Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 669: There is no hope, just wait to die

On the airship, Beatrice, struggling to support her broken body, turned to look at Rhine one last time.

The towering churches with their overlapping layers, the exquisite and magnificent arcades and squares, and the sunlight shining on the white marble with gold trim, all resemble heaven.

But in her memory, the city was not like this.

Rhine was born here, back when there weren't so many churches, just simple factories everywhere. The sky was always gray, and the workers were covered in a thick layer of coal dust, but you could see their white teeth when they smiled.

But now, this place has been turned into an exquisite cage, imprisoning her here.

The medics on the airship immediately bandaged her up, but the bleeding just wouldn't stop.

Her injuries were internal and external.

The ritual broke down the high walls of reality, connecting the sea of ​​ignorance with the present world, allowing the seawater to surge in and enter her body.

But it ended abruptly there, with no follow-up.

Most of the seawater in her body mysteriously disappeared to some unknown place, but a lot remained.

The seawater of the Sea of ​​Ignorance is not real "water," but it can directly affect the world. For extraordinary beings, it is essentially equivalent to pollution.

The reason she hasn't been corrupted yet is purely because she's clinging to life by her unwillingness to submit; you could even say her body is already dead, but she's unwilling to accept it.

This unstable world also has its advantages; if your will to refuse death is strong enough, you can actually postpone your execution.

But the price is this constant torment.

"There's no need to treat me anymore, it's useless."

She squeezed out each word through clenched teeth, but a hint of happiness lingered on her face.

This was perhaps the only time in her life she ever gained freedom, though it was merely a struggle before her death.

The medics quickly realized that what she said was true. Most of the medics in the Imperial Truth were trained by the Hospitallers and were closer to battlefield doctors. Judging which wounded were beyond saving was a basic skill for them.

So they went to check on Gaia and Zoe instead.

The two were now lying on the ground, completely exhausted, and no one dared to approach them.

If a superhuman's state is unstable, they can easily be swallowed by the Sea of ​​Ignorance; rashly taking action will only cause more trouble.

Unfortunately, neither of them had been superhumans for long, and this battle had already taken its toll, making their situation even more difficult.

"How is the situation now?" Zoe recovered faster and turned to look at Erwin, who was standing guard to the side.

"Well, actually, there was no problem once you boarded the airship. While we were docking and waiting, we received a message from Beatrice telling us that the dome of the banquet hall would open and that we should go and meet you, so we brought you on board."

He glanced at Beatrice beside him, his expression becoming more serious.

This pope's daughter is truly decisive; she abandoned all her status and position to escape, and even trusted outsiders like them.
Putting everything else aside, he certainly has guts.

"I saw them fire at the airship. Was there any damage?"

“Damage? Just those little pipes of theirs?” Erwin chuckled. “Miss Zoe, you don’t have much experience with these machines, so you don’t know what level of strength airships have become these days—to put it simply, even if we don’t ascend, we can just stay there and withstand their fire without any problems.”

Erwin tapped the wall of the crew cabin with his finger: "Airships are combat units after all, and their lower parts are armored." Castel's airships are not on the same path as those on Blue Star. In this world where anti-air firepower is weak, airships can be used as the main force in air combat after being equipped with heavy armor, and their cumbersome nature has little impact.

As a result, Castells's technological approach gradually shifted after the war in the North, with airships not only beginning to be armored but also undergoing comprehensive enhancements in ground defense.

Modern airships could easily withstand ground fire and launch direct ground bombardment, while the airships carrying their delegation, not needing to carry bombs, had their spare payload allocated to thicker armor plates, allowing them to take off despite a barrage of gunfire.

It is said that Tata is also researching a new type of airship that does not carry any bombs at all, but instead piles them all on the armor, replacing bombing with a method of directly dropping the entire airship from the air and crushing it by weight.
This is a bizarre idea, akin to adding a ram to an airship.

Zoe, who worked in an office job, was clearly unfamiliar with the unique thinking of the R&D department, and simply nodded blankly.

Gaia, who was standing nearby, also took a deep breath and gradually calmed down.

She ignored the fighting, as Erwin was far more professional in that area, and instead began to examine Beatrice's injuries.

"She can't hold on much longer."

Will can indeed influence the world, but will does not arise out of thin air; it must at least have a physical body as a vessel.

Beatrice's problem now is that her body is on the verge of collapse.

Now, it's not just blood flowing from Beatrice's body anymore; the black blood carries a dangerous aura—the pollution is almost completely corrupting her.

Once a superhuman is completely corrupted, they can easily turn into a monster. A heavily armed squad of the Guardians of the Church is fully equipped and ready to engage in battle at any time.

Beatrice gave a bitter laugh and said weakly, "Just throw me off... as long as it's not in the Rhine."

“No, there’s still a way,” Gaia said in a deep voice. “Her biggest problem right now is that the pollution is too severe. We just need to suppress the pollution.”

Beatrice's eyes flickered.

She certainly knew her problem, but knowing and solving are two different things.

If pollution were so easy to suppress, then the Storm Ocean wouldn't have become a forbidden zone for superhumans.

Various churches do have some methods to suppress pollution, such as the moon candles of candlelight vigils and the specially made "sugar" of silent churches.

However, most of these things are only supplementary in nature, and they can only take effect slowly, and the effect is just so-so.

"It's no use, there's no need."

"Stoker, stuff her into the boiler of the steam engine. Find the worst-tempered machine spirit, the one who curses at everyone!" Gaia ordered in a deep voice.

"???"

Beatrice was filled with questions. She felt that she might be being corrupted too much and was already hallucinating. She understood the meaning of every word she had just heard, and when put together, they became eerie and distorted whispers.

Sure enough, she had lost control and was even hallucinating. Beatrice resignedly closed her eyes.

Then the stoker next to her picked her up and threw her into the boiler—unlit one, of course.

She was still completely bewildered even as the furnace door slammed shut.

(End of this chapter)