Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Abyss—Hughes was naturally not unfamiliar with it. He had once ventured deep into it with the Sirens, and in the end, the Sirens had fled from the Abyss.

As for his impression of the Abyss, Hughes felt there was nothing particularly special about it.

It wasn’t much different from other parts of the deep sea.

Dark, warm, and empty.

The sea, full of vibrant life as most people remembered it, could only be seen in shallow waters. The deep sea was an entirely different scene.

At the time, the Sirens hadn’t thought much of it either, which was why they stopped in the Abyss to establish their home.

If they had discovered any danger back then, they might have been more cautious, and Monica’s incident might not have happened.

“What is in the Abyss? Why is it spewing pollution?”

“The Sea Temple—don’t ask me what it is. The ancient texts only recorded its name. I know as much as you do: the Abyss contains the Sea Temple, and that’s all there is to it.”

“.”“In short, pollution started emerging from the Abyss, and the sea gradually became a massive source of contamination. All marine life died, leaving only some extraordinary creatures behind, which were also twisted into monsters by the pollution.”

“Wait a minute, all marine life died? What kind of joke is that? Then what about the fish being caught at the docks?”

“Pollution.”

Hughes’ pupils shrank instantly. The fish in the sea were all pollution?!

Wait, no way, impossible. It couldn’t be. He had eaten fish before, wouldn’t he know if it was polluted?

He had even sent people to inspect the fish caught by the fishermen, and there had been no sign of pollution at all. Wasn’t the pollution supposed to exist only in the deep sea?

“You should have noticed that pollution is not lifeless. It moves and can be attracted.”

“I know you’ve been accumulating some pollution on the island. It’s been some time now, hasn’t it?”

“Take a look and see if it is still the same as before.”

“What do you mean?”

“No one has been able to give a precise answer as to what pollution really is, but I suspect that it was once living creatures that, for some reason, transformed into what it is now.”

“What I’m about to say is purely my speculation. I haven’t found any relevant records in ancient texts, but at least it makes some sense.”

Chloe frowned as if recalling something unpleasant. “The fish and shrimp in the shallow sea were once pollution themselves. Over the past thousand years, they gradually reverted back to fish and shrimp because they were far from the source of contamination.”

“I once heard a member of the Church of the Sea God say that there are no fish or shrimp in the deep sea. This is because the pollution in the deep sea continues to be affected and has never reverted to its original form.”

A sudden realization struck Hughes like a bolt of lightning, leaving him frozen in place as past memories surged like a tidal wave.

When he first followed Ash into the Abyssal Trench, he had been curious about why the deep sea was so empty, devoid of anything.

At the time, he reasoned that it was just like the deep sea on Earth, where sunlight couldn’t reach, nutrients were scarce, and only a few organisms could survive.

But now, he sensed something was off. Even with limited nutrients in the deep sea, it shouldn’t be so barren that not a single fish could be found, right?

So that was the truth, the deep sea contained only pollution, no living creatures.

Everything made sense now.

“The fish and shrimp… were they actually transformed from pollution?”

“Yes, which is why I don’t eat seafood.”

“Will eating them cause contamination?”

“Supposedly not. Some extraordinary beings have tried before, but most people can’t accept it. After all, once you know what these things in the sea originally were, it’s hard not to be repulsed.”

Hughes recalled the texture of the fish and shrimp he had eaten before. It didn’t seem much different from those on Earth.

No wonder pollution could burn, it was originally transformed from living organisms.

Wait a minute… wasn’t this just like petroleum?

Hughes rubbed his chin. Now that he knew about deep-sea pollution, many details started coming together, sending a chill down his spine.

For example, Una had once said that the pollution in the sea felt different from the pollution caused by cognitive interference.

Could it be that the two types of pollution came from different creatures?

Perhaps the pollution in the sea originated from fish and shrimp, while the pollution from cognitive interference came from beasts?

It was worth researching further in the future.

“Go on.”

“Hmm, where was I? Oh, right. The Church of the Sea God was destroyed after the great sea mutation a thousand years ago, but new followers have emerged, mainly among coastal people. It is said that the Pirate King has deep connections with them.”

“In the past few decades, they gradually established a method to gain power, a supernatural system.”

“You know how we extraordinary beings climb step by step. But they chose the opposite direction, seeking the Old Days.”

“Climb steps?”

“Don’t interrupt. Anyway, they did find a stable supernatural path, but the cost is immense.”

“I don’t know exactly how it works, but in short, they need to constantly come into contact with pollution. Even after gaining power, they still turn into half-mad monsters.”

“They are real monsters. In the Church of the Sea God, few maintain a human form. Most experience various mutations, some grow extra pairs of arms, while others have their legs turn into snake tails.”

Chloe glanced at Hughes, speaking with a deeper meaning.

“They are not from the Church of the Sea God. That was a misunderstanding,” Hughes said helplessly. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be so clueless about the Church of the Sea God, would I?”

Chloe stared at Hughes for a while before finally nodding. “Alright, thinking about it carefully, it doesn’t seem like it. The mutations of the Sea God’s followers are mostly random, not this uniform.”

“And because they have been exposed to pollution for so long, those cultists struggle to maintain their sanity. They are genuine lunatics, easily provoked and sometimes even losing control without any provocation at all.”

“I see… So you always thought I was one of those lunatics from the Church of the Sea God?”

“Yes. I didn’t even dare to say too much, afraid of triggering you.”

So it was all a misunderstanding. No wonder his previous conversations with Chloe had been so confusing.

“Why did you think I was from the Church of the Sea God? Just because of the Sirens?”

“That was part of it. After all, those six-armed… Those Sirens obviously came from the sea.”

Hughes nodded. That was true. And their mutations did resemble those of the Church of the Sea God. Was that just a coincidence?

“Besides, you’ve been stockpiling pollution on the island. That’s something only the cultists of the Church of the Sea God would do, they need pollution to strengthen their power.”

“And you summoned an Outer God.”

“When did I ever summon an Outer God?!”