Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 273 Two Options
The ceremony soon came to an end. Nini's chanting became louder and louder, and Monica also concentrated her mind and tried to separate the part of the sea god's soul.

She had tried to summon the machine spirit directly in this furnace before, but the result was strange.

The ritual was successful, and there seemed to be some presence in the furnace, but it would not respond to anyone.

Monica's power has not dissipated yet.

Therefore, they had no choice but to prepare this ceremony again, trying to use the machine soul to summon the Noisier again.

With Nini's chanting, the ceremony was pushed to its climax. She suddenly opened her eyes and recited the last prayer loudly.

"Light the sacred cauldron and awaken the soul in the steel!"

A huge buzzing sound was heard, and flames suddenly appeared in the furnace, but before people could cheer, they suddenly went out again.

The onlookers put down their hands in confusion. Was this a success or a failure?

How could there be any strange phenomenon if it failed? Why didn’t it ignite if it succeeded?
Xius thought for a moment, then turned to look at Monica and asked quietly, "Is your sea god's soul still there?"

"I, I'm not sure. The ritual seems to have succeeded, but it also seems not to have. To be more precise, it's closer... but one step away."

"One more step?"

Zeus rubbed his chin. How could there be still one step left? A lot of pollution had already been poured into the furnace, and there was also fuel. It should be able to be ignited directly, right?
Wait, pollution?
"Could it be because this furnace is a machine soul constructed from the soul of the Sea God, and its status is too high, so it can only use the flesh and blood of the Sea God as fuel?"

"You mean the monster?"

"Yes, we have to successfully stuff it in, so that the summoning of the machine spirit can complete the final step."

Hughes inexplicably recalled the motto of the Mechanical Temple: "How can steam be desecrated by common fire?"

凡火
Fire Moth had tried this ritual many times before, but all failed. Part of the reason was the lack of Monica's machine soul, and another part was perhaps the lack of contaminated fuel.
In other words, this ceremony is not just the consecration of the steam engine, but also includes the process of combustion.

Castel's steam engines currently burn pollution. If other extraordinary fuels are found in the future, will they be able to summon other things?
"Anyway, let's get the Pirate King in here first. If my guess is correct, the furnace will be lit then."

Zeus said confidently. At this moment, the monster transformed by the Pirate King had been dragged out of the Gem Bay and was not far from here.

Soon, it arrived at Castres.

This was the first time that Zeus saw the full picture of the monster. In order to facilitate lifting, the airship rose to a very high altitude. The monster's body was at a very high place and was almost invisible from the ground.

All you can see are countless long snakes of pollution hanging from the sky.

Each of these long snakes was as thick as several people could hug together, with black pollution surging from it, and it looked obviously weak.

According to Nini, after leaving the sea, the monster's strength and activity level decreased a lot, and it has been in this half-dead state.

The monster in the air was only a tiny thing, but countless polluted snakes were like vines hanging from the sky, drooping like waterfalls, densely packed and blocking out the sky.

This is a monster that once roamed the entire Ocean of Storms.

"How can it be lifted up when it's so big?" Zeus asked Gaia beside him with some confusion.

Gaia shrugged. "I don't know. There are many things about it that defy physics. Look at those pollution snakes. They look heavy, but they're actually very lightweight. The force required to lift the monster itself is similar to the force required to lift the monster itself and its tentacles."

Does that mean the Contamination Serpent is almost massless? "How are you going to stuff it into the furnace?"

"Two options. You should have seen the blueprints of the furnace, right?"

Xius nodded. "I've reviewed all the drawings. Just tell me. I know everything."

"Okay." Gaia picked up a branch and drew a crude sketch on the ground.

First there was a large circle, representing Castel, with a small dot in the middle.

"The first plan is to stuff it in little by little. We first need to hang it high enough, then find the head of the contamination snake, stuff these tentacle-like snakes in first, and then stuff the main body in."

"The advantage of this method is that it has a high success rate. If you can't get it in, you can light a fire first to burn part of the tentacles and then try to push them in again."

"What about the second option?" Xius did not comment.

"The second option is more complicated." Gaia drew a smaller circle around the middle point.

"Look, if this is the furnace itself, we can remove the lid and put the monster's body in first."

She drew many thin lines outward from the middle point, densely packed like a spider web.

"Then we just throw the long snake of pollution outside, cover the furnace again, and start burning."

"The downside is that the contamination snakes will fall directly onto the island's surface, making it difficult to clean up afterwards. It's also difficult to open the furnace cover."

"but."

Gaia and Xiusi looked at each other and said in unison: "The Machine Soul summoning ritual can be completed!"

Does the polluted serpent count as the flesh and blood of the sea god?
It’s hard to say, but its essence definitely counts.

Put its main body in and burn it first. This is the method with the highest success rate. It is a bit troublesome, but it is worth it if you can successfully start the furnace.

Zeus had talked to Chloe, and she believed that if the soul of the sea god successfully entered the furnace and ignited the monster, the space where Caster currently belonged would likely be broken in an instant, and the entire island would return directly to the real world.

It's been a while since I last visited the real place. Since the war, Zeus has been busy with the reconstruction work in Castel. The body of the worker Zeus is still in the eye of the storm. I just took a last look at it before the fire started.

"We've decided to go with the second option. I'll go coordinate the dismantling of the furnace. We can remove the ceiling of Castel Cathedral and hoist it into the furnace from the church."

"Okay, then let's go notify the airship." Gaia nodded.

Dismantling and lifting seems to be a big project, but with the help of the Banshee, it is actually not that difficult. We just need to deal with the position of the polluting snake on the island.

After Xius made the arrangements, he returned to the room, explained the situation to Zoe, and then sat on the chair and chose to return.

It wasn't long before the worker, Hughes, opened his eyes. After looking around, he scratched his head in confusion.

"Where did this get me?"

(End of this chapter)