My esoteric uncle Jules

Chapter 103 The Anti-Suppression Bureau is not coming?
The night pearl in his hand felt extremely cold, causing Yule to subconsciously hold it tightly.

Although it was cold, he felt that it was actually a little hot.

"The sound of a bell not permitted by the world... there is something to this sentence."

He pondered the description of this mountain copper night-shining pearl and felt that it contained infinite mysteries.

What does "the bell that is not allowed by the world" mean?
Does this mean that all the laws of the hour in the existing world are rejecting it?
It seems that the "Ys beyond the waves" is probably related to something more important than I imagined.

After thinking for a while, Jules put it away.

Although this item is quite important, it cannot interfere with his next actions.

Besides, only under a certain moonlight can the route to Ys be illuminated.

So what is a specific moonlight? There's no guarantee about it; it's pure luck.

"But maybe I can ask Lolita if she has any special feelings," he thought.

The waves obviously have some ambiguous connection with Ys, and as the daughter of the waves, Lolita might be able to discover something.

After putting away the mountain copper night-shining pearl, he quickened his pace and walked towards the Devil's Reef.

……

Devil's Reef remains as dead silent as ever.

Even seabirds are reluctant to visit this place, as if there is some terrifying existence that they want to avoid.

Even though it was daytime, the sea in the distance was covered with a thick fog, making it difficult to see clearly.

Jules looked at it for a while and nodded slightly.

He didn't notice any particularly obvious abnormalities, nor did he see any deep divers running out.

After confirming that there was no major movement at Devil's Reef, he walked towards the familiar dock warehouse.

If nothing unexpected happened, Santiago would probably still be drinking alone inside - that's what the locals say.

"Hey, Santiago, are you there?"

As Jules spoke, he exerted force with his hand and pushed open the dusty door.

"...Master, you are here." The old man's hoarse voice sounded from the corner of the warehouse.

Jules looked in the direction of the sound and saw Santiago lying on some tattered papers, holding a half-drunk bottle of rum in his hand.

Many of the abnormal changes in the old man's body have disappeared, and instead, changes similar to those of the shop owner's wife have taken their place, with his bronze skin becoming whiter.

However, unlike his body which was changing for the better, his eyes were quite cloudy.

"Santiago, it seems that you have been drinking here alone these days?" Jules walked over to the old man and sat down, chatting with him intermittently.

Santiago lowered his head and said in a muffled voice:
"You should know that everything is only temporary."

Hearing this, Yule also sighed slightly, but then he smiled:
"Isn't everything in the world made up of countless temporary combinations?"

Santiago raised his head and stared at Jules with a hazy look in his eyes.

"Hopefully."

He gulped down another gulp of rum.

Jules tried to persuade Santiago again, but the other party insisted on staying here and drinking, so he had to leave.

However, just as he was about to step out of the warehouse door, Santiago's hoarse voice reached his ears:

"It's been eerily quiet over at Devil's Reef lately."

Yule's eyes flickered and he said:

"Hasn't there been a single Deep One?"

"...No, I used to see it occasionally."

Santiago looked up to the sky and exhaled:

"I think this is a sign of what's going to happen."

"Thank you for reminding."

After leaving the Devil's Reef Pier, Jules headed straight for the direction of the carriage in his memory without any hesitation.

The train had been running before, but after the famine began, it became increasingly deserted.

Now, the only carriages there were those driven by Innsmouth people.

Santiago's words gave him a sense of urgency.

Lolita's perception was absolutely correct. The ascension ceremony hidden deep under the sea might have undergone some changes. We could not just sit there and wait for death.

There has been no movement from the Anti-Suppression Bureau in the past few days. No matter how much he trusts Centipede, he has to go out and ask!
As they walked, Jules suddenly felt something strange.

"Why did it suddenly get so dark?"

He raised his head and frowned slightly.

The sun was originally directly above our heads, but after walking for a while, it had moved to around noon.

He clearly remembered that he had only been walking for about half an hour.

A bad premonition emerged in my heart.

Jules quickened his pace.

However, he found that as his pace quickened, the setting sun also became much faster.

In fact, he could almost see the clear full moon at the end of the sky.

When he arrived at the place where he got on the carriage, the sky had almost turned completely dark. The light of the full moon shone softly on the earth, making him feel a little cold all over.

"Is anyone there? Hello—"

No one answered.

Jules suddenly smelled a fishy smell coming from a carriage parked not far away.

It smells like blood, fish, or a combination of the two.

He narrowed his eyes and approached there cautiously.

Judging from the appearance, the eroded black skeleton seems to have made a comeback under the influence of the ritual?

Jules put his hand on the carriage door frame, and the fishy smell hit his nose, so strong that it was almost suffocating. He frowned, pulled hard, and the door creaked open.

