Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 699 I didn't see the Celestial Behemoth either.
Beatrice's expectations were short-lived; the sea below soon became lively.

All sorts of ships came into view.

The large cargo ships, like floating mountains, are heavy, peaceful, and slowly but steadily gliding across the sea.

There were many smaller ones, with all sorts of boats leaving trails of white on the sea.

"Look at that, the Black Pearl! Captain Jeremiah is speeding the ship again."

"Where is where?"

"It's the one down there, the one with three chimneys."

"That's the Black Pearl?!"

"Yes, you can't recognize it anymore, can you? Jeremiah recently refitted it again, and now the Black Pearl is the fastest ship in all of Castells, except for the Storm Coffin!"

"That's really fast."

Gaia and Zoe also gathered by the window and began to whisper among themselves.

Beatrice gazed at the sea below, lost in thought.

What was it like here the last time she came to Castel?

She was on a church ship at the time, a classic medium-sized sailing ship, produced in Bloodharbor, which had been sailing at sea for more than ten years. Although it was a bit old, it was considered quite good in the Empire.

The Empress wanted to build a navy and incorporated almost every ship that could move. This is the only one left because the Candlelight had some power.

Many of the wooden planks on the deck of that ship were rotten, and they creaked and groaned when stepped on, requiring you to lift your skirt to walk across them.

Add to that the rats scurrying around the cabin and the strange-smelling liquor, and together they formed her entire impression of the sea.

Barren, dirty, old, and disorderly.

Beatrice looked down at the rows of ships below; their decks didn't look like they were made of wood at all.

In fact, they are more like works of art, exquisitely crafted metal ornaments, many of which she has on her desk at the Vatican.

These things are exquisite and beautiful, but they should only be on a table, yet now she has so many in front of her.

Beatrice is a superhuman; she can see every detail of the ships below, whether they are massive steel behemoths or nimble speedboats, all of which possess a certain beauty.

Neat and perfectly fitted, they exude a sense of order and power that is difficult to describe directly, but can be felt simply by seeing them.

Beatrice ran her fingers along the hem of her dress. She had vaguely sensed this feeling before, in the remaining industrial areas of the Rhine, in the old relics of the Mechanical Sanctuary.

Unfortunately, most of those are just ruins, retaining only a few traces of their former charm, far less impactful than solid steel.

Beatrice looked down at the ship and felt as if she could hear the high-pitched roar of the steam engine even through the deck.

"Ah, Castel has arrived!"

Zoe patted Gaia on the shoulder with amusement, then turned around and saw Beatrice looking dazed. She smiled and reached out her hand to her.

"Come and see! The Sky Veil Beast has just taken off! You don't get to see this every day!"

Beatrice was tugged and stumbled a couple of steps. When she looked up at the porthole, the distant islands suddenly appeared before her eyes.

Castel was still far away, and only a blurry outline could be seen, an island under a dark cloud.

As the waves surged, Beatrice first saw a towering volcano.

She still remembered the volcano; it was the first thing she saw when she arrived in Castel, and she was worried that it might suddenly erupt, since investigators are never very lucky.

Beatrice smiled nostalgically.

But the next second, her smile froze on her face. Castells, when did a second volcano appear?

Beatrice looked at Gaia and Zoe with some confusion. Both of them seemed to take it for granted, which made her unsure of what to say.

Could it be that she's mistaken? Castells does have two volcanoes?
Rubbing her eyes, the Pope looked once again at the distant, indistinct islands.

On the left is a volcano.

The one on the right is...
Oh, I did see it wrong. If you look closely, that "mountain" is square and actually much shorter than a volcano; it's just a building.

Beatrice breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in the steam engine.

After a while, she suddenly jumped up: "No!"

when!
A crisp sound rang out, startling Gaia and Zoe. They turned around and saw Beatrice covering her head, tears welling up in her eyes.

She crashed into a steam engine.

"Uh-huh, what's that?"

Although Beatrice's eyes were brimming with tears, she still pointed with trembling hands to the distant island.

"A volcano."

Beatrice moved her fingers: "What about that one?"

"A church."

Beatrice froze for a moment, forgetting the pain, her eyes widening: "You're not lying to me, I've been to the island! That church was so small, how could it be this?"

Beatrice did see the church on the island. Back then, the nun in the church was Chloe, and she would show a cunning smile after receiving funding from Leo.

I heard that the nun died later; I never imagined that would be the last time I saw her.
Wait, no, the nun is fine, but there's something wrong with that church!

"Don't I know what a Candlelight Church looks like? That church can't possibly be a Candlelight Church church!" Beatrice said, then stared fiercely at the silhouette of the church in the distance, trying to find evidence that it was different from the Candlelight Church church.

They are indeed completely different; the Candlelight Church has a Gothic spire, while Castells's...
Beatrice rubbed her eyes. Had she seen a Gatling gun on the top of that church?
Who puts a machine gun on the roof of their church?

And if you look closely, it's not just one or two; the church is practically covered in quills.
Beatrice was momentarily confused. She suddenly realized that she understood neither Castell nor the Church.

It took her a while to realize that the Empire and the Duchy of Tiss had been at odds for so long, how could the Candlelight Church still have influence here? Given Castel's industrial level, they certainly wouldn't care about that little church.

It's probably newly built.

It's just this newly built church.
Beatrice's eye twitched.

She suddenly had a bad feeling; perhaps Castel was not quite the same person she remembered.
"By the way, where is the Celestial Behemoth?"

Beatrice knew that the Skybound Beast was a huge airship; Zoe had told her about it many times.

To be honest, Beatrice couldn't quite imagine it after hearing Zoe describe its overwhelming size.

Thinking of this, she looked at Castel with some anticipation, but after searching carefully for a long time, she still couldn't find the airship.

Beatrice was somewhat disappointed. It wasn't far from Castel, and if it couldn't be seen from here, then it probably wasn't very far.

Indeed, her previous expectations were nothing but wishful thinking.

Zoe heard her words and pointed.

Beatrice looked up, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

Zoe was pointing to the dark cloud that covered Castel.

(End of this chapter)