Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Hughes looked at Alexei, stroked the sea serpent on his neck, and gently shook his head.

Emotionally and rationally, he had no reason to flee at the last moment. Besides, even if he wanted to escape, where could he go?

The seawater had submerged everything. If he boarded the airship, he would never be able to come down again.

If Castel was destined to sink, then Hughes would rather let this body be buried with it than abandon those who believed in him.

"No, Alexei, there is still hope. The airships we sent out have not yet replied. We must continue to hold on."

Alexei's eyes flickered. In the end, he said nothing, bowed, and left.

"Lord, Lord, we have received news from Chloe!" Suddenly, a Moth Chasing Fire researcher burst into the room, shouting excitedly.

The noisy command center instantly fell silent. Everyone stared at the document in the researcher's hand and stopped what they were doing.

The researcher also became nervous. He cautiously stepped forward, handed over the document, and stood anxiously against the wall.

Hughes struggled to support his body. Zoe wanted to help him, but Hughes waved her off, leaning half of his body against the wall as he opened the document and fixed his gaze on it.

Moments later, he took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

The message was from Chloe. She detailed everything she had seen at the Pirate King's Court, documented their various tests and plans, but only wrote one sentence about their fate:

"I can no longer return."

—Chloe.

Hughes' fingers trembled. He couldn't tell whether it was due to weakness or sorrow. He took several deep breaths before barely calming himself. Now was not the time for grief—he had to lead the remaining people forward.

"You have a way to monitor the fluctuations of the Heretical God, right?"

The Moth Chasing Fire members silently nodded.

"How?"

One of them opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, and then replied in a low voice, "The fluctuations lasted only for a moment before disappearing."

So they had failed.

That monster had absorbed all the pollution of the Storm Ocean. Even if Chloe had sacrificed her life to summon the Heretical God, it was still unable to contend with it. How could Hughes possibly kill it?

No, killing the monster at the Pirate King's Court was not necessarily the only solution. Perhaps they could escape this bizarre world. Nini's airship had gone to the Eye of the Storm—that was the real hope. If the rising seawater could be stopped or even recede, the frontline could still hold.

Castel could slowly find a way—perhaps build a bigger airship, transport an extraordinarily large bomb, and send the entire Pirate King's Court into the sky.

As long as—

Hughes suddenly froze.

He reached for his neck in disbelief, and his fingers directly touched his skin.

The sea serpent on his neck... was gone.

When had it disappeared!?

No, it must have been just now. He clearly remembered that the sea serpent was still there not long ago. It hadn't been lost—it had vanished.

Nini had told him before that the sea serpent could last for more than a month. If it disappeared early, it meant that all the banshees had perished. Their group of banshees had gone out together, and the Symbiotic Contract would take effect separately among them. Only if they all died would Nini's sea serpent disappear.

The banshees who went to the Eye of the Storm were all dead?

Nini, Chloe, two teams, more than a dozen people—all sacrificed in the blink of an eye?

Hughes' mind went blank. He had imagined failure, thought about the worst outcomes, but now that it had truly happened, he realized how naive he had been.

He gasped for breath, feeling sharp pain in his chest. His vision darkened in patches, and he had to use all his strength to keep from collapsing.

He was the lord here. Behind him were the people of his territory. He could not fall.

Hughes steadied himself and turned to Alexei.

"Alexei, what's the progress on the next batch of airships?"

"At least four more days."

"When will the seawater reach the main church?"

"..."

"Alexei?"

"...Tonight."

Hughes' questioning stopped.

The command center fell into a deathly silence. Hughes remained quiet for a moment before slowly lifting his head, his gaze sweeping across the faces in the room. A month ago, they had been workers, fishermen, ordinary people of the island.

Today, they stood in concrete fortifications, studying firepower deployment over sand tables and maps.

At this moment, everyone had stopped what they were doing, their eyes fixed on Hughes.

Hughes gritted his teeth and stood up, refusing Zoe's help.

He looked into the distance. The rising seawater had already submerged most of Castel's land. That place had once been schools, factories, docks, small shops selling soap and olive oil.

Now, the dark mass of monsters filled every inch of the sea. Those sea urchins' ferocious spikes seemed to be right in front of them.

Hughes retracted his gaze and looked at the people inside the room. Their faces showed confusion, anger, fear, and resentment.

They looked at Hughes with pleading eyes.

"My lord, will we win?" someone asked.

"I don't know."

Hughes answered without hesitation.

The room stirred for a moment but quickly fell silent again.

Indeed, Chloe and Nini's airships had both failed. If their lord had a plan, he would have already used it. At this moment, he was as desperate as everyone else.

But—

They looked at Hughes, who was barely holding his weak body upright. His eyes, however, showed no hesitation or wavering.

Emotions were contagious. Hughes' figure, like cold, hardened steel, gradually calmed the unrest and fear in their hearts.

"I don't know if we will win," Hughes coughed a few times before continuing, "but I promise to struggle with you until the last moment."

His voice was not loud, even somewhat weak, yet his tone was as firm as ever.

The people exchanged glances. They had heard Hughes make many promises before, and he had always stood by them. He had brought them knowledge, ensured that everyone could go to school, earn lio, and eat fried fish.

With their learning, they had built steel beasts. Amidst the roar of steam engines, Hughes had shown them a bigger world.

They were born in Castel and would die here. Seeing Hughes' unwavering gaze, the confusion in their hearts gradually dissipated.

The command center remained silent, but everyone could feel the burning power within that silence.

Finally, someone returned to the table to handle documents. A few strategists went back to the sand table, marking firepower positions on the map. Richard bowed to Hughes and resumed using his extraordinary abilities. People resumed their work.

They still had responsibilities to fulfill—just as Hughes said, struggling until the last moment, like a machine made of steel, silent yet determined.

Only they knew that within them burned an unyielding will like fire.

Hughes had brought them miracles time and time again. This time would be no different.

And if miracles no longer came—

Then their unwavering will and flesh would be Castel's next great wall.

Even if Castel was destined to sink, they would struggle until the last moment.