Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Chapter 8: Meeting Again

That strange perception kept pointing him in a general direction.

But it seemed to be just a direction.

Hughes only knew that the strange fish was below him, but as for how to reach it, he had no clue.

He tried to explore the abilities he had gained.

Besides being able to sense the water, he also seemed to have a rough ability to distinguish the composition of materials, but only for the parts he touched.

Walking inside the house, he wore soft-soled slippers, making his steps light and quiet.

When he passed the corridor's corner, he carefully peeked out to check, ensuring no one was around before moving forward.

Thanks to his usual habit of not tormenting the servants, there was generally no night watch inside the house, though there were patrols outside.

Hughes counted and found that only the lights at the corridor corners and the stairs were on.

Without many directions to go on, he focused on checking suspicious areas. However, with the sensory enhancement brought by the symbiotic ritual, he soon noticed something unusual in the study.

"There is a large amount of metal inside this wall. It should be some kind of mechanical structure."

Looking at the wall before him, Hughes raised an eyebrow.

He actually found something.

This manor truly hid some unknown secrets!

Glancing around the pitch-dark room, he, unaffected by the darkness, began investigating other metal structures in the room.

If the mechanism behind this wall was mechanical, it had to be connected to a transmission system extending elsewhere.

That made things much easier.

Hughes began to sense the walls of the entire house inch by inch.

Soon, he discovered that metal was connected to the fireplace inside the wall.

On closer inspection, there was indeed a charred section deep in the fireplace.

It looked like stone, but inside, it was pressed against a spring and gears.

"This depth..."

Hughes looked around, then took a long-handled axe from the display shelf above the fireplace.

The axe had a sharp spike at its tip, which he used to reach deep into the fireplace mechanism, it was just the right length.

Hughes pressed the axe tip against the stone and applied light force.

With a deep clanking of gears engaging, the chimney portion of the fireplace flipped backward, revealing a gap just big enough for a person to pass through.

Hughes curled his fingers, licked them with his tongue, and then extended them into the hole.

"The air is circulating; there's another exit below."

A look of delight appeared on Hughes' face.

Not rushing inside, he turned to the study's door, observed for a while, and confirmed that the sound of the opening passage had not alarmed anyone.

Only then did he return to the fireplace.

He did not bring a lantern for illumination.

His night vision was entirely sufficient.

Tightening his sleeves and the hem of his clothes, he took a deep breath and stepped into the opening.

Entering the secret passage, Hughes did not rush forward but instead ran his hands along the walls.

Sure enough, not far in, he found two metal pull rings, one high and one low.

He tried pulling the higher one, and the wall behind him slowly closed.

The passage was covered in moss, emitting a faint bioluminescent glow in the darkness.

Hughes kicked the stone steps underfoot, they were slightly slippery.

He took a breath, finding the air full of the scent of seawater.

It was obvious where this passage led.

Hughes walked downward while observing his surroundings.

This place did not seem to be entirely man-made.

After just a few steps, he entered a cave-like space, where a small stream flowed downward along the path.

Hughes approached the stream, scooped up some water, and sipped it.

"Freshwater?"

With a water source here, if he stored some food, he could survive a long time.

Hughes reached into the water and once again activated his extraordinary senses.

The previously vague perception of water was now incredibly clear.

He felt as if he had transformed into a fish, following the stream all the way down, just ahead lay the ocean.

And that familiar presence, as if sensing his actions, excitedly swirled in the sea before slowly stepping onto the shore and approaching him.

Hughes instinctively reached for his gun but grabbed nothing.

Only then did he remember that he had not brought any weapons with him.

"Forget it. If it wanted to harm me, it would have done so back at the dock. I might as well meet it directly."

Retracting his senses, Hughes followed the stream downward.

The trickling of water echoed around him, and in the distance, the faint crashing of waves against the shore gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

It wasn’t long before that familiar yet grotesque figure appeared before Hughes.

Unlike the near-death state he had seen at the dock, the creature now looked entirely different.

It was still a swollen mass of flesh, but there was no longer any sign of weakness or decay.

Several limbs extended from the flesh, supporting it on the ground, crawling in an extremely bizarre and awkward manner.

And on that fleshy mass, amid the swollen tissue, faint scales could be seen.

The creature before him resembled a bloated corpse more than a living being, yet it was visibly full of life it was utterly strange.

Hughes' eye twitched.

Even in his previous life, a creature like this would only appear in horror films.

Logically speaking, seeing such a shockingly grotesque figure should have at least startled him, if not driven him mad. Yet, strangely, he only felt a sense of familiarity.

He could perceive its hideousness, knew that its appearance was repulsive, but the feeling was oddly unreal.

It was complicated to explain, but it was like encountering a grotesque monster in a video game from his past life, when separated by a screen, no matter how bizarre the design, it remained just that.

So, looking at the creature before him, Hughes found it surprisingly bearable.

Was this the effect of the symbiotic contract?

Yet the bloated creature itself seemed extremely uncomfortable.

As if ashamed of its hideous appearance, it tried to shrink in on itself, attempting to hide its swollen limbs; it was somewhat comical sight.

Did it have a sense of beauty and ugliness similar to humans?

Seeing the clumsy actions of the bloated creature, Hughes’ tension eased significantly.

"Forgive me, my master, for allowing you to witness my ugly form..."

A muffled voice came from the creature, acknowledging its futile attempt to conceal itself.

Was it ugly?

Indeed, it was. But Hughes knew it wasn’t supposed to look like this, at least in the deep sea, it should appear more natural.

However, Hughes had no time to argue about this because—

"...What did you just call me?"

"My master," the bloated creature responded, as if understanding his thoughts, and continued, "You are the redemption of the cursed. You have led us away from our tragic fate, so you are like a god to us."

Hughes' face twitched.

What was this creature talking about? Why was it suddenly calling him a god?

"Please allow me to explain," the bloated creature said sincerely.

You better explain it properly, Hughes thought.

If it had been anyone else, they would have run away in fear from such a reckless declaration.

Crossing his arms, Hughes stared at the creature.