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Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Chapter 98: You Created a Machine Spirit!? · Oct 18, 2026

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Chapter List (689)

Page number / 14

51 Chapter 51: Cognitive Barrier 2026-10-18
52 Chapter 52: Extraordinary Curse 2026-10-18
53 Chapter 53: Is Science Really Such an Inconvenient Thing? 2026-10-18
54 Chapter 54: Going to School 2026-10-18
55 Chapter 55: Chemistry Laboratory 2026-10-18
56 Chapter 56: A Seemingly Normal World 2026-10-18
57 Chapter 57: Nitroglycerin’s Dual Use 2026-10-18
58 Chapter 58: Enrollment 2026-10-18
59 Chapter 59: Meeting Chloe Again 2026-10-18
60 Chapter 60: The Sirens’ Spells 2026-10-18
61 Chapter 61: Production Accident 2026-10-18
62 Chapter 62: The Meaning of Knowledge 2026-10-18
63 Chapter 63: A World Gone Mad 2026-10-18
64 Chapter 64: Cognitive Interference 2026-10-18
65 Chapter 65: Martial Law 2026-10-18
66 Chapter 66: Shocking Change 2026-10-18
67 Chapter 67: A Peaceful Night 2026-10-18
68 Chapter 68: Methodology 2026-10-18
69 Chapter 69: How to Develop Industry in an Idealistic World? 2026-10-18
70 Chapter 70: Turning Fossils into Mud? 2026-10-18
71 Chapter 71: Idea 2026-10-18
72 Chapter 72: The Utilization of Pollution 2026-10-18
73 Chapter 73: Castel Manufacturing 2026-10-18
74 Chapter 74: Meaning 2026-10-18
75 Chapter 75: The Long-Awaited Steam Engine 2026-10-18
76 Chapter 76: Oiled Paper, Perfume, and Virtual Currency 2026-10-18
77 Chapter 77: The Siblings Who Couldn’t Afford School 2026-10-18
78 Chapter 78: Learning, Everything Can Be Learned 2026-10-18
79 Chapter 79: Steam Engine 2026-10-18
80 Chapter 80: The Awakening of the Steel Giant 2026-10-18
81 Chapter 81: The Awakening of the Steel Giant II 2026-10-18
82 Chapter 82: Gathering of Heroes 2026-10-18
83 Chapter 83: 2026-10-18
84 Chapter 84: The Cost of Moving Forward 2026-10-18
85 Chapter 85: The Return of the Previous Shell 2026-10-18
86 Chapter 86: Need to Pay Extra 2026-10-18
87 Chapter 87: The Secret of the Shell 2026-10-18
88 Chapter 88: Descent into a Dead shell 2026-10-18
89 Chapter 89 : Oh No, I Became a God 2026-10-18
90 Chapter 90: Oh No, I Became a God. 2026-10-18
91 Chapter 91: Who Hid My Corpse?! 2026-10-18
92 Chapter 92: Undercurrents Surging 2026-10-18
93 Chapter 93: 2026-10-18
94 Chapter 94: Moths Chasing Fire 2026-10-18
95 Chapter 95: 2026-10-18
96 Chapter 96: 2026-10-18
97 Chapter 97: How Did You Figure This Out? 2026-10-18
98 Chapter 98: You Created a Machine Spirit!? 2026-10-18
99 Chapter 99: Soul and Shell 2026-10-18
100 Chapter 100: Pirates, Cultists, and the Extraordinary 2026-10-18

The study fell silent, with only the occasional sound of Monica sniffling.

”Did I hear you correctly? You said the solution to the problem of entity pollution being difficult to burn is... to scold it? What do you mean?”

”Just reprimand it with words, belittle it.”

Hughes opened his mouth, unsure of what to say.

If fuel refuses to burn, just scold it?

Will getting angry make it easier to ignite?

What kind of nonsense is this?

This is way too idealistic—wait a minute, idealistic?

Is this really a property of the fuel?

Hughes’ eyes sharpened.”Could it be cognitive interference? When did you start doing this?”

”Uh, a few days ago. There’s no problem at all. In fact, the pollution burns even better when scolded.”

Hughes felt his worldview shattering.

If there’s no cognitive interference, that means Monica’s discovery is correct.

If the fuel refuses to enter the boiler, just scold it?

Is this world too idealistic or what?

How is this even useful?

Should every boiler in the future be equipped with a ”fuel encourager”?

Or, in other words, a political commissar?

Someone specifically assigned to give ideological motivation to the fuel before it enters the furnace?

”Knowledge is truly polluted... Just imagining this scene is driving me crazy.”

After sitting in a daze for a long time, Hughes suddenly raised his head again.

”So, how exactly did you break the steam engine? Did you scold it?”

