Mermaid Reef

The pendant is only the size of a thumb and has a realistic rose shape.

Rich red, intoxicating crimson, light pink, full milky white...the transition of these four colors is perfect, and the pendant as a whole has a flowing halo.

In the eyes of human beings, this is a pendant with exquisite craftsmanship and no flaws, marveling at the wonderful color it forms in the flames, but in the eyes of evil gods, although this thing cannot be called perfect, it has "real" characteristics .

What is real?

Humans and other animals living on this planet, the structure of their organs and brains determines what they can see and hear.

Just because humans can't hear a sound doesn't mean it doesn't exist.The colors that human eyes can distinguish are also limited (Note), but sometimes humans will magically find out the "truth", which is mainly reflected in those works of art.

For example, some grotesque and exaggerated oil paintings with chaotic lines, a piece of music that drives the creator crazy, and a sculpture that makes people feel nauseated and frightened.

They both describe the real world, but the means of expression are too violent.

The glass pendant in front of me is a masterpiece of human beings exploring the mysterious field.

The kind of perfect color fusion is because the colors of the real world are coordinated, even if viewed from the perspective of evil gods, there is no particularly chaotic and conflicting place.

The nature of the world is chaos, it is simply heresy in this real world.

In the production of the pendant, the contradictory and conflicting colors are cleared up, and similar colors are concentrated, so it is so "fresh and refined".

——It is this special feature that gives it a warning function.When waved by chaotic forces, it shatters instantly.

Fragile glass, fragile humans.

An extraordinary masterpiece has been forged.

"Snapped."

The rose pendant on the order's knight's neck shattered.

Just because of the "focused gaze" of the two evil gods.

Jason sighed regretfully: "As a secret order's alarm bell to predict the invasion of mysterious forces, it is really powerful."

Gemil was in a daze.

The last time he saw it in human books, there was a musician 100 years ago who still created a brilliant symphony even though he completely lost his hearing.

Now this glass pendant proves that human beings "blindly made" a color mixture that is close to order without being able to see the real world.

"how did you do that?"

The crimson powder slowly floated up and concentrated between Gemil's fingers.

After the pendant was shattered, its Extraordinary characteristics disappeared, leaving only the light of the material itself.

"...these glass is mixed with metal, it should be a secret recipe." Gemil said uncertainly.

Jason found the brochure again, and saw that the auction description of the Holy Grail read: Murano blood-red glass, which contains gold.

Jason is not interested in the secret recipe, but wants to see how this pendant is made with his own eyes.

He was sure Gemil felt the same way.

pity--

That's impossible.

If it is watched by evil gods, the rose pendant will never be able to take shape.

It is an extremely fragile existence, and it can only be born in the workshop where human beings belong without being "discovered" by evil forces.

***

Hans has a fever.

He has been on the sea for ten hours with the cold wind blowing, and he has been on guard and kept awake.

At dawn, Andre ordered to turn back, and Hans immediately lost consciousness.

Hans could vaguely hear the anger and regret in Andre's voice, but Hans knew that the illness was more caused by "exposure to mystery".

Hans' consciousness sank into the familiar attic dream.

This time the attic was empty, only dust, rummage books, and a set of checkers with missing pieces.

Checkers is a very popular game in the UK. A British businessman once ordered a large number of stained glass checkers in Venice. The money saved a workshop that was about to close down. Later, this kind of board game became popular in Venice, and there are many differences according to the region. play.

Hans picked up the broken pieces one by one and put them neatly.

This process was a bit laborious, because the chess pieces were scattered in every corner of the attic, and some were stuck in the gaps between the planks, making it very difficult to find.

When the chess pieces were assembled, Hans seemed to hear laughter.

Child's laughter.

Then there was a drastic change in the dark and narrow dream, and he fell into a strange world with his feet empty.

"Sir Bishop?"

Hans saw the old bishop saying something angrily, and the knights of the order kneeling on the ground below.

The knight commander who had sneered at Hans, clutched the iron mask in his hand until his fingers turned red.

Hans found that his perspective was very strange. He seemed to be standing above a house without a roof, and his sight could "capture" the details hidden in the dark.

For example, although the bishop was angry, his right hand quietly reached under the table, where there should be a mechanism button; the knight commander looked obedient and obedient, but in fact he was so angry that he quietly touched the weapon hidden in his waist several times, but he held back and did not make a move.

Their voices were not very clear, and in Hans' eyes, there were more or less signs of "pollution" at the top of the religious order, so it looked like a weird drama.

The bishops, elders, and leaders who were once respected and looked up to by Hans... Some have green skin, some have deformed heads, some have red eyes, and some have scales.

It was like a group of monsters put on the clothes of the high-level members of the order, moved their deformed bodies, and clumsily performed a drama that smeared the black and gray order.

