Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Hughes’ words in the forest were not just for the Sirens to hear; they were also a positive signal to the Moths Chasing Fire.

He knew these people could hear him, after all, the Moths Chasing Fire were exceptionally skilled in escaping and hiding.

Hughes believed they must have left some scouts behind to observe.

So, he spoke openly, and the subsequent dinner invitation was his way of sending a message.

These people had chosen to seek his help in a time of crisis, which showed that they still had a sense of priorities.

At the time, they thought Hughes was some kind of eerie existence and that they were on the verge of annihilation.

Seeking out Hughes might not have saved them, but it might have saved Castel.

Summoning an evil god and bringing about their own downfall was their own doing, but at least they were willing to try and salvage the situation when they saw things spiraling out of control. That was the foundation for cooperation.

Because of this, Hughes was willing to give them a chance.

As for whether they would attend the dinner, Hughes wasn’t worried about that at all.This was his territory. There was no way so many people could simply vanish into thin air.

If he wanted to find them, the countless Castel Sirens could comb through the entire island.

Besides, his invitation had already been delivered to Chloe.

And with the hints he had left for the Moths Chasing Fire, they wouldn’t do anything foolish as long as they had any sense.

Even though he didn’t know why Chloe was convinced he had summoned an evil god, this group was still worth drawing in. They possessed a wealth of knowledge and information.

”Looks like tomorrow’s dinner is bound to be lively.”

Hughes murmured to himself.

”You’re saying… you broke the Type II machine?”

In the study, Hughes looked across the long table in surprise.

He had just notified the Sirens in the laboratory that he wanted the Type II machine brought to the manor to liven up the dinner. In truth, he just wanted to see if he could sell the thing.

Even if he couldn’t sell it, just promoting the fact that soap was a product of this new steam engine would be enough to boost its prestige.

—Just like how the elites of Earth pursued handcrafted, traditional methods, the top nobles of this world surely valued ”rare” and ”luxurious” items.

And what was the most luxurious thing right now?

A steam engine.

This thing caused pollution if mishandled. Who but the wealthiest and most powerful could afford to own one?

At the banquet, he could get a few noble socialites to endorse it, have Zoe write up some articles, and really hype it up.

”Straight from the No. 7 production line.”

”Only ten units can be produced per day, any more, and the production line might explode.”

”The coal used for the boiler is imported by the White Bone Ravens, carrying the fresh scent of northern snowfall.”

Wouldn’t that sell like crazy?

But when he inquired about the machine, the Sirens hesitated and mumbled before finally revealing that Monica had broken it.

Monica stood across from him, looking guilty.

Although the tunnel connected the study to the Sirens’ dwelling, Monica was the only one who had come up.

First, the existence of the Sirens hadn’t been made public yet, and appearing in the manor was still risky.

Second, the tunnel was quite narrow, and only someone as small as Monica could easily pass through.

She was just a child.

Hughes opened his mouth but held back his reprimand. Monica had sneaked off to play with the Type II machine while the other Sirens were busy, and she ended up breaking it.

Although it was a bad thing, she hadn’t meant any harm. A standard punishment would suffice.

”You’ll copy the safety regulations ten times. The full version. Not a single word missing. And you can’t use all six hands to write at once, one letter at a time.”

”You don’t have to pay for the broken steam engine. It was meant for experiments anyway, so it’s fine. Just be more careful next time.”

”Besides that, your wages will be docked. I’ll cover the cost, but you need to understand that this isn’t me showing you favoritism, it’s because I’m your guardian. Do you understand?”

”I understand,”

Hughes stared at her for a moment before sighing.

”Monica, since you understand, tell me why I’m punishing you.”

”Because I broke the Type II machine.”

Hughes shook his head and pulled out a booklet from the table.

It was the safety manual he had written.

Monica instinctively frowned, she was sick of it. She always found it tedious and useless.

”Chapter 1, Section 9: It is forbidden to operate a running steam engine alone under non-emergency circumstances.”

”I know you don’t like these rules, but machines don’t care whether you like them or not.”

”You need to understand that a steam engine’s power far exceeds human limits. The same goes for Sirens. If it’s not running, the worst that can happen is you break the machine. But once it’s running, breaking the machine is the best possible outcome.”

”If the boiler explodes, you’ll die. Not even the Symbiotic Contract can save you. You might even take others down with you. If the flywheel is ejected at high speed, that massive chunk of iron will smash through everything in its path, living or dead. The consequences don’t just affect you. You don’t want others to get hurt, or worse, die because of you, right?”

Monica’s eyes reddened, tears welling up.

Hughes got up, grabbed a box of handkerchiefs from a nearby shelf, and handed one to Monica.

Monica snorted, turning her head away.

Hughes blinked and placed the box on the table before walking over to the fireplace. He picked up a long-handled axe and tapped the hidden mechanism.

With the sound of gears grinding, the tunnel entrance closed.

A muffled ”Ouch!” came from inside.

Through the Mind Link, Hughes sensed several Sirens who had been eavesdropping quickly scurrying away.

So there was more than one eavesdropper. How did they even squeeze into the tunnel?

”Uwaah!” Monica burst into tears, snatching a handkerchief and loudly blowing her nose.

How odd. These sea creatures could actually cry. Did they even need to keep their eyes moist?

”Hey, don’t cry, Monica. I just wanted to show off the Type II machine at the banquet. Maybe squeeze a few more gold coins out of the nobles, hey, don’t wipe your nose on me!”

After a bit of playful scuffling, Hughes collapsed back onto the chair, panting.

”So, how did you even break the Type II machine? That bulky thing is built like a tank. Did you activate Flesh Magic and ram into it?”

”Of course not!”

”Then what happened?”

”Remember when we tried to burn some of the pollution? It didn’t work, those things just wouldn’t burn.”

Hughes nodded.

He was aware of that experiment, and he had been disappointed.

The pollution did shrink when burned, but the process was slow, and the heat output was low.

The Sirens had spent a lot of time on it and discovered a few properties of Entity Pollution.

First, before providing any heat, the pollution needed a long period of intense heating.

Second, in the furnace, it tended to clump together, prolonging this heating phase.

Finally, it required extremely high temperatures, almost reaching the melting point of steel.

What kind of boiler could withstand that?

All these factors combined made it an incredibly inefficient fuel source.

”I figured out a way to make it burn better.”

”Hm?”

Hughes sat up straight. This was big.

If he could use Entity Pollution as fuel, he might solve his energy problems.

”How did you do it?”

”I yelled at it.”

”……???”