Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Evil god?

What evil god?

Wait, could it be Worker Hughes?

Hughes’ expression became strange.

Thinking carefully, he had purified their Lord of Moths and was even regarded as an Outer God.

Speaking of which, what exactly is an Outer God?

Hughes pondered for a moment, then his expression changed drastically.

“What!? You still have an evil god in your hands? How can such a dangerous thing remain in the territory!”

“It’s not dangerous, really not dangerous,” Chloe hurriedly explained.

She started to regret bringing this up now.

What if Hughes changed his mind and drove them away?

“Actually, it’s not an evil god. Something must have gone wrong with the summoning ritual, and an Outer God was summoned instead.”

“Outer God?”

“Yes, I can’t talk about that part, or it will cause pollution.”

“Go ahead, don’t worry about pollution. I have a way to deal with it.”

Chloe gritted her teeth.

“I know you can handle pollution, but if I speak of it, I’ll be polluted too!”

“Huh?”

“Knowledge brings pollution. This kind of pollution is not one-sided, it affects both parties. Otherwise, it would have been used on the battlefield immediately.”

Hughes blinked.

That actually made sense.

If simply speaking knowledge could pollute the other party, then the Moths Chasing Fire shouldn’t be in such a miserable state.

Which lord wouldn’t welcome them?

They could just give a couple of lectures on advanced mathematics, and the lord would explode on the spot.

How could they have ended up in their current sorry state?

Hiss, wait a minute.

If speaking knowledge causes pollution, then wouldn’t teachers be the most vulnerable?

Chloe glanced at Hughes and pursed her lips.

“You probably haven’t come into contact with esoteric knowledge yet. Most superficial knowledge doesn’t cause pollution. But deeper knowledge, if you don’t understand its fundamental principles or lack prerequisite knowledge, then just hearing about it can pollute you.”

“As for ‘esoterica,’ it’s something even more advanced. It consists of fragments of history. We don’t know the cause and effect, we don’t even know if it’s real. At the same time, most people are unaware of it. Such knowledge, whether spoken or heard, causes pollution.”

Esoterica?

Hughes suddenly thought of a supernatural class, the Candlelight Church’s ”Secret Keeper.”

“Does the ‘Secret Keeper’ have something to do with this?”

Chloe’s eyes widened.

“You actually know about that? Indeed, Secret Keepers usually possess a vast amount of esoterica. They can use esoterica as a weapon, directly attacking enemies and polluting them. The strength of a Secret Keeper is directly tied to the number of esoterica they possess.”

“I see. Do you have any Secret Keeper in your cult?”

“Cough, cough!”

Chloe choked.

Hughes patted her back a few times before she caught her breath.

“How could we have one! We used to be part of the same order as the Candlelight Church, but we separated long ago. And if we had Secret Keepers, why would we still be wandering everywhere?”

“In any case, knowledge is extremely, extremely dangerous. Especially esoterica, its spread means pollution, it means loss of control!”

“Then what happens if you write it down?”

“That depends on the situation.”

Chloe thought for a moment.

“If it’s a relatively safe esoterica, something not too ancient, or supported by other historical records, widely known to the public, then even if it’s spoken aloud, the pollution is minimal.”

“Such knowledge is often written down. Once recorded on paper, it gradually loses its polluting properties and becomes ordinary knowledge. So reading books is a safer way to acquire knowledge compared to conversation.”

“But if the esoterica is truly dangerous, then it’s a completely different story, even the opposite!”

“They contain some kind of bizarre power. When written down, instead of losing their pollution, it actually deepens. At the same time, such dangerous esoterica are rarely documented. Only a few historical records mention them, by which I mean safe historical records.”

Fear flickered in Chloe’s eyes.

“If these esoterica are recorded, their pollution could even spread to originally safe historical texts!”

Hughes’ pupils suddenly contracted.

Dangerous esoterica, once recorded, becomes even more dangerous?

And they can contaminate related historical records as well?!

How is this possible?

Does this mean that not only is exploring science punished by the world, but even exploring history is?

What exactly happened in this world?

“There’s more,” Chloe said solemnly.

“These polluted pieces of knowledge can distort related historical records. In other words, even if you avoid reading esoterica and only read ordinary history, you can still be polluted. And those records may not even be correct.”

“That’s why writing down ancient esoterica is a serious crime. All churches severely punish such actions.”

Hughes pressed his lips tightly together, saying nothing.

This world was even more dangerous and insane than he had imagined.

Not only was interacting with the supernatural a risk, even reading normal historical records could lead to pollution.

A history that was once safe might not be safe anymore.

Hughes suddenly recalled Nora’s words.

”Remain ignorant, that is the last mercy of this world.”

Perhaps, for ordinary people, ignorance was the greatest protection.

A cognitive barrier was the last line of defense.

The two fell into a long silence.

“The things you told me before about the Church of the Sea God…”

“That was esoterica, but relatively safe. First, it’s not too ancient, only a thousand years old. Second, it’s widely known. Almost every supernatural being knows about it.”

“Moreover, the Church of the Sea God still exists today. It has not fallen into unverifiable history. So it is one of the safest esoterica. Most churches have written records of it.”

Hughes rubbed his chin, carefully pondering Chloe’s words.

The nature of esoterica once again exceeded his expectations.

He had assumed that with his purification abilities, he would be completely immune to the pollution of knowledge.

Now it seemed he had been naive.

The pollution of knowledge was two-way.

Or rather, as long as knowledge spread, pollution followed.

Fortunately, these terrifying properties only applied to esoterica.

They didn’t seem to affect scientific research and technological progress much.

…Right?

Esoterica was divided into dangerous and less dangerous categories.

Could knowledge itself be the same?

Right now, there was no issue because he was only exploring relatively safe fields.

But in the future, would the knowledge he pursued still be safe?

And considering this world’s idealistic nature…

Would nuclear bomb blueprints carry radiation?

Would massive battleships drive workers insane just from building them?

There was no way to be sure.

Hughes turned to look at Chloe.

“So, knowing how dangerous the world is, you still choose to move forward?”

“Yes. That’s why we call ourselves the Moths Chasing Fire.”