Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Erwin was not a reckless person.

Half the reason he had become a squad leader was due to his steady and calm nature.

He evaluated the strength of both sides and concluded that if they launched a surprise attack, they could take down the murloc without any injuries.

The tower wasn’t far from their location.

Hughes had previously given them a map, marking the time it would take to reach each area.

According to that, the Siren squad could arrive here within three minutes at most.

Three minutes.

Erwin licked his lips.

He had seen those Sirens in action during advanced training.

Once they arrived, it didn’t matter how many murlocs there were, they could handle it. Even if this murloc was just a vanguard and a larger force was following behind, they just needed to hold on for three minutes.

Erwin gestured with his hands, calling over the patrol team members for a quiet discussion.

The murloc, hiding behind a reef, silently observed for a moment before cautiously moving forward.

Its vision wasn’t great, and its underwater sensing abilities didn’t work well on land.

Fortunately, its instincts were sharp enough to find suitable hiding spots, allowing it to reach this point without incident.

Suddenly, a soft “pop” echoed from the darkness, and a round object rolled over with a faint gurgling sound.

The murloc froze for a second, warily trying to retreat, but a sharp, ear-piercing screech suddenly erupted behind it.

It was a signal arrow, used by the patrol team for alerts.

As it shot into the sky, it ignited, guiding the Siren squad to their location.

Three figures stood behind the murloc.

One fired the signal arrow, while the other two aimed their bows at the creature.

By the time the murloc realized something was wrong and tried to dodge, an arrow had already struck its body.

The murloc then scrambled backward in panic, completely ignoring the round object on the ground.

As it stumbled over it, the object exploded.

“This is the result.” Erwin pointed at the murloc’s corpse on the table.

An arrow was lodged in its body, but it was the extensive burns that had truly caused its death.

Hughes had equipped the patrol team with a type of simple grenade.

Its damage was average, but it contained a large amount of flammable material, more like an incendiary bomb, capable of producing bright flames to signal for help.

“Excellent coordination. Your squad will be rewarded,” Hughes said, patting Erwin on the shoulder.

A six-man team, equipped with basic armor, could defeat a lone murloc in direct combat, but it wouldn’t necessarily be without injury.

Moreover, Erwin had fired the signal arrow at the first opportunity, ensuring they could handle any unforeseen events.

It was indeed a precise judgment and execution.

However, Hughes’s expression gradually darkened.

The murlocs had already made it onto the island.

They might be weak on land, but what about in the water?

Hughes looked around at everyone, noticing the grim expressions on their faces.

All of them had once harbored a sliver of false hope: since sea urchins and murlocs operated underwater, as long as they stayed on land, they would be safe, even if it meant giving up the sea altogether.

“Everyone, as you can see, retreating won’t help. Even if we avoid going into the sea, the murlocs will still come ashore.”

“This one was discovered by us, but what about those we haven’t found yet? And that’s just on land, at sea, we have no means of detection. How many murlocs and sea urchin monsters are lurking in the ocean?”

Hughes shook his head as the heavy silence weighed on the room.

“This war is unavoidable. At first, we hoped the pirates would assist us, but now there’s been no word from them. We also hoped that refugees from the North would bolster our numbers, but they can’t arrive in time. Castel has become a true isolated island, we have no reinforcements left. We must bear this battle ourselves.”

The people around him swallowed hard as Hughes slowly scanned the room, meeting each person’s gaze one by one.

Ash and the Sirens were filled with a burning hatred, while Alexei wore an expression of eagerness for battle.

Connor calmly met Hughes’s eyes and gave a slight nod.

Chloe hesitated briefly but then sighed and lifted her head.

At least no one here was retreating, or rather, they had no path left to retreat.

“But we do have some good news,” Hughes said, his tone softening. “Murlocs are much clumsier on land than they are in the water. On land, it’s our home ground.”

The Sirens nodded slowly. “Yes, they react much more swiftly in the water.”

“If that’s true for the murlocs, perhaps the sea urchin monsters will also be easier to deal with.”

It wasn’t much, but it was still a sliver of hope, even if unproven.

The sea urchin monsters were the most troublesome threat in the ocean.

If they could be dealt with, the murlocs wouldn’t be much of a concern.

“The war has officially begun. There will likely be many direct battles ahead. Alexei, the selection and training of soldiers must be accelerated. Hand off some of the engineering work to your subordinates, those newly selected recruits have already been assigned to your division.”

Hughes had redesigned a new bureaucratic system for appointments and dismissals.

He had already implemented it on a small scale on the island, starting with the management of his factories and testing grounds.

Originally, he had planned to wait before involving himself in the island’s official positions since, technically, they fell under the Empress’s authority.

Hughes’s intervention was somewhat unofficial, but now, that didn’t matter anymore.

After all, they had no way of complaining to the Empress.

Alexei nodded firmly. He had been waiting for this day, finally, he could take charge of the battles ahead. His heart burned with anticipation.

“Chloe, I need your cooperation now. Put aside other research for the time being and prioritize battlefield-related projects. I’ll give you a few blueprints later, take a look at them.”

Hughes had already developed the rifled musket.

It wasn’t particularly advanced technology, but it wasn’t suitable as the main weapon against sea urchin monsters, which was why they hadn’t been mass-produced yet.

Now that the murlocs had landed, at the very least, the patrol team needed to be equipped with firearms.

Rifled muskets were easy to produce, but they required smokeless gunpowder.

With nitroglycerin already available, producing smokeless powder wouldn’t be too difficult.

Hughes even had a ready-made preparation process that just needed a little refining by the Moths Chasing Fire, then it could be mass-produced.

This was the task he planned to assign to Chloe.

Previously, due to the technological blockade, attempts at laboratory production had failed.

But two days ago, good news finally arrived, they had succeeded.

Now, as long as the production lines were activated, smokeless gunpowder could be produced in large quantities.

The leap from flintlock to rifled musket was enormous, and smokeless powder was also a crucial technology for cannon upgrades.

Technological progress was accelerating, and the world’s restrictions on technology were gradually weakening.

Castel would soon experience a technological explosion.

Things were finally looking up.

Chloe nodded slightly. “No problem. By the way, if we’re on land, Chrysalis can construct a sensory network using Extraordinary powers. However, this will require personnel, those assigned to sensing won’t be able to do anything else.”

“How large an area can it cover?”

“Without counting myself, with my current team of three extraordinary individuals, about half the island.”

“Stay behind for a moment and explain your extraordinary abilities to me in detail.”