Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

The Military Camp stored a considerable amount of explosives and ammunition—enough to blow an entire town into the sky. Several Squad Leaders shouted, “Lie down!”, and the soldiers of the Expeditionary Army immediately pressed themselves flat against the ground.

At this distance, the shockwave’s impact should have already weakened, but it was still safer to be cautious. If some metal fragment happened to fly over, casualties could still occur.

Hodge lay on the ground, silently counting in his heart.

“123”

“1213”

Strange. More than ten seconds had passed. Where was the shockwave? There should have been at least a gust of violent wind sweeping through. Confused, he raised his head—only to find that Ash had already stood up at some point, staring fixedly toward the Military Camp.

Hodge turned to look, and his eyes widened instantly.

The fiery blaze from that massive explosion should have rolled up thick smoke, scattering into a gigantic mushroom cloud, then surging upward and spreading dust in all directions. It should have lingered for quite some time before slowly dissipating.

But now, there was nothing there.

The sky was empty, as if the explosion had been nothing but an illusion. They were already more than ten kilometers away from the Military Camp, far too distant to see details—only a patch of white smoke was visible.

White smoke?

Hodge rubbed his eyes.

Would an explosion produce white smoke at ground level? Black smoke made sense—but this wasn’t a quiet burn.

“Is that… smoke?”

“No.”

A low voice came from above him. Ash’s tone remained indifferent, but waves stirred within her gaze.

“That is white mist.”

“White mist? Why would there be white mist?” Hodge asked in confusion. As he turned his head, he noticed Gwen’s face—fear and hatred intertwined. A terrifying possibility suddenly flashed through his mind.

Could it be—

“White! Calamity!!” Gwen forced the two words out through clenched teeth, her voice trembling with a rare wavering.

White Calamity, the eternal nightmare of the White Raven People. The Silent Sanctum had tried countless methods, but all they could do was urge their people to migrate southward whenever possible.

The White Calamity was an unstoppable natural disaster. Wherever the white mist passed, no living being survived. The White Ravens could only flee with their entire families, and only after the mist retreated the following year could they return home.

Houses and objects, though touched by the mist for only a few months, would appear as if decades had passed—wood decayed, bricks weathered.

Thus, the Silent Sanctum always built its monasteries using stone that defied the erosion of time.

“How fast is the White Calamity? Will it catch up to us?” Hodge asked Gwen nervously.

He had heard of the White Calamity’s infamy, but did not know its specifics.

At his question, Gwen froze, then turned to gaze toward the Military Camp.

“What is it? Something wrong?”

“Something wrong—something very wrong!” Gwen’s expression twisted with confusion. “The speed of the White Calamity is very slow. That curtain-like wall of mist moves slower than a snail. Its danger lies in being utterly unstoppable. I’ve never heard of anyone getting chased down by it. But…”

But the Military Camp behind them—only an hour away by march—along with that enormous blast of fire, had all disappeared into the white mist.

Was this truly the extremely slow White Calamity?

Had they delayed even slightly earlier… they would now be swallowed by the white mist inside the Military Camp.

Hodge turned toward the tall figure beside him. “My Lady Ash, how fast is that White Calamity?”

“It’s still hard to estimate… but I fear… it isn’t slower than we are.”

Hodge stiffened. The Expeditionary Army was already in forced march. Was the mist even faster than that?

A forced march still required rest. The soldiers might sprint faster for a short time, but over longer distances, they would inevitably be worn down by the relentless advance of the white mist.

And that moment would not be far off.

“Everyone! Immediately discard all non-essential burdens! Continue advancing south!” Hodge commanded loudly. The soldiers were already lightly equipped—besides basic weapons, they carried little. Discarding weight made only limited difference.

But despair had not yet arrived.

“As long as we follow the Railway, the next Train will definitely notice us. When it does, we can board it and get out of here—far away from this damned white mist!” Hodge whispered to Gwen and Ash.

Only the three of them knew the White Calamity was chasing them; he had not told the Expeditionary Army.

“When will the next train arrive?”

“Soon! I already sent the request earlier. The previous train carried the message back. In at most a few hours, the train will come. It will drop its cargo and we’ll board immediately. There’s more than enough time!”

The trains running between Blood Harbor and the Northlands currently operated on a single track for rapid construction. Both ends of the carriage were equipped with locomotive engines, making direction switching extremely convenient.

They could simply use the opposite side as the engine to move forward.

Of course, this required strict scheduling—or else trains traveling in opposite directions might collide.

“We just need to endure this short period. Miss Gwen, as long as we don’t enter the mist, we won’t be in danger, correct?”

“Yes. No one knows what lies within the mist. But as long as we aren’t swallowed by the White Calamity, we are safe.”

“That’s good. Though this mist appears suddenly and moves quickly, as long as we don’t stop, it won’t catch us within a few hours. By then, the train will already be here. We can retreat safely!”

Hodge let out a sigh of relief.

The steam locomotive wasn’t that fast. As long as they fired signals ahead of time, the engineer would surely notice. Braking wouldn’t take too much distance. There was no chance of failing to stop and crashing straight into the mist.

With that thought, Hodge’s steps grew lighter.

“So that’s what ‘Run quickly’ meant. It really was a timely warning. Thankfully we escaped. Now we just keep moving and wait for the train.”

“No—we have a problem.”

Hodge stopped, lifting his head toward Ash.

“That doesn’t seem to be ordinary mist.”

“I saw something moving inside it.”

Hodge quickly turned back, but all he could see was a hazy expanse of whiteness. He was just a Mortal—his eyesight far inferior to Ash’s.

“Th-then what is it…” Gwen murmured, her voice full of shock.

“What? What’s inside? Something is in the mist?”

“Yes. I can’t identify it… countless, pale things wriggling. Like maggots, yet strangely rigid. Like… like…”

Gwen gestured repeatedly, but still couldn’t find the words.

“Like a mass of wriggling white bones,” Ash said in a low voice.

“Viewed this way… that white mist doesn’t appear to be advancing slowly like the White Calamity.”

“It seems to be following those wriggling white bones.”