Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 670 One Beatrice can support half an industrial zone
Seriously, are you Castel people really that cruel? Even if you wanted to kill her, wouldn't it have been better to just throw her off the airship?
Stuff it into a steam engine and burn it? Who would use that as fuel?

Besides, with all the pollution she's covered in, she'll only ruin the steam engine, won't she?
Beatrice looked completely bewildered.

However, soon she felt as if she heard a sound in her ear.

To be honest, I couldn't quite understand it. It wasn't normal speech; it was a combination of the sounds of gears clashing, shafts rubbing together, and steam gurgling.

It was just noise, but she could inexplicably sense the emotions within it—well, rather irritable emotions.

The steam engine was cursed with very harsh words.

It just has a bad temper, likes to spit red-hot coals at the stoker, and likes to sing in the steam chamber and whistle. It has never done anything bad. Why treat it like this?

This time, for example, the stoker fed it fuel that made it very unhappy.

Although it is indeed pollution, the purity of the pollution is not high, and there is also a tenacious will stubbornly fighting against the pollution.

It's like finding a dying fish on your plate while you're eating – it's a bit awkward.

Moreover, the stoker said that it shouldn't be burned, but only used to help press down the fire.

What did they take it for? It was a steam engine, not a medical kit!

The machine spirit was displeased.

The steam engine grumbled and rambled, every gear and every part expressing its discontent. From the stoker to the mechanic, the complaints continued until Erwin promised to bring it high-purity contaminants from Castells.

But as it roared and cursed, Beatrice in the boiler opened her mouth in surprise.

The pollution churning inside her body suddenly quieted down.

Beatrice could even sense a certain fear of these pollutants, as if they had encountered a natural enemy.

But isn't this steel machine just a steam engine? She's seen it before in the Rhineland.

I've never seen Rheinland's steam engines swearing, have I?
It's one thing to insult people, but are these pollutants just going to obediently accept the insults?

Should I also learn how to swear?
Beatrice was lost in thought when suddenly her face turned pale. She struggled to crawl toward the observation hole of the furnace and poked her little head out.

Everyone was relieved to see Beatrice's condition stabilize, but then they suddenly saw her peek out, her cheeks puffed out, and then—

"vomit--"

She opened her mouth and spat out a large amount of contamination.

Then it got out of control; she was being scolded in the boiler, and pollutants were spitting out of her mouth, covering the ground.

Everyone around was stunned.

Zoe stared blankly and muttered to herself, "A steam engine can even spit out fuel?"

To be honest, from the side, Beatrice's head was obscured, and it really did look like a steam engine spewing pollution.

The steam engine's cursing sound immediately tripled in volume, a crack appeared in the steam chamber, and the water inside sprayed towards Zoe.

Zoe covered her head, apologizing as she frantically dodged, plunging the airship into chaos once more.

After a fierce battle, things gradually calmed down on the airship.

Zoe has already hidden in another cabin and shouldn't be coming out to face the steam engine's wrath anytime soon.

Beatrice was still lying in the furnace, vomiting out contaminants with a look of utter despair. She had been forced to drink an unknown amount of seawater, and the contaminants inside her were so solid they were practically turning her into an evil god. Now she had to vomit all of that contaminants out, bit by bit.

The mechanic next to them simply brought over a metal drum specifically for collecting contaminants; judging by appearances, they wouldn't be short of fuel for this flight.
Meanwhile, in a more distant area, the Imperial Truth Guardians were whispering amongst themselves, glancing over every now and then.

"so good"

"As expected of His Holiness the Pope!"

"Is this the power of the Empress?"

"If only every airship could be equipped with one."

"How much airships can use? Our factory over there can only use 0.25 times the flow rate of His Holiness the Pope a day."

"Wow, that's a really big factory! Our steel mills are only about 0.15 times the size of a factory!"

"The traffic generated by Her Holiness the Pope could support half an industrial zone. When is she going to join the stellar reactor?"

"A stellar furnace is an exaggeration. It supplies all the pollution in the entire Castel, the kind that keeps increasing as it burns. Just spitting it out from the mouth isn't enough. I remember that the nasal cavity and oral cavity are connected, right?"

Beatrice's eyes were numb, as if she were dead.

Although the Guardians of the Faith were very polite and didn't discuss it openly, but instead found a small corner to whisper about it, she was still a superhuman with keen hearing!
Freedom always comes at a price. I should have died on the Rhineland; why did I have to stubbornly endure until I got here?
The steam engines on the side gradually quieted down, and they stopped scolding her. Beatrice even felt a pang of pity.
Her mood worsened.

On the other side, the hatch had a small crack, and two heads, one above the other, were peeking out.

Zoe and Gaia were clinging to the crack in the door in a rather undignified manner, watching Beatrice emanate pollution.

"Hmm, Gaia, what do you think?"

"It doesn't seem to be working. The steam engine can indeed suppress pollution, but that's not the Machine Soul's main job. Her physical condition is still very bad."

"I can see that now. If I were her, I would have jumped off the airship long ago if I could still move."

The two remained silent for a while, as if they were mourning for the Pope's daughter.

"What should we do then? Do we really have to send it into the stellar reactor?"

The Stellar Furnace has been suppressing evil gods for years, so it's really a perfect fit for dealing with pollution. Inserting Beatrice into it can indeed cure the pollution and erosion, but it might be a bit difficult to take it out.

It's the kind of strenuous activity that requires using a shovel.

“Thinking about these things now is too far off. I don’t think she can even hold on until she’s sent to the stellar furnace. With her current physical condition, she might collapse at any time,” Gaia said softly.

Indeed, Beatrice's body was on the verge of collapse. If it weren't for the steam engine's soul helping to suppress the pollution, she would probably have turned into a twisted monster by now.

Even with the help of the steam engine, it only slowed down the process. Although it looked like it was expelling pollutants, it was far from enough to address the condition inside her body.

After all, when the seawater rushed into her body, it created a whirlpool. Heaven knows how much seawater was poured in, and that stuff is full of pollution!

"If things could really stay stable like this, it might actually work if she vomited up half a sea. The key is that her physical and mental state is too unstable."

Zoe pursed her lips, unable to think of a good solution for the moment.

Although they weren't very familiar with this pope, she had provided them with a lot of help and even offered them the technology for the Mechanical Sanctuary.
Thinking of this, Zoe's eyes lit up.

Oh right, how could she forget that? Maybe some of the technologies from the Mechanical Sanctuary could be useful!
(End of this chapter)