Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 610 No Need for War

The people of the Silent Sanctuary gazed at the distant fortress for a while, then looked out at the distant sea. The azure water and the damp sea breeze were exceptionally pleasant. Many of them had never left the North, let alone seen the waters of the South.

After marveling at it for a while, they looked up at Nini and asked, "Ms. Nini, where shall we go to see the airship?"

Nini blinked and gave a mischievous smile: "Right above our heads."

The priests in the silent sanctuary looked up at the "station canopy" above them, their expressions shifting from confusion to doubt to blankness.

They weren't at a train station at all; it was just the exit of the network tunnel. The huge shadow cast overhead was—

"The Sky Veil Beast is Castel's largest airship. It was built for a special mission. Since then, airships have not been designed to be large. Therefore, it may be the largest one in the future."

Nini said calmly.

It was quiet.

The buried in the Silent Sanctuary seemed to have suddenly turned into stone statues, standing there with their heads tilted back, staring blankly at the sky.

They had fantasized about airships. Giant birds often flew over the skies of the North, sometimes mistaken by ignorant farmers for the legendary dragon eagles, which were the size of two carriages and so large that an entire fully armed scout squad dared not provoke them.

The priests' greatest fantasy about airships was nothing more than another giant bird, perhaps one that could carry more weight and have more wings—that would already be an incredible beast.

Only now did they realize how ridiculous their fantasies were.

If those "dragon eagles" are giant beasts, then what is that thing blocking half the sky above their heads?
This enormous airship initially went completely unnoticed by anyone, much like the distant volcano on the island; no one would have thought that such a massive entity could be the creation of mortals.

Just like the sky and clouds, these natural things can only exist because of the great power of nature.

But when they looked up and examined it closely, they realized that it wasn't some kind of natural force at all.

Its deep yellow paint job, floating in the middle of the clouds, is more oppressive than any cloud formation.

Through the gaps in the clouds, one could vaguely see the sharp teeth markings, and further up, a pair of cold eyes appeared and disappeared in the clouds.

Beneath the skin, a menacing bomb bay was mounted. The hatch was not open, so the priests could not see what was inside, but no one doubted its power. Even a simple stone dropped from high in the air would be enough to pierce the hardest shield.

Would such a huge airship drop stones?
The eyes of the buried were filled with fear, as if they saw an airship carrying a mountain peak crashing down. Only then did they realize how insignificant they were standing on the ground, and dizziness made their stomachs churn.

Even without the falling mountains, the sheer size of this object alone could crush a city, right?

"Airship."

The people in the silent sanctuary murmured its name, and Nini had no doubt that they would etch this scene into their hearts forever.

“Yes, this is Castel’s airship, the Sky Beast, a sky island above the earth, a divine kingdom floating above the mortal world.” Nora looked up at the sky.

"Now do you understand what I mean? Now do you understand how shallow and ridiculous you are? Ha, you can only charge into the white mist, sacrificing yourselves for a future, but Castel has already created such a being!" "If the Silent Sanctuary has such a creation, how many people can it take away from the White Catastrophe? How many people can it save? The people of the White Raven will no longer have to migrate forever, there will be no refugees, and so many people will not die."

Nora's voice was somewhat hysterical, and tears welled up in her eyes, sliding down her cheeks, which Gwen gently wiped away.

“It shouldn’t be like this. The resistance is fighting day after day, with endless battles. The enemy can never be killed off. The people of the entire White Raven Principality are crammed into the northern border, like weeds growing together, one crop after another. Human lives are like weeds.”

Her voice gradually lowered until it turned into a sob. The priests in the silent sanctuary remained silent, their faces showing shame and their fists clenched in anguish.

No matter what, they abandoned their followers; no matter how noble their reasons, it was the people of the White Raven who shed blood.

Weakness is the original sin; they were unable to resolve the White Calamity and could only regret their suffering.

“We shouldn’t have gotten to this point in a thousand years. We have had too many opportunities that we have wasted. Sacrifice is a noble thing, but if the Holy Church has to rely on sacrifice for every step it takes.”

Nora's gaze gradually hardened.

The church is not afraid of sacrifice, but it cannot only rely on sacrifice. If her fellow believers make changes, that is good; if they remain stubborn, that is not good either.
Nora closed her eyes.

Then the sanctuary should perish.

Many people looked at Ignati, but the patriarch did not speak. He simply looked up at the airship in the sky, seemingly lost in thought.

"Of course, besides carrying people, airships also have offensive capabilities as war machines; they can drop bombs or fire machine guns." Nini, seeing that they had basically come to their senses, continued her explanation.

"This colossal celestial beast is not currently on any combat mission. Or rather, we don't have any missions requiring its deployment. If you want to see it drop bombs, you'll need to apply to the lord and go through the formalities; it shouldn't be difficult."

"What tasks does it usually perform?" Ignati asked calmly.

"There are many uses. First, there are construction works where only it can lift heavy parts, such as lifting the keel when building a cargo ship. Second, there is the transportation of bulk cargo. The ocean currents in Gem Bay are quite complex, making it difficult for ships to enter and exit. Sometimes it is used to transport ore."

"Hoisting and transporting ore—Castel clearly has such powerful war machines, yet they only use them for construction!"

“Construction? No, no, no, you misunderstand. According to the lord, Castel’s expansion does not need to rely on force. When Castel only had force, we did have to rely on it, but now Castel’s strength can not be demonstrated by war alone.”

Nini grinned, revealing a smile.

"Patriarch Ignati, for example, at this moment, would you choose to resort to force against us?"

Standing behind Nini, Gwen cooperated by taking out a flail and swinging it around a few times.

The priests of the Silent Sanctuary looked down at the flail and armor in Gwen's hands, then looked up at the colossal celestial beast that blotted out the sky.

(End of this chapter)