Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

“”“All units, report your status, repeat, all units, report your status!”

“Sniper Team ready!”

“Assault Team ready!”

“Emergency Team has a question!”

“Mm?” Nini looked at Kyle with displeasure. Kyle’s tall figure shrank a little.

“Uh… do we really need to be this cautious? Both sides’ Noras looked pretty safe. They didn’t seem like they were about to cause any problems. And even if you added both Noras together, they still wouldn’t be able to defeat so many of us.”

Nini extended a finger, her tail tip swaying along with it. “No no no, this matter wasn’t as simple as it appeared. With the knowledge we currently had, a situation like Nora’s had never appeared before. Therefore, the consequences of combining the two Noras shouldn’t be estimated according to what Nora originally was.”

“For example, Castel brought olives to squeeze oil and process them. Then, were the soap and nitroglycerin produced from them also considered some kind of ‘food’? Was their safety similar to olive oil?”

Nini lifted up Nora’s (head) with a hint of excitement.

“In the same way, although Nora herself didn’t have strong combat ability, Nora (upper) and Nora (lower) combined might become something akin to nitroglycerin. It would be incorrect to take her lightly.”

The Nora held in her arms stared at the sky with numb eyes.

She no longer cared about living or not. Dying swiftly would already be good.

As an immortal being, there were always times when one wished for death. She would get used to it after wanting it enough times. Nora comforted herself so.

“I see, like sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal having a greater-than-one-plus-one effect.” Kyle nodded thoughtfully.

“Wait, I have a question!” Nini turned her head, looking at the tall girl standing to the side.

“What is it, Gwen?”

Gwen lowered her head shyly. Nini’s appearance that day had been too stunning. Even now she still didn’t dare look directly at Nini. Whenever she saw her, the figure that resembled a deity would appear in her mind.

“Uh, I wanted to ask… if Nora and Nora became one Nora, then which Nora would that Nora be?”

The scene immediately fell silent.

Nini was quiet for a moment before letting out a gentle sigh.

“Ah… fine. This is actually the part we’re most worried about.”

She gently placed Nora’s head onto the ground.

“Perhaps it may be the Nora we were familiar with before. Perhaps it may be the Nora who held a flail and fought alongside you. But there is another possibility—she may be neither Nora.”

She looked toward the Nora on the ground.

“Nora, have you… truly decided?”

“I have decided.” Nora answered without hesitation in a serious voice. “I am willing to attempt it. Even if I die, I can accept it—besides, for a Burier, death was already a good place to return to.”

“Nora…”

“Lady Nora…”

Gwen and Monica beside her couldn’t help speaking.

Gwen had originally been taken in by Nora, and Nora was nearly the most important person to her. Monica, on the other hand, had become Nora’s close friend over the past half year. She often secretly carried Nora away to play together.

The two of them had done many bold things—some of which, in Hughes’ view, were downright infernal. For example, taking Nora diving.

Nora did not have Hughes’ underwater adaptability. Though she would choke, she wouldn’t die.

In short, Nora was almost Monica’s best playmate—she had recently even stopped tormenting Chloe’s diary.

After all, diving while carrying a book was even more infernal.

Nora looked at Monica and Gwen. For a moment, fear appeared in her always-fearless eyes. She pressed her lips together, but eventually, her gaze became determined.

She had always been the sturdy shield standing before others. She still wished to stand again and fight for the people important to her.

Nora didn’t speak again. Everyone could see her choice.

Nini took a deep breath and straightened herself.

“Everyone back up. Nora, try to control your body later. We will do our best to assist you, but if you turn into a monster, I will not show mercy.”

“That is also my fate. You have all helped me greatly already. If I truly fail, then bury me in Castel. I already prepared a grave for myself there.”

There was calmness on Nora’s face. She lifted her eyes and looked at the wilderness of the Northlands, and even revealed a faint smile.

From the Northlands to Castel, from being a Burier to breaking with the Church, Nora had never stopped fighting in her life. What lay before her was merely another battlefield.

Nini retreated as well, and with Monica’s help, put on the Banshee heavy armor.

Then, Granny walked up. Her expression was stiff, almost puppet-like, and she held another Nora by the hand.

Everyone quieted down, watching silently.

Nora’s body followed behind Granny step by step, seemingly unaware of what lay ahead.

Meanwhile, Nora’s head stared fixedly at her own body, lips pressed tight.

“How is it? Do you feel anything?” Nini held up a massive steel-plate shield, carefully peeking out.

“No… it’s like looking at a stranger’s corpse.”

Nini worriedly turned to the elderly woman beside her. “Granny, later—”

“Don’t worry. If things go wrong, I’ll grab her head and leave instantly. I prepared many clones on my side!”

Nini’s gaze swept past the Dragon’s Breath Cannon in Granny’s hand. With a complicated expression, she nodded.

Nora’s body grew closer and closer. When there were only a few meters between them, she suddenly stopped.

Granny turned around slowly, then released her hand and stepped back.

Nora’s body now faced her own head. As if already sensing its existence, she hesitated.

“Nora, do you need to awaken her memories or something? Maybe call her name?”

Nora was stunned for a moment. It seemed reasonable, so she tried cautiously:

“Uh… Nora?”

The body suddenly stiffened—then rushed forward, grabbing Nora’s head!

She grabbed her by the hair. Nora felt a sting of pain and was just about to speak when her body fiercely hugged her against her chest with a loud “thump.”

Nora’s body held her tightly. This kind of scene usually appeared on battlefields—a warrior holding their lover’s corpse. Everyone had read plenty of Nini’s novels, and instantly imagined similar scenes.

But Nora was holding her own corpse—well, part of her corpse.

“What’s happening? Does she secretly love you?” The moment Nini spoke, everyone at the position turned to stare at her.

“Oh—oh, sorry, professional habit. I mean, can you sense her? Does this body have its own consciousness? Can you still control her?”

“I don’t think so…”

Before Nora’s head finished speaking, her body suddenly lifted her up—and then “snap”—pressed her onto its own neck.