Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord-Chapter 153: Detonation

『Team Two, Team Three, prepare to provide support, we have encountered trouble.』

『Team Two in position!』

『Team Three in position! What kind of enemy?』

『Unknown, it looks like a massive mass of pollution, shaped like a Sea Urchin, moving at extreme speed!』

Ash’s entire body suddenly dropped, pressing her back downward, narrowly dodging the black pollution mass that whistled past above her.

The Sirens were startled.

Just a moment ago, that massive black Sea Urchin had been dozens of meters away, yet in the blink of an eye, it had charged forward.

If Ash hadn’t dodged in time, she would have been impaled by the spikes on that Sea Urchin.

And this was just the first strike. There were several more of those Sea Urchin-like creatures.

『Watch the left side!』

The Sirens swiftly surged forward, and in the next instant, a giant Sea Urchin rushed past.

The water currents it stirred were as sharp as blades, slicing painfully against their skin.

『What are these things? Why are they so fast? This strength is ridiculous!』

『There’s one above, move!』 novelbuddy.cσ๓

The Sirens scattered instantly as the Sea Urchin smashed into the spot where they had just been standing.

『Retreat! Don’t get entangled with them! Drag Una along!』

Una, carrying the box, was swimming half a beat slower than the others.

She had only managed to evade the Sea Urchins’ attacks with the help of the other Sirens.

The Sirens quickly gathered together, attempting to escape.

However, after struggling for a long time, they had only managed to move a few hundred meters forward.

These Sea Urchins were incredibly fast, forcing them to dodge constantly.

Fortunately, these polluted creatures didn’t turn quickly, only their straight-line charges were extremely fast.

『This won’t work! The Fishmen will surround us soon, and I see more Sea Urchins forming in the distance!』

Nini shouted through the Mind Link, looking toward the far end of the water.

Though she couldn’t make out the details, she could vaguely see black dots forming.

She was momentarily distracted, dodging just a fraction of a second too late.

That slight delay resulted in a Sea Urchin grazing her.

A chunk of flesh was instantly torn from Nini’s back, exposing her white bones.

She let out a cry of pain, gritted her teeth, and felt the Symbiotic Contract tremble within her.

A surge of immense vitality rapidly restored her missing flesh, and in just moments, she was fully healed.

From a distance, Ash caught sight of this scene and frowned. She spoke through the Symbiotic Contract: 『I will lure them away. Nini, you take command.』

『What!?』

『That’s an order!』

A Sea Urchin came crashing down, and while the Sirens scattered to evade it, Ash rushed forward and flung a long blade at it.

The polluted Sea Urchin paused for a moment, its spikes immediately aligning toward Ash.

In the next second, it charged, but Ash flicked her serpentine tail and gracefully slipped past its side.

From afar, Nini clenched her teeth as she watched.

She knew Ash’s decision was the right one. Their group had to carry Una, making it impossible to move quickly.

Ash was the most agile among them, making her the best choice to lure the Sea Urchins away.

If she had been in Ash’s position, she would have made the same decision.

Nini bit her lip, unwillingly glancing at Ash before opening the Mind Link: 『I’m taking command! Keep breaking through, right front!』

The Sirens dodged a few more times, and Ash successfully lured away three of the Sea Urchins.

She now darted left and right in the water, her silver-white scales gleaming like a swift fish.

Only one Sea Urchin remained chasing the Siren squad, significantly reducing their pressure.

Their speed increased as well, and at this rate, they would rendezvous with Team Two soon.

Unfortunately, before long, another disturbance rippled through the distant waters.

Nini turned her head to look, and her pupils shrank instantly.

Five Sea Urchins were rapidly enlarging in her vision, closing in within moments!

These were newly Sea Urchins!

Why so many? Why so many!?

Was this pollution endless?

But she had no time to think.

Dodging four Sea Urchins had already made advancing difficult.

Now, with the original one plus five new ones, a total of six Sea Urchins, Nini had to dedicate almost all her focus to directing the team’s evasive maneuvers.

Forget advancing, within moments, several Sirens had already been injured. Keeping the squad together was proving to be a massive challenge.

Nini grew increasingly anxious.

No, this couldn’t go on any longer!

At this rate, they would be exhausted before reinforcements could arrive, and even if they did, they had no way to deal with these black Sea Urchins.

Nini gritted her teeth, her expression turning ruthless: 『Una, drop the box!』

Una’s eyes widened, but seeing Nini’s expression, she knew a decision had to be made immediately, there was no time to hesitate.

Without delay, she grabbed the box and hurled it forcefully into the distance.

A swarm of Sea Urchins rushed toward it.

Nini had already noticed that these Sea Urchins seemed to be deliberately targeting Una.

The injured Sirens had all been hurt while protecting her.

Una was the slowest in the group, the weak link in the squad.

Were these polluted Sea Urchins attacking Una herself, or the box on her back?

Nini believed it was the box.

These Sea Urchins appeared to operate purely on basic instincts, with no real intelligence.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so easily lured away by Ash.

So she decided to take a gamble.

This was nearly their last card to play.

Three Sea Urchins charged toward the box.

『Activate Flesh Magic immediately! Everyone, brace for impact!』

At her command, the Sirens all activated their Flesh Magic.

Mere moments later, the three Sea Urchins simultaneously crashed into the box.

『Scatter! Find cover!』

Time seemed to slow down.

As Nini rushed toward a coral reef, she turned her head to look at the wooden box above.

The first Sea Urchin struck the box.

The wooden planks instantly shattered, revealing its contents.

A large sack of Sea Urchin flesh, still wriggling slightly in the water, sensed the Sea Urchins approaching and quickly drifted toward them.

But that wasn’t the only thing inside the box.

There were also numerous metal spheres.

These were crafted by Nini herself, improved countless times, even at the cost of slowing down steam engine production.

Each sphere had impressive pressure resistance.

The metal walls were thick, ensuring they could withstand anything except the crushing depths of the Abyss.

Inside each sphere was a Sea Urchin… and a large bottle of nitroglycerin.

The three Sea Urchins clustered around it.

Nini focused her mind and silently commanded: “Detonate!”

The Sea Urchins immediately thrashed, shattering the specially designed bottles.

At the same moment, the flint held in their mouths struck against the metal walls.

Boom!!!!

Water, nearly incompressible, rendered bullets ineffective when fired underwater, but explosions became exponentially more terrifying.

The entire sea trembled violently.

Scorching heat instantly vaporized the surrounding seawater, forming countless bubbles that expanded into a massive cavity, forcing water to be violently displaced in all directions.

The oscillating pressure from the bubbles’ expansion and collapse generated a shockwave.

The added jet streams from the bubbles imploding inflicted catastrophic destruction on everything nearby.