Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Clang—Clang—Clang—

The sound of bells rang out over Castel, causing the islanders to look up and turn their gazes toward the towering structure in the center of the island.

It was the Castel Grand Cathedral, personally designed by Hughes.

The main structure was a massive, square-shaped fortress, with four towering turrets at each corner.

Atop the turrets were observation decks, but unlike other fortresses of this era, Hughes’ design made them nearly fully enclosed, leaving only a few narrow firing slits.

Above the turrets were several vacant platforms.

Due to the rushed construction schedule, work on them had been paused for now. Perhaps in the future, anti-air weapons would be deployed there, though, at present, warfare in this world had no need for air defense.

Since the platforms would otherwise remain empty, Hughes simply built a bell tower to sound the great bell and convey messages to the island’s inhabitants.

Castel was not large, and with the main cathedral positioned centrally, the sound of the bell could be heard from nearly every corner of the island.

According to Hughes’ vision, if the battle situation ever turned dire, the islanders would all take refuge in the main cathedral. It was the largest structure on the island, spanning more than ten levels from the surface down underground.

The central furnace would continuously provide both protective inscriptions and steam power, and the facility contained essential living spaces and industrial production lines.

This was Castel’s last line of defense, an unyielding sanctuary.

And today, the great bell atop the cathedral’s dome had been rung.

The islanders looked at each other, their faces filled with confusion and unease.

The newly inducted priests of Imperial Truth, though the people preferred to call them the patrol squad, had previously spread the word that the ringing of the great bell signified a call for refuge, summoning all islanders to the cathedral for shelter.

Fortunately, the air raid alarm had not sounded simultaneously, indicating that this was not an emergency evacuation.

People were not too panicked, and under the guidance of the priests and the Sirens, who had received prior notice, they slowly made their way toward the cathedral.

Beneath the main cathedral, the central furnace, which had been running at low power to conserve fuel, emitted a low hum today.

One by one, the protective inscriptions engraved on the ceiling of the underground chamber lit up, activating at full capacity.

Hughes stood in the cathedral hall, watching as the priests directed the citizens to their respective resting areas.

“How are the factories?”

“Most have shut down. Only the steel mill remains operational since shutting down the furnace is inconvenient. A few Sirens are stationed there to monitor it, so there shouldn’t be any trouble.”

Behind Hughes, Chloe stood quietly. Her expression was hesitant.

After some internal struggle, she softly asked, “Do we really need to be this cautious? Maybe this is all just a coincidence. The chances of so many cognitive interferences happening at the same time are incredibly low.”

Since the island had suddenly experienced a surge of bizarre incidents, Hughes had immediately made the decision to halt all industrial production and send everyone to take refuge in the cathedral.

Although he had no idea what was happening, his experience told him that it was better to be safe in situations like this.

If a wave of island-wide pollution descended upon them, it would be a disaster.

Moreover, whether it was the success of a research project or the sudden discovery of a mine, all of it looked far too much like cognitive interference.

He had wished for a saltpeter mine, and one had been found right at his factory’s doorstep.

He had wanted weapons, and just enough guns, wrapped in oilpaper, had turned up.

All of these minerals and weapons had been sealed away.

The last time cognitive interference had occurred, the consequences had been painfully clear, those delicious bars of soap had all turned into pollution without exception.

This had completely dispelled any thoughts he had of using cognitive interference to his advantage.

Otherwise, this wish-granting ability would have made technological advancement as simple as thinking about it.

Hmm? Now that he thought about it, perhaps it wasn’t entirely impossible to exploit this.

Maybe he could use cognitive interference to generate pollution deliberately, or even target enemies with it.

“Speaking of which, could cognitive interference be used against enemies? If I spread the belief on the battlefield that the opposing side is nothing but paper tigers, would they actually turn into pollution-born paper tigers?”

Chloe’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“That’s an amazing idea! Normal people try to stay as far away from cognitive interference as possible, and here you are thinking about how to use it. Even cultists wouldn’t dare attempt something like this.”

“Why is that so strange? Cognitive interference is an objectively existing phenomenon. If it can be used, then why not? As long as we properly isolate pollution, cognitive interference isn’t inherently that dangerous.”

Well, it was indeed an objective phenomenon, just one triggered by subjective will.

Chloe stared at Hughes for a while before sighing. “You make it sound so easy. Sure, if we weren’t afraid of pollution, cognitive interference wouldn’t be a problem. But that statement itself is a paradox. We fear cognitive interference precisely because we can’t handle pollution.”

This took Hughes by surprise.

To him, pollution was certainly a troublesome thing, but not something overly difficult to deal with.

Moreover, Chloe’s group, the Moths Chasing Fire, had all sorts of strange ties to the Church of Candlelight.

Hadn’t the Church of Candlelight figured out how to handle pollution after all these years?

“What’s that look for? Do you really think pollution is easy to deal with?” Chloe scoffed.

“When pollution appeared in the seas, the major churches all retreated. The Church of the Sea God was even wiped out because of it. If pollution were so easy to handle, humanity wouldn’t have spent over a thousand years hiding on land.”

“A thousand years hiding on land?”

“That’s right. You and the Sirens don’t fear pollution, so you probably don’t even know its properties. Think about it. Our Moths Chasing Fire are willing to experiment on almost anything, yet have you ever seen anyone apply for an experiment related to pollution?”

Hughes blinked. It was true, he had never seen such a request before.

And this was despite the fact that Chloe had even applied to blow up the southwestern volcano just to see if it would erupt.

He looked at Chloe with an earnest, inquisitive expression.

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you.” Chloe quickly surrendered.

“The most troublesome thing about pollution is its assimilation ability.”

“Assimilation?”

“Yes. You’ve seen pollution beasts before, right? Those creatures that have been doused in pollution? I remember Ash even keeps a contaminated wolf.”

“I’ve seen that wolf before. It doesn’t seem particularly different, just a bit more aggressive.”

“That’s because it can’t talk, and you don’t know what it was like before, so you don’t notice the change. But if a person were contaminated, you would see it clearly.”

“You mean—”

Hughes started forming a vague guess in his mind.

“Yes. It would turn you into a completely different person, or rather, something that only looks like a person.”