Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

"Have you ever looked underwater?"

"Underwater?"

The two Banshees were momentarily stunned. After thinking it over, shock spread across their faces.

It really was a case of "darkness beneath the lamp." As a race that lived in the water, the Banshees had instinctively searched on land. They believed that humans were a land-dwelling race, so anything valuable must also be hidden on land.

But Hughes was human—he knew all too well that humans loved hiding things in inconvenient places.

Especially in Gem Bay, where the people were pirates. It was completely normal for them to stash things in the sea.

If nothing could be found on land, then there were two possibilities: either it was buried deep underground, or it was hidden somewhere along the intricate network of waterways between the islands.

Of course, these "intricate" routes were only difficult for humans.

Once Ash received Hughes's suggestion, she only needed half a day to discover a clue beneath the water.

In Gem Bay, after hearing Hughes's suggestion, Ash immediately sent the Banshees on a patrol around the sea.

"Ash-sama, we've searched the surrounding waters and found nothing unusual, but—"

The Banshee swayed her serpentine tail excitedly.

"Beneath the Pirate King's Court, there seems to be a water vein."

"We sensed a narrow water vein under the Court. There's a natural cavern beneath the ground here—I suspect it leads all the way to the ocean!"

Ash nodded. "Let's go check it out."

The Banshees returned to the spot where they had first arrived—right at the large hole blasted open in the Pirate King's Court, where the Pirate King himself had once stood.

Ash closed her eyes and activated her innate ability: aquatic perception. Her awareness expanded instantly, and a mental map of the surrounding waters rapidly formed in her mind.

Soon, she opened her eyes and looked toward a large boulder below.

The boulder bore no signs of artificial chiseling, but Ash could faintly sense the presence of metal inside it.

Hmm, likely some kind of mechanism—triggering it would move the stone and reveal the passage beneath.

Ash simply cast a *Fossil to Mud* spell on the boulder. Soon, a hole appeared.

Seeing the staircase leading downward, the Banshees cheered.

It looked like they had found the right place.

Ash led the way, followed by the Banshees into the cave. A few steps down, the stairs submerged into seawater. Ash walked in but stopped abruptly not far ahead.

"What is it, Ash-sama?"

"Something's off."

The Banshees behind her quickly became alert. After scanning the area and detecting nothing unusual, they asked with some confusion, "What do you mean, something's off? Did you discover something?"

Ash furrowed her brows, still thinking. Without turning her head, she said, "This entire place is filled with seawater."

"What's so strange about that? We can just swim through—hiss!"

The Banshees had also noticed the anomaly. As Banshees, they didn't care whether it was air or water, but this passage was built by pirates.

No matter how closely tied they were to the sea, pirates were still human. They couldn't breathe underwater. This passage was too long for someone to swim through in a single breath.

How did the pirates make it through?

"I get it. The Great Ebb Tide."

Ash suddenly spoke.

"The Great Ebb Tide?"

"I heard the sailors talk about it. Once every month, there's a Great Ebb Tide in the Storm Ocean, during which the sea level falls much lower than normal. If I'm right, the water in this passage would recede enough then for humans to pass through."

As Ash explained, the other Banshees nodded. Many of them had heard of the Great Ebb Tide—one of the unique phenomena of the Storm Ocean. Castel Island's residents often used that time to scavenge the shores for seafood.

With the mystery resolved, the Banshees swam onward through the passage.

They didn't need to wait for the tide.

Soon, they reached the deepest part.

Ironically, there was no seawater here. It was an air pocket—a dome of trapped air resembling an inverted bowl in the sea.

It was large enough to be the size of several rooms. There were signs of artificial excavation, and numerous chests were neatly arranged inside.

The chests were made of metal with waterproofing features. Ash tried to open one but found it locked.

Hmm. A human lock.

Ash wrapped her tail around the chest and grabbed the lid with all six of her hands. With a sharp tug, she ripped off both the lid and the lock.

"Wow!"

"Just like in a novel—so many gold coins!"

"Are all the chests like this?"

【L-a-t-e-s-t】【n-o-v-e-l】【o-n】【6】【9】【b-o-o-k】【s-i-t-e】【f-i-r-s-t】

"That's a lot of money. But what can we even do with money?"

"Hmm… at the very least, we can get praised by the Lord."

"Not bad at all!"

The Banshees were dazzled by the gold coins. Ash continued opening the remaining chests. Most contained various currencies, jewels, and valuable antiques and art pieces.

Clearly, these weren't items pirates would buy—they were loot.

Ever since the Pirate King unified the Storm Ocean, the rate at which pirates accumulated wealth had actually declined.

They no longer plundered ships at will but collected maritime taxes instead. But how much could sea taxes really bring in?

Castel Island had thousands of people, and the taxes collected were mostly special products like sweet fruit wine and seafood.

It wasn't that the Pirate King didn't want to collect more—it was that there just wasn't much money on the island to begin with. Excessive taxation would disrupt trade entirely.

Most islands had little to no contact with the outside world. If pirates wanted real money, they still had to rob merchant ships. These islands were nearly tapped out.

After the establishment of the Pirate King's Court, the Empress had sealed off all maritime trade. It was a case of mutual destruction—hurting the enemy but damaging the Empire as well.

Still, the Empire could afford it.

So, most of these treasures were accumulated by the pirates in earlier days. Once the Empire sealed the seas, even the Pirate King had nowhere to spend his wealth—few merchants dared trade with them anymore.

Now it was all going to Hughes.

The Pirate King may have had money he couldn't use—but Hughes could. He held a legal letter of enfeoffment.

As for whether the independent Principality of Tis would recognize it...

With the *Imperial Truth* as witness, they would surely agree to free trade.

If not, the Holy Guard would just have to "reason" with them.

The Banshees were ecstatic. It was their first time seeing so many treasures. Each of them happily adorned themselves with various trinkets.

Ash, however, didn't join in the antics. She methodically opened each chest and made a rough record of the spoils.

When she opened one of the last few chests, her brow suddenly furrowed.

This chest—

Ash gave it a light shake. A dull thud sounded from within.

Without hesitation, she tore the lid off.

The Banshees immediately stopped fooling around and gathered around after seeing what was inside.

Inside the chest—was a girl with blue hair.