Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Hughes could not urge further and could only stare at the mist before him, quietly waiting.

When he descended once again into Worker Hughes’ shell, he only tugged the thread slightly, and the link immediately tightened, so fast it felt as though he was the one being pulled into the connection.

Hughes had imagined many times how he should communicate with Little Gwen. After all, when he spoke rashly before, he had frightened the believer into fleeing outright. This time, he had to be patient and approach it little by little.

After all, he knew the identity on the other side, but Little Gwen might not.

But though he had patience, Little Gwen clearly did not.

“I need your help, Hughes. I need you to stop the White Bones. As long as you weaken them enough, I can seize the control, and then stop the White Mist from advancing!”

Hughes fell silent on the spot. The information in Gwen’s words was absurdly large.

How did she discover his identity? How did she confirm the one linked to her was himself? How did she know he could communicate?

But the situation was urgent, and Hughes had no time to ask in detail. He simply asked:

“What do you need me to do?”

“Kill large numbers of White Bones, and stall the White Mist’s advance as much as possible. Each time a White Bone is killed, Bazel weakens a little. Each step the White Mist slows, his connection to the White Calamity grows more distant.”

“Bazel? Why is it still about him? He entered the White Calamity too?”

“Bazel controls the White-Bone Sanctum. I only learned this after entering the mist. As long as you stay in here, you can continuously obtain knowledge!”

“Obtain knowledge? There’s such a good thing?”

“Good? Not at all! Knowledge is contamination! If this continues, I’ll be eroded sooner or later. I can only take advantage of Bazel being weakened to fight him for control of the White-Bone Sanctum. If I fail, we’ll all die!”

Hughes blinked. He wanted to say he had long been used to dying and switching shells, but that felt impolite.

“What do you think the White Calamity is? It’s exactly the mess those Silent Sanctum fellows created. Now even they have fled—who can still control the White Calamity? You wouldn’t want Blood Harbor, which you painstakingly built, to be wiped out just like that, right?”

“.”

“So we must hold back these White Bones and this natural disaster together. I’m still waiting to go back and reopen my Fried-Fish Stall!”

“.Gwen, after this battle is over, we need to have a proper talk.”

After saying this, Little Gwen focused entirely on seizing the “control” she spoke of.

Originally, Hughes had intended for the Expeditionary Army to fight while retreating, but if he wanted to inflict massive casualties on the White Bones, then relying on the Fortress was practically the only option. Once the Expeditionary Army boarded the Train, their firepower would be greatly weakened.

This Fortress in the Northlands was practically the only large-scale Fortification in the northern region. Although the central station and towers had undergone some repairs, their scale was far inferior.

Therefore, this Fortress had to be held. This was almost the final opportunity; if they lost this line, the next retreat would nearly bring them back to Blood Harbor.

Shaking his head to scatter his chaotic thoughts, Hughes descended once more into Lord Hughes’ shell to hear Ash’s report on the situation outside.

The mist was already on the verge of reaching the Fortress. Several machine-gun points at the very front even had to cease firing. The Aerial Bombs dropped from the Airship clung close to the exterior walls of the Fortress, and the Expeditionary Army Soldiers inside the fortification clenched their teeth as they held on.

“Do we still have to hold?”

Alexei raised his voice toward Ash, but Ash only pressed her lips tight, staring at the White Mist so close at hand.

The Dragon’s Breath Cannon’s barrage greatly delayed the advance of the wall of mist—but only delayed it. The White Bones still revived stubbornly. Though their recovery speed had visibly slowed, the Expeditionary Army could no longer hold for long.

The light curtain of the Dragon’s Breath Cannon dimmed a little, and the White Mist crept over the exterior wall of the Fortress. Now the main force firing was the Banshees.

Within the Mind Link, chaos had entirely erupted.

『The mist has already entered the Fortress!』

『All sectors report your situation.』

『Sector 3’s combat module has completely fallen! The mist here is advancing too fast!』

『Sector 7 can still hold! There are no protruding combat modules here!』

『What about Sector 5? Did Sector 5 get wiped out?』

『Sector 5 has already merged into Sector 4. Their position fell the fastest!』

『This won’t do at this rate!』

『Lady Ash, we cannot stop the White Mist with just us!』

Ash drew a deep breath. She wanted to do something—anything—but she could not help here. This was not a battlefield that required a powerful charge. Even with her strength, she had only six hands.

Gunfire had already begun near the Command Tent. Ash followed Alexei and the others out of the room—the battle line had already retreated to here. The Expeditionary Army Soldiers were right beside them.

In the end, she could only say:

“Hold a little longer.”

『Hold a little longer.』

Such pale, powerless words… yet no one questioned or mocked her.

Alexei threw his hat aside and personally went to instruct the messengers with the logistics arrangements.

The Soldiers beside her glanced her way, clenched their teeth, reciting the Holy Text as they fired.

The Banshees, always noisy, were still quarreling endlessly, but their Dragon’s Breath Cannons never stopped for even half a moment.

The battle line swayed on the brink of collapse, yet everyone endured. No one abandoned their post.

Ash suddenly recalled that battle when they escaped Murloc slavery. Back then, the Banshees still needed their innate abilities to make decisions and unify opinions. Now, relying solely on their own will, they stood at the front line.

The recitation of the Holy Text and the roar of the machine guns thundered around her like great bells.

The steel in the hands of the Expeditionary Army spewed fire, and their resolve was as firm as steel.

“Lord is right behind us!”

Someone shouted, and the Soldiers roared in response, bellowing as they poured bullets onto the White Bones climbing upward. Ash silently removed the Dragon’s Breath Cannon hung on her heavy armor, and in the next instant, dazzling fire swept across the entire battle line.

The Expeditionary Army’s battle line slowly retreated, but their resistance only grew fiercer.

Willpower, flesh, concrete—one towering high wall after another stood against the tide of White Bones, pinning them relentlessly to the ground.

At some unknown moment, the White Mist’s advance stopped.

A sharp-eyed Soldier noticed the White Mist seemed to retreat slightly. He shook his head hard, quickly reciting Hughes’ name, thinking it was an illusion.

But gradually, more and more Soldiers pointed at the mist and shouted.

That surging wall of mist began retreating visibly before their eyes—slowly at first, then faster and faster—until, in only a short while, all the mist that had invaded the Fortress withdrew completely.

The mist retreated, but the White Bones remained where they were. Mid-charge, they suddenly felt something wrong and turned back, only to see the mist had already receded. Their hollow eye sockets showed an oddly human bewilderment.

The Expeditionary Army Soldiers lying on the firing positions rose to their feet, their cold gazes locking onto the White Bones.

Ash halted as well. Feeling the message emerging in the Mind Link, she broke into a smile.

It was a familiar voice.

A command she loved—

『Attack!』