Monica showed an embarrassed expression. ”Sorry!”

Hughes: ”?”

”Wait, you really got into an argument with the steam engine? And scolded it into going on strike?”

This doesn’t make sense.

Hughes’ already-confused brain suddenly caught onto a flash of inspiration.

”Wait a second, why didn’t this happen when I started the steam engine? What did you do to it? Why does it now have the characteristics of a living thing?”

That steam engine was assembled by his own hands.

He personally lit the boiler and successfully ran the test.

Even if this world is idealistic, he should have noticed something.

Why did it work fine for him?

”Uh, it’s like this...” Monica hesitated, looking a little uneasy.

She had pestered Sister Ash for a long time.

Finally, Ash, utterly exhausted by her nagging, gave her permission to participate in the pollution experiments.

Although burning pollution didn’t seem particularly dangerous, if it escaped, it could harm the island’s residents.

After all, this pollution wasn’t just inanimate matter, it could move on its own and was always trying to escape the furnace chamber.

Standing in front of the burning boiler, Monica tried various crazy ideas.

Scolding was actually one of the more normal approaches.

Eventually, she found that scolding worked best.

Sticking her hand into the fire to beat the pollution also worked, but it interfered with the combustion process and risked damaging already-burning pollution.

Once attacked, the pollution might go on strike again.

In short, this fuel was incredibly troublesome.

Even though Monica had figured out a few tricks, she still found them impractical.

So, she decided to let Anou do the scolding.

”Wait, who’s Anou? Did you name it?”

Hughes’ eye twitched.

”It’s a friend summoned by my friend.”

Then, Hughes watched as Monica raised her hand and summoned a... sea serpent.

”That thing can talk?”

”Of course not. Have you ever seen a talking snake?”

Monica put her hands on her hips and spoke righteously.

Hughes was speechless.

”So, how did you make Anou scold the pollution?”

”I just gave it a mouth.”

Standing before the furnace, Monica was getting tired of scolding.

Her throat was dry.

The pollution was barely burning properly, but the method was too exhausting.

She had six hands, but not six mouths.

She raised her hand and summoned a sea serpent.

”You... will be called Anou. Now, go scold it!”

The sea serpent looked at the writhing pollution in the furnace.

Then, it turned to look at Monica.

It fell silent.

”You don’t even know how to curse? Don’t you feel ashamed?”

”Other snakes have already learned to bite onto nitroglycerin and self-destruct..I’m just asking you to scold something, and all you can do is stand there dumbly?”

”I order you, learn how to curse immediately!”

The sea serpent lowered its head in shame.

After venting her frustration on the sea serpent for a while, Monica realized that its throat could only produce hissing sounds.

It simply lacked the ability to curse.

So, she changed her approach.

If it didn’t have a throat, she would just find it a mouth.

Where in the lab could she find something that could talk?

She looked around.

Only the Type-II Machine was rumbling away in the corner.

Of course!

It couldn’t talk, but it was certainly loud enough.

”So, I thought, since this machine is so loud, why not let it scold its own fuel?”

Hughes: ”...”

”So I tried using sea serpent summoning on the Type-II Machine. It was super difficult, but after trying for a long time, I finally succeeded.”

”You summoned a sea serpent from the steam engine?”

”No! I couldn’t get it to work at first. Then, I started thinking about what it really meant to summon a sea serpent.”

”I thought and thought, and suddenly it hit me. Summoning a sea serpent means I use magic to shape a serpent’s body, then summon a soul into it.”

”So, what if I skip the magic shaping part and just shove the summoned soul straight into the steam engine?”

”And then... I succeeded.

The steam engine now has a soul and can curse people.”

Hughes: ”?????”

Hughes: ”?!?!?!”

Hughes’ mind turned into mush.

For the first time, he truly understood why knowledge was a form of pollution.

These ideas were insane!

Even crazier, they actually worked.

For god’s sake, the steam engine now had a soul?

Why does a machine have a soul?

Does this mean they’ll need to provide psychological counseling for the steam engine regularly?

Will they have to comfort the machine spirit before starting it up?

Back on Earth, some bosses would hire masters to perform rituals before running their machines.

Is he really going to have to do the same thing in this world?

No, no, calm down.

This must be a temporary effect.

When the spell wears off, everything should go back to normal.

This has to be cognitive interference, please let it be cognitive interference.

Does he really have to add ”How to Communicate with Your Steam Engine” to the operation manual?

”So, did the steam engine return to normal? The pollution—never mind the pollution, I don’t care if it burns or not anymore.”

Hughes looked at Monica with a pleading expression.

Monica, however, shook her head.

”Anou is refusing to leave the steam engine. Even canceling the spell doesn’t work. It’s throwing a tantrum and refusing to work unless we provide it with White Raven-imported coal.”

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