A small room was crowded with people, each with a serious expression, yet no one spoke.
The room held no furniture except for a wooden table in the center.
Hughes glanced at the people gathered around the table and broke the silence.
"Ash, you speak first. Start with the most recent events."
Ash cast a glance at the corpse on the table and nodded.
"Recently, the expansion speed of the Polluted Serpent has suddenly accelerated. The range of activity of those sea urchin monsters has also grown larger. Before, when I dived into the sea, it was to scout their locations. But now, it has turned into a constant struggle to evade their relentless pursuit."
"How many sea urchin monsters are nearby?"
"At least ten, and that’s just around the island. I can’t leave the island anymore, there are already that many in the nearby waters. As soon as I dive in, I see them. Their advance is far beyond what we had imagined."
"I haven’t seen any Murlocs. Every time I spot those sea urchin monsters, I avoid them from a distance. The Murlocs’ range of activity should be smaller than theirs. If it weren’t for today’s incident, I would have thought the Murlocs had completely disappeared."
Hughes nodded. The severity of the situation had exceeded his worst expectations.
According to his previous observations and calculations, the Polluted Serpents weren’t supposed to reach Castel’s surroundings for another month.
By then, the island should have been fully fortified with various structures and fortresses.
But now, those Polluted Serpents seemed to have their own consciousness, targeting Castel directly.
Ash had noticed this even earlier, back when she could still venture out.
"Chloe, Una, Alexei, how is the church renovation progressing?"
The three exchanged glances before Chloe cleared her throat and spoke first.
"The protective inscriptions have been completed. The energy source placed beneath the church, the central furnace, has also been forged, though it hasn’t been installed yet. Once it’s in place, it can be put to immediate use, assuming everything goes smoothly."
"Una, you’re in charge of installing the furnace, right? How much longer will it take?"
"At most three days. The furnace is already set in place, but the cooling system isn’t finished yet. We can try a low-power test run; if heat buildup isn’t severe, it should be fine."
"Good. Then run a test first. We’ll head over together later to see if the protective inscriptions are functioning properly. Chloe, arrange the personnel on your end."
"No problem." Chloe nodded, and a moth fluttered out from her sleeve.
Hughes watched the moth silently as it flapped its wings, then turned to Alexei.
"How far has the expansion around the church reached?"
Alexei’s face turned grim.
"Only the most basic renovations are done. The main body of the church has been expanded, it’s much larger than before. But as for the outer expansion... it’s just begun. There’s not enough time. Originally, it was scheduled to be finished in a month."
The church’s renovation was divided into three phases.
First was the demolition of the old church, the one previously built by the Church of Candlelight.
Then came the construction of the new church, which would cover an area dozens of times larger than before.
It would be composed of multiple buildings and serve as Castel’s future core zone.
Hughes planned to gradually move all key industries into the church area for protection.
The final step involved building the outer fortifications and fortresses.
Together, these would form a "wall" around the new church.
Once this step was complete, the entire island of Castel would fall within the church’s defensive perimeter.
A church covering the whole island, surrounded by dense defensive fortifications, even the strongest enemy would suffer devastating losses trying to break through.
This was Hughes’ greatest source of confidence in facing war.
But now, even the second phase wasn’t complete, and the enemy had already arrived on the island.
Hughes stared at the corpse on the table and bit his lower lip.
"How much has actually been completed? I remember some fortifications were supposed to be built simultaneously with the church."
"Basically... not much. Besides the main church structure, two factory buildings have been set up in the industrial zone. The remaining areas haven’t even started. As for the outer fortifications, only a few towers near the core area have been completed."
Hughes mentally reviewed Castel’s map. Given the current level of completion, if war broke out, the entire outer perimeter of the island would likely fall.
Even the factories would be left outside the protective range.
"Prioritize including the Eastern Test Site in the defenses. This area houses Castel’s most vital industries, the steel plant and the nitroglycerin production line are here. We absolutely cannot afford to lose this place!"
Alexei lowered his head and calculated silently before speaking with difficulty.
"That would take at least a week. The concrete needs time to set, and that’s assuming there’s no interference from the enemy."
"The Sirens will assist you. Their ’Fossil to Mud’ ability is much more efficient. Prioritize completing the fortifications here. As for the enemy..."
Hughes turned to look at a short man in the crowd.
"Erwin, tell us exactly what happened."
Erwin had messy brown hair and a red nose.
He was an islander of Castel and had been selected during the recent soldier recruitment.
Due to his excellent performance, he had even participated in advanced training and was the first among the initial group of fifty to be promoted to squad leader.
"Yes, my lord. That day, I was leading a team on patrol around the island..."
Since preparations for war had begun, the Sirens had mostly ceased patrolling duties.
Hughes needed their "Fossil to Mud" ability more, so most were assigned to assist Una.
Only a small rapid-response team was left to handle emergencies.
Under these circumstances, Erwin had taken over patrol duties around the island’s perimeter.
Several high towers had already been built, allowing them to raise alarms quickly in case of emergencies, with guards stationed in the towers ready to report swiftly.
It was during such a patrol that their team encountered Murlocs on the beach, yet they didn’t panic.
Hughes had long since informed Castel’s islanders about the existence of sea urchin monsters and Murlocs.
Thus, Erwin had a general understanding of these creatures’ combat capabilities: their strength far surpassed that of humans, but their speed wasn’t particularly high.
This information had come from Sirens’ underwater scouting reports.
The webbed claws of the Murlocs meant they were better suited for underwater combat.
The patrol team consisted of six members.
Since they were patrolling the island’s most dangerous perimeter route, their equipment was top-notch.
All six were armored and armed with both long and short weapons, and three of them carried bows.
But there was only one Murloc, cautiously hiding behind a reef and peeking toward the island.
The spot was too close to the sea. If they waited for reinforcements, the Murloc would surely escape back into the ocean.
So, after some discussion, the six of them made a bold decision.
They would keep the Murloc here.