"No!"

Hans closed his eyes painfully.

Those sounds and images still flowed into his mind in an endless stream.

The voice gradually became clearer, allowing Hans to hear the content of the high-level disputes in the church.

Some people accused Andre of not doing his best, some believed that the monster had left Venice, and some elders blamed the bishop for easily abandoning the church on the main island of Venice.

When they were quarreling, suddenly a servant of the sect came to report that another attack on the knights of the sect had occurred.

Since these knights were all knocked unconscious by violence, and their belongings were looted, it didn't look like the evil god's family did it at all. This incident became the fuse of a new round of disputes.

The knight commander denied that his subordinates were useless. He insisted that there were other forces involved in this matter—human forces. The purpose was to completely control Venice, a city-state that had been drifting outside of Italy.

Then the top leaders of the church revealed their faults one after another, pointing out who took the benefits of which nobleman, and who took refuge in which big man early, including but not limited to the forces in Venice and Italy. The most greedy elder was even accused of accepting The money from Eastern Russia and the Holy See also bought land and villas in England.

The icon of the cross, watching the farce in silence.

The sculptures of the ancestors of the church on both sides of the room are also watching these younger generations.

Hans wondered if his eyes had been tampered with by the evil god. This dream might also be an illusion created by the evil god.

But he saw Andre turning his head anxiously a few times, and finally took advantage of the confusion to leave.

Then there was a terrible reflection outside the window.

The Norwegian sea monster appeared as in the legend, its body was as huge as a mountain, its tentacles passed over the glass window, and it brought terrible rumbling vibrations.

The glass chandelier in the room was instantly shattered. The bishop jumped up in panic and anger, shouting Andre's name loudly, and several elders even hid under the table.

The knight leader rushed into the rainstorm with his weapon raised, but found nothing.

The shadow of the Kraken disappeared in the darkness.

The quarrel became more intense.

But the quarrel will not have any results, it just makes the conflict explode completely.

The black mist was like the curtain of the theater, which came down very intimately, and when it was lifted again, it announced the start of the second big play.

Something happened to an elder.

With his cronies and treasures, he was about to leave at night, but on the boat he turned into a monster that lost his mind, his body was four meters high, his face was distorted, and there was a mud-like mucus flowing. After killing his cronies and subordinates , was executed by the commanding knights who drove over.

His body was wrapped in a white cloth covered in runes, and the bishop performed an exorcism and then set fire to it.

The ashes were solemnly placed in a vessel.

Hans had often seen that jar before. All contaminated items and water sources would be put into this container, and it was said that the bishop would handle it.

But this time Hans saw the "processing" with his own eyes.

The bishop led people to mix the ashes, water, and some strange things together, ordered a knight to lie in the basement full of runes, and then painted the "ointment" all over the knight's body.

With a terrible scream, the knight changed from an ordinary human to a "human with weird characteristics" in Hans' eyes, and also got a rose pendant.

The rose pendant not only detects the approach of evil forces, but also detects whether the balance in the polluted human being is disturbed.

This fragile rose is like the chivalry in the order.

Fortitude, honor, sacrifice...

Hans discovered that, with the exception of his Uncle Andre, none of the higher orders carried rose pendants or used similar "relics."

In the past, he couldn't get close to the top of the religious order, but now his eyes could "see" that magnificent light.

It is so special, that kind of intoxicating red, like the only stable existence in this chaotic world, the pendant dancing on Andre's neck, like a burning flame.

In the third act of the play, Andrei patrols along the mission's residence, the rose pendant in his hand is broken again and again, and finally the bishop never gives him any more pendants, and at the same time the whole congregation knows a bad The message: evil forces surrounded them.

Ordinary members of the religious order were able to escape, but those knights of the "extraordinary power" of the religious order suffered misfortune one after another.

Someone was knocked out, someone had a high fever, and someone simply mutated into a monster.

Panic permeated the garrison.

That night, the shadow of the Kraken reappeared, stroking the building with its tentacles like it was a toy.

Hans was almost suffocating.

He watched familiar faces praying to the gods in front of the cross, and watched the mutated state of those high-level religious orders become more and more terrifying, and finally the defense system collapsed, because not only were there external evil forces, but there were also "" "Monster" appears.

Although the religious order has not been defeated, it is no different from disintegrated.

Hans is eagerly looking for Andre, but the owner of this dream doesn't seem to pay much attention to Andre. He prefers to see the bishop in a panic, likes to see the scenes of the elders revealing each other's shortcomings, and even fighting.

Hans even felt a strange emotion, just like the owner of the dream asked his little friend depressedly, you helped me pick up the checkers, I will show you something interesting, why are you unhappy?

