Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord
Chapter 237: Traversing

Gwen lay on the bed, calming her mind, allowing her consciousness to gradually sink.

Soon, she felt her consciousness touch a certain barrier.

That barrier did not seem particularly strong, yet it was still beyond her ability to break through at the moment.

Fortunately, her goal was not to cross this barrier.

She only needed to stay there.

Very soon, some kind of white substance slowly seeped out from the barrier, gradually being attracted to her.

Bit by bit, it infiltrated her soul, and through the connection between spirit and flesh, nourished her weak body.

This was a method taught to her by her new friend, Scepter.

The name "Scepter" was quite strange, and the method she spoke of was even stranger.

Yet, this peculiar method happened to solve her current problem.

Merely lying on the bed and meditating was actually enough to fill her stomach.

This was somewhat beyond her imagination.

Fortunately, she was just a little girl who knew little about the world.

She had no idea how astonishing this truly was.

She simply followed her new friend’s advice instinctively.

However, Scepter also told her that this method would not last long.

The absorption of the soul had its limits.

In a few days, she would no longer be able to sustain herself through meditation.

Unless she became an extraordinary being.

She wanted to ask if she could become an extraordinary being, but Scepter directly refused.

That was the most serious tone Scepter had ever used—before this, she had always spoken gently.

But it was fine.

Gwen was already satisfied.

She had made a new friend and lived a few extra days.

What more could she ask for?

As Gwen quietly meditated, the remaining three in the link gradually started chatting.

Scepter: 『Speaking of which, what are you two doing near Castel?』

She carefully probed.

These two were most likely pirates.

She deliberately revealed the meditation method so they would recognize her value.

No one could resist the temptation of the extraordinary, especially ignorant outsiders who knew nothing of its dangers.

What she had described was actually a prerequisite to becoming extraordinary—cleansing the soul.

This step could genuinely strengthen the soul slightly, with no side effects.

For ordinary people, it wouldn’t feel like much, just a way to fill their stomachs and improve their health.

The two would definitely try it in secret.

Once they found it effective, they would come to her for the next step.

That way, she would have some leverage and could make them do things for her.

As for what she wanted them to do, it went without saying.

This was precisely why she had specifically mentioned Castel—since they were nearby, helping her explore shouldn’t be difficult.

But Beatrice hadn’t expected the two to fall into silence so suddenly.

She didn’t want to break the silence herself, so she just waited.

She waited so long that she found herself pacing around the room.

Finally, a reply came.

Captain: 『You know about Castel?』

Scepter: 『Of course. A Frontier Count went to that island, and now it’s part of the Empire.』

Captain: 『No, I mean, do you know what happened to Castel?』

Beatrice took a deep breath, her eyes gleaming.

Finally, the topic had shifted to this.

After so many twists and turns, she was finally about to get some information on Castel.

Deep beneath the sea, Hughes also perked up his ears.

He knew the Black Pearl was not far from Castel.

So why hadn’t they returned to the island?

And the ocean he had seen back then had already given him a vague sense of unease.

Captain: 『This might sound unbelievable, but Castel is gone.』

Captain: 『I’m not speaking metaphorically. I mean it literally—the entire island vanished from the ocean, as if it had been scooped away by a giant shovel.』

Jeremiah’s face darkened.

Every time he recalled this event, a deep chill spread from within him.

Inside the cathedral in Rhine, Beatrice’s eyes widened.

A delicate enamel teacup slipped from her fingers, shattering instantly upon hitting the floor.

Castel was gone?

Ever since she had failed to find any trace of Castel in the Sea of Unawareness, she had begun to suspect something.

But for it to have vanished completely…

This was beyond her worst fears.

If Castel had disappeared, then what about Count Hughes…?

A shiver ran through Beatrice’s heart.

She stood up abruptly, disregarding everything else.

Lifting her robe, she rushed outside.

Her white boots crunched against the shattered porcelain shards on the floor, producing sharp and brittle sounds.

At the bottom of the Storm Ocean, Hughes, sitting cross-legged in the water, was also in shock.

This… how was this possible? An entire island was gone?

Thinking of the battles he had fought together with the people of Castel, Hughes felt a chilling fear crawl over him.

If Castel was gone, then where was he?

Who had he been fighting all this time?

No, thinking back, the signs had been there all along.

The monsters had undergone strange changes.

Everything he saw from the Black Pearl had seemed off.

No wonder the Empire and the Church had not intervened despite the large-scale conflict.

It turned out Castel was the only place under attack.

But why?

What was so special about Castel that it deserved this fate?

No, wait—recalling the Polluted Serpent spreading beneath the sea, perhaps the closer Gem Bay was also…

Captain: 『This anomaly isn’t limited to Castel. Gem Bay—I mean, the Martha Archipelago—it’s also gone. The entire Martha Archipelago has disappeared. All that’s left is empty ocean.』

Martha Archipelago is gone too?!

This time, Hughes was truly stunned.

Castel was just a single island, but the Martha Archipelago was massive—almost the size of the entire Northern Frontier.

An oceanic region the size of the Northern Frontier had simply vanished?

Damn it.

Were the Empress and the Pope just sitting around doing nothing?

How could they ignore such a catastrophe?

And these monsters—why were they fixated on Castel?

The Empire had an extensive coastline, yet they targeted only his island.

Hughes felt a rising sense of confusion and even a touch of helplessness.

Even if he sent airships to Gem Bay, would that really solve Castel’s crisis?

Ultimately, the core issue remained the monsters in the sea.

With them around, Hughes couldn’t even investigate the waters properly.

A growing sense of despair crept over him.

The link fell into silence, each person digesting the information in their own way.

Suddenly, a message shattered the quiet.

Beatrice’s voice rang out in the link, hurried and urgent, as if she was being chased by something.

Scepter: 『Everyone, I have a theory!』

Scepter: 『I suspect that Castel has traveled a thousand years into the past—back to the time when the ocean’s pollution first erupted!』