Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Didn’t this just really make the Church stand up?

No, why cling to just the Church?

Richard’s design, at its core, was a huge and stable base. Since it was difficult to miniaturize, why not make it larger?

Make a fortress move, create a giant mobile bastion—that had once been a line of thought in warfare.

If moving forward was difficult, then he could simply drive history backward!

Like a railway gun?

The armored locomotive built previously had been quite successful, but its application scenarios were somewhat narrow, so it had remained idle.

Now, could he try mounting the Dragon’s Breath Cannon on an armored train?

As long as the train’s body mass was large enough, it could counteract the recoil of the shot.

It almost felt feasible, didn’t it?

If it could be mounted on ships, on trains, then in the future, when large combat fortresses were built, it could also be mounted on them. Overall, its practicality seemed acceptable—it was just that it could not be miniaturized yet.

In fact, Hughes’s first thought had been to add a Laval nozzle, modifying it into a recoilless cannon.

The so-called recoilless cannon removed the sealed rear of the chamber.

Without a seal, naturally there was no recoil—but the shell could hardly be fired.

So, a Laval nozzle was added at the rear, using a bit of simple fluid mechanics to compress the gases.

But on second thought, the design was awkward. Richard said the bottom must be held to soothe the Machine Soul; touching the sides was not devout enough.

If one had to stick a hand in to fire, it indeed avoided recoil—but at the cost of one’s hands.

And the things this hand-cannon spewed out were troublesome—it couldn’t just be scattered casually behind. Everyone knew that when a recoilless cannon fired, the rear must be cleared.

Still, looking on the bright side, at least the Banshees had a new kind of weapon. They no longer had to hold up Gatling guns every day.

“This kind of hand-cannon, we should first mass-produce a batch to equip the Banshees with. As for miniaturization, keep trying, or maybe you can make Exoskeletons—that kind of mechanical powered armor.”

Glancing at the blueprint in hand, Hughes hesitated for a moment before continuing: “Alright. Make a few more. Even with losses, we can replenish quickly. And who knows, maybe it’ll have some new use in the future.”

Mounting it on a steam locomotive was an excellent choice—but how would the locomotive be transported to the Northlands?

Lay a railway from Blood Harbor?

Castel Cathedral.

In the Church’s courtyard, atop the highest platform, a stone stele stood tall.

Hughes had given it the official name of the Sacrificed Memorial Stele, but the islanders still preferred to call it the Stele of the Dead.

At this moment, Monica was suspended by ropes, carefully carving on it.

“Monica, do you think Nora counts as a Castel native?” Nini asked lazily from below.

“Of course she does.” Monica answered without hesitation. “The Lord promised to provide shelter for her and the refugees she brought. She has long been a Castel person. Besides, she once saved me.”

Hanging at the side, Nora’s face showed a trace of awkwardness.

“I did save you, yes. But… if I hadn’t broken the cognitive barrier, you wouldn’t have been eroded and turned into a monster, right?”

Monica shook her head. “If you hadn’t broken the cognitive barrier, someone else would have. Truth can never be hidden forever. And aren’t you hanging up here with us now?”

Nora: “…”

“To be honest, I’m curious. Are you truly immortal? If you’re only left with this head, what can you still do?”

“Nothing.” Nora instinctively shook her head—only to realize she could no longer do so. She closed her eyes briefly.

“In the Silent Sanctum’s choir hang many heads. They are all Buriers. Our Extraordinary Power carries the greatest price—I cannot die.”

“Then you can’t recover either? Flesh rebirth and such? We can regrow severed limbs by transmitting life force. Last time, Nini got blown into two halves in an experiment, and we still brought her back.”

“Hey! Don’t bring that up!”

“It’s important! We argued for ages about which half to save. If you had regrown from the discarded half, wouldn’t you have had to crawl out of the trash bin?”

Nora sighed. “My ability is only not dying. I have some healing ability, but I cannot regrow limbs from nothing, let alone a severed head. Right now, I am no different from dead.”

As she finished, she glanced at Chloe.

Chloe: “…Why are you looking at me?”

“Nothing.”

Monica hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “So, I cannot provide you with life force, right?”

“Our life force cannot be given to anyone.” Nini’s voice drifted up from below. “You and I can share life force only because the Lord serves as the Symbiotic Contract’s relay. Even as Banshees, we cannot transmit life force. How could you share it with her?”

Monica’s expression dimmed slightly. Then her eyes lit up, and she licked her lips: “I think I might have an idea…”

Below, Nini gasped, stepping back a few steps, glancing around nervously before hiding behind a pillar. Only then did she speak: “Say it!”

“What are you afraid of? It’s not like I’m taking your life force!” Monica glared at her fiercely, then turned to Nora:

“Why not have a Banshee sign a Symbiotic Contract with her?”

“Huh?”

“A Banshee provides her with life force, and then she can recover. Remember when the Lord was almost dying? As soon as life force flowed in, he sprang back full of life. Losing a body below the neck? That’s just a minor injury.”

“Huh!?” Nini was stunned. “That… kinda makes sense?”

“Not only that. The Symbiotic Contract draws life force endlessly when one side is gravely injured, until the provider dies, right?”

“Yes.”

“She cannot die.” Monica raised three fingers at Nora.

This time, Nini truly froze. She stood there blankly, her brain running at full speed. It was as if her CPU was maxed out for the first time.

“Nora, you’re immortal, right? Even if your life force is drawn, you still won’t die?”

“Yes.”

“Good. That’s exactly what the Lord called ‘glitching the BUG’. Nora can draw life force infinitely!”

Nini was completely dumbfounded. She grabbed her hair with six hands:

“No, no, no—yes, yes, yes—no, no—wait! If a Banshee signed a Symbiotic Contract with Nora, wouldn’t that mean the Banshee gains immortality, and Nora can endlessly recover?”

“Mm-hm.” Monica crossed six arms over her chest, wearing an expression of “Hurry up and praise me.”

“Now, there’s only one problem left—where do we find a new Banshee to sign a contract with Nora?”

Nini suddenly stopped. Her eyes grew sharp. “I’ll post this problem in the Banshee group chat. I refuse to struggle with it alone.”

Then, as if realizing something, she bolted toward Hughes’s office, shouting:

“Hughes, Hughes, I want to cancel my contract with you!!”