***

"so troublesome……"

Jason found that Hans in the dream was going crazy. He didn't know how this guy got in, but it was time for Hans to play a role.Jason directly drove Hans out of the dream.If nothing else happened, Hans would rush to find Andre after waking up, and then protect the relatives and friends he considered important.

"Andre has gone to steal the religious records." Gemil told Jason the latest situation.

That is the important wealth of the order. Gray Owl Andre was not very respectful to the bishop, but now he chose to "preserve the order" without hesitation.

Andre knew he couldn't leave, he would arrange everything, and then face the "Kraken" until the last moment.

"In order to ensure that Hans and the others leave immediately, he will use himself as a bait to come to us." Gemil took off his mask and said with a smile.

***

In the dark cellar, Hans felt cold all over.

"No, Uncle Andrey, I can't..."

"Take it, don't lose it, this is the most important sacred object of our church."

Andre's eyes were still as sharp as blades under the faint light of the candles. Under the gray cloak he was wearing were already filled with all kinds of rune-engraved weapons and two wooden bins.He pushed a heavy box to Hans, and repeatedly told him, "There are grooves for the lenses inside, and the best cashmere fills the gaps as a cushion, but try not to let it be hit."

"Yes, it's the pupil of the rose?" Hans' hands trembled.

"Yes, I stole it from the glass workshop and knocked out the guard." Andre said enough words to be tried and burned at the stake by the cult, with a calm expression, and he patted Hans on the shoulder heavily. The rose pupil that came down was taken away by the elder who followed the nobleman to leave Venice, and now, except for the one kept in the bishop's room, only this one is left in the workshop."

Hans knew that only with the help of the pupil of the rose could he create those pendants and various decorations with early warning capabilities.

How can you deal with the enemy if you can't see the trace of the enemy?

"Uncle Andre, you can give the Eye of Rose to someone else and let me stay and join your team..."

"No!" Andre suddenly interrupted Hans' words, and he looked straight into Hans' strange eyes covered with white cloud.

He lit the pipe, as if he was in a daze, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

After about 5 minutes, Andre finally said: "In fact, the mirror in the bishop's room has been scrapped."

"What?" Hans was shocked.

Andre was a little anxious and regretful. He said in a complex tone: "I'm sorry, I kept it from you. When I found out that you can see the bishop, the knight commander, and me...that's the abnormality in us, I felt a little nervous. Guess, and then when your high fever persisted, I read the classics again, and confirmed that your symptoms are very similar..."

"Like what?"

"The rose is just the badge of our order. In traditional teachings, the rose is the symbol of the blood of the martyrs. It is called the pupil of the rose, not because of the color or pattern, but because of the sacrifice. In order not to let the members of the order sacrifice Sacrificial here, the first and last ancestor of the order who could 'see the truth' used his most familiar glass technique to create the earliest pupil of the rose. Then generations of members of the order, through this A lens to peek into this extraordinary world, and at the cost of your life, you finally obtained the perfect rose pupil, and through this tool, you created the holy thing you know."

Andre stroked Hans' head. This action was not easy because Hans was too tall.

Now Hans bowed his head, letting the hand rest on his head.

"I don't know what happened, but your eyes... the power of the pupil of the rose has replaced your vision, and it will fill you with misfortune like that 'peeking into the real world' ancestor. I let you avoid all teaching High-ranking members of the regiment, I am very worried that they will discover this secret. I would rather you lie sick in bed...I was wrong, Hans. Now the sect is about to be destroyed, take all the things I gave you and run away! Good! It doesn’t matter if you give up the Eye of Rose when necessary, your life is equally important.”

Hans's head lightened, and the hand left.

Andre left the cellar like a ghost.

"No!" Hans chased after him in horror.

Andre's stern voice came from afar: "Do you want us to die in vain? Remember the map I gave you, seize the opportunity! Take your mother and the people outside the cellar away! We do this , I want my loved ones to live, don’t let me down! I have hidden all the ancient books here, you can take as many as you can, and come back to take them when you have a chance.”

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The author has something to say:

Note: Most mammals have three kinds of cone cells that can sense red light, blue light and green light, which are what we call the three primary colors. All colors that humans see are based on these three, but there are still Some organisms have more or less cone cells, for example, there are sixteen types of mantis shrimp (pipi shrimp)

Think about it, you may feel that all the colors around you are harmonious, the simpler the more harmonious.

In fact, in the eyes of mantis shrimp, the world is not like this at all. The real world is very complicated, and the colors are very rich. You humans don’t understand colors at all (hey)

Cough, in a word, if human beings suddenly get the vision of mantis shrimp (seeing things they shouldn't see), they will feel dizzy, full of double images, messy colors, and if they are synchronized with sound, senses, etc. , isn't it easy to drive people crazy?