Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Similar scenes appeared in many places. On that day, countless people heard whispers.

The voice was twisted and eerie. The words it spoke were absurd beyond measure, yet without their knowing, they quietly took root in people’s hearts.

Most people forgot what they had heard after waking. Some still remembered fragments, but only treated them as ridiculous dreams and cast them aside. Very few would dwell on the details or attempt to investigate them.

Yet in their dreams, all of them had followed that twisted whisper, observing the world from another perspective—one they had never experienced before.

Subconsciously, they began to think, whether what they saw was a falling bamboo pole or boiling water.

Everything seemed unchanged, yet something had quietly shifted.

And the instigator behind all of this remained unaware of it.

“How was it, Little Gwen? Did I tell it well?”

Beside Worker Hughes, Little Gwen wore a complicated expression that was hard to describe.

“That’s what’s written in your Holy Text?”

Hughes immediately felt somewhat embarrassed. He had no teaching materials on hand and had simply improvised a few things on a whim. Was it really that bad?

Thinking carefully, the last time he had made things up like this, the Church had directly eliminated him…

The corner of Hughes’ eye twitched.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop. It’s not like it’s having any effect anyway.”

“Mm… maybe you should keep telling them. Those little stories are outrageous, but they’re actually kind of fun,” Little Gwen said hesitantly.

“You’re not just lonely and want me to come over here to tell bedtime stories to a child, are you?”

Gwen clenched her fist.

“Tell them or not, it’s up to you. But I’ll remind you—Zoe has been calling out for many days already. Maybe this kind of whisper needs to persist for a long time before it works.”

Hughes thought for a moment and nodded. “That makes sense. I’ve got nothing better to do anyway. I’ll just come and tell a bit every day. Oh, right—should we try pulling up a Connection?”

“Absolutely not! Did you forget Beatrice’s terrible state? Last time I just took a brief look through the Connection and almost drowned in Pollution! What do you think would happen if we actually pulled up the Connection?”

Hughes imagined it—once the Connection was established, Pollution flowing along the wires, along the threads, seeping straight into everyone’s bodies…

“Forget it, forget it. I’ll just keep telling stories instead. By the way, why did you have me pull out so many threads?”

Hughes was holding a large bundle of threads in his hand; he had just been gripping them while telling stories.

“Oh, that? I got the idea from when you established the Connection before. I wanted to try broadcasting to a group. You see, with this kind of whispering format, even if your voice sounds strange, it won’t scare people away. And if I blur it a little on my side, wouldn’t that open up more Connections?”

“And once you open these Connections, what’s your plan?”

“Uh…”

Little Gwen scratched her head. She had simply realized that, as a relay server, she seemed capable of linking many people at once. She had just wanted to try it. As for a real purpose… she didn’t really have one.

“Anyway, telling one person is telling; telling everyone is telling. Let’s just try it first. Maybe it’ll be useful?”

Gwen said softly.

“And I filtered out as much noise as I could. The whispers they hear should be quite gentle now. They might even forget them upon waking. In any case, let’s try it first. Zoe must have her reasons for doing this.”

Hughes thought about it and agreed. There was no loss in casually spinning stories when he had nothing to do. And through the threads, he could feel that Beatrice’s condition was improving. Perhaps if this continued, she wouldn’t keep spewing Pollution along the web—the threads.

So… maybe he would come every day and talk for a while?

Hughes silently made up his mind.

Soon, Hughes returned to Castel, and things in the Northlands quieted down.

Little Gwen looked around, then climbed closer to where Hughes had been. After confirming he had truly left, she waved toward a patch of mist.

Within the White Mist, a massive white-bone skull emerged, gazing in this direction.

Then the large mass of shifting White Mist trembled as it moved closer, enveloping the area.

“How strange. They were just a bunch of nonsensical stories, but after listening, my soul does feel more stable. Even the erosion from the mist and Pollution has been suppressed.”

Gwen looked at her hands, then at the white-bone giant beast that had just dragged the White Mist over.

“Could it be…”

Little Gwen hesitated and closed her eyes.

Her understanding of the supernatural world was not extensive. Most of what she knew had come from Beatrice’s explanations through the Connection.

Later, after becoming a 【Named One】 and coming into contact with the Temple of the Forgetters, she had been able to draw knowledge directly from Pollution. Only then did she gain a systematic understanding.

And now, she had noticed something slightly off.

Her consciousness gradually left her body as Little Gwen slowly descended into the Sea of Unawareness.

When a familiar sensation grew stronger, she opened her eyes.

A massive, rusted chain was bound to her at one end, while the other extended toward…

Little Gwen slowly raised her head, looking upward.

There was no direction in the Sea of Unawareness—no up, down, left, or right. Yet the moment she lifted her head, she could see a furnace burning quietly.

Like a cold sun.

And her chain pointed directly toward it.

That was her 【Anchor】.

Little Gwen had never known what it truly was. But when Hughes softly told story after story through the threads, she had felt a certain stability.

She had originally thought it came from the threads between them. But now she realized—

Little Gwen tugged at the rusted iron chain. In her cognition, her 【Anchor】 was imagined as a ship’s anchor, so what she saw was indeed a ship’s anchor.

That sense of stability had come from the 【Anchor】.

“In other words… my 【Anchor】 points to Hughes?” Little Gwen thought for a moment, then gently shook her head.

“No. He is my 【Anchor】.”

Little Gwen raised her hand. The white-bone giant beast swung its sharp claws fiercely toward Worker Hughes.

Bang!

The permafrost freezing Hughes’ lower body collided with the white bone. A faint mark was left on the ice, while the white-bone claw shattered instantly.

The mist surged, wrapping around the broken claw. Moments later, it was restored to its original state, while the shallow mark remained on the ice.

Expressionless, Little Gwen waved her hand again. The white-bone giant beast raised its head and smashed its claws down upon the permafrost again and again.

Somewhere in a dark cave.

Lina sat blankly on a stone stool, her expression vacant.

After a moment, she suddenly shuddered violently and leapt to her feet.

“I have to find him, I have to find him—I have to find him!!” Lina’s face twisted as she grabbed a thread with trembling hands.

“This is it… I heard his whisper. But it’s still not enough…”

Lina abruptly lifted her head.

“He’ll come again to tell more, won’t he? Each time, I’ll follow a little further forward. Eventually, I’ll find him!”

“My… father.”