Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 553 The Silent Sanctuary Has Arrived
Hunter fell silent. He might be able to abandon his human form, but forgetting everything... No, his life couldn't be without his beloved calculus.

"The Silent Sanctuary has tried everything over the centuries; this is the only way. We just need to speak to Count Hughes, then go north and dig up the Bone Sanctuary, and then..."

"Wait, you buried the Bone Sanctuary in the north?" Hunter exclaimed in shock. "We've been fighting there for so long, it's not lost, is it?"

“No, we buried it very well, and we used the Silent Sanctuary's mark. Only our people can open it.” Ignati waved his hand. “Most importantly, this thing can only bring disaster. Who would go looking for it?”

Hunter nodded hesitantly.

"Patriarch, something seems off," one of the Burialers suddenly said, pointing to the distant wilderness. "Doesn't that... look a bit like the White Calamity?"

“Impossible. With the Bone Sanctuary there, the White Calamity cannot cross the Canary Mountains.” Ignati said without hesitation, but still narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance.

"It does seem somewhat similar."

The scene suddenly fell silent.

【The Burial】As a transcendental path of the Silent Sanctuary, it excels in direct combat and has top-notch endurance and recovery abilities, but it is somewhat lacking in reconnaissance.

They could only rely on their superhuman physical abilities to observe with their eyes.

“We’re very close to the expeditionary force’s camp. They have trains going north, so they must know more intelligence!” Nora said.

Ignatius nodded, and the people in the Silent Sanctuary began to speed up.

Hughes pushed open the door and came out.

Since Gwen successfully seized control and forced the white mist to retreat, she has not answered again.

Hughes began to suspect that she was going to renege on her debt and wasn't going to explain herself to him.

But upon closer reflection, the connecting thread hadn't been broken, so she couldn't escape. Perhaps after seizing control, she would need to digest the situation slowly. Therefore, she stopped waiting and switched directly to Lord Hughes's body to check the situation.

When he came out, the battle inside the fortress was basically coming to an end.

Hughes first sensed his own life force, which was not bad, with little loss. It seemed that the banshees were doing well in the battle.

The shared life pool is actually quite dangerous in this kind of battle, as some banshees who encounter danger may drag everyone in the symbiotic contract down with them.

The advantage is that as long as you survive, no one will die.

After browsing through the chat history of the mind link, Hughes went down two levels and arrived at a corner of the fortress.

This place was originally a warehouse, but the ventilation openings had been blocked in advance. A dozen heavy machine guns were positioned in a row at the warehouse entrance, but the soldiers guarding it did not fire. Meanwhile, the banshees lined up in a long queue at the warehouse entrance.

"You've been playing for five minutes, come out now, it's my turn!"

"Don't make a fuss, I'll chop them up a bit more!"

"Stop chopping, leave some for the people behind."

Hughes hesitated for a moment but decided it was better not to look. He looked around and walked to the side of a strong, bear-like man.

"What's going on, Kyle?" "Lord!? You must stop these banshees! They're turning the skeletons to dust!"

Hughes took a deep breath and listened as Kyle recounted the battle.

The fog of the White Disaster never returned after it disappeared, and the expeditionary force specifically assigned people to keep an eye on it.

The white calamity was gone, but the group of skeletons that rushed out remained in place. Without the rapid regeneration they had achieved in the mist, they were instantly suppressed by the expeditionary force's firepower.

Although it's not convenient to fire at full power inside the fortress, a few shots are enough to give these skeletons a hard time. The skeletons are also regenerating after leaving the white mist, but at a much slower pace. The small pieces of bone can barely move faster than a snail on the ground. However, the enraged expeditionary force and the playful banshee are not easy to deal with.

Finally, with the help of brooms and baskets provided by the logistics department in an emergency coordination effort, the skeletons were moved to a large warehouse here. The soldiers struggled to move them – there were too many bullets mixed in with the skeletons.

"Alright, alright, stop fooling around. Nini, you need to do something about this. Nini, come out here!"

After Hughes personally dragged out several banshees, the warehouse was sealed off. The expeditionary force deployed several squads to guard the warehouse in shifts. The number of skeletons was considerable, almost filling half of the warehouse in the fortress.

"Have some protective suits sent from the rear. It's best to be careful when handling these skeletons. Send a train to follow the white mist at a distance. If there are any unusual changes, notify us immediately. What about the airship? What is its status?"

“The airships are all safe. The altitude of the white fog seems to be fixed and does not reach the airships’ maximum altitude,” Alexei replied.

"Send the airship to check the nearby towns. The White Disaster was dragged here by these skeletons, and it should have mainly eroded the railway. Check if there is any damage to the nearby towns."

At this point, Hughes suddenly paused, "Wait, things rot quickly in areas covered by the White Disaster? Won't that railway that was so painstakingly built to the north be ruined?"

“I had the same concern, but I just sent someone to check, and the condition is not bad.” Alexei flipped through his notes. “Hmm, this is it. The railway surface is rusted in many places, and the sleepers also show signs of corrosion. I estimate that it will reduce the service life by about ten years.”

What is the designed lifespan of this railway?

"a hundred years."

Hughes's face twitched.

"Alright, we still need to check it out. In short, if there are no problems, we should gradually withdraw some of the expeditionary force. The war in the North is basically over. We need to discuss how to occupy or govern it in the future."

Alexei was taken aback: "My lord, we haven't found Bazel's army yet."

He was unaware that Bazel had entered the white mist and was vying for control with Gwen.

The whole Gwen story is shrouded in mystery, and it's unclear what this "control" actually refers to. The connection between the older and younger Gwen is also still unknown.

"His men can't cause any trouble now. Let's take stock of the losses and clean up the battlefield."

Alexei accepted the order and left.

Meanwhile, another messenger jogged up to Hughes:
"My lord, there is a group of people outside who want to see you. There are about a hundred of them. They claim to be extraordinary beings from the Silent Sanctuary. The leader of them claims to be Patriarch Ignati of the Silent Sanctuary, and they are accompanied by Nora, Grisha, and Hunter."

"Nora? She brought extraordinary beings from the Silent Sanctuary? Did they state their purpose?"

"They said," the messenger's expression turned strange, "that they can stop the White Disaster and are willing to help us."

(End of this chapter)