Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Chapter 5: Strange Fish

"Soldiers, maintain order! Bring the fisherman who caught the strange fish over here. Everyone else, make way. Your lord is here."

Connor gave a simple order, and the sheriff of the port scolded and dispersed the crowd.

The soldiers stood as straight as they could, trying to make their old armor appear somewhat presentable.

The people noisily moved aside.

This was a remote place, and Hughes' predecessor had rarely left the manor.

The villagers’ feelings of resentment and fear were more directed at the tax officers, while Hughes, their nominal lord, mostly sparked their curiosity.

Meeting these mixed gazes of curiosity and fear, Hughes dismounted and walked forward.

At the center of the crowd, something large and black lay on the ground.

From a distance, he couldn't see clearly what it was.

Hughes only felt that it was still wriggling, and an uncomfortable sensation slowly crept into his heart.

It was slippery, sticky, like trying to grab a struggling eel on a cutting board.

Hughes walked closer along the path made by the parting crowd, scrutinizing the object before him.

It was a mass of rotting flesh, constantly twisting and writhing.

A foul stench, like flies burrowing into his nostrils, loudly proclaimed its existence every second.

Its limp limbs were covered in swollen, pale, exposed flesh, resembling blisters scalded by boiling water or festering wounds oozing with pus.

It looked like an overinflated balloon, ready to burst at any moment and spill its internal fluids.

And this "balloon" was as big as a horse.

Now Hughes understood why the fishermen called it a monster.

He also felt that nothing but "monster" could describe this pile of rotten flesh.

Rather than calling it a strange fish, he preferred to name it a bloated monster.

Suppressing his nausea, Hughes turned to look at the butler, only to find that he still maintained his usual composed demeanor.

Sensing Hughes’ gaze, the butler stepped forward and whispered, "Master, this is one of those strange fishes occasionally seen in the deep seas far from the mainland. They float on the surface of the water but usually don’t live long before their flesh bursts open and rapidly decays."

Hughes frowned and deliberately spoke vaguely, "There shouldn’t be any..."

"No, it’s completely safe. This kind of strange fish isn’t dangerous at all. Other than being disgusting, it poses no threat. It doesn’t even have any aggression. Sailors often wonder how such a creature even survives in this world."

How does it survive in this world?

That question was meaningless.

Since the creature posed no harm, there was no need to concern himself with it.

That said, this was Hughes' first time seeing one, and he was intrigued as he studied the monster.

Indeed, it struggled to move, and even as a sea creature, it didn’t seem built for swimming.

Those bloated, twisted limbs looked utterly useless.

How had it evolved into such a form?

Talking about evolution after transmigrating seemed laughable.

Perhaps evolution didn't even exist in this world.

Maybe all creatures were directly created by the gods.

Perhaps this monster was a product of magic. But as someone from Earth, as an engineer, Hughes couldn't help but subconsciously analyze how this creature might survive.

Even Godzilla in fiction had legs to walk and teeth to tear apart its enemies.

Was this monster before him truly just a meaningless, grotesque abomination?

Hughes frowned, suppressing his nausea as he observed the lump of rotting flesh.

Slowly, a strange sense of familiarity surfaced in his mind.

Familiarity?

Strange.

Why did this extremely ugly and disgusting creature seem somewhat familiar?

Why did it feel like he had seen something similar in his past life?

Bloated limbs.

Disgusting appearance.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Hughes' mind, and chaotic, vague thoughts combined into a clear answer.

"This is a deep-sea... fish," Hughes said aloud.

"A deep-sea fish?"

The murmuring crowd fell silent, and even the monster’s agonized writhing seemed to pause.

"Yes. They originally live in the extreme depths of the ocean, where immense water pressure exists. Their bodies require equally immense internal pressure to balance it. But once they reach the surface or shallow waters, that internal pressure turns them into these... monsters."

"Look at those swollen limbs and bulging flesh, this is the result of a sudden change in pressure. In the deep sea, they are just ordinary fish. Well, large ordinary fish. They only become so ugly and terrifying when brought into an unfamiliar environment."

In his previous life, Hughes had seen pictures of similar deep-sea fish, specifically, a creature called the blobfish, once voted the world's ugliest animal.

It looked both grotesque and revolting, but only on land.

In the deep sea, the blobfish appeared completely normal.

Without the bloated, sagging appearance, it was just another dark-colored fish, perfectly suited for its environment.

The more Hughes spoke, the clearer his thoughts became.

What had started as a spark of inspiration had now formed a complete idea.

Excited, he turned to the fishermen around him and said:

"If we were to enter the deep sea, we would also become terrifying and hideous. There, even wood is compressed by the water pressure until it becomes as hard as steel. This creature before you appears monstrous only because it has left its natural environment. That is why such strange fish are usually only found in the deep sea."

The surrounding villagers gasped in amazement and began discussing the revelation.

They were simple fishermen who had spent their entire lives at sea.

To them, Hughes was as lofty as a king, so they accepted his words with reverence, believing that this was indeed just an ordinary fish, though how much of the explanation about water pressure they actually understood was uncertain.

The butler beside Hughes, however, stood frozen in place.

For the first time, his usually unshaken face showed signs of shock and contemplation.

He had truly seen some deep-sea fish before.

Their grotesque and bizarre appearances had long been feared by sailors, who viewed them as divine punishment.

The concept of water pressure was something he had vaguely sensed as well, when diving, the deeper he went, the more he felt his body being squeezed.

That was probably what was meant by "water pressure."

But could "water pressure" really be that powerful? Could it really make wood as hard as steel?

The only place he had ever heard of such miracles was in the teachings of the Church.

If water could do such things, then perhaps humans could find a way to use water to...

A struggle and confusion appeared on Butler Connor's face, as if certain shackles in his mind were beginning to loosen.

Hughes smiled.

He was not afraid of opposition or doubt.

Skepticism was never the enemy of truth, it was part of it.

"I read about this in the Royal Library. I have read many books and know many things. This knowledge is invaluable, but I will freely share it with you. In my territory, knowledge will never be locked away!"

The surrounding fishermen cheered, and the soldiers and sheriff placed their hands on their chests in salute.

They didn't truly understand the significance of this knowledge, nor what such sharing meant.

They merely instinctively praised their lord’s generosity.

Hughes smiled as he basked in their enthusiasm.

He had much more he wanted to say.

He planned to establish schools on this island, build factories, and let the tide of iron and fire sweep across this world.

But that was all in the future.

For now, he was just an ordinary lord, one that any nearby power could crush like an insect.

Not to mention, in his previous life, he had been killed by the Church.

Thinking of that mechanical-clad figure, Hughes’ smile darkened slightly.

In an unnoticed corner, the strange fish suddenly twitched.