Hughes sensed that something was off in the rear as well.
These murlocs were acting too strangely.
They clearly recognized bows and arrows, indicating they had encountered humans before, yet their combat performance was utterly poor.
The key issue was that they were clearly terrified, yet they kept organizing wave after wave of attacks.
It was truly bizarre.
At times, Hughes felt as if they were a group of farmers who had never fought before, forcibly driven onto the battlefield.
Wait, if he followed this train of thought...
"Ash, are they all carrying weapons?"
Ash noticeably paused for a moment before responding after a while: "Only a small portion of them carry weapons. Most of the murlocs are holding pickaxes."
This answer took everyone by surprise.
Even within the Sirens’ private communication channel, discussions had already begun.
"Yes, most of them are carrying pickaxes. Only a few have weapons, and some even came empty-handed."
Ash’s voice carried a hint of confusion.
The Sirens had just slaughtered the murlocs, making them scatter completely without facing any resistance.
But looking at their equipment now, they wouldn’t have been able to resist even if they wanted to.
And if they were carrying pickaxes...
Were they coming to the island to mine?
A deep sense of unease gripped Hughes’s heart.
He was never afraid of facing enemies head-on in battle.
But now, he had no idea what the enemy was doing, yet his instincts were screaming warnings, as if he had fallen into a massive conspiracy.
"Are there any other enemies? Sea urchins? Murlocs? Polluted serpents?"
"None at all. The murlocs just retreated into the sea. We’re monitoring from the shore right now, and there’s... no movement."
Ash gazed out at the distant ocean, the place she had lived her entire life.
Yet as she stared at the murky waters, an inexplicable sense of unfamiliarity welled up within her.
"Regroup and increase patrols. If we encounter murlocs again... try to capture one alive."
"Lord Hughes."
Ash, for once, did not immediately follow the order.
She stared at the sea with a grim expression.
"I want to go into the water and take a look."
The communication channel used during battle was open to all the Sirens.
The Sirens around Ash widened their eyes in shock.
"Ash, are you crazy? You can’t go into the sea!"
"No way, absolutely not! On land, we can use the terrain to avoid the sea urchins, but in the water, there’s nowhere to hide. Going down there is suicide!"
"Yeah, Ash, think about the last time we tried to explore the ocean. Back then, the sea urchin monsters had already discovered our island, and they surrounded us immediately. Do you even need to guess what’s waiting in the water now?"
"I have a Mind Link. No matter what happens underwater, I can report back instantly."
Hughes remained silent for a moment before shaking his head slowly.
"No."
"The ocean is already too dangerous. If you run into trouble, we have no way to support you."
The Sirens had no means to fight the sea urchins head-on.
No matter how many of them there were, it wouldn’t matter.
In the open sea, there was no cover, and against the sea urchin monsters, they wouldn’t even be able to escape.
Unless they carried a massive amount of explosives for a suicide attack, but they were far from that desperate yet.
The sea urchin monsters had already been sighted near the coastline.
With the way they had encircled Castel, the risk for Ash to enter the ocean was far too great, it wasn’t worth it.
"Ash, I understand your concerns, and I know there are secrets hidden in the sea."
"But time is on our side."
"Castel’s industrial capacity is rising rapidly. Every day we stall, our chances of victory increase."
"Our second steel mill will be operational soon. Everything will get better."
Most of the Sirens had participated in various industrial productions.
They knew the situation in Castel better than anyone. Searᴄh the NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Hughes was not lying.
With the full mobilization of the island and the pressure from external threats, the workers and Sirens cooperated seamlessly, making production efficiency frighteningly high.
This was why Hughes was willing to abandon all the outlying beaches and estates just to defend the industrial district at all costs.
As long as they could hold out against the enemy’s attacks, they wouldn’t need to take unnecessary risks.
The scales of victory would slowly but surely tip in their favor.
Ash looked at the worried faces of her clansmen surrounding her, then stared at the sea for a while longer.
In the end, she nodded, left behind a few people to handle the aftermath, and then departed.
Hughes let out a deep breath.
Ash was excellent in many ways, but she had a tendency to be overly aggressive in tactics.
If she were just a warrior, it wouldn’t be a big issue.
But she was responsible for commanding battles.
Even though the Sirens could quickly replace a lost commander thanks to the Mind Link, that wasn’t an excuse for her recklessness.
After the Sirens retreated, the relocation of the island’s residents gradually came to an end.
Everyone knew this place would inevitably turn into a battlefield, so they had no objections.
After all, Hughes had even abandoned his own estate.
Besides, while the accommodations in the church were simple, they were still better than the wooden huts the islanders had been living in, at least they didn’t leak when it rained.
Alexei organized people to settle the islanders.
After Hughes showed up to reassure them, he turned and walked toward the southern section of the church.
This area was designated specifically for Chloe.
The Moths Chasing Fire had too many unspeakable secrets.
After all, they were still a notorious cult.
Hughes had classified this area as a restricted zone, requiring special permission to enter.
Hughes himself, of course, was not stopped.
In fact, as soon as he stepped inside, a young man approached him.
The man had two curled mustaches, brown hair slicked back neatly, and wore a finely crafted monocle.
He nodded respectfully toward Hughes.
"My lord."
Hughes recognized him.
His name was Richard, a member of the Moths Chasing Fire.
Hughes remembered him for one reason, he was also an Extraordinary.
There were only a handful of Extraordinary individuals within the Moths Chasing Fire, making them easy to remember.
And this man...
"So, you already know why I’m here?"
"Of course. We’ve heard about what happened at the coast."
"The chief is also very concerned about the murlocs."
"I’m here to take you to the dissection room."
Richard was responsible for dissecting the murlocs.
Originally, Chloe wanted to do it herself, but she seemed to be busy with something else lately.
Hughes hadn’t seen her all day.
"Speaking of which, where is Chloe?"
"The research on smokeless gunpowder you introduced gave the chief some inspiration."
"She’s planning to unseal some forbidden technology from the restricted library."
"Forbidden technology?"
That sounded dangerous.
Hughes decided he’d ask Chloe about it later.
The two of them walked deeper into the church.
"The previous murloc corpses were indeed very unusual."
"They don’t seem quite like living creatures."
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