Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

『What!? What did you say!?』

Hughes abruptly stood up from his chair.

『Repeat that again. No, you’re all in the manor’s underground, right? Wait for me, I’m coming over now.』

Hughes tossed the document in his hand onto the table and dashed into the secret passage inside the fireplace.

Along the way, he encountered many Sirens, all of whom wore solemn expressions, indicating that they too had received the news.

It didn’t take long for Hughes to arrive at the entrance of the underground palace, panting.

Ash, Nini, and Una were all there.

”What’s going on?”

The group exchanged glances before Ash stepped forward.

”It’s like this, you previously assigned Una the task of creating a passage to the Abyssal Trench, so she planned to dig a tunnel between the manor and the Eastern Test Site to give it a try.””I know that.”

Hughes nodded.

The surrounding Sirens gradually gathered around.

It was rare for them to set aside their work, and their expressions were also serious.

”At the same time, she also wanted to investigate the current state of the Abyssal Trench. Since the Abyssal Trench is now filled with pollution, she entrusted Nini and me to go down together.”

Ash’s combat strength was among the strongest of the Sirens.

Before forming a Symbiotic Contract, most Sirens would die upon leaving the seawater, but Ash had managed to float on the ocean surface for half a day before being picked up by a fishing boat and brought back to the port, which was how she met Hughes.

Later, when the Sirens escaped from the Abyssal Trench, the others were busy casting Flesh Magic for Monica and had no hands to spare.

It was Ash alone who protected the entire Siren clan, repelling all the polluted monsters.

Therefore, sending her and Nini, who was the most proficient in spells, to the Abyssal Trench was practically foolproof.

After all, with the Symbiotic Contract, they could draw life force from the Life Pool to heal instantly if they got injured.

”When we first entered the Abyssal Trench, everything seemed normal, but we ran into trouble on the way back.”

Nini clenched her six fists tightly, gritting her teeth.

”We ran into Fishmen! They’re back!”

The surrounding Sirens immediately erupted into discussions, their eyes filled with hatred.

Having been enslaved for so long, their races were already mortal enemies.

Moreover, many clansmen had perished during their escape.

Almost every Siren had lost someone they knew to the Fishmen.

Ash remained expressionless, but in her silver-white eyes, anger seemed to surge.

Hughes took a deep breath and thought for a moment before asking,

”How many of them were there? What was their condition? Where were they located?”

”Seventeen in total. We first encountered a scout and followed it to a camp, where the rest of the Fishmen were.”

Ash thought for a moment.

”They were in good condition and put up fierce resistance. The location was east of Castel, not far from here.”

Fierce resistance?

That description sounded odd.

Could it be...

”Where are those Fishmen now?”

”Here.”

Ash stepped aside and pointed to the ground nearby, which had been covered by a black cloth.

A Siren next to her pulled the cloth away with one swift motion.

The ground was piled with twisted limbs.

They were Fishmen.

Hughes still remembered their ugly and terrifying appearance.

He walked over and roughly counted.

”No survivors?”

”Sorry, that was my mistake.”

Ash lowered her head directly.

Beside her, Nini sighed.

”I couldn’t stop her. She charged in too fast. By the time I got there, all that was left were corpses.”

Ash was that strong?

And she, who was usually so calm, had lost control?

Hughes was somewhat surprised.

”How many Fishmen were there in total? I mean before they started relocating.”

This question stumped the Sirens.

They exchanged glances and began whispering among themselves.

”About five hundred?”

”No, at least a thousand.”

”How did you count them?”

”Just a feeling. There were so many of them, it must be in the thousands.”

Hughes frowned.

”How were they usually organized? Did they have villages? Settlements? Did multiple settlements gather into something larger?”

The Sirens thought about it after hearing his question, then shook their heads.

”We haven’t seen such structures, my lord.”

Nini stepped forward, glancing at the Sirens behind her before continuing.

”They seemed to be divided into two groups: miners and warriors.”

”They enslaved us to mine, but they also mined themselves. The warriors didn’t come often, only occasionally patrolling.”

Hughes began to understand.

”So when you first escaped into the Abyssal Trench, the ones fighting were just the miners and overseers?”

”Yes, their overall numbers weren’t large, so we managed to break out. That Ghost Ship at the end should have been a weapon belonging to their warriors.”

”I see.”

Hughes nodded.

One group of Fishmen was responsible for production, while another handled combat.

It was a reasonable division of labor.

As for Fishmen who did other kinds of work?

At that time, the Sirens were still enslaved and had only encountered miners, which made sense.

”How many of each type were there?”

”The miners were the most numerous, probably a few hundred. As for the warriors...”

Nini shook her head.

”I only ever saw their patrol teams, about a dozen per squad, basically like the ones you see here.”

She gestured toward the Fishmen corpses behind her.

Hughes rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

If there were several hundred miners, then the number of Fishmen responsible for gathering food should be even higher...

Or maybe not necessarily.

Getting food in the ocean shouldn’t be that difficult.

But no matter how he calculated it, this race had to number in the thousands.

Hiss...

If they had thousands, that could be trouble.

No matter how skilled the Sirens were at fighting, they were outnumbered.

The Symbiotic Contract’s healing made them nearly invincible in one-on-one combat, allowing them to recover instantly from injuries.

But if they were surrounded and overwhelmed, the contract’s advantage would diminish.

In any case, the priority was to investigate first.

”Ash, you and Nini each take two squads and scout the area. Find out how many Fishmen have returned. Are there just a few squads, or is there a large-scale migration?”

Ash nodded.

Nini thought for a moment before asking,

”What if we encounter Fishmen?”

”Stay hidden and avoid detection. If it’s a small group like this—”

Hughes gestured at the corpses on the ground—

”—eliminate them. If it’s a large enemy force, retreat and report back immediately.”

”Also, if the search area becomes too wide and you leave the range of the Mind Link, leave some members behind as relays.

Have them pass messages step by step through the Mind Link.”

”Understood!”