Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord
Chapter 210: Chloe’s Humanity

“I went through great effort to explain the situation to him. These New Church followers all seem to have problems with their minds—they gradually become dull and senile. But in the end, he still understood what I meant and just lay down on the bed.”

“Then... he suddenly looked like he saw something terrifying. His eyes widened, his expression became more and more fearful, and his body started to struggle uncontrollably.”

Jeremiah paused, his pupils slowly dilating, his voice turning hoarse.

“I felt something was off at the time, so I stepped forward and grabbed his shoulders, trying to wake him up. But no matter what, he wouldn’t wake up. Damn it… I’ve been drifting at sea for decades, there’s no way I could be mistaken—he looked exactly like someone drowning!”

“Right in front of me, on his own bed, that man fucking drowned!”

Jeremiah gripped the handle of his scimitar tightly, his eyes filled with a mix of confusion and fear, making his gaze especially murky.

Josh and Kenn involuntarily shuddered.

“He kept dry heaving, trying to breathe, but his face gradually turned blue. When I realized there was nothing I could do to wake him up, I decided to leave first. Then…”

Jeremiah furrowed his brows, his curled beard trembling slightly.

“That man... no, by then, he was already a corpse. Just like those who drown in the sea—I’ve seen many. His pale body gradually swelled…”

“And in the end… he slowly turned into a monster. A kind of monster I had never seen before—it had a huge head and sharp teeth, but its limbs were disproportionately small, with webbing between its fingers and claws. I drew my scimitar and slashed at it. It didn’t move, as if it were still just a corpse.”

“That thing was too strange, too terrifying. I don’t remember much of what happened afterward. I ran out of that room and found an empty house to hide in for the night. It wasn’t until the next day that I mustered the courage to go back and check.”

“But when I went back into that room, I found that there was nothing inside—no corpse, no tattooed man, no monster. Everything seemed like an illusion.”

Josh hesitated for a moment before cautiously speaking, “Captain, could it be that you…”

“You think I was hallucinating, don’t you?”

“No, no.”

Josh forced a laugh and shook his head.

Before he could come up with a reasonable explanation, Jeremiah’s next words stopped him cold.

“I’m starting to dream of the deep sea too.”

The room fell silent in an instant.

After a long while, Jeremiah’s breathing had steadied somewhat. He let out a long sigh.

“Tomorrow, I’ll go with you to see the ‘Prince.’”

“How’s the research on the murlocs going?”

Hughes, looking exhausted, flipped through the report in his hands.

The murloc attacks had been increasing lately. Those monsters seemed endless, relentlessly throwing themselves at the island despite never gaining any ground.

Thanks to the newly discovered saltpeter mine, Gaia’s gunpowder production had skyrocketed. There was no longer any shortage of smokeless powder.

But this situation couldn’t go on forever—they needed to speed up their research.

“The murlocs… are a bit strange.”

Chloe hesitated for a moment before speaking softly.

Hughes looked up, a trace of confusion flashing in his eyes before his expression gradually turned serious.

He had long suspected something was off about the murlocs, but for Chloe to bring it up specifically…

“What did you find?”

“Haven’t we been killing more and more murlocs on the battlefield lately?”

Chloe absentmindedly bit her finger, a hint of unease in her voice as she paced quickly around the office.

“It was Richard who first noticed it. Normally, the murloc corpses are sent to him for processing. He found that sometimes, the murlocs have… ornaments on them.”

“Ornaments?”

“Yes, like necklaces and rings… but they’re all human accessories.”

“Human accessories?”

Hughes grew even more puzzled.

“I remember murlocs are significantly larger than humans. How could they wear human accessories?”

“They can’t. Or rather, they don’t seem to be wearing them in the usual way. That’s what struck me as odd.”

A flicker of frustration crossed Chloe’s face.

“Those rings… they looked like they were embedded in the flesh. Rather than being worn, it felt more like the fingers had gradually swollen around them.”

Hughes took in a sharp breath.

“You mean… the murlocs… could they be transformed humans?!”

The idea was so absurd that Hughes felt his mind go blank for a moment.

If the murlocs were really transformed humans… then had he been killing humans all along?

And where had so many humans come from to be turned into murlocs for him to slaughter?

“No, that possibility is slim.”

Chloe bit her finger, speaking quickly and softly.

“In terms of behavior and appearance, they have nothing in common with humans. Well, their instincts sometimes resemble human reactions, but that’s beside the point. The key issue is… they don’t wear those ornaments like humans do.”

“What do you mean?”

“For example, if I wanted to wear a ring, I’d put it on one of my fingers—doesn’t matter which one, but it would be on a finger. I wouldn’t wear it on my wrist bone or rib cage.

The same goes for necklaces—I wouldn’t put them on my legs or waist.”

“You’re saying…”

“They seem to have some ‘human’ elements mixed into them, but the way it’s done is incredibly crude. It doesn’t feel human at all—it’s more like they’re forcibly imitating humans.”

These creatures were clearly inhuman monsters.

Yet, for some reason, they were mimicking humans in an unmistakably artificial way.

There had to be some deeply hidden connection between these monsters and humanity.

Hughes sat heavily back into his chair, letting out a long breath.

“Alright… as long as they’re not actually humans. If you were to tell me that these things were once humans, that would be a truly terrible situation.”

After a while, something suddenly occurred to him, and he sat up straight.

“Chloe, you should stop researching how to use murloc skin on airships. We don’t need that kind of technology.

Even if you succeed… what if one day we find out that murlocs really are transformed humans?

What if there are no more murlocs to use?

Are we supposed to start turning our own islanders into murlocs?”

“I’ve found a new material.”

“Go ahead. Whose skin is it this time?”

“Mine.”

Hughes lifted his head and met Chloe’s gaze.

Her orange-red eyes were as bright as fire, filled with an insatiable thirst for knowledge—leaving no room for anything else.

Hughes slowly stood up, walked around the desk, and grabbed Chloe by the collar, lifting her up to meet his gaze.

The girl was unnaturally light.

Hughes had long noticed this, and he knew that the being before him was no longer human.

But only at this moment did he truly feel the chilling reality of it.

“Chloe… inside this body of yours, is there really not even a shred of humanity left?”