Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Sea God?

This term felt both familiar and unfamiliar to Hughes. He knew about the Church of the Sea God and had even heard rumors of the Sea Temple, but the Sea God? Did this deity truly exist?

Wait, if the Sea God existed, then why was the Church of the Sea God removed from the Five Great Churches?

More importantly, how did Monica know all this?

The Sea God, the thousand-year pollution in the ocean—Hughes had a vague and ominous suspicion.

"That time when I was eroded by pollution, it was essentially the remnant body of the Sea God trying to merge with me. At that time, I was in the Abyss, and the Abyss—" Monica gave a bitter smile. "The Abyss is actually the entrance to the Sea Temple."

The Sea Temple—Hughes had heard this term before.

How strange. It was clearly called the Church of the Sea God and the Sea Temple, yet he had never felt any urge to investigate the 'Sea God'. The people who informed him of these terms had also completely overlooked this point, as if the Church of the Sea God was just an ordinary name.

Thinking back now, a chill ran down his spine. What was this? Sunken memory? No, it must be something even more advanced. It was as if his ability to comprehend had been severed—seeing the name, he was completely unable to form any associations.

"Monica, did you know? I've actually always been in Castel, only occasionally using special means to reach this corpse." Hughes stared into her eyes. "You… you still remember your clansmen, right?"

"Of course, I remember. Sister Ash is always cool and silent, Sister Nini is very petty, and Sister Una gets so nervous she can't even speak properly when she sees people."

Hughes sighed inwardly and carefully said, "But they… seem to have forgotten you. No one remembers you anymore."

After speaking, he looked at Monica with some concern. However, the Banshee standing before him had already grown taller, and she did not seem surprised. She gazed reluctantly at the ground beneath her feet and softly said:

"I know. They won't remember me. No one ever will.

Look, you can't even remember the Sea God, can you?"

Hughes' eyes widened as an intense sense of dread welled up inside him. His voice trembled as he asked, "You said earlier that the Sea God was trying to merge with you?"

"Yes, and it is almost complete."

Hughes' scalp tingled with fear.

Almost complete? Then… would Monica still be Monica?

What was she now? The new Sea God?

She possessed so much ancient knowledge and could even see her own threads…

Monica's expression darkened. She sighed and began to explain.

After the great upheaval a thousand years ago, the Sea God perished. Its corpse remained in the Sea Temple. The death of the Sea God caused part of the temple to collapse, creating a massive void—the Eye of the Storm.

Aside from this massive void, countless smaller rifts spread across the Abyss.

And pollution—it was the product of the Sea God's body dissolving. Over the millennium since its demise, the entity pollution had continuously leaked from the Sea Temple, contaminating the entire Storm Ocean.

For a thousand years, the Four Great Churches stayed away from the sea.

Hughes suddenly had a realization. He remembered that Una once told him that the pollution in the sea was different from other types of pollution.

Could it be—

After voicing his doubts, Monica nodded. "Indeed, the pollution in the sea originates from the Sea God's corpse. It is unique. I don't know much about other types of pollution."

The other pollution she referred to was actually caused by Hughes' understanding interference regarding soap. The pollution accumulated back then had long been depleted. The subsequent pollution came from the corpses of the Murlocs and the Arm Monsters.

Wait… Murlocs and Arm Monsters turned into pollution after death. The Sea God's corpse also transformed into pollution?!

"Monica, many monsters have appeared on Castel. After they die, they also turn into pollution."

"That's because they are formed from the Sea God's flesh. Aren't these creatures stronger in seawater?"

Hughes nodded.

"Then that confirms it. This flesh retains a living characteristic and is imbued with fragments of the Sea God's power. It is naturally stronger in the ocean. Additionally, these creatures are controlled by the believers."

"Wait… controlled by believers?"

Monica nodded with a complicated expression. "Yes, that's the true culprit behind everything. The Sea God had long since perished and wouldn't have attacked me on its own. It was the centuries of relentless rituals and prayers by the Church of the Sea God's believers that granted the Sea God new life."

"Believers… granted life to a god?" Hughes was stunned. "Those believers actually revived a dead god?"

"Normally, they couldn't. But their will was too firm, and they sacrificed their lives without hesitation—generation after generation, for a whole thousand years."

Monica gazed out at the vast sea.

"This was a thousand-year-long cognitive interference. The god had died, but the believers refused to accept it. In the end, their unwavering will resurrected their god."

Hughes stood frozen in place. Today's revelations shook him more than everything he had experienced since his transmigration combined. He had always heard people describe the Church of the Sea God as lunatics lacking rationality, and most supernaturals looked down on these flawed individuals.

Yet these 'lunatics' had spent a thousand years resurrecting their dead deity, bit by bit.

Like insignificant drops of water gathering into a vast ocean.

"Those monsters… they aren't really monsters. They were once humans—believers of the Church of the Sea God. They willingly transformed into creatures to serve as sacrifices for their god."

Murlocs and Arm Monsters were once human?

Hughes suddenly recalled many details. The Arm Monsters were covered in human arms, not marine appendages. The internal structures of the Murlocs were chaotic, as if—

As if they were monsters conjured by human imagination.

And after death, they turned into pollution. They were the Sea God's flesh.

The believers of the Church of the Sea God had sacrificed everything, replacing the missing flesh of the Sea God with their own. For a thousand years, countless followers had offered themselves, gradually reconstructing the Sea God's body.

Such a plan, such a sacrifice—

Even though they were Castel's enemies, Hughes couldn't help but feel a deep sense of respect.

He had once lamented the endless waves of monsters, not realizing that every single fallen creature was once a life—a devoted believer.

They used their lives to deplete Castel's ammunition, falling one after another, while those behind them stepped over their corpses to continue forward.

Castel's enemy wasn't just a horde of monsters—it was the countless generations of believers who had perished over a thousand years.

An indescribable emotion lodged in Hughes' chest. He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. After a moment of silence, he asked blankly, "But… didn't you say the Sea God merged with you?"

If the Sea God had merged with Monica, then what exactly had the believers revived?

And why were they so desperately attacking Castel?

Monica shook her head. "You've got the order wrong. The believers revived the Sea God first. That's why it was able to erode me. Those contamination beasts are the Sea God's will. It would have fully revived soon, but I just happened to appear at that moment."

Hughes' pupils contracted to pinpoints, trembling uncontrollably.

So that's how it was.

Everything finally connected.

The Sea God's soul in the ocean had been erased.

Now, she was the only Sea God left.

The setting sun cast long shadows across Monica's figure. She gazed into the distance, her profile bathed in golden light, as holy as a sculpture.

"I am now the Sea God."