Inside the carriage, in the dim moonlight, several figures were huddled with their heads lowered, scales faintly visible on their skin, and wet mucus dripped onto the wooden boards, making slight popping sounds.

The driver sat in the front seat with his back to the door. His arms were no longer in human shape, but twisted into thick claws with webbed fingers faintly visible.

"you……"

Before Jules could finish his words, the driver turned his head suddenly.

He saw that the driver's facial features had completely collapsed, his eyes were cloudy like fish eyes, and sharp teeth were exposed in his mouth. He no longer looked like a human being, but a complete diver.

The next second, all the passengers in the car raised their heads, let out low roars from their throats, and the gill-like slits on their necks opened and closed, emitting an even stronger fishy smell.

Before he could react, the driver pounced on him first, his claws pointing straight at his throat.

Jules dodged to the side and his shoulder hit the car door, sending wood chips flying.

Immediately afterwards, the deep divers in the carriage rushed forward, their movements were swift and fierce, faster and more strange than those deep divers he had seen before.

Their skin was pale and clammy, their nails were hooked, and their eyes held no reason but bloodthirsty instinct.

"Sorry……"

Jules gritted his teeth, drew the dagger from his waist, and swept out.

The blade slashed through the arm of a deep diver, and smelly blood splattered out.

He took a step back, leaned his back against the outer wall of the carriage, and breathed heavily.

The moonlight shone on his face, making his eyes look even more solemn.

"Damn it, it started again." Yule couldn't help but curse under his breath and gripped the knife tighter in his hand.

The Deep Ones roared and approached again.

However, in front of him who was on guard, they were just a few larger fish and were easily killed.

The smelly blood flowing down the carriage did not make Jules feel disgusted, but only made him feel a little sad.

Looking at the appearance of these people, it seems that not long ago, they were still full of hope for the outside world. They were carrying large and small bags on their bodies, as if they were thinking of starting a new life in the outside world.

But before it even began, it was over.

Jules raised his head, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the clear full moon in the sky.

The moonlight was bright and holy, without any sign of strangeness.

But this made him even more alert—how could the moon rise out of nowhere?
Moreover, this time it was even weirder than the last time, as if it was rising as he moved!
What was even more tragic was that he discovered that not only was the coachman gone, but even the horse was gone!

He was originally wondering why the horse didn't move, but when he pushed it, it fell to the ground with a thud, foaming at the mouth, and he knew why.

"Do you want me to leave physically?" Yule frowned slightly.

Suddenly, he felt an itch on his face.

"What is that?" He reached out and touched the itchy area.

The touch there was very strange, not like rough or smooth skin, but more like...

Hard, scaly?

Yule's pupils suddenly shrank as he thought of some not-so-good possibility.

He quickly ran into the coachman's house not far away, took out a mirror from inside, and checked his current appearance.

When Jules saw his appearance in the mirror, he was stunned.

A few scales had grown on his face at some point, and his skin had become dry and gray, just like those typical Innsmouth people.

Jules stared at himself in the mirror, his breathing becoming increasingly rapid.

The scales on the side of the face shimmered faintly, and under the gray skin, the blood vessels faintly showed an eerie green color.

He rubbed his face hard, and the rough touch of his fingertips felt like sandpaper scraping against stone.

Outside, the light of the full moon grew brighter, streaming in through the shabby windows and illuminating the floor with a pale white.

Under the moonlight, the itch continued to spread, crawling along the cheeks to the neck.

The fishy smell in the air did not dissipate, but became stronger, as if the whole Innsmouth was being swallowed by the breath of the seabed.

Yule clenched his fists, and felt a sharp pain in his palms. He looked down and saw that his nails had begun to become sharp, with the edges having a metallic luster.

In this situation, how could he not understand what was happening?
"It really happened."

His eyes darkened slightly and he ran back quickly.

However, before he had gone far, he was shocked to find that the changes in his body seemed to be beginning to subside.

"This..." Yule pondered for a moment and looked up at the full moon in the sky.

Combining what he had seen before, he suddenly had a guess.

He noted the moon's position at the moment, ran back a little further, and then looked up—

"It is so..." Yule murmured.

It seems that the farther away from the center of Innsmouth, or Devil's Reef, the higher the moon rises, and the stronger the impact of the mutation!
"What is this for? To restrict our departure?" He couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

At this moment, he suddenly heard a long-lost cold voice:

"I am glad, Monsieur Jules, that you are still alive."

Jules looked up suddenly.

"Matilda? Why are you here?!"

Although he didn't see anyone, he would never forget this voice.

It was cool, pleasant, and more importantly—even if he spoke properly, it sounded like he was about to die.

"I had intended to come later, but unfortunately, something unexpected happened."

Matilda's calm voice came from not far away:
"The Anti-Suppression Bureau won't be coming."

"But the Blood Cup Cult Leader might be on his way."

(End of this chapter)