Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord
Chapter 204: The Entire Archipelago Disappeared?

Kenn and Jeremiah stood at the bow of the ship, staring blankly at the seawater before them.

Seagulls lazily cried as they glided across the sky. The sun was shining brightly, a rare good day in the Storm Ocean, yet both of them felt an overwhelming chill run through their bodies.

"Mr. Jeremiah, are you... sure this is the place? Could you have miscalculated?"

At any other time, Jeremiah would have immediately snapped back at such doubt. He had been a captain sailing the seas for half his life—how could he possibly miscalculate?

But at this moment, he only spoke dryly, "I didn’t get it wrong. This is the place."

He instinctively tugged at his collar, as if something was tightening around his neck. Unwilling to accept the situation, he looked around once more.

"This is the Martha Archipelago. Do you understand what that means? Even if I miscalculated, there should still be islands here. There should be something."

Kenn and Jeremiah fell into silence once more.

They had searched for Castel for a long time, but found nothing. Hesitating, Jeremiah decided to steer the ship back to Gem Bay.

The refugees could be temporarily settled in Gem Bay. He knew some island lords there who could provide supplies for the ship, allowing them to properly investigate what had happened to Castel.

But...

Gem Bay was gone too.

Castel was just a small island, but Gem Bay was practically a nation of its own.

The Martha Archipelago had hundreds of islands—dozens of them larger than Castel. The entire Gem Bay had a population of over a hundred thousand, enough to support a full-fledged Dark Sails fleet.

The combined forces of Gem Bay were strong enough that even the Empire’s navy, or even the Royal Army itself, would have trouble taking them down.

This was why the Pirate King could challenge the Empress—aside from a lack of resources, Gem Bay had no shortage of population or strategic depth.

And now, it was gone?

Hundreds of thousands of people—gone?

The Dark Sails fleet, which ruled the Storm Ocean—gone?

A massive Gem Bay, an entire archipelago, the Martha Archipelago spanning the size of seven duchies—gone?

The warm sunlight fell upon them, but Jeremiah’s face was deathly pale.

No one knew how long it took before Kenn finally stammered, "C-Captain, we still have a lot of refugees on board. Maybe we should... head to Blood Harbor in Tis Territory first?"

Tis Territory was once the Principality of Tis, the closest mainland region to Castel. It was a peaceful and quiet nation.

The Grand Duke of Tis had ruled wisely, maintaining an orderly and well-governed state.

He had done nothing wrong—except for one thing:

The Principality of Tis was too close to the Empire.

One war later, Tis fell.

The principality became the Empire’s Tis Territory, and the newly crowned Empress secured her hold on the Iron-Thorn Throne as the Imperial Army set out on its campaigns.

Many of Castel’s islanders had once been refugees from that war. They had fled across the sea to the nearest island—Castel.

Josh, who had departed with the ship earlier, had disembarked at Blood Harbor in Tis Territory. If things had gone well, he might have already built some influence there, and they could send these refugees over for temporary shelter.

Jeremiah’s expression darkened. Supplies on the ship were running low, and they desperately needed to dock somewhere.

That was why he had originally planned to stop at Gem Bay—who could have expected the entire Martha Archipelago to vanish?

Even the Church’s sacred texts had never recorded such an absurd story!

Nora had once preached to Jeremiah, and he had read some of the sacred texts during that time. It was a period of his life he preferred not to remember.

After weighing his options, Jeremiah walked toward the captain’s quarters.

"All right, boys. Raise the sails. We’re heading to Blood Harbor."

"We need to check out Gem Bay," Hughes said.

Silence filled the room.

Sunlight streamed through the high windows, casting a glow on the gray concrete walls.

This was the meeting room of Castel Cathedral. Since it had only been recently constructed, there was no decoration, not even proper furnishings—just a simple long table and wooden chairs.

Yet none of the people in the room were in the mood to sit and chat.

Alexei, Chloe, and Ash exchanged glances before Chloe finally broke the silence.

"Why do you think we need to go there?"

"Three reasons," Hughes said, pacing quickly around the room.

"First, we’ve been completely sealed off. Seeking aid from the Empire would be too difficult. It’s too far, and even if we got there, the Imperial Navy might not be able to help us."

The others nodded.

The Imperial Navy could barely defend its own ports, let alone engage in naval combat.

The Empire had always been a land-based power. It wasn’t until they conquered the Principality of Tis just over a decade ago that they gained their first real coastal territory.

Their navy had only been established a few years ago, built entirely from scratch. It was laughably weak.

"Second, we have close ties with Gem Bay. If we ask for help, they’ll at least provide some support. At the very least, they can relay information, so we can figure out what’s happening outside the island."

"Lastly, you’ve all noticed it too—the monsters this time came from Gem Bay. That means they’ve had more encounters with these creatures than we have. We might be able to uncover the truth about them."

It was true—these monsters were far too bizarre.

Why had sea urchins turned into arm monsters?

Even now, they couldn’t figure out why.

Those arms unmistakably belonged to humans.

As for whether Gem Bay had already been destroyed, Hughes wasn’t too worried about that.

Humans might not be able to fight these creatures in the open sea, but the pirates of Gem Bay weren’t always at sea.

The Martha Archipelago had many massive islands—some large enough to be called continents.

With the fishmen and arm monsters’ pathetic combat capabilities, as long as the pirates fortified their defenses on land, they could hold out just fine.

Pirates were, first and foremost, a military force.

Their governance might be questionable, but their ability to fight was undeniable.

And besides—an archipelago with a population of hundreds of thousands couldn’t just disappear overnight.

The Empire had been fighting on its western front for years, and their enemies had fewer people than Gem Bay did.

"You make a good point, but how do we get there?" Chloe asked.

She glanced at Ash.

"Arm monsters aren’t much of a threat, but in the water, they turn into terrifying sea urchins. I don’t think the Banshees can break through their blockade to reach Gem Bay.

"And even if they could, the pirates might not accept them."

Ash remained silent.

She agreed it was nearly impossible.

But if it were just her alone, maybe—just maybe—she could break through.

"Have you all forgotten? The Lord had a plan before," Alexei suddenly said.

"A plan to build ships out of steel. No matter how strong those monsters are, they can’t break through steel, can they?"

"If the steel is thick enough, then no, they can’t," Chloe frowned.

"But how are we supposed to build them? The sea is swarming with monsters."

"I never said we were building ships," Hughes said with a smirk.

He pulled out a blueprint and laid it on the table.

"Have you ever heard of an airship?"