Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Hughes' pen tip paused on the paper, unmoving for a long time.

Chloe's somewhat scrawled handwriting continued to appear.

〖After summoning the Heretical God, I detonated the airship. Don't even talk about defeating the monster—I couldn't hold on for even a moment. That only means one thing: the monster was almost successful.〗

Hughes thought for a moment and wrote with his own blood: 【What is it?】

〖The Pirate King.〗

〖In the very last moment before death, I touched the true body of that monster. Although I was instantly and completely corrupted, I managed to use my ability before dying—I saw inside it.〗

〖It altered the will of the followers of the Church of the Sea God, redirecting their sacrificial worship toward itself. Oh right, this might sound unbelievable, but the Church of the Sea God was actually planning to resurrect an ancient being and has been performing sacrifices for an entire millennium.〗

【The Sea God, right.】

This time, Chloe's handwriting hesitated. She tried to spell out the word 【Sea God】 but gave up halfway through, as if some invisible force prevented her from writing it.

【That works?】 Hughes was surprised. 【Isn't pollution poisonous to extraordinary beings?】

〖Of course it doesn't work. But the Pirate King is a true genius. He came up with a rather ingenious method—he made the cultists who were offering him sacrifices share the burden of the pollution.〗

【Pollution can be shared?】

〖Originally, no. But the sacrifices created a mystic link between him and the cultists. Through that link, the pollution could be transferred. Any link is dangerous.〗

Link... Hughes suddenly thought of the threads the Worker Hughes used—those could transfer pollution too?

〖In short, while he used a trick to avoid being devoured by the pollution outright, he still absorbed quite a bit. He went mad on the spot. I learned all of this from the cultists—they've almost fully merged with the Pirate King. The scene was truly tragic.〗

Hughes' eyes flickered. The Pirate King was clearly scheming something—that much was certain. Gem Bay had been slowly boiled like a frog by Her Majesty, and the entire Storm Ocean had no access to supplies. Could that Pirate King really just sit and wait to die?

If he were the kind to sit and wait, he never would've united the countless scattered pirates and founded the Pirate King's Court.

What Hughes didn't expect was that the Pirate King's method of resistance was so extreme—he intended to bury all of Gem Bay with him.

【So, as long as the Pirate King is eliminated, Castel's crisis can be resolved?】

〖Yes! Once that monster is dead, the brainwashed Sea God cultists will disperse on their own. So the chrysalis is effective. I know the cost is extremely high, but this really is the best method.〗

〖Hughes, this is my plan.〗

〖I know it's a hard decision to make, but...〗

〖For Castel, we're willing to die.〗

Hughes stared at Chloe's urgent handwriting, as if her anxious face were right in front of him. He remained silent for a while, then closed the diary and handed it to Richard.

"Thank you, Mr. Richard. Chloe was right—her plan *could* save Castel."

"Lord Hughes, are you going to use the chrysalis?" Richard's voice trembled slightly.

"No." Hughes spoke slowly.

"The intelligence Chloe died to provide filled in the last missing piece... Now we have a better option."

Feeling the surge from the Mind Link, Hughes' eyes grew firm.

He had kept the Mind Link open all along—not just to stay informed on the battle, but to keep the banshees updated about everything on his end.

By now, the banshees already knew the full story—about Monica, and everything about the Pirate King's Court.

『Monica!』

『I'm listening.』

『What's your condition right now?』

『Mm, I can feel that monster in the Pirate King's Court. It's much stronger than me—I can't face it head-on. But I *am* half a Sea God—I can control the sea!』

A grin gradually spread across Hughes' face.

『I can lower the sea level. Not just that—I can cause the sea from this space to flood into reality. You know what that means——』

Latest updates of the novel first published at 69 Book Bar!

『The sea will become land. Castel and Gem Bay will be connected by dry land!』

Hughes laughed through gritted teeth. 『That's enough. You lower the sea. Leave the rest to Castel—Extraordinary Power can solve this. But so can raw firepower. I refuse to believe that after we bomb the Pirate King's Court into the sky, that monster can still survive!!』

The banshees cheered through the Mind Link.

They had been on the back foot for far too long. Castel had been retreating, sacrificing, everyone doing their utmost, and still the front line was being swallowed by the sea.

The ever-rising tide felt like a curse, pressing down on every heart.

In the offshore waters of Castel, Monica roused the power within her. As long as she remained in the sea, the ocean was an extension of her will—in this space, her power could be used without restraint.

Wherever she looked, the once-surging sea suddenly paused, then rapidly reversed direction, roaring like a mountain as it surged toward the Eye of the Storm.

The massive whirlpool at the Eye of the Storm came to an instant halt. Water that had gushed up from the Bottomless Abyss now surged outwards with infinite force. Dark clouds spread from the top of the Eye of the Storm, thunder snaking through them like serpents of light.

From the icy plains of the far north to the southern continents, from Blood Harbor of Tis to the eastern Corridor of Despair—the entire Storm Ocean began to rain.

The Bottomless Abyss at the Eye of the Storm became a giant spring gushing outward. The *Black Pearl*, stuck on a seamount due to the receding waters, suddenly trembled. Jeremiah stepped onto the deck, dazed by the torrential downpour, then dashed to the ship's rail, hysterically laughing as he watched the rising sea.

The crew knelt on the deck—some prayed, some wept, some screamed madly.

In Castel's main cathedral, Kyle, leading a squad of recruits, cautiously peeked out from a firing slit. Outside, no longer were there sea urchin spines or murlocs crawling along the walls. The seawater that had submerged everything was now receding.

Ash supported herself with her longsword, gasping for breath. She tore off her tattered armor and revealed a ferocious grin at the retreating waters and degenerating monsters.

Now, it was Castel's turn to counterattack.