Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 731 He's beyond saving, send him to Blood Harbor.
Old Vance was injured while moving rails.

He and the other laborers lined up in two rows, two people carrying a pole, with straps suspending the rails below.

His partner lost his footing and slipped.

Unfortunately, he was at the very end of the tracks, and the tracks immediately tilted to the side, pulling him to the ground.

As soon as Vance collapsed, he let out a sharp scream. People rushed over and witnessed a truly horrific scene:
He lay down on the foundation next to the platform, a steel bar piercing through his ribs and exiting through his back.

The workers were stunned for a moment, then their faces showed sorrow.

They came together and knew each other well; the injured person was their friend.

With injuries like these, it seemed impossible to save the person.

The safety officer who was monitoring the situation rushed over and instructed people to cut the steel bars and lift Vance into the car.

The doctor who rushed to the scene observed the wound for a long time but had no good solution and could only perform simple hemostasis and wound clearing.

The steel bar pierced right through him, but fortunately it didn't damage any vital organs and kill him on the spot. However, given the medical conditions here, there was no way to treat him.

Forcibly pulling out the steel bar could easily damage internal organs, and coupled with the inevitable open wound and massive bleeding, the person would definitely die.

But leaving it like that won't work either; it will eventually die from wound infection and complications.

The town wasn't far away, and soon Vance's wife and daughter arrived.

The two women surrounded Vance, sobbing softly. Vance was still relatively conscious and gently comforted his wife and daughter, his words filled with uncontrollable sorrow.

He was originally a stonemason in the city, but he heard that he could earn money as a laborer on the construction site here, so he came to earn some extra money to supplement his family's income.

Little did I know that I would even lose my life.

Everyone saw what just happened; it was purely an accident, and no one could have done anything about it.

In such situations, a kind-hearted lord might offer some money to get rid of them, or it would be normal to simply send them away.

The laborers who were building the railway outside the city had always assumed that the soldiers were bandits. Seeing the long guns carried by the soldiers next to them, no one dared to ask them for compensation.

As Vance was casually giving his last instructions, the doctor suddenly pushed through the crowd and came over.

"Excuse me, excuse me, I'm a doctor!"

"Doctor!" Vance's wife and daughter immediately stood up upon hearing this. "Doctor, can you save him?"

“Yes! We have Leo!” said Vance’s daughter.

Upon hearing this, Vance wanted to stop him—he hadn't saved up many Leo coins in his entire life, and if he wanted to heal his injury, he would probably go bankrupt and might even have to owe money.

He's one thing, but his daughter is still young; it's not worth it, not worth it at all.

His wife, the woman, reached out to hold her daughter, then glanced back at Vance, her eyes filled with reluctance. Torn between these two emotions, she finally succumbed to pain and sorrow.

The arriving doctor was taken aback: "The conditions here are too poor; there's nothing I can do."

Vance's daughter was stunned.

The woman sighed, her expression shifting until it gradually turned numb.

Vance breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to say something, but the movement aggravated his wound, causing him to wince in pain.

"However, I applied for a return train to take him to Blood Harbor for treatment."

The room fell silent immediately after those words were spoken. People exchanged bewildered glances.

What does "the train returning home" mean? And where is Blood Harbor?
It was Vance's daughter who spoke first. Although she didn't understand these things either, she at least understood one word—treatment.

"So, that means there's still hope, right?"

"I can't guarantee it, the situation is indeed quite complicated, but judging from the current state, at least there shouldn't be any major problems in sending it over."

Although Vance looked intimidating, the steel bar inserted into his body had blocked the wound, and the doctor applied medicine and bandaged it in time, so there was hardly any bleeding now.

Of course, if there is a foreign object inside the body, wound infection is almost inevitable, but that's another matter entirely.

"Doctor, in my condition, should I give up on treatment?" People turned to look at Vance, who was struggling to lift his head and speaking weakly.

"Why not treat it? There's still hope for you." The doctor blinked, noticing Vance's hesitant expression and the woman's conflicted look, and suddenly understood.

"Don't worry, the treatment is free, and you won't be charged until you're fully recovered."

"Alright, a few young men, help me carry him to the carriage. No, Vance, don't move, let them carry you!" The doctor immediately directed the people to lift Vance up.

Vance wanted to say something, but people had already started to move him onto the train, which didn't have any carriages attached, just a locomotive.

The doctor found Vance a soft seat; he couldn't lie down or crawl in his current state, so he could only sit.

"Are you all his friends? Come along."

The workers looked at each other and nodded.

They were all from the same town and knew each other. A few people left to go back and deliver the message, while the rest decided to go with Vance.

"Which way do we go? Is Blood Harbor far? Vance can't hold out for long, can he?"

The doctor shrugged: "It's alright, it'll be quick."

A whistle sounded, the armored vehicle started moving, and the roaring steam engine startled everyone, who stared wide-eyed at the steel machine spewing steam.

They had seen this thing on fire before and assumed it was a blacksmith's forge, since the roads paved by these expeditionary forces were all made of steel, so they figured there must be a blacksmith with them.

Why is this forge so noisy?
The steam engine's flywheel turned, and the drive shaft transferred thrust to the wheels. With a clanging sound, the train slowly started moving.

"What...what happened?!"

"Oh my god, it's an earthquake! The house is shaking!"

"Look outside! Everything outside seems to be receding!"

"No, it's our house that's moving forward!"

Only then did people realize with shock that this was not a temporary shelter, but a huge steel vehicle.

People were just wondering how to send Vance away; they all agreed that it should be by some kind of carriage.

I never expected that these outsiders would actually be able to open a house!

The expeditionary force was constantly repairing the road, and the train never started running in front of them. People never knew that the huge armored truck's front could actually move!

They simply assumed this was a unique hobby of these outsiders, using steel to build houses and pave roads.

People were terrified. Some lay on the ground, too scared to move, some knelt down and prayed, and some even tried to climb out of the window—but the soldiers held them down.

(End of this chapter)