Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Chapter 7: Night Stroll

Opening his eyes again and sensing the darkness before him, Hughes let out a sigh.

"Looks like I'm back again. This seems to be the fastest time."

"Not unexpected, but at least there's a clue, there are indeed extraordinary creatures in the deep sea."

"Another descent, huh?"

Hughes vaguely felt that something was wrong.

Instinctively, he turned over, inhaling the moist scent of the sea carried by the night breeze. His muddled mind gradually cleared, and after a few seconds, he suddenly sat up in bed.

"No! This is that island! I’m not dead!?"

He groped at his body, no missing parts, no wounds.

He had been changed into a set of loose pajamas.

The room was completely dark, and there was no light coming from the balcony.

Was it nighttime?

Carefully examining the room, he confirmed that this was his bedroom.

At the foot of the bed, a maid was leaning against a chair, her head tilted to the side, already fast asleep.

Not far away, on a small high table, sat a meticulously polished metal calendar, stopped at the third day of the Month of Blossoms.

The third day.

His memory had paused on the first day of the Month of Blossoms, the day before his descent.

He had encountered the bloated monster at the docks on the second day, which meant...

"I was unconscious for an entire day?"

After thinking for a moment, Hughes shook his head.

"The calendar is always turned to the next day by the cleaning maids in the morning. Since it's the middle of the night now, I must have been unconscious for two days and one night."

"At least I didn’t delay anything. The pirates aren’t coming for negotiations until tomorrow."

Hughes lightly got out of bed, walked to the desk, picked up a cup, and poured himself some water.

The cool, sweet liquid flowed down his parched throat, and Hughes felt like he had come back to life. At that moment, a detail caught his attention.

"...Since when was my eyesight this good?"

The curtains in the room were drawn, and the thick velvet fabric almost completely blocked out the light, not to mention it was deep into the night, and there was no lamp lit in the room.

Beside the maid’s chair, there was indeed an oil lamp, but to prevent fire hazards, the flame had been turned down to the size of a soybean, flickering faintly.

That was the only source of light.

Hughes looked down at the cup in his hand.

It was made of silver, mixed with some copper, and a tiny amount of tin.

The intricate patterns on its surface featured iris flowers, the emblem of the Cohen family.

Copper and tin?

He could tell at a glance that the silver cup contained copper and tin?

Hughes swallowed hard and took a few deep breaths, suppressing the excitement in his heart.

So that so-called "Symbiotic Ritual" wasn’t just about taking, it had also given him something in return.

He could now see in the dark and even perceive the composition of materials!

This was amazing!

The ability to sense material composition, what could be more suitable for industrial advancement?

With just a touch, he could determine whether refined metal ingots contained impurities.

For chemical synthesis, he could directly sense the compounds.

If he had this ability back on Earth, he could push material science forward by three whole levels.

He focused on the strange sensation in his mind, something beyond normal perception.

Remembering the fleeting vision before he lost consciousness, Hughes closed his eyes and tried to tap into this new sense to perceive the world.

Have you ever tried to sense the world without using your eyes?

Humans are highly adaptable creatures, especially in certain aspects.

The images formed on the retina of the eye are actually upside-down, but the brain still adapts.

That’s just how it works.

But someone once wondered, what if, one day, this image was no longer inverted?

He designed a special pair of glasses.

They had no other function except to flip the wearer’s vision upside down.

At first, everyone who wore these glasses stumbled around, unable to distinguish up from down, completely incapable of functioning.

At this point, one might conclude that human physiology has limits, that natural evolution imposes restrictions.

But... the experiment didn’t stop there.

The subjects were made to wear the glasses continuously, eating, living, doing everything with them on, without ever taking them off.

It didn’t take long.

After about ten days, all the test subjects had fully adapted to the flipped world and could live normally.

The entire world might appear reversed to your eyes. You might find it absurd, terrifying, incomprehensible.

But your body tells you: it's nothing—just adapt.

Human potential always exceeds expectations.

That was exactly how Hughes felt now.

It was as if he were submerged in warm water, countless streams of information washing over him.

And he was shocked to discover that he could actually analyze this information.

At some point, his body had undergone many changes.

So this was the Symbiotic Ritual.

It truly was "symbiosis"—not just sharing life force but even sensory abilities.

Hughes suddenly had a realization.

Could the time he spent unconscious have been his body adapting to these new senses?

Casually exploring his newfound perception, Hughes noticed that it seemed to be related to water.

He could easily detect nearby bodies of water, and the larger the body, the clearer his perception.

Thinking back to how this ability came from the Strange Fish, it made perfect sense.

Hughes attempted to sense the nearest body of water.

The easiest one to perceive should be the ocean.

Without any effort, he sensed the sea—

Beyond the balcony, a few hundred meters away, was the ocean... No, even closer!

Beneath the manor, beyond the soil and bricks, warm ocean currents were flowing.

"Hmm?"

Hughes raised an eyebrow and focused his attention.

As he carefully examined the flow, an image of the entire underground water system unfolded in his mind like a painting.

Not just directly beneath the manor—he could vaguely sense the slow-moving currents beneath the entire island.

And as he extended his perception further, a familiar presence entered his awareness.

It was—

"The bloated monster?"

Hughes was startled.

He had assumed the bloated monster was either killed by the soldiers, had escaped far away, or had found some way to become a guest of the manor.

He never expected it to still be here—hiding in the underground water system beneath the manor.

Why was it still here?

Was it waiting for him?

Speaking of which, beneath this manor...

Hughes furrowed his brows, trying to recall.

He had not been here long since becoming the Frontier Count.

Who was the previous owner of this estate again?

Seemed to be a merchant?

Of course, "merchant" was just an official title.

The Empire did not recognize the so-called Pirate King and his Dark Sail Fleet, so this place only had unlawful traders.

The Storm Ocean—the only jewel on the Empire’s eastern frontier, was constantly watched by the Empress’s gaze.

Unfortunately, the navy was still young, and the Empire’s territory ended where the sea began.

Thinking of this, Hughes curled his lips.

The fact that a bastard son like him was directly granted a countdom spoke volumes about the Empress’s eagerness for this region.

Hughes quietly walked to the bedroom door, carefully opening it.

As he felt the direction of the sea tides, he ran his fingers along the wall.

In the silent night, Hughes could hear his own heartbeat pounding.

He wanted to see that bloated monster.

This was his first encounter with the extraordinary.

Swallowing hard, he stepped through the doorway and out of his bedroom.