Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord-Chapter 67: A Peaceful Night

So many anomalies appearing at the same time?

『Report the cause of the anomaly!』

『There is a large amount of physical contamination!』

『Same here, contamination!!』

『A lot of contamination suddenly appeared!』

『Group Six, large-scale contamination.』

『A large amount of black contamination suddenly appeared on the ground!!』

『We’ve discovered a massive patch of contamination!』

The first channel was instantly flooded with voices from the Sirens, making it somewhat chaotic.

Hughes forced himself to calm down and went through each group’s report.

『Has anyone spotted an enemy, or is it just contamination?』

『.』

『.』

The channel fell silent.

Hughes closed his eyes and felt the flow of life force within the Symbiotic Contract.

It seemed that none of the Sirens were consuming a large amount of life force.

『Groups that have discovered contamination, keep your distance and monitor the situation. Report immediately if anyone is injured!』

『Also, Group Nine, where are you? Reply immediately upon receiving this!』

He had just received all the reports, but there was none from Group Nine!

Group Nine had suddenly lost contact!

He checked the Mind Link, both Sirens from Group Nine were still connected.

There was no disruption, just no response.

Looking at the map, Group Nine wasn’t far from here. Should he go himself?

Hughes glanced at Ash and suppressed the thought of personally investigating.

He was the command center. Putting himself at risk was irresponsible to everyone, not to mention that he had no combat ability.

Hughes gritted his teeth.

『Group Thirteen! Group Two!』

『Here!』 ×2

『Proceed to Group Nine’s location and report any situation immediately. Be extra cautious!』

『Understood!』 ×2

Just then, the voice of Group Nine, which had disappeared from the first channel, suddenly came through again!

『Report! Group Nine!』

『Go ahead!』

『The contamination just fell from the sky and buried Una. I rushed in to rescue her. She’s safe now.』

『Yes… A large amount of contamination fell straight from above, as if a hole had opened in the sky.』

『Group Thirteen and Group Two, continue to Group Nine’s location to investigate. Group Nine, report any injuries!』

『No injuries. This physical contamination seems no different from the one at the seafloor. It poses no threat to us.』

『Maintain Flesh Magic, don’t let your guard down.』

『Understood!』

『Group Two! We have arrived near Group Nine. There is a large amount of physical contamination here. The two from Group Nine look slightly exhausted but are unharmed.』

『Group Thirteen is also in position. Observations match Group Two’s.』

『Alright, you two groups head to these two points. Group Nine, remain on alert!』

Seeing no further anomalies for the time being, Hughes finally exhaled. His back was drenched in cold sweat.

When he first saw multiple locations triggering alerts at once, he thought Castel Island had been invaded and that he was completely surrounded.

But in the end, it was just contamination.

Of course, contamination erupting in multiple places at once was still frightening, but it was something he could handle.

The Sirens shared a Life Pool with him, and he had the ability to purify contamination.

This meant that the Sirens passively gained some purification ability as well.

This purification wasn’t direct like his, but any life force that passed through him would be purified of contamination.

As a result, even if the Sirens were eroded by contamination, a few cycles of life force through the Symbiotic Contract would restore them to normal immediately.

Now, the Sirens no longer needed Flesh Magic to resist contamination.

"So, cognitive interference leads to large-scale contamination descent. No wonder the Church treated it as a major threat and immediately dispatched an Extraordinary."

"Luckily, this is the easiest kind of trouble for me to handle. It’s much better than dealing with monsters—"

『Report, Group One has found an anomaly! A contaminated monster has appeared!』

Hughes: "!?“

He nearly slapped himself. His cursed mouth always brought misfortune the moment he spoke.

『Enemy count, size, can you handle it?』

『Uh, it’s already dealt with.』

『.』

『What type of enemy?』

『A few… wolves. Miss Zoe taught us about this species. It should be a local creature.』

『Local creature?』

『Yes, we saw it get hit by contamination. By the time we arrived, it had already transformed into a monster.』

『How strong was it?』

『…Hard to say. Probably about as strong as an average human? It was too weak to get a good feel for it.』

『.』

『Any other monsters?』

『None, just this one. It’s not dead. I have it pinned to the ground.』

『Alright, keep it restrained. Try to keep it alive. I have use for it.』

『Understood!』

Hughes rubbed his forehead. So they really did encounter a beast at night.

That wolf was unlucky, drenched in contamination from head to toe.

He could study it later.

『My lord, how should we deal with the physical contamination?』

『What’s its current state?』

『It’s gathered into a mass and is slowly moving toward us. Very slowly.』

『Can it be lured away?』

『Yes.』

Hughes rubbed his chin.

『I’ll give you a location. Each group sends one person to slowly guide the contamination there.』

He originally planned to purify the contamination outright, but it seemed manageable. Perhaps it had some use.

"Lord."

A soft voice suddenly called from beside him.

Ash lowered her voice and, when Hughes turned to look, pointed toward the distant church.

The church was right next to a forest. The two of them were hiding within the trees, using the night as cover, though Hughes doubted they could fool an Extraordinary.

He looked up and saw the church doors opening.

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Chloe stepped out, carrying a wooden bucket.

She walked a few steps outside, poured the water out, then returned to the church without looking in their direction.

With the night vision granted by the Symbiotic Contract, Hughes could see everything clearly at the church entrance.

"She didn’t notice us?"

He wasn’t sure. Brother Kaeski had ties to an Extraordinary, but this nun might just be an ordinary person.

Speaking of which, how long had it been since he last saw Brother Kaeski?

Strange.

Still, he had no intention of revealing himself. Whether Chloe’s actions were a warning or mere coincidence, he wouldn’t respond.

Tonight, his only task was dealing with the trouble caused by cognitive interference. As long as the Church didn’t interfere, he wouldn’t provoke them.

『Stay on alert. Report any anomalies immediately.』

The voices of the mourning Sirens echoed in his mind.

Time passed, and the dark night gradually faded. A thin morning mist began to blanket the land.

"The sun should rise soon."

Hughes looked up at the sky.

『Tonight’s operation is over. Return to the cave through the nearby sea. Tonight, you all worked hard. We successfully protected Castel Island and our home.』

『Bring that contaminated wolf over.』