Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

By the time Maily woke up, it was already night.

The bright moon hung high, barely illuminating a small area nearby.

Maily touched the top of his head; it seemed there were dried bloodstains. He looked around in confusion.

The fog had long dissipated, and he had inexplicably survived. His gear was still with him.

Could it be that the White Calamity had missed him?

He turned in a circle, not seeing his horse, but he did see a corpse.

Under the dim moonlight, he carefully examined it for a while. Maily recognized it—it was his captain. All the weapons had been stripped from the body, even the clothes were gone. The corpse lay stark naked in the woods.

But… didn’t the White Calamity leave no corpses behind?

Maily wanted to check what kind of injury the captain had sustained, but it seemed that the captain had also frantically charged through the woods before dying. His body was covered in abrasions, making it difficult to tell under the night what wound had been fatal.

Had it been anywhere else, Maily would’ve gloated, but right now, he had no such leisure. Frantically, he loaded powder into his pistol and walked in the opposite direction from where the captain had fallen.

Since the captain had charged into the woods, then behind him should be the way out.

And he guessed right.

Along the way, Maily encountered several more corpses—some completely naked, some still wearing bits of equipment. Without exception, they all had collapsed on the path toward the forest.

It hadn’t taken long to enter, but getting out of the woods took Maily a full half hour.

The forest in the dark was difficult to navigate. One never knew when a root or a hole might appear on the ground—there were even snakes and bugs. Yet he dared not light a fire to see.

Luckily, his luck held. He didn’t run into any wild beasts and stumbled his way out of the forest.

Not far outside was their camp site. Maily staggered over and found quite a few corpses there too.

He had hoped to find a horse to ride back, but after circling around, he came up empty. He did find a few horse corpses.

Who knew where the remaining people had gone—perhaps they had all been swallowed by the White Calamity.

Maily had no choice but to walk toward the town on foot.

But the town was far from here. Maily walked until daybreak before he finally saw the outline of the town.

A few guards stood beside the town gate. Maily didn’t care who they were and started cursing, demanding they open the gate so he could go in.

“Inverted comma”Who are you?“Inverted comma”

“Inverted comma”I’m with the Winter Wolves! Open the gate quickly—I’ve got urgent matters to report to the officer! Delay any longer and it’ll be your head!“Inverted comma”

Maily originally wanted to use his uniform as proof, but that had long been shredded in the woods—what he had on barely qualified as rags. As for his armor?

He had thrown that away after waking up.

Looking himself up and down, he could only raise the musket in his hand. “Inverted comma”See this thing? Open the damn gate right now!“Inverted comma”

“Inverted comma”Alright, alright, no need to rush, sir! I’ll open it right away!“Inverted comma”

The man at the gate had some awareness. Maily nodded with satisfaction. “Inverted comma”Not bad, kid. What’s your name?“Inverted comma”

“Inverted comma”Leonard, I’m a traveling merchant.“Inverted comma” The short man grinned as he approached.

Isaac quietly nodded as he watched Gwen command the Resistance in transporting the spoils of war.

She was indeed a capable leader.

  This operation had been Gwen’s idea. Originally, Isaac’s plan was simply to set a trap for an ambush, to buy time for the main Resistance force to retreat ahead of schedule.

But Gwen’s plan gave him a new perspective.

The Resistance had successfully dealt the Winter Wolves a heavy blow. Although there hadn’t been time to tally the results properly, they had likely lost at least a quarter of their force.

And countless others had lost themselves deep within the forest. With the pitiful supplies carried by cavalry and no guidance, they likely wouldn’t be able to find their way out.

Moreover, the fleeing soldiers were scared witless. By the time they gathered their wits and tried to regroup, who knew where they’d end up.

The Winter Wolves had essentially lost all combat capability in the short term. Without at least two weeks of rest, it would be impossible for them to recover.

This gave the Resistance a precious window to breathe. The Ashen Alliance had incited nearby towns to defect, and the Resistance could now use these locations to build fortifications. The Winter Wolves, being cavalry, were ill-suited for siege warfare—they wouldn’t have the upper hand.

Now that they had secured their foothold, the Ashen Alliance began sending people out to gather intelligence. Once the reports came in, they’d decide whether to flee the Northlands or hold their ground. Either way, the Resistance had seized the initiative.

And all of this was thanks to Gwen’s idea.

“Inverted comma”Truly a genius plan—producing fog to imitate the White Calamity and lure the Winter Wolves into the trap. Gwen, you’ll make a fine commander one day.“Inverted comma” Isaac’s eyes were full of approval.

He excelled at gathering intelligence, but when it came to battlefield instincts, Gwen was sharper. He had indeed underestimated her before.

“Inverted comma”It’s all thanks to you. If you hadn’t given me that method, I wouldn’t have been able to make the fog.“Inverted comma” Gwen smiled modestly.

Mixing the gunpowder made by Imperial Alchemists with certain substances could produce large amounts of smoke—it was written in the Army Field Manual.

Unfortunately, this substance was rare even among military supplies, and Isaac hadn’t been able to procure it.

But as a member of the Moths Chasing Fire, he had done some research in his spare time.

Back in the territory, His Lordship had once mentioned a weapon called a “Molotov cocktail.”

The name sounded a bit strange, but since it came from His Lordship, it had to be something. If even nitroglycerin could treat heart disease, a strange weapon name was nothing.

This weapon had little use on the frontlines, so Castel hadn’t pursued its development, and Hughes had only casually mentioned the basic formula.

Isaac had taken note and remembered it.

Though rarely used in direct confrontation, it was extremely useful in guerrilla warfare—simple to make, highly reliable, and the only challenge was finding bottles.

As a Moth Chasing Fire, Isaac naturally began experimenting with improvements. He tried adding gunpowder to it—without much success. But adding certain ingredients from the cocktail into the gunpowder produced large amounts of smoke during combustion.

He later tested it and found that it was likely due to the phosphorus and aluminum powder.

Though he hadn’t figured out the exact principles, he managed to create some smoke agents. After a few rounds of cognitive interference, he finally nailed down the formula.

—The Moths Chasing Fire had long grown used to research involving cognitive interference. They had a full system to minimize its dangers.

So when he heard Gwen’s idea, the two hit it off instantly and successfully trapped the Winter Wolves.

Originally, they hadn’t expected such success—too many variables, much of it left to luck. The Resistance had set up the ambush in the forest anyway, so if it failed, they’d just retreat.

But… perhaps the White Raven had blessed them. Everything worked perfectly.

And with that, the situation in the Northlands had completely changed.