Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

The Moths Chasing Fire had been keeping Worker Hughes’ body confined in a certain place.

He couldn’t move, nor could he see anything.

In theory, Lord Hughes was unaware of Worker Hughes’ existence, and it wasn’t appropriate for him to ask directly.

When he had time, he would have to get Chloe to explain properly what had happened during the summoning of the evil god.

At worst, he would find a way to see if he could help her purify the pollution in her body.

Normally, Hughes could directly purify external entity pollution, but he couldn’t do the same for pollution generated within the body.

In any case, Worker Hughes had always been imprisoned.

Every time he descended, he found things the same and didn’t pay much attention.

But today was different from usual.

Carefully sensing the exact location, if Chloe, Isaac, and the others were in an underground cave—

Hughes roughly visualized a three-dimensional map of Castel in his mind.

Hmm, this should be... beneath the church?

Alright, alright, now he knew where this body was being held.

Those Moths Chasing Fire had really hidden their refuge beneath the church, truly bold.

Then again, if they weren’t bold, they wouldn’t have thought of summoning an evil god to cleanse pollution.

This vague connection was rapidly intensifying over time.

Finally, in a certain instant, Hughes suddenly saw an image.

It was like peeking through the back window of a classroom, his view was cramped, and the image was not very clear, but he could make out some details.

Hughes instinctively widened his eyes to examine it closely, only to realize that these images were appearing in his mind.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make them any clearer.

He could only vaguely distinguish the general outline.

He saw Chloe, who was reciting prayers at the side, she was likely leading the ritual.

Hughes could faintly sense his connection with her.

Nearby was Isaac, standing in the center, seemingly about to make a vow.

In the distance, he saw a segment of a snake’s tail.

Judging by the scale color, it should be Ash.

Hughes tried to guide the image in that direction and gradually made out long silver-white hair, it was indeed her.

"Why is this image so blurry...?"

"No, ever since I was locked up, all my senses seem to have become dull."

Before the ritual, even though Worker Hughes had been locked in a box, he could still clearly hear the prayers of the believers.

But after the evil god’s descent, he had been treated as some kind of "Outer God" and was locked away.

Since then, most of his senses had been stripped away.

He could still feel touch, but he could barely hear the believers’ prayers anymore.

The Moths Chasing Fire must have had a way to isolate him from the outside world.

In other words, this current state was not normal.

He should have been able to see the other side clearly.

This function seemed quite useful.

If developed properly in the future, could it be used for long-distance communication?

The Mind Link was good, it was convenient to use and could be shared by many people at once.

But its limitation was the range.

Hughes hadn’t tested the exact range, but covering Castel was no problem.

However, according to Ash, going any farther wouldn’t work, at least, in the Abyssal Trench, the connection failed.

But this ritual... it probably had no distance limitation, right?

After all, normally, the Lord of Moths wouldn’t be near them, yet they could still conduct the Oath of the Moth Chasing Fire.

And from the current perspective, the Oath of the Moth Chasing Fire was merely a vow made to the Lord of Moths.

The ritual itself served as a medium for communication.

For now, this wasn’t a big deal.

But in the future, if Hughes’ influence spread far enough, he could try using this ritual for communication.

Hmm, using Worker Hughes’ body as a signal receiver.

As Hughes let his thoughts run wild, the people in the image seemed to have finished their preparations.

Isaac stepped forward and solemnly made his vow.

"... Lord of Moths... Witness the vow... Castel Hughes’ betrayal..."

Wait, what?

He couldn’t hear it clearly?

Could the ritual really be completed like this?

Hughes didn’t dwell on it for long.

Isaac’s vow was quickly completed, and suddenly, Hughes felt a connection form between him and Isaac.

It was a very peculiar sensation, like an umbilical cord—

As if he had gained a... provider.

If Isaac violated the oath, he could be turned into nourishment, which would travel along this cord and be absorbed by Hughes.

By focusing on this connection, Hughes also discovered other intriguing uses.

For instance, the previously blurry image seemed to become clearer.

The perspective was no longer fixed on the ritual itself but centered around Isaac.

It felt like... a third-person game view.

He could see Isaac’s movements but couldn’t control them.

How was this achieved? Interesting.

On Chloe’s side, the ritual seemed to be completed.

The images in Hughes’ mind gradually faded, but his connection with Isaac remained.

Hmm, if he could break the Moths Chasing Fire’s seal on this body in the future, perhaps he could perceive the other side more clearly.

What exactly was this so-called Lord of Moths?

With that thought, Hughes returned to the Throne Room and descended once again into Lord Hughes’ body.

『 Patrol team, any anomalies detected?』

『 All clear. 』

『 Normal here as well. 』

The two pre-arranged Siren squads responded immediately.

Hughes then opened a private chat with Ash.

『 Ash, how’s it going on your end? 』

『 Everything went smoothly. Isaac completed the Oath of the Moth Chasing Fire. His vow was exactly as we finalized earlier, not a single word was changed. 』

Before conducting the ritual, Chloe had consulted with him about the vow.

The wording was extremely cautious, explicitly forbidding Isaac from betraying Castel while listing several specific acts of betrayal.

There shouldn’t be any loopholes in the wording, Hughes had scrutinized it for quite a while and found no issues.

『 Good. Since that’s the case, Isaac can be trusted. Have them return for now, I’ll discuss the details of his work with him later. 』

『 Understood. 』

Hughes let out a long sigh.

The ritual was done, and Isaac had successfully been drawn into Castel’s inner circle.

In a few days, he could be sent to the Empire.

Before that, there was still the matter of the ship to resolve.

Jeremiah had agreed to provide a ship, but Hughes couldn’t just take it outright.

He needed a proper contract, clearly specifying ownership, usage rights, and responsibilities in case of issues.

Isaac was right about one thing, these regulations could significantly elevate Castel’s potential.

What he wanted to build wasn’t a dictatorship, but a system with a healthy structure that could operate independently.

"That being the case... I need to look into Josh’s situation as well."

(End of Chapter)