Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord
Chapter 238: The Secret Tradition of the Sea

The candlelight burned slowly on the walls. Every candle here was a precious moon candle, whose glow could suppress and purify pollution, yet here, it was merely used for illumination.

Bookshelves stood on both sides. The candlelight barely illuminated the names on the spines; if one attempted to look at the details, they would only see a blur. Reality here was unstable, just like the towering dome above, revealing only a vague silhouette.

This was the Forbidden Book Room.

Beatrice was swiftly moving through the endless bookshelves. She was not supposed to be here, but she had forced her way in under the authority of the Pope.

The gatekeeper did not obstruct her much and allowed her entry.

Beatrice was an investigator, and she could feel unseen gazes watching her from the shadows. If she did anything out of line, they would act. Perhaps they were trying to appease her, or perhaps coming to the Forbidden Book Room was not too troublesome. Regardless, they tacitly allowed her presence.

Beatrice felt her heart pounding. The moment she stepped into this room, she knew she had won her gamble.

The Church of Candlelight had placed the triple crown of the Pope on her head; they were bound to cede some power to her, however minuscule.

The Forbidden Book Room was the core of the Church. The doctrine of the Church of Candlelight was to collect secret traditions, guard them, bury history, and seal away the past.

This was a carefully chosen tomb, where countless pieces of polluted knowledge were sealed away, never to be decrypted.

Even as the Pope, Beatrice had no authority to leak the books and knowledge here. The room was protected by the most sophisticated inscriptions—inscriptions that even the current Church of Candlelight could no longer replicate. This was the true sanctum of the Church.

Although she could not take anything away, she had the right to browse. After all, Beatrice was the Pope, even if only in name.

The scrutinizing gazes pricked at her back, but she pretended not to notice. With trembling hands, she flipped through the books, her fingers tracing the lines of secret records.

Finally, her gaze stopped on a record from a thousand years ago.

Pollution in the Sea

Beatrice’s pupils shrank instantly. It felt as if a thousand needles were stabbing into her mind, stirring as her thoughts wavered. The words before her seemed to rise from the pages, spinning slowly in her skull along with the searing pain.

Hallucinations again.

The intense headache was a warning. She forcibly suppressed the discomfort; it was the wail of her body being polluted.

There was a reason this knowledge was placed in the Forbidden Book Room. Reading it brought direct and immense contamination.

Fortunately, she was an investigator. This supernatural path granted immunity to most contamination while investigating secret histories. She took several deep breaths, and the hallucinations faded slightly.

She closed the book, rubbed her temples, and pondered for a moment, carefully filtering out the parts of knowledge that would cause pollution. Then, she spoke through the link:

Scepter: 『I suspect that Castel has traveled a thousand years back in time, to the outbreak of the sea’s pollution!』

After speaking, she let out a long breath and waited for a response.

Would it successfully send? This was the Forbidden Book Room, one of the most heavily guarded places in the world. Even the waves of the Sea of Unawareness could not reach here. Could this link truly connect to the outside?

In the silence, Beatrice quietly counted her heartbeats. If the link failed, she would leave and send the message again from her room. This was her first cautious experiment.

Let me see how far this strange link can go.

Beatrice unknowingly held her breath.

Fries: 『Uh, what do you mean by a thousand years and pollution outbreak?』

The crisp voice shattered the silence. Beatrice took a deep breath and glanced around the empty Forbidden Book Room, struggling to keep herself from reacting abnormally.

It actually worked.

This link had truly bypassed all the layers of security, ignoring the strict seals of the Forbidden Book Room. Even the Sea of Unawareness could not reach this place, yet this link remained stable.

Fries’ voice was strikingly clear in the silent room, without the slightest distortion, as if he was standing right beside her, asking.

Beatrice hesitated for a moment before she began to explain to the two of them.

Scepter: 『Let me clarify first—this knowledge is considered taboo in most churches. Even just repeating it will pollute you, do you understand?』

Ken instinctively nodded but then realized something was wrong and turned to look at Jeremiah.

Jeremiah snorted coldly without a word.

Fries: 『I’ve seen… a little. They look like worms, black, slowly wriggling.』

Scepter: 『That’s entity pollution. So the rumors about the Church of the Sea God hoarding pollution are true. What I’m talking about is the pollution caused by spreading secret traditions. Neither of you are supernaturals, right? If you’re not, then the contamination isn’t too dangerous. But if you ever seek to touch the supernatural, this pollution will become your death sentence.』

Ken and Jeremiah exchanged glances. The supernatural still felt too distant for them, but Castel’s disappearance was a real threat. Especially now, as the ocean was slowly drying up.

Fries: 『Please, Scepter, this is very important to us!』

Scepter: 『Alright. This all started with the anomalies a thousand years ago. It is said that many strange events occurred at once, and the sea was just one of them. This led to the True God Churches withdrawing from the ocean.』

Scepter: 『They say the sky collapsed, the sea was flooded with pollution, and countless monsters poured out. Overnight, all marine life vanished.』

Scepter: 『The Church of the Sea God—hmm, this part isn’t too relevant. In short, the Church of the Sea God disappeared overnight. Their headquarters were at sea, and by the time other churches arrived to investigate, only ruins remained. Of course, that was centuries later.』

Scepter: 『The four major churches joined forces to resolve the abnormalities, but they were severely weakened. They had to retreat, and the religious wars that had raged for centuries abruptly ended. What followed was a thousand years of recuperation. Only in recent decades have some churches dared to venture near the sea again.』

Scepter: 『Even now, most supernaturals avoid the ocean unless they have no other choice. The pollution in the sea is deadly to them.』

After Scepter finished speaking, silence returned to the link. After a while, Fries asked again:

『Scepter, but you haven’t explained what this has to do with Castel.』

Scepter: 『It’s simple. Back then, the anomaly in the sea was just like now—the entire island was excavated from the ocean.』

Scepter: 『And the island that was removed left behind a bottomless pit. Since you’re in the Storm Ocean, you should know about it, right?』

The captain’s deep voice suddenly sounded: 『The Eye of the Storm.』