Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 420 The New Leader
To his surprise, Castells really had been missing for quite some time.

Although they have now emerged, the North is in chaos, and the spread of information in this world is rather slow.

The rebellion at Bloodharbor had just ended, and news of it had not yet reached him. If he stayed in the town for a few more days, he would be able to hear snippets of information.

Unfortunately, after his search yielded no results, he decided to first look for Nora and ask her. The resistance camp was in the middle of nowhere, and as he searched, he missed Castell's news.

The Nora he saw was somewhat unexpected.

The buried ones in the Silent Sanctuary are indeed difficult to kill. But none of them can survive after losing their heads, can they?
Wait, is she really still alive?
Isaac calmly activated the [Nymph]'s [Self-Binding] ability and examined it for a while, but he was somewhat puzzled.

It seems like I'm alive, yet it seems like I'm not.
He could sense Nora's life force, but it seemed there wasn't much in this body, so little that it couldn't sustain a person's existence.

This is so weird!
But since we can communicate, let's just ask directly.

"Nora, do you remember me?"

The two hadn't interacted much before, only meeting a few times, and they probably didn't even know each other.

Nora remained motionless.

Can you speak?

Nora remained motionless.

"Were you wounded in battle?"

Nora remained motionless.

Isaac had a vague sense of unease, considering that Nora's body had previously shown little life force.
Isaac circled Nora a few times. Although it was hard to tell who she was, she kept facing him directly and remained somewhat wary.

"If you understand what I mean, then raise your hand."

Nora remained motionless.

Isaac's heart sank. It seemed his understanding was correct; the Burial One could not survive without a head. Although he didn't know why her body could still move, she was indeed dead.

The fight had made quite a noise, and soon people gathered around. They looked at the scene with some suspicion and uncertainty. There were signs of a battle on the ground, but Nora's flail was hanging down, and she didn't seem to be hostile to this man.

Isaac had a basic understanding of the situation. Without further hesitation, he raised the letter in his hand and called out in all directions:

“I have come on the orders of Lord Hughes, the Lord of Castel and the Border Earl of the Stormy Ocean. You should have heard from Lady Nora that the Earl promised to provide you with shelter, and I have come to offer my help!”

He then waved the letter in his hand: "This is a letter written by the Earl himself!"

He had originally planned to deliver the letter directly to Nora, but now that Nora was in this state, he had no choice but to make the letter public.

The next step is to see if there is a reliable leader among this group. If there is, then form an alliance; if not, then recruit them.

Isaac thought this, but he quickly raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Nora, who had been completely unresponsive until now, suddenly walked towards him.

Thinking back, it was mentioning Castel and Hughes's names that made her stop fighting.

Isaac narrowed his eyes but didn't move. Nora walked over step by step, reaching for the letter in his hand, and then—

I couldn't reach it.

Isaac held the letter high, and Nora, already short, now even shorter after losing her head, was still a little short, though it didn't prevent her from reaching it. Well, maybe more than a little.

Isaac hesitated for a moment, worried that the headless Nora might ruin the letter, since in his opinion, this body seemed to be driven only by instinct. But in the end, he put his hand down and handed the letter over.

Nora took the letter, her white metal gauntlet gripping the paper. She didn't read it, but instead placed it on her flat breastplate, right in front of her heart.

Isaac blinked. What could he sense from that? It was just ordinary letter paper, without the slightest trace of anything extraordinary.

As if sensing something, Conora handed the letter back and clenched her fist, tapping the heavy plate armor on her chest.

This was a gesture of respect among warriors of the North, signifying acknowledgment, and Isaac returned the gesture.

The atmosphere in the crowd suddenly relaxed. The wariness in their eyes lessened considerably, replaced by curiosity, and they began to discuss it.

"Lady Nora approves of him!"

"Are you from Castel? Does Castel really exist?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Castel exists, and it is our new home!"

"No, no, I'm just a little worried, a little hesitant to believe it."

"Are you here to take us away from here? Please take us away!"

Isaac smiled but did not answer, instead quietly observing the reactions of those around him.

A woman's voice rang out: "Quiet! Stop crowding around here and get back to what you're doing."

The crowd dispersed in a flurry, with people occasionally glancing over from a distance with curious expressions, but they all went about their own business.

Nora remained standing in the same spot, but another girl stood beside her.

The girl had a cold and stern face, a tall figure, and long, pure white hair tied back. She had the typical features of a person from the Principality of White Crows.

She nodded to Isaac: "Please come with me."

It was clear that this woman held considerable prestige in the camp; both the soldiers and the children had obediently left without showing any fear.

Isaac nodded inwardly. Having a leader who could command respect was a good thing, and it would make dealing with the resistance much easier.

The girl casually found a room to sit down, then crossed her arms and waited for Isaac to speak.

As Exa handed over Hughes's handwritten letter, he said, "I am Isaac, the leader of the Ash Alliance. Although I am indeed from Castel, I have lost contact with them for a long time. I am here to ask if it is possible to contact Castel from here."

"Unfortunately, we can't get in touch with them either."

After being besieged, Nora tried to seek help from outside more than once. Not only Castel, but also the Silent Sanctuary tried, but all to no avail.

At first, these refugees could stay near the town and get some news. Later, they were driven away by the soldiers of several lords and were almost cut off from the outside world. They had no idea about Castel's current situation.

"I've only heard that something big has happened in the Storm Ocean, but the specific details are vague. We're far from the sea, so we don't know anything more."

Isaac also heard about this.

It seems that a few months ago, various strange phenomena appeared in the world. Some said that meteorites fell to the ground, and some said that the ocean dried up. It was hard to tell what was true and what was false.

(End of this chapter)