Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

The people around them all took a step back in unison, looking at Gwen, who was holding a longsword, with varied expressions.

Jeremiah spat the tobacco in his mouth into the sea beside him with a puff, then grinned broadly.

Gwen felt the humming vibration of the weapon in her hand, her body seeming to grow a few degrees lighter. The surging emotions in her heart made her hands tremble slightly.

She longed for battle.

Gwen raised her eyes and looked around. Wherever her gaze landed, the people there subconsciously retreated.

In the end, she looked toward Nini not far away. Nini had not noticed these details at all. She was holding a notebook and writing furiously, clearly drafting a report.

By the time she sensed that something was wrong and lifted her head, she discovered that her companions had all retreated far away, and Gwen was walking toward her with the longsword in hand.

The tip of Nini’s tail trembled.

“Nini-sama, that day when I led the Resistance Army to fight against the army of the Grand Duke Dragonfang, when I was almost unable to hold on, you arrived with reinforcements. The sight of you charging into the enemy ranks clad in heavy armor is something I still remember even now.”

Nini widened her eyes and, in shock, extended her index finger to point at herself.

“Me?”

Gwen raised the tip of her sword.

“I am very grateful to you, Nini-sama, but I cannot deceive my own heart. Can you hear it pounding? It longs for battle. Every night since that day, I have fantasized about fighting you. Your towering body and immense strength are what I yearn for.”

“W-wait, hold on, my dream has nothing to do with fighting! I’m just a bit taller, but… this kind of thing, go look for Ash!!”

Nini hurriedly stuffed her notebook away. “My dream is to become a journalist! Can’t you compete with me in writing?!”

A streak of silver light flashed past. Nini instinctively raised her hand to block, then swept her tail. Gwen was blasted away like a cannonball.

“Ah, sorry, I acted out of habit… are you alright?”

Gwen stood up by the ship’s railing. A line of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth, yet her entire demeanor had become more spirited. She casually wiped it away, smearing blood all over her face, but she did not care in the slightest.

“This is exactly what I want! Challenging the strong, haha—there’s nothing more exhilarating than this!”

Bang!

Her figure once again streaked across the deck like a cannonball. This time, however, she was not being knocked away, but charging forward!

“Ahhh don’t come over here!!!”

On the airship, Hughes watched the live broadcast through the Mind Link, the corner of his eye twitching.

Gwen really had found her own path.

Hughes cast a complicated glance at Jeremiah on the screen.

Logically speaking, Hughes should have been the first to notice the anomaly. He had shaken hands with both Big Gwen and Little Gwen. The feedback Little Gwen gave him was 【Named One】, but Big Gwen had not.

That meant the true 【Named One】 was only Little Gwen.

Hughes had originally thought the two shared some kind of connection, allowing them to share power. He had even considered whether they were two sides of the same coin, actually one person.

But he had never expected that Big Gwen truly had not yet come into contact with the supernatural, and that he himself had been misled by the information given by his own ability.

And Jeremiah had genuinely seen through the truth. He had spotted Gwen’s confusion at a glance, and this was even their first meeting.

Worthy of being an old pirate on the Storm Ocean—he really did have some skill.

But since Gwen had not truly become a Transcendent before, how had she triggered all these phenomena?

Could it be that the special one was not the 【Named One】, but Gwen herself?

Hughes folded his arms and looked at the image within the Mind Link, a thought gradually taking shape in his mind.

“Lord, what should we do next?”

“Retreat.”

Erwin froze for a moment, then let out a sigh of relief. “Is it safe now?”

Hughes glanced at Gwen on the ship. She had already been whipped into a spinning top by Nini’s tail—trying to defeat a Banshee in Castel was thinking too much. They shared the Life-Pool; it was inexhaustible.

“…Probably.”

Hughes walked to the airship’s window and looked at the Steel Ark floating on the sea. “See if we can control that thing. If not, let Gwen try to sail it away. By the way, has Castel sunk this many ships? This steel is almost enough to put a lid over the island.”

Erwin’s expression turned complicated for a moment, and he did not reply.

After the Blood Harbor rebellion, he had been transferred to Castel’s navy. This time, it was precisely because of that that he could serve as the commander of the reinforcement forces.Many of the ships in the Shipwreck Zone were ones he himself had sunk.

It could only be said that Tata had made enormous contributions to Castel’s steel factories.

Although the chaotic designs Tata produced were often outrageous, he had indeed designed many qualified vessels, such as the current cargo ship, as well as the new-style ironclad warships under construction.

If Castel had not been so wealthy, it truly could not have afforded his level of consumption.

Orders were transmitted downward step by step through flag signals and steam whistles. The ships and airships that had lingered here gradually dispersed, leaving behind only the Holy Guard belonging to Castel Island itself.

After waking Gwen, who had fainted, she tried to control the massive Steel Ark. Afterwards, Nini and the other Banshees, as well as members of the Holy Guard, all went to try as well.

In the end, apart from Hughes and Gwen, no one else could communicate with this ship that had risen from the deep sea.

“Can you sail this ship?” Hughes withdrew his hand from the railing and asked Gwen.

“Mm, it seems so. It can obey my simple commands.”

“Have it sail a bit and see.”

“Alright.”

Gwen tidied her hair, revealing a face mottled with green and purple bruises. Hughes found it amusing.

“Didn’t manage to beat Nini?”

“Yes. Nini-sama is too strong. No matter what injuries she suffers, she can recover very quickly.”

Hughes turned back to glance at Nini, who was desperately signaling at him with her eyes.

It seemed Gwen still did not know that Nini could share the Life-Pool here, and simply believed that Nini was strong.

“Mm, that’s true. She’s very strong. I don’t even think you have any chance of defeating her.”

“I will work hard!” Gwen nodded solemnly, her eyes full of eagerness.

Hughes barely suppressed his laughter. You want to defeat Nini in Castel?

That was basically equivalent to defeating a hundred Banshees—completely impossible.

“Then I wish you all the best.”

The gigantic steel ship began to move. Its rusted hull cleaved through the waves. Because it was far too massive, from a distance it was hard to tell whether it was the Steel Ark that was moving, or Castel itself.

“About five knots!”

A Banshee in the sea below shouted. Hughes had deliberately left people in the water to estimate the Steel Ark’s speed.

“Five knots is a bit too slow.” Hughes frowned.

That speed might have been acceptable in the age of sail, but Castel had long since entered the era of steam power. Faster ships, such as the Black Pearl, whose power system Jeremiah had just finished refitting, could already reach speeds of over thirty knots.

Compared to that, the Steel Ark was as slow as a crawling snail.