they will not take the initiative to talk to him.

It was late at night, the library was empty, the lights had long since been turned off, and it was pitch black.

Jason's eyesight is not affected by the light source, he can sit in the dark and read leisurely.

Now, he heard an unusual voice.

Very subtle, very dense.

Jason put down his book and walked to the window.

The windows were locked, because the Thames River was dark and turbid, emitting an unpleasant stench. Both the citizens of London and the factories upstream threw sewage and garbage into the river.When the smell is the worst in summer, wooden boards must be nailed to the outside of the windows to completely isolate the smell.

"Crack, crack..."

A few gray butterflies slapped the glass, leaving scales invisible to the human eye.

In Jason's light blue eyes, the flashing dark purple powder was like a clear line, guiding the direction of the gray butterfly.

River bottom?

Through the window, Jason saw countless purple threads rushing out of the river, and a large group of gray butterflies flew to both sides of the Thames.

The river was foggy, and the butterflies were too small.

"So this guy is hiding at the bottom of the water." Jason said to himself.

If you don't follow the power released by the gray butterfly to search, let alone him, even Gemil can't smell the existence of this kind standing here!

The stench of the Thames is not the stench that is naturally formed, it is mixed with the smell of industrial sewage and human excrement.

This artificial odorant is much more ferocious than whiskey and tobacco.

Although the evil god doesn't care about good or bad smells, nor is he afraid of getting dirty, but——

Jason wants to say, this kind is really not picky!

There is no place suitable for hiding, so just lie there!

Jason quietly watched the gray butterflies hovering near the river surface. Most of the butterflies, like the ones that hit the glass window, had no suitable target and no direction to find. They would probably disappear until dawn.

"Ok?"

Jason suddenly saw lights on the river.

In the eyes of humans, it was just an ordinary cargo ship, and the hanging lanterns were also ordinary.

After all, it is very dangerous to sail on the river at night. If you are not careful, you will bump into other boats or simply lose your way and rush to the shore.

"The outside of that lantern is coated with a layer of scale powder." The lamp Jason saw was like a blue-purple light source, attracting a large number of gray butterflies to fly to the ship.

Obviously someone is guiding these butterflies, or using the power of evil gods.

Jason suddenly felt hot on his face, and he reached out to touch it, and those fine black tentacles protruded from his skin again.

Jason was surprised, he hadn't felt "hot" since birth.

Now is the heat, the heat that wants to be transformed into its original form.

Jason suddenly understood something, pulled the curtains and moved away from the window.

"This guy... is really troublesome."

Jason suppressed the change in himself.

Although this kind of gray butterfly incarnation is not conscious, but in order to expand its territory, it instinctively chose "self-proliferation". The flying of so many butterflies is the dense intertwining of power tentacles, and they are releasing sounds that ordinary people cannot hear, invisible Bright, unscented scent.

Jensen was inevitably affected, just as human beings see their kind chasing passionately, they will inevitably get "some kind of hint".

"Troublesome." Jason began to worry.

He won't be leaving London anytime soon, at least until the Brandon estate case is over.

To be fair, anyone can come and live in a human city. Jason has seen humans polluted by gray butterflies. He didn't intend to meddle in other people's business, but you openly have sex every night over the city. Flap your wings, that's going too far!

Jason was sure he could hold back or ignore it, but what about Gemil?

Will Gemil rush over in anger, set off a flood and wash this guy lying on the bottom of the Thames into the sea, or simply take himself back to the sea?

Jason: "..."

No, I can't afford to gamble.

He wants to talk to this gray butterfly!

It is the social mode commonly used by evil gods, choose one of the two, and fight.

--------------------

The author has something to say:

John: He, he is Gemil, the sea god who destroyed Black Lagoon

——The willpower plummeted, falling into hallucinations, and tended to go crazy.

John: Shit, Gemil stole my cigarettes last night! !

SAN value recovery

----

Between evil gods and evil gods, they will not be immune to each other's damage

They will also be disturbed, but their values ​​are high, generally not obvious, and they can't feel it

Jansen: Physical data is affected and changed

Jason showed a kind smile and went to find Huidie