Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Moonlight shone upon Castel, and in the quiet night, only the occasional chirping of insects could be heard.

Above the ground, all was peaceful, but beneath the earth, Hughes and Ash were working fervently.

Ash’s six hands wielded the excavation tools that Hughes had prepared in advance, digging rapidly.

The efficiency reminded Hughes of a tunnel boring machine from his past life, perhaps even surpassing it, as even a tunnel boring machine couldn’t cast ”Fossil to Mud.”

Four hands dug forward, while two hands moved the soil to the rear, simultaneously smoothing the tunnel.

As a Siren, an extraordinary race, plunging a shovel into the soil was no harder than dipping a hand into a bucket of rice. Very quickly, the two of them had burrowed their way underground.

『Hold on a moment, let me confirm the direction... Yes, just ahead, we should be there soon.』

『Alright.』

To avoid leaving traces on the surface, Ash dug deeper than the burial depth of the coffin.

After Hughes repeatedly confirmed the location, the two of them stopped.『It should be right here. Dig upwards carefully, as lightly as possible, so the soil on the surface remains undisturbed.』

Ash pondered for a moment, then chose not to dig manually. Instead, she directly cast ”Fossil to Mud,” softening the soil and allowing it to slide down naturally.

『This is even better than a Luoyang shovel.』

『What is a Luoyang shovel?』

{Louyang Shovel is some kind of high level Shovel in novel “Daomu Biji” also known as The Lost Tomb or Grave Robbers’ Chronicles. It has manhua, Donghua and Drama also. Louyang Shovel is used by grave robbers in this novel with abilities of locating graves, Navigation and probing traps.}

『I’ll make one for you later... We’re here!』

Ash moved her hands away and gently brushed aside the surrounding soil, revealing a tightly sealed wooden box.

Hughes reached out and touched the box.

Pinewood, iron, copper.

The materials composing the box appeared in his mind.

The amounts of iron and copper were minimal, likely just nails and hinges. Aside from that, there were no other materials, no inscriptions like those found in the church.

Hmm? Just ordinary materials, no extraordinary power?

This was unexpected. Given how the Candlelight Church even inscribed sigils in the confessional, why would they cut corners here?

Hughes had mentally prepared to hit a wall here. He had resolved to back off if he encountered any extraordinary power.

Worker Hughes’ case was indeed strange, but Castel’s current promising situation was not worth risking over it.

Yet now, he discovered there was no extraordinary power at all.

Did that mean he could open it directly?

『Ash, can you sense anything unusual from this box?』

Hearing this, Ash closed her eyes briefly, then shook her head.

『It seems to be just an ordinary box. What’s inside?』

『The Candlelight Church claims it’s a heretic’s corpse.』

『If I’m careful, I should be able to open it without damaging the box.』

Ash examined it from different angles and spoke with certainty.

She wasn’t sure why Hughes was so interested in it. If this box contained a heretic’s corpse, it was likely related to contamination.

If it was just contamination, there shouldn’t be much of an issue. As long as she activated Flesh Magic, no amount of contamination could harm her.

Hughes looked at the box again and felt there was no major problem.

『Alright, when you open it, if anything goes wrong, we leave immediately. The sea is not far away, I’ll call the others for backup.』

Hughes sent a message through the Mind Link and quickly received confirmation.

『Go ahead and open it, Ash. Remember to use Flesh Magic.』

Ash nodded, stepped back a little, and used four hands to grip the box’s corners while the remaining two skillfully removed the wooden panels.

Her movements were slow and careful, minimizing noise. As the bottom panel was fully removed, something black fell out, and she quickly caught it.

Her expression turned strange.

『Lord...』

Ash turned slightly.

Hughes stepped forward and looked down.

『...What is this?』

It appeared to be a lump of black... stone?

Hughes placed his hand on it, feeling its composition.

Granite. Nothing else.

It was just an ordinary rock.

『Is there anything else in the coffin?』

Ash shook her head. 『Only this.』

The box had no corpse!?

Hughes felt his hair stand on end.

What did this mean? Had Worker Hughes’ corpse already been disposed of? Was the Candlelight Church just putting on a show and placed a rock inside instead?

That would make sense, no wonder Chloe was so certain there was no issue. The wooden box also lacked any extraordinary power.

Wait...

Hughes suddenly looked up.

If the box never contained a corpse, then where did his Descent actually occur!?

He distinctly remembered being trapped in a cramped space, unable to turn over.

Was that not a wooden coffin?

A chill ran down Hughes’ back.

This box had been buried by his own people. It was buried at noon, and he came to dig it up that night. Yet, in such a short time, the body had disappeared?

Something was wrong, very wrong. A deep sense of unease crept over Hughes.

『Restore the box and the stone to their original state. We need to leave, now!』

Ash silently nodded. She worked quickly, restoring the wooden box before retreating with Hughes.

The soil was loose, making refilling the hole an easy task.

When Hughes returned to the surface, he looked around and saw no one else.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and instructed Ash to restore the ground’s appearance.

『Good, no one noticed.』

『Let’s go back to the cave first. Something is definitely off about this.』

Ash nodded, and the two quickly left the forest.

Under the moonlight, the woods returned to silence.

After a long while, a sigh came from behind the trees.

A slender figure emerged from the shadows. She wore a fiery red cloak, the wide fabric draping to the ground like feathered robes.

In the moonlight, her face remained hidden beneath the hood’s shadow.

She looked down at the ground, then in the direction where Hughes and Ash had left.

”So it really is you, Lord.”

”I thought we could be fellow travelers, but it turns out you believe in those decayed gods.”

”Very well...”

She shook her head and slowly walked away from the forest, heading toward the church.

Under the hood, a pair of crimson eyes flickered. The usually carefree face was now solemn.

If Hughes saw her, he might not even recognize her—Sister Chloe.

”Let the ritual begin,” she murmured.

In the forest, the graveyard, and every shadowed corner, figures clad in red-hooded robes emerged.

Inside the church, the once-extinguished lights suddenly reignited, illuminating the stained glass dome as if it were molten steel, red and scorching.

The red-cloaked figures walked toward the church. The edges of their robes gradually caught fire.

The curtain was rising.