Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 205 The entire archipelago is gone?

Ken and Jeremiah stood at the bow of the boat, staring blankly at the sea in front of them.

Seagulls flew across the sky, calling lazily. The sun was shining brightly, a rare good day in the Storm Ocean, but the two of them only felt cold all over.

"Mr. Jeremiah, are you sure this is the right place? Were we measuring the wrong location?"

If it were any other time, Jeremiah would have fiercely fought back against this question. He was a captain who had spent half his life on the sea, so how could he have miscalculated the position?

But at this time, he just said dryly: "I measured it correctly, it's here."

He subconsciously tugged at his collar, as if something was wrapped around his neck, and looked around unwillingly.

"This is the Martha Islands. Do you know what an archipelago is? Even if I'm wrong, there shouldn't be no islands here."

Ken and Jeremiah fell silent again.

The two searched for Castel for a long time but found nothing. Jeremiah hesitated for a moment and decided to drive the boat back to Gem Bay first.

Those refugees can be resettled in Gem Bay first. He knows the island owner there and can also add some supplies to the ship so that he can go back and find out what happened to Castel.

but.
Gem Bay is gone too.

Castel is only an island, but Jewel Bay could well be called an entire country.

There are hundreds of islands in the Martha Archipelago, and dozens of islands larger than Bistel. The total population of the entire Jewel Bay is over 100,000, which is enough to support an entire Black Sail Fleet.

The entire Gem Bay, let alone the Empire's navy, even if the Royal Army comes up, they can fight back. This is also the confidence of the Pirate King and the Queen to challenge. Apart from the lack of resources, Gem Bay has everything in terms of population and strategic depth.

It’s gone now?

Hundreds of thousands of people, gone?
The Black Sail Fleet that crisscrossed the Storm Ocean is gone?
Such a huge Jewel Bay, an entire archipelago, the Martha Islands, which are as big as seven duchies, are gone?

The sunlight fell on his body, making it warm, and Jeremiah's face turned pale.

After an unknown amount of time, Ken finally spoke tremblingly, "Captain, there are still many refugees on board. How about we go to the Blood Harbor in Tis County first?"

Tis Territory was originally the Duchy of Tis. It is the closest land to Castel and is a quiet and peaceful small country.

Grand Duke Tis worked hard to govern the country and put it in perfect order. He did nothing wrong, but he forgot one thing:
The Principality of Tis is too close to the Empire.

After a war, Tis was destroyed and the Principality of Tis became the Tis Territory of the Empire. The newly crowned Queen sat firmly on the Ironthorn Throne and the Empire's army began to conquer all directions.

A considerable number of Castres' islanders were refugees from that war, who crossed the sea to the nearest Castres.

Josh, who had set off on the ship earlier, got off the ship at the Blood Port in Tis County. If everything went well there, he might have gained some power of his own and could send these refugees there for temporary resettlement.

Jeremiah's face didn't look good. There were not many supplies left on the ship, and it was really urgent to dock. He had originally planned to sail the ship to Jewel Bay, but he never expected that the entire Martha Islands would disappear just like that.

Even in the church's scriptures there is no such outrageous story!
Nora had preached to Jeremiah at the time, and he had actually read some scriptures, a memory he was reluctant to recall.

Jeremiah weighed the pros and cons for a moment before heading to the captain's cabin. "Boys, hoist the sails. We're heading for Blood Harbor."

"We need to go to Gem Cove."

Following Hughes' words, the room fell into silence.

Sunlight streamed in from the high windows, casting a shadow on the grey concrete walls. This was the meeting room of Castres Cathedral. As it had just been built, there was no decoration at all, and the furniture consisted of only a simple long table and wooden chairs. However, no one in the room was in the mood to sit down and chat.

Alexi, Chloe, and Ash looked at each other, and Chloe spoke first:

"Why do you feel like going there?"

"Three reasons." Hughes paced quickly around the room. "First, we're completely blocked. It's extremely difficult to seek help from the Empire. It's far away, and the Imperial Navy may not be able to help."

Several people nodded. The Imperial Navy was fine for guarding the port, but going out to sea? Forget it.

After all, the empire has always been a landlocked country. It only gained its own access to the sea after conquering the Principality of Tis more than ten years ago. The navy was established only a few years ago, and the navy built from scratch is really unremarkable.

"Secondly, Gem Bay has a close relationship with us. If we ask for help, they will at least provide some assistance. At the very least, they can help us pass on information and let us know what's happening outside the island."

"Finally, you've all noticed, right? This time, the monsters are coming from Gem Bay. They must have had more encounters with monsters, and perhaps we can learn the truth about them."

Indeed, these monsters are really too weird. Why sea urchins turn into arm monsters is still unclear. Those arms look like human arms.

As for whether Gem Bay had been destroyed, Zeus was not too worried about that.

Humans may not be a match for these monsters in the sea, but the pirates of Gem Bay don't live on their ships all the time.

There are many huge islands in the Martha Islands, some of which can even be called land. Even with the weak combat power of the fishmen and arm monsters, they can be easily overcome as long as they are well prepared on land.

Pirates are a military group. It is hard to say how good their governance capabilities are, but they are very good at fighting.

Besides, how could an archipelago with a population of hundreds of thousands be destroyed just like that? The Empire fought for several years on the western front alone, and the population on the opposite side was not even as large as that of Gem Bay.

"What you said does make sense, but how are we going to get there?"

Chloe glanced at Ash after she finished speaking. "The arm monster isn't anything to be feared, but in the ocean, it's like a terrifying sea urchin. I don't think the Banshees can get past the monster's blockade and reach the other side. Besides, the pirates might not accept the Banshees' presence either."

Ash remained silent. She also felt that the situation was impossible, but if she were alone, there might be a chance of breaking through the blockade.
"Have you forgotten? The Lord had a plan before." Alexi suddenly said, "Build ships with steel. No matter how powerful those monsters are, they can't break steel, right?"

"If the steel is thick enough, it really won't break." Chloe frowned. "But how can we make it? The sea is full of monsters now."

"I didn't say we wanted to build a ship to go there." Xius stood up with a smile, took out a blueprint and put it on the table.

"Ever heard of an airship?"

(End of this chapter)