Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 697 A Glimpse of Blood Harbor

Beatrice lay in the hearth, her eyes half-closed, fast asleep—a rare occurrence for her.

Extraordinary people generally don't dream; their dreams are always associated with mystery and loss. Those who become addicted to dreams are often not far from losing control.

But this time she had a dream, a dream about many things.

The laughter of childhood, the flowers outside the fence, the birds flying past the window—Beatlecith giggled, so happy.

Turning around, Hela, her face veiled in black, presented a triple crown with both hands, while a dense crowd of people watched her from behind.

Blood, roars, dilated pupils, shattered stained glass, thick snow—countless fragmented images twisted into a monstrous beast, roaring as it chased after her.

Beatrice, clutching her long dress, ran for her life. Ahead lay a sea of ​​fire, but without hesitation, she leaped into the raging steam engine.

He turned around and closed the furnace door, shutting out the noise and arguments.

Beatrice let out a long sigh and sat down in the hearth, hugging her knees.

She had perhaps been tormented by fate for too long, and even this cold, hard steel felt warm to her.

When I was little, I always wanted to grow up, to see the world, to play in the stream, and to be a bird flying in the sky.

Now all I want is to lock myself in thick steel and never come out again.

It's warm and reassuring inside the steel structure; no one forces you to wear a crown, and no one criticizes or scolds you.

I wish I could sleep like this forever.
Bang bang bang!
A sudden banging on the door interrupted Beatrice's sweet dream for a moment.

Bang bang bang! !

Her beautiful eyebrows furrowed, her eyelids tried to open, but her eyes firmly refused.

Bang bang bang!
"Open the door, Beatrice! Wake up, open the door!!"

Beatrice opened her eyes angrily and pushed open the furnace door: "What's all the noise about! The furnace door isn't locked from the inside! Just open it!"

Zoe, standing outside, scratched her head awkwardly. "Uh, I wanted to open it, but the steam engine wouldn't allow it. It said this is your house and I need your permission first."

Beatrice finally fell asleep and was about to throw a tantrum, but looking at Zoe's thick dark circles, she somehow calmed down: "Such heavy dark circles. What happened? Didn't you sleep well either?"

When this was mentioned, Zoe proudly puffed out her chest. She always felt that it was her call in the link that saved Beatrice. Although she couldn't say it out loud, the thought of doing a good deed made her feel happy.

Well, thankfully she couldn't say it.

"Well, there's a deep reason for that, but let's not talk about that. I came to wake you up, look—"

She turned slightly to the side. The airship's crew cabin wasn't very large; the porthole was right next to Beatrice's steam engine.

Beatrice looked down from the porthole.

We've arrived at Blood Harbor!

It was pitch black outside the porthole. Beatrice initially thought it was dark clouds, but upon closer inspection, she realized it was a cloud of smoke. As the propeller of the steam engine swirled, the smoke dissipated, and the entire city burst into Beatrice's view.

First, there was a tall chimney, from which the smoke and dust that had just been left behind by the airship.

The chimney wasn't far from the airship, which made Beatrice momentarily think that she wasn't far from the ground.

But the next moment, she saw a dense forest of steel.

The long, flat structures were factories, one after another, filling the entire industrial park like delicate pastries. Among these pastries, tiny ants scurried about; Beatrice initially mistook them for pedestrians, but upon closer inspection, they turned out to be delivery vehicles.

The railway tracks, like blood vessels, divide the industrial zone into neat little grids, and pump raw materials and pollutants into them like blood, giving the whole city vitality.

Beatrice's eyes gradually widened.

She rubbed her eyes in disbelief and looked away.

Towering buildings stand tall on the earth, like giants who have stood up.

Beatrice was no stranger to tall buildings; the Upper Rhine was even built on top of tall buildings. Occasionally, when she looked down from the window, she could only see the spires of churches, one after another.

But those churches are different from the tall buildings in front of us.

The churches in the Upper Rhine are like exquisite sculptures, inlaid with jewels.

It is a sacred place that can only be admired from afar and not touched, and the hymns that resound all day long cannot cover up its lifelessness.

The tall buildings below, on the other hand, are like bamboo shoots emerging from the soil after the rain, full of vitality.

People bustled about, occasionally looking up at the sky and waving to the airship with smiles.

Beatrice felt a strange tremor in her heart. She quickly looked away, as if she would be burned by the vibrant scene. She gazed at the distant harbor.

Blood Harbor's dock area has been completely rebuilt, and the once natural deep-water port now bears many traces of human intervention.

The square-shaped berths don't look like the work of nature at all; the lead-gray cement is the foundation of the port, supporting the city.

On the gantry cranes, steam engines sang, and huge cargo ships looked like floating mountains from the airship.

The airport is right next to the harbor, and the sky is not far from Blood Harbor. The navigator waved the flag in his hand and guided the airship to dock.

Busy and crowded, yet it has its own order.

At the nearby station, rows of railway tracks are laid out side by side. If the railway network is likened to blood vessels, then this is the heart of the entire city, the largest artery. Countless trains depart from here, pumping in ore and fuel, and pumping out steel and production capacity.

Blood Harbor is like a giant beast lying on the beach, its every breath a miracle unimaginable to mortals.

Looking down at everything below, no industrial base is needed, no one needs to explain, just seeing these things is enough to feel their grandeur.

Beatrice felt as if half of the blood in her body was frozen and the other half was burning, and when mixed together, it was an overwhelming throbbing.

“Blood Harbor. Blood Harbor,” she murmured to herself.

“It’s spectacular, isn’t it?” Gaia walked over, looked down, and smiled.

“I grew up in Blood Harbor, so I might be considered a Blood Harbor person, but I went to Castells with my father when I was very young. Do you know why we went there?”

Beatrice frowned and thought for a while, then shook her head.

"The sea must be dangerous, with pirate royal courts too."

“Yes, it was very dangerous, but there was no other way.” Gaia’s eyes held a hint of nostalgia. “I went there as a refugee.”

"Escape?"

"Yes, there was a famine in Bloodharbor. People couldn't get enough to eat. They either starved to death or went elsewhere to try their luck. My father had a small boat at the time, so he took us to Castel. At that time, Castel was still a deserted island, but we survived by eating sweet fruits from the trees and fish from the sea."

(End of this chapter)