Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Chloe seemed to have noticed something and stared intently at a spot in the crowd. “Someone over there is causing trouble.”

『It’s already under control.』

“My people have already taken that person away.”

Hughes had just opened the Mind Link, intending to issue a warning, when he simultaneously received feedback from both the Siren and Chloe.

Hughes looked in that direction. Several ordinarily dressed individuals were quietly moving away from the crowd.

At a glance, Hughes found them vaguely familiar, those were people from the Moths Chasing Fire.

On the Siren’s side, Hughes had set up an observation post in advance.

Hidden on the rooftop of the newly built church nearby, they used their vantage point to monitor the entire situation.

As for Chloe—

“Weren’t your people supposed to remain stationary once they entered observation mode?”“With such a small area, one person can monitor everything. And since he activated his Chrysalis, the nearby chrysalises can communicate directly through consciousness. We might not be good at direct combat, that’s only against extraordinary beings. For ordinary people, it’s still quite simple.”

Chloe seemed afraid that Hughes wouldn’t believe her.

She casually picked up a twig from the ground and gave it a light squeeze, leaving several clear fingerprints on it.

One person activating an ability allowed those nearby to communicate freely, why did this feel so much like… Wi-Fi?

More accurately, it was like setting up a local area network.

This ability was truly perfect for infiltration.

Thinking back now, all the abilities of the Chrysalis seemed tailor-made for intelligence gathering.

Letting Isaac develop the intelligence network back then really had been the right choice.

Hughes wondered how things were progressing on his end now.

“Hmm, after some interrogation, it seems it was just a conflict with a coworker. Plus, he was drunk and wanted to stir up some trouble, not targeting the Siren specifically.”

Chloe’s eyes brightened slightly as she whispered to Hughes.

“All right, lock him up for now. We’ll deal with it after this is over.”

Hughes let out a deep breath.

So far, everything seemed to be going smoothly.

The Sirens’ debut had faced no significant obstacles.

First, the islanders were already aware of the Sirens’ existence, and Hughes’ propaganda machine had done plenty of groundwork in advance.

The public’s goodwill toward the Sirens was relatively high.

Second, everyone gathered here had been carefully selected by Hughes.

All of them were workers. Hughes had deliberately given the workers a holiday, bringing everyone over except for essential staff who had to stay behind.

While he hadn’t personally investigated every single individual, those employed in the factories had already undergone a selection process.

They were literate, possessed basic scientific knowledge, followed regulations, and were open to new things like machinery.

Even as ordinary workers, they had to meet all these criteria.

This was why Hughes had invested so much effort in promoting education on Castel Island.

And now, it seemed this group of carefully nurtured workers had a rather good capacity for accepting the Sirens, perhaps even too good.

Erwin’s patrol team had already stopped several groups of overly enthusiastic Siren worshippers.

Hughes couldn’t help but feel amused.

The Sirens’ popularity was beyond expectations, especially Nini.

The statue erected at the school’s entrance had already earned her a large following.

Her overwhelming personal strength, combined with the mystique of being from another race, had led many to worship the Sirens with near-blind devotion.

If Hughes hadn’t promoted basic education and scientific thinking among the islanders, a single call from the Sirens might have been enough to start a cult.

This wave of fervor had to be suppressed. Excessive worship was not a good thing.

If the Sirens wanted to coexist equally with the islanders, this trend had to be curbed.

After adding Entity Pollution into the furnace, the Sirens closed the furnace door and, after nodding to the stokers, didn’t leave.

Instead, they joined the crowd watching from a reserved space that Hughes had set aside for them.

As the Sirens approached, some commotion rippled through the crowd.

Their bodies were simply too large, even just walking felt like cavalry riding high-headed warhorses moving through the crowd.

That sense of oppressive presence was innate.

Hughes had arranged for plenty of personnel among the crowd to prevent panic.

The moment any disturbance began to stir, someone would immediately step forward to calm and control the situation.

Since the Sirens didn’t make any threatening movements, the commotion soon died down.

Only then did Hughes finally let out a long sigh of relief.

This was actually the most dangerous step.

In such a dense crowd, with towering Sirens nearby, mishandling the situation could easily lead to a stampede.

Even worse was the risk of mass panic.

Even trained armies sometimes experienced complete breakdowns, these were ordinary civilians, coming into close contact with the Sirens for the first time. Everyone was on edge.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly.

The workers in the crowd glanced at the nearby Sirens, whispering to one another.

Though a trace of fear lingered in their eyes, curiosity and friendliness were far stronger.

The first encounter was always the hardest.

Now that they could accept seeing the Sirens up close, future interactions would become much easier.

The murmuring didn’t last long. As a command echoed from within the deep pit, all the trainees completed their final checks and withdrew from the pit.

The ignition ceremony was about to begin.

After the earlier disturbance, everyone’s attention refocused on the enormous steel beast at the bottom of the pit.

This time, whether human or Siren, ordinary person or extraordinary being, everyone’s gaze was fixed on the central furnace.

This was the result of everyone’s hard work, a shared effort that every person had contributed to.

“Ignition ready!” Chloe called out loudly.

She was responsible for the central furnace’s design and construction, and the ignition operation was hers to execute.

As her voice fell, a distant operator began turning the valve.

“Pressure stabilizer locked at 180 pounds!” The monitoring worker glanced at the pressure gauge.

On the black dial with white markings, the needle trembled violently within the green safety zone.

“Condensate return valve opened three and a quarter turns!”

After a series of reports, the engineer at the valve finally replied, “All clear, ready for ignition!”

Chloe’s eyes lit up as she raised her voice and shouted, “Ignite!”

The operator’s trembling hand gripped the lever and then slammed it down.

The moment the crimson flame surged along the spiral fuse into the furnace, twelve circular nozzles simultaneously spat out tongues of blue-violet fire.

In the deep pit, the boiler began its deafening song, a raucous celebration of its birth.

Twelve pressure release valves simultaneously let out steam-whistle screeches.

Molten gold-colored flames roared from the observation ports, casting skeletal steel shadows along the pit walls like the ribs of a giant.

The gasps of the crowd were swallowed by the thunderous roar.

Castel’s largest Clamorer in history had begun its endless wail.