Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord-Chapter 139: It Wasn’t an Evil God’s Descent into a Vessel

"On the island? What do you mean? Was she sent here too?"

"No." Chloe paused. "She joined the Moths Chasing Fire and came here with us."

Hughes blinked. "That’s a good thing. Tell her to come over and see me."

"No, it’s not that simple." Chloe’s tone was somewhat heavy. She looked up at Hughes.

"Probably after the banquet, I realized you knew a lot about our Cult, so I wanted to check where the leak came from."

Knew a lot?

Hughes did know a lot, such as Chloe’s true identity.

But this wasn’t because Moths Chasing Fire leaked information, it was because he could descend into the body of Worker Hughes.

That wasn’t something he could easily explain.

Hughes showed a subtle expression. "No one leaked anything. I have other channels, other supernatural means."

"Is that so? I thought that body leaked the information."

Hughes felt an explosion go off in his mind.

Body?!

What was she talking about? Did she discover that I could descend into Worker Hughes’ body?

Impossible! How did she connect me to that body?!

Hughes used all his strength to barely keep his expression in check. His deepest secret had just been exposed like that?

No, not necessarily. He had to probe first and see how much she actually knew.

Calming himself, Hughes asked with a hint of confusion, "What body?"

"Come with me."

Chloe shook her head and walked straight toward the church.

Hughes hesitated for a moment before following, secretly using Mind Link to connect with the Siren.

Ash and Nini had taken people out, so Hughes could only reach Feniel, who was in the perfume workshop.

『So, you’re saying you might be in danger, Lord?』

『Just reporting in. It’s probably safe. If they really wanted to take me down, I wouldn’t even have the chance to contact you. This group seems to have the ability to block perception.』

He recalled Worker Hughes’ body, Moths Chasing Fire had almost completely silenced his prayers.

『Alright, I understand. If you don’t check in with me regularly, I’ll notify Ash and the others.』

Hughes felt slightly reassured.

This group had too many hidden tricks, not only could they summon an evil god to cleanse pollution, but they could also block the Lord of Moths’ perception.

They seemed adept at dealing with all sorts of deities, even mistaking Hughes for an Outer God.

Following Chloe, he entered the church and saw Brother Kaeski sitting silently in a chair, completely motionless.

Hughes wasn’t in the mood to ask anything. He glanced at him briefly and moved on, following Chloe to a trapdoor.

Chloe lifted the wooden panel and climbed down the ladder. Hughes leaned over and looked below.

It was just a simple cellar, with a few baskets of potatoes piled in the corner.

Taking a deep breath, Hughes climbed down the ladder.

As he passed through the trapdoor, he suddenly felt something stir within him, a strange sensation, as if he had plunged into water and crossed some kind of boundary.

When he looked around, he found himself in a corridor lined with different rooms. This was clearly not the cellar he had just seen.

So, this was Moths Chasing Fire’s hideout.

Chloe led him familiarly into a room.

Hughes saw cages hanging everywhere.

Most were empty, but a few contained wild animals.

In one of the cages in the back, Hughes saw a human figure.

She was about five feet tall, with brown hair, brown eyebrows, and brown eyes. She was very thin.

"This is her, Lina. A few days ago, she was still one of us, but now she’s become like this."

Chloe leaned against the wall.

"That day, we were searching for a traitor and caught her eavesdropping, so we planned to examine her."

"But before we could do anything, she became this… shell."

Shell?

Hughes’ eyes narrowed as he carefully observed Lina inside the cage.

She looked like someone lost in thought, her gaze empty, her expression vacant.

Other than that, she seemed no different from a normal person. Her complexion was rosy, as if she were simply spacing out.

But Hughes was very familiar with this state.

On the Golden Throne, he had stared at Shells like this countless times, until they suddenly came to life, as if injected with a soul.

Instinctively, Hughes looked into her eyes.

A flicker of spirit suddenly appeared within them.

Her eyelids twitched.

A wave of shock hit Hughes, and he jumped back several steps.

"Hm? What’s wrong?"

Chloe heard the commotion and frowned as she approached.

Hughes swallowed hard and looked at Lina again.

She was still motionless, like a lifeless doll.

An illusion?

He tried looking into her eyes once more, but nothing happened.

Now, they were just dull and lifeless.

"What just happened?" Chloe checked Lina thoroughly before turning back.

"Ahem, nothing. I just got startled. Her eyes were really eerie."

Hughes took a few steady breaths, his stiff mind beginning to work again.

Then he suddenly realized something.

"You were talking about a Shell before, were you referring to her?"

"Yes. She’s become nothing more than an empty Shell. Her soul is gone, and we don’t know where it went. This is the kind of Shell we use to summon an evil god."

So it wasn’t Worker Hughes that had been exposed.

Hughes secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

But now that he thought about it, these Shells did resemble the ones he had seen on the Throne.

Could there be a connection?

"What exactly causes someone to become a Shell?"

"We don’t know."

Chloe shrugged. "The ones we use to summon an evil god are freshly dead corpses, preserved through certain rituals.

But she was alive and well, and then suddenly became like this. So, it seems she really was a traitor."

"Could it be that someone else’s soul left their body and entered hers?"

"Impossible. A soul can only reside in its own body. The soul and flesh are one. I use the term ‘Shell’ just for convenience."

The soul and flesh are one?

Wait… then how does my descent work?

Does this mean I really am a god?

—That alone was absolutely impossible.

Hughes instinctively dismissed the thought.

Then, a new idea struck him, and he asked, "You use Shells to summon an evil god, right? That means an evil god can descend into them?"

"That’s completely different."

Chloe explained, "It’s like my boots, if I take them off, you can’t wear them, but if I pour water into them, they can hold it."

"So-called summoning doesn’t provide a body for the god, it simply calls a soul into the flesh."

Hughes’ eyes widened.

(End of Chapter)