Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

The moment those words left her mouth, Little Gwen herself was stunned.

Although she was not one of the Castel People, she had stayed in Blood Harbor for a long time. She had seen things like Steam Engines and Pollution and understood a fair amount about them.

Not for any special reason—mainly because she had also attended the Literacy Class.

Even though Castel used Pollution as fuel, their protection measures regarding this substance were extremely strict. From transportation to loading, there was a complete set of procedures.

Because of this, Little Gwen had always believed Pollution was something very dangerous.

And at this moment, she stared at her own hands in disbelief. “I’m not afraid of Pollution?? Seriously?”

Although she was a 【Named One】, she had become one for inexplicable reasons. She did not understand much about 【Named Ones】. Lina, who did understand them, was hostile toward her, making contact inconvenient.

Thus, she had always felt somewhat half-believing and half-doubting about the knowledge she had obtained in the Temple of the Sleepless.

“Then should I get some Pollution and test it? But where would I even get Pollution?”

Little Gwen subconsciously looked toward the Beatrice Fountain in the distance.

Hughes pushed the documents on his desk aside and stretched lazily.

It was about time for the daily storytelling session again.

He had been telling stories within the Connection in the form of Whispering Voice for several days now and had strangely grown accustomed to it.

Now, if he did not use Worker Hughes’ Shell to speak for a while each day, he felt like something was missing.

“Ash, I’m going to rest for a short while. Keep watch at the door and don’t let anyone in. And if someone really comes in, don’t give me Artificial Respiration!”

Ash’s eyes flickered slightly, but she said nothing and merely nodded silently.

Hughes waited a moment. Seeing that she had no intention of asking questions, he closed the door and chose to return—he did not mind sharing more secrets with Ash, but she clearly did not want to ask.

When Worker Hughes raised his head again, he was still thinking about that matter. But then he froze.

“Gwen, how old are you? Why are you still playing with mud?”

Little Gwen was squatting on the ground, stirring happily. At his words, her whole body trembled.

“Uh, well…”

“Wait. That’s not mud. Isn’t that Pollution?”

Hughes stared at Little Gwen’s hands in surprise. She was holding two handfuls of pitch-black Pollution, now unsure whether to lift them or put them down.

The writhing Pollution slid down her fair arms.

Hughes’ gaze sharpened. “Gwen, did you turn into a Heretical God?”

“That’s not quite it…”

Little Gwen laughed. She set the Pollution in her hands aside and brushed off the strands that had crawled up her arms.

“Actually, this is a characteristic of a 【Named One】. I just learned it from the Temple of the Forgetters. Oh right—you probably don’t know yet, but Castel’s Storm Generator split the storm apart.”

Hughes: “???”

Little Gwen briefly recounted what had just happened. Hughes listened, completely dumbfounded.

“The Storm Generator is that powerful? It can even absorb electrical energy from within a storm?!”

Negative charges accumulated in cumulonimbus clouds would eventually break down the air and discharge as lightning. But the Storm Generator could mobilize that energy before the lightning was even formed—and even turn it back against the storm itself. It had to be said, that was extremely useful.

“If there were a church capable of controlling storms, and on the battlefield we seized the storm power they had painstakingly gathered—that would be entertaining.”

“There is one. The Storm Ocean. The Church of the Sea God. They’re already in the Stellar Furnace,” Little Gwen could not help laughing. Then she lowered her voice. “Though I haven’t seen it in person yet.”

She had not even gone to Castel yet. Who knew if she would ever get the chance?

Hughes laughed as well, then looked down at the Pollution on the ground. Where did this come from? Let me guess—Beatrice’s side?

Little Gwen had also told Hughes about Beatrice gaining a new function. She had been somewhat uneasy about it—what if Hughes wanted to stuff Beatrice into the Stellar Furnace too?

If he really had such thoughts, she would probably try to stop him. After all, that was Miss Scepter, who had helped her quite a bit.

Fortunately, Hughes was not that insane. No matter what, Beatrice was Her Holiness the Pope of the Church of Candlelight and had even helped him promote soap—though it had not ended up being used.

Come to think of it, the Delegation had actually abducted the Pope of the Church of Candlelight. Even now, the more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.

While Hughes was lost in wild thoughts, Little Gwen shuffled closer, rubbing her hands awkwardly.

“I have a… um, request.”

Hughes glanced at her. “Go on.”

“Could you use the Storm Generator to strike me with lightning?”

Hughes: “???”

“Ahem.” Gwen coughed lightly and explained, “It’s like this. My control over the Temple of the Forgetters—that is, the White Calamity—is still lacking. If I use this lightning, it can effectively consume Its power. That way, I can take control of the White Calamity faster.”

This statement surprised Hughes. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I could have arranged a bombardment.”

Castel’s Airships had already gone through several iterations of Aerial Bombs. But during the Expedition to the Northlands, they had produced many older models that were never used up. They were still piled in warehouses, gathering dust.

“No, it’s different.” Little Gwen’s expression turned serious. “I can feel it. Compared to Aerial Bombs, lightning is closer to Transcendence.”

“Transcendence? How different can Transcendent lightning be from ordinary Aerial Bombs?” Hughes scratched his head, confused.

Back then, hadn’t the massive 【Compassionate Mother】 fallen under bombardment?

But suddenly his eyes lit up, as if he had grasped something.

【Compassionate Mother】 had indeed been blasted apart—but not every enemy could be solved through bombing.

For example… the enemy when they built the first Airship—the Pirate King, half of the Sea God, the permanent resident inside the Stellar Furnace.

That being had not been harmed in the slightest by bombs. Bullets, explosions, fire—none of it could threaten that enormous monster. If Tata had not suddenly come up with the idea of building the Stellar Furnace, they truly would have had no way to deal with it.

At the time, Hughes had known very little about Transcendence and had not thought much of it. But now, thinking back, something felt off.

Secular power could only solve secular matters, and Transcendent forces required Transcendent responses. That sounded reasonable. Yet the world’s judgment had never been that strict.

The High Wall of Reality would always undergo non-directional shifts along with the Sea of Unawareness. So why had it been different when dealing with the Sea God?

Could it be that the 【Sea God】 was different from the 【Compassionate Mother】?

They were both Transcendent existences—so what was different?

Hughes pondered for a while, his brows gradually knitting together. The only distinction he could think of was that the Church of the Sea God was one of the Five Great Churches.