Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Underground in the manor, the cavity excavated by the Sirens had expanded several times over.

Now, the area beneath the surface was already larger than the manor above.

Moreover, with the advancement of the Sirens’ ”Fossil to Mud” technique, primarily provided by Hughes, he had successfully combined it with steel to create an otherworldly version of reinforced concrete.

Judging by appearances, its strength was at least as high, if not higher, than that on Earth.

After all, the stone melted by ”Fossil to Mud” was less prone to forming voids when cast, and any errors discovered could be easily corrected.

At this point, Hughes had lost the motivation to develop cement.

This spell was simply too convenient.

If not for the fact that many structures would need to be built in the future, he would have loved to let the Sirens focus entirely on masonry.

The Sirens were also highly passionate about construction, especially when building their own homes, to the point of obsession.

This feeling was eerily familiar to Hughes.It took him a long time to remember, wasn’t this exactly how he played Minecraft on his computer?

That was a construction game where materials could be collected and used to build structures.

With ”Fossil to Mud,” the difficulty of building and digging for them wasn’t much different from in the game.

As a result, quite a few Sirens were completely addicted to excavation, and the underground cavities beneath the manor grew larger and larger.

Hughes thought about it, if it were him doing the digging, Castel would eventually be hollowed out.

This was way too much fun!

Each Siren had a slightly different architectural style, but adjustments were easy.

A single application of ”Fossil to Mud” could turn solid stone into a malleable, clay-like substance.

So every time Hughes walked into the tunnels, the buildings looked different.

Sometimes, the entire style had even changed.

“Lord, you’re here.”

Nini slithered over, her snake tail swaying.

Her proficiency with magic had improved significantly,  perhaps even excessively.

Hughes twitched at the sight of her multitasking as she walked, continuously casting steam engine components.

Two hands held the mold, one poured molten iron from a container, and another placed the finished parts into a bag along with raw materials.

She didn’t even need to look, conversing while working with astonishing efficiency.

This level of multitasking was insane.

No wonder she had six arms, she could actually control them all.

She stopped in front of Hughes, her eyes lighting up as she snatched two pieces of fried fish from the basket he was carrying.

“Mmm, olive oil-roasted fish, so delicious.

As long as it’s not a Devil Fish, it’s good.”

She didn’t even bother with the fish bones.

When she opened her mouth, Hughes could see her sharp teeth.

“Actually, I came here for—”

“For that spell, right?”

Nini nodded knowingly.

“Come with me. I’ve told you before, Monica’s spell research is nothing special.

I’m the true master of spellcraft!”

She snorted, lifted her chin proudly, and stuffed a few more pieces of fried fish into her mouth.

Hughes listened with interest.

He had a rough idea of the situation.

Nini had always considered herself the top spell researcher among the Sirens.

But after Monica developed the Machine Soul, she had been quite shaken.

She then threw herself into researching the Summon Sea Serpent spell for several days straight.

Her scales had even peeled off in the process.

After finally achieving results, she immediately notified Hughes, eagerly waiting for the lord’s praise.

So Hughes specially bought her favorite roasted fish and came to see her.

How did he know all this in such detail?

Because the Sirens had created a new group chat, one that excluded Nini and Monica.

The hyperactive Sirens live-streamed Nini’s research progress daily and even analyzed her psychological state.

They had added Hughes to the group.

Why did it feel like every Siren was a multitasking master?

Chatting in multiple group chats while working was their standard practice.

Hughes had even seen Sirens using all six hands to complete different tasks while attending his lectures and chatting with others simultaneously.

This Mind Link spell was really being put to good use.

No wonder they were born with six hands.

Nini led Hughes all the way to the deepest part of the cavern, by the seaside.

The passage leading to the sea had also been renovated.

The Sirens had built a massive slope, supposedly to prevent the reefs from scratching their scales.

Although, as far as Hughes had seen, they were more likely to scratch the reefs instead.

These Sirens were a supernatural race, after all.

Their physical toughness was absurdly high.

Nini didn’t go underwater.

Instead, she simply stared at the sea.

A moment later, a school of Moonfish suddenly leaped from the water, landing on the slope and flopping back into the ocean.

“Wow, they’re all about the same size!”

“Yes, I can roughly command the sea serpents. These are the bigger ones they chased out.”

“That’s incredible!

How long does it last?”

“I’m not sure. I feel like it could last indefinitely. It’s already been a few days, and they haven’t shown any signs of disappearing. Though I have to constantly supply mana, the overall consumption is quite low, way easier than maintaining Flesh Magic.”

Hughes nodded and couldn’t help but smile in delight.

She had actually pulled it off.

A few days ago, Nini had told him she might have found a way to solve the food shortage.

He hadn’t held out much hope, but she had given him a pleasant surprise.

Inspired by Monica, Nini had tried weakening her summoned sea serpents.

By making them smaller and weaker, she extended their duration and increased their numbers.

And she had succeeded.

The number of these sea serpents was terrifying, according to Nini, there were at least several hundred.

She had lost count herself.

But this kind of sea serpent was practically useless in combat.

After much contemplation, Nini had found another use, herding fish.

Although the sea serpents were weak, they were still intimidating enough to scare fish.

And with enough numbers, they could form various formations.

Nini experimented with using the sea serpents to surround schools of fish and drive them toward a target location.

It worked perfectly.

The sea serpents easily corralled the fish as she commanded.

After practicing for a while, she could even drive fish straight onto the shore.

“This is amazing! Absolutely amazing!”

Looking at the shore full of Moonfish, Hughes couldn’t stop smiling.

Half of the food supply issue in the territory was now solved, at least temporarily.

He couldn’t have Nini fishing forever.

But this removed any immediate concerns about food imports.

If his food supply was ever cut off, Nini could step in to prevent starvation.

After all, Storm Ocean was pirate territory.

Hughes had no intention of placing Castel’s survival in the hands of a pirate’s mercy.

Besides, he had a hunch that this spell’s value extended far beyond just catching fish.